Flexible filaments (TPE & TPU) are one of the most common filament types used in 3D printing. They have elastic properties that create a final product that’s soft and stretchy, yet strong and resistant to fatigue.
This allows you to print complex elastic designs and useful objects that can stretch, bend, and curl, such as custom phone cases, rubber mats, stress toys, and rubber seals, and o-rings.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Best 3D Printer for Flexible Filament Comparison Table
| PRODUCT | FEATURES | LATEST PRICE |
|---|---|---|
1. QIDI TECH X-Pro  |
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2. FlashForge Creator Pro  |
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3. MakerGear M2  |
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4. Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2  |
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5. FLSUN QQ-S  |
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6. Creality Ender 3  |
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7. ANYCUBIC Mega S  |
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8. Dremel DigiLab 3D45  |
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However, not all 3D printers support flexible filaments. We’ve selected what we consider to be the best currently available. Print TPE & TPU on these 3D printers without any hitch. After testing, using, and reviewing them, taking into consideration the most important features, we’ll make our final verdict on the best 3D printer for flexible filament.
Our Best 3D Printer for Flexible Filament Reviews and Comparisons
1. QIDI TECH X-Pro
Product Highlights
QIDI TECH X-Pro is a leading mid-priced printer, popular for many uses: commercial, design, educational, and even household.
It’s a user-friendly smart 3D printer with a 4.3-inch touch screen, WiFi, dual extruder, and high precision double color printing with ABS, PLA, and TPU filament.
QIDITECH X-Pro has a removable heated plate, made from curved aluminum, for the easier transfer of what you’ve printed.
With its mid-range build volume, as well as price, it’s both a practical and affordable industrial-strength 3D printer.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 230mm x 150mm x 150mm
- UI: LCD touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi
- Max print speed: 150mm/s
What We Like About QIDI TECH X-Pro
The LCD touch screen makes it easy to interact with the printer easily. The latest technology is also present in the dual extrusion better print precision from 0.05mm-0.4mm, and speed from 60mm-150mm per second.
Of metal and plastic construction, it’s well-built and has a premium look. It features a large clear door allowing you to easily and safely monitor your job, especially the temperature-sensitive ABS filament. As such it’s suitable for beginners, under supervision, and so is a popular choice in education.
The direct drive extruder with a heated aluminum build plate, makes it ideal for flexible filament, providing solutions to common problems such as jamming and slipping on the print bed.
QIDITECH X-Pro is conveniently shipped, almost fully assembled, with relatively little setup necessary and required.
See Related Topic: Rotor INPower 3D+ Review
What We Don’t Like About QIDI TECH X-Pro
In spite of such user-friendly features, some users report difficulties using this printer.
We found that one of the print heads does tend to drop which can damage your model. Also, the filament guide tubes kept popping off from the back.
Over network printing via WiFi isn’t possible with QIDITECH X-Pro.
PROS
- You can assemble it in an hour
- The manual made everything easy, especially calibration
- Well-designed. Attention to detail is noticeable in all areas: hardware, software, and ergonomics
- Support Mac OS X
CONS
- The slicer software was mediocre, and there’s no USB printing
- It would not level properly – as one print-head was slightly lower and dragged across the model, so ruining it
- Protruding screws scrape and catch on the filament rolls preventing smooth spinning
2. FlashForge Creator Pro
Product Highlights
FlashForge Creator Pro is another mid-range model that’s great for beginners, and so popular in the classroom. For the moderate price tag, you’re getting an impressive 3D printer for flexible filament.
This direct drive 3D printer has a metal frame, acrylic covers, dual extruder with two spools, and an optimized build platform.
Built on an open-source platform, it’s easy, and in fact recommended, to adjust and customize to your own requirements. By adjusting all of the settings you can create the best printing solution.
FlashForge Creator Pro is long-lasting and reliable, making it one of the best 3D printers for flexible filament.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 240mm x 150mm x 150mm
- UI: Button controls
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi
- Max print speed: 150mm/s
What We Like About FlashForge Creator Pro
It has a strong and sturdy build quality. The powder-coated steel frame, with a 6.3mm thick platform, gives stability during the printing process, particularly for vertical movement. Along with its insulated chamber, it also makes high print bed temperatures possible.
Setup couldn’t be simpler, as it comes fully assembled. It has a button-controlled user interface, albeit with WiFi connectivity. There’s even an app so that you can connect your mobile device to control and monitor your jobs.
With a front door that opens to almost 180 degrees, it gives you complete access to your completed job so you can remove it easily when completed.
FlashForge Creator Pro is compatible with any materials, as well as flexible filament. This versatility, as well as reliability and consistency, make it an extremely attractive option.
