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Creality Ender 3 V2
Best Printer Under $300
- Great prints from the get-go
- Huge community following
- Easy to get to know and use
- Filament loading can be tricky
- Bizarre detachable display
If $300 is your budget for a new 3D printer, then it’s a relatively modest one, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your mitts on some really impressive machines.
In recent years, we’ve seen 3D printers towards the entry-level end of the market get better and better, to the point where the inclusions in this article now really can stand up for themselves as quality products rather than a compromise. These 3D printers are available at a very affordable price, sure, but they’re far from disappointing.
OUR $300 3D PRINTER PICKS
For a 3D printer under $300, it isn’t easy to go against the Creality Ender 3 V2. This machine really provides you with everything you need to have a great printing experience, and the large community behind means there’s no shortage of resources and knowledge to call upon should you need help with something.
Its standard specification is great, but it’s also a very moddable 3D printer, too, meaning you can kick on from the base model and turn it into something truly yours, should you wish to. There’s a number of reasons why this machine endures as such a popular machine, and we stand by it as being the top 3D printer you can get your mitts on for under $300.
Perhaps you want to stand out from the crowd, though. If that’s the case, what about the Biqu B1? This shares some DNA with the Creality Ender 3 V2 but has more of its own upgrades plus existing space for more. It’s a little more of a character, and the company behind it – BigTreeTech – has a reputation for building quality mods.
Whatever you opt for, it’s safe to say there’s a fine selection of printers at this price point now. Something we couldn’t have said just a few years ago…
Overview
| 3D Printer | Build Volume (mm) | Price (USD, approx.) | Check Price (Commissions Earned) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geeetech A10M | 220 x 220 x 260 | $250 | |
| Anycubic Mega-S | 210 x 210 x 205 | $250 | |
| Biqu B1 | 235 x 235 x 270 | $270 | |
| Creality Ender 3 V2 | 220 x 220 x 250 | $260 | |
| Sovol SV01 | 280 x 240 x 300 | $300 | |
| Artillery Genius | 220 x 220 x 250 | $300 | |
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Best Printers Under $300
With a lovely wad of cash amounting to a total of $300, there are a good few printers to choose from, but for our liking, the ones we’ve listed here in this article are the best options for you. Naturally, not every printer suits everybody, but we’ve had a good old ding-dong over this list in the office, and this is what we’ve come up with. Without further ado, here are the best printers you can buy for under $300 – sorted by price, not preference.
Best 3D Printers Under $300
Geeetech A10M
The Geeetech A10M stands out from the other machines on this list, not only because it is the cheapest of the lot but for its dual extrusion capability. This is pretty much as affordable as dual-extruder 3D printers get, and that alone could be enough to sell you on it.
There’s just the one nozzle to be found here, this isn’t an IDEX printer, but it doesn’t hold the A10M back. With this printer, you can print in several different ways; single color, dual color, graded color, and mixed color. It also lets you blend different colors to make more and comes with Geeetech’s Color Mixer software so you can get experimenting with your 3D printing palette. It is perhaps not the machine for you if you plan on printing soluble support structures; for that, a dual extruder printer is almost certainly the only way to go, and they cost quite a bit more…
But, for around $250, you’ll get a print volume of 220 x 220 x 260 mm (pretty good at this price point), filament run-out detection, a textured and heated build plate, and Titan-style extrusion. Not bad at all for the price; in fact, you’d struggle to get this kind of specification at this kind of price anywhere else. It gets better too, as this machine is frequently on offer for a bit less than the $250 you should expect to pay for it, so keep your eyes peeled. At the time of our last update, this printer was unavailable at Amazon, suggesting it might not be long for the world, but you can still find it on plenty of other 3D printing sites, so for now, it stays in this list.
Geeetech A10M
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Geeetech A10M
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Best 3D Printers Under $300
Anycubic Mega-S
Anycubic’s Mega-S printer used to be more expensive than it is now, and it’s a really, really good option for a 3D printer dipping under that $300 mark. In fact, since our last update it’s dropped in price a bit more, going now for around $240. It’s also on offer a lot.
The Mega-S is an upgraded version of the i3 Mega, a printer we rated highly when we reviewed it back in the summer of 2019. The Mega-S includes handy new features such as power recovery loss and filament run-out detection; – granted somewhat standard by now, but still nice to have. Anycubic also claims that the extruder was upgraded to make it more compatible with flexible filaments. Tasty.
Users of the Mega-S have found it to provide some really good prints, though some criticisms have been fired its way for its loud cooling fans and the lack of silent stepper motor drivers – a common drawback of some of the older printers. You could also say that it’s losing ground on rivals at this price point now with the fact it simply offers a smaller print area at just 210 x 210 x 205 mm. Still, if you don’t need any more than that and don’t plan on setting it up right next to you, this will be near the top of your list.
Anycubic Mega-S
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Anycubic Mega-S
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Best 3D Printers Under $300
Biqu B1
Biqu is a spin-off of BigTreeTech, which produces components and upgrades for 3D printers, especially the Ender 3s. So, it really does make sense that the firm’s ever-so-charming B1 3D printer would essentially be an Ender 3 clone with some tasty pre-installed upgrades.
