Which is the Ultimate Winner: Creality's ENDER 3 V3 SE or KE?

What's Up & Welcome to the Channel:
G'day, I'm Chris from Chris Creations,
I was once a Fitness Coach/Trainer & Defence & Justice Officer with many degrees & years in Health, Sports Science & Engineering / Fabrication were I was a Adrenaline & Fitness Fanatic & Huge Motorcycle Enthusiast & Fabricator.
I suffered a Bad Car Accident from another Driver and suffered Multiple Crushed Vertebrae's in my Spine. (SO What this Got to Do with Anything??? Well, It brought me to a New Hobby - With a Moto "If you Can't Rid'em Re-build'em" If you can't Train, Stay Healthy & Whilst your Sitting around why not Print'em",
Thus began the Journey over the last 2yrs of all things 3D Printing. So here we are:
Today We've got Creality's Ender 3 Series in Review with the: ENDER 3 V-3 SE & KE series 3D Printers.
We go through the Pro's & the Con's? if Any, Are they Good Printer's for the Price?
Tune in to See for yourself.
Amateur Editing by Yours Truly lol: Chris @CHRIS_CREATIONS
Promo & Collaborators Only Contact Chris @CHRIS_CREATIONS
Email: [e-mail]
Social Media Links in Channel info. DM for Genuine inquiries.
#3d #australia #usa #creality #ai

[@3D4Everyone1]

Good stuff Chris, nice detailed review. I can understand why Creality uses the same parts on both printers, they are after all both in the Ender 3 V3 family and lets face it a lot of customers want as cheap as they can get. If they can keep the price down by using the same manufacturing equipment a company is going to use it. I bet their are a lot of SD cards stuck inside the body, they should of done something to close that off.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Very true Gary, As a Leading 3D printing Company I don't see any issue with using tried and tested printer parts that work well, But yea the Q&C on the Ender V3 KE when you Pay More Cash with empty holes/slot is a bit of a disappointment though.

[@azeiku9915]

I just bought the KE as my first printer. I agree that having the open holes is kind of silly, but I do really appreciate the price break the consumer is getting with not having a second mold created just to get rid of the holes. I'm fine with the empty holes knowing it costs less to build. 😉 I could print some plugs if I felt it was important to close them up.

[@shadowminor]

Not sure why they didn't just give the KE the card reader and usb as well since it is the more expensive version anyway. More options is always good.

[@danielch6662]

My guess is the KE is what the engineers wanted to build, but they had a price point to meet. So the SE is what we ended up with. Then they bumped up the KE a bit more to differentiate it. The empty slots ... should have just madeba small plate, glue it from the other side to close off tge hole. If injection is too expensive, just 3d print it.

[@BokBarber]

I just sprung for a KE as my first 3d printer. Ultimately what drove me to the KE over the SE was the better hot end; one of my potential uses for the machine is to print out replacement plastic gears to do parts repairs, and for that specific purpose, from what I've read, nylon is considered to be the best material. The KE can handle nylon temperatures, the SE can't. Aside from that, it had enough value adds to convince me that it was worth the extra $65USD at the time I purchased it. One complaint I have about the whole buying experience: I'd like to see Creality pare back or restructure some of the printer selections on their site, especially in the Ender line. Frankly it's a confusing mess; they're still listing printers that are almost a decade old with almost the same name as their newer offerings, sometimes for only $30-50USD less than the SE. From my research these are printers that have a very different build philosophy, no auto bed leveling, and work at a fraction of the speed but all show up right next to each other for purchase. Why? Why are we creating such a confusing experience for buyers? You just know there are kids getting the wrong 3d printer from a well meaning loved one this Christmas, potentially ruining their first 3d printing experience, and turning people off of the brand or hobby. Maybe they just have extra stock they want to sell or these are still popular in some niche applications like building out print farms, but if that's the case either put them in a clearance section of the site or rebadge them for the market they're popular with. "Ender Classic." There's ways to do this without the confusing landscape that exists today.

