Best 3D Printers (2025) – CNET

The 3D printers test is an in -depth process. Printers often do not use the same materials, or even the same process to create models. I test SLA, the 3D printers who use resin and light to print and FDM, printers that melt the plastic on a plate. Everyone has a unique methodology. The basic qualifications I watch include:

• Material quality
• Configuration ease
• Grouped software
• Appearance and precision of prints
• Repairability
• Support between the company and the community

A key test print, representing the OG CNET logo, is used to assess how a printer fills spaces, creates precise shapes and manages overhangs. He even has little tricks to help measure how the 3D printer manages the temperature beaches.

During the test speed, we cut the model using the standard slicer with which the machine is shipped on its standard parameters, then compare the real world of printing at the time of completion of the instruction on the slicer. 3D printers often use different slices, and these slicers can vary madly on what they believe that the completion time will be.

We then use Prusasalizer To determine the quantity of equipment that printing must use and divide this number by the real time that it took to print, giving us a more precise number for the speed in millimeters per second (mm / s) that the printer can operate.

Each construction plate is supposed to heat up to a certain temperature, so we use the Infiray thermal imaging camera for Android To check how much they do. We set the construction plate to 60 degrees Celsius – the most used temperature for construction plates – waited for five minutes for the temperature to stabilize, then measured it in six separate places. We then took the average temperature to see how the 3D printer got closer to the announced temperature.

The resin test requires different criteria, so I use the Ameralabs standard test: Print a small model of resin that looks like a small town. This makes it possible to determine the accuracy of the printer, how it deals with small parts and how exposure to UV works at different times of the model.

Many other impressions of anecdotal test, using different 3D models, are also executed on each printer to test the longevity of the parts and the way the machine runs away with different shapes.

For the other criteria, I looked for the company to see how it reacts to support customer requests and how easy it is to order replacement parts and install them yourself. The kits (printers that are only semi-assembled) are judged by the duration and difficulty of the assembly process and how clear the instructions.