3Doodler 3D Printing Pens cover a wide range of potential uses, from preschool art projects to high-end professional model making. With Pro Plus, 3Doodler tries to refine that professional offering, changing the way you adjust settings while drawing in 3D and offering more materials in more shapes and sizes to work with.
The Pro Plus is an improved version of the 3Doodler Pro and retains much of its visual design. When we covered that latest version, we noted its streamlined look and more granular controls, but we were still skeptical that the company would escape the “toy” association it got with its other pens. The Pro Plus retains much of what worked with the previous Pro, while reducing the size of the device by 50 percent and providing improved performance.
However, these changes don’t come without some potential trade-offs for previous Pro owners considering the upgrade. The pen loses the physical dials to adjust settings on the Pro in favor of buttons next to its digital display, which features 10 possible temperatures and seven possible speeds for feeding filament through the pen. Buttons make the device simpler, but being forced to click through a menu, rather than just setting a dial to what you want, seems like it can take more time. The back plate of the Pro Plus is magnetic and can be removed to access the interior of the pen for maintenance. The device also ships with six different pen tip nozzles to extrude the filaments in different widths and shapes.
3Doodler claims to offer the widest variety of filaments in the industry: from traditional plastic to copper, bronze, nylon, and even wood. The most unusual options are actually a mix of fibers from various materials and the traditional plastic filament. So while your project won’t be made of 100 percent wood, it should still smell and feel like the real thing. The Pro Plus works with all types of filament sold by the company, except the “eco-plastic” offered with the Start and 3D Build & Play pens.
These Pro Plus changes may seem minor, but offering a better way to access the inside of the device is significant for any user, not just a professional. The bigger question is whether professionals think it’s worth losing those Pro dial controls. 3Doodler Pro Plus is available now for the same price as the previous version, $249.99.
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