Xiaomi is getting into 3D printers. But are you surprised at all? If I can be honest, I am surprised. Surprised that it took so long for Xiaomi to do so – considering how the company is quick to have every space covered. Anyhoo, Xiaomi’s first 3D printer is the Mijia 3D Printer.
The Mijia 3D Printer is a 2-in-1 light-curing resin 3D printer with an integrated light-curing function. It is marketed as a 3D printer that is suitable for any skill level – including zero skill. It requires virtually no setup. You will only need to install the build plate on the Z arm.
It is pretty much ready to print out of the box – even the resin tray is preinstalled. Though you probably have to remove the resin tray to remove the protective film that is on the screen first.
Speaking of the screen, the Mijia 3D printer boasts a self-developed light source technology that features a custom high-definition, high transparency LCD screen and double-layer lens parallel source that Xiaomi said greatly increases the print efficiency.
The Mijia 3D Printer does not have an interface like most 3D printers have. Save for the powering up, everything is operated through a companion app. There is no need to worry about model slicing and adding support for the print too because all those are completely automatic. Just upload the desired model file into the app, send it to be printed, and that’s pretty much it.
There’s no pouring of resin involved either. Resin is introduced into the resin tray automatically through a proprietary resin feeding system which also includes draining of remaining uncured resin after a print job. That said, the one other thing you will have to do to start printing is to fill up the material tank with the raw material i.e. the liquid resin.
The 3D printer uses a dedicated water-washable resin which further makes 3D printing a simple task. After a print, all you need to do is to remove the build plate and rinse the print with tap water. After that, you may proceed to remove it from the build plate and remove the supports.
The device comes supplied with a powered rotating base which, when placed over the resin tray, turns the device it is a light curing platform. The curing lights are cleverly embedded along the sides of the Z arm. The rotating platform is powered by a cable with a magnetic plug that plugs into the Z post.
As far as 3D printer goes, you cannot get any more minimal in design than the Mijia 3D Printer. Seriously, this should be the cleanest 3D printer we have ever since.
The Xiaomi Mijia 3D Printer is currently being crowdfunded on Xiaomi’s crowdfunding platform, Youpin, where customers residing in China can secure a unit for just 1,699 yuan (about US$233). We heard that it will have an MSRP of 1,999 yuan (or around US$275).
Images: Xiaomi Youpin [CH].
