Head to head
FDM vs Resin: Which 3D Printer Should You Buy?
Resin resolves detail that no nozzle can reach. It also brings gloves, ventilation, an alcohol wash and a curing step. That trade decides this, and for a first machine it decides it clearly.
By Scooter M. · Published · Last reviewed
How this page is funded: the buy links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one we earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It does not change the order of the picks or a word of what we say about them. Full disclosure.
Printers we claim to have tested: 0. Everyone in this category says they tested twenty machines. We have not tested any, and we would rather say so. What we did instead is on this page: the manufacturer’s own published specification for every pick, cited and dated; the arithmetic on what it costs to run, with the inputs shown; a live price rather than a remembered one; and a plain answer on who should skip each machine.
The short answer
Buy a filament printer first, unless your answer to “what will you print” is already “miniatures.” Resin is sharper — the Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra publishes an 18 micron XY resolution against a filament printer’s 0.4 mm nozzle — and it adds a chemical-handling routine to a hobby you have not learned yet.
How they actually differ
These are two unrelated technologies that happen to make objects.
Filament printing (FDM) squeezes molten plastic through a nozzle and draws the object one layer at a time. The smallest feature it can make is bounded by the hole, commonly 0.4 mm.
Resin printing shines an image onto a layer of liquid resin and cures it solid, then lifts and repeats. Its resolution is the resolution of the screen — the Mars 5 Ultra publishes 8520 × 4320 across a 7-inch panel, which is 18 microns per pixel.
That is roughly a twentyfold difference in the finest feature each can resolve. For a 28 mm figure with a face and chainmail, it is the whole ballgame. For a bracket, it is irrelevant.
The comparison that matters for a first machine. Resolution and build volume figures are the manufacturers' published specifications, read on 2026-09-01.
| Filament (FDM) | Resin | |
|---|---|---|
| Finest detail | Bounded by nozzle, commonly 0.4 mm | 18 x 18 microns on the Mars 5 Ultra |
| Typical build volume | 180 - 256 mm cubed on beginner machines | 153 x 78 x 165 mm on the Mars 5 Ultra |
| Post-processing | Remove supports, done | Wash in alcohol, cure under UV |
| Protective equipment | None | Gloves and ventilation, not optional |
| Waste disposal | Ordinary plastic | Cure solid before disposal; never down a drain |
| Part toughness | PLA brittle, PETG tough | More brittle than PLA |
| Smell | PLA is mild | Noticeable - ventilation matters |
| Print time driver | Object volume and height | Height only - a full plate costs no more time |
| Consumable cost | Lower | Higher, plus alcohol |
| Good first machine? | Yes | Only if you already want miniatures |
The resin routine, in full
This is what most comparisons leave out, and it is the actual decision.
- Print with the machine somewhere ventilated, wearing gloves for anything involving the vat. Uncured resin is a skin and eye irritant.
- Wash the finished model in isopropyl alcohol to remove uncured resin from its surface. This needs alcohol, somewhere to do it, and a plan for the used alcohol.
- Cure the washed model under UV so it reaches final hardness and is safe to handle without gloves.
- Dispose of waste properly. Uncured resin and resin-contaminated alcohol are not drain material. The standard practice is to cure waste solid under UV before disposal, and to check local rules.
None of that is difficult and a great many people do it in a spare room. But it is a routine, it needs space and consumables, and it is the entire reason we do not recommend resin as a first machine to somebody still deciding what they want to make.
What each is genuinely better at
Resin wins on: tabletop miniatures, highly detailed display models, small parts where surface finish is the point, and printing many small objects at once — because print time depends on the height of the tallest object, not on how many are on the plate.
Filament wins on: anything large, anything functional, anything that will be handled or dropped, terrain and scenery, and anything where the object matters more than its surface. It also wins decisively on convenience, which for a first machine is not a small thing.
What we cannot tell you
We have not printed on either of these machines. How strong the resin smell is in a small room, how much resin a beginner wastes learning to place supports, and how long an FEP film lasts are all owner knowledge, and we are not going to invent figures for them. What is above is the published specification, cited and dated, plus an honest description of a workflow that is publicly documented by everybody who runs it.
What we would buy for this
Chosen from the same registry as our roundups, on the manufacturer’s own published figures and a live price.
Bambu Lab A1 mini
Bambu Lab · A genuine first printer
The one to get if you have never done this before. It calibrates itself before every print — bed mesh, Z-offset, flow, resonance — so the part of 3D printing that used to defeat beginners is a step you never see. The build volume is the price you pay.
#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
What it actually is
A small open-frame filament printer. Filament is a 1.75 mm plastic string on a spool; the machine melts it and draws your object one layer at a time. Open-frame means there is no box around it, which is fine for PLA and a limitation for materials that warp.
What the manufacturer states
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Build volume | 180 x 180 x 180 mm | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Max hot end temperature | 300 C | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Max build plate temperature | 80 C | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Max toolhead speed | 500 mm/s | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Max toolhead acceleration | 10,000 mm/s2 | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Filaments rated ideal | PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Filaments not recommended | ABS, ASA, PC, PA, PET, carbon/glass fiber reinforced | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Machine dimensions | 347 x 315 x 365 mm | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Net weight | 5.5 kg | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
| Max power | 150 W | Bambu Lab A1 mini technical specifications |
Read from Bambu Lab, A1 mini technical specifications on 2026-09-01. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, there is no row for it here.
