Phrozen Sonic Mini Review

The MSLA market is hot right now. Taiwanese manufacturer Phrozen just recently introduced to the market the Phrozen Sonic, a professional high-speed printing machine. However, only a few months after releasing this product, it’s already followed up with its all-new and improved Sonic Mini.

PRICE ON PHROZEN | AMAZON 

While the Sonic Mini looks a bit like Phrozen’s budget-friendly MSLA offering, the Shuffle Light, do not let design similarities deceive you. The new Sonic Mini is a totally different beast, capable of printing super-fast, under optimal conditions it can print as much as 5cm per hour.This installment can potentially massively disrupt things.Why? Because it’s way more affordable than what you’d have to spend to get your hands on its top competitors. Phrozen has killed it with the new Sonic Mini. Cheaper than its competition at this price point, it is still an exceptional 3D printer that’s easy to use and has a simple setup process.

Phrozen Sonic Mini Review

Let’s get started with this Phrozen Sonic Mini review.

Design

The Phrozen Sonic Mini’s deck has a lead screw with coupler, colorful resin vat, cutout features for optical endstop triggering, and a Z-axis casing that’s all visible.In addition to sharing the Sonic name with its older sibling, it also shares the same mono-LCD technology found in its predecessor. Special because it allows way more light than the LCD panels inside competitor resin printers, the mono-LCD display tech produces resin 3D printers than can cure layers in two seconds flat.However, it’s easy to see why the Sonic Mini is way more affordable than most of its competition. For starters, the new frame is a cheaply and easily mass-manufactured injection molded shell. While missing the sturdiness characteristic of the stamped metal machines in Phrozen’s past, the incredibly light Sonic Mini keeps a little heft in the base area, giving it a low center of gravity to resist tipping.

Phrozen Sonic Mini Features

Let’s look at some interesting features of the new Phrozen Sonic Mini.

1.    Highly-Responsive 2.8” Touchscreen Display

This resin 3D printer has a 5-inch touchscreen display you can use to operate it. As highlighted earlier, the display uses mono-LCD tech, allowing ultraviolet rays to pass through. This helps enhance printing speed as well as also decreasing layer cure time. The touchscreen is also durable and offers one-touch printing options.The display’s overall structure, and durable LCD tech means efficient heat dissipation and low maintenance costs. Monochrome LCDs can handle way more pressure and are generally more heat-resistant than their RGB LCD counterparts. In fact, it’s believed it takes them only about a second to cure one resin layer.Furthermore, it has a thermal stability lifetime of more than 2,000 hours, meaning you won’t have to worry too much about maintenance. 

2.    UV LED Matrix

The Sonic Mini 3D printer uses a parallel ultraviolet LED matrix backlight feature to help ensure great printing accuracy. The COB LED design’s traditional methods do not work as well as parallel ultraviolet LED matrix backlight systems (ParaLEDs) ParaLEDs give this printer great printing quality and accuracy for the entire build platform.

3.    ChiTuBox Software

This 3D resin printer features very user-friendly ChiTuBox software that’s in-built. It’s well-recognized for how quickly it slices large files while still being easy to use. No one likes huge learning curves, and Phrozen knew this too well when they decided to with ChiTuBox.

4.    High-Speed Printing

Unfortunately, this resin 3D printer has 62 microns XY resolution. However, this modest step backward is easily palatable when you think about the fact that the Sonic Mini can cure a resin layer in about one or two seconds or so.The printer is also compatible with 3rd party resin, and all your other typical LCD resins. However, it’s also compatible with most DLP resins, so you’re not limited to using fewer colors or expensive resin.Performing layer cures takes about two to three seconds tops, which is almost three seconds shorter than the six seconds most of the other competing 3D printers offer. Furthermore, the fact that the machine is working with lower resolution specifications does nothing to affect overall quality hence making that more like a negligible issue. 

5.    Quick Start Operation

You can start printing your test models within about five minutes or so. Setting the printer up is a breeze. All you need to do is put it on the building platform, ensure the resin vat is secured, and then upload the chosen file in three clicks.The Sonic Mini by Phrozen might just be one of the world’s most straightforward resin 3D printer systems for those looking to start their 3D printing journeys.

6. Enclosure and Odors

One of the worst things about using resin 3D printers is that horrible smell the resins produce. However, the Phrozen Sonic Mini pleasantly surprises in this category.It won’t take you more than two takes before you notice that where you’re using the printer hasn’t been engulfed by that typical chemical odor resins produce. With the Anycubic Photon machine, it’s almost impossible to stay in the same room while you work. Not only does the odor escape via the enclosure’s joints, but it has a fan that expels all the nasty particles without shame.The Sonic Mini’s enclosure may be your standard encapsulation in methacrylate but it’s very effective nonetheless. There’s almost no smell, and we’d dare say that the amount that exists only features when you’re pouring the resin or when removing the machine’s dome for extractions.

7. Translucent Resin Tank

When most people buy things they tend to pick metal over plastic because they think they get a better feeling. However, there are two main things about the Sonic Mini’s clear plastic buckets that’ll help change your mind.The first one is very simple, and most don’t even notice it until they start filling the bucket with liquid resin. You get to see the level of resin inside at all times. Meaning, if at any time you feel you haven’t put enough resin for the task, you can immediately see what’s going on and take advantage of easy access by carefully filling to your desired amount on the side.Secondly, you’ll be able to catch possible mistakes in the printing process way sooner than if you’re using aluminum trays. This is a huge benefit because you can avoid getting frustrated after having to wait until your piece has printed halfway to find out it had already come off in your tray, resulting in a waste of money and printing material.

