Scoring the Bambu Lab A1 mini 3D Printer

[@lacroserocks]

This was fun! I ended up with 117. A1 Mini is a fantastic machine, I can't imagine what a printer with a 130+ score would be like

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks! I’m tough on points, so I think 117 is pretty close to mine! Thanks for sharing and yes, it’s a fantastic machine.

[@sharnaeatkins5961]

😊

[@cardinalcraze8497]

Your scoring system seems more wishful than practical.

[@LoyalMoses]

Cool!

[@CameronOwen101]

I see his intent, but each score is actually 2 variables multiplied together. The first variable is quality, the second is value or importance or weight. This prevents each "score" from being equatable as you need to derive the importance variable from the range for each score before comparing. This is not a low effort or automatic task for most humans to do while watching a video. It would be better if he just scored everything using the same units (1 to 10), then gave each score a weight (value or importance).

[@joelamaro4525]

After having the printer for 2 weeks his video is spot on.

[@crashingsux]

My scoring was close to yours but one place I disagreed was belt tensioning. The belt tensioning on the A1 Mini is the best I have ever experienced. When it does it's resonance test at startup if the resonance shows the belts are loose it gives you a notification, linked to instructions that show how to tighten the belt, and tightening it is the easiest design I have ever seen. On the back of the toolhead near the bottom is a single allen head bolt, loosen the bolt, then re-tighten it and you are done. The belt is hooked up to a spring to adjust the tension automatically whenever the bolt is loosened. Really user friendly in my book.

[@LoyalMoses]

Fantastic! Thank you for sharing. 💜

[@RedMageGaming]

Just got my A1 Mini Yesterday, regret not getting the AMS with it, but, totally worth the $250 asking price on its own. Not counting its preflight checklist it went through, it spit out my first benchy in a little over 13 minutes. For someone starting out new, after going through a lot of content covering different printers, I came to the conclusion, that for the price in the entry level printer market, it trades build volume for a more complete feature set. I can live with not being able to print large things for now, as I really want to learn the ins and outs of the hobby, and when it comes time that I absolutely need a larger printer I can start looking at larger printers with more confidence. Their printers are more of a home/business 'appliance' rather than just a hobbyists tinker toy as 3d printers were for so long. So not only can you get it out of the box and ready to go in 15 minutes give or take, if you are also using their 'brand' of filaments, the profiles are already there for you. They know their own materials, and what settings their printer needs to use to print with those materials. So, if you have the AMS and it reads the RFID tag, it automagically sets that up for you, and if you don't have the AMS, you just select the filament type, and tell it what color it is, and your off to the races. Nearly as pain free as swapping an ink cartridge on a printer, but with the added benefit of these printers wont refuse to print your project just because you're out of cyan. A big part of me chose the Bambu lab because of how turnkey it is as an entry level printer. No fussing about with bed leveling, or going through the trial and error of printing something, adjusting settings, printing again, repeat, to dial in the settings needed to get a clean print, I've seen a lot of people selling their printers because the tinkering was too much for them. I didn't want to lose motivation to that cycle early on so here I am. Would love to see printers like this come with a bigger sample of filament. 250g I think would be a perfect sample size. The 20g sample in the box is such a tease when they ship the printer and the filament separately, and the printer shows up a whole day before the filament, and you live too far away from a store that carries 3d printing stuff.

[@LoyalMoses]

Exciting!

[@A__pb]

if only you waited another week

[@ESGamingCentral]

they sell them now for ~190~199

[@scodavis]

LoyalMoses - Thank you for this video! I really like the attempt to bring objectivity to ratings and, of course, introduce a way to compare different models and brands directly. By the way, I have bought somewhere around 30 spools of PolyMaker filament so far. I really like their products and their customer service has been phenomenal, especially since I've only been 3d printing for 2 1/2 weeks and they really helped me get educated on the products and what works for what!

