QIDI Q1 PRO vs FLASHFORGE A5M PRO compared to P1S (3D Print Quality Review) 

IMPORTANT! (CORRECTIONS and MORE INFO) - Spiral Z-hops work on QIDI Q1, but you will have to deal with constant "// Unknown command: "G17"" error messages in the terminal. - The 3DBenchy print on the RIGHT SIDE is from P1S and not from A5M PRO (text error). - With Orca Slicer 2.0 you can directly upload and view the webcam of your 5M PRO. Press on a little Wi-Fi icon next to the name of your printer and configure it. For example: Host Type: Flashforge Hostname, IP or URL: 192.168.0.185 (your local IP address of the printer) Device UI: 192.168.0.185:8080/?action=stream (replace with your IP of the printer) For the webcam to show video feed in the Device section of Orca Slicer make sure you have enabled the Webcam in the touchscreen menu settings.

Very nice review! Thanks for this! I made a short recap of the results as I read them: Heatbed - heat to 60 ºC Q1 Pro: - 4 minutes heatup - 6 ºC variance - 120 ºC max / 300W A5M Pro - 4 minutes heatup - 2 ºC variance - 110 ºC max / 250W P1S - 3 minutes heatup - 6 ºC variance - 100 ºC max / 1000W ------------------------------ Chamber heater Q1 Pro: - Separate 300W heater A5M Pro - No heater P1S - Aux fan for extra heating with help from powerful bed heating ------------------------------ True flowrate Q1 PRo: - 30mm melt zone - 350 ºC max - 19mm copper nozzle, hardened steel tip - 20 mm3/s with 3.4% under extrusion A5M Pro: - Quick switch gør udskiftning af hotend nemt - 36mm melt zone - 280 ºC max - Stainless steel nozzle - 25 mm3/s with 3.6% under extrusion P1S: - 26mm melt zone - 300 ºC max - 20 mm3/s with 6.1% under extrusion ------------------------------ Fan + noise Q1 Pro: - Poor to mediocre overhang quality - 66 dB with all fans, 40 dB idle A5M Pro: - Sub-par to good overhang quality - 68 dB with all fans, 39 dB idle P1S: - Great to perfect overhang quality - 67 dB with all fans, 0 dB idle ------------------------------ Extrusion consistency All 3 perform similar ------------------------------ Z-hop consistency All 3 perform similar ------------------------------ Bed leveling Q1 Pro - PLA: 0.032mm variance - ABS: 0.057mm variance A5M Pro - PLA: 0.035mm variance - ABS: 0.043mm variance P1S - PLA: 0.020mm variance - ABS: 0.032mm variance ------------------------------ Artifacts at high accelerations P1S best, Q1 Pro worst - Can be improved for the Q1 Pro and A5M Pro, but can be cumbersome ------------------------------ Dimensional accuracy All 3 perform fairly similar; the worst performing still acceptable ------------------------------ Artifacts - ringing All 3 perform similar ------------------------------ 3D Benchy: Q1 Pro: - 600 mm/s, 20k mm/s acceleration - High quality with a few surface issues on the body A5M Pro: - 600 mm/s, 20k mm/s acceleration - High quality without any issues P1S: - 500 mm/s, 20k mm/s acceleration - High quality without any issues ------------------------------ ASA Practical Print: P1S wins with the most consistent layer lines. The others have more inconsistent layer lines. ------------------------------ Build quality: Q1 Pro - Sub-par build quality - Potential Current hazard A5M Pro - Great build quality - A few minor details not great - Automatic shuts off the heated bed after 10 minutes of inactivity P1S - Great build quality - Very user friendly

Great to see the direction Flash Forge is going, given how their previous printers have preformed this is very refreshing to see.

As a new owner of a new q1 pro I’m happy to announce that almost all of the criticisms have been addressed on my unit. The belts are tight, the lid is tight, the jankiness is gone (apart from the spool holder), the build plate is easy to place, the filament is now inserted from a hole in the side - which looks a lot cleaner - and probably a lot more.

Nice review and testing methods. Keep up the great work!

