Overview

Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer is the third printer produced by Anycubic. It is a solid and metal-framed 3D printer that is delivered practically fully assembled.  Here are its technical specifications:

• Printing Technology: (Fused Deposition Modeling)
• Layer Resolution: 0.05-0.3 mm
• Positioning Accuracy: X/Y 0.0125mm Z 0.002mm
• Supported Print Materials: PLA, ABS, HIPS, Wood
• Print Speed: 20~100mm/s (recommended speed 60%)
• Nozzle Diameter: 0.4mm/1.75mm
• Build size: 210 x 210 x 205mm
• Operational Extruder Temperature: Max 260°C
• Operational Print Bed Temperature: Max 110°C
• Printer Dimensions: 405mm x 410mm x 453mm
• Input Formats: STL, OBJ, DAE, AMF
• Ambient Operating Temperature: 8°C – 40° C
• Connectivity SD Card, USB Port (Expert users only)
• Package weight: 16.5

Items in Anycubic I3 Mega 3d Printer Box

The total size of the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer box is 15g.  Inside the box, there are two layers of mini foam boxes. The two foam boxes are packed with all the tools and accessories you need to set up, print, and repair your printer when need be. In the boxes, you will find:

• 1x AnyCubic i3 Megabase
• 1x AnyCubic i3 Mega frame
• 1x 1k test PLA filament (random color)
• 1x quick start guide
• 1x SD card reader
• 1x 8GB SD card
• 1x USB cable
• 1x spare hot-end
• 1x spare end-stop
• 1x spool holder
• 1x power cord
• 1x toolset
• 1x tweezer
• 1x pillar
• 10x screws
• 1x scrapper
• 1x glove

What sets Anycubic i3 mega 3d printer apart?

Compared to other 3D printers, the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer comes with unique features that set it apart from the rest. These features include:

Affordability

Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer costs below $300, which is low compared to the quality it offers. Most 3D printers cost more for less value.

It Comes Practically Fully Assembled

As mentioned earlier, the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer comes practically fully assembled. All the parts and accessories needed to set up, start, and carry out your printing process as well as all the tools you will need to repair and maintain your printer is already in the package, unlike other 3D printers, which you would have to buy some parts separately for a complete set-up, printing, and maintenance.

Quality and Strength

Just by looking at the Anycubic 3D printer physically, you will know it possesses great quality. Anycubic 3D printer is rigid, stable, and well-structured, which makes it a more reliable and durable asset for you.

All the engineering, including wiring inside and outside, was designed to ensure that the user does not encounter technical problems in any way.

Easier Leveling

Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer comes with an auto-leveling sensor, which makes leveling easier and faster. Most 3D printers are not equipped with this feature, so they always have to settle for the manual leveling method, which takes more time.

Anycubic I3 Mega 3d Printer Features

Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer has many features that make it unique from other 3D printers available. These features include:

• Filament Sensor:  With a dedicated filament sensor, you will be able to know when you run out of filaments so you can add more filament and continue your printing process. With this feature, you are never caught unaware, as the dedicated sensor would notify you whenever the filament is in use is getting exhausted. This particular feature is what a lot might not expect from a printer as affordable as this; however, an Anycubic printer proves to deliver more than expected.

• Auto-Resume: This feature lets you start from whenever your printing stopped when there is a power outage.  This feature is quite exceptional and is not common to many 3D printers, including expensive ones. With the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer, you do not have to worry about a power outage disrupting your printing process because you can always kick start from where you stopped whenever the printer is powered on.

• Sensitive Touch Screen:  One of the many ways Anycubic i3 Mega sets itself apart from the rest is through its responsive touch screen. Most 3D printers have a click wheel/screen, which makes it really slow to work with. However, with a sensitive touch screen on Anycubic i3, it is easy to work, input instructions, and navigate during set up and printing. The buttons are large enough for easy navigation, and the commands are simple to understand.

• Anycubic Ultrabase Print Bed: The Anycubic Ultrabase print bed ensures that your prints are held firmly on the Platform, so they do not fall off. With this feature, you can be certain your prints would stick well on the surface during the printing process so they can come out successfully.

• Titan Extruder: The Titan Extruder offers a better printing process when using flexible filament to produce better results.

Pros of The Anycubic I3 Mega 3d Printer

• It works well with most materials.
• Offers remarkable printing quality at an affordable rate
• It resumes after a power outage.
• Has an ultra-base heated bed
• Provides quick printing about most materials
• It has a well built and strong frame.

Cons of The Anycubic I3 Mega 3d Printer

• It is a bit noisy
• The filament can be hard to remove
• Nozzle may clog

What You Will Like About Anycubic I3 Mega 3d Printer

Using an Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer comes with many advantages. They include:

Easy Set-Up

You can easily set up the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer. Once you begin, it takes less than 30 minutes to set up. This is made possible because the printer comes almost fully assembled. The manual is also made available for you to navigate through whenever you encounter challenges with set-up or printing.

