I am brand new to printing and haven't bought my first one yet....I spend way too many hours watching review videos and no one on here agrees on anything. Everyone recommends a different printer and everyone has different opinions. It's frustrating as hell for a new person to the hobby as I have absolutely no idea what models to look at....I thought the Neptunes were great and here this video says no....sigh...

Although I have enjoyed other reviews of yours, it seems like you phoned this one in. This is a feature packed printer that is at an entry level price, but can be set up for people who want to have an excellent printer and have more experience. The fact that its a Klipper printer with built in ethernet access is a big deal since it can do input shaping and can print directly from the user interface. Your chief complaint was that you tried to do something that was too big? That's on you and shouldn't even have been mentioned. Many of us can't afford a Bambu printer and don't get stuff for free. We are trying to find the best printer on our budget. This, for me, is the most feature packed one at this price. As someone who prints both FDM and Resin, they both have a place and pros/cons.

For network connectivity, I installed an Intel AX212 pci-e wifi 6 card and use my physical ethernet port to connect directly to the printer. Its cuts out the headache of swapping usb drives all the time especially since moonraker can be used to send a g-code file straight from the slicer to the printer itself and automatic print starting. No mucking about with moving files all over the place.

I bought a used N4 2 months ago and have had very little issues with it. The bed was super loose as well as the extruder when I received i. I am sure it was returned because the prior owner never tightened anything even though the instructions tell you to. The only other issue I had was adhesion and that was resolved by cleaning the PEI sheet as I think it had oil on it from the factory. Since then I have put over 800 hours on it and get perfect prints. I am still running an old stock firmware too. I also use an older version of Simplify3D as it seems to print much faster than Prusa or Orca with the same settings. I do agree that these were rushed to market and Elegoo is still learning Klipper. Hopefully the N5 will fix all of the issues that seems to plague others with the N4.

I am happy with mine and been printing since 2016. I enjoy watching your videos as they are well produced.

I bought my 4 Pro oct 17th of this year, it had been working perfectly just using the thumb drive. no connection to the internet, i turned it on christmas night to use it and got an error message to update the firmware. been trying to update the firmware for 2 days now nothing happens, so i just emailed the company to see if they can help me.

Had the Neptune 4 as my first 3D printer for a month. It's printing like a champ now, most of the issues I had were lack of user knowledge. Incredible piece of kit, love it.

I always appreciate and honest, fair review. Thanks!

With the plethora of 3D printers out there what company/model (yes it's probably a very diff question0 would you suggest/recommend one looks into for printing of structural stuff like gears, camera accessories etc where the resolution needs to good and not having to process stuff later. Plus do you have any experience with printers which are good for Delrin and or polycarbonate printing. Hope you can help/suggest. Don't worry i won't hold you to any thing LOL.

Had the Max. Sent it back. The z-axis shift ended up plugging up the hot end when it failed in the middle of a medium-sized 10 hour print. I wish you had published this before I purchased the Max! I’m like you - I just don’t care and things just need to work.

That was a really good no B.S. review. I really like your candor and willingness to point out the bad as well as the good. Thanks!

Ive got a Neptune 4 and have so far printed 2 spools of PLA through it and I had a couple issues of the bed not adhering but I just started to use a glue stick and it fixed the issue. Other then that I have had good results with it right out of the box. Ive done a couple levelings with it but I didnt have to adjust anything as far as bed wobble or anything else...It worked fine

I've had a pain trying to use my Ender 3 Max Neo. After getting my P1S , I've only tried the ender once and it was slow and didn't print that well. I'm in the same boat you are as I don't have time to "Tinker" with printers to get them to work. Now having used a Core X Y printer I'm not a fan of Bed Slingers. Now I know I can go into the Ender and change things and make it faster and print better, but id rather spend my free time making things and learning slicers more to improve quality. I've since put the Ender back in its box , and while doing that found the hot end had been loose. Apparently from the start. Well for now I'm just using the P1S and would love to try other brands , even bed slingers, but I'm really down to user experience . For a new person coming into the field, you don't know what you don't know. Call me lazy, but I want it to just work out of the box. I think the leg work should be done by the company making the product, not the end user. Its great to have the option to change things, but only if you want to instead of have too. Hats off to all the peeps that can rebuild and reprogram these machines and I'm impressed with their skill and knowledge , but its not my bag. Working a full time crappy job, family and children and growing a baby KZfaq channel, when I do have free time, I just want stuff to work. I have no experience with Elegoo or any other brand outside Creality and Bambu, and I know I have way way way more to learn. Great Video as always sir/Solute !

I have a Neptune 4 Pro and love the printer. No layer shifting or any other issue. The only problem is the loudness of fans. That's my sixth printer and by far the best one.

Thank you for the video, I want to immerse myself in this world and these videos are helping me a lot, thanks to that I already have resin selected, but I don't know which fdm, I change every 2 days, but I have about a week left, so we'll see how many more videos I can see :D

I bought a Mars 3 Pro to print bases for my sculptures. It may be slower, but for someone who knows next to nothing about FDM printing, it just works for me. Think I’ll just stick with that for a while.

Ive had a nep4 pro for 3 months now and only issues i have had was user error. And on the noise of the metal guide wheels. I have had none when the big fan is off my printer is so quiet I have to check to see if it is still printing. As long as they are not over tightened and have a little grease they should be all good. Have quite a few hours on it and havnt touched the wheels in over a month and they are still very quiet.

I did a short video about speed and I've learned its not really all its cracked up to be if quality is your end goal.

Thanks for the video. I’m still pretty sold on the 4 plus . Can you please share what kind of workspace is required for these? I’m worried that I won’t have anywhere to put it but in a garage that isn’t climate controlled.

Your honesty on your review and clear explanation without making me yawn makes me like you plenty. I needed this video. Subscribed thank you

Hi, I have a problem my flash drive. The one that can with my Neptune 4pro works on the machine but not on my laptop. I bought two flash drives One 2.0 and 3.0 they work on the laptop, but not on my machine. What am. I doing wrong? Please help me out with this problem. Thank you. Walter😢😢

I haven't been able to print anything but 75x75mm first layer squares for almost a week on my N4P. My patience has dried up. On a happier note my first resin printer is doing very well the M5s and with your videos have ordered a M5 vat for the better resolution. TY bye the way for the idea 💡

CHECK YOUR SCREWS on the Z Gantry lead screws. They are always loose. Get a flex 5.5mm nut driver. See Video right side 10:24. Notice the lock nut is almost off. The screw is loose also I bet. The lock nut is impossible to get to so the flex driver gets it done. The bed rails are also dirty most likely and taking the bed off, cleaning the bed rail car, and adjusting the tension on the car against the rails did it job for me. Quiet and prints rock solid.

As an experienced 3D printer user who has just bought (and loving) a Neptune 4 Max, I absolutely agree these printers are not beginner friendly. I cut my teeth on a Tevo Tornado (and made all the usual upgrades etc). For beginners, I love the Flashforge Adventurer series - we have a few an uni and they just work.

Hello, I am dealing with jewelry business. Is there a printer you would recommend?Thanks for your help

Spot on ... I have the 4 Max and have no idea how it got out the door when it keeps forgetting the Z offset on power down ... how does a QA team miss that?

Great video. I was thinking of getting the reduced price Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro. Would you know if the 3 Pro has basic m8 nozzles that are straight forward to change or is it a case of struggling with disassembly even for a nozzle change? Thanks in advance.

Hi Mate Thank you for your honest review was thinking of buying but now leaning towards the sovol 7 plus seems to have good reviews, it will be my first 3d printer Cheers Mark

I bought a Neptune 4 as my first. Received it about 5 weeks ago. Ive ran into some of these issues already, and had no idea about the others. That being said I absolutely love this machine! Also... NOT putting the magnetic print plate back after finishing a print will cause this machine to BURY the nozzle into the bed... Goodtimes.

So if I was to buy my first novice printer with easy software that works out of the box what would you recommend , iv heard the original prusa are supposed to be good ?

It probably was rushed BUT it's been nearly 4 months and I know they have had firmware updates. I would like to know if some of the issues have been addressed?

Wanted to weigh in and thank you for the honest review. I actually was looking at either the Pro or Max as a first printer, and was impressed by the feature set at such a low price point. I had no idea they used proprietary nozzles and that the bed leveling was semi-automatic though. I’ll have to consider it more carefully. Thanks again!

Just received mine. maqde 3 prints. total at 10hours. so far no issue about what you mentionned. (I got the 4 Plus btw). Did the update all went smooth. No bed issue no print issue. Only thing to do was to tighen the excentric wheel on the bed

I am new to 3d printing and I just bought a neptune 4 pro that comes in in a couple days and I am trying to learn about it and what to expect and I found this super helpful. I guess with how my brain likes to work I should have gone with a ender 3 but hay I open to the challenge

