Creality Halot

Hello and welcome back to another 3D printer review. This time around we have the Creality Halot-One Plus resin 3D printer with us. This flagship printer from Creality’s Halot line of MSLA printers has outstanding features that sets it apart in the resin printing industry.

The Creality Halot-One Plus is an affordable 3D printer which offers a number of premium features, making it a strong contender for all types of users. We will go into detail about who the ideal user for this printer is in the following sections of this review, but this is one printer you should seriously consider when purchasing your first or your next machine.

I tested the printer with multiple prints, used the WiFi connectivity, Halot Box slicer and tried remote printing and I had a great time printing on this printer, but I did run into a few issues that I’ll note for future users.

If you’re curious about the Halot One Plus resin 3D printer’s capabilities and want to make an informed decision, this review can help. So, let’s get started and find out what makes this printer stand out from the crowd.

Table of Contents

Creality, a well-known Chinese 3D printing company, develops the Halot-One Plus printer. Creality is known for its dependable and affordable printers, and the company has been in the industry for nearly a decade, with over 3.5 million users worldwide.

The Halot-One Plus printer was released in 2022 as the premium model in the Halot-series, which also includes the Halot-One and Halot-One Pro. The Halot One Plus offers impressive printing capabilities, with a 4K resolution, 7.9-inch mono LCD, and an incredibly fast 3-second exposure time. Furthermore, Creality has managed to cram these high-end features into a printer that is reasonably priced, retailing for only $399. The Halot One Plus clearly targets the prosumer market, going above and beyond what is typically expected in this price range.

To keep the Halot-One Plus safe, it comes in a cardboard box with plenty of foam on all sides. And I guess, thanks to this foam, my printer stayed is near perfect shape when it was delivered to us.

Actually, due to a miscommunication with the courier agency, the printer arrived late. It basically travelled from Hong Kong to Delhi, Delhi to Mumbai and then went back to Delhi before arriving at the Gurugram warehouse, where it was housed for more than two weeks. After resolving the issues, the printer was shipped again from Gurugram to Delhi and then back to Mumbai. All this travelling and via roadways was sure to damage the printer. I was expecting a damaged machine. Upon unboxing the printer was surely damaged but only very slightly and only at the back, but this had no effect on its performance.

Inside the box, you’ll find the printer in two parts as the body and the blue cover, necessary accessories such as a resin vat, a USB stick, a metal spatula for print removal, a plastic spatula for vat cleaning, Allen keys, resin filters, a spare FEP sheet, a calibration card for bed levelling and a basic instruction manual. For your convenience, the USB stick includes a basic operation video as well as the entire user manual.

The Halot-One Plus, unlike many other resin printers, does not include any consumables such as gloves, masks, or other cleaning supplies. This isn’t a major omission, but it does mean that first-time users should make sure they get these important accessories and not start printing without these.

The Halot-One Plus is relatively simple to set up. All you have to do is install the build plate, level the bed (this is quite straightforward too) and then install the resin vat. And that’s it! You are now ready to start the print. We will see these one by one below.

Installing the build plate is simple; simply load the plate onto the head. To secure the build plate, tighten the screws. After that, you should turn on the printer.

When you turn on the printer, you can connect it to the Creality Cloud, WiFi, or a USB drive to transfer files. I chose to connect via WiFi. This is just super convenient and allows you to receive firmware updates over the air. If you do want to connect to WiFi, simply wait a few seconds on the homepage and you’ll see an option to bypass the connectivity screen.

The next step is to level the bed. To achieve this, use the provided calibration card to level the print bed. Loosen the four bolts that secure the bed as explained in the instructions manual, then tap on the Z-axis movement and levelling settings and place the calibration card on the screen. The build plate will move down to the LCD screen and trap the calibration card in between. The card should not be too tight nor should it be too loose. If you find a decent resistance to move the card, then its fine. At this position, tighten the build plate screws. This is a quick procedure that should only be repeated if the alignment is messed up or if printing problems arise.

Finally, place the resin tank in its designated location and secure it with two knobs in diagonal positions. Make sure the resin level marking labels are at the back and clearly visible from the front side.

The Halot-One Plus’s front panel features a 5″ LCD colour touch screen, a USB-A port for connecting a USB stick, and a USB-B port for direct computer connection. The user interface is straightforward, and you can customise its appearance in the settings.

Because I used the WiFi connectivity option, I would recommend connecting via WiFi for a more streamlined, easier, and faster printing experience.

The striking feature of the 3D printer is its blue colour, which is a welcome change from the commonly used yellow, orange, and red. The colour itself adds to the excitement.

The printer also has a large 5-inch screen that is both bright and responsive. It has large, bold options that make it easier to read and click. A differentiating factor among competitors who generally use smaller screens. The operation is also simple, and even a beginner can immediately know how to start a print.

The Halot-One Plus also has an onboard ARM Cortex-M4 quad-core 64-bit processor, which gives it more processing power than comparable machines.

The printer comes with an integrated 100W power supply. The body is made from plastic but still it is quite dense and heavy and thus feels sturdy.

