Voxelab Aquila X2 3D Printer, Upgrade 3D Printer Integrated
Voxelab Aquila X2 3D Printer, Upgrade 3D Printer Integrated Structure Design with Carborundum Glass Platform and TMC2208 32-bit Silent Mainboard, 220x220x250mm Printing Size
From the brand
3D Printer Filaments
| Dimensions: | 57 x 38 x 22 cm; 8.2 Kilograms |
| Manufacture: | Voxelab |
| Dimensions: | 57 x 38 x 22 cm; 8.2 Kilograms |
| Origin: | China |
| Reference: | TYZ-X2 |
Basic machine, but it is one of the better ones. I am uncertain if it responds to all the Cura code faithfully there is very little print out on the screen. Excellent machine for an introduction to 3D Printing.
Loving this printer. New to 3d printing and I’m loving it. Watched video and followed instructions had no problems building it and leveling…
Love using this Aquila s2 as my first 3d printer, had absolutely no issues setting it up and printing straight out of the box. I’d highly recommended this to all beginners because it’s so basic and you can modify it with extras and get great prints. Get a good slicer other than voxelmaker and the prints are endless and amazing. Only had a few months and I’m addicted, already thinking about my next printer. Amazing hobby to get in to for all ages
After doing about 2 weeks research finally purchased the Aquila for my 11 year old daughter, however I have used it more than her! Always looking for new print ideas.
It took my friend about 1.5 hours to build, I did have to level the bed myself in which I found a YouTube video on.
The glass plate is good for adhesion however I always have to put some glue on.
I’ve done a few prints with it which have taken anything between 2 hours and 16 hours.
Downside is there should be an alert /alarm when the filament tangles up
Or snaps which on this model there isn’t one which can be annoying especially when you are doing a print throughout the night.
Fab price when I got it and I’m still learning
Can be a little noisy however it’s in a room which we don’t use that often
Comes with some tools to get you started and a bit of filament to make the test models too.
This is my first 3d printer so was a bit of a daunting purchase, but at this price you can’t go wrong. Took about 2 hours to assemble, not sure why people are moaning about the instructions as I found them better than the YouTube tutorials. Levelled it, cleaned it, printed one of the test files and it was perfect first time. Very happy!
The video was a godsend, I don’t think you could build this from the book (though I understand it would need to be much bigger for someone like myself as I would need step by step (I am computer literate but not to the level of build required here)).
Now here’s the thing about the video. It’s superb, but it isn’t for this model. It’s for a very similar model but there are differences (the power supply on this model needs to be bolted on at the end, the video’s one is in-built).
And there’s part of the issue. One of the two vertical bars that hold the structure together are amongst the first thing bolted on, but it has holes on it that must be the correct way round to sink the screw into the assembly, so they don’t inhibit the printer moving up and down. Wasn’t to know this as it isn’t part of the video and guess what happened when I finished putting the printer together? Yep, the bar was on the wrong way round (it can go on either way, as told in the video, but in this model you really do need to stick it in only one way). I got round this with a dremel and a slight bit of work to groove the frame around the screw hole and open it up so the screw would sink in (see video attached).
I put the printer together in very slow time and as a result it seemed to be sturdy and ready to go.
Getting it aligned takes a bit of patience and I was struggling to do so but patience was what was required.
So when I printed I had issues with the thing I was printing being dragged around the bed plate. It just wasn’t settling. I spoke to customer support and they recommended I use glue on the bed and after looking at various YouTube videos I saw that Prit Stick glues or similar were the ones to use.
I then spread glue over my bedplate and tried to print again. Same issue as before, a bit of printing and then the nozzle was dragging around the thing I was printing and printing in the same place,,, a mess. So I then applied a lot more glue and hey presto! I finally printed out one of the test print devices.
It seems that the heat of the bedplate was drying out the glue if not enough was applied. So go generous with the glue and you should be able to print. This of course brings its own problems in that you now have to clean the bedplate as you can’t leave the dried glue sat on it and you have to reapply the glue before printing again, if not on the same day. But that’s not going to stop you and if you can get a glue remover you should be able to do it reasonably quickly.
I took advice from other reviews and bought a large spool of PLA filament as most reviews said the little bit that came with the printer wouldn’t last very long. Glad I did as I have plenty of spool to print with.
Kudos to the customer support as well, they responded always to my queries (except for the last week or so, but it’s Chinese New Year so I hope they are having a cracking time and I can wait out for my latest question to be responded to).