What We Don’t Like About FlashForge Creator Pro
The pre-installed software has obvious limitations and is prone to crash. It’s better to uninstall it and go with Simplify 3D instead; a much more up to date, and updateable software. This will unlock the printer’s full capabilities, make your work easier, and possibly more creative.
Despite the sturdy metal platform, bed leveling can still be tricky, and you’ll need to frequently check all corners. Also, the dual extruder nozzles are not on the same level, meaning that one of them might get in the way. So, you have to remove the one that is not in use. This, of course, marks the printer down a notch on user-friendliness.
Some users have complained that the bed temperature is unable to reach 110 degrees, but we found that the maximum temperature was reasonable enough.
FlashForge Creator Pro has a closed unit for safety, making it popular in education for beginners, but it does reduce the print volume.
PROS
- Recommend to anyone starting or wanting a more reliable 3D printer
- The first print, straight out of the box, was perfect!
- Options and abilities far beyond its price
- Solid printer with great customer support
CONS
- You’ll need to adjust your slicing settings, rather than go with the default values.
- Before every print, examine each metal flap sensor to ensure that they’re working
- The little sensors to tell the head when to stop on the rails are fragile
3. MakerGear M2
Product Highlights
MakerGear M2 is a professional printer for flexible filament, offering another level of 3D printing.
Capable of printing models in fine detail and high resolution, it can extrude between 10 microns to 0.25mm layer thickness. Because of its open design, it has a large print volume, so that you can print large works. It also supports a lot of filament types.
Very well-built, with a rigid steel chassis, this solid build quality makes for a long lifespan.
MakerGear M2 is built to run and last.
With its ease of use, reliability, excellent prints, high-quality construction and components, and MakerGear’s expert support, it’s one of the very best 3D printers for flexible filament currently available.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.35mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 200mm x 250mm x 200mm
- Connectivity: USB, MicroSD
- Max print speed: 450mm/s
What We Like About MakerGear M2
The solid steel frame and CNC machined cast aluminum construction, makes for unbeatable build quality and reliability. MakerGear M2 3D is designed, engineered, and manufactured to provide industrial level precision.
It’s a high precision 3D printer that can produce high detail 3D prints. Not only that but large-sized models, with its impressive 200mm x 250mm x 200mm large build volume.
Ready to use out of the box, its QuickStart software, step-by-step user guide, and the tutorial video gets you up and printing in no time.
When you are, the four-point print bed is easy to level, and more importantly, stays level, without the need for auto-leveling. Its OctoPrint for Maker Gear gives one-click file preparation and design-to-print integration.
MakerGear M2 has an SD card reader, and a USB port to connect to external drives. While MakerGear filament is recommended, you can use the filament of your choice. It’s also built upon open-source software and firmware.
All of these factors give you all the versatility and flexibility to produce your project your way with reliable and high-quality 3D printing.
What We Don’t Like About MakerGear M2
The bed leveling, without auto-leveling, means that making fine adjustments can be both frequent and tricky. It also lacks WiFi connectivity.
Its print time is quite long, especially for smooth-layered items. But of course, this is the price that you pay for a high-resolution print; the finer the detail the more layers it has to print.
MakerGear M2 makes a lot of noise when in operation. And its open design, whilst making larger volume prints possible, means that it’s not the absolute safest or best for beginners.
PROS
- Solid, accurate, and precise printer, right out-of-the-box
- Up and running in no time at all
- Great product with great service
- A large amount of info available on the web, with some great tips on getting the prints right
CONS
- The instructions are one badly written page of hard to understand ‘guidelines’
- You can’t easily change filament during printing
- No UI LCD screen
4. Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2
Product Highlights
Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2 is a solid and reliable 3D printer for flexible filament. Minimal assembly and set-up are required, just plug and play. It’s a great choice for beginners.
It’s an enclosed printer with a small build volume. This makes it a good choice for making smaller objects when high accuracy and details are required. With a layer thickness of 0.05 to 0.2mm it prints in high resolution.
Features such as auto-bed leveling, a heated and removable glass plate, and a filament detector make it extremely user-friendly.
Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2 is easy to use, with superb print quality and accuracy, making it one of the best 3D printers for flexible filament.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 200mm x 150mm x 150mm
- Connectivity: USB, MicroSD
- Max print speed: 150mm/s
What We Like About Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2
The auto bed leveling feature means it saves you the hassle of having to do so manually with screws and springs. The built-in inductive sensor just automatically levels the print bed.
What’s more, the heated glass build plate already provides the flattest possible surface, for flawless printing with simple and careful removal of your model every time.
