Monoprice’s Voxel Pro is clearly aimed at beginners who want a consumer-grade 3D printer and schools looking for an easy-to-maintain machine. To serve these groups, we offer quick-change nozzles, an easy-to-use menu system, built-in WiFi, and a camera to monitor your prints.
The price tag is a bit high at $899.In particular, the $200 Anycubic Kobra Go best 3d printer, same quality with the addition of bed leveling probes. Yes, the decoys and switches in the Voxel Pro’s bed leveling system really annoyed me with this printer. If there is more auto assist, it is advertised as having “auto leveling”. Setting the Z-height, which is an important part of getting the levels right, is all done manually. However, the bed is firmly attached, so if you win a leveling battle, you won’t have to win a leveling battle until you need to replace the nozzle or move the printer.
Nozzles are another issue, as this machine uses a fairly expensive $25 cartridge.
In addition, Voxel Pro Flashforge Adventurer 4is the printer I reviewed last year and gave it 3 stars. However, software quality and WiFi connection reliability are clearly better for the Voxel Pro we tested, and have improved since the launch of Adventurer 4.
Knowing that the Voxel Pro and Flashforge Adventurer 4 are almost the same printer also helps when looking for replacement parts. Monoprice only sells replacement nozzles, but Flashforge has nozzles, build plates, air filters, motherboards, fans, and anything else that can break or wear out.
Specifications: Monoprice Voxel Pro
| machine footprint | 500 x 470 x 540 mm (19.7 x 18.5 x 21.3 inches) |
| build volume | 220 x 220 x 250 mm (8.7 x 8.7 x 9.8 inches) |
| material | PLA/PETG/ABS |
| Extruder type | type boden |
| nozzle | 0.4mm (quick change cartridge) |
| build platform | PEI Spring Steel, Heated |
| filament runout sensor | No |
| bed leveling | Inductive autoleveling |
| connectivity | USB flash drive/WiFi, Ethernet |
| interface | 4.3 inch color touch screen |
| machine weight | 27.2 kg (60 lbs) |
In the box: Monoprice Voxel Pro
The Monoprice Voxel Pro comes with almost everything you need to get started, including tools to maintain your printer, a giant nozzle cleaner, grease, and a USB flash drive. Also available are spare nozzles, spare couplers, and unlabeled metal strips that are leveling cards.
To its credit, the Monoprice included a full 1kg spool of red PLA. I would love to see this more often.
We have a paper copy of the quick start guide to help you get set up. The USB flash drive contains a copy of his FlashPrint slicer from Monoprice for both Mac and Windows. A sample file is preloaded on your machine.
Assembling the Monoprice Voxel Pro
Voxel Pro comes fully assembled, just unpack and plug in.
Leveling the Monoprice Voxel Pro
There is a problem with the leveling system provided by Voxel Pro. First, it’s advertised as having “automatic bed leveling” that feels a bit bait-and-switch. The machine will “automatically” move the tool head to his 9 points on the bed and ask you to manually adjust the Z-height. This is assist leveling at best.
You can also choose expert mode or normal mode. Usually he only adjusts one point and assumes the rest of the bed is perfect. The bed is hard mounted, but it seems silly to assume it’s perfectly flat without checking.
The frustration with this system is that if you don’t succeed in leveling on your first attempt, you have to start over on your second attempt. For example, let’s say the left rear corner feels a little low. Running the bed leveling program again will force a start from scratch.
Loading filament in Monoprice Voxel Pro
The Voxel Pro hides the filament behind a transparent door. The chamber is large enough to hold all the spools I’ve tried, even a super fat 5kg spool.
Filament loads are handled very well. Since this is a Bowden system, the extruder is located directly above the spool of the machine. Just push the filament in a few millimeters and the machine will pull the filament into the hotend just by applying a load. You have to be nearby to turn it off. Otherwise, it will just keep moving.
To access the filament loading program, press Prepare → Filament → Load. Instructions will appear on the screen. To unload, simply reverse the process.
The design of the Monoprice Voxel Pro
When I first opened the Voxel Pro, I was a little disappointed to find a bed-slinger in the box. Trust me, I have nothing against Enderstyle printers. favorite machine It has that classic Cartesian movement. But usually if the manufacturer goes to the trouble and expense to enclose the printer, they choose the printer. Core XY designThe Core XY has a smaller footprint (the bed moves up and down), so there is less area to wrap around and less movement on the plate, giving cleaner prints.
The whole machine is very plastic, probably good given its size. However, the hollow box acts as a soundboard when jams occur, amplifying every click into a booming sound. This sounds silly, but when I ran into a jam with the Voxel Pro, I thought something very bad had happened, given the racket it was making. It was easily solved with a giant needle plunger.