As a Neptune 4 Pro user myself, you do bring up a lot of valid points. However, I still thought I made a good purchase as I haven't experienced as many problems. I think part of the reason is I didn't get my printer to print helmets or cosplay. I print toys and tools and practice my design skills to make functional tools for myself. I'm a tinkerer. With printing smaller items I rarely experience layer shifts. Also, the first thing I did when I got the printer was tune it. I have almost 1000 hours on it and haven't had to do any nozzle maintenance yet. But I only print with non-abrasive PLA. The negative points of the review are well founded. If I were new to 3D printing and were looking into buying this, I probably would have cared a lot about what was said in this video. So, all-in-all, I'd say you put out a fairly informative video. Nice work. My only critique would be to do more research on the printer before posting about it. You were on the nose about the differences between the 4 and the 4 pro being minor. And You most likely knew about the other couple things that were different and didn't mention them, but I feel you'd owe it to your viewers to mention them all anyway. You did say that you're a resin kinda guy, though. I've never used a resin printer in my life. So I'm sure if I did a review on one, I'd probably miss a few things. Also, I'm not a KZfaqr, so I'm sure if I did a review of anything it would only get 2 views. And both of them would be from my mom. I hope I'm coming across as pretentious, because I suck at my people skills and can't stand the thought of thinking I did good when I did nothing but offend people. The key to happiness is low expectations. It's easier to be pleasantly surprised that way. Therefore, I hope you were offended by this comment. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

I didn't get how I prevent layer shifting if I would buy one of them, do I only use Orca Slicer and the problem is gone?

Does anyone know if wanhao still exisits? I relember a time when everyone had a wanaho i3. Now you never hear the name mentioned

Would the neptune 3 pro be better?

Thanks for the refreshingly honest review!😊

I've had firmware issues and have installed what they sent. My printer took the update the first time then started saying that the firmware wasn't on the "root menu" when it sent an error again. I've had to update the screen as well since that's a separate system somehow. Last night, the leveling knobs fell off and the print ruined. I have yet to get something off of it that was correct. It couldn't print PETG despite following all the correct steps and being advertised as doing so. I've already messed up one print head assembly and replaced it. Elegoo support hasn't been that helpful really considering I get more information on troubleshooting from youtube.

Good review. Thanks for the heads up😊

I have one which works fine for me but I tinkered with it ant fixed most of the issues it had I realise not everyone has the same time and knowledge base to do the same things I did so I complelty agree with this title....

This video is exactly why I love your stuff. Watching you disassemble so much just to change the nozzle has completely turned me off this printer, which is probably why none of their sponsored videos mention it. Back to looking at Anycubic, I guess, since Bambu is out of my price range. Keep up the honest work!

I watch a lot of reviews and you really knock it out of the park on your FDM reviews. I don't do resin yet. Not sure I am ready to volunteer for the carcinogens

The bad accessibility to the print head is definitely a bummer. Maybe the aux fan unit could be mounted with magnets instead of screws to make the process a bit easier?

great review, appreciate the honesty. Other youtubers I respect gave it very positive reviews, but I don't think they gave the issues enough consideration.

Just ordered the 4 Plus. Also cant seem to sign up for the affiliate program. Tells me my email is wrong then tells me my youtube is wrong then tells me my email is wrong and on and on.

I got a 4max a few days ago, so far I’m really happy with it . Compared to my ender 5+ printers it’s about 2x as fast has less stringing , better build plate adhesion and about $100 cheaper . The sound is about equal since I had to upgrade the hotend fans in the 5+ printers with 16,000rpm rc fans to prevent heat creep (stock fans are 4064rpm a really general breeze) .

So what the alternative bcuz K1 is way expensive. Ender 3 V3 SE isnt fast enough 250mm/s, so what you guys recomend?

I got a neptune 4 and other than occasional weird first layer issues , I had zero problems.

+1 biggest point that was not mentioned - you can't buy gears for Neptune 4, which means if you will decide to print with glass fiber abs, you will have a disposable printer because you will not be able to change them

Thanks for the insightful video! As someone who recently got into resin 3D printing with the Saturn 2, I was hoping that the Elegoo printers would be great for FDM. As a novice to it though, a lot of the things you mentioned looked like pretty big turnoffs for a newer user. I think I'll wait for another generation of Neptune printers, or look at some of the competition for an FDM printer.

I have a Bambu labs p1s with arms and a Neptune 4 Max and the latter has equal quality prints, just as fast, twice the build volume and cost half as much. Best value printers out there.

Do you have to go through this setup every day, or is that just the first time set up?

Interesting to see this perspective, when almost universally every other 3d print channel raves over this machine. Appreciated.

Thanks for covering the fine points that few others do, Ross...incredibly insightful, useful, and much appreciated!

is this one better than x1 carbon in terms of quality smooth lines?