As it’s an enclosed model, internal temperatures are kept consistent, and keep dust and dirt out, well away from your work. But the casing has internal lighting in the form of a row of LEDs so that you can easily see and check on your print.
Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2 even has a built-in filament sensor to detect when the filament has run out, which automatically pauses the print, for you to load a fresh spool to finish it.
What We Don’t Like About Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2
Yes, it’s an easy set-up, if you have some prior experience or knowledge. However, if you’re not, you might find that the included documentation is a little lacking in some information, and you may have to resort to the internet. And the printer itself isn’t WiFi connected.
While it boasts auto-leveling, this isn’t entirely true; it more just calibrates and tells you which springs to tighten or loosen underneath.
Monoprice Maker Ultimate 2 is also a noisy printer. It can be a little intrusively disturbing.
PROS
- Easy setup and use. Had it printing, and well too, 30 minutes after unboxing
- Can’t beat the price for the quality and features
- Moved the printer around multiple times without having to touch the bed adjustments
- Monoprice support is great, receiving a same-day reply to questions by email
CONS
- Wouldn’t adhere to the bed in any way. The front left of the bed is lower than the other corner
- LED’s inside are incredibly bright, so you can’t use a camera with Octoprint
- Some crazy resonance makes it WAY louder than it should be!
5. FLSUN QQ-S
Product Highlights
FLSUN QQ-S is a delta 3D printer, which because of its complexity makes them not particularly suitable for beginners.
But its speed makes it very attractive for the more experienced, with printing speeds of up to 300mm/s.
It comes pre-assembled, saving you more time, as you can start printing right out of the box in less than 20 minutes. Also, thanks to its auto-leveling feature
The printer bed accommodates large 3D model printing too, supported by the sturdy build quality.
FLSUN QQ-S if you’re an experienced 3D printer, who wants a pre-assembled, fast, and high-quality printer.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 260mm x 260mm x 320mm
- UI: LCD touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi
- Max print speed: 300mm/s
What We Like About FLSUN QQ-S
Its print quality is top-of-the-range, able to extrude a minimum layer thickness of 0.05mm.
The detail of your 3D prints will be of the very highest order.
Also, top quality is its connectivity and UI. It is WiFi-enabled, and even comes with a remote controller, and has an LCD touchscreen
It’s of sturdy all-metal construction, except for its lattice glass platform. This provides good stability and better printing precision, combined with its three-axis linkage
FLSUN QQ-S has a maximum printing speed of 300mm/s, it prints 30% faster on average than comparable models. But is below average, where noise is concerned, at less than
50 dB.
What We Don’t Like About FLSUN QQ-S
As a delta printer, it’s capable of top-notch detailing and quality, but sometimes with a little tricky and temperamental performance. FLSUN QQ-S is no exception.
It’s of sound and sturdy construction, but we found evidence of bad bed-warping issues, which may increase over time.
FLSUN QQ-S doesn’t have a filament run-out sensor, you’ll have to make sure it has enough filament to finish the printing yourself.
PROS
- Simple to assemble and use
- Prints with beautiful accuracy
- Delta printers are faster, and they can print smooth, detailed models
- Amazingly quiet
CONS
- Setup requires some previous knowledge. A novice might not know to open the base to switch the power supply
- The bed is not level, there are various points that rise and fall at different parts
- Poor customer service support
6. Creality Ender 3
Product Highlights
Creality Ender 3 is a great value 3D printer for flexible filament. As such, it’s one of the best choices for beginners with a large community of users who act as supporters.
It has high accuracy and produces great 3D prints consistently; it extrudes a minimum layer thickness of 0.1mm.
But this performance does come at some price; which is noise. Unfortunately, this 3D printer is one of the noisiest that we tested.
Creality Ender 3 is a consistent performer. Print quality is good, if not spectacular. And in terms of speed, it’s average. But for beginners who need plenty of support, it is a good option.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 220mm x 220mm x 250mm
- UI: LCD Screen
- Connectivity: USB, MicroSD
- Max print speed: 180mm/s
What We Like About Creality Ender 3
Yes, you have to assemble it yourself. That’s the concession for the low price. But it does, in fact, come in several pre-assembled parts, making it relatively simple. It should take no more than two hours, and only 20 nuts. And of course, it allows you to modify the printer in the process.
With Advanced Extruder Technology, its upgraded extruder reduces the risk of plugging and bad extrusion.
It also has a really useful Resume Print Function, to allow it to resume printing even after a power outage or fault.
Creality Ender 3 has a safety-protected power supply, yet still only needs 5 minutes for the hotbed to reach 110℃. All key components are before shipping and lifetime technical support is available.
What We Don’t Like About Creality Ender 3
It’s designed with beginners in mind, but the required self-assembly, although relatively simple with cleared instructions, might put some off.
