Why You Can Trust CNET Prusa MK4 3D Printer, Out Now, Follows Up Best in the Business
- 6 years working professionally in the 3D printing space / 4 years testing consumer electronics for large websites.
What's happening
Prusa Research, a leading 3D printer manufacturer, has announced the MK4, the latest update to its popular Original Prusa line.
Why it matters
The original Prusa MK3 has been one of the best 3D printers for a long time. This new upgrade is supposed to make Prusa's flagship even better.
What's next
You can order the Prusa MK4 fully assembled for $1,099 or wait for the kit to ship for $799 in the coming weeks.
Prusa Research on Wednesday launched the Original Prusa MK4. Based on the same design as its MK3S Plus -- a frequent pick as the best 3D printer on many sites -- this new version has been upgraded in almost every way.
While there are few aesthetic changes to the shape of the MK4 compared to the MK3, there have been a lot of changes under the hood to bring it up to speed with the latest innovations in 3D printing. Many smaller details are quite technical, but the main points can be seen below. The upshot of these upgrades is a printer that promises accurate and detailed prints almost three times faster than the previous generation.
- Faster print speeds through "input shaper and pressure advance" firmware updates
- Hardware upgrades to better support speed and quality changes
- Fast-swappable hot ends to let you use different size nozzles quickly
- Nextruder extruder system
- 32-bit mainboard, which allows for Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections
- Upgraded color LCD with model preview
- Fully automatic bed leveling to improve your first layer
- New multimaterial unit available as an add-on
Prusa has a reputation as a leader in the open-source 3D printing community. The MK4 will continue that tradition, allowing people to customize the machine how they want in the years to come. The company has also announced several upgrade kits that can upgrade your existing Prusa MK3 to variations of the MK4 -- called the MK3.5 and MK3.9 -- that will allow you to get almost all the MK4's features, starting from $250.
Prusa announced the Prusa XL last year, but many of these have still not shipped. Because of this, the company has offered to switch preorders of the Prusa XL to the MK4 if you would rather pick up the smaller machine.
The Original Prusa MK4 is available now in a limited run, with more units to follow for $1,099, while the MK4 kit is due in the coming weeks. You can also order the upgrade kit for your MK3S Plus now if you want to upgrade rather than buy a new machine.