GKtwo and Ultracraft Reflex RS compared A Side by Side look at Resin 3D Printers

[@MrMartynwelbourn]

Great video as always and I'm glad to have my GK2!

[@greedy3d480]

Thank you...it's a great printer 😁

[@aberodriguez4149]

Great review still appreciate my GK2 and thanks as always for your time and reviews.

[@greedy3d480]

Thank you

[@ringheader]

I got the gk2 bundle a couple of weeks ago as my introduction to 3d printing. I think I made the best purchase decision tbh. Finding the correct exposure can be a chore, but you can use the sites and yt videos to find the appropriate settings as I did. It prints just fine either way.

[@greedy3d480]

Glad your happy with the gk2..it's a great machine I also love mine 😁

[@wrxrox]

Great review. Looks like the next one to grab after the price drops like I did with my gk2 :)

[@greedy3d480]

Might be a while though 🤔

[@fluxcapacitor]

What are the two additional settings 30 and 50 μm labelled "experimental" at 12:10?

[@greedy3d480]

I'm not sure question for hey gears I would suggest that mate

[@fluxcapacitor]

So I asked them. They answered that these experimental profiles are tweaked to improve speed maintaining quality (and even improve print quality too) but that although being almost done (control quality passed or about to) they are still a work in progress especially to validate every configuration possible which is a lot of work. Good to know they're always trying to improve things! They also confirmed that once these tweaks are completely validated, they'll drop the "experimental" label from them and that either these newer profiles will completely replace the current standard ones, OR (they haven't made up their minds yet) they'll label these new profiles as the "aggressive" ones, keeping the current profiles side by side. If they end up choosing the former solution, I wonder though how this will impact (for the better or the worse) the print quality of 3rd-party resins (Sunlu, Jamg He, etc.) which as you showed in your various tests are working pretty well using the current profiles.

[@greedy3d480]

Thank you 👍

[@Explore-Gobal]

Half way through the video and I get the impression that the folks making the RS are leaning towards squeezing out every penny the consumer is willing to spend, emphasis on more profits. While this is fine and dandy, I do prefer a company that seems to give us a little extra without constantly dipping into our wallets. With much being the same as far as what you get,this is an easy decision. Have fun printing guys, and thank you for this video.

[@NoMercyFtw]

💯

[@Giddoens]

My hood hinge broke on the GK2 and I am working with the Chinese Sales rep to get it replaced, and their customer service has been very good!

[@JerryBWagoner]

The RS looks like a great machine, but a locked down system/slicer means a lack of competition and potentially elevated consumable costs. Sure, you "can" find some baked in settings that will work with other resins,but you can't tweak them, you have to find an existing one that happens to work. Does using other resins do anything to the warranty? If Heygears offered both business models, I'd bite, heck over time, I might even find the locked in auto-process more convenient... but for the time being, I'm Team Green. 😊

[@greedy3d480]

The only negative to using other resins on the machine is that you can't use their technical support services the third party resins

[@JohnVanderbeck]

I already own a GKTwo and looking to add a Reflex to my workshop. I'm just trying to decide between the original Reflex and the RS. I really can't decide because the RS has a bigger build volume, but seems to be a step backward in nearly every other way. Though interestingly HeyGears tells me the RS has better thermal management which results in better quality prints, though I have no idea what kind of thermal management that is.

[@Smathalgoth]

The only downside for the RS is that it can't use all of their specialty resins. Otherwise, it is superior to the original in every way spec wise. Bigger build plate, higher resolution, faster print speeds.

[@JohnVanderbeck]

@@Smathalgoth Not every way. There are other factors that some people might consider. In my case speed doesn't matter, quality does. While I would like the larger build plate, I ultimately decided for the Reflex because it has better resin handling with the gate system, does support all thier resins, has a better build plate, and juist overall I didn't like the impression that they cheapened out on a bunch of the admittedly non-important bits. The ONLY real problem I have with the Reflex is the smaller build size, and that onyl becomes an issue sometimes, in which times I just move back to the GKTwo and slum it :)

[@bea666st]

check prices for europe, gk2 is still 749 dollars, but the reflex rs is 974 euros (1080 dollars). Supposedly because of taxes and shipping. That is now about 300 dollars cheaper for the gk2.

