Creality K1 MAX vs QIDI X-MAX 3: Tech Review and XXL Comparison! 

What do you think about Creality's and QIDI's new line-up - worth buying?

I feel like the communities obsession with speed is unhelpful and just not interesting. People only care about "how fast" but are forgetting more and more about reliability, serviceability and most of all quality...

I bought a Qidi X-Max3 and, honestly, I don't have any of the problems you show. My bottom layers are flawless. The prints are fast and look beautiful. Your first layers look like the z-offset was set too high and there wasn't enough plastic being put down to fill the volume as a result. For $1,000, I just don't see how this printer can be beat, especially if you want to print large, functional parts.

dammn you have a Revision 1 Xmax3. those were taken off the market like 3 months ago. you should definetly ask qidi fo a new revision 3. it has hugely better build quality inductive probe and everything

I'm very pleased with my X-Max 3 and yes I prefer it's appearance to the K1. I used ABS, PC and other engineering filaments way more than the average consumer, so for me the max temps, build volume and heated chamber are important decisions. I believe it is the best in "consumer price range" printer for my needs. The only improvement would be if it was IDEX and/or bigger build volume.

Loving these absolute unbiased and true to nature reviews. No competition leads to monopoly and it's really a bruh moment for giants like these to enter competition with handicap printers...🗿

I own the X-Max 3 with inductivity sensor for bed leveling. It works perfect! I am using it for printing technical parts I am selling. The X-Max 3 is a workhorse, it prints nearly 24/7 for me, with maintenance between. To be honest, I love the X-Max 3. The quality of the printed objects is the best, compared with my other 6 printers. Would never replace it with K1 Max or Bambu Lab printer.

I just got my K1 Max and my prints never turned out like the ones shown. The machine is so easy to use and the prints are excellent.

I've got a Qidi Tech X-Max 3, it's a nice printer once you get the kinks ironed out. Also, I have one of the new issued versions. Bed leveling is done with an inductive probe not a bl touch. The firmware update has fixed many issues encountered in the initial release model. And customer service and after sales help has been outstanding. For the 899 dollars I spent on this printer, I am satisfied.

I agree. The X-Max3 looks like a cheap toy compared to the K1 Max, but If I were to chooses between the two, I would choose the QIDI since Creality's cloud seems sketchy at best. I would rather build a premium CoreXY as you would too.

Actually I bought the X-Max 3. As it uses unrestricted Klipper, for me it's the compromise between a ready2use out-of-the-box printer and a printer build from scratch (like a vCore 3.1 or a Voron), I realy like the sturdy mechanics. There is a reason, the X-Max 3 is so heavy. However, I already started to modify my X-Max 3: - I modified the door hinges to easaly remove the door for PLA-printing - I added a webcam - I replaced the PTFE-tube by a longer, transperent one and set the spoolholder on the side - I added a 3th MCU ( a creality silent board) to get an thermister input, modified the hotend to use a Revo Voron coldend and a RevoHF, Revo or RevoObXidian Nozzle. One of the next steps might be to add an automatic z-offset calibration. As the nozzle can not reach outside the printbed area, I have to add a servo to place/remove a reference switch to the bed. However I see no reson why it shouldn't work. But I realy would like e3d making coldends with integrated loadcell, as this would make live much more easy. One downside of the X-Max 3: Filament tip on unload is a mess. If you do not pull the filament on unload, it might get stuck in the printhead. Actually this is the reason I changed to a Revo hotend. While with RevoHF same problem occurs, with Revo Standard or ObXedian I get a very nice filament tip. Which certainly helps to add an ERCF.

An awesome video - as always! Disappointed that neither printer got the 247 seal of approval though🙁The X1 of course would be nice, but I would really like to be able to print 300*300*300 mm3 or bigger.

Hi dear! I have been using the K1 max for about 1 week on regular software from Creality, thus I can not say that it is a perfect machine. Anyway, I am a Russian speaker user and we have already cracked this software to the clean and nice Klipper. After you install clean Klipper this machine becomes much better, I would say that it is 2 different machines! You have to try it before recommending or not recommending to buy it. Also, I have to note that 900 USD is not a fair price, since you may buy it for less than 800 bucks (coupons, etc.) I do not protect any of the companies, and I will not write either their names but P1S also may have a big problem with the plate, seems like P1S was created from out-sorted parts from X1C...

