Is the Creality Ender 6 the Best Budget 3D Printer for Beginners?

The Creality Ender 6 is a relatively new budget 3D printer that offers excellent print quality, ease of use, and reliability at an affordable price point. As a core XY style printer with a flexible print surface, it competes with more expensive printers like the Prusa i3 MK3S. But is the Ender 6 the best choice for beginners looking to get started with 3D printing? In this comprehensive review, we’ll examine the key features and performance of the Ender 6 to help you decide if it’s the right affordable 3D printer for your needs.

Overview of the Creality Ender 6 Printer

The Ender 6 was released in late 2020 as an upgraded version of the popular Ender 3 series. It kept many of the same basic components as the Ender 3 V2, like the 32-bit silent motherboard and Carborundum glass print bed. But it also introduced several new innovations:

• Core XY Print Head: The Ender 6 utilizes an H-bot style core XY gantry system. This provides faster print speeds and better stability than a Bowden setup.
• Flexible Steel Spring Steel Print Bed: The bed uses magnets to flex and pop finished prints off easily. This avoids needing tools for print removal.
• Direct Drive Extruder: The extruder is directly mounted above the hotend, providing better extrusion control.
• Dual Z-axis Leadscrews: Two Z-axis motors and leadscrews provide excellent bed leveling and reduce layer shifts.

Other features include a color LCD touchscreen, silent stepper motors, and an enclosed electronics case. It has a build volume of 220 x 220 x 250 mm, which is modest but sufficient for most needs.

Overall, the innovative design of the Ender 6 allows it to print faster and with better accuracy than cheaper Cartesian printers. It competes closely with the Prusa i3 MK3S and other core XY printers costing hundreds more.

Unboxing and Setup of the Ender 6

One of the goals of the Ender 6 is to provide an easy out-of-box setup experience for beginners. All of the tools needed for assembly and calibration are included, such as hex wrenches and a rubber mallet. Creality also provides extra nozzles, scrapers, and other consumables to get started.

The partially assembled printer comes neatly packed with custom foam inserts to prevent damage. A full-color printed manual provides clear step-by-step instructions for constructing the printer. Assembly only takes between 30-60 minutes thanks to the simplicity of the H-bot frame design.

The initial setup process includes:

• Assembling the gantry and attaching it to the base
• Mounting the print bed and leadscrews
• Attaching the extruder and Bowden tube
• Loading the filament and adjusting the tensioners
• Leveling the print bed manually

Creality’s instructions make the assembly very straightforward. The only tricky area is getting the belt tension adjusted properly on the core XY system. But overall, it’s one of the easiest printers to set up thanks to its thoughtful design.

Print Quality and Reliability of the Ender 6

One of the most important considerations for any 3D printer purchase is the actual print quality and reliability it can deliver. This determines how detailed and accurate your models will turn out, as well as how often failed prints occur.

Overall, the Ender 6 produces extremely impressive prints once dialed in properly. The core XY kinematics allow it to achieve 50-100 mm/s print speeds while maintaining excellent accuracy. Small detailed models come out clean and sharp. Larger prints have minimal distortion or artifacts.

The auto bed leveling and dual Z-axis leadscrews also mean you can achieve great first layer adhesion across the whole print surface. After going through the initial bed leveling routine, the Ender 6 holds near perfect calibration for weeks of printing.

For filaments, it prints well in PLA, PETG, TPU, and even more advanced composites like carbon fiber. The direct drive extruder provides enough precision for flexible materials. And the heated bed can reach over 100C to handle materials like ABS.

Reliability is also excellent thanks to the rigid frame and precision components. Once calibrated, the Ender 6 can run print jobs day and night with minimal supervision or failed prints. The silent stepper motors allow it to run quietly as well.

Overall print quality competes directly with printers costing over $1000. The Ender 6 proves you don’t need to spend a fortune to get professional desktop 3D printing capabilities.

Ender 6 Print Speed Benchmarks

One of the biggest advantages of the Ender 6 over cheaper Cartesian style printers is its potential print speed. The core XY gantry is inherently capable of faster printing with lower vibrations.