[@wonderingworld119]

SE filament sensor comes with a bracket and bits to attach it. In saying that its still a ball ache routing the cable and wiring it but then again I would wager most people who have got used to tinkering with 3d printers would have no problems. I am beginning to think the main differences between these two printers to the vast majority of end users is SD card and being willing by buy a better PEI sheet and filament sensor if you need to. Once you do it will still be a bit cheaper, and you might decide you don't even need them. Most end users won't find that much difference in start to end speed unless speed is very important to them.

[@azeiku9915]

Thanks for the video. I'm excited to see reviews starting to come out now that the KE is shipping. My feedback would be to zoom a little closer on some of the details. I could kind 9f see it but it was a bit hard to see the differences in the nozzle lengths you mentioned. Again great video!

[@spark669]

The SE uses the same nozzle as the Ender 5 S1. It helps to know that when looking for new nozzles. SE nozzles weren’t easily available when I got my first clog. Opens up your options a bit

[@teetat1]

Long Nozzle , I think the area of the hot end as same duty to melting filament another excess length providing for filament preheating before push to the hot end, Because KE is 300mm/s. Speed.

[@shadowminor]

Just got the SE yesterday as my first printer. Got it bundled with the PIE bed which was a good thing because on my second print I got a tear on the bed that came with it.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Lucky. First the first few prints just use hairspray on the Pei don't use Glue and slightly raise the z offset by 0.3-5. As so it can wear in and not damage the Pei sheet.

[@SlippingFlipping]

Creality made so many compromises to produce these new models, aiming to create the cheapest printer available. However, there are clear reasons behind this approach. The primary issue with the V3 lies in the inadequate weight distribution, leading to noticeable lines and ringing when the two printers are in operation. No amount of input shaping can rectify this flaw. I was surprised by the extent of vibration, particularly as the Z-axis ascends. If quality isn't a priority, then my observations may not hold much weight. One might assume that a printer capable of high accuracy and 500mm/sec speed should handle such vigorous movements, but Creality's decision to use the same body as the SE model seems like a cost-cutting measure. One positive aspect is that Creality has finally integrated dual bed leveling using the CR and the probe, but this feature has long been a standard inclusion in similar brands. I believe the KE is not a wise addition, as the extra features do not hold much significance for a printer that lacks comprehensive capabilities. Klipper is the only standout feature, but here's the kicker: I'm running Klipper on my Android using Octa4a, and it performs better than some pie. I suggest exploring other brands to gain a better understanding of the approaches used at a similar price point. Only then will you realize why the new V3 is a letdown.

[@Murgoh]

I just ordered a KE to run alongside my 4 or 5 year old original Ender 3 that has been upgraded with a MicroSwiss direct drive all metal extruder and a newer version motherboard. My idea is to use the KE for larger parts as it's faster and has auto leveling and filament sensor and the old one for small parts and special materials as it's capable of 300 C temperature and I have hardened nozzles for it which the KE does not have from the factory I believe. Don't know yet if hardened nozzles are available as an accessory for KE but if they are they'll probably affect print speed as steel is much less thermally conductive than brass. My old machine also gives really good print quality even with TPU if I'm conservative with the print speed which is nice for smaller, more detailed parts. I don't mind the empty holes in the base, I fully understand the economy of using the same part for both versions as injection molding molds are extremely expensive, especially for such a large, close tolerance part. Might put a piece of black tape over them or print a cover.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

The KE has the Harden Nozzles, As it is the K1 Hot end with the Bimetal Harden Tip Nozzles are available Online through multiple sellers. Cheers

[@bobd.5905]

You can use hardened steel or nickel plated copper nozzles with the KE and the main component to the really fast prints is the hyper PLA medium. You will be limited in your print speed if you use regular PLA or PLA+. There is a quality/speed tradeoff otherwise.