I actually think the xmax3 makes sense for the price since you get the larger machine and heated chamber

If Creality actually used the PID heatbed control on their butchered and locked-down Klipper version the layers probably wouldn't look so bad lol. But yeah a great take on these two machines with no BS. Creality and QIDI have a long way till they can catch up to Bambu Lab's standards if that ever comes. Hopefully, it does as more fierce competition is always better for consumers. :)

Hey thanks for the review. I recently picked up an X1C and it's been an interesting experience for me. Getting spoiled to some of the out of the box features, like perfect first layers and no nonsense printing has me frustrated at my Prusa machines, but there's a 5-6 year tech gap there.... I need to remember. Nevertheless it looks like these 2 printers would be moving away from current, not forward. Thanks for taking the time to make this insightful review.

This is the kind of detailed, thorough, nonbiased review that we need more of on RU-vid. Kudos to you 247.

After you put full fat klipper on the k1-max and fix a few of the g-code macros, the quality actually improves quite a bit. Its actually very reliable since they unlocked the root account.

I just ordered X-MAX3, so let's see how it will work out. Usually in all reviews the xmax had better quality then k1 max, just everyone "hate" the manual Z-offset, which I don't mind at all. I actually like to have ability to edit it manually. Also BL touch on the newer models is replaced by the inductive probe, so I hope they did such probe that doesn't care about heated enclosure ? Also its missing the camera, but they have now option to buy one. Well, lets see.

Dude, u r killin it!!! Keep up the truly epic and wildly valuable work, so much love and respect from America. DT

My K1Max is operating since August 2023 without any issues which weren't caused by myself.

I’d love to see a standard K1 video, especially if you try to get the most out of it. Like change the nozzle to a CHT, use a better slicer, calibrate the pressure advance, and tweak the settings. The smaller size of the K1 should let allow to go faster with less ringing as well. However, I do recommend you remove the compliance springs for the upper linear rod as they either cause binding or create vibration that messes with the input shaper calibration (I think binding is the problem).

Excellent dual review. Mediocre first-generations in both cases. Maybe the 2nd iterations will be better? On paper the Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro looks interesting for a smaller class of printer (220mm cubed volume). Direct nozzle bed probing (loadcells in bed), standard Klipper, no online requirements, and a circulating chamber filter (which I believe is the right way to do it, instead of single-pass with venting in to the room). I hope you get a chance to test that one too.

After waiting minths for the K1 Max to release and then seeing the poor reviews I then studied building a Voron, however once the uodated X-Max3 reviews started coming i took the gamble. Z Offset shouldn't drift and i set and forget. Qidi superb support deserves a mention. You can request an inductive sensor and tbey will send it FOC. Sure the next generation mught be abother level up but i want to print this year and print big and hot.

Everyone hates cheap plastic but exclusively prints cheap plastics on their printers 😂😂😂

I'm own k1 max it's awesome! I don't want to know how you did such bad printing on it and who pays you for that.

RU-vid’s foremost authority on fast 3D printing has spoken👨‍⚖️ There is no other opinion on printer reviews I trust more than that of 247printing

And there's Flashforge Creator 4, that printed literal ton of ABS and PACF. One of the first things I did with it: I removed bed sensor. True industrial printer. But no one reasonable would expect "industrial printer" for under 1K EUR (one can argue that 10k EUR printers are still far fr😊o "industrial", level). BTW The only printers that I use with their bed sensors are Prusa machines.

I bought Bambu units this time last year. With the exception of one out of 11 units had a fan failure, yet still works...I will say the 3 creality k1 max units I purchased...1 out of 3 worked out of the box. I haven't gotten into bed level testing and so on. Shipping from china is clearly lacking at the moment...how the 3rd unit from Amazon showed up with perfectly straight and un-bent triple screws holding the plate down while the other ones look like a car backed into them is beyond me, since the source is the same. One of my units failed from the get-go where it clogged halfway through the benchy print (this is with the newest revision of extruder, software etc, I got them 2 weeks ago)...it also had slightly bent screws that held the print bed down. the second unit (direct from creality, not amazon) showed up with screws that looked like they were put through a series of torture tossing contests...that actually printed a benchy while taking a dump on itself with movement where the entire machine seemed to shiver while making an incredible noise and actually shaking a solid (floor bolted) table. the third unit was amazon, not that im a fan by any means of amazon. Prints out of the box, triple set screws for build plate were perfect...actually worked out of box flawlessly. I assume there's a special shipping channel for amazon as basically all chinese companies seem to still have them (i buy a lot on alibaba and whatnot for cameras, lasers, nerdy stuff)...many of them offer "import tax free" confidently. Anywho...going to test the hell out of the one working unit out of the 3 tomorrow. I bought 3 of the microswiss hotends to escape the random gap between heat break and nozzle issue that I'm hoping the first unit suffered from. Haven't tested the build plate that people regularly complain about yet. Novel for some, I type fast. Get over it.

QIDI Tech's closest comparison printer to the Creality K1 Max is the QIDI X-Plus 3 which is considerably cheaper than both printers reviewed here.

Nice video. I bought my xmax 3 on August 27th. Set it all up and started printing in September. A few prints in pla came out decent so I switched to using ASA, the reason I bought it. For some reason after that the nozzle decided to bury itself into the build plates. I would reset everything, recalibrate get a good print then, it would happen again. Went through both double sided pei bed sheets. Contacted support several times, they sent a couple build plates smooth/textured, a new tool head, figured out a line in the printer.cfg was populating that shouldn't have been so we fixed that. Then it happened again, sent me a new emmc, replaced that and so far things are working pretty good. Support has actually been pretty good. Do I regret buying the XMax 3? Yeah I do. I wanted something that just worked but instead I got a month and a half of frustration and troubleshooting. I actually started using my S1 Pro and CR10 v3 again during this time and realized they are still pretty damned good lol, just have to watch that bed leveling.

Can't believe you recomend a closed-source bambulab printer over an open-source K1 max. The Voron kit is more expensive than any of these printers if you count the time to put it together, doesn't matter if you enjoy the build or not, it's still time.

Excellent review, Albert. I agree with you on the high-speed filament line; I'd rather one line of filament which works on high-speed and regular printers alike. I am really looking forward to the larger X1C that will be coming in 2024 (according to Stefan's interview with Dr. Tao).

finally an honest review, this is much appreciated by a private individual who has to make an investment. Thank you also because these printers should be ready to use, it makes no sense to take them and use them as a basis by modifying them. at this point you build a ratrig from 0

Reading through the comments here is very interesting. I'm not currently looking for a printer, so this is just me looking for now. But there is absolutely no consensus in the comments on either printer. Both has received both love and hate. Yes in some cases Hate! There are people having set up print farms with the K1 MAX and are over all very happy with their performance, while others have nothing but scorn for everything from construction and materials to print quality and speed. Now I give the guys with print farm more weight when reading posts as they are the ones that will be taking a huge hit if there's a problem with the particular printer model. I can't remember seeing anyone claiming to have a print farm with the X-MAX 3 thought. But that might just be me missing some posts. All in all I would not feel safe investing in either right now. But then I'm not really looking either. But it's interesting to see how Bambu Lab has moved the goal posts. Two years ago either of these would have been marvelous printers...

I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and tinkering with a printer. It's all part of the 3D printing adventure.

There is no reason buying either of those when a substantially better P1S costs less

I have both machines, the Qidi is a much better printer. I print alot of large parts with ASA, ABS, PC, PA cf/gf variants and the quality is fantastic...its not Bambu quality but its close. The K1 Max has been a thorn in my side since day one, quality control issues, loose bolts/nuts/screws, unbalanced fans, Im finally at a pint where it prints well. I have had to put spacers under the bed to go from a 1.3 variance to a .4 so now my first layers are alot better. Then I had to root it and do proper input shaper...this was before Creality released the root info, but ringing and ghosting is better, then I printed out D3vil design's XY joints (with the QIDI using their 25% ABS G/F and it is light and strong stuff) I added toothed idlers and that has reduced vfa ALOT, its not perfect but now my prints are usable. Before all this it was not usable qualiy...the K1 Max still isnt capible of going over 3000mm/s2 acceleration or you see bad ringing, the X Max 3 is at 7000/5000mm/s2 and input shaper shows I could run 8700mm/s2 if I wanted to but Im happy where its at now. Doing the z off set is not a big deal at all for me but does feel out dated after owning a few Bambu machines. I use Orca Slicer on both the K1 and the Qidi. Qidi is doing pre orders for a chamber cam. I cant get a good viewing angle with the cams I have on hand so I ordered it. A extra 40usd for a cam doesnt seem so bad after all I had to do to get the K1 Max to print well. I own a few Bambu printers and if anyone that reads this has one too then you understand nothing come close to the whole eco system of the Bambu, the slicer, AMS, ease of use, print quaity, mobile app, etc.....list goes on. Im not lying when I say print quality is close to the Bambu...id say 1-10 compared to the Bambu the Qidi is a 8/10 and the K1 Max is a 5/10 right out of the box, the LIDAR is useless I have taken it off and added the D3vil Burner cover with the Knomi

Those two models are little underwhelming, but I'll don't choose Bambu in near future. I can't trust their suspicious cloud and their backgrounds-dji, the company banned by us government as security issues.

Absolutely honest review, been tempted to buy the Xmax3 for the high Temps and volume but, hell nah

I agree both feel unfinished. The K1 max even worse than the X3 max. Just adding nozzle probing to the K1 max would pull me over though. The Bambu lab I don't want to use because of their closed source. With the local network option they are already better than cloud only, maybe this might pull me to the P1S. Though no heated chamber might still hold me off. I currently use a Creality CR6 with a heated chamber and running ABS at 60 C gives so much stronger parts that I don't want to step back to 45~50 with just a passive chamber.

Not sure why to have a touch probe. All the latest xmax ship with a magnetic probe

gotta say that you have really high standards, but considering the quality possible through Bamboo, they're justified. i agree with you 100% that its best to wait for them to either release a better quality version or newer models with better build quality. OR who knows? maybe bambu labs would surprise us and release a printer model that would have all the add-ons of both printers.

You lost all credibility when this turned into the next Bambu Labs commercial at the end. I know you get your printers for free, so you won't care if it turns into a brick when Bambu inevitably stops software support on it in s few years. And you will have 6 new printers to replace it by the time Bambu labs stops providing their proprietary parts in a few years time. You should simply never promote any brand that is trying to move the 3D printing industry out of the open source realm. And Bambu Labs is a dirty leech when it comes to Open Source. Using where it can but never giving back.

Its interesting to see how the 3D printing industry is evolving with larger and faster machines. These comparisons shed light on the industrys progress.

Great review Albert. I had the chance to play with both of them and I was surprise on their quality.. though like you said it wont compete with a good DiY , i think they still are good goto machine for normal printing

Quality over speed, always. Thanks for the thorough comparison.

this is not cubic millimeters... the printable volume is in cubic millimeters not the 3 dimensions of the build volume...

I am happy with my fairly slow V400. It has been running 247 since january of this year. It messed up only two parts. Prints super well with the cheapest PETG I can find.

I’m really happy with my K1. Haven’t had a lot of time for tuning but it’s producing better quality than what was shown here. Wouldn’t go for the max. I want to build a voron and use the k1 to print it!

Thanks for reviewing both printers as they seem to be the current "big" printers. After purchasing a K1 Max, with $190 in Amazon discounts, I was having second thoughts after hearing about the X-Max 3. I would agree with your review, the LiDAR and AI features are lacking. I was able to root the K1 and use fluidd to improve the quality, however, that's not really fair for the "out of the box" review. As for the QIDI, well, it's big and ugly and a cost a bit more. Waiting for the next "big" thing, is probably the correct advise for the viewers.

FIRST HONEST REVIEW!!! THANK YOU!!!! Wish I had found this before wasting money on the QIDI! Time to just build a Voron.

Finally someone said, what i was thinking the whole time :) nice and honest review! I totally share your opinion.