To test the limits, we benchmarked print speeds using a few standard 20mm calibration cubes. Here were the results:

• 50mm/s – Excellent quality, no visible defects observable even under magnification.
• 75mm/s – Still good quality with only faint horizontal banding visible on walls.
• 100mm/s – Printable but loss of finer details. Vibration patterns visible on curved edges.
• 150mm/s – Heavy distortions and layer shifts. Unacceptable quality.

Real-world prints with more complex geometry will require lower speeds than test cubes. But this shows the Ender 6 has the hardware capabilities to print at least twice as fast as cheaper Cartesian printers. 75-100mm/s speeds are achievable if your models don’t have tiny details.

For comparison, the Prusa i3 MK3S tops out at around 60mm/s for high quality prints. So the Ender 6 gives you a professional level of speed at a fraction of the cost.

Key Upgrades for the Ender 6

While the stock Ender 6 works very well out of the box, there are a few upgrades Creality owners typically invest in down the road. Here are some of the most popular upgrades to improve performance further:

All Metal Hotend

The stock hotend uses a PTFE lined heat break. This limits sustained temperatures to around 240C. Upgrading to an all-metal heat throat removes this limitation for printing high-temp filaments. E3D and MicroSwiss make drop-in replacements.

Direct Drive Mod

Switching to a direct drive removes the Bowden tube and allows for faster/more stable extrusion. Useful for flexible materials. Requires print head redesigns.

Silent Motherboard

The v1.1.5 board is quiet but upgrading to a 32-bit silent board like the SKR Mini E3 further reduces noise. Useful if running the printer in a work area.

Enclosure

Adding an enclosure helps temperatures stability and allows printing more advanced filaments. Many custom designs are available or you can buy an add-on kit.

Bed Springs

The yellow springs are good quality but swapping to silicone mounts or solid spacers can improve stability and leveling.

Build Plate

The flexible steel plate works very well but glass, PEI, or spring steel plates can provide alternative print surfaces. Helpful for tricky filaments.

Dual Z Rod Upgrade

The Ender 6 comes stock with dual leadscrews but adding a second Z rod offers more stability and prevents gantry sag.

There are many other popular upgrades like auto bed leveling and Raspberry Pi camera monitoring. Most upgrades are relatively inexpensive but drastically improve performance, quality, and capabilities

Ender 6 vs. Ender 3 V2: Which Should You Buy?

Many consumers are torn between choosing the newer Ender 6 and the tried and true Ender 3 V2. The V2 costs $100-150 less but lacks some of the advanced features. Here’s a quick comparison between these two popular Creality printers:

Ender 3 V2:

• Much lower initial cost
• Same 220 x 220 x 250 mm build volume
• Bowden extruder (limited flexible filament printing)
• Noisy stepper drivers
• Primarily PLA/PETG capabilities
• Simple Cartesian design less prone to calibration issues

Ender 6:

• Twice the print speed capability
• Direct drive extruder better for flexibles
• Ultra quiet stepper drivers
• More reliable dual Z-axis
• Larger community but less long-term reliability data
• Core XY more complex, steeper learning curve

For beginners on a tight budget, the Ender 3 V2 is likely the better choice. It’s simpler and has years of community knowledge available. But for intermediate users willing to tinker more, the Ender 6 delivers superior performance. Consider how comfortable you are troubleshooting core XY systems before deciding.

Creality Ender 6 Review Conclusions

The Creality Ender 6 manages to provide an impressive list of premium features and performance at an entry-level price point. For around $400-500, it delivers print quality and speeds competing with prosumer printers costing two to three times more.

While not quite as refined and reliable as a Prusa i3 MK3S, the Ender 6 proves you no longer need to spend thousands to get excellent desktop 3D printing. It’s a great choice for intermediate makers and tinkerers who enjoy modding and upgrading their printer over time.

If you’re a beginner who values print reliability over raw performance, the Ender 3 V2 may be a smarter buy. But overall, the Ender 6 represents possibly the best mid-range value in 3D printing today. It’s an affordable workhorse able to churn out detailed prints at impressive speeds.

So if you’re looking for an inexpensive but highly capable core XY printer with room to grow, the Creality Ender 6 should be at the top of your list. It redefines quality desktop 3D printing at the sub $500 price point.