Is the Anet A8 Still a Good Budget 3D Printer in 2023?

The Anet A8 is one of the most popular budget 3D printers ever made. First released in 2016, this DIY kit printer took the 3D printing world by storm with its incredibly low price point of under $200.

But with newer models now available, is the Anet A8 still a good choice for a beginner’s first 3D printer in 2023? Let’s take a detailed look at the pros and cons of the Anet A8 to find out if it’s still worth buying today.

Overview of the Anet A8

The Anet A8 is a Prusa i3 style 3D printer, meaning it uses the common Cartesian coordinate system with X, Y, and Z axes. This basic open source design is tried and true which is partly why it became so popular.

Key specs and features of the Anet A8 include:

• Build volume: 220 x 220 x 240mm
• Layer resolution: 100 microns
• Frame: Acrylic and aluminum
• Print bed: Heated bed with PCB heat bed
• Extruder: MK8 extruder with 0.4mm nozzle
• Filament: 1.75mm PLA, ABS, wood
• Connectivity: SD card, USB cable, WiFi module (upgrade)
• Price: Around $150 to $180

As a DIY kit, users have to carefully assemble the Anet A8 and wire up all the electronics. Complete assembly takes anywhere from 8 to 20+ hours for first timers. So while the price is dirt cheap, expect to spend a good chunk of time putting it together.

Pros of the Anet A8 in 2023

There are still some benefits to getting an Anet A8 3D printer today:

Very Affordable Price

The number one pro for the Anet A8 is its bargain basement price. Even after years on the market, it’s still one of the cheapest 3D printers around at well under $200.

For hobbyists, students, or anyone new to 3D printing, the A8 is appealing because it lets you get started without a huge investment. If you end up not using it much, you’re only out a couple hundred bucks rather than $500-1000+ for higher-end printers.

While not the cheapest printer available, the A8 provides better value than some even cheaper no-name printers found on sites like eBay and Amazon. The large community support also helps offset the lower price.

Good Community Support

As one of the most popular DIY 3D printers ever made, the Anet A8 has a huge community behind it. Tens of thousands have been sold over the years so there is a ton of online information available.

On Reddit and other forums, you can find threads answering just about any question on modifying, upgrading, calibrating, and troubleshooting the A8. There are also Facebook groups dedicated just to the Anet A8 with members happy to help newcomers.

Having an active community makes owning an A8 much easier compared to some no-name printer no one else has heard of before. There’s likely already a solution documented online for any problem you may run into.

Great for Learning and Tinkering

Since you have to build it yourself, the Anet A8 is a great way to learn about 3D printers hands-on. Assembling the kit will teach you how the parts go together and function to create a working printer.

And the open frame design means all the components are easily accessible for maintenance, adjustments, and tinkering. The A8 is commonly modded and upgraded by owners wanting to enhance the printer or experiment with new configurations.

With so much support documentation online, it’s also a great starter 3D printer to learn slicing, CAD design, slicing settings, and general 3D printing techniques with.

Compatible with Common Parts and Filaments

The Anet A8 uses many standard off the shelf components for its electronics, hotend, motion system, and frame. This makes maintenance and repairs much easier.

Nozzle clogs in the hotend? Just swap in a common MK8 replacement. Z-axis motor acting up? Any NEMA 17 motor will do. Stripped extruder gear? Grab a basic MK8 drive gear replacement.

And since it prints common 1.75mm filaments like PLA and ABS, getting consumables is simple. You aren’t limited to specialized filaments only from Anet.

Upgradable and Hackable

If you get the basic Anet A8 and later want to upgrade parts or print quality, there are tons of mods available online. Popular upgrades include adding auto bed leveling, all metal hotend, silent board and drivers, and more robust frame braces.

People have also created many “hacked” versions of the A8 completely transforming it into devices like laser engravers, CNC mills, and resin 3D printers. So you aren’t limited just to FDM printing with the original A8 design.

These modifications really showcase the tinker-friendly nature of the Anet A8. As your skills improve, you can upgrade the printer to achieve better results over time.

Cons of the Anet A8 in 2023

However, the Anet A8 does come with some downsides that need to be considered before purchasing in 2023.

Requires Assembly and Calibration

As mentioned before, the Anet A8 comes as a DIY kit that must be assembled by the user. This requires a decent mechanical aptitude, lots of patience, and plenty of time.

Expect assembly to take 10-20 hours for beginners. And even once built, the A8 requires extensive calibration and tweaking to get good print quality. Leveling the bed, calibrating extruder steps, and dialing in temperatures takes a lot of trial and error.

If you don’t have the time or inclination for calibration, the A8 can be frustrating. Out of the box print quality is often very poor until the user manually tweaks all the settings.

There are helper apps like eeprom writers that can load optimized firmware settings to improve initial prints. But getting great quality still requires hands-on work calibrating the printer.

Mediocre Print Quality

While capable of good prints after extensive dialing in, the Anet A8 produces mediocre results out of the box. The acrylic frame is not very rigid leading to wobble during printing. This causes visible vibrations and ghosting in prints.

The organizer hotend can also clog frequently, requiring constant cleaning and maintenance to avoid print failures. There is no auto bed leveling, so keeping the bed trammed perfectly flat takes constant manual adjustment.

