Voxelab Aquila X2 Review

When I was offered up a chance to do a Voxelab Aquila X2 review I was hesitant at first as at first glance it appear to be another Ender 3 clone or replica. Looking into it a little deeper there were some differences so I agreed to give it a test.

Flashforge did provide the printer free of charge for review purposes however they have not influenced the review or provided feedback.

Specifications

Print Volume: 220x220x250mm
Maximum Extruder Temperature: 250C
Maximum Heatbed Temperature: 100C
Nozzle Diameter: 0.4mm
Printer Size: 473x480x473(620)mm
Screen: 4.3″
Power: DC 24v, 350W
Power Resume: Yes
Filament Detection: Yes

Unboxing

The Voxelab Aquila X2 arrived as most printers these days, in a flat pack cardboard box with ample foam. Everything was intact, with no loose components or damage done to anything. All parts were accounted for.

Assembly was very straight forward. I expected it to be identical to an Ender 3, however this was not the case and there were indeed some minor differences however the instructions provided the necessary steps in a clear manner to assemble the printer.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the belts are stamped to show they are Gates Powergrip. The belt tensioner felt high quality as well.

Printing

I heated the bed, and leveled it immediately after assembly with the typical paper beneath the nozzle method. Once I was confident we had a good level, some Rose filament from Sparta3D and started printing the various test prints that came on the microSD card. They came out well but showed consistent under extrusion on the top layers. I typically expect test prints from the factory to be as close to perfect as possible, they should be anyways.

After the default test prints were completed I loaded up PrusaSlicer and used the default Ender 3 V2 profile provided for the remaining tests including a few from Wekster’s Patreon.

Print after print, the Voxelab Aquila X2 pumped out PLA prints without issue. The cooling was plenty sufficient for a stock printer with minor drooping on very steep overhangs on a couple tests. The bed adhesion was good and I had to wait until the bed was cool for the print to be removed.

I tested thermal runaway, and when the hotend couldn’t keep up, the printer rebooted and when it restarted the hot end and heatbed were set to 0 and cooling down.

I tested the filament runout sensor, and the power resume from power outage functionality. The filament sensor worked as expected with no noticeable layer issues where it stalled. Unfortunately the power resume didn’t work as well. While the print did restart, there is a noticeable layer issue:

Conclusion

Most folks looking at this are probably wondering, so if I had to choose between an Aquila and an Ender I’d go with the Aquila having used and built many Enders. At the end of the day, using the Voxelab Aquila X2 was an extremely pleasant experience. The component and build quality felt more refined. The colour screen worked well and I liked the user interface. The Aquila was very consistent in its results and the bed stayed level print after print. It is comparable in price to an Ender 3, and others of that nature. Upgrades should be fairly compatible as well.

Thumbs up from me.