The Elegoo Centauri Carbon is competitively priced and well suited to first-time 3D printer users — though it is a touch on the noisy side.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Truly excellent stabilisation | Not quite as fine a print as you’d get from a resin-based model |
| Simple out of box setup | Printed setup instructions aren’t great |
| Supports a wide variety of printing filaments | Quite loud while printing |
Score: 4/5
In this review
Elegoo Centauri Carbon Specifications
Elegoo Centauri Carbon Design
Elegoo Centauri Carbon Performance
Elegoo Centauri Carbon Verdict
Ethical disclaimer: Elegoo sent me the Elegoo Centauri Carbon used in this review, and they’ve indicated that they’re not asking for it back; all they wanted was a YouTube Review of the printer, which you can see above.
As always, whether a product is loaned to me or sent to me has no impact on my reviewing process, and Elegoo has absolutely zero input into my written review below or YouTube video review above.
For whatever it’s worth, Elegoo first pitched me a new resin-based 3D printer, but for health reasons I can’t handle the fumes and chemicals involved in that process, so I initially declined; the Elegoo Centauri Carbon was its second pitch to me. Like I’ve said many times, I believe in being as transparent as possible.
For more on ART’s Ethics position, see here.
Design
Before I start, I do have to state that it’s been a long while since I last reviewed a 3D printer. That’s largely due to the explosive growth in resin-based printing solutions in the market.
They’re fine – very cool, indeed in terms of producing fine models – but I very quickly discovered when testing that approach some years back that my own breathing 100% could not handle the fumes and cleaning processes needed for those models. So I largely declined review offers, because while I do like 3D printing conceptually, I’m rather more fond of breathing. Call it a weakness, if you must.
FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) printing doesn’t present me with those kinds of challenges, so the Elegoo Centauri Carbon is one that I can handle, but I bring this up also because I’m not presenting this review from the perspective of being an all-in 3D printing expert; my own issues with resin mean that I can’t be. It’s a field I’m interested in, but if you’re after that kind of review, this isn’t going to be it. If you’re more in the early enthusiast/curious position, though, then we’re in the same space.
Elegoo’s claim for the Elegoo Centauri Carbon is that it’s ready to print “right out of the box”, and given the strong DIY ethic present in a lot of 3D printing systems, I had my doubts about that.
The reality is that it’s not quite a matter of just unpacking the Elegoo Centauri Carbon and printing your first model within minutes; there’s a process of installing the front display, filament spool holder on the side and removing some holding screws, plus a quantity of polystyrene packaging material. As a reminder, remember to responsibly recycle that kind of material.
The Elegoo Centauri Carbon 3D printer is an entirely enclosed model built around a metal and glass frame; this looks impressive but also takes up a fair amount of space, measuring in at 398x404x490mm, so it needs some serious space wherever you put it, though that does allow for build volumes of up to 256x256x256mm in your filament type of choice.
I could print from a lot of different filament types. I haven’t, to be clear… but I could.
For what it’s worth during this review, I’ve printed purely in simple PLA, but it also supports Carbon/Glass Fiber Reinforced Filaments//PETG/ABS/ASA/TPU/PET/PC/PA filaments – basically an entire scrabble set’s worth of varying filament types.
While it’s fully enclosed, the top glass cover and front door can be opened for improved venting depending on the material being printed. I’ve been using PLA where it’s recommended that you do allow for some venting, but that’s easily enough managed just by popping up the top plate.
Speaking of plates, Elegoo provides a dual sided smooth/rough plate for varying filament types; I’ve mostly printed on the rough side of the plate given some of the 3D printing adhesion disasters I’ve had in the past with other printers, but if I’m missing a trick here and you’re more of a 3D printing expert than I am, let me know why I should (perhaps) be using the smooth plate side in the comments below.
Performance
Elegoo provides its own slicing software, inventively named “Elegoo Slicer” on a provided USB drive, but you can also download it from the Elegoo website if needed for either PC or Mac.
Technically, yes, this is complex. In reality, it’s not too hard to get to grips with how to use it.
The included USB drive also includes some rather good video tutorials on it, something of a strong contrast to the printed instructions you get with the printer which aren’t great on detail. I found it much easier working out the precise setup steps needed via video, even though I would have preferred better printed material – which feels a little odd for what is itself a printer!
For my initial setup of the printer – basically because it’s large and my home office space is limited – I placed it temporarily on a very cheap and somewhat worn Ikea LACK table; this isn’t what you’re meant to do, but what truly shocked me here is that despite a lot of movement from the LACK table, because its innards are basically made out of stale cornflakes*, I could actually print and print well from the Centauri Carbon on such an unstable surface.
Do I recommend this approach?
