X3D Machines Launches Kickstarter Campaign for the Genesis 3D Printer — Starting at Just $199

Last week, we covered a company called X3D Machines, which had planned on launching a Kickstarter campaign for their Genesis line of 3D printers, starting at a price of just $249. Today we have some good news, and some better news, as X3D Machines upheld their promise of launching their project on April 1, and on top of that, they added in a bit of a pleasant surprise.

Both 3D printers, the Genesis Uno and Genesis Duo, are now available to pre-order via the Kickstarter campaign. The Uno is the more affordable of the two machines, while the Duo features dual extruders and a larger build volume.

While the price tag of $249 seemed like an extremely great bargain for a machine that is touted to be of the utmost quality, the crowdfunding campaign opened with a limited quantity of the Genesis Uno 3D printer being available for just $199. It didn’t take long, however, for these ‘surprise early backer’ rewards to sell out, as all 50 of them were gone in no time. However, there are still a good amount of these printers available for the low price of $249. As for the Genesis Duo, the campaign launched with 50 of these available for just $299 each. They also sold out extremely fast, but there are still many of these left for pre-order at the $349 level.

So, the question that many people probably have is exactly how X3D Machines is able to create such a quality 3D printer at such an affordable price.

“Our patent pending design, which exploits material strength and rigidity of properly mounted axis, removes nearly half the volume of needed parts on current market 3D printer while allowing for huge build volumes of 1 cubic feet at no extra cost,” the company tells us. “Every component was designed with multi-functionality across all parts to reduce manufacturing cost of redundant components. In addition to this effective design, all electronics are housed within touching distance of each other to further lower assembly costs of time-consuming cable management.”

At the same time, X3D Machines managed to eliminate the high costs of outsourcing the manufacturing of these printers by having the machines manufactured locally. This also saves on time, requiring just four months after the Kickstarter campaign ends before they will be ready to begin shipping their product.

Like we have seen in the past, where companies have fallen into a trade-off problem as far as price versus quality goes, this doesn’t appear to be the case with these new 3D printers. The Genesis Uno and Duo feature many swap in upgrades for power users, including a heated bed, and extra cooling for high temperature materials like polycarbonate and HIPS. X3D Machines plans to release design upgrades for the printers in the future as well, so that the machines themselves never become obsolete. From the video and the specifications of these machines, they seem to compete with some of the better FFF-based desktop 3D printers on the market today as far as quality goes.

You can see the complete specifications of the Genesis Uno and Duo printers below:

• Print Size: Uno – 9″ x 9″ x 11″; Duo – 12″ x 12″ x 11″
• Dimensions: Uno – 16″ x 13.5″ x 15″; Duo – 17″ x 17″ x 15″
• Print Resolution: 50-300 micron
• Printable Material: PLA/ABS
• Build Platform: Aluminum/Removable Polycarbonate
• Filament Diameter: 1.75mm
• Nozzle Diameter: 0.3mm
• Print Bed Leveling: Auto leveling using special software
• Printer Body: Aluminum and Steel
• Connectivity: USB, Wireless, and SD card
• Operating System Compatibility: Linux, Mac, Windows
• Weight: Uno – 10.1 pounds; Duo – 11 pounds

“We are offering the most affordable and fully feature packed 3D printer with a price point that no other current 3D printer is able to offer,” they tell us. “All current dual extruder on the market are a minimum of double our Genesis Duo price with less build volume and speed. Our Genesis Uno model, which is more for entry users, allows for any person who is interested in purchasing a 3D printer to get one at a reasonable price. All our printers come fully assembled and ready to print.”

What do you think? Have you backed this printer? Do you like what you see in their Kickstarter campaign? Discuss in the X3D Machines Genesis 3D Printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.