Best Artillery 3D Printer

Which is the best Artillery 3D printer on the market? Read on for an overview of the top 3 3D printers from this manufacturer.

Artillery boasts of a number of printers built for home users. The company’s printers stand out for their sturdy build, impressive print volume, and a number of other noteworthy features that make them viable players in their class.

In this article, we’ll look at 3 of the best Artillery 3D printers on the market. These printers provide reasonable print quality, are cheap and perfect for both beginners and intermediates.

Let’s get started.

About Artillery

Artillery is a 3D printer manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China. The company was started in 2018 and its main line of products are budget FDM 3D printers. All 3D printers that the company markets under the EVNOVO and Artillery brands have received international quality and environmental certifications such as RoHS, CE and FCC.

The first 3D printer from the company was the Sidewinder X1, which debuted in 2019.  This printer was well received on the market, and was followed by the Artillery Genius.

The third budget 3D printer from Artillery was the Hornet, an entry-level 3D printer for schools that was unveiled on the market in 2020.

Generally, Artillery 3D printers are powerful and offer good value for their money.

In this guide, we provide an overview of the three Artillery 3D printers.

3 Best Artillery 3D Printers

Artillery Hornet 3D Printer

The Artillery Hornet 3D printer stands out for its quick assembly, good printing performance and low price. Let’s find out what this low-budget 3D printer is for.

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Equipment and Scope of Delivery

3D printing nerds always look for innovations, upgrades and improvements in a new printer. All these determined whether a purchase could be worthwhile.

In terms of upgrades, the Hornet seems rather disappointing at first. This is a classic filament printer with a movable print bed.

The structure with the print bed that can be moved on the y-axis and the print head that can be moved on the x- and z-axis is tried and tested, but not innovative. The same applies to the Bowden extruder, which is widespread but more difficult to handle than a direct extruder.

The Hornet is a compact 3D printer with a print area of 220 x 220 x 250 mm (L/W/H). After installation, the printer’s total size is 470 x 450 x 510 mm (L/W/H).

The printer has an eye-catching bright yellow plastic cladding is eye-catching and sets the Hornet apart from most other 3D printers with a moveable print bed in terms of design.

The Artillery Hornet comes with 0.4 mm copper nozzle which manages a print resolution 0.1 to 0.32 mm. The print bed heats up to 80°C in just under three minutes, and the maximum hotend temperature is 240°C. This means that the printer can work with PLA, ABS, PETG or wood filament.

Coming to connectivity, data is transferred to the printer either through a USB stick connected via a USB interface or a memory card. LC display and dial wheel are used for operation.

The device does not have a touch function or a filament end sensor, features that are quite standard in most 3D printers on the market today.

The Hornet also has belt tensioners that you can use to adjust the drive belts without any problems. Many cheap 3D printers do not have these. During our tests, we found that all the belts were properly tensioned at the factory.

Instead of a magnetic pressure pad like what we have in the Anycubic Vyper, the Hornet has a permanently mounted and ceramic-coated glass plate.

The printer’s Bowden hose, which is integrated directly into the print head’s cable harness, is unusual. It looks  neat, but makes maintenance and replacement more complicated. Time will tell whether this new innovation is more error-prone, such as the ribbon cables in the Artillery Genius.

In the package, you will find the instruction manual, the printer, a short USB cable for connection to the PC, a USB card reader, and a memory card. The memory card has a demo print file and three Cura profiles. However, Cura is not installed in the card. You will have to download it yourself.

Coming to tools, the package has the Allen key required for assembly. There is no spatula, tongs or a test filament. Still, this is not a bad thing, on the contrary. From our experience, the filament included with most printers is old and inferior and ends up directly in the garbage can. Therefore, we encourage you to use your own filament for the tests.

What we love about the Artillery Hornet is that it features tried and tested systems as well as a couple of new ones. The solid aluminum frame, the titanium extruder and the ceramic-coated glass plate allow for a low error rate and reliable operation.

Technical Specs

Construction

Thanks to the largely pre-assembled components, getting started with the Hornet is easy, even for beginners. The Horney kit consists of the base, the carrier unit and the print head. These are screwed together and then connected to the neatly labeled mainboard cables. The few necessary steps are described in sufficient detail in the instruction manual.

During our test, the setup took less than ten minutes. Such an uncomplicated installation is rare in this price range. Otherwise, only fully assembled printers or more expensive models such as the Anycubic Vyper or the Creality CR-200B are ready to use so quickly .

Quality of Print

After the assembly, we switched on the Hornet and heated the print head and heating bed to operating temperature. The pleasantly low noise level and the fact that the print bed heats up unusually quickly are striking.