Build quality

The Anycubic i3 3D printer is sturdy built. Apart from the fact that it is made from metal to enhance strength and durability, its system has also been wired appropriately to increase its efficiency.

Print quality

Anycubic 3D i3 Mega 3D printer produces quality prints due to the advanced features it is equipped with.

Reviews on Amazon attest to these benefits; here is a review of a user, among others:

‘’Printer is Extremely easy to use, and any issues I have had have been user error. The build quality is exceptional, and the quality of prints so far has been amazing. Been printing abs plan and path so far and really have been stunned with the results. Probably the best printer you can get for under 800$. If you can’t figure something as simple as this printer out, you might try finding a simpler hobby. (this is as easy as 3d printing gets)’’

Great Printing Process

The Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer offers a better printing experience through its unique features. The filament detection lets you know when the filament is getting exhausted, and the resume process lets you pause the printing process while you reload and continue printing without any difficulty. This also helps when there is a power outage as you can continue from where you stopped whenever you power the printer again. All of these contribute to an excellent printing experience with the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer.

What You Won’t Like About the I3 Mega 3d Printer

Using the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D firmware comes with its challenges.  Here are some downsides to using Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer:

Noise

 Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer produces noise during the printing process, which you might find repelling.  Many users have expressed their displeasures about the noise it emits. For example,  Jialin Z, a user on Amazon, reviewed that the printer was too noisy, although it produced quality prints.

                           ‘Too Noisy…even the outcome is good, though.’

Another user on Reddit, Majstor76,  reviewed that Anycubic i3 Mega 3D works nicely but for its noise.

              ‘’Would love it to be more silent and have wifi. Apart from that, it works nice.

Material might be hard to remove from the platform.

Another thing you might not like is the way the filaments sometimes become difficult to remove from the printing platform due to strong adhesion. However, this is based on the materials you use. The materials recommended for Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer by the manufacturers are PLA, ABS, HIPS, and Wood. Try to use the materials recommended by the manufacturer to prevent the printed objects from getting stuck on the Platform.

The nozzle may clog during printing.

Users have shared their experiences with the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer nozzle has not so pleasant. The filament strand is likely to tangle and get twisted, and it might ooze out of the nozzle while printing. Again, this boils down to the materials used in printing. If you do not use the materials recommended by the manufacturers (PLA, ABS, HIPS, and Wood), you are likely to experience this challenge that could have been avoided.

User Stories

Many users have expressed their views about their experiences while printing with an Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer.  Here are some reviews from Amazon and Reddit.

WranglerJR83 on Reddit commented that he is impressed by the quality of print Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer produced even as a budget printer.

‘’’Just got the same printer. This thing is pretty spectacular for a budget printer. I have printed the owls, a bench, and a tool holder since yesterday and have been thoroughly impressed with the quality using the Cura recommended settings. If you’re having issues, verify your bed level and height. I have found that those two items cause the majority of my 3d printer issues.”

XEntex4, a user on Reddit, expressed that the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D is the best in terms of print quality and price.

”I was too, but this machine is the greatest thing ever in terms of the print quality; it can rival any machine even much more expensive ones, and don’t even get me started on the ultra base that thing is incredibly awesome! If your thinking about getting the ender 3, don’t. This is, in my opinion, the best 3d printer you can get in 2018.”

Vincent, a user on Amazon, rated Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer five stars of five stars. He expressed that the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer produced excellent prints.

‘I wanted to wait a bit on my review after using it for a while and seems to be a very solid printer, and the tech support has been awesome I did find one flaw in the machine design, but it is fixable by a download from thing verse where the wires plug into the extruder on top seem to come to loose some times during printing causing the temperature drop during p[printing, but there is an item that can be downloaded on things-verse to fix this problem as seen in photo one, I’m printing 28mm items which are turning out beautiful I have included some of the pictures of what I have done thus far I would recommend this product, and I am very satisfied with its performance. I hadn’t cleaned off any of the prints, yet I usually do that when I go into paint mode”.

Dale. B on Amazon rated the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer five stars. He commented that the printer did a good job, although he had some challenges with the Y-axis, the manual, and the nozzle.

‘This is my first 3D printer, so I was a little apprehensive ordering from a manufacturer I’d never heard of. I will say, however, that the printer is awesome. It was delivered in a couple of days, and I had it unpacked and running within about 30 minutes of it arriving at my door. It’s very nearly completely assembled. The test print was done quickly with almost no effort. I had one problem; the Y-axis started stuttering and stalling. I thought it was the driver, and the seller sent a replacement set of driver boards — even AFTER I had found the loose cable and told them it was working fine. So, no problem with after-sale support. They include a few spare parts and tools, so if you beak a limit switch or have to replace the hot end, you’re covered.