Awesome video. This is pretty much exactly what I wanted to know!

The best review video I have seen, congratulations and thank you.

Great video! I’ve got the basic 5m and love it. Do you think we might see a larger version from flashforge?

I'm truly impressed by the depth and know-how with which you made this review. As far as I'm concerned, your channel is now the golden standard for what 3d printer reviews can be. Thank you very much for your hard work and all the insights that you share.

Appreciate the more in depth look at print quality! This is one of the first reviews I have seen actually quantify several small issues with the Q1 Pro. So far, adding up all the results I have seen from reviews and people I know who have the printer, the overall printing capability and quality is still great. I think it's probably the best overall bang for buck printer, and hopefully they'll even improve it as Qidi is known to do.

Please make more Qidi Tech Q1 pro videos sir

Could you please make a video about modifying the tensioners for the Q1 Pro, so that we too can enjoy the improvements? :) (the ones willing to try it, at least)

These are the best 3d print videos on youtube hands down. Comparing things that actually matter

Excellent videos as always!

Hey @diyperspective, I've been going through the comments and I notice in the video and in some comments, you highlight that the stock Qidi Q1 Pro doesn't have as good a cooling system for airflow to the nozzle. Is this something you see that could be upgraded with a fan replacement and/or modified duct solution? I've just ordered the Q1 Pro as my first 3D printer so very new to it all. Won't be arriving for another 6 to 8 weeks anyway so have time to learn but in the meantime wondering what simple upgrades can be done very cheaply like your spacers for the belts to improve print performance.

Hey @DIYPERSPECTIVE, this was an awesome video. I currently have an x plus 3 and never wanted to mess with the belts. I see you did the print artifacts at high acceleration testing and decided to tension the belts at 6:57 on the Q1 pro. I've been wondering all day, did you end up rerunning input shaping calibration or did you only auto calibrate input shaping out of the box and never touch it. Hope your reply, I'm not sure which option would be the best.

Good reviews, testing and analysis. 👋

Hey. Thanks for the video! How did you install your Q1 spring tensioner mod? Did you have to take off the side panels or were you able to access with them on? Thanks.

Do you ever used a Creality K1C? Could you compare Qidi Q1 Pro to K1C? I'm a total beginners and I'm confused about selection of my first 3d printer. Thank you

Excellent content, very helpful qand detailed, thanks very much

Hi, I added a quick fix for the 5M Pro so it fully turns on without having to press the front button. Works perfectly via smart plug now

Would definetly want to see more videos about the 5M. How would you compare the print quality of 5M vs Bambu A1 ?

Thank you for this comparison! A small question: The model for the "cooling performance test", where can I find it, please?

Glad I went with a P1S a couple weeks ago. Been crazy happy with its perfect layer line consistency.

I just received Q1 Pro and it's my second printer after Ender 3 V2 Neo. So when you started looking closer at all the deficiencies, I panicked a little wondering whether I did the right thing ;) All in all thank you for putting in the work to show the differences between those printers and providing actual numbers. By the way, I wonder whether using copper/brass nozzle on Q1 Pro instead of the bi-metallic (stock) one would improve the flow.

I did the cooling test, the q1 pro perform better than P1S， did you set the same slicer setting？

A5M pro user here(I love my printer). One downside is when your hotend/nozzle get clogged. I was using some Stronghero pla and it kept clogging my nozzles. I decided to disconnect the copper hotend from the nozzle by unthreading it. When/if you do that the wires that run into your quick connect break loose and you will no longer be able to use them as the plastic shroud covering the nozzle tip is the connect point. I found this out on my .4/.6 nozzle. Lost them both. Not a Flashforge issue so much as a user issue, but nice to know all the same as the nozzles are $40 each for me to replace(which is fine because I wanted to grab a .8mm nozzle also so instead I just grabbed all 4). Also ASA with the .6 gets some ugly artifacts unless I'm at 260 on the hotend. Thanks for the video I was looking at getting both the Qidi and Bambu printers but was having difficulty deciding if I wanted to. Now I want them both. I appreciate the information.

my q1 pro is coming. Is there any way you so how to calibrate the printer to its performance?