8. Maintenance and Parts Removal

Access to extract the printer’s different parts as well as maintenance and handling of the machine has become incredibly easy to do. To get full 360 degrees access of the printer, all you need to do is remove the methacrylate enclosure at the top.Other 3D printers that are more “encapsulated” can only do these things frontally, something that can be very restrictive and quite uncomfortable. However, the Phrozen Sonic Mini’s packaging gives you more than enough freedom. With that said, even though these kinds of printers rarely need any maintenance, it doesn’t hurt to have such comforts.  

Performance

The ChiTu board helps keep things running in the Phrozen Sonic Mini MSLA machine, and ChiTuBox software means an effective and simple user experience. Even though the user interface has Phrozen branding, it’s recognizably ChiTuBox, meaning there aren’t any distracting vestigial functions and large buttons hold the hand.Handheld print preparation is done through a contemporary version of the ChiTu board, giving the user all they require to support, orient, and hollow before outputting .phz files that the Sonic Mini can read. Press “Print” if you want to select and print a model, “Tools” for testing the LEDs and LCD and leveling the plate, and “Info” for support contact details, version information, and the like.Although the LCD masking display has a lower XY res of 62 microns, the drop in resolution only becomes clear when you scrutinize prints under direct light. Mix this with enhanced layer cure times, and you’ve got a resin 3D MSLA printer unit that provides print quality close to the industry-leading MSLA 3D printers on the market faster and at a fraction of the price. Totally insane, right?Using the ChiTuBox’s default values, the Phrozen Sonic Mini spends less time actually printing and a lot more time repositioning to change layers.There might be some room for optimization to reduce print times even lower. Still, it is not clear if the cooling of the light engine has enough power to eliminate all the heat generated during printing with reduced screen-off time. This might be possible because mono-LCD panels are slightly more durable than non-mono ones.

Print Quality

The Phrozen Sonic Mini produces decent quality prints. Here is a rundown of the results we’ve had over time:

We also did a quick print comparison between Elegoo and AmeraLabs using the Sonic Mini. It’s a shame the camera cant pick up the quality difference. However, the results spoke for themselves. Ameralabs is a lil pricey but worth it.

Next. we found this tiny elf on Thingiverse. We had no idea it was actually this small (just 1.34 inches tall). However, the Sonic Mini handled it like a champ! The print took a total of 2.5 hours to print.

The next test was printing the popular 3D Benchy with the SirayaTech Blu resin. From the results, we still need to tweak the profile a bit. However, we were happy with the print.

Benchy and it’s little brother were next. Needless to say, we were impressed.
First print completed successfully on the

Phrozen Sonic Mini Specifications

General

Software

Weight & Dimensions

Pros

•         A budget-friendly 3D printer that provides excellent features at a fraction of the price.
•         Has a high vertical and horizontal plane resolution results in better print quality.
•         Incredibly versatile because of its wide array of resins.
•         Easy to both level and assemble.
•         Lightweight
•         Provides excellent print quality and print accuracy.

Cons

•         Comes with a flat build plate, making it harder to drop off resin. It retains plenty of resin because it contains plates that haven’t sloped enough. Most users find the surfaces a lot less smooth than its SLA 3D printer counterparts.
•         There’s a lot of vibration, and sometimes the machine can get a tad bit too noisy. Some users also find it hard to take their prints once they’re complete.

User Experience

Most of the functions on the Phrozen Sonic Mini will provide you with a satisfactory user experience, to say the least. One of the things many new owners are usually curious about is how it does with top leveling. The good news with the Sonic Mini in this department is you can take almost eight prints before you have to recalibrate the Z-platform’s height, making it a reliable enough printer.As far as the user interface is concerned, you’ll be getting access to something that’s both intuitive and simple. It takes no time at all before you can get up and running with your 3D printing. However, keep in mind it’s still a resin 3D printer, so basically, 99 percent of the parameters you can modify will depend on the slicer you use.It has a spectacular printing speed per layer, two to three seconds, to be more precise, which is way faster than what you’ll get from other resin 3D printers at this price point. In fact, this may arguably be one of the best things about this specific 3D printer.The MSLA 3D printer can save so much time when it comes to printing because it uses an LCD masking display screen with a lower resolution than usual. This panel allows for more UV light.To start the surface leveling process, press the designated button on the touchscreen LCD display. The same software you use to do this is also what will help guide you through the instructions. You don’t have to go on watch YouTube videos or read a written instruction manual. It’s a pretty straightforward process. All you need to do is loosen four hex screws and when the printer’s platform lowers to the end, tighten everything and you’re done.

Conclusion

Phrozen offers way more than just an interesting 3D printer with Sonic Mini. You’ll be getting an easy-to-use product at an incredibly affordable price point. Most people can gather up enough cash to take this wonderful 3D printer home.Considering how faster it is at printing compared to all the other 3D printers at this price point and the many exciting features it provides at such an affordable price, this might just be one of the best options for those starting out on your 3D printing journey.If you’re looking for something that provides excellent printing accuracy and quality at a reasonable price, then look no further because this is it.