Creality Ender-3 V3 KE 3D Printer Review

The Creality Ender-3 V3 KE offers print speeds that rival more expensive options. But what about the quality? Read on to find out.

Few can argue that Creality aims to bring 3D printing to a wider audience. The company’s products are often the cheapest you can find, especially when it comes to the Ender series. After testing the Ender-3 S1 Pro, I was keen to test a newer model with more modern specs. So let’s take a look at the Creality Ender 3 V3 KE and see how the newer product performs.

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Details about the Ender-3 V3 KE

The KE offers faster print speeds than almost any 3D printer in a similar price range. It has a maximum speed of 500 mm/s and a maximum acceleration of 8000 mm/s2.

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Benchy, the cute boat used to test 3D printer calibrations, can complete the printing process in under 15 minutes. In comparison, the Ender-3 S1 Pro takes at least 50 minutes to complete the same model.

All images courtesy of me, Jeff Butts!

Like the S1 Pro, Creality’s Ender-3 V3 KE features a direct-drive sprite extruder, a heated build platform made of PEI-coated spring steel sheet, and a hot end that can be heated up to 300°C. This means the printer can easily use ABS, PLA, PETG, ASA and TPU filament materials for 3D printers.

Unpacking and assembling the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE

Installing my last Creality 3D printer was a breeze, and with this newer model it’s gotten even easier. In fact, most of it is already pre-assembled. All you have to do is attach the portal with three screws per side, screw on the coil holder and attach the touchscreen.

The final step is to make sure the power switch matches your household’s power supply, which is 115V in North America. Once this is done, you can turn on the device and start setting it up.

Leveling the Bed: From Pretty Easy to Very Easy

On older Ender models, you would self-level the bed using hand torsion springs under the bed. Then Creality introduced the CR Touch module and we adjusted the springs a bit and then let the software do the fine tuning.

With the V3 models, manual torsion springs are a thing of the past. The bed is permanently assembled and can be set up without manual adjustments. The initial setup relies on the integrated CR Touch module to store all leveling settings in memory.

I have seen some owners tighten the bed screws or add silicone spacers between the frame and the bed to achieve a “flat” mesh with little variation in different parts of the bed. In my experience this is pretty unnecessary – the auto-leveling works fine.

The only downside, if you can call it that, is that you have to do the calibration after a firmware upgrade. I also ran it again when I was leaning on the build plate a little harder than I probably should have. Nevertheless, the calibration process does not take longer than 15 minutes.

Loading the 3D printer with filament

Creality has also made loading and unloading filaments a breeze. The settings menu gives you the option to extrude or retract filament, initially automatically heating the nozzle to the correct temperature.

I found this worked quite well, and even with my arthritic hands I can unload the filament and then load a new spool in under five minutes.

Design changes for a more elegant look

While the hot end on the Ender-3 S1 Pro looked a little too industrial, the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE has a much smarter and more visually appealing design. The internal parts of the print module are now housed in a plastic housing and the fan assembly no longer obscures the view of the work in progress.

In addition, the V3 KE has two fans to cool the part being printed instead of just one. This provides a stronger bond between layers and I’ve found my builds require less post-processing. The stronger cooling features minimize layer lines, even at the standard layer height of 0.2mm.

Overall, the Ender-3 V3 KE looks nicer, which is admittedly not even close to the most important feature of a 3D printer. Combined with the higher printing speed and better cooling performance, this is still a nice touch.

Put the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE to use

Once assembly and bed leveling are complete and you’ve loaded your filament, it’s time to start printing. With the V3 KE you have better options than with the previous models in the Ender series, as the V3 KE can finally keep up with the technology of the 2020s.

To transfer your G-Code files and start printing, you have three basic options. The 3D printer has a USB port so you can load your files using the included USB stick. However, if you want more remote functionality, Creality offers it.

Creality Print Slicing software allows connections to the V3 KE via Wi-Fi. As long as you have connected to your wireless network during printer setup (which you will be prompted to do when you first turn on the printer), you can send your jobs directly to the KE from your PC or Mac.

If you want more remote access, e.g. For example, controlling the 3D printer from your iPhone or Android device, Creality has integrated support for its Creality Cloud service into V3 KE. Thanks to the switch to Creality OS (a clone of Klipper), the KE is much more powerful than previous Ender models.

Unfortunately, nothing can ever be perfect

Lest you think I’m calling the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE perfect, I’d like to point out a few aspects that don’t excite me. Yes, this 3D printer is better than the previous models, even the S1 Pro, which I really enjoy working with. However, it is not without its flaws.

First of all, Creality Cloud support is quite difficult. I have a managed Wi-Fi network in my apartment and do not have administrative access to open ports, whitelist sites, etc. To connect the 3D printer to Creality Cloud, I had to connect using my iPhone’s Personal Hotspot.

Once connected, I switched back to my home WiFi. Unfortunately, the connection to the Creality Cloud only works sporadically. It will be perfectly fine for several days, then the connection drops unexpectedly and cannot be restored for some time.

Creality also offers limited webcam support on the V3 KE. Although a vanilla installation of Klipper with Fluidd or Mainsail easily supports third-party webcams, the operating system installed on the KE only supports one: Creality’s Nebula camera. If you want to open up more possibilities, you need to root the printer. This is simple, but it carries the risk of voiding your warranty.

To buy or not to buy

If you want to get into 3D printing with a high-speed model and don’t mind certain limitations (or want to go all geek to eliminate those limitations), the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE is a good choice. As of this writing, it’s available on Amazon for just $299, with free Prime shipping.

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