I am currently in the research phase of which laser company to buy from when i stumbled across your channel. Thank you for going through a side by side comparison. I do like the features of the xtool. But the cost for each additional item quickly pushed it out of budget. The WeCreat did come up in searches, but didn't know if it would be good for a newbie. Thank you once again. Keep up the good, unbiased reviews.
As you note, the S1 is an excellent laser with lots of great features, but it isn't cheap. It is also overkill for most first timer laser owners. By contrast the Wecreat is cost-effective and is definitely geared to first timers. Keep in mind though that it's a 20W laser rather than 40W, but 20-30W is the sweet spot for the best cutting and engraving. From a support perspective xtool probably has the edge.
Customer service varies greatly with all Chinese laser companies. Overall all companies would probably be rated below average. Between these two, I would give the edge to Xtool though.
Thanks for the good review... I've been deciding which to get for weeks... The WeCreat is my ideal laser now... Soooooooooooooooo all I have to do now is figure out a way to get 1 to the UK
you and all these other youtubers that got paid to promote the wecreat should make videos showing all the issues/drawbacks with the wecreat alot of us know how bad it is after trying to use it the same as we use our other machines. The wecreat software effectively neuters the machine. I havent managed to get their support to tell me if i will be able to use the machine inside of lightburn not just gcode which still Their software will not allow large files with high dpi to process. the AI generation is bad the camera is off you cant rely on it to line things up. They have a library if you want something basic to build then you get some basic projects. their support talks in circles instead of actually answering questions when it comes to these things.
Well I can only report what I see and I haven’t had any issues. My camera is perfectly aligned for example. I assume other RU-vidrs have had similar experiences or you would have heard about issues - from me for sure. If you are assuming I or any other RU-vidr have been given bags of cash to say good things, you’d probably be incorrect. However I’m not disputing your issues because they are no doubt valid concerns. FWIW I do hear that Lightburn support is on the way, though I haven’t had confirmation or actually seen it yet.
Don't mistake what I said as thinking that they just paid you guys loads of money. Im just reaching out to whoever might find answers first since the support isn't answering what I need to know before I cant return it.
@@joekeen7415 FWIW I did shoot them a message to express concerns being raised about support. Make sure you also join their Facebook group because the support folks hang out there too.
Wecreat now comes in 40W and you can use Lightburn with it. Those were the 2 tipping points for me. Lastly, it now has a passthrough system. No brainer, I'm going with the vision. Very impressed and the price is right
Great video. One thing to note that you didn't address on the S1. The 20W module has a smaller spot size (.08mmx.06mm) than the 40W (.08mmx.01mm), which when calculating applied power per square millimeter, actually makes quite a large difference in the applied power. This makes the 20W module's effective power applied to the surface of the material only about 17% less than the 40W module. If the WeCreat has the same dot size as the xTool 40W laser, then the effective cutting power of the S1 20W module would be about 67% higher than the WeCreate laser. But the price is significantly less. Also, while I agree the workflow when using a camera like the WeCreat is smoother and less tedious, I'd argue that closed-stepper technology [manual] positioning of the S1laser head is much more accurate than a camera which introduces inaccuracies via lens distortion.
You will find this is a common characteristic between 20W and 40W lasers. A 40W isn't really twice as capable as a 20W. I will respectfully argue with your opinion of S1 positioning being more accurate, though. I've been working on a new video and happen to be using the Wecreat, and its positioning is so much more accurate than manually positioning on the S1. I don't think the S1 is terrible by any means, but the Vision gives this accurate positioning to you for free while you are creating your design, allowing accurate positioning to happen without even thinking about it. You can get this accuracy on the S1, too, but it requires a lot of manual positioning and reframing to see if you have it right. By contrast, the Wecreat Vision doesn't even have framing functionality because it isn't required.
Well the Roly is a decent laser. The beam spot size is huge compared to just about everyone else, but I never hear anyone complain about it, so I guess it’s a non-issue. The only issue with the Roly is that it is essentially a Lightburn laser, which means it is limited to only features supported by Lightburn. By contrast both of the lasers in this video offer capabilities that Lightburn does not have. This is more an issue with Lightburn of course. From a price perspective, the Wecreat is priced the same as the 20W Roly but provides excellent autofocus and definitely better material positioning (again this is a Lightburn limitation that Roly users need to endure. It also offer more height inside the cabinet.
Well I’m not sure I would say this about the Weacreat - not sure what issues you think it has though. Definitely for the money, the Roly offers more than an S1 but the latter has a lot more expandability and can engrave on irregular surfaces, and can engrave very long items, which a certain group of people would love.
I have a 40W Wecreat Vision in transit to me right now, but yes, right now, this seems like the laser with the best balance between features and price.
Does the WeCreat or xTool (or other laser brand) have a software feature that automatically turns on the air assist in one job? Or is this something you can do in Lightburn?
Yes and Yes. Both the Wecreat vision and the xTool S1 have automatic control of the air assist. In the case of the xTool (and maybe also the Wecreate soon), you can also do this in Lightburn. There is currently a bug in the S1 right now though, in that it any layer uses air assist, then it is on for all layers.
Assuming you didn't want to engrave on the taper itself, you could do this as two separate jobs. I don't think an xTool S1 would be able to engrave very well on this taper either because on a 40oz tumbler it's a pretty steep change in height.
No diode laser can cut clear acrylic. This has to do with the wavelength. Blue light passes through clear an acrylic, but longer wavelength light, like CO2 laser get absorbed by acrylic, which mean it will cut.
xTool claims the S1 is a Class-1 Laser, it's plastered all over their website, so answer me this...why do they include goggles if you purchase the "riser/conveyor"? Why would they need to send you goggles if it's a Class-1? There are no "asterisks or disclaimers" on their website...no mention at all. Also, if you have the riser base, the front/rear access passthrough panels panels have NO safety switches, so an unknowing person could open it while in operation, or start the laser when the panels are open. Please research this and get back to us, you have a lot of followers that need to know about the possible very serious safety problem.
There are a couple things to unpack here. First, as long as you have the base S1 without a riser, it is indeed a class 1 laser. However, once you add the riser, you open the bottom and pass-throughs that can allow light to escape, so it effectively becomes a class 4 again. I don't think they are doing anything devious here, though their class 1 designation appears to be self-certified, and while there's nothing inherently wrong with this as long as they are adhering to the requirements, it would be much more comforting if the Class 1 certification came from a recognized test lab. To be fair to xTool, all laser companies that have Class 1 designation in China appear to do their own certification. Somewhere in the tool docs for the rise, they will have a note/warning that the addition of this accessory makes this a class 4 laser.
I understand what you're saying and I appreciate it, but no where on their web site does it mention that the Class-1 designation does not apply if you use the riser or conveyor, to me, that is misleading. @@SteveMakesEverything
I got my d1 10wat rotary, portable enclosure, xtool bed, and air assist. $1600. Xtool and extras, still a great laser though. Wish I got a stronger laser though.
@SteveMakesEverything It sure is, I got everything to ensure quality Items everytime. I'm thankful I didn't buy the Chinese co2 laser, the man wouldn't budge on the price so I went top of the line. It's even better with great teachers like you helping me out. Thanks for the help!! I've had it for 1 month and am doing courses on RU-vid learning as much as I can. It's all about learning and having fun in the process.
@@BeamMeUpLaserEngraving Excellent. If you have questions that would inspire a video let me know. I'm always happier putting together videos that help answer user questions.
@SteveMakesEverything I would love to see a video showing a compilation of some more tips and tricks people may miss/ or may never know about. Would love to see a video of you utilising scrap material and turning it into something awesome. Anyone else who's reading this please offer suggestions. I don't want to be selfish. Thanks for asking Steve!! Appreciate you mate.
Thank you @@SteveMakesEverything . The batch feature would be useful for customized items, for example your example ornaments with different names on each one.
buddy at wok got the wecreat and quit working after a week. Just shooting a white light now. He tried all the recommended steps to fix it and is going to have to send it back.
The wecreat vision is total junk! I purchased one and had missing screws and broken parts. Customer service is horrible! I will never buy anything from them again! Cheap made.
Bot or not the comment is pretty generic. If there were broken parts blame the shipper rather than the manufacturer. The remark about service applies to virtually every laser company as far as I can tell, and I hear a lot of complaints. For what it’s worth, my Wecreat has been completely solid
For what it's worth they wanted to send me parts to fix it but did not have them in stock, I requested a new machine but I was told I would have to wait 20-30 days before new one would ship out. There were several things I had to disassmebled to get the machine to lower to be able to box the defective machine up, I was told if the machine was damaged on return shipping I may not receive a refund. Let's see I was sent a defective machine and I may not get a refund. Now that's a great way to treat a customer.... Not!
