Elegoo Mars 4 review

Why I keep recommending the Mars 4

Pixel size is the spec that matters most for printing miniatures, and the Mars 4 sits at the point on the price curve where pixel size stops being the limit. 18 microns is fine enough that the next step down (16 micron, 14 micron) gives you details you would need a magnifier to spot on a 28mm figure. Below 18 microns you are paying for a number on a spec sheet, not for a visibly better print.

That makes the Mars 4 effectively future-proof for miniatures. A pixel size that is good enough today is going to stay good enough for as long as you keep printing 28mm-scale work, which means the printer itself does not become obsolete the way the 35 and 50 micron generations did.

What it is and what it is not

This is a basic printer. No WiFi, no app, no auto-levelling, no tilting VAT, no heated chamber. The build volume is small (153 × 77 × 175 mm), and the screen has no tempered glass on top, so you are responsible for not spilling resin onto it. None of those omissions matter for miniatures specifically, which is why the Mars 4 is the printer I point new buyers at and not the more expensive Mars 4 Ultra or Mars 5 Ultra.

The build volume is small in absolute terms and large enough in practice. A full plate fits roughly twelve 28mm infantry models with supports, which is one game’s worth of unit at a time. If you are printing busts or terrain centrepieces, this is not the printer you want. For everything else, the small plate is fine.

What it gets right

The first thing the Mars 4 gets right is the price. 18 micron pixels for $149 is the cheapest the resolution has ever sold for. The Mars 5 Ultra exists above it now, which has stabilised the Mars 4 price low. That makes the value argument stronger, not weaker.

The second thing it gets right is the nFEP film. The Mars 4 ships with nFEP rather than the older PE film, which means longer FEP life and easier release on each layer. That is not headline-grabbing but it is the kind of incremental upgrade that makes day-to-day printing nicer than it was on the previous generation.

The third thing it gets right is the calibration burden. Two years on the market means every popular resin has settings that someone has already dialled in and posted. You can spend an afternoon running the Cones of Calibration on a fresh bottle of resin and have a known-good profile at the end of it, with very little in the way of guesswork.

What it does not get right

The Mars 4 has no screen protector. The Mars 4 Ultra has tempered glass; the base Mars 4 does not. If you have not handled resin before and there is any risk of spilling onto the LCD, the $20 jump to the Ultra buys real protection. For confident pourers, the missing screen protector is fine.

There is no auto-levelling. The first-time levelling routine (paper sheet under the build plate, four screws, repeat until even) is a five-minute operation once you have done it once and a fifteen-minute frustration the first time. Auto-levelling is a feature I do not miss on the Mars 4 personally, but it is the feature most often asked about by first-time buyers.

The included USB stick is the same cheap Elegoo unit that has been corrupting print files since the Mars 1 era. Replace it on day one with any branded USB drive you have lying around. This is not a Mars 4 problem specifically, it is an Elegoo problem the company keeps not fixing.

Honest verdict

The Mars 4 is the printer I point new buyers at first. The pixel size is good enough that the printer will still be relevant in three years for miniature work. The price is the cheapest 18 micron has ever been. The featureset is appropriately stripped of anything that does not change print quality. If you cannot stretch to the Mars 4 Ultra for the screen protector, take the base Mars 4 without hesitation. If you can stretch, the Ultra is worth the $20.

For the full comparison against every other current resin printer, the resin printer buying guide carries the table.

Pros

• 18 micron pixels at well under $200, which is the cheapest the resolution has ever shipped at
• Small footprint that fits on a normal desk without taking it over
• No smart features, no app, no cloud account, just the printer
• nFEP film as standard, which lasts longer than the old PE film
• Mature firmware after two years on the market with most early bugs ironed out
• Settings that other people have already dialled in for every popular resin, so the calibration burden is light

Cons

• No tempered glass screen protector on the base Mars 4 (the Ultra has it)
• No auto-levelling, so first-time owners learn the paper-and-screw routine
• No screen-hour counter, so you cannot predict when the LCD will need replacing
• Slow next to the tilting-VAT machines that came after it, although speed was never the point
• The supplied USB stick is the same cheap Elegoo unit that has been corrupting print files for years; replace it on day one

Who it is for

First-time resin printers and budget buyers who want the best detail-per-dollar without paying for features that do not change the print quality. Anyone whose printing happens once or twice a week, where speed is not the constraint.

Who it is not for

Print-farm operators and high-volume hobbyists who need a tilting VAT to keep up. Buyers who expect WiFi, an app, or auto-levelling out of the box.

What I would buy instead

Stay on the Mars 4 if budget matters. Step up to the Mars 4 Ultra ($170) for tempered glass screen protection and the .cbt slicer format if you care about anti-aliasing. Step up to the Mars 5 Ultra if speed and the tilting VAT matter more than $50.

Last reviewed 1 May 2026.