Great, keep it up. I love your sincerity

Thank you for your videos!

yeah, i think i;ll still pick a resin printer over fdm, for now, just seems like it would be a better fit

Thanks for your review! So, how would you compare this with the neptune 3 pro, which you reviewed quite positively I remember?

I found your layer shift issue to be of interest. I have the N4 Pro and was printing an egg dispenser, which has some tall pieces for the ramps that get glued to the main body. Both ramps failed at the same height, with an error. I am curious if this is related to your layer shifting at a specific height. I will be trying these again with Orca, which I am learning anyway. For the most part, I've had few issues, but I came from an Ender 3 V2, so it's a matter of perspective.

Hi - I have found no entry on the discord - so I thought I`d ask you here - will you have a review of the UltraPrinters that just hit kickstarter but have been announced about a month ago. I was hesitant on the Apex and seeing your review I feel the customer service would be a nono for me. I really want to pull the trigger this time as I desperatly want a 16" resin printer for specific projects - but first I need to know if this is even a real thing or ascam, then if it works as advertised and ideally if they have decent support.

Excellent review. I was just about to purchase one of these printers. I will keep looking. I do have an Elegoo resin printer.

When you use the compare feature on the website, it makes it very clear the difference between the 4 and 4 Pro. Other the rail material, the Pro version has two heating elements on the bed compared to the one heating unit of the 4.

Thank you so much for this video. I research everything to ad nauseam and stumbled across many posts on FB with people having issues with the 4 series. Yet 99% of youtubers claim its great. This review made me rule it out since this will be my first 3d printer I didnt want to try and have to troubleshoot what was going wrong without a clue of what is right. I wanted the A1 but its bed is just a little to small and since its just a hobby speed is not the most critical thing for me. I went with the Elegoo 3 pro and out of the box for a total 3d noob this thing has been awesome. Thanks for your honesty, seems pretty rare in the world of have a free 3d printer in exchange for "honest review" Gained a sub, thanks again

Can the Neptune 4pro be upgraded to run multiple colors.

they clearly have a comparison table on their website. there are 2 main difference between the 4 and the 4 Pro: 1. the rails and 2. the pro has a two-zone heating bed

This would have been a good chance to make a recommendation here that has the features you were referring to. At THIS price point . Not the $1000-1500 models you rave about.

What's your opinion about the quality and other aspects of the Neptune 3 series in comparison? Were you happier with them?

What would be a good alternative to the Neptune 4 Max then? I was close to buying this one, but the problems you mention would be too annoying for me I think. So, anything out there that also has a reasonably big (30+cm) build area, same-ish price?

when it works, its pretty awesome but its not the most reliable machine. need to be prepared to make adjustments and deal with issues.... mine has an annoying issue with nozzle dragging over the printed area sometimes randomly and part warping has popped up recently

I have one of these, and the firmware does have issues, as long as I level the bed (manual and auto) and check my Z height every print then it works well. If I don't it loses level by a bit each time. Annoying, but haven't sent it back.

I have a Neptune 2 and still rarely use it because I don’t want to spend the time learning everything that is necessary for it to run smooth. So I usually keep to my resin printing rather the tinkering with mines.

I have a neptune 4 pro it will not level. I can do the auxiliary level for hours and not get to go to each corner without having to make an adjustment. I can go around once get everything where it should be< I'll go back to 1 and it'll be so tight it almost tears the paper. Next I'll go to 2 It'll be so loose I fix, 3 will be the same 4 is slightly off back to 1 it'll be loose 2 will be tight same with 3. You get the picture, It will go on and on like this. I know adjusting a corner will have a slight effect on the others but it some point I should be able to go around to all 4 corners and I shouldn't have to make an adjustment. I'll do the leveling over and over eventually I get a good print. I'll go to print the same thing again and I'll get stringing or some areas will be fine and others I'll get stringing or the filament doesn't adhere to the bed and get drug around by the nozzle or wraps around it. This is my first 3D printer I watched all the reviews they talked about how great it was and at a good price so I pre ordered it. I have gone through 4 spools of filament with only a hand full of usable prints. I think the issue for me is the z axis doesn't seem to go down to the same spot every time. This would account for the auxiliary leveling never working. Even when I auto level I can make no adjustments to the z offset or the knobs and the values will change every time.

I used to have Neptune 3 (pro i think ?) for a week, and while it was working fine for first 2-3 days, something dended up happening to it, and despite my attempts , it would throw the bed out of calibration.... each time I tried to set a nozzle offset, it would bring it to a different distance each time... which made prints extremely inconsistent in the way they would fail each time... on the day 5 or 6, it just burned out my SD card, and refused to read any other one that I'd put into it... So I just refunded it.... Elegoo tried to blame it on SD card, and replace it free of charge, but at this point I thought they were stalling me for time, so I refused and demanded refund.