[@LoyalMoses]

You are so welcome! Also, that is awesome that you already have that much filament! Polymaker makes incredible stuff!

[@TinTalon]

I would like to score along but I just don’t have the experience or knowledge of any other brands. Never seen or used any other printers in person. So I can only base things off of what others say…like you and hope they are not biased towards or away from other brands. But that being said I do like your scoring system and once you get a bunch of printers scored (hopefully the scored sheets for all printers will be available) it will be a nice reference for new and experienced users. Thank you again for yours and Mrs LM hard work. It does not go unnoticed.

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks for sharing AND the very kind words! You are absolutely right, we are going to do this to a bunch of machines and keep the score available for people to look at and help make decisions!

[@SirHackaL0t.]

I bought one of these printers this week during their sale Best £169 I’ve spent recently. Amazing little first printer.

[@LoyalMoses]

Congrats!

[@FoodElitist]

Love your videos man, keep up the good content

[@LoyalMoses]

Appreciate it! Thank you!

[@metaphysicalArtist]

A 35-point analysis of how to improve the current components of the model would be useful, as it would show us the possible features of the next versions of Bambu Lab A1 Mark 2 mini or Bambu Lab A2 mini.

[@LoyalMoses]

Hmmm...

[@Bfab_Tech]

Great video ! We need a collection of 3D models for a cool start in Bambu and 3D printing usage 👌

[@LoyalMoses]

Thank you!

[@animeniac978]

You missed a couple of things for a very understandable reason: Bambu treats some features as if they're disreputable or something: they go to all the trouble to develop them, then while they should be splattered all over the sales literature, they're not mentioned at all. (I think Bambu is more engineer and less salesmen.) The big one: You mentioned that some people object to cloud access, and I'm one of them. It took me DAYS of digging to discover the Bambus have "LAN mode". In LAN mode, from what I can discern, the printer won't connect to the internet in any way, but you can still up and down load files across the LAN, manage settings, start stop. The smartphone app doesn't work (it should, if connected the the local wifi, but maybe they'll add that code later). Also, the camera doesn't work, and I think that's the same situation: no reason it couldn't work between printer and PC over the LAN, but they've not (yet, I hope) added that code. In any event, LAN mode does address a lot of those cloud-related concerns, but appears nowhere on their sales pages. But you're not stuck with SD card sneakernet as the only option if you're offline. A small one: I'll take your word on belt tightening being a nuisance (I've no hands on with these; I'm familiar with some of these issues due to seriously considering an A1), but they do have a nice related feature: it detects when a belt is loosening and tells you. It may be a nuisance to fix it, but you won't be unaware. I personally think printers *could* be loaded with misc popular files, but benchie and a bunch of diagnostic/test prints are what's most important. Fill the rest of the space with fluff; I bet people would like that. Other than those, I think your scores were pretty fair.

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@zatedford]

Really like the idea of your scoring system and seems fair in how you scored it, but what would be really interesting would be seeing a Master list with all of your printer scores somewhere. That would help with context and help us decide which printer to buy.

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks and yes, we will have all of these available including links to the videos and machines for people to easily choose a printer!

[@michaelbraaten]

I like the idea of scoring printers… but I feel like giving things a 3 out of 5 for “average” is a mistake. 3/5 = 60%, which would be a D- as a grade. I would rate everything out of 10, and average would be 7/10 (or 3.5/5)… I just think arbitrarily choosing whether it’s out of 5 or 10, then saying average is 3/5 artificially gives a more negative impression of the printer. Since the idea is to compare printers, I think the scale needs to be a little more relative. In other words, for example, you might give both the Prusa Mini and the Bambu A1 Mini hot ends 3/5 because they’re “average” in performance, but that doesn’t really help show the differences between those hot ends… they might perform similarly but they may be very different for maintenance or some other attribute. TL;DR: make every category out of 10 for more exact grading, and grade things a little more relative to comparable printers.

