What’s up everybody today we’re going to break down the differences between the Epax E10 and the Elegoo Saturn, two mid-sized resin printers. I bought both of these printers will my own money from the original manufacturers. I got the Elegoo Saturn as part of the pre-order that they did and have had it for about nine months. I just picked up the Epax E10 about a month and a half ago so I think I have a good amount of experience with both printers to give you a breakdown.
Printing
Printing wise these are both the same basic printer 4k monochrome you're going to get fantastic print results with both of these printers there's really no difference between one or the other when it comes to print quality. On the Epax E10 you're gonna get a little bit bigger build volume on the z-axis it's almost a full two inches 50 millimeters an additional z-height. If you're like me and you're printing fishing lure molds or you're printing larger objects masks helmets things like that extra two inches could really come in handy. Another quick difference is the vat volume the Elegoo Saturn holds about 500 milliliters the Epax E10 holds 700 milliliters again more milliliters better for larger prints less time refilling.
Build Plate Design
Let's take a quick look at the build plate design. The Elegoo Saturn has this ball with two set screws in it. It makes it really easy to adjust when you're leveling but it's also very prone to movement especially when you're kind of digging in and knocking off bigger prints from the build plate or just generally moving the build plate around outside of the printer and it bumps around a lot. I had a good deal of problems keeping that build plate level between prints and finally, I just resorted to leveling it after each print. The Epax E10 on the other hand has the kind of more traditional rectangular screw mount setup very very solid it came leveled from the factory and in months of printing hundreds of prints so far I haven't had to level it once it is rock solid. Another quick thing on the build plate design the Epax has, I don't know how to describe it, like a more rounded top to the build plate takes up more space in the vat so I think if you put the Saturn build plate style on the Epact you can eat even more resin in that vat but as it is now as it goes into the vat it really displaces a ton of resin which I guess could be good it's a little annoying though.
Overall Difference
Another big difference is the overall size the Saturn appears tiny compared to the Epax E10 even though they have relatively the same build size just the physical size of them is a lot different. If you're tight on space the Saturn is the one for you and one more quick thing here it's not super important but the Epax E10 comes with a SanDisk cruiser USB which is a little bit nicer USB stick than the more generic one that comes with the Saturn generally you're going to get better lifespan from a SanDisk USB than you will from a more generic USB when it comes to print speed. I don't see any real major differences here again internally I don't know if they're the exact same printer but they appear to be really close to the exact same printer.
Price
Finally, let's talk price and this is where it gets really complicated. The Elegoo Saturn list price is right around $500 if you can find one, they come up on Amazon and they get sold out really really quickly. If you go to Amazon right now there's a good chance that you're gonna only see resellers and they're selling it for about $749. The E10, on the other hand, I can only really find it available from Epax maybe Banggood and they all have the same relative price of $699. Another thing to consider is at the time of making this video in April of 2021, there seems to be a little bit of a supply chain issue with the Saturn they're rarely in stock on Amazon from Elegoo themselves, and parts are a little bit more difficult to come by. The Epax on the other hand, you can order any parts extra build plates extra vats extra screens whatever you need from their website and it appears to be readily available Elegoo. I’m in the process of replacing my LED screen right now and I had to contact them directly. They were super helpful but I had to contact them directly and they're shipping me one directly from China, it's going to take a few weeks to get here.
The Big Question
So the big question, is the Epax E10 worth $200 more than the Elegoo Saturn? Well, I would say yeah, in general, the better build quality the better construction, and at least right now the readily available parts put it over the top for me. If you are printing for a business the Epax E10 is the solid choice, now that's not to say that Elegoo Saturn is a bad printer, I've printed hundreds of prints on this thing it is really really good. If these printers were the same price the E10 would barely eke out the Saturn but for two hundred dollars less, the Saturn is an absolutely solid choice. You really can't go wrong with either of these printers guys they're both going to produce fantastic results for you. I'd say if you need that bigger build volume that extra two inches in the z then it's a no-brainer get the E10, if you're just printing minis you're not printing anything too high the Elegoo Saturn will rock your world with its build quality and speed.
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Hey guys thanks for watching. Take it easy, take care, and tight lines.