[@greedy3d480]

Yes I spoken to them about this it's all to do with taxes apparently it's not just a conversion rate from dollars to pounds which I assumed would be the sensible thing

[@noobfacegamez8670]

Not another printer on the market like Uniformation, Im looing to get the GK3 Ultra next, I have the 2 and its insanely amazing. Ill never stray

[@greedy3d480]

A wise mam once said to experience new lands you have to sail away from the coast ...another said if it ain't broke don't fix it lol..if your happy your happy 🙂

[@noobfacegamez8670]

@@greedy3d480 I totally agree.. great video.

[@greedy3d480]

@@noobfacegamez8670 :)

[@DUSKtillDAN666]

I think this video has just convinced me that my decision to stick with Uniformation is absolutely the right choice. No heated vat and the price of their resin is just a big fat capital NO.

[@greedy3d480]

Gktwo is a great printer 👍

[@tonym4960]

I would still consider an enclosure and heater if you are in a cold climate. Heated vats result in uneven heating of the resin and can only counter so much cold.

[@DUSKtillDAN666]

@@tonym4960 I really don't agree that they give uneven heating. A printer with a heated vat is great. I've owned a GKTWO since they just after they came out and have never had a failed print yet. I also own a Saturn 4 ultra and a Anycubic M3 Max which I did go and buy a chitu heater for. And it does work great , however the gktwo still surpasses both of these other printers by a mile for reliability. I have the gk3 on preorder and I really am so excited to get it. This reflex rs is a great printer too but it's also overpriced. Or at least it is for me given its limitations with resin. That being said I know Mr Greedy is trying out some other resin including water washable so I might change my mind...

[@LexxDesign3D]

Very thorough review Greedy! 👏 When slicing the same model for both machines is there a noticeable speed difference?

[@greedy3d480]

Thank you to be honest I've not sliced the same model on both machines interesting one I'll bet someone somewhere has though

[@dariuszsobkowiak5029]

being the GK2 has a carbon filter does it still emit smells? Is the Reflex RS more smelly? Sorry new to resin printing trying to decide which one to buy

[@greedy3d480]

They both emit smells to some degree or other. Because I have so many printers in there I can't pinpoint what's coming from which one ideally hopefully someone else will be able to let you know what the smell is like with the RS on its own but I haven't noticed anything particularly excessive with compared to any other printer I use I have heard that the gk2 filter is not brilliant I do know that you get smells from that as well I'm not sure if that helps completely 😅

[@CleetusVanDamme530]

Currently deciding between RS and GK3 Ultra, I have the GK3 Ultra locked in at $999 rn. RS seems really nice, but am still not sold on it over the GK3 Ultra enough for me to cancel my pre order and to go with the RS instead.

[@JiggsHD]

Big difference is one u can use whatever resin u want the other u can't BUT is way more convenient to use. Especially supporting ur models and such. So pay extra for convenience or not is what it really comes down to.

[@xianggao490]

Can't get it right now, I hope it has the same price (or better !) during Black Friday, so I can get it.

[@greedy3d480]

Fingers crossed

[@dovmerrill804]

Nice video comparison, Greedy! A couple of comments: (1) Technically speaking, the GK2 has a heater that heats below the screen and heat rises up to heat the screen, nFEP film, and finally the resin in the vat. So, the vat itself isn’t a “heated vat”, per se. Not to quibble, so I guess the result (heated resin) winds up being the same. (2) Most folks would say the “build plate design” of the GK2 is “more user friendly” than the RS machine. The GK2 “latch mechanism” seems a bit nicer. The GK2 build plate is “less work” for the user to cleanup since, due to its thickness, resin doesn’t get on top of the build plate, AND the build plate has a “lip or protruding rim” that prevents or reduces dripping when removing the build plate from the GK2. I won’t comment on “build plate leveling” differences between GK2 and RS at this time; both supposedly come “factory-leveled or calibrated”. GK2 can be re-leveled with four screws on build plate and RS has 2 screws “on or near Z-arm?” for re-leveling, but great feature of RS is the force sensors allow meaning the force on the four corners of the build plate, and these measurements show in the user interface and can be used, along with the 2 adjust screws, to adjust build plate corner force to within 10 micron height difference, or something like that. The RS build plate is stainless steel, which seems superior to GK2’s aluminum, but since the RS plate is thin and flat, it is “old school” meaning top of RS build plate gets resin user has to scrape/clean off and edge of build plate can drip everywhere. Yeah, RS has great software useability but too bad Heygears went a bit backwards in cost cutting hardware-wise!

