Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro Review - brilliant hardware let down by buggy software


Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro Review - 3D printer sitting on a table next to a plant

Following on from Creality’s already fantastic Halot One line of printers, the new HALOT-MAGE Pro Resin Printer is an SLA beast sitting atop the busy market of additive manufacturing devices.

From the start, the new HALOT-MAGE Pro is designed to be an easy-to-use experience. Compared to other resin machines, Creality’s latest device is as much of an out-of-the-box experience as you could hope for an SLA machine. Outside of levelling the machine, there’s no personal construction to be seen. Simply plug it in, add your resin, and press print.

Compared to the Halot One line, the MAGE Pro is a much bigger beast. It’s a heavy device, coming in at a weighty 13 kilograms, meaning you won’t want to be moving the printer around very much. The machine itself is also large, measuring in at 333x270x608mm holding an impressive 228x128x230mm build plate.

The new MAGE Pro 3D printer comes equipped with a 10.3 Inch 8K LCD screen for curing resin layer-by-layer. As expected, the new LCD Is a monochrome display, allowing for pristine details in prints as large as a full figurine or as small as a keycap.

An image of the Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro next to the Halot One Pro. It’s a BIG
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An image of the Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro next to the Halot One Pro. It’s a BIG

Creality has boasted an incredibly fast Dynax printing speed for the new device at 170mm/h. While this speed is reachable, it does require absolutely perfect conditions to reach without substantial issues. You’ll need to use fast resin (which Creality supplied for this review) without any drops in temperature to achieve a great print.

In our experience, we encountered multiple issues using the printer’s fastest speeds, but that’s to be expected. While the HALOT-MAGE Pro may be advertised as being capable of this speed, no one will realistically be printing that fast. If wanted, any resin can be used with the printer’s Dynax feature, but we wouldn’t recommend it.

By far the best part about the HALOT-MAGE Pro is the device’s new hardware features that make everything a bit easier and safer for standard users. For example, the new printer has a space to connect an extension hose for sending harmful resin fumes into the great outdoors.

Furthermore, the HALOT-MAGE Pro has a much bigger integrated carbon filter than other printers at this price range. While some have expressed issues with their inbuilt filter, ours worked phenomenally well, reducing the smell and presence of fumes when printing.

Unfortunately, what should be one of the device’s most useful features is somewhat lacking. The 3D printer’s included Smart Resin Pump allows you to connect resin bottles to load and unload resin into the printer’s vat.

The Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro sucking up water-washable resin.
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Slurp slurp, the resin gets sucked up through the pump! No more spills all over your inside porch.

First and foremost, the Resin Pump’s loading functionality is fantastic. It works incredibly well and has yet to fail or overfill the vat across out testing. Unfortunately, unloading resin is less successful in our tests with a substantial amount of resin always left over at the end. It’s not too bad: disconnecting the vat and tilting it towards the pump will still help you clean up resin better than pouring it back into the bottle yourself.

The biggest issue with the HALOT-MAGE Pro is its software. In its current version, the printer has some weird inconsistencies that have not been fixed despite weeks of waiting. Not including Creality’s clunky Halot Box slicing software, which still has poor performance and weird technical issues, the printer’s onboard programs are somehow much worse than last year’s Halot One Plus.

In our testing, we couldn’t get the printer to work properly with the Creality Cloud app, a way of instantly printing resin models from your phone or PC. While we could still track printing progress through the app, no models would even start printing through the software.

However, while this is an issue, it is a minor one. Outside of the testing period, we would not really utilise the Creality Cloud app outside of tracking printing progress, but it is a feature that some users do still stick to. Years into the Creality Cloud and Halot Box software library, it’s just bizarre that such a great printer still feels unfinished in this regard.

HALOT-MAGE Pro review - baby yoda miniature
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He's just a little guy!

But how is the printing quality? Well, as expected, the HALOT-MAGE Pro hands in exceptional quality prints, as expected of resin machines in 2023. Even in small prints, the details handed in by the device’s 8K screen are absolutely fantastic. Of course, you still need to dial in your settings for each specific resin to get the best results, but this is one of the best 3D printers for miniatures, figures or anything else you wish to print.

Hardware-wise, we have noticed that prints have a tendency to stick harder to the device’s checkered-design build plate than previous Creality machines, so you’ll want to print your models with bases or support rafts in most cases. Although, as long as you use enough force with your included metal spatula, you shouldn’t have too many issues.

Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro review miniatures: baby yoda in mandalorian cosplay, an upa stl from steins;gate and squirtle from pokemon.
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At $499, the HALOT-MAGE Pro is an easy recommendation, but it is coming toe-to-toe with devices from other manufacturers. For its price, you’re getting a lot of features and great print quality, although great print quality is expected from any machine at this point. It’s not especially cheap, like the Halot line, but it does perfectly match the asking price.

Even with its unrefined software and minor hardware oddities, Creality’s HALOT-MAGE Pro is a fantastic device for those who like to play with resin. From the smallest miniatures to huge busts, the device can do it all, and it does it remarkably well considering its faults.

If you're interested in buying a Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro for yourself, swoop over to the device's store page here.

Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro
The Creality HALOT-MAGE Pro is a fantastic printer that is only truly let down by software that, we imagine, will be fixed in the future.
3D Printers
Creality
Resin Printer
8 out of 10

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