UGEE Funbox 3D Printer Review: Is It Really Easy Enough for Kids?

I received the UGEE Funbox 3D Printer for free in exchange for an honest review. This post also contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you. All opinions and experiences shared here are my own.

Several years ago, I bought my husband a 3D printer for Christmas. I thought it was going to be so much fun.

It wasn't.

It wasn't an expensive printer, and I'm sure part of the problem was that we didn't really know what we were doing, but we could never get the thing leveled correctly. We'd finally get a print going, watch it work for hours, and then somewhere around 90% finished, something would shift. The rest of the print would end up completely out of place.

We never successfully printed anything. Eventually, we gave up, and that printer has been collecting dust in our garage ever since.

So when UGEE contacted me and asked if I'd like to try their Funbox 3D Printer for Kids, I was intrigued, but also pretty skeptical. A 3D printer that's easy enough for a kid to use? After my first experience with 3D printing, that was pretty hard to imagine.

Turns out, 3D printing has come a LONG way.

After putting it through its paces for several days, here's my honest UGEE Funbox 3D Printer review, including what I loved, what I didn't, and what I think parents should know before buying one.

Setting Up the UGEE Funbox

The difference started as soon as I took the Funbox out of the box. There was almost nothing to set up. I put the magnetic printing plate inside the machine, attached the little tube/filament holder in the back, plugged it in, and loaded the filament.That's basically it.

No leveling!

After our experience with our old printer, I can't tell you how happy that made me.

I did struggle a little with loading the filament the first time. The lever you have to squeeze is pretty tight, and having an extra set of hands was helpful while I figured out what I was doing. It got easier every time, and by the third time, it was so easy that a kid could do it. The lever just needed to loosen up a little bit.

My one complaint about setup

The instruction booklet included with the printer is tiny and pretty basic. I definitely wanted more instructions. The funny thing is that the simple instructions actually worked. I just didn't trust that it could really be that simple!

I eventually found UGEE's online quick-start guide with videos, and once I started using the U Fun app, I discovered that instructions and video demonstrations are built right into the process. If you forget what to do, the app can actually show you.

I would still love to see a more detailed getting-started guide included in the box, especially since the Funbox is such a beginner-friendly 3D printer for families who may have never used one before.

Printing Couldn't Be Much Easier

Once the printer was connected to Wi-Fi, which the app walked me through step by step, I downloaded the U Fun app and started browsing. And browsing. And browsing. There are SO many things to print.

I kept scrolling through thumbnail after thumbnail, favoriting things I wanted to try. I never even reached the end. My favorites list is already ridiculously long.

For my first print, I chose a cute little porcupine figurine. All I had to do was choose the project, press Print, follow a couple of prompts in the app, and the printer took it from there. That's it. You can also see the estimated printing time before you start, which I really appreciate.

My next project was an infinity fidget toy that looks a little like a square Slinky. It was so much fun to play with that one of the kids helping me make my video took it home. --Don't worry. I made another one for myself!

Honestly, I'm not sure fidget toys are just for kids. My adult kids and I like them too, and I've already found a bunch more I want to print.

The print area isn't huge, so this isn't a printer for making giant projects. That hasn't felt very limiting to me, though. Models can be scaled down in the app to fit the print bed, and for the toys, fidgets, and other projects I've wanted to make so far, the size has been plenty.

Once I got started, I had a hard time stopping. I ran the Funbox almost nonstop for the first three days, trying one project after another. Even with all that use, I didn't notice any decline in quality. Everything continued to come out just as cleanly as my first project.

You Can Actually Watch It Print From Your Phone

Watching a 3D printer work is surprisingly entertaining. The Funbox has an enclosed printing area with a clear door, so kids can watch their creation slowly appear through the window. But there's an even cooler option. There's a camera inside the printer, so you can watch the print from above right in the app.

I found myself checking it just because it was fun to watch. When the print is finished, there's a video option. It shows a time-lapse version of the process. It's pretty cool!

Then I Accidentally Put the Funbox to the Test

This was definitely not an intentional product test.

After filming some video, I forgot that the Funbox was still printing. I picked up the entire printer and swung it over to the side so I could pull the tablecloth out from underneath it.

My husband gasped.

"No! Don't move it! It's printing!"

Oops. With our old printer, even a little bump could mess everything up. I was sure I'd just ruined the print.

I set the Funbox back down on the counter and waited for the disaster. Nothing happened. It just kept printing. The project came out perfectly.

I'm certainly not recommending that you pick up your 3D printer and move it around while it's running, but that accidental experiment made a pretty big impression on both of us.

Is the Funbox Really a 3D Printer Kids Can Use by Themselves?

This was one of my biggest questions. After watching kids actually use it, my answer is yes!

The kids I had helping with my video had a great time scrolling through all the designs, choosing what they wanted, and starting their prints. They really could do it themselves.

After my first time changing the filament, I decided that part should be done by an adult, but every time I changed it, it got easier and easier. I think an 8+ kid could definitely learn to do it.

And choosing a project and printing it? Easy.

That's probably the biggest difference between this printer and the one sitting in my garage. The Funbox doesn't feel like a complicated piece of equipment that happens to make toys. It feels like a creative tool kids can actually use. It makes 3D printing for kids feel surprisingly accessible.

The AI Features Are Where Things Get Really Interesting

As fun as it is to choose from the huge library of ready-to-print designs, I was especially interested in the tools that let kids make something of their own.

I decided to test the AI Craft feature with about the simplest drawing imaginable. I drew a fish. Nothing fancy. Just a quick little fish doodle in the app. Then I asked the AI to turn it into a 3D image.

And it did!

Seeing my quick drawing transformed into something I could actually send to the printer was pretty amazing. I added a little more detail to my drawing, generated a new version, turned that version into a printable 3D model, resized it, and sent my fish to the printer.

This is probably my favorite part of the Funbox concept. Kids aren't limited to scrolling through a library and consuming someone else's ideas. They can start with an idea of their own and turn it into something they can actually hold.

That's a kind of screen time I can get behind.

The AI Isn't Perfect

This was also the part of the app where I ran into the biggest learning curve. My original fish looked great from one side, but I realized that it didn't have the same details, including the eye and fin, on the other side.

I tried asking the AI to add them. Instead, it made me a completely different fish. So I tried again. Another fish.

At that point, I contacted UGEE's technical support. They were very helpful and showed me where I could save my generated model and edit it manually rather than asking the AI to keep regenerating it.

Unfortunately, I found the model-editing tools pretty difficult to use on my phone. Eventually I decided my slightly imperfect fish was good enough and printed him anyway.

I actually think this is important to know before buying the Funbox. Creating something with the AI was incredibly easy. Fine-tuning the resulting 3D model was not nearly as intuitive.

There's definitely more for me to learn there.

And honestly, I think that's part of what makes the Funbox more than just a toy printer. A younger or brand-new user can have a blast simply choosing ready-made toys and pressing Print. As they get more comfortable, they can start customizing models, experimenting with the AI tools, and eventually learning to design things completely on their own. I've already found myself wanting to learn how to create my own 3D models and STL files so I can print exactly what I have in mind.

In other words, it's easy enough to be fun on day one, but there's plenty more to learn when you're ready for it.

A Note About the AI Coins

The AI tools use coins, and this is another thing I didn't completely understand when I first started experimenting.

My fish adventure went something like this:

I spent 5 coins to generate the first image from my drawing. Then I changed my drawing and spent another 5 to generate the new image. Creating the printable 3D model cost another 5.

Later, each attempt to have the AI fix my fish cost another 5 coins. Since one of the completely different fish designs it generated was actually pretty cute, I eventually spent another 5 coins to turn that one into a model I could print later.

Those coins disappeared faster than I expected!

[BEFORE PUBLISHING: Confirm how many free coins new users receive, whether/how users receive additional free coins, and current pricing for additional coins.]

The good news is that once a model has been created, you don't necessarily need AI to change it. There are manual editing tools available. I just need more practice with them.

You Can Create Custom Characters Too

Another tool I've started experimenting with -- AI MiniMe -- lets kids mix and match different pieces to design their own character. You can choose different hair, clothing, shoes and other features, then print the pieces and assemble your custom figure.

This could be a lot of fun, especially for kids who like designing characters. There is one important thing you should know, though.

The Funbox Only Prints One Color at a Time

This is probably the feature I most wish were different. The Funbox is a single-color printer. There's nothing wrong with that. I knew that ahead of time, but I still wish it could print multi-color prints.

The UGEE Funbox is made to print one color at a time. There are a few options to add more color. You can use a multicolor filament (like the rainbow filament in UGEE's filament pack), you can print separate pieces of projects in different colors and assemble them afterward, or you can paint your finished models.

You're not going to choose a multicolored character in the app and have it come out of the printer looking exactly like the colorful picture on the screen. But, if you think about it, this printer is for kids. Letting them paint their finished design to add details just makes it more fun.

Is the UGEE Funbox Worth It?

YES!!! For me, the most impressive thing about the Funbox isn't actually the AI. It's that it works. That probably sounds like a pretty low bar until you've owned a 3D printer that you couldn't convince to successfully print anything.

I didn't have to put it together.

I didn't level a print bed.

I didn't spend hours figuring out complicated software.

I didn't have to learn how to prepare 3D files before I could make something.

I plugged it in, connected the app, chose something, and pressed Print.

And when I accidentally picked up the printer in the middle of a print, it didn't even care.

That's a far cry from my first experience with a 3D printer.

If you're looking for an easy 3D printer for kids (or technology-challenged adults!), the UGEE Funbox is a great choice. Kids can start out printing toys and fidgets on day one, then grow into customizing models, experimenting with AI, and eventually creating designs of their own. And bonus, Mom and Dad don't have to become 3D-printing experts first.

Judging by the very long list of projects I've already saved, we're going to be printing around here for quite a while.