Next, we had to manually level the printer using the adjusting screws under the heating bed. You don’t have to use an automatic or semi-automatic leveling function. With a little practice, you can level the bed on your own. The process can be completed within two minutes.

Next, we loaded PLA filament into the extruder and started the first test print of the file on the memory card/USB stick. The printer heated up and started to work. The Horney works quietly during the printing process. It is not noiseless, but the noise development is very low compared to the Anycubic Vyper or the Tronxy X5SA Pro. There are very few printers that work as quietly as the Qidi X-Plus.

After about an hour, the small cube print was finished. The print quality was initially disappointing. The printer was processing too little filament and so, the walls were holey and uneven. This could be due to the old version of Cura we are using.

We decided to create a new profile in Cura and use it. The results with standard settings looked quite different. From then on, the Hornet delivered a pleasingly clean and even print image.

The test prints with PLA and wood filament are in no way inferior to the results of other and more expensive printers, such as the Anycubic-Vyper.

The manufacturer specifies the maximum printing speed as 100 mm/s, which is relatively fast. This worked during the test. However, we got a nicer print image with the recommended maximum speed of 60 mm/s. We printed filigree objects with a layer height of 0.1 mm at 30 mm/s. The inverted Z-axis and the ball-bearing Z-spindles enable prints without visible Z-wobbling.

The printed products adhered on the glass printing bed well. Even larger objects held reliably. As soon as the heating bed has cooled down, the prints can be removed with a slight jerk.

We had a small problem with the Z offset, where the distance between the print nozzle and the print bed can be changed via software. This didn’t work properly in the test and so we had to level the print bed again manually instead of using the software.

Price

The Artillery Hornet costs less than $200 in the leading online 3D printers. The printer is one of the inexpensive entry-level devices. The price is justified and fair.

Conclusion

Despite the cheap price, the Artillery Hornet performed excellently in our test. Scope of delivery and equipment are limited to the most important things, but it still delivers a very decent print quality and works pleasantly quietly.

If you are looking for an inexpensive but reliable 3D printer for hobby and leisure time, the Hornet is a good choice. This is especially if you don’t feel like tinkering or tuning the printer. This printer will be perfect for students, who naturally have little money and beginners.

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Artillery Sidewinder – X2

Artillery stamped its high manufacturing standards with the launch of the Artillery Sidewinder-X2. The company, by the way, keeps releasing new X1 iterations and improving the user experience.

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Technical Specs

Structure and First Impression

Like its predecessor, the Sidewinder X2 comes well-packaged in a box. After unpacking the two main parts of the 3D printer, you can begin the assembly process. You can follow the simple instructions in the manual to get the assembly correct.

The X2 3D printer is delivered in two parts, which have to be fastened with a few screws. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. However, assembling the filament holder takes a little more time.

After assembly, the first thing we noticed was that the cross bar is made of plastic. However, it seems stable and looks quite modern. Moving on, the cross rail appears a little less valuable due to the choice of material.

The cover around the extruder is also made of the same plastic, but a cover on the left protects the plug connections. This is an important improvement.

The filament holder has continuous rollers. As a result, filament rollers of different widths can be held by the filament holder. You do not have to reach for the wrench immediately. The more stable cable feed for the heating bed stands out as a further improvement.

There is a small stylus on the extruder that allows for automatic bed leveling. In addition, there is a switch on the power supply that you can use to switch between 110 and 220 V.

Outboxing and Assembly Instructions

Watch the video below for the assembly instructions:

Features

The Artillery-Sidewinder-X2 has a few parts but many accessories. Even beginners can use it after just a few minutes.

The extruder on the Artillery Sidewinder X2 is protected with a cover. This is an improvement over the Sidewinder X1.

As with the Artillery Sidewinder-X1, the successor Sidewinder-X2 was designed to work almost silently.

A now standard feature on all desktop 3D printers is the ability to resume printing in the event of a power failure. The Artillery Sidewinder X2 also has this feature.

While build spaces of 400 mm on the Z-axis are no longer uncommon, the 300 x 300 x 400 mm build space rounds off the overall product and makes the Artillery Sidewinder-X2 a hot candidate for anyone looking for an inexpensive, high-performance FDM 3D printer with large build volume.

A welcome feature, but not a must-have, is the rapid heating of the printing plate. This is how Artillery advertises the Sidewinder-X2 and we can confirm it in our test. However, this function is now available with almost every desktop 3D printer.

