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The Sunlu M1 Intelligent 3D pen (model M1) has been placed in my hands for an honest review. We all know that the Sunlu Filament is amazing, but is their hardware just as reliable? In this article, I will give you all the pros and cons of this 3d pen and if it’s worth the expense.
Speaking of Costs
Everyone always looks at the costs of an item before considering to purchase it. Is it worth your hard-earned cash? Well, I have found that the average price range for this Sunlu M1 is as low as $15.99 and as high as $34.99, and those are great! We all believe that you get what you pay for, though. If it’s cheap, it must be reasonable in quality. Right?
Let us start with the unboxing. It contains the Sunlu M1 3D Pen, two-finger guards, a Micro USB Cable, user manual, and two small coils of PCL filament.
Finger Guards
For a first time user, it is always a good idea to use the finger guards that come with a 3D pen. Not all manufacturers include those. In some cases, children and adults the same have burned the tips of their fingers when using 3D pens. Utilising the added guards can protect you from these possible burns… but to be truthfully honest, I don’t think the Sunlu M1 needs to include them. Now don’t get me wrong, the ceramic tip does heat up to a pretty hot temperature, but I don’t think it ever gets warm enough to cause damage to the skin unless held or pressed against it. It’s great that they include them anyway, but I drew on my hand because of the low temp tip! Not recommended, though, Safety First!
Filament
The Sunlu M1 comes packaged with two colourful (assorted) small rolls of PCL Filament, roughly 3 meters per roll. Enough to start learning the uses of the pen, but I wish it came with a bit more. It felt like I was getting the hang of it when I ran out of PCL filament. But no worries, I had my own PLA to use with it. The Sunlu M1 is capable of using PCL and PLA Filament, which is always a bonus to have a choice selection of capable materials. I only wished it could do ABS as well, but then I’m sure I would have to retract my statement on how “not hot” the ceramic tip gets.
Power
Included with your Sunlu M1 is the Micro USB Power cable. The cable itself is about 3ft in length, which gives you ample range when plugged in the wall for use. I only wish it came with a power adapter as well. Sadly you would have to use your cell phone charger adapter or purchase one separately for the M1 since it is not included. An external power bank would be a great item to purchase, as well.
The Sunlu M1 3D Pen
The Sunlu M1 comes in a variety of colours (yellow, blue, white, black, and pink) and has two buttons on it. One button to extrude the filament, which is known as the Operating key and one button to select PLA or PCL mode, which adjusts the needed temperatures to work with the two different filaments. I would have preferred to have an LCD screen of sorts to show myself the difference between PLA and PCL, but I think I’m just too greedy at this point.
But, How does it Print!?
Pretty damn well. I was expecting this to overheat due to a long time of usage like most 3D pens do, but it kept going. I used it for about 30 minutes, and I let my daughter (age 14) use it for about 2 hours continuous. The extrusion of the filament was pretty clean and quick, and the filament quality was terrific.
When printing in layers (horizontally) as a typical tabletop FDM printer would, everything was beyond my expectations. But then I tried printing vertically or diagonally? That’s when I realised this does not compare to a tabletop printer. It doesn’t cool as fast as it prints, making it almost impossible to print a simple line straight up or diagonally from one edge to another without support.
This I would consider a torture test that it failed in, but it wasn’t expected to pass to begin with. I’m not too comfortable with the Gripping/handling of the pen as well, it feels off-balance in a way, but that is my personal opinion. I liked this 3D pen so much. I ended up posting my first YouTube video on it. If you would like to see a quick filmed preview, please view below. I gave more detailed information in this article in comparison.
Want to check out another 3D pen? Check out my review of the Sunlu SL400a. Also, be sure to check out our page on 3D Model deals!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZIhyHjgSkU[/embedyt]