Overall, a big thumbs up for the printer.
Now begins the fun of printing!!!
Perfect printer for a beginner like myself and my son. Quite a bit of assembly required, took us about two hours using a combination of the youtube video and instructions provided. As others have said the baseplate does have to be perfectly straight so spend some time getting this right. Print quality is very good for the price of the printer, not quite as good as the expensive models my son uses at school but as I say what can you expect for the price. Comes with a sample of red filament which was enough to make 3 or 4 test pieces.
If you want to get into 3d printing and not sure what to buy then l can defo recommend that one, easy to use and not difficult to built (took me around1h30 following youtube video).
If you purchase a 3d printer then bear in mind you would need some additional software which you can get for free online.
Purchase this printer to get into the world of 3D printing, initially seemed like the biggest adult Lego set you can buy but once together print quality is great. Stepper drivers and hot end fan are very noisy. But the great thing is you can buy an Ender motherboard and upgrade it, buying a 3D printer that has all the bells and whistles means you won’t learn to tinker, take apart and upgrade. This machine has allowed me to learn allot about 3D printing it’s very reliable and print quality for me seems better than most budget printers I have seen reviewed.
This is my first 3D printer. Simple assembly with instruction booklet and tools included. Video available if you need it but I managed it without them. A little setting up and away you go. I had to adjust the z-axis microswitch to make the print head get low enough. It comes with slicing software on a transflash card in a USB adapter which you also use to transfer designs from your computer to the printer. A little bit of filament is also included so you can try things out without wasting any new filament you may have bought during setup. It’s an amazing price for what you get. The filament sticks well to the plate. I have been using brake cleaner on a clean cloth to keep the plate free from grease from my fingers. One tip – leave your printed model on the plate until the plate has cooled right down and you’ll find it just lifts off. Otherwise you’ll have to force it and some more delicate things will break.
Complete novice to the 3d printing world. Took about an hour to build, printed the hook that’s preloaded onto the micro SD card. Had no issues to date and it’s been printing 5-7hrs for the last 10+ days. I’ve been using the overture filament with 60 bed, 205 nozzle. Amazing piece of kit to get you started off. I highly recommend spending a few hours on YouTube watching videos on building the printer and using cura as a slicer, leveling your bed and so on. Absorb as much knowledge as you can before just jumping in and you’ll reap the rewards.
Like the printer but as always there is a learning curve. Not a huge fan of the bundled slicer software either as it’s very basic but useable. Overall though a good place to start with fdm
You really need to watch one or more of the available videos on line to assemble it correctly. The Instruction Manual is OK for basic diagrams but there are a few misleading features – the filament needs pushing all the way to the nozzle for instance – and too much user knowledge is assumed. That said, when assembled it worked first time and the test model was very good despite it being hard to prise off the platen – see image. Good value.
NB The screen is hand knob controlled – turn and press – and not a touch screen.
Be prepared for assembly, this is adult Meccano!
Its definitely a hobby piece of equipment, you wouldn’t just setup and hope it works every time but that’s true of all 3D printers.
The best thing that happened (from a learning perspective) is after a few prints of the included PLA filament I purchased some different brand and couldn’t get it to stick. After blaming the filament and then the bed temperature, nozel temperature, print speed, nozel rate etc etc it all came down to the bed to nozel height not quite being correct.. It needs to be the height of a sheet of paper. If you so much as move the printer you will need to check this. I also use glue for some smaller pieces just to be certain it sticks.
I did swap out the 24v fan for the extruder as it’s pretty noisy when not printing.
This is a fantastic printer for those entering the “hobby” and those well integrated. It’s very simple to set up and only needs a few tiny adjustments, like some tightening of the bed bearings ect. The filament that comes with this is fine for practicing and testing/calibrating but would certainly Recommend a good branded PLA. This took me just over an hour to assemble and within 2 hours I had already started printing. The quality for the price is outstanding and you really couldn’t expect any better. The prints are extremely well formed and you will be happy with the results so long as you calibrate and level it properly. You will not be disappointed, and if you are you’re either doing something wrong or perhaps have a fault, but most likely user error. The printer comes with an 8gb card loaded with manuals, software and some test prints, or which can be printed directly from the card without the need for a computer. If you don’t have a pc you can download files on your phone and store to the card with a simple phone card reader. If you’re reading the reviews and your are hesitant, don’t be. You will not regret investing in this, and for this price it’s really hard to find something as well built and of vaule. Post purchase service is pretty good and there are so many forums and videos online with tips, hints and walkthroughs for the Aquila C2. Il be buying a few more of these to run multiple prints at a time. It’s also worth noting that this unit is suitable for after market upgrades and customisation, but out the box it gets a 10 out of 10 from me. Happy printing and if you’re new, welcome to the funest hobby that exists today. All the best!
