​​​​​​The Creality CR-10S Pro V2 one of our Spring 2020 picks for "Editor's Choice". Read on for our hands-on review.

Creality loves to iterate. So much so, that its popular CR-10 line has gone through more versions than we’d care to count.

The original CR-10, which came out a few years ago now, was a success, offering a big build volume for a small price. And, clearly not familiar with the adage “too much of a good thing,” Creality kept going, producing the CR-10S, the CR-10 V2, the CR-10 Max, the CR-10 S5, the CR-10 Mini … you get the idea.

One of the sleeker printers from this line is the CR-10S Pro V2, which costs about $630 and appears to be one of the better iterations too. We tested it out to try and answer the question ‘could this be the best CR-10 yet?’

Read on for our take of this surprisingly robust machine.

CREALITY CR-10S PRO V2

The Creality CR-10S Pro V2 is one of our Spring 2020 picks for "Editor's Choice." It features a 300 x 300 x 400 mm print volume and is reliable, powerful, and yet affordable.

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CREALITY CR-10S PRO REVIEW

Does this Iteration Finally Get It Right?

As far as Creality’s CR-10 line goes, there have been hits and misses. We loved the original and were fans of the upgraded CR-10S, but, though we haven’t reviewed the CR-10S Pro, we have played around with it in the office and found it disappointing.

So, when the time came to take this awkwardly-named iteration for a spin, we were curious: Would it solve the issues of its predecessor? Would it print reliably?

The answers are yes and yes again.

SLEEK DESIGN

There are a few things Creality gets right with this CR-10 version, and a few things it doesn’t. Right off the bat, the machine looks sophisticated for a Creality 3D printer. It’s sleek, without the usual bird’s nest of wires everywhere the company’s many other printers suffer from. They’ve also put the brain of the machine underneath it so it doesn’t add to the printer’s footprint. This also helps keep it solid and stable due to the extra weight. (Unlike the CR-10S, for example, which has a separate box to the side.)

The print bed heats up quickly and prints lock onto it

What we’re not crazy about it how tall it is once you put the filament spool holder on top. In fairness, there are not that many other places it could go, but it does really ramp up the space you need for the printer and depending on where you’ve put the CR-10S Pro V2, it may be too high up to reach properly.

Like many other Creality machines, the power switch and the USB drive/micro SD card drive are somewhat inconveniently located. The power switch is towards the back and the USB drive/micro SD card drive slots are towards the front on the right side of the machine. This is not a huge deal, but it does get annoying and it would be great if they could just put all this stuff at the front where you face the printer.

Be prepared to use some muscle to get these prints off

And then there’s the print bed, which is both wonderful and the worst because it’s really sticky. Like, crazy sticky. Prints stick to it and they do not want to come off. It’s a blessing and a curse because you don’t need to worry about prints failing by getting unstuck, but once they’re complete you have the novel problem of figuring out a way to get them unstuck without accidentally gouging the surface of the print bed.

These small quibbles aside, however, the design of the CR-10S Pro V2 is among Creality’s better feats.

Ta-da!

PUTTING THE ‘U’ IN USER EXPERIENCE

The machine comes snugly packed in a well-organized box and is very easy to set up: just screw in the gantry, plug in a couple very neatly arranged wires and you’re basically ready to go.

The only thing missing is the printer

Creality advertises the bed-leveling as automatic and this is true, with one caveat: You have to manually level the plate initially yourself. After that, the BL-Touch sensor can compensate for the rest, making sure that the layers are uniform across the bed.

Thanks to the 480W Mean Well power supply, the machine has more power for all the components to work with. Plus, the Capricorn Bowden tubing really helps smooth the printing process. The filament slides straight in and you don’t need to worry about it buckling inside or causing any problems.

Wire control for the win

In general, printing with this machine was easy-peasy. What was also easy was using Creality’s Cura-powered slicer, the creatively named Creality Slicer, which gives you the options to use either Full, Expert or Quickprint settings depending on your level of expertise and how sophisticated you need your print to be. All the settings are exactly the same as Cura, just an older version of it.

Where did everybody go?

The only issue we ran into with the slicer was the build plate view kept disappearing and sometimes the models would also disappear. We’re not sure why that happened, but as with most things, we just restarted the program and carried on like nothing happened.

As far as price goes, this machine isn’t cheap, but for what you get, and the quality and thought put into it relative to other Creality machines, it’s definitely worth the price. It’s easy to put together, easy to use, reliable and most importantly: It just works.

CREALITY CR-10S PRO V2

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CREALITY CR-10S PRO REVIEW

Features

Here are some of the features the Creality CR-10S Pro V2 brings to the table.

POSSIBLY AUTOMATIC LEVELING

The manufacturer advertises the CR-10S Pro V2 as having an upgraded auto-leveling function as well as a BL-Touch sensor instead of the previously used inductive proximity sensor.

Apparently, this means the bed leveling process can now be done fully automatically, as compared to the semi-automatic leveling the previous model sported. Plus, you can choose between manual, semi-automatic, and fully automatic bed leveling. As mentioned earlier, we weren’t able to have the bed automatically level itself, but we did appreciate its semi-automatic bed leveling capabilities.

The touchscreen is responsive and easy to use

UPGRADED DRIVER

The CR-10S Pro V2 is equipped with a V2.4.1 motherboard, just like its predecessor, so no changes there.

What has been updated, though, is the driver. It features a TMC 2208 ultra-mute driver, which makes this machine noticeably quieter than others.

POWERFUL POWER SUPPLY

The CR-10S Pro V2 features a 480W Mean Well power supply, which is great if you like brand names, but better if you like proven technologies.

CAPRICORN TUBING

Last but not least, the Creality CR-10S Pro V2 also includes improved filament tubing, which, as mentioned earlier, improves the overall printing experience significantly.

The Capricorn Bowden is a high-temperature resistant Teflon tube with a 1.9 mm ± 0.05 mm inner diameter, reducing any excess wiggle room and preventing the filament from buckling inside of the tube. This is especially useful when handling flexible filaments.

We love Capricorn tubing

FURTHER FEATURES

Additional features include:

• Improved filament runout sensor
• Resume print function
• Improved UI
• Bondtech double-gear extrusion

CREALITY CR-10S PRO V2

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CREALITY CR-10S PRO REVIEW

Tech Specs

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Technology: Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
• Year: 2019
• Assembly: Partially assembled
• Mechanical arrangement: Cartesian XY-head
• Manufacturer: Creality

3D PRINTER PROPERTIES

• Build volume: 300 x 300 x 400 mm
• Feeder system: Bowden
• Print head: Single nozzle
• Nozzle size: 0.4 mm
• Max. hot end temperature: 260℃
• Max. heated bed temperature: 110℃
• Print bed material: Steel
• Frame: Aluminum
• Bed leveling: Automatic
• Connectivity: SD card, USB stick
• Print recovery: Yes
• Filament sensor: Yes
• Camera: No

MATERIALS

• Filament diameter: 1.75 mm
• Third-party filament: Yes
• Filament materials: Consumer materials (PLA, ABS, PETG, flexibles)

SOFTWARE

• Recommended slicer: Cura, Simplify3D, Repetier-Host, Creality Slicer
• Operating system: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux
• File types: STL, OBJ, AMF

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

• Frame dimensions: 550 x 490 x 650 mm
• Weight: 13.7 kg