I did have to adjust the proximity sensor used to level the bed a little. It was putting the nozzle too close to the bed, even when I adjusted it lower than the instructions said to. All it took was maybe 1/8 turn, and it now levels with the nozzle at the perfect height. I’ve been printing all kinds of stuff for a couple of weeks now, and I really have no complaints. Could you do that in the firmware? Maybe. Who knows? It’s not like there’s an actual manual for it.

Documentation is, well, honestly a little disappointing. It’s very sketchy. If you’re new to 3D printing as I am, do your homework. They don’t tell you what type of material the build surface is or that your PLA prints will be almost impossible to remove – until you let the build platform cool off. It would also be nice to see some sort of documentation about doing firmware updates — I’m sure they are frequent. Mine, for example, demands that you have no more than four code files on the SD card — it will not display more than that, even if you use the scroll arrows. A minor but irritating little bug, and I don’t see any updates on their site, and of course, no documentation about what’s safe to use, how to load it, or anything of the sort. So that is where there’s significant room for improvement. The printer itself, though, does a fine job, and I’m very happy with it”.

Another user on Amazon, Vincent, rated Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer five stars out of five. He expressed that the prints turned out excellent, although he encountered some fixable challenges.

‘I wanted to wait a bit on my review after using it for a while and seems to be a very solid printer, and the tech support has been awesome I did find one flaw in the machine design, but it is fixable by a download from thing verse where the wires plug into the extruder on top seem to come to lose some times during printing causing the temperature drop during p[printing, but there is an item that can be downloaded on things-verse to fix this problem as seen in photo one, I’m printing 28mm items which are turning out beautiful I have included some of the pictures of what I have done thus far I would recommend this product, and I am very satisfied with its performance. I hadn’t cleaned off any of the prints, yet I usually do that when I go into paint mode”.

AN3, an Amazon user, rated Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer four of five stars. He expressed that he was happy with his purchase, but he took a star off because of some challenges he encountered.

‘I just received this printer, and I’m pretty happy with it. It seems to be built quite well. You need to assemble the hoop to the base and install a few connectors, and the instructions are OK for that. It was obviously translated from Chinese but still fine.

First, there are two reasons I took off a star. First, I loaded up the filament they give you, and I discovered the first problem, the nozzle was clogged, and PLA wouldn’t come out when I manually fed it. I took it apart and found it clogged with red PLA, and since they gave me blue, I knew it wasn’t my fault. The good news is they give you some wrenches to take it apart, and even a replacement hot end if you need it, so that is very positive.

UPDATE: So I’ve had this printer for a bit over a month now. I’d say my rating is still accurate. It is a good printer if your willing to adjust it a bit, but out-of-the-box, it needs some tweaks. The bottom part of my bed was not level, so it was hard to level the top part of the bed, but I bent that to fix it. Then the Z level needed to be adjusted a bit depending on the material printed. It also seems to dribble a bit when moving the head more than my other printer. I added LED lighting across the top, which really should have been there anyway. For the price, it’s still a reasonable buy, but I see the price has been creeping up lately. Also, the firmware definitely needs some simple updates for usability, like one-touch raise head, one-touch heaters off.”

WranglerJR83 on Reddit commented that he is impressed by the quality of print Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer produced even as a budget printer.

‘’’Just got the same printer. This thing is pretty spectacular for a budget printer. I have printed the owls, a bench, and a tool holder since yesterday and have been thoroughly impressed with the quality using the Cura recommended settings. If you’re having issues, verify your bed level and height. I have found that those two items cause the majority of my 3d printer issues.”

Things to Consider When Buying Anycubic I3 3d Printer

Before purchasing the Anycubic i3 3D printer, there are certain things to note:

Price: The Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer is quite affordable. Therefore if you are looking into purchasing a printer for under $300 for great quality, then you should consider getting the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer.

Convenience:  If you enjoy convenience while printing, then you should consider purchasing the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer as it offers users great convenience while printing. Apart from its sturdy, compact size, the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer lets you print at your own pace without pressure. This means that you do not have to continue printing if you have to go somewhere else or do something else. You can always pause the printing and resume whenever you are already.

Use Recommended Filament: When purchasing the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer, you should buy the recommended filaments. The filaments recommended by the manufacturer include PLA, ABS, HIPS, and Wood. Using these filaments would ensure that you have a better printing experience and get better results.

The Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer is a great pick if you are going for affordability, quality printing, and convenience. However, if you are planning to print with other types of filament different from the ones the manufacturer recommended (PLA, ABS, HIPS, and Wood), then you should prepare for challenges with filament removal and clogs in the nozzle because many of the challenges users experienced while using the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer are based on the different filaments used. Before purchasing the Anycubic i3 Mega 3D printer, you should consider the pros and cons in this review and make your decision based on what is suitable for you.