The Z end-stop is located at the top of the Z axis, which is an unusual design choice for an MSLA resin 3D printer. This surely means that every time you start a print, the build plate move to the top and then moves to the bottom to begin printing. This is definitely more time-consuming.

The integrated air filtration system on the Halot-One Plus is a welcome addition to the printer, but in my experience, it does not reduce odours sufficiently, and the entire room begins to smell like resin once the printing starts. As a result, make sure you’re using the printer in a well-ventilated area, you are wearing mask while walking in the room and even asking your roommates or family members to follow the guideline.

The build plate is quite generic, with no distinguishing features. It has a slanted top to help the resin flow away from it, but some resin still collects on the top where the screws are, which can be quite bothersome. The plate’s bottom surface has a sandblasted finish, and prints adhered to it without issue.

The resin vat on the is smooth and easy to clean, with printed labels indicating fill levels of 250mL, 450mL, and 650mL. The vat also has a spout moulded into the front right and back left corners, making it easy to pour resin out of the vat and back into the bottle. You also get an extra FEP sheet once the first one gets worn out.

An activated carbon filter on the printer’s top side should eliminate the resin odour. Unfortunately, this filter does almost nothing and, due to the way it’s designed, the resin smell is drawn out of the enclosure and outside the printer.

This is Creality’s in-house light source. Integral Light Source technology works with five LED lights, each with four emission chips, to use reflection and refraction. Redundancy is provided by the increased number of LED lights and emission units.

I used Creality’s Water Washable Resin Plus in “grey” colour to test the performance of the Creality Halot-One Plus. This was my first time using a water washable resin, and it surely makes cleaning a lot easier. Unlike traditional resins, which must be cleaned with IPA, this resin dissolves in water alone. However, despite the fact that it claims to have a “low odour,” the resin still has a distinct odour.

As a precaution, I strongly advise using a mask and gloves when handling the resin and prints, as well as a good respirator whenever the printer’s lid is open.

I decided to 3D print the AmeraLabs Town calibration model for my first print. This model is an excellent demonstration of resin printer capabilities. The level of detail on the model is incredible, and if your print passes this test of printing the part accurately, you can be confident that the print is also well calibrated and of excellent quality.

With a shred of doubt on how the print would turn out, I printed the model and to my surprise the print was perfect. There were no flaws, and I was actively looking for them. Even after a close inspection with a magnifying glass, I couldn’t find any major flaws. Even though the features are quite fine, the printer handled them with ease. The text is clearly visible, and the bristles on one side of the print were also printed (though I broke a few in my excitement to show off the print quality to friends).

Encouraged by the success of the previous print, I decided to print the popular 3DBenchy boat. Once again, the print turned out beautifully. While there were a few blemishes where the supports came into contact with the print, the rest of the model was nearly perfect. The layers were consistent and well-defined, and the layer lines were barely visible.

I decided to print the Flexi Fokobot model as part of this review. I expected this to be a difficult print because of the flexible parts, as it required printing movable components without the need for assembly. To my surprise, the model turned out perfectly. The movements were smooth, and the print quality was excellent overall.

It’s worth noting that due to the lack of a wash and cure station, my prints may appear slightly different. Unfortunately, I was unable to use this equipment for the review. As a result, the prints were not IPA washed or properly UV cured. I attempted to cure them in direct sunlight for a minute on each side, but the UV light proved too strong for these parts given the relatively intense summer sun.

Despite the limitations of the curing process, the Creality Halot-One Plus print quality exceeded my expectations. The printer demonstrated its ability to produce highly detailed prints with few flaws, demonstrating the precision and capabilities of resin-based 3D printing technology.

Lastly, I tried printing a simple Einstein model but somehow it failed. I have not yet diagnosed the issue completely as I had to publish the review but I will be updating the article after I am able to diagnose the issue. As you can see in the image, the model was printed perfectly well in half but after that the supports broke. So I guess the support density and support thickness must have been the issue. This is just my first observation but I will update once I have a detailed answer on this.

The Creality Halot-One Plus employs 405nm UV resin, which must be handled with caution while uncured to ensure it does not harm your skin. For this always ensure that you have to wear gloves at all times. Do not take the precautions casually and ignore them for even a small task bit. If you think the doctor gloves are difficult to wear and remove each time, just keep the transparent gloves handy and use them for small tasks but fall back on the doctor gloves at other times.

To reduce the risk of inhaling fumes, use the Halot-One Plus in a well-ventilated room. When not actively pouring material, any spills or uncured resin stuck to a surface should be cleaned with 99% isopropyl alcohol, and the resin container should be kept closed and secured.

The Creality Halot-One Plus is a printer for beginners. It is simple to use, provides a near-plug-and-play experience, produces very fine and intricate prints right from the start, and is affordablly priced.

Furthermore, because this is the premium model in the Halot line of printers, you get the best in this line and do not miss out on even the smallest of features present in earlier models.

If you are a beginner, you should seriously consider having this printer in your tool shed. Even if you are an experienced user, you can purchase this printer if you want to expand your resin printer collection and want a printer that does what you expect it to do with ease.

Rating the Creality Halot-One Plus resin 3D Printer