Anker Kickstarts Fast 3D Printer With AI Camera Control

Device charging specialist Anker has decided to dip a toe in the 3D printing market. In one way it is being cautious, as this will be a crowdfunder backed project, but in another it is being very bold. The boldness is revealed by its claims for the new AnkerMake M5, it is said to be 5x faster than contemporary rivals, and features an AI camera for (remote) print monitoring as standard. Some other cool features touted to attract new 3D printer users are the built-in touch screen controls, cloud connectivity, and the purported unboxing to first print time of 15 minutes.

Anker decided to get into the 3D printer market after finding what it considered to be a barrier to adoption for many potential users. " 3D printing can be slow, cumbersome, and difficult to figure out," opined Steven Yang, CEO of Anker Innovations. "AnkerMake is committed to removing these pain points so that artists, inventors, hobbyists and DIY enthusiasts can take advantage of a more practical tool to bring their creations to life."

To being at our first look of the first member of the AnkerMake family, let us first consider the headlining print speed claims made by Anker. In its standard mode, the AnkerMake M5 prints at 250 mm/s and you will use this mode for projects that require a smoother and more detailed finish. Resin printers are typically considered the best for fine details but with good software, fine tuning and a little patience, filament FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) printers such as AnkerMake can see good results.  If you feel the need for speed, for a quick prototype for example, and are happy with a less detailed or rougher finish the extruder can be sped up to 2,500 mm/s.

The built-in AI camera has a number of useful functions. Users can monitor print jobs remotely with the camera, However, when you are busy the AI system will be able to detect common issues for you. Things like layer splitting, spaghetti mess or nozzle plugging can be watched for by the AI. As well as smart functionality, the camera can be used for manual monitoring and timelapse recording – with notifications being configurable for when the print job is finished.

Anker is also keen to highlight the build quality of the AnkerMake M5 and talks about aluminum alloy die cast motor parts, the soft-magnetic attached printer bed, and 7x7 auto leveling functionality of this machine.

As of writing the Kickstarter campaign has just gone live. The page has some more details and comparisons to digest if the above grabs you. It looks like this is a very popular crowdfunding campaign already. The super early bird pricing level of $429 evaporated as we were writing about this launch. The next best offer currently still available is $499. The full retail price of the AnkerMake M5 is said to be $759.

Anker has a pretty good name in its smart device charging and accessories field, so we hope it can follow through in quality and reliability for this much more substantial product.

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Backing a crowdfunding campaign isn't the same as making a pre-order purchase. Typically you have no guarantee of receiving a finished product for your 'pledge'. Anker says it plans to start delivering these new 3D printers to those that have pledged by November this year.

If you are interested in 3D printing but would prefer to consider devices which are currently available please check our guides to the best 3D printer deals of 2022, and we also recently looked at the best models that are available for under $250 so you can dip a toe without too big an outlay.