The long-awaited Anycubic Photon Mono is finally out, we had the chance to try it and print a few models with it. Overall it is an excellent entry-level printer with a small price tag and a high resolution. Anycubic proved once again their expertise regarding MSLA printers.

Top Features

Here are some of the main features that Anycubic included in their new release:

6’’ 2K Monochrome LCD

The main feature of the Anycubic Photon Mono is a 6” Monochrome LCD screen. The 2K resolution guarantees a good level of detail while maintaining the overall price of the printer low. Monochrome screens allow the printer to use less energy for printing while decreasing the times for exposure, down to 1.5 seconds per layer. The lifespan of a regular monochrome LCD screen is to be about 2000 hours, 4 times more than a regular RGB LCD.

New Matrix Parallel Light Source

An extremely powerful light source that in combination with the monochrome screen offers unprecedented short exposure time for such a small machine. The distribution of the lights and the lenses help to achieve a more uniform exposure while maintaining low consumption of electricity. The new light design also brings more uniform exposure, higher efficiency, and better heat dissipation.

Anycubic Slicer Software

Surprisingly, Anycubic opted for the development of its own slicing software. Quite a bold move compared to the rest of their competitors. The slicer offers basic slicing functions plus some extras to hollow and split your files. It also supports up to 8x anti-aliasing for higher resolution.

There is surely room for improvement but it will be interesting to see how this slicer will evolve in the future.

New FEP Design

The Fep tray is one of the most unexpected but pleasant features of the Photon Mono.

The standard two screws system makes the Fep very easy to remove while the shape of the tank clearly aims to make the life of any maker much easier. The corner of the tank allows the resin to be easily removed and displaced back in the bottle. A neat design that also includes a set of very useful embossed bars that will help you understand the amount of resin in the tray.

Lid Detection

Another unexpected pleasant surprise of the Photon Mono. Due to a sensor posed at the back of the printer, the print won’t start unless the lid is correctly placed on top of the printer.

In case the print is in progress, it will be halted if the lid is removed. A simple yet useful feature which can avoid you bad surprises, particularly if you’re new to 3D printing.

High Quality Z-axis

As the most experienced user knows, a solid Z-axis is quite important for the stability of the printer and consequently a good result on its prints. The Photon Mono presents a solid rail structure with a very easy to calibrate building plate, thanks to its 4 screws system.

Printing Quality

The end result of these features is a very good printing quality for a small price. Aside from a bit of warping at the external side of the screen, we didn’t encounter any problems during the printing process. We were positively impressed by the overall quality of the printed models, particularly considering the low entry barrier for this machine.

Price

Probably the best feature of this printer. To celebrate the release of the Photon Mono and its 5th anniversary, Anycubic released the Photon Mono for pre-order at the reduced price of $209. A limited quantity of machines available at the pre-order price on Anycubic’s website.

Full Technical specs:

Printing

System : ANYCUBIC Photon Mono

Operation : 2.8 inch Touch Screen

Software : ANYCUBIC Photon workshop

Connectivity : USB

Technology: LCD-based SLA

Light-source: high-quality filament（wavelength 405nm）

XY Res.: 0.051mm 2560*1620（2K）

Z Axis Res.: 0.01mm

Layer Res.: 0.01 ~ 0.15mm

Printing Speed: MAX 50mm/h

Rated Power: 45W

Physical Dimensions

Printer Size : 227mm(L)*222mm(W)*383mm(H)

Build Volume: 130mm(L）*80mm(W）*165mm（H）

Material: 405nm UV Resin

Matteo Vezzali