Taken some time to build but the levelling of the platform was easy, I bought this after my brand new elegoo neptune almost caught on fire and I’m still waiting for replacement, this machine is brilliant easy to use once you get the hang of it, had no problems with filament the only thing was the power pack screw holes were out of line alot so I’m going to have to extend the wires as the hit the base as it moves and I’ve rebuild 3 times same issues so extend wires so I can screw it onto the unit, at the moment the power pack is just sitting there wish I had got the better display but that’s meapart from that a+
At first when I opened up the box and looked at the instruction booklet, I thought I’d taken on something a bit above my level of expertise. However, the instructions are in fact very good (although printed a little small for my old eyes). I was impressed by the build quality of this printer and the by the fact that the manufacturers included all the tools necessary to complete it and even some spare parts for it.
Within an hour, I’d finished putting the printer together, checked it over, and loaded the sample filament. It took about another 20 mins and another YouTube video to sort out the bed levelling. After that, I switched it on and there it was all raring to go. One ting to note is that this printer is designed to run on 115 & 230 volts. The instructions clearly state you must check the power supply’s voltage is set correctly. Mine was already set to 230V for UK use so all was good.
The only slight hitch was the USB adapter that the memory card came in wasn’t recognised by my computer, but as I have plenty of card adapters kicking around, this wasn’t a problem. The card will go directly into the printer anyway and you can navigate it’s contents from the printer screen.
Talking of the screen, I really like it’s simplicity. No touch screen for fat fingers to struggle with, it’s all done from the navigation button. The menus are kept nice and simple and very easy to navigate around.
The instructions contained the info necessary to find the download for the slicing software which after downloading was easily installed. Knowing nothing, I set it going just on the first test print and sat amazed just watching this little object of cylinder, cube, pyramid, arch and helical rectangular block appear on the print bed.
Being a bit of a cheapskate, I opted to download FreeCad to be able eventually to draw my own items. There are some really good tutorials on YouTube and I’ve already produced a drawing of a PacMan by following the excellent Flowwie’s first lesson! In addition, there are many sites where you can download objects designed by others, some useful, some fun and some just plain whacky.
I’m hoping eventually to be able to produce my own items and look forward to a fruitful partnership with this amazing little machine.
If you set-up the printer properly ( It takes time ) the Aquilla is brilliant, in my opinion. I have an Ender 3 as well which is nearly three years old.
I first printed a couple of the sample files off of the included uSD card using the sample filament, they turned out well. I then put on a roll of grey PLA that was two years old and to my surprise it worked flawlessly, it hadn’t printed at all well on the Ender.
All in all it is a good basic printer. It is a Clone of the Ender 3v2 but at a far lower price, and works as well if not better.
Comes as a ‘meccano’ type set of parts, but tools provided.
All screws and wires are labelled, but larger parts are not. The extruded metal frame parts are more challenging to identify from the small instructions book.
Includes some filament plus sd card with printer accessories to print straight away a nice touch.
Took 4 hours to build, level and print the rotation wheel from the included sd card. Should be easy for anyone capable of building flat pack furniture.
Very pleased with print quality.
Fans noisy. Surprisingly Got ‘g32’ chipset version suited to third party firmwares, when ordered from UK 1st Nov 21
whats worse is the bed became warped, with saviour from the glass bed provided…
otherwise its a great printer…with enough understanding of this hobby, it all can be fixed with no issues…
one major issue to highlight is the fact that the original nozzle came with a worn out .4mm hole…i replaced it with the new nozzle spare provided and hot tightened to find that its works like a dream
one of the screws for the extruder is also stripped, but i managed to fix it, when upgrading it to a direct drive.
WARNING: when using the hex allen keys don’t use the ball end until the bolt in question is loosened using the other end of the alan key….
Loving it otherwise
When it works printer is great but belt broke after 3 weeks. Had to contact seller. Said would send one out and still waiting after 10 days for any notification that’s it is posted out. Out of five weeks I’ve had it it’s been unusable for 2. Printer itself is very good value for money for a beginner. Had some great results but getting prints to stick to bed can be an issue which affects print quality
Like many I did get a 3D Printer before this one.. I got a Tronxy X5SA 2020 upgraded Model.
