From the top of the line, to the more budget friendly entry level it’s an exciting time in 3D printing with Kmart announcing a $249 3D printer ‘coming soon’. 

The Kmart Smart 3D Printer supports PLA only, not a bad place to start as a very beginner friendly filament, and has an enclosed build volume of 10cm (H) x 10.5cm (W) x 10cm (D) which allows for small, but quite a number of fun and functional prints. 

The printer uses Polo print cloud, with support for both Android and iOS, offering cloud printing, AI 3D modeling, and a selection of over a 1,000 free models you can send directly to the printer from your phone.

There’s also an 8GB SD card on-board you can use to transport files from your slicer on your PC to the printer to start printing with an LCD display built-in and a rotary button for on-board control.

The printer includes auto-calibration and a heated bed for improved adhesion, and includes one key filament loading/unloading for ease of use.

There is one glaring issue that is raised in the User Manual though, in that the ‘built-in holder of this product supports filament spools with a maximum weight of
250g. For filament spools heavier than 250g, you need to prepare a compatible holder for installation by yourself‘. Filament is generally sold in 1Kg spools, though you can find smaller spools it’s not particularly economical.

At $249, it seems like a great deal, but it’s a bit of a pickle though with the likes of Bambulabs A1 Mini at just $50 more offering a much more versatile and expandable printing option – including support for the AMS Lite for multi-filament printing.

There’s no launch date for the KMart Smart 3D printer as yet, but you can click the Wishlist button to be notified when it goes live.