The Ethics of Reviewing 3D Printers and How I Go About Them

What makes a good review? Technical knowledge? Image quality? Verbiage? Honesty? Yes, but there’s an order. As a reviewer of 3D printers, I have wanted to prioritize not making “ads” for companies, but also not bashing them for their mistakes. How do I balance these two extremes? Ethics and personal morals.

Getting The Printers

To start, I need to get a printer to review. In every case, whether I am approached or I approach them, I ensure all printer manufacturers agree to have no influence over the review. They cannot see the review until it is published, along with everyone else.

Every company and I agree that I will receive a 3D printer solely for the purposes of a review. The only time I contact the manufacturer between the agreement and letting them know it’s done is if there are any issues or complications. For example, I reached out to Peopoly to get help diagnosing a failed linear motor on the Y axis. For the Prusa CORE One, I asked to get a textured PEI sheet so I could test TPU without ripping apart the smooth PEI sheet.

The Testing

In my testing, I try to keep all the reviews as consistent as possible. I test tolerances, accuracy, quality, speed, and noise level. I also discuss price and repairability. I try to offer a perspective that aligns with not just a hobbyist, but a small business or even a large business. I want to convey the possibilities of having a given printer (let’s call it X) in a small print farm or a support role for your business.

Writing The Article

I write all my notes about each machine’s performance, advertised capabilities, and realistic capabilities. I then take these notes and condense them into paragraphs, which I have an AI, like Gemini or Grok, review and suggest grammatical improvements. AI doesn’t ever change what I have to say or create anything new. I use it only for grammar and punctuation.

Article Review and Publication

Once I have an article ready to go, I upload it as a draft, and several editors can review it and act like an AI, provide me with tips and suggestions, and submit my draft to be published at a future date. Once the article is published, I email the article link to the manufacturer of the printer and that is it. I have been asked many times to remove the article or to make changes. I have not and will not make any changes or remove any article that I am asked to change or remove. The only changes that I do consider are if any spelling errors or typos are caught. Otherwise, all opinions are mine and mine alone and stay.

All images courtesy of Orville Wright.