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks. It isn’t a percentage grade, it’s a total point grade. As long as I score other machines similarly, they will be relative. Also, you can’t give a runout sensor the same scale as an enclosure, they have a different overall value to the system. Imagine a printer could not have an enclosure, but have a camera and be the same score as one with an amazing enclosure. So, lesser valuable features get a lower maximum point potential. This is a simple scoring system to find similar machines and value.

[@michaelbraaten]

​@@LoyalMoses I agree that things need to be weighted differently. I'm suggesting a more precise way of doing it. But really, you don't even have to score everything out of 10. I am suggesting that making the total score out of 100 and then allowing partial points (even just increments of 0.5) would yield much more meaningful and simple to interpret results. I really believe the current system just leaves too big of gaps to accurately score printers and then compare them to other printers. Plus if it's out of 100, it's way easier to give the printer a traditional grade like in school, which basically everyone watching should have some context for. Just a math-brained viewer's opinion, though. Keep up the great content!

[@Barbasnoo]

I feel like the nozzle deserved a better score than it received. The innovative hotend/nozzle design on the A1 Mini is pretty nifty. Not only is it steel, but removing it for replacement or maintenance is an absolute breeze.

[@LoyalMoses]

Thank you! I’m tough on scores for sure! The A1 mini really is an amazing machine, it’s one of our favorites here!

[@Barbasnoo]

@@LoyalMoses I printed your sheet out and started scoring my own printers lol. It’s actually really helping me put a few things in to perspective.

[@LoyalMoses]

Awesome! Thank you for sharing that!

[@TheToonamiRevolution]

I've never been so early to a video. I don't know what I'm supposed to do... I'll be stealing this checklist for my home printers.

[@LoyalMoses]

haha! AND YES!!! Please use the checklist and get over to our discord and share! I really WANT to see them! loyal.ms/discord

[@ebkprints]

hey loyal moses, I love ur vids. I also love polymaker, which sponsored me for a school project, and gave me 5 rolls free of charge. I also got an extra roll of pc just for the box being damaged... polymaker support is infinetly better than bambu support.

[@ebkprints]

could you tell us in community when there is a new discount code?

[@LoyalMoses]

Cool!

[@Goosefang]

Funny you are wearing that shirt on today’s video. I went to a sushi 🍣 place today and they had Ryu, Mario, Godzilla and a smiling piece of sushi roll painted on a mural wall.

[@LoyalMoses]

Awesome!!

[@julianeyt4059]

In the end you have weight the points depending on your usecase. for me the a1 mini is probably the best printer on the market right now.

[@LoyalMoses]

Definitely could! Go rate it yourself with the form, let me know your score!

[@deaconleedeatherage4490]

Lm love your content the way you developed your scoring system will not gain you proper scores, I believe the best way is to stick with one scale and use that throughout. Using a one out of ten scale will give you a better sampling view overall. Thanks for the great vids

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks for the kind words! That system wouldn't work, because a filament runout sensor is cheap and is not as valuable as an enclosure, etc -- each feature or function has to have an appropriate and relative value. Basically a printer could be skewed in score if it has cheap bells and whistles, but fails on important functions.

[@crashingsux]

@@LoyalMoses I prefer the way you designed it, to allow different weights per feature.

[@tyotee4361]

Love the checklist and the agree with the score. Just an idea for the checklist, have you considered adding a repair-ability score? I had to replace the heatbed cable on my X1 and it definitely made my own score of it go down a lil bit due to it being like working on a Nissan lmao. I've gotta use this checklist on my own printers now, thanks for the template!

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks! Yes, I did - but I wasn’t sure what to call it, and “Repairability” could very well be it! Great suggestion and name!

[@LucasVezzani]

Creality Ender V3 KE Vs Bambu Lab A1 mini? Which one?? Pros and Cons, I can't decide lol

[@LoyalMoses]

A1 mini is going to be the best 3D printing experience hands down! There isn't anything else like it out there.

[@LucasVezzani]

@@LoyalMoses thank you for your quick response!! Awesome videos!!!

[@LoyalMoses]

Anytime! And thank you!

[@fadybenmoussa2114]

you're being a bit pessimistic with the included files , appearance and speed but honest review! CLAPS!

[@LoyalMoses]

Being as conservative as possible.

[@imkester]

I think the reasoning for having 5 for the first point is really absurd. :D Why not make it so that if the item just magically appears on your table, it is a 5?

[@LoyalMoses]

Hyperbole… obviously, if the unboxing experience was incredible, it would get a higher score.

[@imkester]

@@LoyalMoses yea I know I'm just messing around, but the context is you're answering a question why it is not 4 or 5 even if you said that it is good. Isn't the goal when answering a question is to make things clear rather than make it more confusing? But that's just me :D

[@karandex]

Regarding speed. You can claim any speed, but without accelration a printer might never reach those speed. you should consider some combo of flowrate or some other hybrid parameter.

[@LoyalMoses]

Yup, keeping it simple, it’s only a couple of points even if they exaggerate it has a negligible effect on the total.

[@designsbyrdw907daphnejwalker]

I think all printers should come with extra nozzles and I don’t mean one. Especially if they are not easily available.

[@LoyalMoses]

I agree! I love it when they’ve thought about the customer like that, and included a couple of extras. Pinned your comment to the top! 💜

[@BrickaLot_YT]

Do you have to have bambu studio to print your own designs? As in you don’t have to make a account with bambu.

[@LoyalMoses]

No, you can use any slicer you like.

[@BrickaLot_YT]

@@LoyalMoses do you have to be connected to the Bambu cloud to transfer files from your computer to the printer?

[@LoyalMoses]

You can use local mode if you don't want to use the cloud or network. You transfer with a SD card like any other printer.

[@BrickaLot_YT]

@@LoyalMoses Thanks, I appreciate you answering both of my questions, but I have one more. If I were to be concerned about keeping my personal information safe, what 3D printing company should I buy from?

[@LoyalMoses]

Any of them. I don't know of a single company that is taking the risk of destroying their entire business over someone's flexi-dragon model. It's just not a real concern, just a lot of fear mongering out there. Go get a machine, and enjoy it!

[@Immolate62]

I think the score should reflect the user experience, reliability and capability of a printer over something like a thousand hours of printing. Half the printers I've bought haven't made it to a thousand hours of printing, which tells you a lot about them. My Bambus, while they frustrate me once in a while, are true workhorses that are like the little engine that thought it could, except they know they can. Combine that with the AMS and mini-AMS, and there is simply nothing else that can touch them, if you care about multi-color and don't have Tony Stark's credit card. I think your weighting system gives too much weight to things that ultimately don't matter like unboxing and assembly (unless they are really pain points), and none for things that make all the difference in the world, like reliability. I guess you try to compensate for that in your free form overall category. You gave the A1 Mini zero points for spool holder, ignoring the fact that you're going to have an AMS Lite which is possibly the best spool solution on the market in the A1 and probably a point less for the Mini because you can't top mount it. You also ignore the fact that most enclosed printers have the spool holder on the back, which is the true zero of spool holders. A spool holder you can reach is at least a 1, yes? Another thing is noise. I sometimes forget my A1's are running right next to me, and if any printer is quieter than the A1, it's probably the A1 Mini. But all that said, you're kind of the Judge Dredd of scoring, so until I see you go fan boy on something undeserving, I have to give you grudging respect for being tough but fair. I think your scoring system, while flawed, is reasonable and a good place to start. I applaud you for doing it and hope to see plenty of additional printers scored and to hear the howls and laments of the tortured souls who mildly disagree with you.

[@LoyalMoses]

Judge Dredd! I’ll take it! 😁 Thanks for taking the time to share.

[@carlosvalera7833]

Im new on 3d pronting, not sure if i should get this or the ender 3 v3 core xZ 🥴 can you handle enough type of filaments with the A1?

