Sovol SV06 Plus ACE 3D Printer Open Source, 500mm/s Max High Speed 3D Printers, Fully Auto Leveling, with Camera Upgraded Structure Planetary Dual Gear Direct Drive Large Volume 11.8x11.8x13.8 inch

The media could not be loaded. I've just recently gotten back into 3D FDM printing and I was interested in purchasing a new printer that had some of the latest bells and whistles. When I began researching the purchase I became a bit overwhelmed due to countless brands, types, sizes and price ranges of printers that are on the market Needless to say I had a difficult time deciding on which to buy. I ended up stumbling across a video on youtube reviewing the Sovol SV06 which led me to finally make a decision. I thought the price was great and it has all of the features that I was looking for in a printer. I made the purchase on a Thursday night and it was on my doorstep by Saturday morning.Unboxing impressions - This printer comes packaged very well.... It's packaged so well that I didn't see the extruder assembly in the foam packaging and almost threw it out with the foam. All parts and pieces are tightly packed and there was no sign of possible damage to any of the components. Good job Sovol.Assembly impressions - Getting this printer put together and ready for printing was easy and quick (15-20 minutes). The instructions are simple to understand and the packages of screws used for assembly are all labeled based on which step you're on in the process. It couldn't have been easier.Getting it ready to print -The instructions show you how to level this bed properly using the mesh leveling. First you level the Z, which is automatic. Then you auto home and set your z offset using a piece of A4 paper. You then tell the printer to run mesh leveling which takes a couple of minutes but then you're ready to go. No more fiddling with knobs to level the bed (Amen!)Print quality impressions -Like most folks my initial print was the file that's included on the SD card - in this case it was the Boat Benchy. I'm not used to having perfect first prints on a brand new 3d printer but this one comes really close. There were a few whisps of filament on the model but nothing I'd go so far as to call "stringing" and one quick blast of heat from the heat gun made all whisps disappear. (Photo attached shows the whisps.) Ever since then I've had nothing but fantastic prints. Some models have whisps, others do not so I think it has more to do with me not having settings dialed in for the different filaments that I've been using. Regardless, the prints turn out looking great!After several successful prints on this machine I wanted to really test how level the bad was by loading it up and watching the first layer and I've attached an image to this review that shows just how well that layer went down. It was perfect and consistent across the entire bed. Adhesion was good throughout the entirety of the print and all parts turned out excellent (the parts in the photo were used to make the robot hand which is also pictured)The few failures that I've had on this machine have been while attempting to print with old Sainsmart TPU that's been sitting around my house for a year or two. I've attempted to dry it but I haven't yet to dialed in the settings but I expect that I'll have better results once I do.Filaments that I've used to print with so far - TPU, PLA, PLA+ and PETG.This is my first time attempting to print with PETG as I've always heard that it was a difficult filament to get quality prints with and surprisingly I've had NO issues and it turns out I really like printing with PETG now (go figure). Inland PLA+ has also been a really good filament to print with on this thing.The only minor thing that this printer is missing is a filament runout sensor. I've never had to rely on one but it's a nice feature to have, just in case. Sovol has addressed this with the release of the SV06 Plus that just recently came out and you bet I also ordered that printer for the larger build volume. .So, all in all I would absolutely recommend this printer to anyone. Ease of use and the high quality prints right out of the box makes this a great buy for beginners as well as those that have experience. For the price you can't go wrong with this machine. Mine has been going nonstop since I put it together!

Summary: Worked out of the box and was printing decent quality items the same day. The software is standard Orca Slicer and tweaked Klipper, so the manufacturer can't lock main features behind a paywall. Runs on your network and is opensource, they even provide the 3d files of the printer so you can print replacement/modified parts if you want. Sovol was smart and enlisted a few good content creators to make how-to videos, including setup and upgrades. I only have 24 hours of total print time and will update the review later if needed.Background: I started on a borrowed Monoprice MP Mini and learned a lot, especially about build volume and bed slingers. The Mini had ok print quality on most things, was slower, needed a micro SD card to get files to it, and had no way to check on prints remotely (prints fail, it happens but without having it close by you just don’t know if everything is ok). I am an IT person by trade, so anything that connects to my home network get severely locked down. I also have had far to many devices that stop working because the manufacturer decided not to support the web portion it needed even though the device still works great.My requirements:Needed larger build volume: 350mm x 350mm x 345mm vs 120mm x 120mm x 120mmNeeded LAN connection: RJ45 (ethernet) and WifiNo Planned obsolescence: Open Source and upgradable with no internet required to work.Works without constant fiddling: I can send to Orca Slicer from thingiverse on my desktop and just print.Need remote monitoring: Has a webcam and connection to Orca Slicer. Simply print and watch it work from your desktop.Need a removable plate: PEI plate includedNeed option to print fast: 700mm/sec vs 55mm/secAfter diving down the rabbit hole, I wanted to build a Voron but currently do not have the time or printer with a big enough build volume to print the parts needed. I looked at the other name brand printers, but ruled out most. The Sovol is like a Voron, but mostly put together. It took me a few hours with help from small curious onlookers to get it out of the box, setup, and printing (even though I overly complicated the setup). The directions are good and there are a number of Sovol sponsored videos showing tips and tricks to do a full setup. Once it was assembled and levelled, I connected it to its own vLAN on my network which had no internet (one of my big requirements). Then I downloaded and installed the latest Orca Slicer LTS build (an older version was on the included USB stick), plugged in the IP address of the printer (after creating a firewall rule because of the vLAN) and there it was. I used the “Open in Orca Slicer” option in Thingiverse (Printables has a button for Orca Slicer too), then hit the print button in Orca Slicer to send it remotely to the printer so it started printing and watched the printer auto level and start printing on the included web cam from the comfort of my office chair. No more walking to the basement where the printer is only to have forgotten the SD card. No more making 5 trips to see if the print is doing ok, just going back to Orca Slicer.The print quality was much better than the Monoprice and I could batch print things that were too big to fit one of one the Mini. Because it is so much easier to print and the prints look better, I use the Sovol printer far more.Future tinkering: I plan to enclose the Sovol, but can do that later because of the open source nature of the printer (they sell one or I can design my own). I plan to add a Bondtech INDX when they are out to give me a tool changer with Multi-Material (Looks pretty straight forward on the Sovol compared to other name brand printers). I plan to add fume exhaust with the enclosure, but again can wait until later. I was going to upgrade a whole bunch of things like the bed and leveling sensor, but the Sovol works good enough that I don’t have a reason too yet. The biggest benefit to me is that I CAN if I want and someone already has a video on how to do it which was probably sponsored by SOVOL. They want it to be your printer, not theirs that they are leasing you through software.Competitors:Prusa (top contender) - I really wanted an XL with a tool changer, but my pocketbook just laughed. Even a Prusa Core One or MK4s was almost twice the price. They are really nice and you get more features, but tinkering seems more difficult. Putting something like Bontechs upcoming INDX on a Core One would be interesting, but it will be a lot easier on the Sovol. Adding an enclosure to the Sovol is pretty easy, but would take tinkering to make it as good as the Core One. Also, software and parts seem a little more closed off, but again I would own a Prusa if Sovol didn’t make the SV-08.Bambu - Needs internet to use some of the main features and Bambu has automatically rolled out changes that ruffled a lot of feathers in the community. The printers look nice and are a great price if you are ok with being locked into the Bambu Ecosphere. The H2D looks amazing, but if their software stops working for some reason, so does your printer. The Sovol can be put on main line Klipper and already works with main line Orca Slicer.Voron 2.4 Kit - I just don’t have the time or budget right now. Maybe in a few years, but honestly I think starting with the Sovol and upgrading it is a better idea for people who don’t want the printer to be the hobby. The software and hardware are as open as you want, since you select and load everything.Creality, Anycubix, etc. - These all seemed to have similar issues with software and upgradability as Bambu (though not to the same extent). There are a lot of nice options and features on these, but I want to decide when I stop using the machine and how to make it better. Creality was a close contender behind Prusa, but again the Sovol just made more sense.