[@danielch6662]

Thanks. This is the video is the one I've been looking for. Wanted to get the SE, but in the back of my mind, there is this nagging doubt. Should I get the KE instead? Most of the big channels that covered the V3 only talks about the SE. The only other stuff about the KE I found on KZbin are

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Hi Daniel, Appreciate the Comment. Personally If it was me after viewing both of these Printers first Hand. If I did not have a Sonicpad already I would personally get the KE as it comes with the Superior Ceramic Higher flow rate Hot end, Dual Cooling Fans and added Linear X rail, Textured PEI metal Bed Sheet. Which enables better high speed printing & quality, Although some what limited it is still a Klipper based machine and touch screen interface" With the future possibility of Open Source Klipper firmware from Creality. "With Creality having released open source rooting with other 3D printers running a revised version of their own Klipper System. If you could afford it that is. If you want to print Quality Straight out of the Box at Higher Speeds, Go the KE if you can afford it for the $100 dollars it's cheaper upfront without having to add a Sonicpad and better Quality. That said if you can't then the SE variant is a good Starter Point Printer with an Option to add a Sonicpad at a Later date and get all of what the KE can do but obviously being more costly in the long run is all. I suppose it depends on what you can afford to start of with. KE if you have the Budget / SE & you can upgrade later. KE being the Premium Design. I hope this helps along with the Video Review. I appreciate everyone's feedback and will always provide feedback were possible. Thankyou

[@MestreZima]

Hello, I wanted to know if the V3 SE is faster with sonic pad and if the quality improves, I'm looking for a comparison of the printer with and without the sonic pad to see the differences, but I can't find it anywhere, I'm thinking about purchasing one to put on my V3 SE. But I'm afraid there won't be any difference, in the country where I live the sonic pad is very expensive and you can buy another printer for the price. By the way, great videos, I loved it.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Thankyou I really appreciate your feedback & comments it means alot. Yes the SonicPad does increase the quality of the V3 SE prints and also the speed as well. As the SonicPad converts the SE from a Marlin firmware system to a Klipper system as such the Klipper system runs a Faster more advanced algorithm than Marlin can or does therefore you gain increased print speeds and quality from better g.code processing this the reason why most modern printers are no running Klipper based firmware. I will do a speed and quality comparison video this weekend which be out by mid next week. March 3-5th.That should help you decide and see the differences between. Heaps more content in the coming weeks as well stay tuned. Cheers Chris

[@Factsfun-kg4xc]

i just got the KE as my first printer. i love it its an amazing printer for the price. i just placed an order for a bambu labs x1e carbon. i know its a different league but im hooked in this hobby.

[@darrellraindityo]

did you experience any significant problems after using it for months?

[@Factsfun-kg4xc]

​@@darrellraindityo The KE printer is a total workhorse! I've thrown everything at it, and it handles it brilliantly. For the price, it's practically perfect

[@user-kk8cj7fu5u]

HI Chris, Nice and instructive video. on your opinion what printer do you recommend for a beginner level? cheers

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Hi, Honestly you can go past the Ender 3 V3 SE as a entry level printer. It's relatively quick printing ease of use and upgradable as well. So you can get into 3d printing on a budget & then upgrade with Led lighting, filament sensor, bigger printing fans, SonicPad or nebula touch screen pad and Klipper for even faster printing later on as you can afford to. I still use mine today as it prints great straight out of the box. Hope that helps. Cheers

[@user-kk8cj7fu5u]

@@CHRIS_CREATIONS Mate I really appreciate your comment and advice on this. I hope you all the best and will keep an eye on all your videos.

[@SeventhCircle77]

I think the KE is so worth the extra $100. Direct drive, their own high end hot end with volcano style nozzles, linear x rail, wifi capability, camera compatibility, klipper based I believe. I got the ke over the se, no regrets. And it's fast, like crazy fast. Average printing speed at about 300 now and it looks better than my original ender 3 pro at 50mm/s

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

If you can afford it. It is a lot printer the money. Great Value indeed 👍

[@antunrosovic7284]

SE has direct drive, too

[@stevestratas5345]

Chris great video but you could have zoomed a little better on the tips comparison. I don’t know if you have noticed but as I see ion the video the motors on the KE look significantly larger than the SE that is just an observation. I would like to see a comparison between the KE and the CR 10 SE. I am thinking of taking the plunge and the CR 10 SE looks like a better value

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Thanks for the Feedback Steve, I'll try to modify my camera angles next time for a better angle and zoom.

