Review – Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra

A new 3D printer from Elegoo, and after the Saturn 4 Ultra it’s the turn of the extra-small Mars 5 Ultra!

In fact, Elegoo is applying the innovations of the Saturn 4 to its little sister. And we’re sure to like it. The Mars 4 Ultra is available for €269 on the Elegoo website.

Included in the box, which is superbly designed to protect everything:

• USB key
• 3-month ChituBox Pro license
• Gloves
• Funnel
• Assembly screws
• Assembly tools
• Metal scraper
• Plastic scraper
• WiFi antenna
• Protective bib

The printer comes pre-assembled, so all you have to do is fit the build plate and resin tank, remove a few protective films and pour in the resin. So you need just 5 minutes to get from unpacking to start-up.

[nextpage title=”Design”]

Design

Like its big sister, the Mars 5 Ultra is uncluttered. A large black-tinted cover, an aluminum chassis and simple shapes make it very elegant. The switch, socket, USB port and Wi-Fiantenna are on the right-hand side of the machine. A clear advantage for access, but the antenna spoils the silhouette a little.

Surely for cost reasons, the Mars 5’s cover doesn’t swivel. It must be removed completely, as on the Jupiter SE.

On the back of the lid, Elegoo has provided an extraction, something we highly recommend as resin and its smell are not exactly the right combo for your health.

Inside, we find the “AI” camera. This time, if you want to make great videos, you’ll be able to put a light source behind the camera, which wasn’t possible with the Saturn 4 Ultra.

In terms of quality, we’re treated to timelapses at 1280 x 720 pixels, but the cover is very dark, and a small LED light should have been integrated next to the lens. But even if you don’t want to make a video, you can watch your impressions from your PC with ChituManager. Finally, the camera is mainly used to detect imperfections or problems on your large prints, in which case the printer will alert you, which could save you a lot of time and resin.

A few photos of other printer details.

The 9K monochrome LCD screen has a resolution of 8520×4320 on the Mars 5 ULTRA, with highly detailed resolution potential that responds with crisp micro-detail and textures faithful to the original files with XY resolution of 18 x 18 um and Z-axis precision of 20um.

Be careful not to overfill your tray. The printer won’t want to start and will ask you to remove the excess. This is a good thing, as the resin won’t do any good if it leaks into the tray’s tilting mechanism.

[nextpage title=”Control Panel and Software “]

Control panel

With a 4-inch vertical screen, the Mars 5 Ultra offers a simple, comprehensive menu. The interface is similar to that of the Saturn 4, and even though the Mars 5 Ultra is smaller, Elegoo has kept the size of the control screen the same.

Each time it starts up, the printer calibrates itself and informs you if an update is available, rather than having to check by hand from time to time.

During printing, you’ll be able to track progress, preview, and a whole host of other information.

Software

The Saturn 4 Ultra introduced Chitubox Basic, the new version of ChituBox. This time, Elegoo is going one step further by offering a 3-month subscription to ChituBox Pro, a great way to tempt us with this Pro version and its enhanced features.

Whether you choose theBasic or Proversion, integration is perfect, with default settings. And the direct connection to printers via the Chitu Manager is brilliant. You can upload your files, inspect your projects via the camera, track the progress of your prints, and even keep an eye on tray wear.

[nextpage title=”Print quality & Speed”]

Print quality

As mentioned above, when printing, it’s the Mars 5 Ultra tray that tilts to detach the last printed layer. In fact, there is very little movement on the vertical Z axis. A new technology for Elegoo, which also seems to improve precision.

When we speak of automatic levelling, it’s actually the construction plate that is spring-mounted, so that the plate is always parallel to the bottom of the tray. However, this causes minor compression faults in the first few layers. It is therefore important to have supports so that compression does not affect the printed model.

As a matter of habit, and because we want to test the printer as soon as it’s installed, we start printing the tower. And even before touching any parameters, the printout is clear.

Then the real precision test. Once again, we didn’t change the printer’s default settings.

Finally, we made some mechanical parts. The dimensions are close to the file, which makes it possible to make spare parts

Now for the fun part, take a look at the precision of detail on our figurines. It’s hard to tell they’re 3D prints, and the little line will fade with the first coat of primer.

Speed

In terms of speed, the Mars 5 Ultra is no better than the Saturn 4 Ultra. However, we switched to FEP film, probably because the surface area is smaller and the tilting system for demolding helps to dispense with ACF film. For our part, we didn’t notice any difference in use compared with the Saturn 4 Ultra.

The movement of the tray simplifies demolding and reduces the time between coats.

During our tests, the Mars 5 Ultra always came close to this printing speed, which was not the case with the Jupiter SE, which was able to reach this speed but with major compromises on layer thickness. Here we can clearly see that the new tray tilting system greatly reduces the time between layers.

[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]

Conclusion

With the ELEGOO Mars 5 Ultra, you benefit from all the features and components of the Saturn 4 ULTRA, the brand’s top-of-the-range machine. And if you don’t need the extra print volume that the Saturn series can offer, the Mars 5 ULTRA is the smarter buy.

Setting up the Mars 5 ULTRA is simple – it’s as close to plug & playas you’ll ever get. The competition should take a leaf out of its book… No more manual calibration, levelling is done automatically. The printer detects errors and warns you… In short, if you want to get started in resin printing, it’s never been easier.

The Saturn 4 Ultra is available for €269 direct from Elegoo.

We liked :

• Fast printing
• Auto calibration
• Print quality
• The price
• Integration with ChituManager

We liked less :

• Lid too dark for timelapse shots

ELEGOO Mars 5 Ultra

In the end, the ELEGOO Mars 5 Ultra offers exceptional value for money, with all the cutting-edge technology of the brand’s top-of-the-range printers, but at a much lower price… The ELEGOO Mars 5 ULTRA has been the most pleasant printer to use, thanks to its ease of use and perfect printing without any manual calibration steps. For us, it’s the platinum.