Printer Review
Elegoo Mars 2 review
The printer that made mono LCDs the consumer default. Before the Mars 2, fast cheap printing was a premium feature. After it, every competitor scrambled to catch up. Today it is a historical artefact with a better successor at the same price.
My verdict No, would not buy
Why the Mars 2 matters, and why you should not buy one
The Elegoo Mars 2 was the printer that changed what a cheap resin machine could be. Before it shipped in 2021, mono LCD screens were either expensive or unavailable at the consumer level. The non-mono machines that preceded it were slow, hungry for screen replacements, and frustrating to own at any volume. The Mars 2 changed that calculus overnight.
I remember the difference. Moving from a non-mono screen to a mono screen was not an incremental upgrade. Layer exposure dropped from something close to 10 seconds to around 2 seconds. The screen lifetime went from a few hundred hours to something you could actually plan around. For a machine at the price the Mars 2 sold at, that was a serious shift in what hobbyists could expect from an affordable printer.
In 2026, none of that is the relevant question. The Mars 2 is out of stock, obsolete, and the Mars 4 at the same price does everything better.
What it is and what it is not
The Mars 2 is a Gen 2 50 micron mono LCD printer released in 2021. Build volume is 129 x 80 x 150 mm. The screen runs at 1620 x 2560 pixels on a panel rated to roughly 2,000 hours, which was the number everyone pointed at when arguing that mono screens were the right call.
What it is not is a printer with any reason to be purchased new in 2026. It is out of stock. Its pixel size is 50 microns at a time when 18 micron machines sell for $149. The fan noise is constant and variable-pitched, which is fine if the printer is in a separate room and less fine if it is in your workspace. The power button is on the back, which seems like a small complaint until you have turned the printer on and off daily for six months.
What it gets right
The mono LCD is what the Mars 2 got right, and in 2021 getting that right at its price point was genuinely impressive. The out-of-box experience was clean. Complex miniatures came off the plate on the first attempt. The build plate surface held well through repeated print sessions without constant re-levelling.
The print quality was crisp for its generation. Light bleed was minimal, which is not guaranteed on budget machines of any era. Roughly 10 supported 28mm miniatures per plate was a reasonable return on a print session, and the two-second layer cycles made that session feel short rather than interminable.
What it does not get right
Fifty microns is the problem. At the time the Mars 2 shipped, 50 microns was the realistic floor for mono LCD at this price. By the time the Mars 3 generation arrived with 35 micron 4K screens, the Mars 2 was already showing its age. By the time the Mars 4 arrived at 18 microns for the same price, the Mars 2 became impossible to recommend to anyone starting fresh.
The fan noise was a genuine quality-of-life issue. It runs from the moment the machine powers on, it changes pitch during motor movement, and there is no quiet mode or idle shutoff. If the printer is in a dedicated space you leave closed, it is manageable. If it is on your desk while you work, it is not.
The base Mars 2 has no screen protector. A resin spill onto the LCD is an expensive mistake. The Pro version above it had tempered glass, but the base machine did not.
Honest verdict
The Mars 2 made mono LCDs the consumer default, and that is a real contribution to the hobby. Every printer that followed it at the affordable end of the market owes something to the proof of concept this machine provided.
That historical significance does not translate into a recommendation today. If someone offers you a Mars 2 in working condition for well under $50, it is a serviceable printer that will produce tabletop-quality miniatures. If you are considering buying one because it looks affordable, spend the same money on a Mars 4. You will get nearly three times the pixel density and a screen rated to the same lifetime.
For the full picture of which resin printer is worth buying today, the resin printer buying guide has every current machine in one place.
Pros
- The mono LCD was a genuine step change in 2021, reducing layer exposure times from roughly 8 to 10 seconds to around 2 seconds.
- Out of the box print quality was clean for the era, with very little light bleed and reliable first-layer adhesion.
- Build plate surface grips consistently, requiring far less re-levelling than the Mars 1 generation demanded.
- Compact footprint fits a normal desk without dominating it.
Cons
- 50 micron pixels is the hard ceiling on detail, and the Mars 4 at the same money now prints at 18 microns.
- No screen protector on the base Mars 2, so any resin spill onto the LCD panel is a replacement job.
- Fan noise runs constantly and pitches up and down during motor moves, which becomes maddening in a room you also occupy.
- Power button on the back of the unit, which is a small frustration that compounds over months of daily use.
- Out of stock and obsolete; the only version of this printer that makes sense is a second hand unit at near-giveaway pricing.
Who it is for
Historians of the consumer resin printer market, and second hand buyers who find one for so little money that a Mars 4 is genuinely not an option.
Who it is not for
Anyone buying a printer today. The Mars 4 exists at the same price and prints at 18 microns. The Mars 2 cannot compete.
What I would buy instead
The Elegoo Mars 4 at $149 gives you 18 micron pixels on the same class of machine. The Mars 2 has 50 micron pixels. Those are not close.
Last reviewed 1 May 2026.