[@arbjful]

The KE is looking increasingly attractive to me, other than that the CR-10 print mill

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

It's a Great little Print the KE. I'm doing a Follow up Video on the V3 KE & SE+ SonicPad showcasing Prints. So keep an eye out for that one. Should be up by Saturday Night. Including KE nebula Ai Cam & Led Lightbar installation.

[@arbjful]

@@CHRIS_CREATIONS thanks

[@kylewellman402]

So i just got the v3 KE as my second printer next to my heavily modded ender 3 pro. I also have the sonic pad that i ran my pro with. How are you hooking up the KE to sonic pad? Are you using the SE profile?

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Hi Kyle, The Ender 3 V3 KE can not be added to the SonicPad. It can have Root access firmware applied instead. See Creality GitHub forums for For Root Access to unlock full Klipper experience. Cheers

[@teknikeleman44]

Hello, thank you for the review and comparison video. The KE model is not yet sold in my country, but the SE model is available. The price is $250. I estimate that the sales price of the KE model will be $350 or more. If I buy the SE model now, can I buy and install the Hotends and Fans in the KE model in the future? Which are these parts (I'm asking because I don't know exactly). And how much will it cost? Also, the Screen price is around $80. Thank you in advance for your answer.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Unfortunately the Direct drive & Hotend on the KE is setup for a Top mounted Linear Rail and has a modified mounting plate. You have to buy the whole Z access railings, mount and all other components from the KE to the SE are interchangeable. To make an SE a KE it would be hundreds more possibly $250-300 Why? Well first there's the Board Firmware if it's the same main board. Then there's the Touchscreen Klipper Software plus the filament Sensor kit and sensor bracket. The far more cost effective option would be if you buy an SE model and want better quality & speed. Buy a SonicPad and add a High flow Nozzle end to the spider Hotend on the SE. And simple buy the 4x quad typhoon fan system Creality sell and mount that on the rear of the the Z Extruder rail as a Added Blower fan which 9,000rpm variable speed which would allow the see to not only exceed the print speed of the KE but also better print cooling more filament flow meaning better layer lines at high speed and the Biggest one is Full Klipper access on the SonicPad with Ai, input shaping, resonance tuning, flow detection, advanced mesh bed leveling, full screen camera, Wifi access and video monitoring via Phone, PC on fluid or mainsail and Moonraker access which blows the KE's downsized Klipper pad out of the water. That would be my opinion. If your like me and like to tinker and upgrade that is. And also if you get a SonicPad you run another 3 Printers on it as well with Creality Cloud access as well which I think is pretty good. I hope that helps. Cheers.

[@teknikeleman44]

@@CHRIS_CREATIONS Thank you for your detailed answer. I will consider your suggestion.

[@teknikeleman44]

Hello, I actually have an Ender3 S1 printer that I bought 10 months ago. I considered upgrading to one of the v3 models to increase the speed and because of the dual spindles on the x-axis and the auto-leveling feature. Would it make sense to sell my printer (at a loss, of course) and switch to one of these? Or should I upgrade my Ender 3 S1 and continue? Is it worth it? I will be grateful for the answer.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

@@teknikeleman44 Good Question and I have the Perfect answer Why? Well I have the S1's big brother. The CR-10 Smart Pro. Sprite Direct Drive all the the same but larger build Volume. I just am literally Today just finishing off a full upgrade to it. I added a Typhoon 4 Fan bolt print blower fan, A Spider HotEnd high flow Hot end & nozzle and am mounting 1 possibly 2x 5015 brushless 24v turbine fans to the print head to replace that tiny print cooler fan on the Sprite Extruder. That upgrade all up cost me approx $90aud for everything and once tuned I should be able to get quality prints at 250-300mms at least if not more. Adding Klipper SonicPad to that and the sky's the limit. So there you go. You could spend half the money of the KE and have a SonicPad with a Rear 9,000rom print blower fan and 2x 5015 brushless turbine fans and a spider high flow Hot end which I showed in the this video all for half the cost of the KE. Or it you don't want to upgrade the S1 and stick with the small build Volume buy the KE which is a great printer too. On a side note I will be doing a video on my CR-10 Smart Pro with the upgrades that are all attainable for the Ender S1, S1 pro, CR Smart & Pro + any version that runs a sprite extruder. As no one has done this and I think for the price of upgrades it would be a Kinda High Speed Rebirth lol.

