Printer comparison
Formlabs Form 4 vs Sovol Zero
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Formlabs Form 4 comparisonsMore Sovol Zero comparisons
| Property | Formlabs Form 4RESIN | Sovol ZeroCOREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Formlabs | Sovol |
| Class | RESIN | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Formlabs Form 4 3D Printer[1][2] | Sovol Zero 3D Printer[3][4] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | 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[2] | $389.00 on sovol3d.com against a $499.00 compare-at price, but marked Sold out, checked Aug 2026. Sovol's own announcement article quotes from $359.00[3][4][5] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | 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[1] | No sibling variants at the time of checking. Sovol positions it against the Voron 0 and Bambu Lab P1P. Note the bed and nozzle limits are higher than the larger SV08 (120 vs 100 °C bed, 350 vs 300 °C nozzle), so SV08 figures must not be carried across[3][5][6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 200 x 125 x 210 mm (Formlabs quotes 5.25 litres)[1][2] | 152.4 x 152.4 x 152.5 mm advertised[3][5] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 398 x 367 x 554 mm[1][2] | 345 x 420 x 475 mm[3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 18.3 kg[1][2] | Not documented |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Full linear rails on all axes; CoreXY with two motors sharing the moving mass[5] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Enclosed cabinet with a hinged UV-blocking cover. Operating temperature 18-28 C[1] | Fully enclosed[5] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Masked stereolithography (MSLA). Formlabs brands the engine Low Force Display; straight-lift peel[1][2] | CoreXY[5] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Not documented | Linear rails on all axes[5] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | Not documented | 1200 mm/s maximum (manufacturer claim). Sovol's own material acknowledges 700 mm/s as the realistic figure for detailed prints[3][5] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | Not documented | 40,000 mm/s2 maximum (manufacturer claim)[3][5] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | Not documented | <=50 mm3/s (manufacturer claim)[3] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Not documented | Planetary-gear direct-drive extruder[3] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Ceramic heating plate. Brass or hardened-steel nozzles in 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0 mm[3] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | Not documented | <=350 °C claimed[3][5] |
| Stock nozzle material (brass / hardened steel / plated copper / composite tip) | Not documented | Brass or hardened steel, buyer's choice[3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | Not documented | <=120 °C claimed; Sovol states the bed is AC-heated[3][5] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Double-sided PEI steel plate[3] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Not documented | Eddy-current scanning combined with pressure (force) sensing — Sovol describes it as an inductive sensor plus force sensor[3][5] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Not documented | Filament sensor fitted; type and location not published[3][5] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Host computer (SoC, RAM, storage) if firmware runs on embedded Linux | Not documented | Allwinner H616, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB eMMC, 64-bit[3] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 150 W / 24 V (this is the DC supply; the bed is separately AC-heated per Sovol)[3][5] |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | 100-240 VAC, 4.8 A, 50/60 Hz, 480 W[1] | Not documented |
| Total rated power draw | 480 W[1] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Proprietary. Print preparation is PreForm; fleet management is Formlabs Dashboard[2] | Not named on the product page beyond OTA updates and OrcaSlicer support; Sovol markets the machine as open source[3][5] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 7-inch interactive touchscreen, 1280 x 800 (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[1] | Not documented |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbit), USB-C 2.0[1][2] | Ethernet and Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, WPA2 only (WPA3 not supported)[3][5] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | Built-in camera for monitoring; resolution not published[3][5] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | Arrives preassembled[5] |
| Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery | ||
| Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?) | Not documented | Power-loss recovery supported; mechanism not published[3][5] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | 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[1] | PLA, PETG, TPU, PETG-CF, ABS, ASA, PA, PC[3] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | XY dimensional tolerance +/-0.15% — a manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement[1][2] | Not documented |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | 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[1][2] | Not documented |
| Light source | Backlight unit with 60 uniform-wavelength high-power LEDs behind collimating lenses, with integrated cooling[1][2] | Not documented |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | 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[2][1] | Not documented |
| Layer height range | 25-200 um per Formlabs' own tech-spec page; GoEngineer's listing for the same machine says 25-300 um. Unresolved[1][2] | Not documented |
| Resin vat & feeding | 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[1][2] | 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
- 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
- Sovol Zero 3D Printer product page sovol3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Sovol 3D-printer collection product feed (live prices and stock) sovol3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Sovol Zero announcement article (Sovol blog) sovol3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Sovol SV08 3D Printer product page sovol3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor