Prusa MK4 review (2023) one of the best 3D printer on the market

After years of waiting, Prusa Research’s MK3S+ finally has a follow-up called MK3S++. On paper, it looks like the Prusa MK4 is just catching up by adding new features that are already available. But this machine is more than just the parts that make it up. The Prusa MK4 has a new way of auto-leveling the bed that makes perfect first layers and sets the Z height by itself. Also new are a planetary-geared “Nextruder” with a larger contact area to grab and control the filament, a 32-bit board, and a quick-swap nozzle.

Prusa MK4: Description

The “i3” model printer is its heart. As a desktop workhorse that’s usually sold as a kit or already put together and has gone through eight versions and countless updates to become the MK4, there’s always been a comfortable familiarity with Prusa’s releases.

All3DP and other publications praised the last model, the MK3S+, for a long time. When I thought about it, we realized that this was because it had nearly unmatched performance and reliability and was part of a growing ecosystem that made desktop 3D printing easy. Also, the MK3S+ didn’t have many real competitors in terms of quality at its price point.

Prusa MK4: Pros and Cons

Specification Table

Prusa MK4: Design

The Original Prusa MK4 is the follow-up to the Prusa Original MK3, which was often copied. It looks a lot like the last generation, so Prusa Research can sell upgrade kits to loyal customers so they don’t have to get rid of their old MK3s. More to come about the kits. In a blog post, Josef Prusa said that the MK4 still has the classic Prusa orange and black look, but that 90% of the machine has been changed.

The frame is now made in-house from a powder-coated die-cast aluminium alloy. It looks a lot like the company’s shiny Galaxy Black filament. The orange parts are still 3D printed at Prusa Research using a farm of MK3s and MK4s to print in PETG Prusament. Prusa says he still uses 3D-printed parts to show that his machines can do the job.

This brings up an interesting point: the launch of the MK4 was a surprise to everyone outside the company, but Prusa Research has been testing the new printers in its office and factory for about a year. This also means that the MK4 that customers get has already been tested by Prusa’s team and should have few bugs.

Everything you’d expect to find in a new i3 design is in the machine. It has two Z-axes, automatic bed levelling, whisper-quiet fans, a magnetic flex plate, a colour screen, and whisper-quiet fans. Files can be moved with a USB port on the front or with Wi-Fi. What’s most exciting is that, as Josef Prusa told us in an interview, the new firmware is based on Marlin but has a lot of Klipper in it. The MK4 will be able to run faster with the new firmware, but it will still have the same quality.

It’s not quite done yet, and we’re still waiting for an update for Input Shaping, which will really tune the printer for high-speed printing. Prusa said it should be ready for sale about a month after the launch date. Back to the hardware, the E3D extruder and hotend have been replaced with the “Nextruder” made by Prusa, which you can also find on Prusa’s new XL 3D printer. It has a 10:1 planetary gearbox and a pancake stepper motor that power a 35mm no-slip drive gear.

Prusa MK4: Setup

Setting up was a breeze. There’s nothing to put together. When you take it out of the box and plug it in, it starts to test itself. This is the only printer we have with a guided setup that checks all the motors, sensors, and heating elements. It is nice to see everything get tested and get a green tick mark. It has a 3D print still on the plate when you take it out of the box, which means they tried it at the factory before sending it out.

Prusa MK4: Features

It costs $1099 and has a 32-bit design, 250210220 mm build volume, easily swappable nozzles, and a die-cast sandblasted aluminium frame. The 32-bit STM32 processor on the xBuddy mainboard lets it do a lot of things that the Klipper can do. In fact, Prusa says that the company did a makeover based on Klipper’s ideas that increased speeds and made parts look better.

A load cell sensor calibrates and levels the build plate, either in a small area or over the whole area. This lets the first stages be much better. Quick swap nozzles can be changed by removing two plugs and two screws. This makes it easier to get around nozzle blocks and could lead to a lot more nozzle designs or nozzles that can be switched out. Mesh levelling can also be done only in the places where parts will be made.

This load cell also makes it easy to calibrate in the future. It’s nice to have a better LCD screen and RGB lights that let you see how the print job is going from far away. People say that better stepper motors will get rid of the annoying moiré patterns on parts that are caused by the vibration of stepper motors.

Resonance from chassis vibration is also taken care of by a feature called “Input Shaper.” This feature helps reduce vibration by making it easier for the stepper motor to accelerate and by making it less likely that the motor will stop and start suddenly. Under extrusion, the pressure advance decreases.

Prusa MK4: Printing

A full roll of Prusament PLA Galaxy Black comes with the MK4. Check out our guide to the best filaments for 3D printing for ideas on how to get more colors and materials, like silks and coloured filaments. There are a few pre-sliced models on the USB stick that show what the MK4 can do. We chose the Robo Alpaka because it doesn’t need any supports and has a lot of fine features and overhangs.

The print came out clear and just right. This took 7 hours and 46 minutes to print in Galaxy Black pre-sliced by Prusa Research with a layer height of 0.2. Next, this bust of Josef Prusa by Fotis Mint was made. Fotis is a great artist, and this sculpt has a lot of small details. We used a layer height of.15 and the “quality” setting, which made the printer print at a slow 45mm/s with an infill speed of 90mm/s. There were no supports, and every letter is clear. The hair and glasses have a lot of detail, and the skin is very smooth. It took 8 hours and 52 minutes to print the whole thing.

Prusament Galaxy Silver was used to print the bust, and Prusament Galaxy Black was used to print the base. To test PETG, we used Tinkercad to make a phone stand that could hold my old iPhone at the right angle so we could watch the prints. This was produced with almost no layer lines and a tiny mistake right where the arch wasn’t supported. It took 2 hours and 57 minutes to print in Prusament Carmine Red with a 0.3 layer height, 70mm/s on the walls and 200mm/s on the infill.

Final Words

Now that we’ve talked about how great the technical specs are, you might be thinking how much this amazing 3D printer will cost. The Original Prusa MK4 is priced fairly, starting at $899 for the kit version and $1,199 for the fully built version. Given its functions and how well it works, the price is a great deal.

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