Flashforge Adventurer 3 Review

Flashforge Adventurer 3 Review

The Flashforge Adventurer 3 is a great 3D Printer for beginners, especially for kids. It may be one of the best in that regard for its ease of use and reliability. In fact, it is so easy that you just unbox it and add the supplied filament and you are good to go. The filament supplied is actually pretty good and is a decent size spool versus the tiny amount that comes with most printers.

The supplied directions are easy to use, and the printer comes with all the bells and whistles of machines that are far more expensive. See listed features below.

The enclosed design makes it easy to move around, it looks clean and is lightweight. The enclosure means no hanging wires for those pesky cats! The overall dimensions are 388 x 380 x 405mm or 15.3” x 15” x 16”, which makes it easy to fit on most surfaces. That size does make for a rather small build volume at only 150 x 150 x 150 mm but for beginners and kids, that will do almost anything. Even larger prints can be scaled down or sliced into multiple prints and glued together.

The heated build plate, although on the smaller size, has a nice textured surface and is flexible and removeable. This makes removing those well adhered prints easier. The heated build plate does not need to be leveled due to a self leveling desing, and can reach 100 degrees Celsius which makes is good for PLA and ABS. I have also had success printing with Wood filament.

The extruder is unique as well. It is easily removable for cleaning and heats up fast. As it is unique, meaning proprietary, it does need to be order from Flashforge if you want/need replacements. This can be difficult as they are frequently out of stock. I have heard of people upgrading the extruder but for the basic user, this is not something that will be done.

The touch screen is just okay, but the user interface is easily navigated with plenty of functionality. FlashPrint, the splicer software that comes with the printer, is great. Whether in basic or expert mode, you will get good, reliable prints. Other slicers like Cura, Prusaslicer and Simplify3D (for a cost) can be used as well with a little fine tuning and know-how.

Overall, I would highly recommend the Flashforge Adventurer 3 to anyone interested in getting into 3D printing for not a lot of money, my son loves it! At $449, it is not the least expensive, but it is absolutely one of the best bang for your buck 3D Printer available. Did I mentioned that it just produces GOOD prints and does so over and over.

Features:

  • Minimalist, lightweight, and compact design
  • Nozzle: detachable, remove nozzle just in one clip; stainless steel tube material, fast heating up to 200°C (392°F) in 50 seconds
  • Auto filament feeding with an enclosed built-in filament cartridge
  • Filament detection sensor (printing is paused when no filament is detected and resume when filament is present)
  • Removable and flexible heated print bed
  • 45 Decibel, ultra quiet during operation
  • Built-in 2 million pixel WiFi HD camera for remote monitoring
  • Full-color touch-screen with simple UI interface design
  • 3D Cloud, an integral 3D printing resource platform – Get free storage(register online), backup and share files, interact with other users, automatically slice print files, free model database; online management – transfer, monitor, and manage multiple printers effortlessly
  • One spool of filament is included (0.25 KG)

Specifications:
Printing

  • Build Volume: 150 x 150 x 150 mm
  • Layer Resolution: 0.1-0.4mm
  • Nozzle Diameter:   0.4mm (0.015in)
  • Max. Print Bed Temperature: 100°C (212°F)
  • Filament Compatibility: PLA/ABS/PEARL/PLA Color Change/METAL-FILLED/WOOD-FILLED/High Speed PLA
  • Max. Print Speed: 100mm/s

Mechanical & Dimensions

  • Extruder Quantity: Single
  • Frame and Body: ABS/PC 
  • Product Dimensions: 388 x 380 x 405mm (15.3 x 15 x 16 in)
  • Product Weight: 19.85 lbs (9 kg)

Software & Electrical 

  • Software: FlashPrint
  • Connectivity: USB Stick/Wi-Fi/Ethernet/Could Printing
  • Language Interface: English/Chinese/German/French/Italian/Korean/Czech/Japanese
  • Supports (OS): Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10, Mac OS X, Linu