What is good about it
- Full auto-calibration on every print, per Bambu Lab's own specification — no paper-under-the-nozzle ritual
- Rated ideal for PLA, PETG, TPU and PVA, which covers everything a beginner should print in year one
- 150 W maximum power draw is the lowest of any printer on this site, so running cost is trivial
- 5.5 kg and 347 mm wide — it fits on a desk without rearranging the room
What is not
- 180 mm cubed is genuinely small. A full-size helmet or a large cosplay prop will not fit
- Bambu Lab rates ABS, ASA, PC and fiber-reinforced filaments as not recommended on this machine
- The multi-color AMS lite is a separate purchase, so the headline price is not the multi-color price
- Open frame, so it is at the mercy of a draft from a window or an air conditioning vent
Skip this one if
Skip it if you already know the thing you want to print is bigger than a shoebox, or if you specifically want ABS or a carbon-fiber-filled filament. Bambu Lab itself lists those materials as not recommended here, and buying a machine you intend to use outside its rated envelope is how a first printer becomes a frustrating one.
What we cannot tell you
We have not printed on this machine. Long-term reliability, real-world noise in a quiet room, and how the textured plate holds up after a year are all things we cannot honestly report without owning one.
How it scored for a beginner
- Setup out of the box9.5
- Auto-calibration10.0
- First-layer forgiveness9.5
- Parts and filament availability9.0
- Running cost10.0
- Help when it goes wrong9.0
Beginner fit 9.2 / 10. That is our editorial read of how well this suits someone buying their first printer, taken off the published specifications — not a test result, and not a verdict on absolute quality. It is deliberately not marked up as a rating in this page’s structured data. How we pick.
Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra
Elegoo · Tabletop miniatures and nothing else
The right machine if and only if your answer to 'what will you print' is 'miniatures'. Resin detail is in a different league to filament, and so is the mess, the smell and the safety routine. It is a specialist tool, not a first printer.
#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
What it actually is
A resin printer. Instead of melting plastic string, it cures liquid resin with UV light, one thin layer at a time, which is how it resolves detail a nozzle physically cannot. Finished prints must be washed in alcohol and cured under UV before they are safe to handle bare-handed.
What the manufacturer states
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Build volume | 153.36 x 77.76 x 165 mm | Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product specifications |
| Screen | 7 inch monochrome LCD, 8520 x 4320 | Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product specifications |
| XY resolution | 18 x 18 microns | Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product specifications |
| Maximum print speed | 150 mm/h | Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product specifications |
| Machine dimensions | 260 x 268 x 451.5 mm | Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product specifications |
| Weight | 8.8 kg | Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product specifications |
Read from Elegoo, Mars 5 series product page on 2026-09-01. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, there is no row for it here.
What is good about it
- 18 micron XY resolution — detail no 0.4 mm nozzle can approach
- 153 x 78 x 165 mm is enough for a whole squad of 28 mm miniatures at once
- Print time depends on height, not on how many models are on the plate
- Automatic leveling, so the setup step is not the hard part
What is not
- Uncured resin is an irritant. Gloves, ventilation and a washing routine are not optional
- Every print needs washing in alcohol and curing under UV before you can handle it
- Resin parts are more brittle than PLA ones — this is not the tool for functional brackets
- The consumables and the disposal are both more expensive and more annoying than filament
Skip this one if
Skip it if you are choosing your first printer and you are not already certain you want miniatures. Every source we read on beginner printing says start with filament, and the reason is not print quality — it is that resin adds a chemical-handling routine to a hobby you have not learned yet.
What we cannot tell you
We have not printed on this machine. Smell in a small room, how long an FEP film lasts, and how much resin a beginner wastes learning supports are all owner knowledge.
How it scored for a beginner
- Setup out of the box8.0
- Auto-calibration8.5
- First-layer forgiveness6.0
- Parts and filament availability7.0
- Running cost5.0
- Help when it goes wrong7.0
Beginner fit 6.5 / 10. That is our editorial read of how well this suits someone buying their first printer, taken off the published specifications — not a test result, and not a verdict on absolute quality. It is deliberately not marked up as a rating in this page’s structured data. How we pick.
How these were picked
We have not printed on these machines and we do not pretend to have. What we did was read each manufacturer’s own specification page, take their stated build volume, temperatures and speeds, check that every pick genuinely fits the job in this page’s title, confirm it is still being sold, and pull a live price rather than a remembered one. Every figure names the source it came from, so you can check it yourself in about a minute.
How we pick sets out the full method, including what would change a ranking.
Questions people actually ask
+−Should a beginner get an FDM or resin printer?
Filament, unless you specifically want miniatures. Resin adds gloves, ventilation, an alcohol wash, a UV curing step and a waste disposal problem to a hobby you have not learned yet.
+−Is resin printing dangerous?
Uncured resin is a skin and eye irritant, so gloves and ventilation are not optional, and waste should be cured solid before disposal rather than poured away. Handled properly it is a routine rather than a hazard — but it is a routine, and that is the point.
+−Is resin stronger than filament?
No. Standard resin parts are more brittle than PLA and considerably more brittle than PETG. Resin wins on detail, not on toughness, which is why functional parts are a filament job.
+−Can a filament printer do miniatures?
It can print them, and the detail is visibly softer — a 0.4 mm nozzle cannot resolve a face at 28 mm scale the way an 18 micron resin screen can. Filament is the better tool for terrain, bases and anything the figures stand on.