Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 12K resin 3D printer — Rocker, printer, simple

I was blown away by just how easy it was to use the Elegoo Saturn 4. The base unit came with a dazzling array of awesome features, including a new self-leveling function that made everything I threw at it print without even batting a digital eye. Every manufacturer in the marketplace has been trying to crack that riddle, but Elegoo managed it – I put the resin in, I hit print, and it printed everything I threw at it.

Almost.

I did run into a single hiccup on a poorly supported piece, but that was my own fault – a poorly supported model. I declared that this device was, by a wide margin, the easiest beginner printer I’d ever used, printing out a rather large statue of Kain from Legacy of Kain, and an Anubis figurine nearly as big. I did so without a single setting change, and using auto-supports – both considered to be “bad ideas” by conventional resin 3D printing. Frankly, it took me longer to unbox it than it did to set up the print job.

The Saturn 4 ran on EL3D 3.0.1, whereas the Saturn 4 Ultra runs on their shiny new 4.0 Operating System. Just like the non-Ultra version, it runs a series of checks before attempting a print, albeit with a few more stops along the way for the new mechanical systems and the new AI-powered camera system. Also like the 3.0 software, it keeps track of a wide variety of information about the machine. It tracks the release film usage count in layers, the status of the LCD screen, the X and Z axis motor status, a check on the LED light source, the fan, LED temperature sensor, and the mechanical sensor, and all before it looks at your print file. Green check marks all the way down brings you to a familiar four-button panel we’ve seen for the past few generations.

The Ultra version of this printer has Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning it’s likely the next thing you’ll set up. Connecting with either 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz antenna should immediately trigger a quick check of the OS for any available updates. Updating is a simple one-click affair, rebooting and re-checking to make sure you’ve got the latest and greatest. Beyond OS updates, it can also be used to send print files directly to it remotely, but we’ll get back to that.

The Saturn 4 12K has a 10-inch 12K Mono LCD using Chip on Board (COB) and a fresnel collimating lens to perform printing. If you are unfamiliar with the process, essentially a semi-clear surface acts as a vat, and resin that reacts at 405 nanometer wavelength is poured inside. The screen then projects light at 12K resolution (11520×5120) for a few seconds (longer exposure makes for thicker layers, as is often the case with the bottom layers to ensure things stick). The plate then lifts slightly, unsticking the now-cured resin from the semi-clear surface (PFA film, or perfluoroalkoxy film is commonly referred to as the FEP), and then the process is repeated, layer by layer, several thousand times. You can fill the plate from edge to edge, and as long as everything is leveled correctly, the volume is fairly irrelevant. It’s just a layer, whether it spans the whole plate or just a single spot.

The Fresnel collimating lens gathers the light using a curved surface, often with rings throughout, allowing other materials like plastic to be used, and far less of it as opposed to using a large rounded piece of glass. Collimation allows the Fresnel lens to be placed one focal length away from the light source, aggregating the light from underneath, resulting in a high-resolution image to be projected onto the screen, but only where the layer is being printed. It’s almost like seeing a negative, one slice at a time.

The plate combined with the 12K image construction system allows you to print 218.88×122.88×220 mm³ at a layer height of 0.01 to 0.02 mm. When you look at an extrusion printer, for comparison, they typically print at a layer height of 0.05 mm and 0.4 mm, meaning you will see far fewer layer lines in your print.

The plate for the Saturn 4 Ultra is another update to the one we first started on the Jupiter SE. The laser-engraved surface is supposed to help with releasing the prints, though I still prefer a magnetic release plate as that makes it insanely simple to release objects from the surface. The plate is attached with a new dog bone-shaped slide-on “Smart mechanical lever” mount. Sliding it onto the new mount, a single latch lowers to lock it in place, making it easier than ever to get the plate into position and ready to go. No leveling required. The printer now uses a mechanical sensor to ensure the plate is perfectly level, and it does so every time you start a print. This self-check and auto-level is easily the best advancement this new generation of printers brings, and frankly, it’s made 3D printing simpler than it has ever been.

Print time is the biggest differentiator between the Saturn 4 and Saturn 4 Ultra. The standard Saturn 4 prints at a maximum of 70mm per hour. On the other hand, the Saturn 4 Ultra can print at up to 150mm per hour, effectively cutting the print time in half and then some. There are other differences to be sure, but the print speed is a massive improvement. This is accomplished by the biggest difference between the two Saturn 4 models – its tilt release technology.

The Saturn 4 Ultra has a new vat system that is a wild departure from anything before it. A small lever and wheel underneath the vat rocks it forward and backward, peeling the release film away to prepare for the next layer. It does so faster than you might expect, enabling the printer to print very quickly, and with far less stress on the print. It results in less layer shifting, separation or other print issues commonly found when a printer struggles to get the print to release from the FEP. It is also what enables that blisteringly fast 150mm/h print speed.

