3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality Ender-3 V3 SE vs Formlabs Form 4
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 Formlabs Form 4 comparisons
| Property | Creality Ender-3 V3 SEBEDSLINGER | Formlabs Form 4RESIN |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | Formlabs |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | RESIN |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality Ender-3 V3 SE[1] | Formlabs Form 4 3D Printer[2][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] | Starting at $2,625.00 at GoEngineer, in stock, checked Aug 2026. Formlabs sells the printer as part of packages (Form 4 Complete Package etc.), so package prices are much higher than the printer-only figure[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] | Three machines share this platform and are constantly conflated. Form 4: 200 x 125 x 210 mm, 50 um pixels, 18.3 kg, 480 W, one resin cartridge, NOT biocompatible. Form 4B: identical hardware but validated for 38 Formlabs materials including 15 biocompatible. Form 4L: 353 x 196 x 350 mm, 46 um pixels, 58.5 kg, 900 W, two cartridges[2] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[7] | 200 x 125 x 210 mm (Formlabs quotes 5.25 litres)[2][3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 349 x 364 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware measurement of the machine footprint)[7] | 398 x 367 x 554 mm[2][3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 7.12 kg[7] | 18.3 kg[2][3] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Enclosed cabinet with a hinged UV-blocking cover. Operating temperature 18-28 C[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] | Masked stereolithography (MSLA). Formlabs brands the engine Low Force Display; straight-lift peel[2][3] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 250 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab figure)[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | PC-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[7] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[7] | Not documented |
| 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 | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-240 VAC, 4.8 A, 50/60 Hz, 480 W[2] |
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 480 W[2] |
| 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[9][10][5] | Proprietary. Print preparation is PreForm; fleet management is Formlabs Dashboard[3] |
| 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] | 7-inch interactive touchscreen, 1280 x 800 (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[2] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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] | Dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbit), USB-C 2.0[2][3] |
| 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] | Formlabs resins across rigid, tough, general purpose, flame retardant, silicone, elastic, ceramic and castable families. Biocompatible resins require the Form 4B, not the Form 4[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[11] | Not documented |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | Not documented | XY dimensional tolerance +/-0.15% — a manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement[2][3] |
| 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 |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | Not documented | Low Force Display masking LCD with a 50 um pixel size and pre-tuned anti-aliasing. Formlabs does not publish the screen diagonal or pixel count[2][3] |
| Light source | Not documented | Backlight unit with 60 uniform-wavelength high-power LEDs behind collimating lenses, with integrated cooling[2][3] |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | Not documented | Maximum 100 mm/h; average 40 mm/h at a 100 um layer height (manufacturer figures — GoEngineer publishes both, which is unusually explicit about the basis). Formlabs separately claims most prints finish in under 2 hours[3][2] |
| Layer height range | Not documented | 25-200 um per Formlabs' own tech-spec page; GoEngineer's listing for the same machine says 25-300 um. Unresolved[2][3] |
| Resin vat & feeding | Not documented | Single next-generation resin cartridge; Formlabs claims 5-10x faster filling and 63% less waste. Resin tank rated for 75,000+ layers with any Formlabs material. No vat capacity published[2][3] |
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
- Formlabs resin printer technical specifications (Form 4 / 4B / 4L) formlabs.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Formlabs Form 4 3D printer listing store.goengineer.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
- 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