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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
This has been a bit of a roller coaster,
0:01
a mild one, but still the experience has
0:04
been rather up and down. Auto are here
0:06
aiming at the beginner crowd and they do
0:08
that with both price and functionality.
0:11
Usability though, well, as a beginner
0:14
myself, I wouldn't call this beginner
0:16
friendly. It's certainly better than
0:18
some I've tested, but all right, let's
0:21
just get into it. Hi, I'm Ross and this
0:23
is Fammer Videos. So, what this is,
0:26
according to the website, is a class one
0:28
enclosed desktop laser with a reported
0:30
maximum work area of 300x 210 mm and
0:34
support swappable laser head options of
0:36
10 and 20 W diode modules along with a
0:39
1.3 W infrared module for people wanting
0:42
to surface engrave soft metals. So,
0:45
based on other machines I've seen, at
0:46
the price they want for it, even though
0:48
it's on the smaller side of top- down
0:50
laser machines, at this price, for the
0:53
beginner, sounds almost too good to be
0:55
true. Well, for the beginner, it is. So,
0:59
let me run you through what it's like to
1:01
use. And for those of you who are new
1:03
here, my review approach is essentially
1:05
be really British and complain about as
1:07
much as I can. If you can see past the
1:10
things I complain about because, well,
1:12
they wouldn't bother you, great. But at
1:14
least now you know about them and you
1:15
can buy this accepting its limits. So
1:18
basically this video could be called
1:19
everything wrong with the Auto R2, but
1:22
despite my obvious love of clickbait,
1:24
even I find that a little cliche. And
1:26
yes, there are good things to say about
1:28
it, too. So I'll be honest up front. My
1:31
first impressions were solid. Attractive
1:33
packaging shows at least a modicum of
1:35
care being put into the product. And the
1:37
machine was sandwiched in foam and all
1:39
of the components are stored inside foam
1:41
pockets inside the machine. The
1:44
presentation is nice, a proper formed
1:46
housing and protective shielding. And I
1:48
have to say the inclusion of safety
1:50
certificates is very encouraging. Setup
1:53
is as simple as plugging in the cables
1:54
and turning it on, assuming you know how
1:56
to use it. And that's where the fun
1:58
begins. Let's look at the port
2:00
placement. Everything is on the back.
2:02
power socket, two USBC ports, a port for
2:05
the micro SD card. There's also an extra
2:08
socket for a rotary tool, but that's an
2:10
optional add-on. You can also remove the
2:12
base of this machine specifically for
2:14
that accessory, too. But removing it can
2:17
be tricky to do because the laser gets
2:19
in the way, and you can't move this up
2:21
and out of the way easily for reasons
2:24
I'll come on to. Now, there are two
2:26
functional buttons on the top at the
2:27
back right. There's the power button and
2:29
emergency stop. Now, the power button
2:31
needs to be held a few seconds to turn
2:33
it on or off, and a series of sequential
2:35
presses puts the machine into various
2:37
Wi-Fi pairing modes. What I really love
2:40
is the flipup screen of the unit. This
2:42
lets you control a few basic settings
2:44
such as positioning, homing, and
2:46
connecting to Wi-Fi. Now, I have to
2:48
point out that the translations are bad
2:51
to the point of hilarious, where a
2:53
simple okay button instead says I
2:56
already know. And I can only read this
2:58
in a tone more sarcastic than my
3:00
pre-teen daughter. Obviously, we all
3:02
know a better translation for this
3:04
on-creen button would have been, "Am I
3:06
bothered?" or something like that.
3:08
Anyway, inside we've got a work area
3:11
with a minimum of 210x300
3:13
mm, which is on the slightly smaller
3:16
side of similar laser machines. And I
3:18
say minimum because, well, we'll get on
3:20
to that in usability. Now, for the laser
3:23
module itself, you've got the option of
3:24
a 10 or 20 W diode laser or an optional
3:28
1.3 infrared laser. And if you don't
3:30
know which one to get, we're not going
3:32
to cover it here. Have a look online for
3:34
what different types of laser engrave
3:36
what materials generally wood,
3:38
cardboard, paper, the basic stuff,
3:40
diode, metals, anything like that,
3:43
infrared. There are others. It's a
3:45
minefield. Anyway, whilst I'd want to
3:48
talk about this in usability, I think
3:50
it's better to point it out here. These
3:52
aren't exactly hot swappable as you may
3:55
think, or at least they're not as easy
3:58
to swap as I've seen elsewhere on other
4:00
machines. You actually need to fully
4:02
uncip the cable ties, remove the cable
4:05
shielding for power data, and the air
4:07
assist hose. Honestly, Otto, could you
4:09
not have just fed some extension cables
4:11
up the length of this tubing and had
4:13
shorter cables on your laser heads? It
4:16
really would have made the machine a lot
4:18
more versatile for very little effort on
4:20
your part. But as it stands, perhaps
4:23
don't look at this as a multimaterial
4:25
machine. The likelihood is you'll stay
4:27
with whatever head you get with it. Now,
4:30
also when using that 20 W diode laser
4:33
head, because this is larger, it
4:35
actually reduces the engraving area on
4:37
the Y-axis down to only 190 mm. So, you
4:41
lose 2 cm there. And there's also an
4:44
internal bumper inside at the front left
4:46
corner, which you actually need to
4:47
adjust so that the limit switch
4:50
understands roughly where the home
4:52
position is. And that's to avoid pushing
4:54
the laser unit into the front frame of
4:56
the machine. Oh, and if you didn't catch
4:58
my use of the word roughly, let's just
5:01
say for now that was intentional. Now,
5:03
another cool feature of this is the
5:05
internal camera mounted to the lid,
5:07
which can be used to preview your work
5:08
area before you start any jobs. And
5:11
there's also some internal flame sensors
5:13
inside the machine, ready to stop any
5:15
work if flames are detected. And these
5:18
are placed in all four corners with an
5:20
additional sensor under the laser
5:21
module, which I think is actually a
5:23
problematic location due to how they've
5:26
wired it. And again, we'll come on to
5:28
that in a minute. Oh, actually, no.
5:30
We're in the usability section now.
5:32
Right, where to start? Look, I'm not
5:34
here to sell you these things. I'm just
5:36
here to show you my experience so you
5:38
can know what to expect. Now, as I said,
5:40
this is about nitpicking, setting your
5:43
expectations by outlining the things you
5:45
might find annoying when actually using
5:47
the machine versus what the marketing
5:50
tells you. But remember, this is a
5:53
budget machine. So, okay, I'm just going
5:55
to do it in the order I noticed stuff
5:57
and made my notes. So, this might jump
6:00
around a little. Let's start with air
6:02
assist. You get a separate compressor
6:04
with this. The first annoyance is that
6:06
this has its own power plug and no power
6:09
switch. Plugged in means switched on and
6:12
running compressing and vibrating being
6:14
noisy. It's not controlled by the
6:16
machine. It's not even really connected
6:18
to the machine other than the air hose.
6:20
When the plug is in the power, this is
6:22
turned on. something you'll manually
6:24
need to plug and unplug before and after
6:27
every job. The next issue I found with
6:29
this is these pneumatic couplers they
6:31
give you for the hoses. Now, these are
6:33
fantastic on 3D printers if you're using
6:36
hard PTFE hoses because they're firm.
6:40
These are absolutely terrible for rubber
6:43
hoses because the hoses pull out so
6:45
easily and even when they're in, due to
6:47
how flexible they are, air escapes far
6:50
too easily, too. And as for adjusting
6:53
the power of this air assist, again,
6:55
it's not controlled by the machine.
6:57
There's a cheap little clamp that
6:59
compresses the hose a little. The next
7:00
issue on my list was connectivity. Now,
7:03
I have to applaud them for this being
7:04
one of the few lasers I've tested that
7:07
actually has Wi-Fi that connects to your
7:09
network rather than just being stuck in
7:12
peer-to-peer only. However, it only
7:15
supports 2.4 4 GHz, which is fine on its
7:19
own, but the adapter actually struggles
7:21
with dualband Wi-Fi routters and flat
7:23
out refused to connect to mine until I
7:25
split the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks apart.
7:29
That's the kind of nonsense we really
7:31
shouldn't be dealing with in 2025. In
7:33
fact, that should have ended around the
7:35
time AOL stopped yelling, "You've got
7:37
mail at us." But honestly, you don't
7:40
need to worry about this because even
7:41
with Wi-Fi working, you won't want to
7:43
use it anyway because the phone app is
7:45
the only way to really connect to it via
7:48
Wi-Fi and it's not great and I couldn't
7:50
figure out how to connect to it in
7:52
LightBurn using Wi-Fi. So, yeah. So,
7:55
using the phone app, you've got to
7:56
calibrate it so that you can get this
7:58
camera working. Now, they do give you a
8:00
calibration card and the app will walk
8:02
you through this. Then it'll calibrate
8:05
the distortion by engraving four dots on
8:07
the back of the same calibration board.
8:10
It'll then auto detect these dots and
8:12
set up the camera, which I did. But on
8:15
my first use with this, just trying to
8:17
engrave an X to check alignment, I
8:19
noticed in the camera preview, the whole
8:21
board was actually shifted to the right
8:23
of where I expected the camera to shoot
8:26
the image. I then tried to engrave said
8:29
X on the top left corner of this board
8:31
only for the machine to start the job
8:33
and engrave it in the bottom left of the
8:36
board. Well, half on the board, half off
8:38
the board. Now, coupled with the poor
8:40
translations and the amount of
8:42
disconnect errors and other weird errors
8:44
I was getting, I genuinely gave up on
8:46
this and contacted Auto for support. And
8:48
the response I got was, "They're sorry
8:50
for the iOS app and they're working on
8:52
updates regularly." Yeah. So I gave up
8:55
on that and went straight to LightBurn
8:57
or do not have their own desktop app. So
9:00
if you're looking at this machine, I
9:02
think just assume you'll also be needing
9:04
LightBurn. So factor that into your
9:07
costs. Now LightBurn very much has its
9:09
own learning to do. It's not hard, but
9:12
it's not provided by the brand either.
9:14
They pretty much say connect it to
9:15
LightBurn and then you're on your own.
9:17
Now, in fairness, they do have video
9:19
guides showing you how to get it set up,
9:21
but they also don't have the best
9:23
settings and the recommended power they
9:26
give you for the preview laser being
9:28
used for framing. It's actually far too
9:30
powerful what they tell you to set it
9:32
at, and it'll actually engrave materials
9:34
when it should just be previewing the
9:36
work area. I actually had a much better
9:38
time setting this up by watching a
9:40
review video of the R2 from the channel
9:43
Casual DIY. So, I'll put a link to him
9:46
in the description. Another annoyance I
9:48
found was that in order to use the
9:49
camera in LightBurn, this actually has
9:52
its own USB connection. So those two
9:54
USBC ports on the back, one is for the
9:57
laser machine itself, another is for the
10:00
camera. Now again, I struggled here
10:02
because my computer is some distance
10:04
away from the workbench. So I had to use
10:06
an active powered USB extender along
10:09
with a USB hub. And to top it off, one
10:11
of the supplied USB cables that I got
10:13
with the machine was actually faulty.
10:15
And that was easily sorted with a
10:17
replacement once I figured out that I'd
10:19
received a faulty USB cable, which never
10:22
happens. But yeah, two USB cables to
10:25
connect this to your computer when most
10:27
brands would use one. It It is annoying.
10:30
Camera calibration in LightBurn can also
10:32
be a chore. And as I've shown on most
10:34
lasers now, the accuracy of these is
10:36
only really true directly below the
10:39
camera. And even here, it's only so so.
10:42
It's got limited resolution. The further
10:44
you move out to the corners or the more
10:46
height you add from the height you
10:48
calibrated it at, the more this will be
10:50
inaccurate. It's a guide at best, but at
10:53
least it has it. But even when set up,
10:55
I've once again noticed that everything
10:58
was shifted to the right of where it was
11:00
taking a capture. And here's the thing
11:02
that I think is the most daft thing
11:04
about this machine, and I had to contact
11:06
their support for this. You see those
11:08
marks on the base of the machine? This
11:10
is a space of 300x 210 mm. the exact
11:14
engraving area of the machine. But when
11:16
I was starting a job in the bottom left
11:18
corner, the machine would engrave
11:20
outside of these marks. So when I
11:22
contacted Orur for support, they told me
11:25
that the internal marks are for where we
11:28
place the calibration card only for
11:31
configuring the phone app, not to mark
11:34
the cutting area. Right,
11:37
that makes sense. Why Why couldn't they
11:41
be the same? Anyway, I ended up just
11:43
engraving the perimeter of the cutting
11:45
area into the base of the machine
11:47
myself, but if they're going to put four
11:50
marks of the exact size of the cutting
11:52
area in the machine, it it it does seem
11:55
daft that they don't put the four mark.
11:57
I'm not the only one thinking this,
11:59
right? Yeah, we'll move on. Laser
12:02
focusing. Both of the diode lasers have
12:04
a guide in the front corner which drops
12:06
down when you loosen the bolt for it.
12:08
The IR laser doesn't have this and you
12:11
have to put a little wedge under the
12:12
corner. Once you've got it at the right
12:14
height, so this thing's touching the
12:16
material, you use a secondary bolt to
12:18
actually hold the laser in place. Now,
12:22
one thing I need to mention is the way
12:24
to have connected the cables. There's
12:26
this thin cable going from the main
12:29
harness. It actually goes behind the
12:31
laser in between the laser and its
12:33
mounting plate. and that goes into the
12:35
flame sensor that's built onto that same
12:37
mechanism. The issue with this is that
12:40
it's not only awkward to connect and
12:42
disconnect when swapping the laser, but
12:44
it puts a a hell of a lot of tension on
12:46
this cable when trying to raise the
12:48
laser head. And this genuinely limits
12:50
the maximum height distance of the laser
12:53
to the bottom of the machine, and it
12:55
limits it to only a few cm. And then
12:58
when actually using the machine, I
13:00
noticed the home position was sometimes
13:02
quite inconsistent. After engraving a
13:05
Gaming Star mandala pattern, I rehomed
13:07
the laser and started a cut job on the
13:09
exact perimeter of where the previous
13:11
job was, only to find that it started
13:13
this job a few millime up from where it
13:16
should have. And subsequent tests of
13:18
engraving a rectangle after homing
13:20
showed that the position was
13:22
inconsistent, which is unfortunate
13:24
because one of the primary things a
13:26
laser should be able to achieve is
13:28
accurate pathing. I honestly think this
13:30
issue is due to how fast the head moves
13:32
sometimes to its home position and
13:35
sometimes bounces off when it hits the
13:37
stopper having traveled a decent
13:39
distance. So I had to double home
13:42
everything just to make sure I had a
13:44
chance of it working. And whilst we're
13:46
winging another thing that's going to
13:47
affect the accuracy, these riser bars
13:50
they give you. They are incredibly slidy
13:53
against the base of the machine. And any
13:55
jagged or fast movements or vibrations
13:57
from the laser head can actually cause
13:59
these to slide during operation. So, in
14:02
all honesty, a honeycomb plate would be
14:05
an accessory that you'd want to buy to
14:07
get the most out of this. Unfortunately
14:09
though, Auto doesn't seem to sell one
14:11
for this machine, and 300x 210 mm
14:15
doesn't seem to be a standard size you
14:17
can get elsewhere. Now, 300 by 300
14:19
should fit, but I'm going to cover my
14:21
ass here and re-emphasize the word
14:24
should. I I don't know because I don't
14:26
have one that small to try and wedge in
14:28
here. I'm sorry. But coming on to some
14:30
of the things I do like though, these
14:31
are the safety features. It's advertised
14:33
as a class one device, which infers it's
14:36
safe to use under normal operation
14:38
thanks to the enclosure and shielding,
14:40
and getting the certificates is
14:42
certainly encouraging, assuming we feel
14:45
confident enough to trust them. However,
14:47
the laser safety glasses they send you
14:49
are cheap and uncertified. It seems at
14:51
least I'm inferring that from the fact
14:53
that there's no standard markings on the
14:55
lenses. So, if you're new to lasers,
14:58
they can be dangerous. I've got a
15:00
separate video on laser safety, which
15:02
I'd encourage you to check out before
15:03
buying any laser machine. But coming
15:06
back, the flame sensors. These are good
15:08
and even pause jobs when it detected too
15:11
much burning happening. The emergency
15:13
stop is easily accessible and it works.
15:16
And if at any point during a job you
15:18
lift the lid, the laser itself will cut
15:21
off, but there is a small delay that I
15:23
noticed, like maybe less than a second,
15:26
but it is there. And the final element
15:28
to discuss is air extraction. The R2 has
15:31
a large vent on the back and comes with
15:33
a compression clamp and flexi hose, so
15:35
you can vent this to outside, assuming
15:37
you have the facility to do so. And
15:39
there is a small PC style fan in the
15:42
back to push smoke out of the machine.
15:44
But otherwise, if you can't vent
15:46
outside, they do have a smoke filter,
15:48
and they sent that to me. This is
15:49
something you can buy. This is fairly
15:51
standard when compared to models by
15:53
other brands, it is just a large box
15:55
with a fan in the bottom and a big
15:57
multimaterial filter between the inlet
15:59
and said fan. This comes with a large
16:01
plastic articulating hose, which is
16:04
nice. It's not cheap like a Flexi, but
16:06
also it can be limiting due to the fact
16:08
that you can't flex it as easy, so it
16:10
could take up more space at the rear.
16:12
But again, you get the flexi hose with
16:14
the printer. So, best of both worlds.
16:16
And this also has a wide head attachment
16:18
for more localized extraction if, for
16:21
example, you've got a galvo laser or
16:23
soldering iron. So, this is a handy
16:26
little extra to have. The unit is fine.
16:29
It's got solid rubber feet, handles each
16:31
side for carrying. It's got a power
16:32
socket and rocker switch on the back
16:34
with a secondary power and fan speed
16:36
dial on the front. But unlike some of
16:39
the units I've had, the air outlet is
16:41
through fins on the bottom of the unit
16:43
rather than a secondary hose outlet if
16:46
you wanted to use this as a pref filter.
16:48
I'd love to say it works amazing, but
16:50
when lasering wood, I'm still getting a
16:52
lot of burning smells, which is standard
16:55
with these, but I did notice it a little
16:57
more here than usual. But anyway, yeah,
17:00
conclusion time. So many companies use
17:03
the term beginner, but honestly, I see
17:05
this in 3D printing, too. beginner so
17:08
often means nothing more than price
17:10
because very few of the way this has
17:12
been designed make it really suited
17:16
towards a beginner. I'm sure this is
17:18
great for a beginner if you already know
17:20
what you're doing. And to be fair to it,
17:22
it does work. The homing is an issue,
17:25
but homing it two or three times before
17:27
starting a job will help positioning.
17:30
It's an annoyance, not a deal breakaker.
17:33
In order to make this great for a
17:34
beginner, there are things you need to
17:36
learn. This should be your tour's job.
17:39
They should be doing it. But creators
17:41
like Casual DIY have done it much
17:43
better. They've shown people how to get
17:45
it set up. And they've shown several
17:47
important steps that auto have missed.
17:50
And then you've got the software. The
17:52
phone app isn't great. And on iOS
17:54
especially, it's it's pretty awful. It
17:58
it's awful. So, that's not beginner
18:00
friendly either, unless you want to do
18:03
very, very, very basic things and get
18:06
angry at it. Now, Auto do do a good job
18:09
of providing a large sheet of base
18:11
settings for both Laser GBL and
18:13
LightBurn, but I still don't understand
18:15
why any brands aren't at least making
18:17
the profiles importable to those
18:20
applications so we can just load them in
18:22
and have our starting points right
18:23
there. It's only an afternoon's job for
18:26
one person at Autoour that would help
18:28
the entire beginner customer base
18:30
interested in their machines. But
18:33
overall, I've got to look at this for
18:35
the price against other machines. Its
18:37
features are very much on the budget end
18:40
of lasers. The build quality is decent,
18:44
but is also filled with so much of the
18:46
same elements that we see from so many
18:48
Eastern products. This is kind of where
18:50
3D printers were 5 years ago.
18:53
Unfortunately, this exists in a world
18:55
where some laser brands are on par with
18:58
or exceed the usability of 3D printers
19:01
now. But unfortunately, those lasers are
19:04
five to six times the price of this one.
19:07
So, I guess if you want to have a go at
19:09
lasering, cut your teeth, so to speak,
19:11
with something that won't break the bank
19:13
as much whilst you learn how to operate
19:16
such a machine, assuming you can accept
19:18
its drawbacks and just want to save some
19:21
money getting into it. Why not start
19:23
here? It works. It does the job. Anyway,
19:26
I want to say thanks for watching with a
19:28
huge thanks going to our members who are
19:30
on screen now. If you do consider
19:32
picking up one of these, please consider
19:34
using my affiliate links in the
19:35
description before you buy. That will
19:37
net me a commission at no cost to you.
19:40
And that is how I can afford to run the
19:42
channel. Members get early access,
19:44
Discord rolls, their name in likes here,
19:46
and exclusive videos. Until next time,
19:48
R2, you know better than to trust a
19:50
strange computer. Fhammer out.
19:57
[Music]