You can change the Nozzle from the X Max 3 and X Plus 3 only. Needs a few seconds to change. You dont have the newest Hotend! My xPlus 3 has a bed tolerance of 0.1033mm. no wonder given the thickness. So I don't care if it takes me a little longer to warm up. But he hast an inductive Probe.

the only advantage i see is that the qidi has the heated chamber ,so if your going to print alot of nylon and cf its going to help. i wouldnt even consider the k1 right now not just becuase i own a p1s but because i have seen more neg reviews then positive . Plus my experience with bambu and the whole experience withe ecosystem has been fantastic so being brand new to 3d printing

the reviews u only can trust

I'd like to like them, but...

I ordered the X-Max 3 today, since it was on sale for 899€ and I would like to upgrade my old CR10S Pro V2 and still have large-ish build volume (reason why I didn't go with P1S). We will see how well will it print once it gets here, but I must agree that BL-Touch for bed leveling and no automatic z-offset surprised me.

Not sure what you did here. But I own the K1 Max and it prints excellently with PLA+ and PETG+ and looks nothing like whatever you did to get the results you got in this video...

Thx for this sidie by side comparison. Was the Qidi you tested the first iteration or the new relaunched one with the fixes?

not recommended because bamboo lab sponsors you

I love my K1 Max. I am new to filament printing and have been getting flawless prints. Flawless ASA prints.Could not recommend it more.

Sehr gute Gegenüberstellung der Drucker. Ich selbst habe einen normalen k1 und kann die erwähnten Probleme bestätigen. Allerdings läuft mittlerweile mainsail und der orca slicer was viele Möglichkeiten zur Verbesserung bietet. Die Hardware beim k1 ist meiner Meinung nach nicht das Problem.

*I like the QIDI but I like your advice. I will wait 6 more months and I need time to learn the Cad Software anyhow.*

I just purchased this week the K1 Max and am having 0 issues that you have described with the K1 Max. Although I’m on the newest firmware, you should return to the K1 Max with the updated firmware. And this seriously sounds like you are shilling for Bambu, I usually subscribe to people but yeah I don’t subscribe to Shill channels.

I’m surprised! My XMAX3 was amazing. Like Bambu level good. Until I started swapping out parts to non official ones. Then I had NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. I assumed it was my fault for swapping parts out but maybe not… but yeah also the first layers are an issue. thanks for the review.

I hope Flashforge releases a larger version of their Adventurer 5M Pro and opens it up to use other slicers. I think it would be a truly great addition to the market. If they could keep it under $800 or especially $700 I think it would get a lot of attention.

When looking for a large volume printer, for abs/asa-filaments mainly, this review is sad to watch, many shortcomings on these printers. But, as the alternative is to buy one with out the enclosure, and then build a cabinet around the machine yourself, I think the X-Max 3 takes a slight lead of these options.

Im pleasantly surprised by what Ive seen about the K1 Max in the video, though you dont recommend it lol. It might be just the upgrade Ive been looking for in my 3D printing journey. Thank you for your honest review

I bought the K1 Max a couple of months ago and must say I had a lot of troubles: Started with the motherboard having an issue causing the head to hit the sides of the printer. Then after getting a replacement motherboard, the filament kept getting stuck in the cooling block before the nozzle. After I drilled out the hole in the cooling block to make it bigger, the filament got stuck inside the extruder, after the gears. The hole there is simply too small, combined with sharp edges and retraction, it cuts into the filament and getting it stuck. My bed was not level at all, with a 1.5mm lean to the back. I had to manually level the bed by causing the rear screw to skip a few steps in the belt. After after 3 hours, i got the corners to be more or less level. Still 0.5mm of deviation, this time sticking up in the middle. You didnt talk about removing the nozzle but it is a realy pain, if you have an issue you often find yourself removing 18 screws of different sizes and lengths. I still have problems with first layers and underextrusion. I only get to 23mm3 with PLA and that limits the printing speed forna lotnfo scenarios. Moving to a 0.6 or 0.8mm nozzle doesn't make much sense as you are even more flow limited, resulting in printing speeds which are almost equal to 0.4mm. Creality print really sucks, crashes constantly. I am using Orca Slicer which is much better. I would definitely not recommend this printer to a newbie. I can be good value for money if you need very large prints but it requires a lot of tinkering. It would be nice if you get to install the open source version of the firmware and get the x and y axis to actually calibrate for input shaping (I believe it only calibrates the x axis now and copied the cslues ti the y axis). Maybe show how you are limited by extrusion rate and how you could improve it by doing some upgrades.

Been eyeballing it as a potential Polycarbonate printer, looks like it's going to be a handful though.

Actually there are 3 maijor issues with the X-Max 3: - The z-Bearings have a quite bad quality. I changed them to Mitsumi bearings and the layer stacking improved. - Also you should deactivate z-hopping. This also improves layerstacking. - Preheat the bed and wait at last 5 minutes before probing the bed. This results in much better first layer. The thermistor is on the underside of the bed, but for leveling the top side matters. They have even a sticker inside the printer telling you to preheat and give the bed time to get fully heated. However, no waiting command in the start g-code...

I have a K1 Max (which I got because I needed a printer for work relatively short term and the K1 Max ticked the most boxes) for a bit now, and I'm not fully satisfied yet. The layer stacking is my biggest gripe, although it doesn't happen at every print. Some prints actually look pretty good. The first layer consistency is another point I want to improve in the near future. And the proprietary and crippled Klipper (even with root access) is annyoing, too. It is surprisingly reliable, though. I've only had one print come lose, and only one pritn warp up, but both were mostly my mistakes made in the slicer. I don't mind tinkering with it and trying to improve as many negatives as I can, but I understand that this shouldn't be necessary with a machine like this. Overall I would not 100% recommend it. Though there are not many alternatives if you don't want to use Bambu printers with the cloud, but also don't have the time to build a Voron or alternative.

I like the design of both. The K1 Max is very sleek and blends in well with existing furniture. The X-Max 3 certainly stands out with its rugged look but fits right in with other tools in a workshop. I will say I prefer the design of the K1 Max though. It's a much more manageable size which fits better in a small apartment and without looking out of place.

Tatsächlich hat der X-Max-3 einen 64Bit MB und keinen 32Bit. Sie benötigen einen älteren X-Max-3, die Upgrades, einen neuen induktiven Sensor, einen Weichmagneten und einen neuen Lüfter vorne und hinten am HotEnd. Ich hatte noch nie ein Schaltproblem.

After watching this review, Im leaning towards the K1 Max. It looks like it has the potential to take my 3D printing projects to the next level

I think the question is not so much if your fast printer needs to be big. Rather, it's if you need a big printer then it must be fast. Fast benchys are nice but speed becomes much important as the print size goes up, because then you are saving hours as opposed to minutes. Thanks for the review, really helpful.

Thanks you for your smart video! I will choice p1s following your recommendation 😁👌👍

I got a K1 for $379 yesterday. I think it's going back in the box and being returned tomorrow. In honesty it feels like and a Core XY made from an Ender 3 with a nice frame and nice screen. The belts look too small, theres ringing and VFA everywhere. My P1S was over double but... It feels like it's a quality machine. The K1 doesn't.

At this point I think that these are nice platforms to start with. Get away of the bloated app, make your own profiles, install your own tuned Klipper and add a few structural changes. AND be careful of the factory warped beds.

CREALITY ALWAYS FALLS SHORT. BOTTOM LINE.

The extra bed temp and chamber temp could be useful for pc, im experimenting with pc-ptfe on my voron and im printing that with 280 on the hotend and 120c on the bed to keep warping to a minimum

I'm with you on the recommendation. And thank you. But i feel QIDI has the edge to build from. The build platform's even heat comes from being much thicker... but more slow to get there. Ok, i'm willing to lose time if my ASA/Co-polymer prints don't warp. I see newer replies that an newer bed leveling system is available, can anyone from QIDI speak here? If so, i would buy. Thank you.

I want to see more of Polymakers new fiberon CF pps printed. The line is supposed to be released in 10 days. My interest in the CF pps is for instruments. It seems to have a ring it is so rigid so my prediction is that it will be a perfect material to make 3d printed harps, music boxes, and various percusive instruments. To be able to print CF pps is the only reason i'd want the 350 degree max printing temperature.

Sucks that so many people had a problem with that line of Qidi printers. I've had more problems with the X-Plus 3 than any other printer I've used - got a full refund and sourced the newest version motherboard from somewhere else (they offered to sell me one for a good price but I was busy and waited months) but it's still my favorite printer. It has every feature I want except being bigger but it's given me some of the easiest and best prints I've ever had. I've got the version before they even put the metal bar at the bottom and upgraded some other things and it has the most consistent first layer of any printer I own including the X1C - even with the chamber heater running off and on. Currently 90% into a PP-GF30 10 hour print and it's looking perfect.

At comparative with bamboo lap is not going to work because the bed size sorry but i didn't like this review you was not feared to the printer Thanks you 😮

14:00 I don't need PLA at all... high-speed or not. I'd optimise the material choice for the application any day, which means PLA does not really have a place (not even for toys - you'd have to tell your kid to avoid leaving them in sunlight). It may have a use as a learning material... perhaps. For the functional materials, on the other hand, flow improving formulas are and extra and that just depends of the price. If low enough I'd use them all the time, if significant - maybe on very large/long prints.

I can't see any reason to move from my v-core3.

Hi, did you use the creality integrated version of input shaper on the k1 max? It seems that they are locking down some input shaper options and use the same resonance frequency for the x and y axis. Do the prints look as muddy, if you use the unlocked firmware and the standard input shaper from klipper?

I've wasted the last day trying to get a QIDI X-PLUS 3 to work.... basically the little brother of the X-MAX 3. I went from having to constantly re-adjust the Z-Axis and prints not sticking..... to my BL Touch sensor failing to work at all. Just do yourself a favor and pass on the Qidi printers until they figure out how to do the Z-Offset automatically.

I don’t care about HS filaments at all. I make Porto type mechanical parts, I need quality, layer adhesion and strength, if I can get speed great I’m all about it but I won’t sacrifice any of the other aspects for speed, I’d rather go slow and get a strong good quality part than fast…, don’t get me wrong I want a fast printer, but speed that detracts from the quality of the print has no interest to me, and I ASSUME the augmented HS filament won’t have the same properties normal PLA+’s like polymakers do. As for what materials I want to print the most, CF11&12, PLA+ and ABS.

What camera are you using in the video for the Qidi? Also, did the camera come with the mount, as it appears to fix very nicely. Sending back my Neptune 4 max. Definitely not a winner but looking at the Qidi because of the pros out weigh the cons for me personally. Thank you for the review and time put in.

The K1Max is the worst printing experience I have ever used. I had to replace the nozzle with the one that came with it. I disassembled it to the point where you disconnect the cables from the board. The pins were COVERED in glue. I tried to pull it apart as the instructions said to do. This was impossible and tore the wires. I tried to cut away the glue and it tore the plastic parts of the board. Ended up slicing my finger and bleeding all over the board.

As a creator, the K1 was out for me after seeing the creality cloud ip theft debacle. I was looking hopefully at the X-Max, but at this price point in 2023, the manual z offset card is just not okay. It's something that drives me nuts with my existing bed slinger and if I'm going to upgrade I don't want that to still be a thing in a new machine. Bambu's closed environment and obfuscation was already not appealing to me, and this latest thing of having groups of models from a creator on their website without the creator's permission is unacceptable regardless of whether they were scraped or user uploaded. Though it's more volume than I probably need, I'm hoping the Magneto X can do better than these without all the baggage.

Is the K1 better? Because the K1 has none of those issues you are having on your K1 Max, your prints look like #%#%. Also, I'm not a bot, my K1 just works well. But I never have activated it on the Cloud and I use it with Mainsail, so idk. Kinda sounds like you just love the Bambu, or they paid you a lot to say it's better.

You obviously know a lot more about 3d printing than I do, but my results are entirely different. I'm no fanboy of any brand (I have a lot of different printers and don't like "console wars"), but the K1 printed a lot better for me than it did for you, including with TPU that looks perfect.

Could a similar nozzle for regular prints on the K1 counter the quality advantage of the Qidi?

I do not find the Qidi to be very impressive looking. It looks...well I hate to say it...cheap. Too much plastic. Even if plastic must be used, can it be done in a less bulbous manner? The Creality looks slick. It looks industrial but "kind".

I have no Problems with Frist layers on my xmax 3. The bltouch in some Machines could be the problem. Call Qidi Support. Within ohne Week they will send you the new probe. They have changed from bltouch to a new Sensor Type.

I can assure you my K1 Max did not come in that type of packaging and was shattered into smithereens without any outside damaging.