Some time ago the well-known Taiwanese company Phrozen surprised us with a small but fast resin printer called Phrozen Sonic Mini.
This printer, of which I prepared in 3DWork an extensive article that you can read at this link, I was pleasantly surprised by its ease of use and speed. Depending on the height you selected in your slicer, it was capable of curing layers in times that were around 2/3 seconds. Certainly one of the fastest printers I have had a chance to test thus far.
Now a new model has fallen into my hands, the Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite resin printer, of superior size and performance, and which this article is about.
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Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite
Although the very fast Phrozen Sonic Mini resin printer was an excellent option to enter the world of resin printing (or also called stereolithography), with this new model the Taiwanese company Phrozen takes a qualitative leap as far as benefits and characteristics are concerned.
It could be said that it is a printer for “advanced” consumers, with the idea of continuing to offer an extremely versatile product, and of course affordable for all types of users.
Going into some details, the harsh reality is that when you work with resin printers with 5.5 “screens sooner or later you will end up missing a little more printing volume, make no mistake about it about.
With the resin printer Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite we are faced with an 8.9 “LCD that allows us to achieve much higher print volumes, and helps to alleviate that feeling by providing us with a wider spectrum of work to be done.
And not only the print size has been taken into account. Other aspects such as connectivity, mechanics in the Z axis (extremely important) or the UV lamp to name a few, have undergone notable changes, which we will comment on below.
Where can it be purchased?
In case you are interested, the Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite printer is available at the following direct links and Marketplaces. Some of them are affiliate links, that means that if you use them 3DWork you will receive a small commission that will help maintain the website.
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And remember, if you want to find any 3D printing product, you can use our search engine Markets.sx. You will be able to save time and carry out simultaneous searches in several marketplaces at the same time (Amazon, Gearbest, Aliexpress, etc.)
Package content
The printer comes carefully packed and protected, with a specific padding for this purpose and a protective film for the red dome so common for this brand.
The weight of the machine is approximately 11 kg, so the protection must be adequate, as it could not be otherwise, before a product of these characteristics.
In addition to the Phrozen printer itself, it includes the typical basic set of tools to operate with this type of machine, something that is the norm for most manufacturers.
These tools are two spatulas for the careful extraction of our pieces (one made of metal and one of plastic), an 8-gigabyte USB memory, a funnel to later store the excess resin, two power cables (USA/EU), latex gloves and, of course, a complete instruction manual (in English and Chinese).
Technology and mechanics
Principal structure
We are facing a more than robust metal structure, hence the weight is 11 kg as I mentioned a few lines above. The main body is made up of two aluminum plates (upper and lower) together with a black metal sheet that acts as chassis, which protects all the electronics and our UV screen.
Already in the upper part we can see the typical column with a vertical displacement spindle that forms the Z axis of the printer. I have to say that in other resin printers that have fallen into my hands with lower printing volumes, I have lacked a certain rigidity in this regard. But in the Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite with double linear guide and with an oversized machined column, this feeling disappears completely.
And as protection, a translucent dome that is very easy to remove encapsulates the entire upper part of the printer. As in other printers of this brand, it is removed manually, leaving the printer completely open to facilitate subsequent tasks (cleaning, maintenance, production, etc.)
Z Axis guidance
As you can see in the image above, Phrozen has chosen to add a second linear guide to its Z axis mechanics. In this type of printers (FormLabs, Mars, Photon, etc.) and especially if they are small, we usually find a single linear guide next to an 8mm trapezoidal spindle.
Phrozen considerably improves this aspect of the printer and puts at our disposal 2 robust 15mm (width) linear guides that give the machine maximum precision and rigidity when moving on this axis.
This precision is one of the most important aspects of any 3D resin printer, since any imperfection in the spindle, added to possible gaps during guiding, will cause appreciable failure in the layers (ZWobble) and its corresponding loss of quality.
Thanks to this and to the completely machined aluminum column, we find a completely stable Z-axis guidance and completely eradicating the possible ZWobble effect of our prints.
Leveling
The leveling process is nothing different from the usual one, simply with a sheet of paper and using the function programmed on the display, we will be able to level the printing surface in a matter of seconds.
It should be noted that, although it might be advisable, it is not necessary to level the machine after each print. In my case, I have only leveled the Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite once and I have removed more than 10 pieces without any problem, something that is sincerely appreciated.
3.5″ Touch Display
At the point of the touch interface, we find that Phrozen has replaced the previous 2.8″ Touch display with a larger 3.5″ inch. Although, with the previous display, it was very comfortable to work, the increase in inches of the new display is appreciated. And I say this because the handling is quite simple, since the available options and menus are extremely minimalist.
Actually most of the preparation work we are going to do in our slicer or filleting machine, except the printing start-up processes. And finally, it should be noted that the tactile response is very fast, partly due to the electronics that the printer mounts (Chitu Board) and its usual operating system.
