If it were me making this decision, I'd go with the ankermake, because the of the speed difference. The 3D printing world seems to be moving toward Klipper, and having wifi from the get-go is a big win in my opinion. Dealing with 1990's style SD-cards has always seemed a bit crazy to me. Imagine having to take an SD card to a ink jet printer whenever you wanted to print. I don't understand why there are so many modern printers without at least ethernet, if not WiFi. I feel that they have hung onto some "standards" from like 15 years ago that no longer make sense. The S1 Pro really only has the "can stand-alone" feature that distinguishes it. If you want local control on the Ankermake, you could just mount an old smart phone on the side, loaded up with the app, right? All that said, I still have my original Creality S1 (not the pro), and besides the inconvenience of not having WiFi, it's been working well for better than a year. I bought it before the Pro, and later the Ankermake, came out. I like Creality products, but they really ought to update their product line with some modern kit, like Klipper, Wifi, and CAN bus (to replace the fragile and klunky ribbon cable).
I’ve described my m5c as like an inkjet or laser printer, you send the file and it prints. The industry has been allowing age old problems too long. I’m at about 60 prints on the m5c and 3 have messed up. 1 was from printing in 58f temps (added an enclosure after) and 2 were from laziness and not cleaning the plate after picking off other prints with filthy greasy hands 😂
Enjoyed the video, but I feel the need to correct a couple of errors. During the video, a text popup says that the filament runout sensor on the AnkerMake is in the side column enclosure, and this is correct for the M5, but on the M5C the sensor is actually inside the print head assembly. And it is the only filament sensor I've ever had that actually works fairly well. Also, you stated that the M5C MUST be connected to WiFi to use it, and this is not quite accurate. You do have to connect to Wifi for the initial setup, but if you use an old smart phone to run the app, it will use Bluetooth if the WiFi is not available, so you technically can use it without WiFi. (I do this all the time because my WiFi is a little flakey.) It will display a warning the whole time, but it does work. (Also, being connected to your local WiFi network does not mean it's connected to the internet, but that's just picking nits, since most people will have their WiFi router connected to the internet.) Of course, you will not be able to update the firmware or to control the printer directly from the slicer without WiFi, so it's preferable to have it connected, but you can print from a USB-C drive just fine. Also, their slicer crashes pretty regularly, so I very much prefer to use the USB drive until they get their software sorted out. As for the reverse bowden tube, you could add one to the Ender-3 easily enough and use it with a side mounted spool holder or filament dryer rather than the top mount holder. But the cable management on the M5C is much better than on the Ender-3. And that silly looking button on the M5C has actually proven pretty handy for me. When the printer is idle, a single press will print the newest file on the USB-C drive, a double press will reprint the last print (very handy when you're printing 300+ toys for Samaritan's Purse's Christmas Shoeboxes), and a long press will start or stop the auto level function. While printing, a single press pauses (or resumes) the print, a double press doesn't do anything by default, and a long press cancels the current print. You can modify the button functionality using the printer settings in the app. Still, good video, and if you're gonna donate one to your daughter's friend, I think either one would be an awesome choice. Personally, I'd trade my Ender-3 Max Neo for another M5C any day.
Thank you for your excellent comments. I have gotten a clarification from Ankermake about using the M5C without wifi. Yes it will work but it does sound like it is not supported.
It is not about the printer its self, it is also about the community around it. So, Ender wins as always! E3S1PRO is very good machine which can be upgraded with no limit up to the sky...
It would be good if you could inform your viewers that this printer does not recognise folders on the SD card, I finally got Creality to admit today that this is correct. their reply is below: If you put the folder in the memory card, the display will not recognize it, please do not put the folder into the memory card, and the print file should be placed in the root directory of the memory card. If placed in a folder, it may be misrecognized (Their spelling not mine). So there you have it, they screwed up the software, which is effectively a downgrade on this machine!
I got my m5c for $330 on cyber Monday. I gave my s1 to my brother in law. Anker has some teething problems, but I’ll bet anyone that they take over the scene in due time.
Considering the need to print nylon, I would consider the Bambu Lab P1S or Creality K1 (hopefully they've fixed it like the Max model) and I'm not sure it would be successful anyway. I may have had crappy nylon filament, but it was challenging to print nylon even in my Voron V0 where my chamber is typically above 50 C.
S1 Pro is great - I hated it at first after the Ender 3 (which was a printing machine!), I could not get it to level and print adhesion was a nightmare, nearly sold it and moved on, but after persevering and a little research I've got it printing like a daemon! In fact the prints now stick so hard I have to let it cool and knock them off with a hammer! Not tried the high temp materials yet I'm happy with PLA+, flexi TPU and Super Tough PLA at the moment
If you use a fan to cool the print surface to below room temperature, around 21C, the print will come off more easily. Another trick, just put the print bed with the print in the freezer for a couple of minutes.
The key to successful prints on the S1 models is to FIRST manually level the print surface using the wheels just like you do with a standard Ender 3. Then run ABL which will fine tune the extrusion heights. If your bed starts out to badly out of level the ABL will not work properly. Then adjust the Z offset until a piece of paper under the nozzle is difficult but not impossible to slide out. If it slides out freely you need to lower the nozzle, if it tears the paper it is took tight. Next wash off the print surface with dish soap and water to get any oil from your hands off the surface. Finally print a test print and watch the first layer carefully. You want the filament to stick but you do not want the nozzle to smear the filament. If it smears the nozzle is took low.
@@rookenheim6482 Yes there is a good YT video (won't post here or may be rude!) but you manually level bed, then auto level bed, set z offset, then store the bed level mesh into memory slot1 (there's a gcode line you put into the printer profile) it then uses that and doesnt auto level every print, which mine was doing badly, and forgetting the z offset, and the temp was going up and down and up and down as it levelled, now I run the nozzle to 210, bed to 60 (my PLA+ settings) then hit print and it just runs one out!
Hey there! Question for you - do you think the M5c needs the pseudo-bowden tube at all? I have an older Ender 3 Pro I upgraded with a direct extruder, and have a custom build filament distribution system. It would be easier in my setup if I can directly feed the filament without the guide tube.
You don't need the guide. I removed mine entirely and it didn't cause any issues over several spools worth of prints. Some say you should use a small section to make it easier to load, but I don't think does. You can feel the filament "click" into place when it's in right.
This is a really odd comparison and I'm not even sure what the point is? Other than the fact that they're both cartesian FDM printers, there are pretty much no overlaps on any other aspect.
Personally I would never buy a product that is (fully) dependent on an app, because you never know how long such an app is supported. There are many examples out there that support this point of view, including from trusted brands. And then there is the issue of the necessity to be constantly connected to this company via the internet (that you mentioned). Finally there are also quality issues with the Ankermakes, just do your research. Never understood this preoccupation with maximum speed, be it cars, cameras, 3D printers, or what not. There really are things that are more important, considering most of us aren’t running a printer farm.
I would like a comparison between the ankermake and the new creality ender 3 v3 se, would be a blast to see what a £180 printer with the feature set and klipper factory installed does against the m5c
Keep watching the channel I will be doing some speed tests using the Creality Sonic Pad -- Klipper running on Creality provided hardware that is less expensive than a Raspberry Pi today, as an upcoming video.
I wish my hasidic neighbours would take a leaf out of your book, they don't even have a computer in the house let alone a 3d printer, or know what an xbox is. You should do some outreach program for them