The removable build plate is flexible and coated with something like Buildtak. Get the Z height perfect and things will pop out. Most of my models couldn’t accept the leveling system, so I had to force it open. After finding out where the adjuster was hidden, I was able to perfect the nozzle height, making the print difficult to remove.
The final problem with the Voxel Pro is the quick change nozzle system.Monoprice doesn’t say what’s included nozzle cartridge (opens in new tab), but given the size and $25 price tag, I’d expect it to have a heat break, heater cartridge, and thermistor. It works admirably, but this means that when the nozzle wears out, you’ll have to replace $25 worth of parts available direct from Monoprice.
There are also some great things I can say about the design of the Voxel Pro. His built-in WiFi and built-in camera are very nice features. Enclosures are certainly a great selling point for those who work in a well-ventilated environment or want to work on ABS. The machine comes with his HEPA filter to keep dust off your prints if you’re working in a garage or woodworking shop. The smoke coming out of the machine is useless.
The system of menus is easy to navigate, and the built-in tutorial that walks you through basic operations is highly visual, making this machine excellent for beginners and students.
Preparation of files and software
Voxel Pro comes with a copy of FlashPrint-MP. This is the machine’s preferred slicer and the only option to unlock all its features. WiFi and onboard camera can only be accessed via FlashPrint.
You can use Cura or PrusaSlicer if you prefer, but you should use that as there is no default profile available for 3rd party slicers. Under the enclosure, the machine is basically an ender clone and uses the same dimensions.
FlashPrint has both basic and expert modes and includes some great material profiles. And it’s easy to set up, as it’s tailored to the machine it ships with.
Printing with Monoprice Voxel Pro
The Voxel Pro comes with a regular size spool of PLA, but you’ll definitely need more than you know.See our guide Best filament for 3D printing See examples of our favorite ingredients when you’re ready to add to your supply.
The first prints I did with the Voxel Pro were pre-sliced squares that came preloaded on the machine. I used a sample spool of red PLA and it printed fine.
This block felt a little underwhelming, so I put in Kali Dragons. Leaving the sample PLA loaded and using the FlashPrint default settings of 0.2 layer height and 50mm/s, the print took 57 minutes. The results were very good with only a few twigs around the antlers.
Red was quite difficult to shoot, so I changed the color and printed ChaosCoreTech’s jellyfish with Protopasta. cotton candy nebula PLA. I didn’t intend to publish this because I ran the Z-seam along the face, but when I opened FlashPrint and re-sliced it, in the preview he couldn’t find the Z-seam.
In fact, the Z seam doesn’t even have the option to adjust. Instead, expert mode has something called a “starting point”. The starting point can be placed at a specific point controlled by the x and y coordinates, or randomly, at the “inside dimple point”. This feature is very important, and using the default settings ruins an otherwise perfect 16:30 print.
I wanted to know how Voxel Pro handled the PETG and printed my design, the 2022 Dumpster Fire ornament I plan to make this Christmas. Trash and Fire are two separate prints he made from. Inland Green PETG (opens in new tab) When MH Build Translucent Orange PETG. (opens in new tab) The print went well, just cleaning up a few hairs and it dropped a bit below the numbers. Using the default settings, both prints took a total of 2 hours and 13 minutes of print time.
Since the Voxel Pro is a Bowden design, I wasn’t expecting much from the TPU, which Monoprice states they don’t support on this machine. Rough and printed more strings than usual. phone case at 40 mm/s he took 3 hours 2 minutes, Inland Black TPU (opens in new tab).
The ABS printed well with no warping or lifting due to the enclosure. Clockspring 3D Filament Fidget Inland Red ABS (opens in new tab), a cute print-in-place piece. The gears turned fine, but there was a rough spot on the bottom end. Printed in 5 hours and 32 minutes using the ABS profile and default settings.
Conclusion
The Monoprice Voxel Pro is a mixed bag, a 3D printer with a lot of potential, but a little shy. Its ease of use, pre-assembled arrival, and great graphic menu system make it a great choice for beginners looking for a sophisticated consumer product. It was not what I expected. The printing surface is also difficult to adjust, and I never like expensive brass nozzles that wear out quickly.
It’s a bit annoying to be forced to use the Monoprice FlashPrint slicer, but I’m used to using the latest version of Cura. But Wi-Fi and a built-in camera make up for that and make using the printer a lot more enjoyable.
Voxel Pro does not create list of best printers At this price point with this type of flawed leveling and build surface you can get it blindingly fast especially for $100 less Anchor make M5 Most features are equal or better. If you really want a boxed printer for beginners, also check out: Clarity Sermon V1 for $359.
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