Absolutely not, the Centauri Carbon (or any 3D printer) deserves a more stable surface and I suspect some filament types might absolutely fail this way – but it’s an impressive proof of how well it handles stabilisation in such an unusual way.
Setup also involves loading filament into the Elegoo Centauri Carbon, handled from the side-mounted filament spool reel. This is a little tricky, largely because when you’re first doing so there’s not a lot of feedback to let you know that you’ve done it the “right” way; you will of course find out when you come to print whether that’s true or not, but some level of novice indication wouldn’t go astray here.
The Elegoo Centauri Carbon is a “Core XY” 3D printer, using a dual belt system for (theoretically) faster and more accurate print speeds. The mathematics behind this are fascinating if you’re the type that likes that kind of detail; there’s a good explainer here and an excellent video that runs through the differences here if you’d like to dig deeper.
The Elegoo Slicer app does assume some level of 3D printing knowledge, though given it’s based around the open-source Orca Slicer there are some decent tutorials out there.
The Elegoo Centauri Carbon supports printing either through a USB drive and good old-fashioned sneakernet action or over Wi-Fi. Here the setup is decidedly old-school, because getting access involves adding the Elegoo Centauri Carbon via direct IP address.
For the entry-level user that might be a little challenging as an approach, though the other benefit here is that you can just plumb that same IP address into a browser for direct observation of the printer’s status at any time, including watching the integrated camera.
That camera allows you to see if a print is progressing properly, but also to record time lapses of your prints as they’re made.
That’s a fun thing to do, but there is an issue here. The interior of the Elegoo Centauri Carbon’s chamber is quite dim, and many timelapses will come across with pretty poor detail as a result. There is an internal light, but for whatever stupid reason it’s not automatically selected when you opt to record a timelapse; instead you have to manually switch it on, and you cannot do so if there’s already a print in progress.
I went through a number of timelapses before I figured that out, and even with the light enabled it’s not superb; if you’re keen on 3D print timelapses (say, if you’re producing a YouTube review like mine above) having a few additional illumination lights handy is a very good idea indeed.
Print quality and speed for a variety of printed models and small useful devices that I’ve tested with so far has been generally very good indeed.
The ever reliable Benchy. Long may it sail.
Some surprisingly loud whistles. The one on the left needs a little cleanup, mind.
This alien space creature (who’s to say where it’s from, really?) is rather obviously 3D printed.
Nobody tell TOHO, OK?
Here be dragons.
There have been some very small issues with stringing of filament, but nothing that’s ruined a model for me as yet. As always (and especially at the starter level) there are some challenges working out whether a print is working or failing based as much on the model and support structures and such or whether it’s the printer at fault. So far, I’ve had a single absolutely failed print on the Elegoo Centauri Carbon, which, like most other 3D printers will happily keep flinging out filament even when it’s gone wrong, but I can attribute that to the way I stacked up multiple models combined with the print speed I chose. It wouldn’t be fair to say that this was 100% the Carbon’s fault in that case.
What I will blame the Elegoo Centauri Carbon for is being a noisy little sod. This is not helped by the fact that the enclosure itself acts as an effective echo chamber for the noise of the print head. In my smaller home office the noise of the print head and fans is entirely noticeable, which has rather led me to printing most objects outside of my office hours to avoid the din. It’s not deafening, to be sure, but compared to some more open models I’ve tested in the past, it’s definitely on the louder side.
Elegoo Centauri Carbon: Alex’s Verdict
At its $699 asking price and given its specifications and compatibility with a wide array of filaments, the Centauri Carbon is a decent model, especially if you’re just getting your toes wet in the world of 3D printing. There’s still a learning curve here of course, and the noise of the printer is quite noticeable in action, so it’s also best suited for either very quick prints if you must be in the room where it’s printing, or after-hours prints for longer print jobs.
Or invest in some good quality ANC headphones and fire up a Prince album or two. That’s what I’ve largely done.
Was this review useful to you?
Support independent media by becoming a sponsor or buying me a coffee!
[kofi]
Donate via PayPal
Find out more about how you can support Alex Reviews Tech here.
Elegoo Centauri Carbon: Pricing and availability
The Elegoo Centauri Carbon Printer retails in Australia for around $699 at the time of writing, though it’s worth shopping around as pricing can vary; it can also be purchased directly from Elegoo (non-affiliate link).
Was this review useful to you? Support independent media by dropping a dollar or two in the tip jar below!
[kofi]
*In case IKEA’s lawyers are reading this, the bit about cornflakes is intended as satire. It’s truly not worth suing me in any case, unless you’d like to win a slightly worn LACK table by way of compensation. Something tells me you’ve already got one.
Update: An earlier version of this article indicated that you couldn’t copy video files over Wi-Fi from the printer; that was a mistake (mine, I own it!) and has been excised from the copy.
About the Author