LCD Panel and UV Matrix
Phrozen has chosen to include high definition panels in its printers, to maximize its resolution despite the increase in surface area. Specifically in the Shuffle XL Lite printers, it assembles a Sharp 2K RGB 8.9″ LCD panel.
This panel offers us a resolution in X and Y of up to 75µm, which although it is somewhat smaller than its little sister the Sonic Mini, is practically imperceptible to the human eye.
Also, the UV (or matrix) light source is the same size as the LCD panel. The objective is to reduce the LED emission angle as much as possible, so that the light reaches as parallel as possible to the LCD panel.
This technology is called ParaLED and its function is to increase the efficiency of light that passes through the LCD and to improve cure speed and print quality.
Printing volume
The volume in my opinion is one of the strongest points of this printer, and it deserves a worthy mention in the characteristics of it. As you well know, 5.5″ inch printers are quite limited when it comes to making different parts (always in the context of print volume).
For common printing on 5.5″ inches – like applications as dental applications, jewelry, figures, etc. – they fulfill this task perfectly. But if what we need is functional prototypes, in many cases we will find ourselves with enough limitations in this regard.
You can scratch a millimeter with diagonal positioning on the Z axis and turning the pieces a little, this limitation will always accompany you by the hand. With the Shuffle XL Lite we expanded this feature, as well as the possibility of acquiring more jobs for it that were previously impossible for us.
Ethernet connection
Although many models of resin printers do not have network connectivity, this is not the case with the Shuffle. Here we will have the possibility of sending our models remotely to the printer, which is quite practical since it avoids the task of copying the files to a USB disk and moving to where we have the printer (in my case in a different room for the smells).
To do this, and as specified by the manufacturer, you must make sure you have firmware version F2.8, which will allow us to carry out remote printing. Then simply with a filleting machine like ChiTuBox (versions higher than v1.6.5.1), and accessing Chitubox-> Slicer-> Network sending-> IP we can easily send our file to print.
As the Shuffle printer does not have internal storage, you should always make sure that you have the USB disk connected to your machine, since that is where ChiTuBox will copy the file to be printed.
Technical specifications
As I always do, here is the complete features of the Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite printer, as well as those of its previous model for reference:
 Phrozen Sonic Mini 5,5″
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 Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite 8,9″
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| Size | 25x25x33 cm | 29x29x47 cm |
| Weight | 4.3 kg | 11 kg |
| Voltage | 100-240V | 100-240V |
| Power | 35W | 100W |
| Printing speed | 80mm/hr | 20mm/hr |
| Printing volume | 120x68x130 mm | 192x120x200 mm |
| XY Resolution | 62 µm | 75 µm |
| Z Resolution | 10 µm | 10 µm |
| Z Axis | 1 Linear guide + Spindle | 2 linear guides + ball screw |
| LCD Screen | 5.5″ LCD Mono | 8.9″ LCD 2K |
| Touch Panel / OS | 2.8″ Touch Panel / Phrozen OS | 3.5″ Touch Panel / Phrozen OS |
| Cooling | No fans | 2 fans |
| Connectivity | USB | USB, Ethernet |
| Slicer | Chitubox | Chitubox |
Printing tests
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some pieces that I made with the Phrozen Shuffle XL Lite. In each and every one I used Aqua-Gray 4K, a special low-shrinkage and high-resolution resin that Phrozen sells for all types of printers, and especially recommended for 2K and 4K resolutions.
Finally, indicate that some defect in the pieces, such as the hole in the front of the tank, is due to the fact that I experimented with thicknesses that were too small (0.6mm), as well as some points in which I was not very careful when removing the supports. Despite this, and as you can see in the images, the quality offered by this machine is extraordinary.
Brief final assessment
Phrozen continues with the same trend of ease of use and handling, something that is common in most of its products. With this new 3D printer model, high-volume printing is available to everyone and, most importantly, at a relatively affordable price for many of our pockets.
Innovations within this type of technology are inexorably advancing, and Phrozen with its new range of printers with Monochrome LCDs, has been demonstrating for some time that is always at the forefront of this constant evolution.
You probably think that from a 5.5 “to an 8.9” screen there is not a big qualitative leap, but trust me, it is. With surface measurements of 192x120x200mm, we are already approaching more common volumes in filament (or FMD) printers than in resin.
My experience of using this new printer has been pleasantly satisfactory, and what has impressed me the most is its “eternal” printing volume. For the rest, a 32-bit Chitu electronics, together with the monochrome screen and the quality of the rest of the components, assure us a life of use much higher than the current RGB LCD printers.
In short, if you are looking for a versatile, monochrome resin printer with high resolution (2K) that allows you to produce larger-scale prototypes Shuffle XL Lite is an excellent option to consider, especially if you prioritize a good price/quality ratio.
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