Hi, what are the dimensions of the extra spring tensioners? possible to get STL?

Nice! What is the name of this model of the box with latches?

I'm tempted to jump on the early qidi deal, I need to upgrade from my OG ender 3

I appreciate these videos. However, I do question the validity of the cooling tests. We have no idea what temperature the filament is when it leaves the nozzle. It was shown earlier that the P1S underextrudes at lower flow rates and to a greater degree than the other two. So, I would guess the P1S’s actual extrusion temp is lower than the other two. Then there is differences in thermistors, hotend material, and distance between thermistor and nozzle.

The most complete no-nonsense comparison of the printer's capabilities so far. Excellent evaluate of the prospective market of each unit. To be fair the reverse polarity is not a QIDI issue, yes they could implement a switching circuit to check polarity. It's not their place to correct terrible practices. Looking at you Shore power.

'Z-hop type: Spiral' is an Orca Slicer setting. New version of Klipper is not necessary.

I got a Q1 Pro the other day and I really like it so far! I really appreciate this comparison and wanted to mention the reason I got the q1 pro instead of the other options is because the p1s is just way more expensive, and the flash forge has a smaller build area and locked down software. I have definitely noticed some of the jankiness, but overall I think it's a pretty good printer especially for the price i paid ($450 USD). QIDI support is also fantastic, they answer questions quickly and from what I've seen they provide a lot of help with hardware issues as well, like replacement parts. Thankfully I haven't had to contact them for anything yet, but I like knowing that if something breaks I can get it sorted out with them. I am genuinely curious though, whether anyone has any major reasons not covered in this video that I should return this printer and get something else. I have 30 days to return it and want whats best for my money! Thanks

YAY! I had no idea FlashForge finally put out wireless printing on the new Orca release. Or, I assume, it was just the fine people working on Orca.... I've printed so much on that printer over the weekend. Now I know I didn't have to keep going back and forth with the Flash Drives. Pun intended! P.S. How much trouble would it be to throw a Big Tree Tech board into the Adventurer to get stock Klipper? Worth it to me. I just only know PC's. Nothing about 3D printer boards...

2:13 Please consider getting the proper mics to measure plastics. They are more expensive but are tuned to not squish it and will give a more accurate measurement. :)

Love my Flashforge 5M (non pro) and I only paid £300. Very impressive machine and it beats the Creality K1 in print quality, less noise and more reliability. Would definitely buy another one especially at half the price of the P1S

A major point is you could add multi colour capability to the Bambu - you cannot with the other 2

I love my flashforge 5m pro compared to my stress Creality cr10s pro. It just works. When I saw a dad picked up 2 K1 max at microcenter for 2 daughters I cringe.

Чувак! Это оч крутой обзор! Спасибо! Лучший!

Would you ever give away one of those printers that are collecting dust? Would save me a lot of money lol

Woaaah, so nice. Well BBL machines has so much into them that nobody talks about. The devil is in the details as they say. Wonder how would X1C go against those as it is quite better than P1 series imo

Min 8:37 There are 2 A5M PRO benchies and none P1S's

It’s not that ideal for the A5MP to get the kipper web interface, because they totally cheaped out on the main board and only has 128MB of memory… yikes

Just emailed Qidi to cancel my Q1 order.. I didn't realize it was this janky. I'm gonna get a P1S instead.

Honestly, after I've watched dozens of videos about Q1 Pro, the print quality in your video is the worst. I'm not sure what went wrong with it.😅😅😅

Okay but like of course your flow is gonna be more limited when you run PLA at only 205C on a top speed benchy

Heres where you lost ALL CREDIBILITY in your review: You kept saying negatives about the 5M Pro not having klipper access which is 100% false as it DOES have fluid interface via PC. You also NEVER MENTION that P1S has ZERO interface of Klipper at all. Not a single complaint from you about that. Your whole review is just another skewed review to support Bambu.

Feels paid by bambu lol

without a 220V PTC you cant get a sufficient heat input