Sep 23, 2016 | By Andre
I make my living in 3D printing so whenever there’s a new 3D printer release I take pause and consider the potential it may have as a game changer. But between all of the slickly produced crowd-sourced 3D printers to the half-way around the world units without much support, its tricky to figure out what is indeed what.
Luckily, as the years have gone by, high quality 3D printer review video channels like Tom’s 3D, hosted by Thomas Sanladerer, have sprung up to provide a voice of reason to the sometimes chaotic nature of the desktop 3D printer space. Phew. This time around, the delta based Atom 2 3D printer was put to the test.
Designed and manufactured in Taiwan, this 3D printer is built looking slick and sexy as any of the sleekest Kickstarter entries that all too often emphasize form over function. Luckily for the Atom 2, it keeps the function intact.
With a max build volume of 22cm x 32cm, 50 micron max print resolution, auto bed levelling, optional heated bed and a sturdy aluminum frame you should feel comfortable that it is capable of at least hitting the standard fare when it comes to today’s acceptable range of 3D print features.
Additionally, there are compartmental elements like a swapable 150mw laser engraver with a dual hot-end addition still in the works. So there is certainly an element of above-and-beyond within the system.
With all this said, how does it perform? Thanks to efforts by people like Thomas we find out quickly that although $2,000 is a bit of a hefty price tag to pay for a kit based 3D printer that will take you upwards of 15 hours to assemble, it is a very solid machine when all is said and done.
He mentions the build plate being as advertised (he went with the heated bed upgrade), that there was minimal artifacts in prints using the out-of-the-box slicer settings and that, as he put it, “to be honest, in the end, it works” and that “print quality is well above average.”
It was noted that it’s not the fastest machine out there but ultimately (and I agree here) it’s better to get a great looking print and wait a little bit longer vs. a sloppy print at twice the speed (like what he discovered with the OnePro in a recent review).
In the end, he seems to have concluded that it’s a quality 3D printer that demonstrates top-class features in some regard but lags behind in others (such as a low resolution LCD screen and limited slicing presets out of the box). Also, if you are not a maker at heart, the assembly time might be a bit overwhelming (check out Tom’s 11 hour assembly video if you have a whole day to kill).
Will the Atom 2.0 become the next breakthrough in 3D printing? According to what I’ve gathered from Thomas’ review I’m leaning probably not. But it does look like a reliable, expertly developed unit that pushes the technology forward if only marginally. And well, until that long awaited killer app in 3D printing technology arrives, marginally ain’t all that bad. And if that won’t cut it, the 3D printer manufacturer suggests an Atom 2.5 is already in the works that will address any shortcomings discovered in the current version.
Posted in 3D Printer
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