Although I been having leveling issues wit ta printer as the bed is so big!
So while sorted out that, I still needed to carry on doing this great new Hobby.
So I saved up and was going to buy the much praised Creality Ender 3 V2 printer.
Then I was looking through 3D printer unboxing and review videos and saw a printer that was totally loved by 4 you tube channels of 3D printing!
All of these guys had brought and unboxed and built and tested this Voxelab Aquila 3D Printer.
They all said what a great printer for the money it is a clone of the Creality Ender 3 V2.
Just a different control screen ( nice one ) It was the same size and build, But here’s the amazing thing!
It was 87.00p cheaper than the Ender 3 V2. Did the same printing.
All I can say is, this must be the best priced best quality 3D printer for the money.
I was shocked how amazing this printer prints the models and items!
It truly fantastic, the on you tube build guide by Voxelab is clear, detailed and very helpful indeed.
I had the printer built in about 1 hour. It really helps that the printer comes about 70% built already.
You just follow the guide on their video and I would say even a full newbie at building these will have it made easy.
All the printer parts are very high quality and even the separate plastic bags with the bolts and parts are the best possible all nice and strong and just great, All those bags have clear written English labels that you can find each needed screw or bolt or small part with ease.
And after the printer is built you will find the leveling of the bed to be so easy.
There is a video how to do that and how to print the 1st test print.
Once the level is done the test print
( I did the hook on their micro sd card ) Was a joy to watch being printed.
The test print was done in a few minutes in the included red see through PLA sample filament.
I can hardly put into words how amazing and super value this printer is!
As long as you make sure that once every 3 prints you check the level of the bed is still fine and if need e just adjust it as shown on the companies videos you be fine!
I used the warning card found on the top of the 1st foam layer in the box. It just warns people to make sure the power is set to UK setting > 230 volts and not the euro or American one o 115 volts. It was set to the UK one though.
This piece of semi tick warning card is the perfect thickness to do your ed leveling with!
I even printed PET-G filament for the 1st ever time, I never managed to do so on my other printer!
But after making sure the bed was leveled right and setting up the nozzle hot end to be 250 C and the Bed set to 80 C which is the high end of the filament box stated for printing it, I watched it print smoothly and very well. PLA is strong everyday type of filament but PET-G is rated for use outside as it is a super tough and UV resistant. Normally you need a printer heat holding in encloser around the printer to do AB or PET-G due to them being affected by drafts and heat not being kept up on the printer bed?
This printer did PET-G printing without a encloser, that is amazing.
I included the box unpacking I did showing the layers of good foam that protects the printer parts.
And a short video of the red PLA test hook I printed just so you see it?
As many other reviewers have said, this is a bargain price for a printer which is 87.00p cheaper than the Creality Ender 3 V2 printer,
I can only say that if you wish to start doing this amazing hobby and worry about how hard building a 3D print will and using it?
Then this great value easy build and use 3D printer is for you.
8 )
At the start, you’ll print things you don’t need (Time to plug my new 3D printed tweezers company – hah!). Then, once the honeymoon period has passed, you’ll begin to realise just how great a 3D printer is.
3D printing in it’s definition allows you to create pretty much anything you can think of. You can make 3D models of rockets, random turtles, cars… etc
But where the printer really is amazing is when you NEED something at a ridiculous time…
Try Sunday, 8pm, and I need a watering can. Sure, I could use a cup, but why would I do that when I have a 3D printer? Let’s print a watering can.
Or another Sunday, around 8pm again, where I realise that my desk is messy and I need cables tidies. Order them online? Nah. Let’s 3D print them.
As stupid as it sounds, this will change your life.
There are a few caveats:
– You need to learn to 3D model if you want to build custom things. There is a large array of things online that you’ll probably find everything you need, but for anything custom you’ll need to learn to 3D model (Which is quite easy if you’re using something like sketchup)
– The bed is setup can be a little tricky (But COMPLETELY normal) (Ignore all the reviews that say that bed setup is frustrating – It is, yes, but it’s the same with every 3D printer. If you don’t ignore the instructions you’ll be FINE).
– Assembly takes quite a while (About an evening) and can be a bit frustrating BUT hey good things come to those who wait right?
So yeah. Get it. Start printing silly things, start solving every problem of your life with a 3D printed item.
I was immensely impressed by the quality of the components. All the small parts are individually bagged and labelled which is great for ID, not for saving the planet. The supplied manual was good enough to get me to the stage of having the printer built and ready to set up. I then hit problems.
