Why You Can Trust CNET My favorite 3D printer, the Creality CR-6 SE, is on sale for $300 (Update: Expired)
With its touchscreen interface and auto-leveling glass bed, this model is not only versatile, but also about as user-friendly as they come.
This impressive "flexi" dragon printed perfectly and required no assembly save for snapping the wings into the body. Remarkable!
See this dragon? He was born on my Creality CR-6 SE printer. He arrived in three pieces: one body and two wings, each of them fully articulated and fully assembled. That's right: When I lifted a wing off the print bed, all the little hinges that make it flappy were already in place. It printed that way. No rafts, no supports, nothing to cut away. (The wings did have to be snapped into the body, but that was it.)
When I show and tell this to people, they can't believe it. And neither can I. Clearly, 3D printing has come a long way.
The Creality CR-6 SE is an excellent buy at $300.
Want in? For a limited time, and while supplies last, Walmart seller LesoGood Shop has the Creality CR-6 SE 3D printer for $300. That's not the lowest price I've seen, but it's still $100 less than Creality proper charges. Note that shipping is likely to take a couple weeks, and the seller has a fairly limited supply at this price.
I've been using the CR-6 SE for about a month, and so far it's been a champ -- far easier to use and more reliable than any other model I've tried. That's thanks in part to the auto-leveling glass bed, which I now consider an essential feature. (Once the print cools, it just lifts off the bed, easy-peasy. A standard bed can be a stuck-print nightmare.)
Make no mistake: There's a learning curve, and there's also a lot to learn. (YouTube is your friend, and this Facebook group has been incredibly helpful.) When 3D printing works, it's magical (see above). When it doesn't, it can be a frustrating rabbit hole of strange lingo, weird parts and wasted hours.
But at the risk of jinxing it, I've yet to encounter any of that frustration with the CR-6 SE. Instead, it's just been fun and kind of amazing.
By the way, it comes with starter filament, but you'll need more. Amazon is home to tons of it; I've tried a few off-brand spools in the $16-$18 range, and so far they've been fine. You can also get Creality-branded filament for around $19, depending on color.
Your thoughts?
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