ANYCUBIC Photon Mono 4 Ultra: problems, parts and running costs

Checked: 2026-10-17

Summary

The main owner complaint is quality control: one Reddit thread reports an LCD test pattern too dim to shine through, with a circle pattern, and inconsistent underside print quality is a recurring community con. Running costs are the standard resin-printer items: 405 nm resin, replacement release film and isopropyl alcohol, with no annual total reported. At the $259 to $299 street prices reviewers tested it is a strong miniature printer; at $344 from Anycubic’s US store (2026) it is fair rather than standout.

Common problems and fixes

Dim LCD with a circle pattern — a Reddit thread reports the LCD too dim to shine through on the Mono 4 Ultra; no defect rate is published, so buy from a seller with a straightforward return policy and treat the 1-year printer warranty as the baseline. [11][13]
Inconsistent print quality on undersides — a recurring community con, including a first test print whose underside looked washed out; 3DWork fixed its build-plate adhesion failures with leveling and first-layer changes. [7][10][4]
Stock ACF film softens detail — FauxHammer measured slightly softer detail on ACF than on PFA film; the fix is a PFA swap for maximum sharpness at the cost of speed, or a second vat for each film type. [5]
Cloud connection failures — Fabbaloo could not connect to the cloud system and full app support is listed as a community con, while FauxHammer found cloud notifications genuinely useful, so it is inconsistent rather than universal. [6][7][5]
Photon Workshop 3.5 file-picker bug — the load dialog opens and instantly closes on Windows and Mac; drag-and-drop is the workaround. [6]
No leveling feet — the printer has no adjustable feet, so the surface it sits on must be perfectly level. [4]
Conditional speed claims — the 120 mm/h figure needs Anycubic High Speed Resin 2.0 at 0.1 mm layers; standard resin tops out at 80 mm/h. [1][7]

Parts and consumables

Wash & Cure station — optional add-on at $102 to $205 in Anycubic’s US store tiers (2026). [1]

Yearly running cost

Not enough data. The recurring costs are resin, replacement release film and isopropyl alcohol, with an optional wash-and-cure station listed at $102 to $205 in Anycubic’s US store (2026), but no usage rates are published, so a typical annual total cannot be computed. [1]

When it is a good buy

At $259 to $299, the street prices reviewers tested (Fabbaloo in January 2025, FauxHammer in May 2026), it is a strong miniature printer if you accept the quality-control risk and the ACF tradeoff. [6][5]
At $344 (Anycubic US store, 2026) it is fair rather than standout; you pay a premium over the base Photon Mono 4, officially $229 in Canada, for the optics, film, screen and connectivity. [1][13]
Above $344 it is weak unless the small footprint, 10K detail and sensor suite are what you need; larger-format Saturn 3-class and M7-class Photons are the owner-recommended step up for batch work. [7][5]
The base Photon Mono 4 is the better choice when print speed is not the priority; the ELEGOO Mars 4 Ultra class is the named competitor to compare at the same money. [12][5]