Fast prints, easy operation and even carbon filters aren't enough to make the Mars 2 Pro competitive in the current field. It's a good printer, but it's supposed to be great. Don't be fooled by the name, the Mars 2 Pro is a long way from professional-grade.
Elegoo Mars 2 Pro 3D Printer Review
The Mars 2 Pro is Elegoo’s answer to the “mid-range” SLA printer market, though it remains quite affordable. Is it a noteworthy upgrade to the Mars 2 or should Elegoo stick to budget printers? We take a hard look at this printer in today’s Mars 2 Pro review.
Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Specs
The Mars 2 Pro is Elegoo’s second-largest printer besides the Saturn. The print volume measures 5.1” x 3.1” x 6.3” and your prints start on a pre-sanded aluminum build plate. The entire interior is aluminum, in fact, including the resin vat and the modest Z-axis guide rail structure. Notably, Elegoo haven’t upgraded to a dual-rod design or a thicker foundation for the Mars 2 Pro.
Next, the Mars 2 Pro uses a 2K monochrome LCD and powerful COD LED lighting structure. This allows the Mars 2 Pro to achieve extremely fast layer exposure times as low as 2-seconds. These much-appreciated upgrades blow the brand’s previous models out of the water when it comes to print speed and precision.
As with all Elegoo models, the Mars 2 Pro presents a pretty simple interface. There’s a monochrome touchscreen with a single lonely USB port. If you’ve used one Elegoo printer, you’ve used them all, which is both a blessing and a disappointment.
Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Pros
Resin Fume Management
SLA printing doesn’t always smell great. In fact, you can get quite the headache from neglecting ventilation in your print space. The Mars 2 Pro aims to fix this problem with two helpful upgrades. First, the cover is rimmed with a rubber seal to help reduce fume leakage. Second, the Mars 2 Pro includes an air-filtration system which attempts to alleviate the smell associated with resin printing. It’s not a perfect system but it creates much less odor than other SLA printers.
Fast, Precise Printing
There’s no denying the Mars 2 Pro’s print speed and accuracy. At just 2-seconds per exposure, your models come to life in up to half the time of lesser printers. This upgrade is directly related to the new monochrome LCD, as well as the more powerful UV light source.
Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Cons
Fails to Compete
The Elegoo Mars 2 Pro is everything it claims to be, and unfortunately that’s just not good enough. The competition for mid-range SLA printers gets hotter every day, even from within Elegoo’s own brand! The Mars 2, for example, shares all the most important features with the Mars 2 Pro. The Mars 2 features the same monochrome LCD with the exact same lighting structure.
Considering that the Mars 2 is much cheaper than the Mars 2 Pro, we struggle to see a market for the latter. The Mars 2 Pro is slightly larger than the Mars 2, and the Mars 2 lacks any fume mitigation, but when it comes to performance, the two are identical.
Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Review Verdict
For the first time in our site’s history, a “professional” printer model is outdone by a lesser model from the same brand. How bizarre. Elegoo themselves made the Mars 2 Pro all but obsolete with the release of the Mars 2, and especially when compared to other printers in the Pro’s price range. Creality’s LD-002H comes to mind, which does everything the Mars 2 Pro does, including air filtration, while costing the same as the Mars 2.
Ultimately, there’s no real reason to purchase this printer. That’s a shame, too, since it performs well and delivers on its promises. Still, that’s not enough to justify the Mars 2 Pro’s bloated price tag. Elegoo need to start making some real improvements if they want to remain competitive. This is true enough that the Mars 2 Pro isn’t even competitive within Elegoo’s own line. As such, we can’t recommend this printer but do recommend either the Mars 2 or Creality LD-002H for similar specs at a better price.
