Elegoo first made waves in consumer 3D printing with budget-friendly resin machines that delivered surprising detail for the price. Over the past decade, its lineup has expanded in resolution, mechanics, and usability. From the original Mars series that helped democratize high-quality resin printing to larger formats like the Saturn family, Elegoo’s portfolio now serves beginners and experienced makers alike. Into that progression comes the Mars 5 Ultra ($349.99), a compact resin printer that combines a 9K-resolution monochrome LCD, a latest-tech light source, and a tilting resin vat designed to reduce peel forces and improve print reliability. With automatic build-plate leveling, an onboard camera for live monitoring and time-lapse recording, and streamlined software, the Mars 5 Ultra targets first-time resin users and budget-conscious hobbyists who want modern features without stepping up to a larger or pricier system like the Saturn 4 Ultra 16K.

Until recently, many printers at this price required careful manual setup and trial-and-error to produce consistent results. The Mars 5 Ultra simplifies your early prints and reduces common failure points. Resin printing still has inherent messiness and a learning curve, but the Mars 5 Ultra represents one of today's strongest value propositions in consumer resin 3D printing. It earns an Editors' Choice award for budget resin models.

Unboxing and Setup: Familiar Elegoo Care

Elegoo continues to treat shipping a resin printer like a minor engineering discipline, and the Mars 5 Ultra arrives with the same reassuring attention to protection seen across the company’s recent releases. The printer ships securely packed in a sturdy outer carton, with thick internal cushioning designed to absorb the inevitable knocks of transit and my angry UPS driver.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Inside the machine, custom-cut foam braces the resin vat and build plate, preventing movement or stress during shipping. The overall presentation feels deliberate and practiced, suggesting Elegoo has refined this process over many generations of resin hardware. This "apocalypse packaging" has become fairly standard now across the major 3D-printing companies, and Elegoo doesn’t disappoint.

The accessory bundle is equally well-considered. Elegoo includes gloves, both plastic and metal scrapers, Allen keys for servicing, funnel filters for reclaiming resin, and a spare set of hardware for future FEP film-sheet replacements. A USB flash drive comes preloaded with the Elegoo SatelLite slicer and sample models, allowing users to get up and running quickly without hunting for software. A few disposable face masks are also included, alongside a resin drip tray and an external Wi-Fi antenna. The power adapter is separately packaged and surprisingly small, the size of a small laptop DC charger.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Once assembled, the Mars 5 Ultra makes a strong visual impression. Its compact proportions, clean lines, and tinted cover give it a modern, almost futuristic presence. Elegoo clearly understands that many resin printers live on desks, not in garages, and the Mars 5 Ultra reflects that shift. I like how it mirrors the Saturn 4 Ultra and Saturn 4 Ultra 16K, like the little brother of the lineup.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

With my test sample, Elegoo included bottles of its 8K Space Grey Standard resin, which, after a thorough shaking, poured easily into the Mars 5 resin tray. I appreciated the tray's design, and its opposite corners have molded-in pouring spouts for easy pouring of resin back into the bottles. I also appreciated the included funnel for pouring the resin back into the bottle when done. This funnel design screws onto Elegoo bottles easily and routes air behind the resin, allowing it to drain quickly.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

The Mars 5 Ultra comes with an unconventional tilting resin tray, which is a hallmark design of the Elegoo resin-printer series. On most resin printers, each layer releases from the FEP by brute force. The build plate lifts straight up, the cured layer clings to the film, and suction breaks all at once. The Elegoo Mars 5 handles this differently by slightly tilting the resin tray from zero degrees to about -4 degrees before lifting. That small angle change allows the layer to separate progressively rather than snap free, reducing suction, lowering stress on the print, and putting less wear on the FEP over time. I had experienced the tilting tray while testing the Saturn 4 Ultra 16K.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

The effect is easy to understand if you think about peeling a label. You don’t pull straight up from the middle; you lift a corner and peel it back smoothly. The Mars 5 releases each layer the same way, letting go from one edge rather than all at once. For new users, this means fewer sudden release forces, better success with fine details and larger cross sections, and a peel action that feels controlled and intentional rather than abrupt. Something like peeling the backing paper off the tape in the image below...

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Once you have the resin tray filled and everything plugged in, the unit runs a pre-flight checklist to ensure all sensors are operating correctly. It's nice to have the machine make sure I haven’t forgotten anything before a big print.

Using this machine through the eyes of a new user felt a lot like using the entry-level FDM-based Bambu Lab A1 mini. It’s simple and clean, with few stumbling blocks between you and the prints you’re trying to make. It's built for beginners, and it shows. 

The First Test Prints

Out of the gate, I did what any new user would do: printed the test file on the machine. About 30 minutes later, I could see the iconic test rook rising from the resin. 

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Bear in mind that if you’re using the machine somewhere that's below 30 degrees C, there’s no integrated resin heater. That option is reserved for the Saturn 4 Ultra and Saturn 4 Ultra 16K. If you want a heater for this unit, you’ll need to purchase one from the Elegoo website and install it in the rear left corner of the machine. (An Elegoo Mini Air Purifier will also fit back there if you’re already in a warm room and don’t want to connect the unit to a filtration system via the pre-cut port in the back.)

I ran the rook through the Elegoo Wash and Cure station (called the Mercury, another cool space name; more about it later). Once cured, the text showed clean detail, and all was well with the staircase and the DNA chain rising inside the rook. So far, so good.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

One thing to note: The camera inside the Mars 5 doesn’t have a backlight. When you’re running prints, keep the unit in a very well-lit room to maximize the camera's and the internal program's performance. (As an aside: Elegoo advertises that this camera searches for failed prints as well as warped prints that don’t adhere to the build plate.)

(Credit: Elegoo)

The only issue I saw was that most of the failed prints occurred while the build plate was still submerged in the resin, and thus invisible to the camera. I sent Elegoo some feedback on this and asked them to add a new UI option to perform a “stop and check” after a preset number of layers. This would allow the build plate to rise up far enough for the camera to see if layers were adhering properly. 

As for the build plate, Elegoo's are laser-etched and set up for success. The plate's surface has thousands of tiny grooves, invisible to the eye unless you really zoom in, designed to allow the first layer of cured resin to lock in and adhere. The plate comes protected by a plastic film you remove before first use; to offset any effects the film's adhesive might have, I used 400-grit sandpaper and 99% IPA to thoroughly clean and lightly scuff the plate. Elegoo should alert new users to clean the build plate with IPA before the first print to maximize the likelihood of success.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

The Mars 5 Ultra makes exposure tuning far less of a guessing game by allowing the build plate to be segmented for calibration. Instead of printing multiple full test plates at different exposure times, the printer can apply slightly different exposures across sections of a single build, letting you see how a resin behaves under several settings at once. It’s a practical, time-saving approach that encourages dialing things in properly rather than settling for good enough.

Calibration: Multiple Test Prints at Different Exposures

Let's get to our Cones of Calibration trial. Each test includes a failure side and a success side. Ideally, the failure cones should not connect or fully form, while the success cones should print cleanly and touch. When the exposure is right, that contrast is unmistakable. Too much exposure causes the failure cones to fuse, while too little leaves the success cones incomplete.

I first loaded the XP2 Validation print file to check the unit’s default exposure setting of 2.0, and I found that the tab came out slightly overexposed but well within the ballpark...

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I then loaded the Cones of Calibration file into the Chitubox slicer with a layer height of 0.050mm, and set about testing it to find the optimal exposure window.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I checked back a few minutes later to find the parts ready for me on the build plate. I took them off, washed each, and found that the 1.8-second setting was best.

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(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Once I cured the cone print, everything else was great. The cylinder easily fit into the cup, the sword popped into the skull, and the measured dimensions were spot on. 

I wish Elegoo would give us a test file with four or six pieces already laid out in the UI. It’s a small gripe, but we are talking about new users and making the process as simple as possible.

Baseline Testing: What Did the Standard Test Prints Tell Us? 

Next, with my newly confirmed 1.8-second exposure time, I printed out the Siraya Tech Test Model, which came out brilliantly. The two arrow tips met very crisply. Measuring from 0.15mm up through the 10mm gauge plots, I was within 1% to 2% of the desired measurements (1.98mm and 9.98mm, respectively). The lattice block was square on all edges, with crisp internal details, and the back bridge was printed with an arch height of 5.05mm.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Next: No surprises once the AmeraLabs Town Test Print was washed and cured with the same 1.8-second exposure and a 32-second first-layer exposure.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

The detail was fine and crisp. All of the towers printed well on the rear, with matching slots on the opposite side that allowed the towers to slide in easily. The fine detail on the top was also reassuring, with all but the finest hairs on the inside row of the tiny towers printing, and all but the very last row of the topmost micro-towers showing up.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

This photo, for reference, is a 300% zoom of the piece. On the test prints I use for all resin printers, the Ultra 5 held its own against outputs from other machines, up to and including the Formlabs Form 4.