Elegoo cura making issues is a consistent problem. I got the Neptune 4 max and the first print I sliced using elegoo cura stopped at the ten minute mark and refused to print it, so I downloaded orca, sliced the same file and what do you know it prints beautiful. Unfortunately the software is just garbage

i love your true review, i think most of people what to see true review not commerical, good to you

Man, having to take the whole deal off the carriage to unclog or swap a nozzle is just daft - thanks for bringing that up!

I subscribed because this is the only channel of all the 3d printing yt channels that openly criticizes "out-of-box" experiences for 3d printers. This channel literally wants 3d printers to progress as an actual consumer product rather than just being a specialized hobby.

You saved my money, just now wanted to order 3 pro or 4. Will go with bambu lab a1 mini, thank you! like and subscription.

Currently the Creality k1 is about £100 more than the NP4. Is the £100 extra worth paying for the K1 because I’ve seen some good and some bad reviews on the K1

Sir, have you been sent any Ultraprint machines to review as part of their kickstarter?

Thank you for the viddie. Struggling to find a entry level/beginner 3d printer because every video I see it a warning not to buy whichever printer I am looking at. It is so frustrating that the only printers folks seem to agree are worth it are $700+.

Thx for your input

I picked up a Neptune 4 Max a month or so ago. I haven't had any nozzle issues, but the main problem is that the extra speed is useless because the bed whips around so fast that it shakes the fuck out of whatever I set it on to the point where it causes layer shifts. I was concerned it was going to rip the legs off my desk. I tried setting it on the floor, and I could feel my whole house moving beneath my feet. So unless you're mounting this printer to a steel-reinforced bunker, I don't see how you're going to keep it stable enough at full speed to work properly. Also, any thin supports the Cura software likes to create are useless because support wobbles back and forth like crazy while printing. So I set it on the slowest, "silent" level (which is anything but silent), and I just wait longer. Which is fine. Print quality is much better than I expected. And the build volume is respectable, though still a bit small on the 4 Max, and I have to break half the things I want to print into multiple pieces and then glue them together.

Interesting to hear the 4 normal is better in terms of noise

We can always count on you to keep it real.

Great video, i wish I would have seen it like 2 weeks ago. I have the Neptune 4 and I can't get any big prints to work. The slice software is Orca slice. Wish me luck. I will learn this

I have the 4max and using elegoo cura. I have had 6 Y axis layer shifts on the black panther helmet from Do3d. Thats 6 failures all about the same spot on the model. I was thinking that maybe that cura slicer is at fault. Small prints work fine but this bigger print fails every time. Im going to try a different model and see if it works, but if it fails its going back to Amazon. I do feel like this printer was rushed out the door.

what printer do you recommend for a first timer?

So many good and bad reviews on the n4max, i ordered one to replace my ender 3 pro with a ton of mods thats been upsetting me a lot lately. Ive been feeling like ive made a poor choice but i had wanted the larger print volume and what seemed like higher ease of use. Should i cancel the order of the n4max and jist get a bambu lab? Reviews make buying printers so difficult nowadays

Thank you, perfect timing. i was going to buy the 4 pro this weekend, but now i think i will do some more research into which are easier to maintain and learn on. love your channel. keep rocking

I like your work a lot - but this time what I saw rushed was your review. Sure: if you want want an out of the box, hit print and WOW FDM printer, there is a price for that: Bambu. But ANY other FDM printer requires good adjustments. PID tuning, Linear Advance, belt tension, eccentric nuts, input shaping - if you didn’t do any of that, you don’t have a calibrated FDM printer. If you are not interested in these aspects, then FDM is not for you. Because even a Bambu printer will require maintenance - it is a matter of time before it gives rubbish prints without proper mechanical adjustments. Other than that, I love you ❤️😘💕

Thank you for this take. I was skeptical about this printer. I am curious what is your recommended low budget Fast 3D printer?

I am pretty sure you could have just as easily removed the nozzle from below without taking the whole thing apart. At lease on the N3P you can

I have a Neptune 4 Max and is pretty darn good.

I'm currently struggling through tuning my Neptune 4 Max. What a paint it is 😅

Glad I watched this was going to buy one but I don't like messing around

So 4 months passed since this review and there are plenty of long nozzles (brass/steel/copper) in different sizes. And frankly speaking I did not understand the problem with hard to disassemble hotend at all. Why disassemble it regularly? I did not disassemble it at all on my previous printer which i used for 4 years. Broken filament part? Just heat hotend up and press broken filament part into it with some metal rod.