No surprises, that’s exactly what you get then, and Biqu has anticipated that its printer will be upgraded yet further and left you some handy extra connections in its BigTreeTech 32-bit mainboard, much appreciated by any tinkerer, we’re sure. You’ve also got one of the best UI systems in the game, which includes features like being able to switch back to Marlin as well as manually enter G-Code.
Another appreciated area of improvement will be the extra room on the print bed, with the B1 being to print anywhere and up to 235 x 235 x 270 mm, a decent chunk of extra space over an Ender 3s. Then there are the shiny disco lights. Yep, this thing lights up like a Caribbean-themed nightclub, making printing in the dark a bit of an event. Club Tropicana prints are freeeee, but the B1 will set you back about $270 – up around $20 from our last update.
BIQU B1
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Best Printer Under $300
Best 3D Printers Under $300
Creality Ender 3 V2
The second generation of the world’s best-selling 3D printer is an easy recommendation. This printer picked up the baton from the original Ender 3, added some improvements, and cemented Creality’s status as the budget 3D printer manufacturer.
Like the original Ender 3, the V2 here is well regarded for how easy it is to set up, use, and get good quality prints flowing off your silicone carbide print bed. The V2 features a better design than the printer that came before it, as well as a 32-bit mainboard and silent stepper motor drivers. You get a respectable 220 x 220 x 250 mm print area to create within and even a toolbox, which we use for snacks because snacks > tools. There’s also a detachable display. Why? Nobody really knows. It’s one for a future “Unsolved Mysteries of 3D Printing” article, we think.
One of the biggest strengths of picking this printer, though, is the things that don’t come from Creality. The Ender 3 community is widespread, pretty much guaranteeing that there’s somebody who can help you troubleshoot on a snarky forum somewhere, and this printer makes a lovely base from which to get into modifications.
If you have a little more money or you’re just a little more flash, Creality’s CR-6 SE is the sexier, sportier version of this printer. But, you’ll need a budget that stretches to $500 for that.
Creality Ender 3 V2
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Best 3D Printers Under $300
Sovol SV01
Sovol isn’t one of the big-name printer makers on this list, but to be fair, it appears to have a steadily growing reputation, and its entry-level SV01 printer is one we quite liked during our review. It certainly stands up for itself among the company on this list.
Feature-wise it has a lot going for it. A direct-drive extruder certainly has its own benefits, dual z-axis stepper motors increase stability and help you produce nicer prints, especially towards higher altitudes, and a filament sensor are all good inclusions in our book. You also get a pretty large print area at 280 x 240 x 300 mm, among the largest in the list by a decent margin.
The SV01 is unlikely to set your world on fire, and its wild wiring may get a little annoying. Still, its features are nothing you’d turn your nose up at, and after a little time playing around with your slicer, it can print you off some quality bits and pieces, too—a perfectly valid, interesting, and well-equipped alternative to Creality-based budget printers. This is also another of those printers that always seems to be on sale, so expect to pay $40-50 less for it than the $300 it’s ‘normally’ listed for.
Sovol SV01
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Best 3D Printers Under $300
Artillery Genius
The superbly silly-named Artillery Genius is a nifty little 3D printer that barely scrapes into this list with its $300 asking price. The primary reason for wanting a Genius is its direct drive extruder, so it’ll probably be a little better with flexible filaments. It also got a color touchscreen, a filament sensor, run-out detection, resume print function, fast-heating nozzle and tempered-glass bed, and silent stepper drivers. In short, it is basically a shrunk-down Artillery Sidewinder X1, the companies first 3D printer and champion in its weight class.
This printer really is very quiet, which is nice if you live somewhere small or have the hearing (and possibly the love of sleep) of a cat. However, the Genius might not have you purring at first, though, as it can be a little tricky to get set up, not in terms of build but in terms of slicing and producing prints. When we carried out a little benchmarking test on it a while back, we found it to be a little bit frustrating initially, but with a bit of tender loving care, it appears to be capable of producing excellent prints. Deserving of a place on this list, that’s for sure.
If you’re considering one of these now, take note that there’s a new ‘Pro’ version of the Genius. It’s a little more expensive than the $300 budget on this list right now, however.
Artillery Genius
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What's Changed?
This article is updated on a rolling basis, so when something good enough to qualify for this list has been tested, we pop it straight in. Remember, just because a printer leaves this list doesn’t mean it’s a bad machine, it’s just been surpassed by something else, something probably newer. Below, we keep a record of what’s changed and what’s happened since the previous update, so read on if you’re curious.
Update – October 19, 2021: Little has changed with this update. We’ve checked the prices and changed the order of the printers slightly to reflect price changes, but aside from that, nothing we’ve had in for testing has really done enough to deserve an entry onto this list. We’ve dropped a line into text here and there to mention if a printer is frequently on sale, as a few of them are.
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