3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality Ender-3 V3 SE vs ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Creality Ender-3 V3 SE comparisonsMore ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max comparisons
| Property | Creality Ender-3 V3 SEBEDSLINGER | ELEGOO Neptune 4 MaxBEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | ELEGOO |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality Ender-3 V3 SE[1] | ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Listed on the ELEGOO US store from 20 September 2023 (Shopify publish date)[3] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $186.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026; Creality's own product page shows $199.00 for the same machine on the same day, so the two Creality properties disagree[4][1] | $389.00 on us.elegoo.com, Aug 2026, against a compare-at price of $559.99; Ribbon-Cable and Type-C printhead variants are the same price[3] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | The cheapest of the Ender-3 V3 family and mechanically the most conservative: it keeps a conventional i3 bed-slinger layout, while the Ender-3 V3 and V3 Plus use CoreXZ and the V3 KE keeps the bed-slinger layout but adds an X-axis linear rail, a 60 W ceramic hotend and Klipper-based Creality OS. Speed ceilings differ sharply - 250 mm/s and 2500 mm/s2 on the SE against 500 mm/s on the KE and 600 mm/s on the V3/V3 Plus. The SE also stops at a 260 C nozzle where the others reach 300 C[1][5][6][7][8] | Largest Neptune 4. The trade-off against the smaller models is easy to miss: the bed only reaches 85 C (against 100 C on the Plus and 110 C on the base Neptune 4) and acceleration is capped at 8000 mm/s2 (against 12000 and 20000), because of the mass of a 430 x 430 mm moving bed. Two printhead variants, Ribbon-Cable and Type-C, are sold under one SKU[2][9][10][3] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[7] | 420 x 420 x 480 mm; printing platform 430 x 430 mm[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 349 x 364 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware measurement of the machine footprint)[7] | 658 x 632 x 740 mm; ELEGOO's maximum size for machine activity is 658 x 950 x 960 mm including rack and tray - allow nearly a metre of depth and height[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 7.12 kg[7] | 18.1 kg net, 21.8 kg gross[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | CNC-machined aluminium extrusion frame[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Open frame, no enclosure[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger - Creality describes "neat X, Y, Z-axis, smooth T-shaped profiles" with a rigid dual Z-axis and a moving build platform on the Y axis[1] | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger[2] |
| Y-axis guide type | Y axis runs on a pair of 8 mm steel linear shafts carrying the build platform[1] | Not documented |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Rigid dual Z-axis, which Creality says reduces Z wobble[1] | Two lead screws with two tie rods[11] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | "Silent Drive (All Axes)"; no driver part number published[11] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 250 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab figure)[1] | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Recommended/typical print speed | Not documented | 250 mm/s recommended printing speed against the 500 mm/s ceiling (ELEGOO's own figure); default acceleration is 4000 mm/s2[11] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 2500 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim). Tom's Hardware attributes the modest Benchy time directly to this acceleration cap[1][7] | 8000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim) - the lowest in the Neptune 4 family[2] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Creality "Sprite" direct-drive extruder, which Creality says works with PLA, PETG and flexible TPU and had shipped over 500,000 units as of June 2023[1] | Dual-gear direct extruder with 2 fans[11] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Direct-drive hotend with a 0.4 mm high-flow nozzle (Tom's Hardware description); Creality does not describe an all-metal path for the SE[7] | Brass nozzle, 0.4 mm, with a titanium-alloy heat break[11] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 260 C maximum nozzle temperature per Tom's Hardware's spec box - the lowest of the Ender-3 V3 family, where the V3, V3 Plus and KE all reach 300 C[7][6] | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[2] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | Not documented | 85 C max heated bed temperature at 25 C ambient - well below the 100-110 C of the smaller Neptunes, which limits ABS/ASA work despite them being on the compatibility list[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | PC-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[7] | PEI spring steel sheet, now upgraded to a dual-sided textured PEI + PLA-specific surface; platform 430 x 430 mm[11] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | CR Touch inductive/mechanical probe for auto bed levelling plus a separate strain sensor for automatic Z offset - Creality's pitch is no levelling screws and no paper method[1] | Manual levelling combined with 121-point auto-levelling[11] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[7] | Filament detection and power-loss resume printing[2] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Two fans on the printhead: a front-mounted fan onto the hotend heatsink and a second fan in the shroud with twin ducts aimed at the nozzle (Tom's Hardware teardown description)[7] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | "Klipper High-Speed Quiet Motherboard" is all ELEGOO publishes[11] |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-120 V / 220-240 V, 50/60 Hz[2][11] |
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 320 W rated power, 24 V output[11] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Creality publishes an open-source firmware repository for this model, CrealityOfficial/Ender-3V3-SE on GitHub under GPL-3.0 (last pushed July 2024). Unlike the KE, K1 and K2 repositories, it is not described as a Klipper clone, and Creality does not call the SE a Creality OS machine on its product page[12][13][5] | Klipper[11] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.2-inch colour screen with a control knob - not a touchscreen, unlike the KE and V3[7] | 4.3-inch colour capacitive touch screen[11] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Knob-driven colour UI using motion graphics to show levelling progress and print parameters; auto filament load/unload from the menu[1] | Colour capacitive touch UI; ElegooSlicer recommended, Orca and Cura supported[11] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | SD card only - no Wi-Fi and no USB host, in contrast to the Wi-Fi-equipped KE and V3[7] | Wi-Fi, USB and WLAN file transfer[2] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Kit-style assembly from a small number of pre-built sections; Creality claims printing within 20 minutes of unboxing[1] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, PETG and TPU (Tom's Hardware); Creality's own copy names PLA, PETG and flexible TPU for the Sprite extruder[7] | PLA, TPU, PETG, ABS, ASA, Nylon - but note the 85 C bed ceiling against ABS and ASA[2] |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Not documented | Operating sound published as 65 dB or less - a manufacturer figure with no distance or method stated[11] |
| 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[14] | 12 months on brand-new machines and parts, but ELEGOO's own table excludes a long list of parts from that: PEI plate / build plate / nozzle kit / PTFE tube / heater / thermistor / hot end / packaging / manual / tools carry no warranty at all, and the extruder, extruder kit and printhead kit get 6 months. Certified pre-owned machines carry no warranty[15] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Benchmark print times (source + settings) | Benchy in 41 minutes under Speed Boat Rules (2 walls, 3 top/bottom layers, 10% grid infill, 0.25 mm layer height, 0.5 mm width) in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware, not a manufacturer figure[7] | 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[7] | Not documented |
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
- Creality Ender-3 V3 SE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max product page (Specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max Shopify product JSON (variant prices and store publish date) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 SE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 product page (Specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 Plus product page (full specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO compare-products page, which embeds the full per-model specification JSON for every Neptune, Centauri and OrangeStorm machine us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Ender-3V3-SE repository metadata ("Open source for Ender-3V3 SE", GPL-3.0) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Refund & Warranty policy (warranty period table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor