Technologies

Supercharge Your 3D Printer With This Must-Have Upgrade

The new Revo Six hot end from E3D is an easy way to swap in different nozzles on your 3D printer.

Almost all the best 3D Printers can be upgraded in some way with new parts and accessories. One of the most important potential upgrades is to the machine’s hot end assembly, which controls the temperature your printer prints at, and houses the nozzle that helps determine the filament flow.

The Rapidchange Revo Six is a replacement hot end for your 3D printer. It’s from E3D, a company that’s been making parts for 3D printers for years and is one of the gold standards, especially for nozzles and hot ends. This new model has really changed how I use my 3D printers and how I think about the models I’m making.

With the Revo Six, you can swap out the nozzle part of a printer’s hot end easily, which allows for lots of variation in the materials and line thickness for your project. Normally you need to remove the filament from your nozzle, heat the nozzle to loosen the threads, undo it with a socket wrench while it’s hot, then let it cool. After that, you can install your new nozzle, but you need to install it cold, then retighten it once it’s hot.

The $93 Revo Six (£77 GBP) takes out a lot of steps by making the nozzle and other parts of the printing assembly one piece and fully removable by hand. Take out your filament, immediately unscrew the nozzle, and swap it out. This saves a lot of time when replacing nozzles that’ve worn out, but the real magic is swapping different-sized nozzles for different models.

Why you want different nozzle sizes

Revo nozzles in a little mount connected to a Prusa MK3 — James Bricknell/CNET

Often the purpose of your 3D model dictates the settings you’ll use to print it. When printing something delicate with a lot of details, you need a smaller nozzle diameter. With something structural that requires strength, you need a larger diameter. Most 3D printers come with a 0.4mm nozzle as standard, which is fine as a happy medium but won’t always be enough in either direction.

The genius of the Revo Six is the ability to change nozzle sizes almost on the fly. Each nozzle size is color-coded and available from 0.15mm all the way up to 0.8mm and can be replaced in less than a minute. The $89 kit comes with a 0.4mm nozzle but the $139 fully loaded kit has four nozzles ranging from 0.25 to 0.8mm.

I’ve printed a set of brackets for a machine I needed to mount to the wall. The mount is completely hidden and layer lines don’t matter, so I used the 0.8mm nozzle to print extra thick, extra strong parts as quickly as possible (larger layer lines mean faster printing too). As soon as I’d finished the brackets, I immediately swapped the nozzles on the Revo Six to the 0.25mm one and started printing a Flower Dragon with tiny details from Fotis Mint. Having that flexibility in a single machine is fantastic. It saves money on different printers and, more importantly, saves me time, something I have very little of day-to-day.

Upgrade the upgrade with the E3D Obxidian

Two long stemmed 3D printer nozzles — James Bricknell/CNET

Like all good 3D printing accessories, even the Rapidchange Revo V6 can be upgraded. Not only did E3D produce low-cost replacement nozzles for all the different sizes you might want, they made a specialty nozzle for the exotic filaments too.

The Obxidian (pronounced obsidian, like the rock) is a nozzle from E3D that’s specially designed to help combat the wear and tear you get from using abrasive materials infused with other mediums, such as wood or carbon fiber. It’s made from copper, rather than a brass alloy, and has a special coating that helps move the fibers through the nozzle without sticking. It’s also designed to work with the Revo system for quick changing.

Buzz phrases like «the last nozzle you’ll ever need» feel hyperbolic, but at the same time, the longevity of the $59 Obxidian compared with standard nozzles — it can last indefinitely as long as you aren’t using glow-in-the-dark filament at high speed — makes me wonder if it’s even worth buying a standard Revo nozzle again. Actually, the Obxidian comes only in 0.4mm and 0.6mm diameters, so it’s worth having the other nozzle sizes around for other print jobs. Filaments with other materials in them — wood or carbon-infused PLA for example — benefit from a high flow rate, so larger nozzle sizes work better for the Obxidan. For standard prints, though, the Obxidian has everything covered.

An accessory that elevates your entire machine

E3D Revo Six Obxidian Nozzle

$59 at Matterhackers

All the best 3D printing accessories improve your experience in some way, but the Revo Six coupled with an Obxidian nozzle will fundamentally change how you print. Because so many manufacturers have used the E3D V6 hot end in some fashion, the company was able to create Revo Six systems that are easy to replace on a huge variety of 3D printers. From Creality to Prusa, E3D has Revo to help you convert.

I’m convinced that the Rapidchange Revo Six is the next big change to hot ends moving forward, and though I haven’t managed to convert all my 3D printers, if you have just one or two, then investing in a fully loaded kit is well worth it.

Technologies

Why Are Switch 2 Games So Expensive? Trump’s Tariffs May Not Be Sole Factor

It still comes down to money.

Wednesday’s reveal of the Switch 2 had a lot of buzz from Nintendo surrounding its successor to the Switch. One shocking bit, though, was the high price of its games. There’s a lot of confusion, especially with news of President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on many trading partners, including Japan.

After the Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo released the full details of the upcoming console and games on its website. The price of Mario Kart World shocked gamers and led to some disdain, as the $80 MSRP was $10 more than what most new games cost today. This led many to wonder if this would be a new normal for game prices due to Trump’s tariffs or if Nintendo was just being greedy. The answer, however, might be something completely different.

Are Nintendo Switch 2 game prices hiking?

To start, some details need to be cleared up. Some people have posted on social media that the price of Nintendo’s Switch 2 games, at least in the US, will be $90. That is incorrect, as of right now.

One X user posted Switch 2 EU prices for Mario Kart World, which start at 80 euros for a digital version and 90 euros for the physical copy. Typically, US and EU games match in price, which caused some to assume that this pricing would be the case for the US.

Nintendo Switch 2 games will be more expensive physically than digitally.
Mario Kart World will be 90 freaking euros phisically. pic.twitter.com/iXuRwzlFqH

— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) April 2, 2025

US retailers, however, already posted their Switch 2 game prices, and Nintendo-published games are listed at $80.

Will Trump’s tariffs cause the Switch 2 to cost more?

As for Trump’s tariffs, that is unlikely to be a driver of this price bump. Tariffs are not applied to digital goods, and when the prices were published, there were no tariffs on Japan. Plus, games are similarly expensive in other countries like Canada and the UK.

With that cleared up, why are Nintendo games on the Switch 2 so expensive? One likely reason is game storage.

Read More: All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free

The Switch 2 uses what Nintendo calls game-key cards, which are Switch 2 cartridges that don’t have all the game data on the cartridge itself. This helps save on production costs as storage is expensive. The original Switch cartridges went up to 32GB of storage, which doesn’t seem like a lot these days, with some games taking up 100GB or more of storage, but this is for the original Switch. Only a few games, like The Witcher 3, went above 32GB because the graphics for the Switch weren’t on the high end like with a PC, PS5 or Xbox Series console, where a Witcher 3 install size starts at 50GB.

Switch 2 games are going to be bigger in size — there is little doubt about it. CD Projekt Red confirmed it would put its Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on one 64GB cartridge, and there will likely be other games to surpass that 64GB. With the max size of the cartridge doubling in size, it adds to the price of the physical card, as not only does storage have to be bigger, but they will need to transfer data faster. That can get more expensive for physical copies, unlike optical discs, which are still the same price whether it has 20GB or 100GB on the disc.

What does all this mean for gamers?

This leads to a dilemma for publishers: Put the entire game on the physical card and sell it at a loss, increase the price of the physical copy with the full game on it or use the game-key card to have a card with minimal storage, requiring gamers to download the entire game.

Read More: The 17 Best Nintendo Switch Games Right Now

It appears that Nintendo went with door No. 2. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, knowing the company. Anyone who wants to save money on games knows that Nintendo will seldom bring the price down of its own games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, is 8 years old and is still full price on Nintendo’s website.

According to an industry analysis from Niko Partners, this new pricing could become the new normal in a couple of years when it comes to physical cartridges.

«While there has been some sticker shock regarding the price of games increasing from $60 to $70 or $80, these price points are set to become industry standard over the next two years, especially so for Nintendo first-party games,» Niko Partners said in a statement Wednesday. «One reason for the higher price is the increased cost of the new and faster Game Cards themselves, with higher capacities being more expensive to manufacture than a PS5 Blu-ray disc.»

Nintendo didn’t respond to a request for comment about the higher price of its games.

That said, this doesn’t explain the lower price of Donkey Kong Bananza, which comes out in July; that’s listed on Nintendo’s site for $70. This could mean the game isn’t using a larger storage card, but that can’t be said for sure until the game comes out. It’s unclear how things will change in the future.

Technologies

Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-orders in US Delayed Due to Trump’s Tariffs

The Switch 2 launch is still happening on June 5, and preorders outside the US seem unchanged.

Nintendo Switch 2 preorders in the US were to start April 9, but it appears those plans have changed due to the new tariffs imposed this week by President Donald Trump. It’s unclear if this means Nintendo will also have to increase the price of the Switch successor, which currently starts at $450.

Nintendo said Friday that it’s delaying Switch 2 preorders in the US, but its June release date is unaffected.

«Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,» the company said in a statement. «Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.»

Nintendo didn’t indicate if preorder dates outside the US would change, but Eurogamer reports that preorders are live at various retailers in the UK.

A tariff of 24% has been applied by the US to goods from Japan. Were that rate to be applied directly to the Switch 2’s announced price, it would rise to $558, but it would be up to Nintendo how much of the tariff it will pass on to consumers.

This is a developing story.

Technologies

Twelve South’s Foldable Wireless Charger for iPhone and Apple Watch Is Up to 27% Off at Amazon

This handy accessory makes it easier to travel with your Apple gear and stay charged wherever you go.

Whether you’re traveling for business or off on a wonderful family vacation, charging your stuff shouldn’t be something you have to worry about. Taking extra chargers and cables can be a pain, and they all take up space in your bag. But the handy Twelve South Butterfly SE charger is a compact alternative that can wirelessly charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time. And it’s available with up to 27% off right now at Amazon.

That top line discount applies to the pink version, though the white model is only $7 more and other colors are seeing 15% off the usual $100 price tag if you have a strong preference. It’s not clear how long the discounts will last, though.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

The charger itself offers a way to wirelessly charge a iPhone and Apple Watch from a single AC outlet, and you can even charge your AirPods when your phone is done, too. And because this is a Qi2 charger you’ll get a full 15 watts of wireless charging for compatible devices — including the best iPhones.

When you’re not using the Butterfly SE, it folds up so it can be slid into a pocket, bag or luggage without taking up too much space. It really is the perfect partner for people who like to travel light.

Unfortunately, this charger doesn’t come with an AC adapter in the box, so you’ll need to provide your own. Make sure it’s rated for 20 watts or more. If you need to buy one, Apple’s 20-watt USB-C charger is just $15 right now.

Why this deal matters

We all carry multiple devices around with us these days. Anything that can make charging them more convenient is a win in our books, especially when you’re traveling. This charger takes up little space when it isn’t being used and charges quickly when it is.