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

But it depends on your budget also. As if you could afford it but the KE and then upgrade the S1 as I have. Just some options and things you may not of heard of possible to upgrade to think about. Cheers

[@yotatapotata8191]

Your next investment should be a wireless mic. Kind of hard to hear and would make this video infinitely better! cheers

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

HI, Thanks you for the advice, that is one the many things I want to get next next to improve my audio quality moving forward with my channel.

[@BigDaz2012]

In the UK the KE is currently £30 more than an SE, so I don't see why anyone would buy an SE. A lot of people saying it's missing things like twin Z axis motors, there are stiill USB C and SD card holes on the KE, but remember both these are entry-level printers. My KE, with no tweaking, printed very well straight out the box

[@photosbywalt7124]

The SE is a great machine. You will want to replace the build sheet. The stock sheet will NOT release.

[@garywheeler6903]

it depends on which 1 you can get any parts for, good luck with that

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Parts are already available for both models, led light bar, nebula camera for Ai detection, Lidar for the KE, PEI/Peo Magnetic Beds and more. International stores.

[@garywheeler6903]

try and get a extruder cable out of them for the 3 v3 se, I've been trying since september and no luck @@CHRIS_CREATIONS

[@gaveintothedarkness]

Great video! How strong is the top of the frame? I keep my printer on the floor to minimize vibrations and have to pick it up by the top of the frame to move for vacuuming. Is this sturdy enough to support the weight of the printer?

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Thanks, Really Appreciate the Feedback, The Top of the Frame is Pretty Strong as Far as Injection Molding goes you can pick it up from the Top on the Printer whilst being Strong enough But that said is still Plastic & not Solid as it's a Mold so Definitely wouldn't want to go picking up on an angle and fling it up on you bench even though it's pretty lightweight from the edge of the Top as you never know. It is still strong enough although You cant beat aluminium extrusion framing, But it is Priced to that Regard as well so can't complain about that. Creality have to conserve some areas to allow the Cheaper Price for the Beginner Market somewhere.

[@gaveintothedarkness]

@@CHRIS_CREATIONS Thank you! Really appreciate the reply and insights!

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

@@gaveintothedarkness Anytime 👍

[@azeiku9915]

I have the KE as my first printer and I avoid lifting it by the frame because I don't want to knock it out of alignment. I don't think it would but I want my gantry as even as possible. Is this something I shouldn't be worried about?

[@gaveintothedarkness]

@@azeiku9915 Thx for the insights! I had a Ender 3 V2 Neo and the frame was metal and you could lift it by there...shame Creality cheaped out.

[@Factsfun-kg4xc]

Creality Fixed the Usb ports on the side of the KE model with a QR code sticker on to cover the unused ports. i mean WTF

[@slightwave]

They should not have made such a bunch of models, it is only more difficult for a beginner to make a choice. KE is an excellent variant in the same budget almost, but everything is already there. Something better will be for a completely different money

[@CHRIS_CREATIONS]

Totally agree, From a Beginners perspective it makes it extremely difficult working what to purchase to get into the market understanding all the models over the last 2 yrs. Thus the reason I try to help with these video reviews.

[@OneHappyCrazyPerson]

Why bother with these machines when the future is here ? Get yourself a K1 !

[@FabricioDiPaula]

Agree. But my K1 can’t handle TPU, while my S1 Pro prints it fine due to direct drive without the PTFE tube dragging the filament.

[@OneHappyCrazyPerson]

@@FabricioDiPaula then your doing something wrong, there are enough examples on yt where you can see the k1 printing TPU no problem.

[@ixl4710]

Maybe the k1 being $300 more than the SE is important to some.

[@antunrosovic7284]

you should trim this review to be good - too many times you repeat unimportant things (i.e. empty card slot and USB.C opening)

[@SuperYanhan]

SE is just rubbish compare to KE