[@LoyalMoses]

The A1 mini will handle all the basics, which is ideally who it is meant for, and that is about 99% of our industry.

[@datoubi]

Built quality 6/10? I haven't seen any other printer with a better built quality

[@LoyalMoses]

Go look at Raise3D machines as one example of superior build quality. There are many more.

[@datoubi]

@@LoyalMoses I'd argue there are many printers with great built quality. But if there are no loose parts, materials are good and it's operating just as expected, there is no room for improvement. So I'd say this printer and many others cannot get any better in terms of built quality

[@TheSinzia]

Interesting take, I can appreciate a standard set of criteria for scoring printers. I do wish the speed one was more imperical, how fast does it really get to? With such a small build volume can it hit that 500mm/s on the regular?

[@LoyalMoses]

It doesn’t really matter if it can or not, the impact on the score is negligible even if they exaggerated their claims by 100mm/s (1 point). It’s to create a simple system to find similar scored machines and their value.

[@Bigpopp1]

Even if the exact numbers aren’t exact just know this little printer is fast. Comparing to my X1 and Voron printers like a V0.

[@sting0072007]

You run it without the AMS? You are a mad lad

[@LoyalMoses]

Sometimes!

[@JayEm16]

And hes back with another video❤ haha im debating buying this or waiting put money away get P1S w AMS

[@LoyalMoses]

This mini is a nearly perfect machine, hard to argue against it. It's one of the most powerful, convenient machines that exists.

[@JayEm16]

@@LoyalMosesYea cant argue with that any Bambu machines seem to be great. Wait a second isnt this studio A?! Why not studio B-Bambu!? Lol jk buddy keep up great work! Also just finished the Monday make for tonight!

[@LoyalMoses]

haha

[@dennisoneil1160]

Why do you leave your Filiment like that

[@LoyalMoses]

We are on a mountain with low humidity, so no need to store it differently.

[@ktestable]

what would you rate x1c?

[@LoyalMoses]

I will have a video on that!

[@EfogDev]

Lmao with all your 3s I'd really like to see what you consider a 4 or 5. For me it felt unfair for at least 1/3 of categories

[@LoyalMoses]

I have to leave room for awesomeness! I’ll treat every other printer the same, so scores will be equally fair! I also have $7,000 printers here, so they score a little higher. Also, go score it, be honest, I’d love to see it.

[@crashingsux]

@@LoyalMoses I love that your scoring wouldn't give a perfect score to today's best printers. We have so much room for improvement, please leave your scoring how it is so we don't have to throw all of the scores out in a couple of years to reset the scaling.

[@MisterkeTube]

Where is "build volume"?

[@LoyalMoses]

You don’t score build volume, because that is a user preference. Some users want smaller printers and some want giant machines. If you included a score for build volume then larger machines would always have a higher score.

[@earlowens998]

I transfer files to the A1Mini from my computer.

[@LoyalMoses]

Cool!

[@AlexSwavely]

Still rather subjective. Like the pain scale.

[@LoyalMoses]

It’s VERY subjective! But I’m the subject.

[@fadybenmoussa2114]

didnt mention BUILD VOLUME

[@LoyalMoses]

Build volume can’t be scored, otherwise a larger machine becomes more important than a smaller machine, which is not true. Machine size is a preference for some people.

[@kschaffer6978]

Need to standardize rating on either 5 pt or 10 pt system so more comparable across the entire evaluation.

[@LoyalMoses]

Nope. Because a filament runout sensor has far less value than other larger more important features.

[@kschaffer6978]

@LoyalMoses so then it would be rated lower. Or breakup the rating system into different components of the machine with total points equalling like 100 ? Or give bonus points for things like a run out sensor because it isn't top priority.

[@LoyalMoses]

Or, could just do it the way I’ve done it. Where each component gets a score maximum based on its value to the system.

