Compare 3D printers side by side

Which specs actually decide it, and which are noise

A comparison table has twenty rows and they don't carry equal weight. These are the ones that change your day to day:

• Build volume. The first thing everyone checks and usually more than you need: most parts fit in 220×220 mm. It matters if you already know you'll print helmets, enclosures or anything over 25 cm; otherwise don't pay for centimetres you won't use. And when one specific model doesn't fit, that's fixable — you cut it and join it.
• Max nozzle temperature. This sets the ceiling on materials. Below 240 °C you're staying in PLA and PETG; above it ABS and ASA open up, and past 270 °C polycarbonate. If you're not sure what you want to print, check the material table before you check the price.
• An enclosure. Not a styling choice: it's what stops a large ABS part from lifting off the bed because a window was open. If you're printing engineering materials it matters more than another 100 mm/s.
• Extruder type. Direct or bowden decides whether flexible filament (TPU) is comfortable or a fight.
• Max speed. The most inflated number in the industry. It's catalogue mm/s under ideal conditions, not what you'll see on a real part with curves — there, acceleration and vibration compensation rule, not the big number on the box.

How the winners are calculated

The "best value" highlighted in each row comes from a deterministic rule over the verified figure, not from a preference of ours: more volume wins, lower price wins, higher temperature wins. No thumb on the scale, and nobody pays to be highlighted. Where a figure is missing, the cell says so instead of inventing one.

That said, in case the highlighting misleads: winning rows is not winning the purchase. A table doesn't measure the manufacturer's support, how easy spare parts will be to find in two years, the real noise level in a flat, or whether the community has already solved that model's typical failures. That's what the reviews and the people who own one are for. Use the table to rule things out, not to decide on its own.

If it's your first printer, start with the beginner's guide: it rules out half the catalogue for you and explains why.