The Maker’s Toolbox: PioCreat HALOT-X1 Resin 3D Printer

I don’t review many MSLA (masked stereolithography) resin 3D printers these days, because most of them are so similar that I no longer find them very interesting. But some models do new things and stand out. That’s the case with the PioCreat HALOT-X1, so I got my hands on one and put it to the test.

HALOT-X1 overview

You may not have heard of PioCreat, but you do know them. PioCreat is actually a new sub brand of Creality, which the company spun off specifically for their resin printers. The HALOT-X1 was originally supposed to be a Creality product, but now falls under the PioCreat umbrella.

The HALOT-X1 is listed on the PioCreat website, but you can purchase it through the Creality store. It is branded as a PioCreat printer.

None of that matters much to you, the consumer. But I’m pointing it out so that you know that PioCreat isn’t some new startup, but rather a part of the very established Creality company.

The basic specs are good, but not groundbreaking:

• 211.68mm (X) × 118.37mm (Y) × 200.00mm (Z) build volume
• 16K monochrome LCD panel
• 14×19μm pixel size
• 0.01mm Z axis resolution
• 170mm/h max print speed
• 3.98” capacitive touch screen interface
• Software compatibility with Chitubox and HALOT BOX

Those are all great and would put the HALOT-X1 on par with the competition on their own. But there are two additional features that I found especially compelling and they’re why I chose to review the HALOT-X1.

The first is an AFU (Auto Feed Unit) for managing resin. That’s a small unit that sits next to the print and has a pump to push resin into and out of the vat. There is also resin heating to improve reliability.

The second feature I found exciting is the very unique build plate. That’s so cool that it deserves its own section…

The build plate

This is probably the most unique build plate I’ve ever seen on a resin 3D printer. It is a two-piece design, with one piece set into the other in pockets.

That sounds strange, but it is really awesome because it makes print removal super easy. That’s something that is usually a big pain—often literally, as those of us who have stabbed our own hands can tell you.

All you have to do is rock the two pieces against each other and the prints will pop right off!

The only real downside is that you do get ridges on your print matching the small gaps between the two build plate pieces. But that isn’t a big deal to me, because you almost never want a resin-printed part lying directly on the build plate anyway. Instead, you want the print at an angle up on supports.

Another great aspect of the build plate design is that you don’t need to lock it into place. You just slide it onto the mount and the printer holds it in place while printing.

The automatic feed unit

The AFU is also pretty awesome. I literally didn’t need to pour resin from the bottle into the vat a single time and instead just let the AFU handle everything.

The HALOT-X1 detects when it needs more resin and pumps that into the vat. It also heats the resin, which can help a lot with reliability and preventing warping.

The AFU can also pump resin back out of the vat and into the bottle. That isn’t quite as useful, because it can’t pump all of the resin out of the vat and will leave some in the bottom. I even tried tilting the entire printer back to get the resin in the vat to pool around the “straw” that goes to the AFU, but it still left quite a bit behind.

So, you will still need to manually drain and clean the vat if you want it completely clean. But by using the plastic scraper to push resin to the straw, I was able to get the vat almost empty.

The AFU has the ability to recognize RFID tags on resin bottles, too. That only works with official resin and it isn’t a requirement. In fact, I’m not quite sure what the point even is, as you will have already set print parameters before slicing. But I suppose it could be useful for some sort of automatic profile that might come later.

The software

The HALOT-X1 is officially compatible with Chitubox and HALOT BOX software, which you use to modify your model, add supports, and slice for printing.

Chitubox is extremely common software and is the default for a wide range of consumer 3D printers. I don’t love it, but it is fine. I have occasionally experienced issues with Chitubox and I don’t think its support generation is all that great, but it usually produces satisfactory results.

HALOT BOX is, as the name suggests, built specifically for HALOT 3D printers. However, I’m pretty sure that it is just a reskinned version of Chitubox. Most of the time, it worked the same as Chitubox does. But I did run into a couple of issues with software crashes and features (like cutting a hole into a hollow part) not working.

Of these two, I think most users will want to stick to Chitubox.

That said, I think users may want to consider other slicers that don’t have official support. For example, I believe that Lychee Slicer currently supports the HALOT-X1. I didn’t use that for this review, since it isn’t an official option. But I’ve been happy with Lychee Slicer in the past and you should definitely give it a try if you buy a HALOT-X1.

The hardware

I’ve already talked about the build plate and AFU, but now I want to go over the rest of the HALOT-X1’s hardware.

Right off the bat, I will say that I think the HALOT-X1 is a very attractive machine. I love the white and orange color scheme. I also think the overall industrial design is great.

I really appreciate that the cover is hinged, because you can simply flip it up. That’s way better than having to find somewhere to place the cover, as is the case with so many other models.

The touchscreen interface is also really good. The display is nice and crisp, while the menus are responsive. It isn’t on the level of a modern flagship smartphone, but it is pretty darn good.

That said, I did experience a few firmware glitches. Those mostly seemed to happen when the printer failed to detect the resin level sensor. But when I did get error messages, just proceeding anyway worked just fine.

Interestingly, the HALOT-X1’s Z axis moves the vat up and down. That is in contrast to most printers, which move the build plate up and down. I’m not quite sure what benefit that is supposed to provide, but it didn’t seem to cause any issues.

Though there is one negative here: the vat doesn’t tilt. That’s a feature that is starting to gain traction and I really like it, because it reduces peeling forces and improves print reliability. Sadly, the HALOT-X1 doesn’t have that feature. I really wish it did.

Print quality and speed

Print quality is difficult to evaluate with any kind of objectivity, but the HALOT-X1 is great, in my opinion.

Objectively, we can look at the 16k screen resolution and the 14×19μm pixel size, which are both top-tier. But to develop an opinion on print quality, I simply printed a bunch of stuff.

I did all of my prints with the provided HALOT resin and the default settings. Of my test prints, almost all of them turned out really well. There were only two exceptions.

One was a xenomorph bust, which had significant deformation and flaws due to supports failing. I don’t want to blame the HALOT-X1 for that, because I reprinted it with more robust supports and that turned out fine.

The other was a Raspberry Pi case and I think it deserves some special explanation.

I rarely use resin printers for functional, mechanical parts. Resin printing is prone to slight warping, which is exaggerated by large flat surfaces and straight edges. You don’t normally see those issues when printing decorative models and figures, but parts like enclosures are tricky. You have to spend a lot of time tuning your settings and support placement to get good results with those.

As you can see, this Raspberry Pi case did show some of that warping. This particular model also had thin vent lines, which broke off—though that isn’t the printer’s fault.

I could definitely get a cleaner print of this Raspberry Pi case if I took the time to really dial things in, but I wanted potential buyers to set their expectations appropriately.

Other than those two examples, my prints were all very good. The detail is great and exposure seemed to be uniform.

Final thoughts

I really like the PioCreat HALOT-X1. I haven’t kept a resin printer in a long time, because I don’t like the hassle of resin and mostly stick to FDM/FFF these days. But I am planning on keeping the HALOT-X1, because it works well.

The AFU and build plate really cement that for me. The AFU makes resin much more convenient to deal with and the build plate eliminates all of the pain of print removal.

However, the HALOT-X1 isn’t quite perfect. I think it would really benefit from a tilting vat and I did get a few errors/firmware glitches.

Neither of those things are dealbreakers for me, they just hold the HALOT-X1 back from that perfect A+ grade.

When you consider the price, which is just $509 for the combo with the AFU, I think the PioCreat HALOT-X1 is a great deal that most buyers would be happy with.