3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs ELEGOO Mars 5

Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs ELEGOO Mars 5 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality Ender-3 V3 KEBEDSLINGERELEGOO Mars 5RESIN
Identity
BrandCrealityELEGOO
ClassBEDSLINGERRESIN
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality Ender-3 V3 KE[1]ELEGOO Mars 5. Elegoo's own product handle spells the configuration out: mars-5-4k-6-6inch-monochrome-lcd-resin-3d-printer[2][3][4]
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)$259.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026; Creality's own product page shows $279.00 on the same day[5][1]$179.00 on us.elegoo.com against a $225.00 compare-at price (20% off), in stock, checked Aug 2026. The live product feed shows the same $179.00[3][4]
Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk)Sits between the SE and the V3 in the Ender-3 V3 family. Against the SE: linear rail on X instead of wheels, 500 mm/s instead of 250, 300 C ceramic hotend instead of 260 C, 4.3-inch touchscreen instead of a 3.2-inch knob screen, Wi-Fi instead of SD-card only. Against the V3: the KE keeps the conventional bed-slinger layout while the V3 is CoreXZ and reaches 600 mm/s. Build volume also differs subtly - 220 x 220 x 240 mm on the KE against 220 x 220 x 250 mm on the SE and V3[1][6][7][8]Sold beside the Mars 5 Ultra, which is a materially different machine: 7-inch 9K masking LCD vs 6.6-inch 4K, 18 um vs 35 um pixels, 150 vs 70 mm/h, a 4.0-inch capacitive control screen vs 3.5-inch resistive, and Wi-Fi (the plain Mars 5 is USB only). Elegoo lists ten further Mars 5 / Mars 5 Ultra bundle SKUs pairing the printers with Mercury wash-and-cure stations at $302-$432; those are not printer prices[2][9][3][4]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable220 x 220 x 240 mm - 10 mm shorter than the SE and V3, a difference that is easy to miss[6]143.43 x 89.6 x 150 mm[2]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)433 x 366 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware)[6]230 x 230 x 433.5 mm[2]
Net weight (kg)7.8 kg[6]Approximately 6.6 kg[2]
Frame construction & materialNot documentedMetal frame with adjustable foot pads[2]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Open-frame MSLA with a removable UV-blocking cover[2]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)Cartesian bed-slinger with a linear rail on X[1]MSLA — UV LCD masked stereolithography. Single Z axis, build plate lifting straight out of the vat (no tilt-release on this model, unlike the Mars 5 Ultra)[2][9]
X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size)Steel linear rail on the X axis with a ball-bearing carriage; Creality Lab quotes a 0.04 friction coefficient[1]Not documented
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab)[1]Not documented
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDirect-drive extruder paired with the ceramic-heated high-flow hotend[1]Not documented
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)Hotend with a 60 W ceramic heater, a bi-metal copper/titanium-alloy heatbreak to resist thermal creep, and a copper nozzle[1]Not documented
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)300 C claimed max nozzle temperature (Creality Lab test at 25 C room temperature)[1]Not documented
Heater cartridge power (W)60 W ceramic heater cartridge (manufacturer figure)[1]Not documented
Heated Bed & Surface
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedPEI-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[6]Laser-engraved build plate with a quick-release design[2]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)One-tap self-test covering Z offset and auto levelling; Tom's Hardware records automatic levelling with automatic Z as well[1]Automatic levelling, one click. An intelligent mechanical sensor detects resin residue to prevent LCD damage[2]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[6]Not documented
Cooling & Air Handling
Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting designTwo part-cooling fans, one on each side of the printhead, cooling the freshly printed section from both sides[1]Not documented
Electronics & Power
Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto)Not documented100-240 V, 50/60 Hz, 24 V 3 A[2]
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)Creality OS, which Creality states is "Based on the popular Klipper firmware", with open-source files published; the source is on GitHub as CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper, described as a clone of upstream Klipper, GPL-3.0. Input shaping and motion advance (pressure advance) are exposed as features[1][10][11]Not named by Elegoo. Supported slicers are Voxeldance Tango and CHITUBOX; STL and OBJ accepted[2]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?4.3-inch touchscreen[6]3.5-inch resistive touchscreen (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[2]
On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.)Touch UI with a tab bar, real-time model preview, motion graphics for print parameters and a one-tap self-test[1]Not documented
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-driveWi-Fi and USB; LAN printing and cloud printing through Creality Print on PC or the Creality Cloud app, with multi-printer print-farm management[6][1]USB only — no Wi-Fi on this model[2]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listHyper PLA, PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU (95A) and ASA[1]405 nm photopolymer resin. Elegoo does not publish a resin compatibility list on this listing[2]
Safety
Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible)Not verified directly. Creality states the Ender-3 V3 KE runs a Klipper-based Creality OS and publishes CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper (GPL-3.0) as a clone of upstream Klipper, which ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check; the stock configuration was not checked here[10][11][1]Not documented
Firmware safety limits (max temp cutoffs — exact values)Not documentedIntelligent overheating protection stops printing above 80 °C[2]
Reliability, Support & Ecosystem
Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes)Creality's US store states "Up to 12-Month Warranty", a 14-day return and refund window and "Lifetime Customer Support" on its printer product pages. The "up to" wording means the term is not uniform across parts[12]Not documented
Independently Measured Performance
Benchmark print times (source + settings)Benchy in 19 minutes 48 seconds under Speed Boat Rules in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware[6]Not documented
Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date)Tom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[6]Not documented
Resin & MSLA
Masking LCDNot documented6.6-inch 4K monochrome masking LCD, 4098 x 2560 px, XY pixel pitch 35 x 35 um (manufacturer specification)[2][4]
Light sourceNot documentedCOB LED at 405 nm. Elegoo does not publish an LED count or collimating optics for this model[2]
Vertical print speedmm/hNot documented70 mm/h maximum (manufacturer claim). Elegoo does not state the layer height or resin type the figure assumes[2]
Release filmNot documentedPFA film with a non-stick surface. No rated life published[2]
Resin vat & feedingNot documentedReplaceable resin tank with two pouring openings and screw caps. An intelligent mechanical sensor detects resin residue in the vat. Capacity not published; no auto-refill[2]
Fume extractionNot documentedNone fitted. Elegoo states compatibility with the separately sold MARS MATE air purifier for odour reduction[2]

Manufacturer claims, independent measurements, packages and test conditions retain their source wording. FDM linear speed and resin vertical speed use different units and are not directly comparable. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.

Sources for this comparison

  1. Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. Elegoo Mars 5 product page (technical data and description) 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. ELEGOO Mars 5 Series collection (live US prices) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. ELEGOO Mars 5 Series live product feed us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 KE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  6. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  7. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  8. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  9. Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product page (technical data and description) 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  10. GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper repository metadata ("clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  11. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  12. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor