CES 2023: Consumer-grade 3D Printer

The 2023 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023) in Las Vegas, USA, came to a close on January 8 local time. The event’s topics include 5G, bitcoin and blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics and drones, Web3, the metaverse, and, of course, 3D printing. It is the most important technological event in the world.

According to the resource library, there will be 4 3D printing companies at the 2023 CES, 3 of which are Chinese brands. These companies used to be in the 3D printing industry. They are Shenzhen Kuaizao, Anker Innovation, Moxin Technology, and Formlabs. Chinese companies are now the leaders in the market for 3D printers for home use, and they will continue to set the pace for how this type of printer develops in the future.

Snapmaker

Snapmaker is a tech company that does research and development and makes and sells desktop 3D printers that can do more than one thing. It was founded in 2016. The three-in-one manufacturing device made famous by Snapmaker includes a 3D printer, laser cutter, and CNC machine.

Artisan, Snapmaker’s newest 3-in-1 3D printer, has a 400x400x400mm working surface and comes with a 300°C dual-extrusion 3D printing module, a 10W high-power laser module, and a 200W CNC cutting module. The tool’s maximum range.

The Snapmaker J1, the company’s first standalone 3D printer, is also a high-speed IDEX device with two extruders and a print speed of up to 350 mm/s. This means that you can print two models simultaneously or one model with various materials because they can be used separately or together.

Snapmaker, a company that has been in the 3D printing business for a long time, has been the leader in the 3-in-1 3D printer market for a long time. Kuaizao Technology has made a 3D printer that has three functions in one device to meet the needs of a wide range of users. The new IDEX machine is better for mass production because it can print faster and can print two models at the same time.

AnkerMake M5

Chinese consumer electronics business Anker Innovations is listed on the A-share market. In 2022, it made a move into the 3D printing industry and introduced the AnkerMake M5, the 3D printer that raised the most money through Kickstarter.

Anker Innovations brought the AnkerMake M5 to CES 2023 to show it off. This machine’s 250 mm/s standard mode printing speed is five times faster than that of other 3D printers and can cut down printing time by as much as 70%. The M5 is simple to set up and takes only 15 minutes. A built-in camera and an AI printing monitoring feature are also included. It is possible to print up to six different colors in one project when using the AnkerMake V6 color engine.

Chargers, power supplies, and plugs are just a few of the top-selling consumer electronics items made by Anker. The debut of the AnkerMake M5 marks the beginning of the 2.0 era of consumer-grade 3D printers at this pivotal juncture in 2022. FDM 3D printers of the past were “sloppy” and couldn’t keep up with the needs of today. Not only is printing speed faster today, but it is also smarter, especially when it comes to printing monitoring. Also, since the 2.0 era, FDM 3D printers are now set up to print in more than one color by default.

KOKO SOTA

A startup business called Moxin Technology was founded in 2021. It debuted the first self-created consumer-grade 3D printer, the KOKONI EC1, in April 2022 and used Xiaomi Crowdfunding to raise more than 6 million yuan in fundraising, establishing the category. In the domestic TOP 1 crowdsourcing campaign, more than tens of thousands of units have been sold.

This time, Moxin Technology showed up at CES 2023 for the first time and officially showed off its new and improved flagship product, the KOKONI SOTA, which it made all by itself. With a maximum printing speed of 600mm/s, the innovative inverted printing technique is used technically to help provide a faster and more stable printing experience. Seven different colors and materials can be printed at once because to the external material box’s design. The APP has also improved the AI 3D modeling feature to enable photo printing.

Moxin Technology, which was founded barely a year ago, entered this new field using a KOKONI EC1 3D printer that can create objects that are the size of “A4” paper. The user’s barrier is effectively lowered to the lowest level because 3D printing only needs an app for a smartphone to work. With the invention of inverted printing, the new product SOTA not only makes high-speed printing possible, but it also reduces the need for supports, which makes post-processing easier. At the same time, the ability of AI to model and take photos makes the machine easier to use, which increases the chance that 3D printing will become common in people’s homes.

Formlabs

Formlabs is a maker of desktop 3D printers with its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, and was founded in 2011. It took more than ten years to develop, and now it is the world’s largest maker of desktop professional stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printers.

Formlabs showed off a new automation ecosystem at CES 2023 that turns 3D printers into small factories. The technology comprises of three components: Form Auto, which eliminates finished parts; High Volume Resin, which multiplies resin capacity by five; and Fleet Control, intelligent control software, which simplifies printer fleet administration. The company says that using Form printers in an automated environment can cut the cost per print by up to 40%.

The dominance of Formlabs in the desktop 3D printing sector is difficult to challenge. In addition to the original Form series desktop SLA 3D printers, the first reasonably priced desktop industrial-grade SLS 3D printer was also released in 2019. Also, as it moves toward mass production, it will need more than just a machine. It will also need supporting equipment and software. At the moment, Formlabs’ automation environment only helps with problems that come up in the last part of 3D printing before mass production.

In fact, a lot of Chinese 3D printing businesses, particularly those in the consumer 3D printing sector like Shenzhen Chuangxiang 3D and Shenzhen Zongweicube, have made the decision to expand internationally.