3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
ELEGOO Neptune 4 vs Original Prusa MK4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore ELEGOO Neptune 4 comparisonsMore Original Prusa MK4 comparisons
| Property | ELEGOO Neptune 4BEDSLINGER | Original Prusa MK4BEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | ELEGOO | Prusa Research |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | ELEGOO Neptune 4 (spec table "Product Model: Neptune 4")[1] | Original Prusa MK4[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Listed on the ELEGOO US store from 27 May 2023 (Shopify publish date)[3] | Announced 29 March 2023 with assembled printers shipping immediately from stock; kits opened for ordering about two weeks later[2] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | 1099 USD assembled, 799 USD as a kit, VAT included, at launch[2] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $219.00 on us.elegoo.com, Aug 2026, against a compare-at price of $249.00; both the Ribbon-Cable and Type-C printhead variants are the same price[3] | Not documented |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Two printhead variants of the same machine are sold under one SKU - "Ribbon-Cable Version" and "Type-C Version" - which use different printhead parts. Within the Neptune 4 family the numbers diverge sharply and get mixed up constantly: Neptune 4 is 225 x 225 x 265 mm with a 110 C bed and 20000 mm/s2; the Plus is 320 x 320 x 385 mm with a 100 C bed and 12000 mm/s2; the Max is 420 x 420 x 480 mm with an 85 C bed and only 8000 mm/s2. The Neptune 4 Pro is a separate model again[3][1][4][5] | Superseded by the MK4S, which is the same machine plus a 360-degree turbine part-cooling fan, a high-flow CHT nozzle and firmware/profile work; Prusa sold a 99 USD MK4-to-MK4S upgrade kit and automatically converted unshipped MK4 orders to the S version. The MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades convert an MK3S+ to part of the MK4 electronics stack but are not an MK4[6][2] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Still listed in ELEGOO's US store Neptune section in Aug 2026 alongside the 4 Pro, 4 Plus and 4 Max, but ELEGOO's current development is on the Centauri line[7] | Discontinued. No MK4 appears in Prusa's Aug 2026 3D-printer listing, and the MK4 product-page slugs redirect to the MK4S page, so no live first-party price could be recorded[8][6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 225 x 225 x 265 mm; the PEI platform itself is 235 x 235 mm[1] | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 475 x 445 x 515 mm. ELEGOO separately publishes a "maximum size for machine activity" of 475 x 550 x 735 mm including rack and tray - the depth to allow for is 550 mm, not 445 mm[1] | Not documented |
| Net weight (kg) | 8.3 kg net, 10.6 kg gross[1] | Not documented |
| Frame construction & material | CNC-machined aluminium extrusion frame[1] | Die-cast aluminium frame - Prusa replaced the MK3S+'s cut-aluminium frame for the MK4, keeping only the Y-axis profiles, some bearings, the heatbed and the power supply[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional add-on[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger[1] | Cartesian bed-slinger of the Prusa i3 family - Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were carried over[2] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Two lead screws (the Neptune 4 Plus and Max add two tie rods to the same arrangement)[9] | Not documented |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 400-step (0.9 degree) stepper motors, stated by Prusa to prevent vertical fine artefacts[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | "Silent Drive (All Axes)" is all ELEGOO publishes; no driver part number is given[9] | Trinamic TMC2130-LA silent stepper drivers on the xBuddy board[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim); the Neptune 4 Plus page for the same family states a recommended 250 mm/s[1][4] | Not documented |
| Recommended/typical print speed | 250 mm/s recommended printing speed against the 500 mm/s ceiling (ELEGOO's own figure)[9] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim) - notably higher than the Plus at 12000 and the Max at 8000, because the moving mass is smaller[1][4][5] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Dual-gear direct extruder with 2 fans[9] | Nextruder direct drive with a planetary gear system, 1:10 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink, all-metal hotend, no PTFE tube in the filament path[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 1:10 planetary gearbox[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Brass nozzle, 0.4 mm, with a copper and titanium-alloy heat break - the Plus and Max use a titanium-alloy heat break only[9] | Quick-swap nozzle system, 0.4 mm default, other diameters supported[2] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 300 C claimed max hotend temperature in Prusa's MK4 announcement table - note the MK4S product page publishes 290 C for the same hotend family[2][10] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 C max heated bed temperature[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | PEI spring steel sheet, now upgraded by ELEGOO to a dual-sided textured PEI + PLA-specific surface[9] | Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring-steel sheets; compatible with the MK3 sheets (smooth PEI, satin, textured PEI, PA nylon)[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Manual levelling combined with 121-point auto-levelling; no full-auto calibration on this model[9] | Load-cell sensor: fully automatic first-layer calibration with the nozzle as the probe, plus automatic mesh bed levelling over the print area[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection fitted; power-loss resume printing supported[1] | Built-in Hall-effect filament sensor supporting automatic filament loading[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | ELEGOO describes it only as a "Klipper High-Speed Quiet Motherboard" - no board model or MCU published[9] | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32, designed and built in-house, with a separate extruder breakout board[2] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W Delta PSU with hardware power panic[2] |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | 115/230 V, 50/60 Hz on the product page; ELEGOO's compare page gives 110-120 / 220-240 VAC 50/60 Hz[1][9] | Not documented |
| Total rated power draw | 310 W rated power, 24 V output[9] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Klipper (ELEGOO names the system "Klipper" outright for the Neptune 4 series, rather than the ELEGOO OS branding used on the Centauri machines)[9][11] | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[12][10] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch colour capacitive touch screen[9] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Colour capacitive touch UI; ElegooSlicer recommended, with Orca and Cura also supported[9] | On-device colour UI with one-click printing and status LEDs; Prusa Link is integrated and Prusa Connect adds remote printing[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | LAN and USB file transfer; no Wi-Fi is listed for the base Neptune 4, unlike the Plus (USB/LAN/Wi-Fi) and Max (Wi-Fi/USB/WLAN)[1][4][5] | Ethernet built in, optional ESP Wi-Fi module delivered with the printer, USB drive; print files can also arrive over LAN or the internet via Prusa Connect[2] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, TPU, PETG, ABS, ASA, Nylon[1] | Prusa's launch table says "any thermoplastic including Nylon and Polycarbonate"; the enclosure is still needed in practice for ABS/ASA-class materials[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | xBuddy hardware overcurrent protection disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A; firmware is open-source and auditable[2][12] |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Operating sound published as 60 dB or less - a manufacturer figure with no distance or method stated, so it is not comparable with an independently measured reading[9] | Not documented |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | 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[13] | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[14][10] |
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
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 product page (Specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 Shopify product JSON (variant prices and store publish date) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 Plus product page (full specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max product page (Specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- ELEGOO US store 3D printers collection (current line-up, Aug 2026) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.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
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Centauri Carbon product page (full specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- ELEGOO Refund & Warranty policy (warranty period table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc