At a look
Knowledgeable’s Score
Execs
- 3D printing made easy
- Prime notch print high quality
- Nice worth
Cons
- No AI failed print detection
- ‘Portray’ fashions could be difficult
- Some third-party filament received’t match AMS Lite
Our Verdict
Bambu’s A1 is a critically spectacular 3D printer that prints at excessive pace however delivers higher high quality than the competitors, all with out making a racket. Plus, should you get the Combo, you’ll have the ability to print in 4 colors on the identical time.
Value When Reviewed
From $399 (Combo mannequin $559)
Finest Costs At the moment: Bambu A1
Fairly why Bambu launched the A1 Mini earlier than the A1 is anybody’s guess. However after only a few brief months of ready, the A1 provides these on a price range the choice of a top-quality 3D printer that may – optionally – use the AMS Lite to print fashions in as much as 4 colors at ‘regular’ sizes.
Which means 256mm cubed: the identical construct quantity that the pricier P1 and X1 fashions provide. The A1 Mini, because the identify suggests, is smaller and might print fashions as much as 180mm cubed.
Options & design
As a substitute of the standard black, Bambu has chosen a lightweight gray for the A1 and, together with the rounded corners and lined X- and Z-axes, it appears rather more like a contemporary client gadget than quite a lot of 3D printers, which are likely to have the looks of an overgrown Meccano set. It appears a bit just like the Ankermake M5.
Other than the apparent absence of an enclosure, it is a bed-slinger. Also referred to as Cartesian, it’s a distinct movement system to coreXY, which Bambu’s P1 and X1 fashions use.
Till lately, Cartesian printers have been a lot slower than coreXY printers, however Bambu and others have labored out learn how to ramp up the pace with out sacrificing print high quality. Earlier than I get onto among the methods the A1 has, it’s value saying that you simply’ll want a pretty big quantity of desk area for this printer as a result of the mattress strikes forwards and backwards, extending past the printer’s footprint.
Additionally, should you go for the A1 Combo – or purchase the AMS Lite individually – you’ll want significantly more room for this freestanding four-spool holder. It’s designed to be placed on the right-hand facet of the A1, however you’ll be able to print a bracket to mount it on high of the gantry.
Jim Martin / Foundry
I didn’t do that, not as a result of I used to be fearful about flimsy construct high quality – removed from it – however with 4 1kg reels of filament, plus the load of the AMS Lite itself, it appears finest to let your desk take the pressure somewhat than a 3D-printed bracket.
The A1’s spec checklist ticks all of the containers: an all-metal hotend that goes as much as 300°C, a heated mattress that can attain 100°C, a magnetic, textured PEI plate, totally automated mattress levelling, a good color touchscreen, and Wi-Fi for printing by way of the cloud.
Jim Martin / Foundry
There’s extra. The printhead is identical because the A1 Mini’s, and it’s filled with intelligent stuff. There’s an Eddy Present sensor which measures extrusion strain for extra correct prints at pace, and a runout sensor and odometer to detect whether or not there’s filament and how briskly it’s shifting by the nozzle.
Jim Martin / Foundry
There’s a filament cutter, operated by the ‘finger’ on the precise of the X-axis and, do you have to ever wish to or have to, the nozzle is impressively simple to swap out, do you have to ever have to. It’s held in solely by a clip and a robust magnet. All you must do is press the filament cutter arm, pop off the plastic entrance cowl and take away the silicon shroud: there are even directions behind the plastic cowl.
The nozzle is impressively simple to swap out, do you have to ever have to
On the rear of the print mattress is a silicone wiper to take away filament earlier than the auto-levelling course of, and there’s a spare wiper included within the field.
Jim Martin / Foundry
On the left-hand facet of the X-axis is a Purge Wiper. That is used to catch filament that’s purged between color adjustments or when a brand new filament is loaded. The one drawback is that it isn’t designed to retailer the waste filament. Comically, it’s ejected onto the desk – or your ground – so that you’ll wish to determine a strategy to seize this, even when it’s only a field positioned to the facet of the A1.
Meeting and AMS Lite
Though Bambu may have feasibly shipped a barely bigger field and provided the A1 totally constructed, it opted to do what most of its rivals so and get the client to screw the gantry to the bottom.
Jim Martin / Foundry
I actually just like the A1’s design on this respect, because the gantry is a full rectangle with a big foot that enables it to face unsupported on the desk. You then tilt the bottom (above) and slide it by the hole, aligning the cutouts and pushing it house.
Then, you take away the plastic cowl beneath the construct plate and set up 10 screws to carry the 2 items collectively. As soon as that’s performed you flip it on its facet and join the three cables – all color coded – and that’s just about it.
It nonetheless took me 45 minutes in complete, as a result of the AMS Lite additionally requires a little bit of meeting: screwing the unit to its base, and pushing on the 4 reel holders. Not like the P1S Combo and X1 Combo, whose AMS models use rollers to show the spools, the AMS LIte grips the centre gap: it appears a bit like an enormous cassette tape whenever you set up two spools on the identical facet.
Additionally, as an alternative of only one PTFE tube working from the AMS to the printhead, there are 4. This can be a profit as a result of the filament doesn’t need to be retracted very far when swapping colors, making color adjustments a bit quicker.
Motors throughout the AMS Lite flip the spools and feed the filament into the printhead, and color adjustments are totally automated.
In the event you don’t go for the Combo, or should you merely don’t wish to use the AMS Lite for a bit, you’ll use a single spool holder (included within the field) which attaches to the highest of the printer.
Jim Martin / Foundry
You’ll be able to depart that holder put in completely for instances when it is advisable to use a spool that received’t match the AMS. I found that Creality’s cardboard spools don’t match, and neither does its plastic ones, whose internal diameter is smaller than the 53-58mm supported by the AMS Lite.
The Bambu A1’s efficiency completely blew me away
Efficiency
The Bambu A1’s efficiency completely blew me away. Not solely is print high quality the perfect I’ve seen from any mattress slinger, it’s additionally comparatively quiet and really dependable.
Jim Martin / Foundry
I ran take a look at prints for dozens of hours and was impressed that the A1 simply received on with them with nearly no fuss. Plenty of that is due to the sensors within the print head which reliably detect tangles or different issues with filament.
And if there are points, it’s normally potential to get better from them. For instance, I used up some high-speed gray filament from Anycubic and it tangled 3 times throughout a three-hour print. Every time, I received a notification from the Bambu Useful app and was capable of repair the tangle and proceed the print.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The mattress temperature is stored excessive to make sure prints don’t come unstuck, and the one time a print wasn’t capable of proceed was after the A1 had been switched off mid-way by a print. It did proceed for a bit, however the half finally got here free because the mattress had cooled down for a few hours within the meantime.
Any errors or issues are clearly proven on the display screen or within the app, and Bambu makes use of codes – slightly just like the engine error codes you get when utilizing an OBD-II reader in your automobile – which could be appeared up on its wiki on-line.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The good display screen additionally makes the A1 a pleasure to make use of in comparison with the P1S. It’s simply the precise dimension and the interface has been nicely thought out, so all of the choices you anticipate to see are proper there. If there’s a tiny criticism it’s that it’s gradual to refresh whenever you faucet on one thing. However it doesn’t actually have an effect on usability.
Jim Martin / Foundry
By way of noise, Bambu does some intelligent noise cancelling to quieten the motors at totally different frequencies. It really works nicely, however the followers can nonetheless be fairly noisy: they pace up and decelerate when crucial, and at full energy are fairly distracting. I wouldn’t wish to work or sleep subsequent to the A1 whereas it’s printing.
Jim Martin / Foundry
For testing, I primarily used Bambu’s primary PLA and received implausible outcomes. The dynamic circulate compensation seems to work nicely, that means components come out the dimensions they’re speculated to with crisp, clear edges.
Surfaces, particularly vertical partitions, are very clear and correct, and overhangs are dealt with nicely. Tolerances are excellent too, so you’ll be able to confidently print articulated and hinged components understanding they received’t get unintentionally welded collectively.
Velocity-wise, the A1 may be very practically as fast because the P1S and X1C, which is critically spectacular contemplating each of these are coreXY printers. Mattress levelling and all the opposite preliminary calibration takes round 5 minutes, which isn’t a lot so as to add to a multi-hour print, and is much like the P1S and X1C.
Jim Martin / Foundry
I printed the identical plate containing a number of components on each the P1S and X1C, and the P1S took slightly beneath three hours, whereas the A1 took round 20 minutes longer at 3 hours 16 minutes. The time distinction does grow to be vital when prints take a number of hours longer than this, but it surely’s rattling fast for a mattress slinger, and don’t overlook that is all with wonderful high quality.
It’s value saying, too, that Bambu’s desktop (Studio) and cellular (Useful) apps are each spectacular, even when Studio has a little bit of a studying curve, significantly if you wish to ‘paint’ fashions in numerous colors. Luckily, Bambu gives profiles for its totally different filaments and nozzles, so it’s simple to pick these within the apps and depart every little thing on the default settings.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The one factor I discovered irritating was that the digital camera feed was gradual to load, and appeared to offer one body each couple of seconds – a worse body price than the P1S – but it surely’s sufficient to do a distant visible test that every little thing is okay.
And the one actual gripe in regards to the A1 is that it lacks any form of print failure detection. So if a mannequin comes adrift from the plate, the A1 will produce spaghetti till it finishes, otherwise you test in and cease it.
A profitable print sits subsequent to a failed one
Jim Martin / Foundry
Value & availability
By itself, the A1 prices £369 / $399. That’s nice worth given the pace and options on provide.
You should buy it from Bambu’s web site.
It’s additionally lots lower than the P1S, however keep in mind that the A1 can’t deal with warp-happy filament varieties reminiscent of ABS and ASA, which the P1S can due to its enclosure.
If you would like multi-colour printing, go for the A1 Combo that features the AMS Lite. That’s £509 / $559, cheaper than shopping for the 2 issues individually.
Ought to I purchase the Bambu A1?
In the event you’ve no want or need to print issues in ABS, ASA or different filaments that want an enclosure, then sure, the A1 is a completely excellent 3D printer. It blows the competitors out of the water and is nicely definitely worth the worth.
It even beats Bambu’s P1S in just a few areas, together with the contact display screen and dynamic circulate compensation. Nevertheless, should you do need the choice to print with a greater variety of filaments, don’t let the P1S’s lack of a touchscreen put you off as you actually don’t want to make use of it fairly often.
The vast majority of house customers most likely received’t really feel restricted by the filaments the A1 can deal with. PLA is a lot sturdy and long-lasting today, and comes within the widest alternative of colors and kinds.
For options, see our roundup of the perfect 3D printers.
Bambu A1 specs
- FDM 3D printer
- Metal + aluminium chassis
- All-metal sizzling finish
- Nozzle diameter 0.4mm (non-obligatory 0.2, 0.6 and 0.8mm nozzles)
- Makes use of 1.75mm PLA/TPU/PETG/PVA filament
- Max print dimension: 256x256x256mm
- Max construct plate temperature: 100°C
- Max nozzle temperature 300°C
- MicroSD slot + Wi-Fi
- 1080p digital camera
- Max print pace 500mm/s
- Max acceleration 10 m/s²
- AC 110-240V enter
- 1300W energy consumption (220V)
- Weight 8.3kg
- Printer dimension: 385mm×410mm×430mm (WDH)