[@kschaffer6978]

@@LoyalMoses guess everyone has different solutions to every situation. Keep up the content !

[@shane7394]

Scoring system is not very accurate, to wishy washy

[@LoyalMoses]

Score a printer yourself, be as honest as you can, and post your score!

[@Happy3dprinting]

I am struggling to understand your scoring system. It seems your scoring against technical things that we are yet to see implemented on any printer. You can get fully assembled printers that are a nightmare to unbox, name a non industrial printer manufacturer that would send someone to unbox and setup a printer. Interface is more about ease of use not just size of screen. The P1S screen is awful to use but the a1 series screen is easier to operate. Perhaps split to screen size - user interface - features accessibility. Spares availability, user support, accessories all affect user experience aswell. You need to list the items that you are scoring against to give your mark of 0-5, filament run out sensor, dynamic flow, enclosure is it heated or not, etc etc. otherwise your scoring is truly specific to your assessment not direct comparison and weighting of certain features. Plus score printers grouped by style - corexy, Cartesian, delta etc as this affects the basic operation of the printer.

[@LoyalMoses]

I have $7,000 printers, some have shown up and had a far better unboxing and first print experience. Feel free to score it yourself! Be honest, and understand you can’t give everything 5s, because you don’t know what tomorrows printer is, and you’ve also not experienced a $10k printer.

[@Happy3dprinting]

@@LoyalMoses my company uses spee3d metal industrial 3d printers which are well above your £7000 machines, how could I score let alone even start to compare these machines to something that is intended for home use. But you should list the individual features that form a score for interface. Touch screen vs click wheel, colour vs monochrome, remote access vs local, high rate camera vs low rate camera vs no camera vs camera upgrade available. I like your reviews and always watch your content as you do give a good evaluation, but the scoring system is trying to document something that will quickly go down the old rabbit hole as when new features turn up on the next gen of printers your whole scoring system will need to be rescored and adjusted to take into account the latest must have feature. Imagine 10 years ago you score all printers available then a printer with bed levelling turns up, but also with auto z offset then direct drive vs Bowden then corexy. You can only score printers against each other by when they were released. Whatever people think about Bambu labs, there was a landmark stage in evolution when the x1c came out, not in technology but in the integration of technology into a user experience than many manufacturers are trying to catch up to replicate. Is it fair that a creality ender 3 v2 be compared to a Bambu lab x1c, they are both on sale at the moment but are separated by years in release dates. But it is fair to compare a K1 to the P1S as release dates are closer together. Could you note year of release and group by that?

[@LoyalMoses]

Thanks! It’s not important enough to over engineer a simple scoring system to compare similar machines to find the relative value.

[@Happy3dprinting]

@@LoyalMoses but isn’t that what your trying to do? I am not being nasty here but these systems never work. The value you give in your reviews is the comments on which features are well implemented which are not great and the comparison videos you have done recently of A1mini vs prusa mini are great demonstrations of how technology has changed but is it worth buying the new over the old? I have decided to buy printers based on information you have included in your review videos as you give a rounded assessment of a product. All I am saying is the scoring system can cause more confusion than give a clinical answer as to which printers are best. Your assessments of which printers are great to use are far more valuable than a number.

[@realluckyboy]

@@LoyalMoses You could, if you like, look into the concept of "House of Qualtity" On the top is a system were you rate 1v1 each feature. then just count out what has the most plus and you have a ranking. you can use it to get a weigth in the 1 to 10 scaling what you can just use then. It is been used to compare things you just cant compare. sorry for my english

[@dack4545]

Isnt that the one that got recalled a few weeks ago lol

[@LoyalMoses]

Nope. 🤦‍♂️

[@earlowens998]

I’ve never seen so hard to put down a printer. Maybe you should just stick to praising Prusa. I give you review a 0.

[@LoyalMoses]

Praising Prusa? LOL -- Bambu is my official sponsor, I didn't put that machine down at all.