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Creality Ender 5 S1 3D Printer Review: Merely Competent Among Standout Competition

A 3D printer that costs nearly $600 should really have better bed-leveling.

Despite some great innovations in 3D printing hardware and software in 2022, the new Ender 5 S1 from Creality doesn’t do much to push the envelope. It’s a decent printer, but needed more to really wow me.

7.0

Creality Ender 5 S1

$579 at Creality 3D
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Like

  • Stable physical design
  • Fast printing speed
  • Good quality prints

Don’t Like

  • Needs a lot of bed leveling
  • Lackluster design

At first glance, the $579 Ender 5 S1 ticks a lot of boxes. Based on the original Ender 5 from 2019, the S1 upgrades almost every piece of hardware to make this faster and more accurate than ever before. But taking a deeper look, a lot of what we see is decidedly middle of the road.

The build quality of this 3D printer is excellent, as I’d expect from the Ender line. All of the parts look and feel well-made. When you pick it up by the built-in handles, it has a heft that suggests a ruggedness that you don’t get from cheaper models. Unlike the Ender 3, the Ender 5 is a CoreXY machine, so the bed moves up and down, rather than in and out, so it’s much more stable at high speed.

Having an all-metal hot end and an extruder assembly that is direct-drive allows the S1 to handle a variety of different materials. The direct drive extruder makes it extremely easy to print with TPU — a flexible filament you can make rubbery phone cases from — and the all-metal hot end allows high-temperature filaments like ABS and PETG to be printed, too. High temperatures can destroy the small tube in a standard hot end, which would then need to be replaced after printing PETG or ABS for long periods.

The print quality of the Ender 5 S1 is surprisingly good at the speed it prints, which is faster than many similar printers. While it says it can print at 250 millimeters per second, that doesn’t tell the whole story, as the print speed is limited in the slicer to keep the quality high. Millimeters per second is used to measure how fast the print head can move while printing, as well as when no material is being extruded. It’s an abstract number based on factory defaults, so it isn’t always accurate when you get the 3D printer to your home.

I used a spider test print from E3D, which tests overhangs and bridging — both notoriously difficult at high speed — to test the Ender 5 S1. This file takes around 1 hour, 30 minutes to print on the Prusa Mk3s, a respectable time for one of the best 3D printers right now. The Creality slicer software included with the Ender 5 S1 estimates that same print at 1 hour, 9 minutes. If it was printing at the full 250 mm/s speed, it should be three times faster than the Prusa, but it isn’t. In comparison, the AnkerMake M5 — which also touts 250 mm/s print speeds — estimates the same model to be printed in 22 minutes. So while the Ender 5 S1 is faster than most printers, it isn’t as fast as the spec sheet promises.

Limiting the speed isn’t a bad idea, per se. After all, the balance between speed and quality is important for 3D printers and the quality here is very good even on stock settings. The CNET test print showed no sign of stringing, which surprised me. Stringing occurs when there isn’t time between each layer for the plastic to cool, so it oozes out in strings. This can occur when printers are too fast, but the Ender 5 S1 did a great job with all aspects of the test print.

I printed several Fotis Mint dragons, a skeletal hand and some lobsters, and they all came out looking excellent. This FlexiFactory dinosaur looks great, and all of his articulation works as it’s supposed to, though it did take me several attempts to get the first layer to stick correctly.

The Ender 5 S1 also comes with some advanced features, such as a filament runout sensor and power-off detection, though the auto-leveling system has advantages and drawbacks.

The auto-leveling still has a manual element and requires adjustment of the bed by tuning spring-loaded height adjustment wheels underneath. This means that the 3D printer is prone to losing its bed level after a few prints. While it might not seem like a big deal to keep releveling, it can be a pain and often leads to prints failing and materials lost. It also runs counter to the entire reason for auto-leveling, the removal of human error from the equation.

A year or two ago (and maybe $100 cheaper), the Ender 5 S1 would have floored me. But in a year when we’re seeing a lot of innovation in quality, features and price, it doesn’t stand out. If you can find it on sale for less than $450 it would be worth picking up, but there are better printers, like the $569 Anycubic Kobra Max — a printer with true auto-leveling and a giant print size — or the $799 AnkerMake M5, within a stone’s throw of the Ender 5 S1’s current price of $579.

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Technologies

Grammarly Pushes Beyond Proofreading With AI-Powered Writing Guidance

Grammarly dropped agents to spot plagiarism, cite sources and maybe even boost your GPA.

Grammarly is expanding beyond its grammar-checking roots. The company has announced the launch of several specialized AI «agents» and a new writing tool called Grammarly Docs, designed to help students and professionals with everything from drafting essays to polishing workplace emails.

It’s another example of generative AI expanding beyond general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini into more specialized domains. Other examples of gen AI in educational circles include Google’s NotebookLM and OpenAI’s new study mode for ChatGPT.

AI agents are digital helpers that go beyond traditional chatbots to understand context and assist in reaching your goals. Grammarly’s AI agents assist by offering feedback, predicting reactions, finding sources and more to increase efficiency in workflows. 

Read also: Grammarly AI: This Free AI Tool Will Easily Fix Your Grammar

What’s available now for Grammarly AI

The update introduces nine agents that move Grammarly into a more collaborative role. Instead of just correcting grammar or suggesting phrasing, the agents are intended to actively work alongside users. One predicts how a professor or manager might respond to a draft. Another offers an estimated grade based on an uploaded rubric. Others handle citation generation, proofreading, paraphrasing, plagiarism checks and AI detection. The tools are built directly into Docs, a «distraction-free» writing environment where all the agents can be summoned in context, according to the company.

As students head back to classrooms and colleges, Grammarly is looking to position itself as a study companion and writing coach rather than merely a browser extension. The company cites research showing that while only a small share of students feel confident using AI in professional settings (18%), most employers expect AI literacy from job candidates. By emphasizing skill-building and responsible use, Grammarly says it wants to bridge that gap rather than simply automate assignments.

«The launch of our new agents and AI writing surface marks a turning point in how we build products that anticipate user needs,» Luke Behnke, Grammarly’s vice president of product management, said in the company’s press release. «We’re moving beyond simple suggestions to intelligent agents that understand context and actively help users achieve their communication goals.» 

For professionals, Grammarly is marketing the tools as a way to tailor communication for different audiences. The Reader Reactions agent, for example, can highlight whether an email comes across as too vague or too blunt. And the Expert Review tool provides industry-specific feedback without requiring specialized prompts.

The launch also marks the debut of Docs as a standalone writing hub. Until now, Grammarly has functioned mostly as a browser extension layered on top of other apps, like Chrome or Google Docs. Grammarly Docs signals a push to keep users inside the platform’s own environment, though the company says it will expand agent functionality to the more than half a million apps and sites where its tools already appear.

The new features are rolling out immediately for free and premium subscribers, though plagiarism and AI detection remain locked behind the paid plan. Enterprise and education customers will also gain access later this year.

Early reactions to Grammarly’s AI agents 

Early reactions suggest strong interest from students and educators alike as the company shifts from a grammar checker to a productivity platform. Educators have noted the potential benefits and risks of tools like the AI Grader. Some users on social media welcomed the update as a way to cut through the anxiety of essay writing, while others questioned whether it might make students too dependent on machine feedback.

The launch comes just months after Grammarly raised $1 billion to fuel its AI pivot and acquired the email startup Superhuman. Together, those moves point to an ambitious strategy for the company: one that seeks to transform Grammarly from a background utility into a full-fledged productivity suite powered by AI. 

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 20, #1523

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,523 for Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word. Two letters repeat, so don’t forget once you find a correct letter, you can reuse it in another spot. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has two separate repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel, and it’s one of the repeated letters, so you’ll see it twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter.

Today’s Wordle answer begins with L.

Wordle hint No. 4: Animal kingdom

Today’s Wordle answer is an animal.

Wordle hint No. 5: Second meaning

Today’s Wordle answer is a domesticated pack animal of the camel family.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is LLAMA.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, No. 1,522 for Aug. 19, was ROWDY.

Recent Wordle answers

Aug. 15, No. 1,518: LEVEL

Aug. 16 No. 1,519: MATTE

Aug. 17, No. 1,520: LOUSY

Aug. 18, No. 1,521: ISSUE

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 20, #801

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 801 for Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a real headache. The NYT puzzle writers are really pulling some obscure connections out of the air, and I did not do well today at all. Need some help? Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Ebony and ivory.

Green group hint: They go together.

Blue group hint: Spinning.

Purple group hint: There’s a bend in these.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Black-and-white things.

Green group: Pairs of rods.

Blue group: Things that rotate about a vertical axis.

Purple group: Rods that curve at one end.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is black-and-white things. The four answers are domino, piano keys, yin-yang symbol and zebra.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is pairs of rods. The four answers are chopsticks, claves, knitting needles and ski poles.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that rotate about a vertical axis. The four answers are barber pole, carousel, ceiling fan and lazy Susan.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is rods that curve at one end. The four answers are candy cane, crochet hook, crook and crowbar.

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