Elegoo has thrown a curveball of a release this week with the Elegoo Saturn 4 series. We’re used to higher resolutions and pushes for quicker prints with every subsequent resin 3D printer release, but the Saturn 4 series, meticulously teased over the last week on Elegoo’s social channels, bucks that trend a little: the resolution stays the same, and the speed does increase, but not in the way you’d think.

Launching today at $299 and $399, respectively, the Elegoo Saturn 4 and Saturn 4 Ultra have a lot in common. Both have identical build volumes, 219 x 123 x 220 mm, showing a 40 mm loss of build height from the previous generation. This is, we presume, to accommodate the new hinged flip lid style. It’s a first for Elegoo and a welcome change in terms of ease of use.

Another physical change is the switch from a large screw-based locking mechanism for the print plate to a friction release like those seen on Formlabs machines or, more recently, the UniFormation GKTwo. Another ease-of-use win.

The mono-LCD panels used in the Saturn 4 series to mask the layers are seemingly unchanged from the Saturn 3 – both list 19 x 24 micron pixel sizes from 11520 x 5120 panels. Both machines also feature automatic plate leveling and a “mechanical sensor” that lets the machines identify obstructions in the print vat and the level of resin, triggering an alert if it thinks there’s insufficient material to finish the print job.

Further smartness for both machines comes in the form of self-checks, whereby the printer runs through a checklist of systems it will check and give the thumbs-up to to confirm the printer is fully operational for printing.

All of the above is a significant sum of upgrades over the Saturn 3 series, even in the cheaper model, the $299 Saturn 4. The Saturn 4 Ultra goes further, though.

Headlining the changes of Elegoo’s top-spec machine is a vat tilt mechanism that expedites layer changes. The company has claimed the Saturn 4 Ultra is 200% faster than the Saturn 3 Ultra, but given both machines’ stated top speeds are 150 mm/h, we’re inclined to assume that specific conditions apply in both cases. Cutting to the fact, the 4 Ultra’s vat-tilting mechanism means that there are no lift settings to contend with, which does present an opportunity to make a saving on the overall print time.

Handily, a drip tray of sorts is provided to prevent drips of resin from entering the gaps left in the printer’s floor by the tilt mechanism.

The Saturn 4 Ultra also features a print monitoring camera, with some “AI” detection capabilities to check for failed and warped prints. Time-lapse capture and real-time viewing of the print in progress are also possible via the provided Chitubox slicing software.

Wi-Fi connectivity is an Ultra exclusive feature, too, with the Saturn 4 Ultra capable of receiving jobs wirelessly and being clustered with other Ultra printers, allowing the single send of a job to multiple networked machines.

The Elegoo Saturn 4 and Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra are both available to buy as of today via the Elegoo web store.

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