Then I tackled a job most new users will be dying to try: miniature figurines. I went to MakerWorld.com, downloaded a handful of “Elemental” figures, and let the Mars 5 Ultra do its job.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Next up, I printed a Dungeons & Dragons-style miniature, the kind of piece many people buy a resin printer specifically to make. At a 0.025mm layer height and a 1.8-second exposure time, the Mars 5 Ultra delivered results that were sharp enough to warrant a magnifying glass. Under close inspection, small features like etched lines, fabric folds, and edge definition remained crisp, with no visible layer banding or loss of detail, highlighting just how well the printer handles the kind of high-resolution work tabletop gamers prize.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I then set out to make something slightly larger, with an even finer layer height of 0.018 to really see what the 9K resolution could squeak out. The result: I could see the fine hairs in the feathers of the figure, and every detail of the angel’s face was free of visible layer lines or aliasing.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Next up, I wanted to make a larger figure and settled on Marvel’s Wolverine file, which I downloaded into the Chitubox slicer. It’s worth noting that the USB key included in the toolkit also comes with a copy of the Elegoo SatelLite slicing software, which is even easier to use than Chitubox, has a very intuitive workflow, and lets me load files wirelessly to the printer in the next room. You can automatically add supports to the files you upload with ease, and get stunning results like this. (This one was done at 0.050mm resolution with a 1.8-second exposure time.)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I mentioned the Mercury curer earlier in passing. I was also sent the Elegoo Mercury Plus V3.0 wash-and-cure station, which made quick work out of all of the files I printed on the Mars 5 Ultra. The Mercury is compact and easy to use, with a solid build feel. What's more, I could use the same base for both washing and curing.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Next up, I wanted to see if I could replicate the dragon files I had seen others print on their more expensive resin printers. I found a free file to work with and loaded it into Chitubox, which instantly recognized the Mars 5 Ultra on my Wi-Fi network. It automatically added the supports (I chose the “light” ones) and output the file to the Mars 5 Ultra.

Also, I used the SatelLite slicer from Elegoo to output the dragon’s base, and appreciated the cleaner workflow, which hides the more advanced settings (unless I want to see them) and speeds up the process. The more I printed with both Chitubox and SatelLite, the more I found myself using the SatelLite slicer, and I’m eager to see how this early version evolves in the coming months and years.

(Credit: Elegoo)

(Credit: Chitubox)

The result was fantastic. I’m an FDM printer guy who spends most of his time working with machines like my Bambu Lab H2S and Qidi Plus 4. Here I was printing resin files like this dragon and gluing the pieces together one after the other, just amazed at the detail and the ease of getting outputs that looked like I’d bought the models at a store. Here I used Elegoo 8K Space Grey resin, with 0.025mm layers and a 1.8-second exposure time...

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I do wish the Mars 5 Ultra came with a handful of add-ons to make things more convenient, like the resin-bottle funnel I mentioned earlier, since they made a big difference when I was using the printer. Elegoo should either put the print files on the unit's USB flash drive or include them outright with the machine.

Another example: After you output a project, there’s no place to lift the cover of the unit without getting your fingers on the plastic, which will inevitably get covered in resin. I found a file that uses a piece of 3M VHB tape to adhere a handle to the cover, so you can lift it on and off without getting goop on it. You can see in the photos where the resin had cured on the plastic, despite my best efforts.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Finally, I wish the machine came with two other parts, designs I found online and printed myself, to address some issues with resin. When using resin, the worst part of the process is, well, the mess it creates. Unfortunately, the tilt tray on the Mars 5 Ultra has a gap around its edge where resin can drop into the unit's internal mechanism. And the drip bib that comes with the Mars 5 Ultra is flimsy and cheap; it doesn’t match the rest of the machine's quality.

I ended up installing an angle drip hanger for the Ultra 5’s build plate, which allows you to unlock and reposition the build plate with one hand so that the excess resin drips down back into the tray quickly, aided by gravity. I liked this design because you could reposition the build plate within the confines of the resin tray below without the drips spilling outside the tray's rectangular edges.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I also found a new drip-tray design (a two-part print with magnets at the connecting edges), which inspired more confidence than the included drip bib from Elegoo. That, and a resin vat cover, made the Mars 5 Ultra feel complete to me.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

Finally, even though the auto-levelling build plate is a triumph, it's challenging to clean; the stainless-steel posts create extra spaces and cavities. I found this last file, which allowed me to insert the cleaning tool and wipe the resin puddles I couldn’t reach down in between the rods, getting about 85% of the resin off the back of the build plate and down into the resin tray.

(Credit: Michael Lydick)

I hope Elegoo considers including the print files or the actual prints with machines like the Mars 5 Ultra in the future, so others can replicate my experience with the machine. With all of these components in place, I had absolute resin control, from the initial pour-out through the making of the prints, to returning the resin to its bottle.