Bed levelling – the manual really is not clear. Far better to look at the 3DprintSOS video if you are to avoid risking damage to the glass/heated plate. The bed needs to be lowered to below the Auto Home position before you start. Then initiate ‘Auto Home’, disable the stepper and use the paper method a few times to set the clearance. Someone else mentioned the Y axis (sliding bedplate) carriage was loose and I had the same issue, meaning that the nozzle clearance seemed to change. Easily tightened so it runs true on the rail but doesn’t drag.
Preheat – the pictures in the manual show nozzle and bed temperatures and as a result I thought something was wrong when, on powering up, I got zeros for both as though a fuse had blown. Amazon helpline was useless. I then played around with the menu and found it was necessary to find and click on the ‘Preheat PLA’ option – it seems obvious now and watching the relevant 3DprintSOS would have avoided the unnecessary diversion.
As I write this the printer is printing the toolbox on the microSD card. I’ve not altered a single setting and the machine seems to be doing a great job. Time will tell.
I have never owned a 3d printer before and after some research i went with this one. Putting it together was a bit of work and one of the essesntial screws was missing but nothing a trip to screwfix couldnt fix, there was also some major issues with adhesion that i think was caused by the scraper tool after removing prints but after using a gluestick on the plate i havent had any problems. Theres been a bit of a learning curve that has caused some issues and ive needed to replace some parts but from what i understand this is par for the course. its an awesome machine and i absolutly love it and i think its perfect for a begginer.
What i will mention is to check the extruder carriage and plates are the right way round as on the instructions before assembly, As my plate was up side down …
As i assembled the printer and switched it on to home the stepper starting jamming as it couldn’t reach the homing switch ….
This took me back another half an hour and was slightly disappointed that they had let it out the factory like that ,as this section comes pre assembled…. So voxelabs please pay abit more attention before shipping as i wouldnt want this spoiling the reviews your getting for this printer ….
Apart from that the printer delivers really nice prints and i would by this now again instead of my ender without doubt ..
At this price you wont get better in my opinion..
Just to add i see voxelabs have now put the price up as they are getting good reviews .
Thats ashame i would of bought more but now i would splash out alittle more and get the ender v2 ..
Disappointed you did that voxelabs …
Still a good printer though
There are one or two negative points. The pneumatic push fitting for the PTFE tube was not machined clean. When auto loading or unloading the filament, the filament would jam inside the fitting. When I took the fitting out and replaced it with the included spare, I found that the spare one was exactly the same. You could get around it by manually feeding the filament past the fitting but it took some effort. I replaced the fitting for a brass one from an old printer and its been perfect since. I would replace that fitting right away. Also the fans are pretty loud. I have the printer in the next room to where I sleep and you cannot hear it, but it is pretty loud if your in the same room as the printer. It makes a real loud whirl when first setting off. It is literally just the fan noise and I will be swapping these fans out asap. The gantry height or layer height display on the control screen doesn’t work at all, but maybe that could be user error. The included filament is a nightmare as mine was all snapped into smaller pieces and not one continuous roll, its also not on a spool. I ordered Flashforge Pearl white 1.75mm filament and this has been a lovely filament. If you don’t already have some I would get a roll of filament to go along with this printer.
I was going to give the printer 4 star because of said issues, but to be honest the quality of this printer is so good I still think its worth 5 stars. I would say it matches any 300-500 printer out there. There is also support from the manufacture should you need it.
I would 100% get one of these.
Thanks
I’m not a newbie when it comes to 3D printing; I own a number of machines -both FDM and SLA based. When I saw Voxelab, otherwise known as Flashforge, were selling this little Ender 3 clone at this low price point, I decided to dive in. I already own an Ender 5 Pro, so I thought this smaller printer would make a perfect addition to the family.
Set up is fairly simple for the well-seasoned, but absolute beginners may want to have another person present as the instructions can be confusing if you don’t understand how 3D printers work. It took me about an hour to set up, as I had put some pieces in the wrong place, but over all set up was quite easy.
Right out of the box, print quality is very good, even without calibration. My first Benchy was quite impressive, even with a few minor imperfections. With the machine calibrated I was able to print out some very good looking prints – courtesy of the Smithsonian 3D digitization project.
Weighing up price and performance, I can’t think of a better offering. The machine is also open source, and can be modded and upgraded as you please, which is nice.
If you’re in the market for a 3D printer, from a quality brand, and at a good price, the Voxelab Aquila is a great choice