Inside the case on the rear wall is a small camera. This camera’s purpose is to supposedly detect any failures and stop the print before anything like a puncture occurs, or to simply stop you from wasting any additional resin. It also will create those fun time-lapse videos, snapping a picture every 5 frames or so and stitching them together. Unlike other printers I’ve reviewed recently, it does so for every print, storing each with a separate file name so you can revisit them at any time. I can’t say I’ve tested this AI failure detection as I’ve yet to have a failure despite putting more than a dozen full plates through this machine, but the time-lapse does work well, with one exception – the need for a small light.

Other printers I’ve reviewed recently have shown me the need for a small LED light as, without it, you’ll need to leave a light on in your printing space. Without a secondary light source, your video is likely to come out pitch black. It’s a small oversight and an incredibly cheap fix as a small LED light is a fraction of a penny to include – perhaps in the eventual Saturn 5? Either way, the picture that comes out is nice and clear, and it should satisfy your curiosity if you need to check in on your print, provided your slicer software supports it.

Speaking of light, I’ve recently run into a phenomenon that I can’t readily explain without a lot more light testing tools. I have several colors of hoods for my resin printers, and it’s looking like the gray color might be letting a bit more light in than I suspected. The red hoods on my older printers seem to prevent any sort of accidental curing, as do my green ones, but the smoked gray being somewhat close to the closed blinds of my window allowed strange shapes to begin to cure, ruining the entire vat. This stopped happening when I swapped the green and gray hoods, so there seems to be some merit to this. Purely aesthetics aside, green or the long-standing signature red seems like the better choice going forward, please.

The new hood system operates on a hinge system. This means you no longer have to pull the hood off entirely, allowing you to print without needing space to invert the hood while you work. It does require a tiny bit of additional space behind the device to accommodate the hood, but the space you save by not having to reserve a place for the entire hood.

As usual, Inside the box is a stack of paper funnels, extra wrenches and screws, two paper masks, a metal and plastic scraper, a pack of non-nitrile gloves, a USB stick, and the power supply for the unit. On the thumbdrive is a beta version of the basic version of Chitubox and a beta version of Voxeldance Tango. The thing that’s missing from their previous printers is the usually-included USB-powered charcoal air purifier. It is, however, compatible with their new mini-heater, as well as the Mars Mate air purifier. It is worth noting that the USB ports that were at the rear of the most recent printers are now gone.

Rather than printing a Benchy or even a test print of any kind, I set my sights on a statue I’ve been eyeballing for a long time – a nearly two foot statue of Nova from Starcraft II. She’s not printed as a single piece, instead requiring five full plates. Loading them up in Chitubox (they include a one-year Pro version in the box), I fill it up time and again and send each to the device using auto-orientation and auto-supports. Slice, print, slice, print – bullseye. The figure printed perfectly, as did the massive Hydralisk base – see for yourself:

We’ve settled into a pattern with 3D printers. While it’s certainly possible to hold onto a printer for as long as you’re able to get the consumables, we are seeing full generational tech refreshes roughly once a year. In this case, the Saturn 4 and Saturn 4 Ultra are a quantum leap over last year’s Saturn 3 and Saturn 3 Ultra. As such, it’s worth mentioning the warranty on this printer. You’ll want to check this grid to see what parts are covered and for how long as it’s likely a year, but it’s important to keep in mind that in a year’s time we’ll see the next generational leap. That said, I’ve still got a Saturn 2 running strong, so they are built to last despite this tech refresh cycle.

One of the biggest surprises for the Saturn 4 and the Saturn 4 Ultra was the price. The Saturn 3 Ultra’s launch price was $499, and the non-ultra version was $399. Here we see the Saturn 4 coming in at just $299 and the Ultra version we are reviewing today at just $399. At a time when EVERYTHING else is getting more expensive, the Saturn 4 and Saturn 4 Ultra is a bargain for either one, and it was a shock to see it come in a full c-note cheaper than its predecessor, and with a lot more tech under the hood.

I expressed a little bit of envy when I reviewed the Saturn 4 as the Ultra comes with the drip tray. I affectionately called this thing a “bib” as it attaches to the front of the new tray (which now has a pour spout on both sides – thank you very much for that!), allowing for a little bit of a drip as you pull off your print. Inevitably, some resin ends up where it shouldn’t, and with the Ultra there’s some additional danger – the lip between the tray and the screen. This tiny little opening could be the ingress point that causes your screen to be ruined, so you bet I’m using this thing at every opportunity. The part that I didn’t anticipate, however, was just how cheaply made this bib really is. It’s thin plastic, flexes entirely too much, and has the Elegoo logo emblazoned inside. This makes it difficult to clean, and mine came with two cracks in it, and a crunch point that I can’t quite fix. Worse, I can’t buy a replacement – Elegoo doesn’t sell them yet.

I can’t overstate just how huge of a jump the Saturn 4 Ultra is over literally anything Elegoo has made to this point. Getting into resin printing can be daunting as there’s a lot to know before you ever get your first quality print. Elegoo has made a quantum leap forward with the Saturn 4 series, making printing so easy that anyone can do it! This new tilt system’s increased speed makes printing big impressive statues not only easy, but fast. To put it simply, everyone else better pay attention – Elegoo has made, by far, the best pair of printers on the market with the Saturn 4 series, and you can’t go wrong with either version.

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