[@greedy3d480]

Very true I agree 👍 thank you for such a detailed comment .very much appreciated 👏

[@FantomPhish]

I went to preorder the HayGears and they wanted over $200 more than the going conversion rate. Dodgy way to get money out of customers… very disappointing

[@greedy3d480]

I have to questioned them re this too..they have put it down to taxes 😒

[@FantomPhish]

@@greedy3d480 well then it’s still out of my budget considering what you can the competition for a lot less even with pre sale. Maybe if it included the heated VAT ect but I’ll wait I think, my GKTwo is still going strong and hasn’t missed a beat.

[@Nickman1313]

REFLEX is totally locked down no resin profiles not sure if that a good choice??????? I am new to the hobby so posting this to get others' thoughts.

[@greedy3d480]

I think it would be much better if they opened up the profiles to other resins but they haven't made that decision at this time and may never do that so what my aim is is to test other resins with this printer to show other people that they can work with it so that the best printer on the market and most expensive printer on the market can and does work really well with cheap resins

[@DialetoNerd]

$33 for Standard Resin? Sunlu abs like is cheaper!!!!

[@greedy3d480]

And you can use that too on the RS 😀

[@markmcguire6984]

950 euro for the rs 😢

[@greedy3d480]

But you can grab it for the next 2 weeks at an introductory price which is much less than that

[@markmcguire6984]

@@greedy3d480 not on the official website

[@georgebobolas6363]

@@greedy3d480 Unfortunately, this seems to be the pre-release price for EU. For me it appears as €975 going down to €914 after applying the promotional €50 coupon.

[@patrickdjebar9225]

In Europe €974,78

[@jjopan]

your title: "which is better" your video: "i'm not going to say which is better"

[@greedy3d480]

Your decision to make at no point did I say I'm going to tell you which one is better because it's got to be your decision

[@jjopan]

@@greedy3d480 at one point in the title you did

[@greedy3d480]

I might have said I personally prefer something but as a final desicon it has to be yours...lots of variables and my choice may nit be your choice

[@JohnSmith-rt5yq]

​@greedy3d480 you said right at the start that this is a "showdown" and said it in the title... a showdown means there is a winner. So yea, you did say that both directly in the title and in the video indirectly as a "showdown" or "vs" would indicate a fight with a winner. That being said, I worry with the RS, and the proprietary resins. I saw your other video with Sunlu, but I think it came off the build plate and lacked adhesion with that one. With no way to tweak to correct that, I worry. I also worry about that 1 click auto support system. I downloaded blueprint and ran some of my files through it and the way it supported some items, to me, seems to be destined for a fail. Dennis wang's channel auto supported a few items, and a few failed due to insufficient supports, which kind of defeats the whole goal of this machine. Can you auto support and print 4 or 5 items and see if any fails?

[@greedy3d480]

@JohnSmith-rt5yq I've genuinely not had any support failures even with a packed build plate...I'm in no way saying it will never fail as the law of averages would kick me where it hurts...sunlu adhered wonderfully to bed and continues to do so 😁

[@DialetoNerd]

Its too expensive , Gk2 all the way 💪

[@greedy3d480]

Same price in USA for just over two weeks....just saying lol

[@solrax6026]

Maybe more expensive BUT Heygears is hassle free easy printing. Saving time and failed print equals heygears IS cheaper

[@Giddoens]

just a update I got ahold if UniFormation for my GK2 and the wifi adapter is NO longer a option! it is out of stock and will NOT be made available anymore....

[@greedy3d480]

That's interesting ...and very dissapointing

[@ringheader]

@Giddoens I think they automatically ship it with the gk2. I had to look for it, but it was packaged along with the other stuff. In one of the boxes.

[@andreafalconiero9089]

It's standard equipment included with the printer, which is why they don't sell it separately.

[@Giddoens]

@@andreafalconiero9089 not anymore, I just bought mine in the beginning of July and it did not come with it as they were out of stock and are NOT getting anymore! This is per the Chinese Sales rep whom I spoke directly with. and there are no 3rd party ones that work.... they (UniFormation) want you to buy the GK 3 which wifi comes built in. no biggy...