Finally, the 100 micron layer resolution cannot achieve the fine detail of printers with 0.1, 0.05, or 0.02mm layer heights. Prints have visible layer lines and average surface finish.

So expect to put in work upgrading parts and dialing in settings to get the Anet A8 printing at an acceptable quality level. Out of the box prints will be quite underwhelming for most users.

Potential Safety Issues

When it was first released, the Anet A8 was notorious for potential safety hazards in its design. Exposed mains voltage terminals, lack of frame grounding, poorly secured connectors, and weak acrylic parts prompted many warnings online.

Anet has since improved parts of the design like using twisted pair wires and adding frame grounding. But even now, extra care must be taken to avoid electrical or mechanical failures that could be dangerous.

There are recommended safety mods like installing Mosfets, securing connectors, and adding frame braces that all owners should complete. So additional safety work is highly advised if purchasing an Anet A8 today.

Lack of Official Support

As a Chinese manufactured printer primarily sold via third parties, official support from Anet is minimal. There are no official local repair centers to get help fixing issues that may pop up.

Warranty coverage is also very limited, with most vendors only offering 30-90 days of protection. So if you run into problematic parts or defects, options for having Anet resolve them are restricted.

This means you are largely relying on community troubleshooting help or aftermarket replacement parts. While the community support is excellent, lack of official support channels is a disadvantage.

Uses Outdated Hardware

The Anet A8 is an older design originally released in 2016. Some of the hardware components are now quite dated compared to modern printers.

For example, the loud stepper motor drivers use outdated tech that whine loudly compared to silent TMC or Trinamic drivers found on new printers. The acrylic frame and 8-bit control board are also behind current designs.

While great for tinkering and experimenting on a budget, the dated tech in the A8 limits capabilities and noise levels. Those wanting a more refined, up-to-date printer may be disappointed.

Who Should Consider Buying the Anet A8 Today?

Given its pros and cons, here are some use cases where the Anet A8 can still be a good purchase in 2023:

• Beginners new to 3D printing wanting an ultra-affordable entry level printer to learn with.
• Hobbyists that enjoy building/tinkering and are willing to invest time modding and upgrading the printer.
• Students looking for a very cheap 3D printer for education and classroom settings.
• Anyone wanting a second “sacrificial” printer for higher risk experiments and mods.
• Those needing multi-material capabilities from independent extruders (after upgrades).
• People who prioritize low cost over refined performance and print quality.

The Anet A8 can still be worth it for the DIY builder willing to tinker and continuously improve their printer over time. Think of it as a “forever project” printer rather than an out-of-the-box solution.

However, for beginners wanting great prints with minimal hassle, or professionals requiring higher performance, there are better (albeit more expensive) pre-built printer options available today.

Good Alternatives to Consider Over the Anet A8

Here are some other printers to consider in the price range of $200 to $500 that may be better options than the Anet A8 for reliability and performance right out of the box.

Creality Ender 3 Series

Creality’s Ender 3 line of printers like the Ender 3 V2 and Ender 3 S1 are excellent alternatives to the Anet A8, typically selling from $200 to $300.

The Ender 3 uses the same Prusa i3 style frame but with more updated components and better quality control from Creality. Print quality out of the box is far superior to the Anet A8.

Assembly is quick and easy with just a few bolts to tighten, taking 1-2 hours. And the massive popularity of Creality machines means tons of community support and parts availability.

For beginners wanting great print quality with minimal hassle, the Ender 3 series is a better choice over the Anet A8.

Anycubic Mega Series

Anycubic’s Mega line like the Anycubic Mega Zero 2.0 provide excellent value in the sub $300 price range. These printers come mostly pre-assembled with good print quality.

What sets them apart is the large 300 x 300 x 350+ build volume, much bigger than the 220 x 220 x 240 Anet A8. This allows printing of very large models.

Anycubic also has better quality components like name brand TMC stepper drivers for quieter operation. And their plastic frames manage vibration better than the Anet A8 acrylic frame.

Artillery Genius/Sidewinder

In the $300-500 range, Artillery printers like the Genius and Sidewinder offer excellent performance for the money. They’re pre-assembled with dual Z-axis leadscrews for excellent stability and auto bed leveling.

Artillery uses high quality name brand electronics like genuine Bondtech extruders. This results in great print quality with little hassle or required tweaking. Costs are very competitive with other pre-assembled printers.

For those with bigger budgets wanting great out-of-box performance, Artillery machines are some of the best values available.

Final Thoughts – Still Has Appeal for Tinkerers

The Anet A8 was a pioneering budget 3D printer that helped lower the barrier of entry for thousands of beginners. Offering an incredibly low starting price around $200, it enabled an entire generation of new users to get into the hobby.

However, in 2023 there are more refined options available that provide a much better overall user experience. Machines from Creality, Anycubic, and Artillery offer higher print quality with easier assembly at similar price points.

That said, the Anet A8 still retains appeal for tinkerers wanting an affordable platform for mods and experiments. As a forever project printer, it remains popular in the DIY 3D printing community.

So while it may no longer be recommended for beginners, the Anet A8 still fills an important niche for hobbyists. For those who enjoy building, tweaking, and upgrading, it can be a fun low-cost machine to cut your teeth with.

Just be ready to invest time tinkering with it for best results. With the right mods and calibrations, the A8 is capable of solid prints. But these upgrades are a must to unlock its full potential in 2023.