This picture shows the special features of the Artillery Sidewinder-X2. This includes, for example, a filament sensor that has to be manually retrofitted to other devices in this price range (if necessary).

The Artillery Sidewinder X2 offers a whole range of interesting features for a purchase price of less than $300.

Power On and Print Preparation

When it came to printing, we experienced some small difficulties with setting up the 3D printer in Cura. This is because the X2 does not yet have its own Cura profile. The manual recommended we use the settings of the X1. The rest of the settings information from the manual was also based on the settings of the predecessor.

Before printing, the automatic bed leveling should be tested since the print head can scratch the print bed. A newer digital instruction manual version contains the information for “M420 S1 Z10”. This code is required for automatic bed leveling. In addition, a manual z-offset is required before printing can start.

Automated Bed Leveling

The most handy update that the Sidewinder X2 has and which is lacking in the X1 is the automatic bed leveling. The BLTouch sensor for auto-leveling was not available in previous Artillery 3D printers. However, it’s now included with the X2.

The sensor comes pre-installed. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about installing it correctly. The automatic bed leveling to the X2 is a welcome convenience for users. This greatly reduces the error rate and optimizes 3D printed products.

New Motherboard

Artillery has installed its own 32-bit Ruby motherboard in the X2. This is a big upgrade of the X1’s 8-bit motherboard. The new motherboard offers a lot of headroom and ensures that the Sidewinder X2 has enough processing power for its new features.

The custom user interface was also convincing, both in terms of operation and with a quick response. The additional boost in computing power promises even more.

Fast Warm-up Print Bed

The AC-powered and fast-heating tempered glass print bed is an attractive feature of Artillery 3D printers, and is also available on the Sidewinder X2. This is a better option than the usual DC heated print surface.

The print bed measures 300 x 300 x 400 mm and can heat up to 110 degrees Celsius within 2 minutes. For 3D printers in this price range, the heating is quite fast. This also means that you can start printing relatively quickly.

Stable Z Axis

Artillery’s Sidewinder X2 has dual Z-lead screws with an injection-molded aluminum Z-axis for durability and stability. The addition reduces Z-wobble at the top of the build space.

Neat Wiring

Generally, Artillery 3D printers have a sleek look and clean wiring. With the Sidewinder X2, the wiring is mastered with ribbon cabling, which also gives the 3D printer a nice aesthetic and professional look. You won’t have to deal with annoying cable strands.

The X2 also comes with the cables pre-installed and with strain relief.

Other Features of the Sidewinder X2

Additional Artillery Sidewinder X2 features include:

• Direct-drive titanium extruder: The Sidewinder X2 features a direct-drive titanium extruder with a volcano nozzle. It performs well and is capable of printing a variety of high-quality filaments at reasonable print speeds.
• Resume function and filament sensor: The printing process will be paused immediately if the filament runs out, breaks or a power failure occurs. After power is restored, the filament is refilled or the filament is corrected, the print automatically resumes from the paused position.
• 45 Degree Oblique Color Touch Screen: A high-definition color touch screen combined with easy-to-understand and simple user interface makes operating the 3D printer convenient and comfortable. The interface is responsive, reasonably intuitive, and pleasantly colorful. This leads to a great user experience.
• 110/220 Volt Switch: Artillery added a voltage switch to the Sidewinder x2, making the crafting process easier for themselves as well. Artillery used to make two models with different voltages, but this voltage switch eliminates any risk of ordering the wrong voltage unit.
• Print bed made of hardened glass: The hardened glass print bed ensures smooth printing and excellent adhesion. The AC heatbed can be heated to 110°C in just 2 minutes because of its excellent thermal conductivity. The maximum heating bed temperature is 130°C. With protection against short circuit, over temperature, over voltage, over current and other security risks, the Sidewinder X2 is a trusted partner.
• Large build volume: The 300 x 300 x 400 mm build volume is ideal for larger printing projects.
• Ultra-quiet stepper drivers: Thanks to ultra-quiet stepper drivers and the low-noise system, there are hardly any unpleasant noises when printing.

Advantages

• Quick and easy assembly
• More stable cable routing for the heatbed
• Automatic bed leveling
• 110/220V switch
• New 32-bit Ruby motherboard
• Fast-heating tempered glass print bed
• Resume function and filament sensor
• Large build volume
• Ultra-quiet stepper drivers

Disadvantages

• Difficulties with the setup in Cura
• Information from the manual is redundant

Conclusion

The hotly contested low-cost entry-level market does not make it easy for manufacturers to meet all customer needs. So each manufacturer focuses on other new features in their latest products, such as a removable print bed or a larger display.