Also, what might deter possible buyers, is its average only speed performance, but definitely louder than average noise!
PROS
- Setup was fairly straightforward with all the tools needed provided
- Very simple to use; just load the filament and print.
- Sturdy, built from good quality materials.
- Everything aligns very well
CONS
- Not for beginners
- Could not get the z and y-axis to work because of unclear instructions
- Inconsistent and intrusive performance
7. ANYCUBIC Mega S
Product Highlights
ANYCUBIC Mega S has one of the easiest set-ups. It comes largely pre-assembled, you just need to screw in eight bolts and plug in three connectors and you’re up and running.
This makes it friendly for both the novice and those with experience, who value ease and convenience. You can begin printing in less than 20 minutes. User-friendly and easy to understand the included 3D printing software.
The metallic frame makes it solid, to provide a long lifespan of great quality 3D printing. Its accuracy is good and the minimum layer thickness it can extrude is 0.1mm, for 3D prints of high detail.
ANYCUBIC Mega S is an affordable and solid 3D printer for flexible filament. You’ll get the job done with minimum fuss.
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 210mm x 210mm x 205mm
- UI: Button Controls
- Connectivity: SD Card, Data Cable
- Max print speed: 100mm/s
What We Like About ANYCUBIC Mega S
It takes just three simple steps to set it up and start printing. And at 210mm x 210mm x 205mm with a larger than average print volume.
The extruder, with its solid filament drive and overall mechanical design, reduces the risk of clogging to improve the printing accuracy. It’s also compatible with most filaments.
The patented printing platform with excellent adhesion makes for minimal movement during printing. Yet, your finished model easily pops-off like once the bed cools down.
There’s also a filament sensor to pause the print and set off an alarm when you run out of filament.
ANYCUBIC Mega S comes with a one-year after-sale service for the printer hardware and lifetime technical assistance with a 24-hour response. This is also supported by a growing user community.
What We Don’t Like About ANYCUBIC Mega S
We did find some flaws.
Initial leveling is tricky and takes a while to master. Although once you do, it’s easy enough. But be careful; the printer bed needs to cool before you can remove your model if you don’t want to damage its underside.
Also, the USB port is behind the filament spool, making access difficult. There’s also no WiFi connectivity.
ANYCUBIC Mega S isn’t the quietest. It’s actually pretty noisy. But it’s not alone in that, out of the models that we reviewed.
PROS
- Great first 3D printer. The best entry-level model currently available
- The assembly instructions are simple and well written
- No problems with the model sticking to the bed
CONS
- The included filament is so short and tightly wound that it will not feed into the printer without great effort. Also, of low quality, it’s so brittle that it regularly snaps
- Good luck getting it level!
- The cooling fans are very loud
8. Dremel DigiLab 3D45
Product Highlights
Dremel DigiLab 3D45 is an award-winning 3D printer.
It comes with a heated build plate, multi-connectivity, a built-in HD camera, and compatibility with many flexible filament types.
Its large print volume will accommodate most jobs.
Dremel DigiLab 3D45 has an easy to use and an intuitive 5-inch touchscreen
Features
- Nozzle: 0.4mm
- Filament: 1.75mm
- Print Volume: 255mm x 155mm x 3170mm
- UI: LCD touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB
- Max print speed: 100mm/s
What We Like About Dremel DigiLab 3D45
The closed frame design is safe and gives a consistent and regulated printing environment Its two plastic doors open outward for easy access, as well as being clear so that you can easily monitor your work.
Dremel DigiLab 3D45 has Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB connectivity, so you can print from almost anywhere. It also has a printing app so you can use your phone to slice files, send prints, and monitor progress thanks to the built-in camera.
That camera also creates a time-lapse video, so you can download and view the whole job, once it’s done.
What We Don’t Like About Dremel DigiLab 3D45
Dremel only supports their own filament, so beware if you use another brand and something goes wrong. However, it is fully capable of printing with third-party materials, and certainly, those with experience in 3D printing shouldn’t have a problem.
Dremel DigiLab 3D45 also only offers a limited range of ten colors.
PROS
- Prints well right out of the box
- No assembly, testing, or tweaking
- Fully enclosed, VERY quiet
CONS
- Build volume is on the small side and the speed is slow
- Difficult to adjust settings while printing
Final Verdict
We tested and compared what we consider to be the best 3D Printer for Flexible Filament available in the market.
We considered all factors to come up with what we believe to be the best all-around solution according to the important criteria, and a wide variety of needs.
After days of using, testing, and reviewing, our final verdict for the best 3D Printer for Flexible Filament is FlashForge Creator Pro.
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