Creality Sermoon V1 Pro review: an original 3D printer

The Creality Sermoon V1 Pro is a filament-based 3D printer from one of the most popular consumer 3D printer manufacturers. For the uninitiated, 3D printers build objects layer by layer, by melting a plastic filament the thickness of a piece of spaghetti and extruding it onto a build plate. As layers are added to the plate, the object grows and takes shape.

There is a wide range of 3D printer technologies, brands, and features, but filament printers are among the most common and cost-effective. Another common type of 3D printer creates layers of resin by exposing each layer to light. These resin printers are comparable in cost, but are often used to make smaller models with a greater degree of detail. They are very popular in the world of miniature games, for example.

Printers like the Sermoon V1 Pro are also capable of making small statue-like objects. In fact, I use some for my tests. But the real benefit of 3D printers is that, in addition to the types of objects you can download from sites like Thingiverse or Printables, you can design your own objects that solve specific problems. I’ll link to some handy 3D printing projects below to give you an example.

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These devices range from a few hundred dollars up to thousands. The price is determined by the features, speed, robustness and size of the printer, among other things. This printer is more expensive than some, but cheaper than others. It’s priced right, but it’s small. That said, let’s look at the details.

Many people know the Ender name when it comes to Creality, an extremely popular line of open bed filament printers. The Sermon v1 Pro I review in this review can be partially or fully enclosed, and offers a range of features that Creality hopes will justify its moderately high price tag of over $500.

If you like all the features of the Sermoon, the price might be just fine. But if you don’t need it, that price might seem quite steep.

Features

Max. Build size	175*175*165mm
Device Dimensions	400*380*430 mm
Machine weight	11.5kg
Max. Nozzle temperature	≤250°C
Max. Heat bed temperature	≤80°
Supported Filaments	PLA/ABS/PETG/TPU
Filament diameter	1.75mm

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Put in place

Setting up the printer was relatively straightforward. The company touts out-of-the-box operation and it’s pretty much true. Once I got it working I didn’t even have to level the bed. It worked perfectly.

The control console is nicely integrated into the frame of the machine. The Sermoon V1 Pro has a relatively small build area of ​​175x175x165mm. That’s pretty small for a printer priced over $500. Some of my test models had to be scaled down for this printer because they were just too big. That said, it’s not so small that you can’t do anything.

Features

At just over $500 (the price fluctuates quite a bit), the Sermoon V1 Pro offers a long list of useful features, right out of the box. First of all, as mentioned before, it can be completely closed. You can remove the top to allow some heat release, but you can also keep the case complete, which allows for a wide range of filament types, including ABS.

The printer also has a front door that can be configured to pause printing when opened. I found this annoying, especially when trying to film the printer. But for situations with kids and classrooms, I can definitely see the value.

The printer also has a flexible steel magnetic plate with a coating that works surprisingly well for bed adhesion. I had no issues with the prints sticking to the plate, and they came off quite easily.

Another feature is built-in Wi-Fi and a camera that can help you view your print progress from a smartphone. I found this feature to work quite well and I liked it.

The app itself is boring. Rather than receiving alerts just when a print finishes, the app seems content to provide alerts for everything, including when new models go on sale in the Creality store and when you earn Cuvacoins. What are Cuvacoins, you ask? Creality seems to be trying some kind of gamification, but it all turned out to be an annoyance.

This machine does not have USB ports. You can upload prints in two ways: via a full-size SD card or via Wi-Fi using CrealityCloud. But if you want to plug in a Raspberry Pi and control the printer directly via USB, you can’t – although there is a workaround. Creality has instructions for hacking direct links from Creality Cloud to Cura and OctoPrint together.

The Core-XY Sermoon V1 Pro sports an all-metal hot end with a dual-gear direct extruder that heats up to 250 degrees. This means that the extruder pulls the filament towards the hot end. Bowden tube extruders have the gear mechanism quite far from the hot end, and although they are a little lighter, the filament can get stuck. The direct extruder also allows for a wider range of filament types.

This brings us to the Sermoon’s vaunted feature of silent printing. Once the printer starts it is not very noisy, but it does get quite noisy when starting up. There is also noticeable ambient fan noise.

The Sermoon V1 Pro does not have automatic bed leveling. Instead, you have to do the typical paper-swiping action to get the tram just right, but you make your adjustments by pressing down on the control panel and adjusting the Z offset in five separate areas of the bed.

The Sermoon V1 Pro has two must-have features: a filament run-out sensor and a power failure resume function.

At the end of the line

So, do I recommend you buy it?

The price is much higher than other printers with larger build areas. That said, you get a lot with this product, including the webcam.

Also, the whole frame is plastic, so I don’t know how long it will last. Another concern with product life is the build platform. It’s only supported on one side, so every time you remove and snap the magnetic plate, you’re putting stress on the platform.

If this is for schools or kids, I’m not sure it’s tough enough to handle the inevitable abuse. For hobbyist use, it might hold up, but only time will tell.

What do you think? Is this a printer you would like to use? Let us know in the comments below.

Alternatives to consider

This version takes most of the features of the V1 Pro except for the camera and the door sensor.

This is an open bed “bed slinger” printer. It is one of the most popular 3D printer models ever sold.

We quite liked the Anycubic Vyper when we reviewed it.

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