The Sidewinder X2 has automatic bed leveling, which was not available on its predecessor. With this strong selling point, the already good price-performance ratio is maintained. Also, some necessary and minor improvements have been made in the X2. The new automatic bed leveling is practical.

More information is available on our Artillery Sidewinder X2 review.

Artillery Genius Pro 3D Printer

The Artillery GENIUS 3D printer is largely supplied pre-assembled. This is a Cartesian all-in-one 3D printer equipped with ultra-quiet stepper drivers, a direct-drive extruder, two Z-axes, a heated bed, and a TFT touchscreen.

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Below is an overview of the 3D printer

Overview of the Printer

The Artillery GENIUS 3D printer kit is suitable for both beginners and professional users. With a build volume of 220 x 220 x 250 mm and a print speed of up to 150 mm/s, it can print small to medium-sized objects. The set-up is quick because the device comes in three parts. Professionals will hardly need more than 10 minutes to assemble it.

The GENIUS has a maximum construction volume of 220 x 220 x 250 mm and its print bed can be heated to a maximum of 130°C. The print bed reaches 100°C within two minutes, which is quite quickly. The maximum printing speed is 150 mm/s.

The printer’s Z-axis is controlled on both sides. Also, the unit’s cables are integrated in the case and are routed through suitable openings. Therefore, you won’t find any cables hanging around,

The Artillery Genius 3D printer can process ABS, PLA, TPU and flexible PLA.

Technical Specifications

Scope of Delivery

Inside the package, we get:

• Artillery GENIUS kit
• A power cord
• The assembly material and tools including bag
• A USB stick
• An instruction manual

Installation

The Artillery GENIUS is sent as a kit. The assembly is not that difficult, because it is mostly pre-assembled. The frame only needs to be connected to the printing plate and the filament holder attached. A comprehensive assembly manual in multiple languages is also included in the package, just in case you want to refer to something.

If you are assembling your first 3D printer, of course you will take more time for assembly and leveling here. However, if you have assembled a 3D printer before, the process will take you less than 10 minutes. Incidentally, leveling can be done either via the touchscreen or manually with the help of the large setting wheels.

Some users reported problems with the Z-axis, the Z-couplings, a filament holder that did not fit and was unsafe to mount, a sluggish X-carriage and a few other problems with the mechanics. Apparently Artillery has since improved, because our model worked perfectly here so far.

The only thing we were not satisfied with was the filament holder. We then decided to set up a separate mount.

Advantages

• Filament Sensor

Like most new 3D printers, the Artillery GENIUS is equipped with a filament sensor. This interrupts the printing when there is no more filament or power is cut off. The printing resumes when these issues are addressed.

• Touchscreen Display

The touchscreen display is intuitive. The USB port and the micro SD card slot are located directly above the display. The slicer software, Repetier Host, and a print profile for slicers are stored on the supplied USB stick. Offline printing is possible both via SD card and USB.

• Quiet Printing

The Artillery GENIUS 3D printer works very quietly. You can almost only hear the ventilation.

• Printing Speed

The printing speed of up to 150 mm/s is an advantage. The large selection of different filaments that the GENIUS accepts is also positive.

• Good Cabling

The cables in the motherboard are now used by means of plug connections.

Disadvantages

• Plastic Components

The Artillery 3D printer has been built with some plastic components, and some of them are exposed to enormous stress.

• Weak Filament Holder

We also had some issues with the filament holder. According to the manufacturer, the holder is adjustable. However, we found that this made it difficult to use some filament coils. Moreover, since the holder is only placed on or plugged into the device, it is not stable. Therefore, after our first printing attempts, we decided to use a filament holder that can be set up separately. We then placed them on a box that was the right height.

Conclusion

The Artillery GENIUS 3D printer is suitable for beginners as well as for professional users. About 95 percent of the device is supplied pre-assembled. Therefore, professionals should only need around 10 minutes to set it up. Beginners should, of course, plan a little more time.

The printer has all standard functions and can be leveled both automatically and manually. It can also be operated almost intuitively via the touchscreen display.

The GENIUS works very quietly compared to many other 3D printers. It can process ABS, PLA, TPU and flexible filaments, among others. Of course, the 3D printer also allows individual adjustments. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find any information on which operating systems the Artillery GENIUS is compatible with, apart from Windows, and which file formats it accepts overall.

If you can invest a little more money, you should rather opt for the big brother Artillery Sidewinder X1 .

If you prefer a model with almost the same building area as the Artillery GENIUS, the Creality Ender 3 might be a cheap alternative for you.

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