Which is BETTER: Prusa MK4 or Bambu Lab X1 Carbon 3D Printer?

In this video I cover which of these 3D printers is the closest thing to a “Plug-n-Play” 3D printer for my workshop and I’ll show you a simple scoring system that can help you choose the best 3D printer for you.
#3Dprinting, #bambulab, #3Dprinted, #bambulabX1, #bambulabx1carbon, #prusa, #prusamk4
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[@AudieChason]

We have 2 Prusa Mk3S+. I had an XL on back order for 2 YEARS. In the meantime, my wife bought a Bambu X1 carbon. She no longer uses the Prusa's and raves about the Bambu. When I went to finalize the purchase for the XL, Prusa said I could not include any filaments with the order, despite it says on their web page that you can (I double checked it). Prusa seems to think its OK to pay high shipping costs. It's not the first disappointment we have had with Prusa. I intend to cancel the XL order and buy a Bambu. Its a thousand dollars cheaper than the Prusa with 2 print heads and its only minor advantage is a slightly larger print volume. I think it is a significant advantage that Bambu has a US presence and much lower shipping costs.

[@ristinnovations]

I understand your concerns with the Prusa cost and lead time. I have had the same positive experience as your wife with my Bambu X1C and A1 Mini. As you also mentioned, at least here in the US, the Bambu shipping costs are quite reasonable. Good luck with your decision. Thanks for sharing your comment!

[@PigMan9080]

I had an ended 3 for a few years. Recently got the P1P and loved it. I love that I don’t need to tinker with anything and just works. I can focus on making and designing parts rather spending most of my time trying to figure out why my print has gone wrong

[@ristinnovations]

That’s what I love about my Bambu printers as well. Good luck with your printing and thanks for your comment!

[@MajorBreakfast]

I can say that building the MK4 kit is really fun! The instructions have like 10.000 steps, but they‘re easy to follow for anyone who enjoyed playing with Lego as a child.

[@ristinnovations]

That’s great to hear! You are reinforcing my thoughts to buy a Prusa MK4 kit too! Thanks for your comment.

[@Ombladon1991]

My 1st printer was a prusa mk3s kit, took me about 5 hours to put together, worked for about 2 days then the issues started, faulty y motor, went trough multiple guides, different parts received from the support, overall about 3 weeks of debugging, them sending parts, rinse and repeat. After the issues were solved I decided to get the mmu2s, after that piece of shit addon arrived I only had issues, it not working correctly, missaligning, trying to switch filaments with other filament loaded, failing to load/unload, buffer issues, etc. Turned me off from 3d printing for more than 2 years. Then bambu came along, decided to give 3d printing another try. Took me a total of 15 mins to get it up and running, no issues, been almost 2 months since I have it with daily use. Had 1 issue as one of the ams rolls broke filament in it, printer displayed a qr code, directed me to how to fix issue, issue was fixed in less than 2 mins, including me watchin the youtube vid from the support page. So yeah Prusa is really not impressive if you factor in the ease of use, printer logs, self diagnostic, and the smart features of the x1 carbon. This video got so many things wrong, rating a mmu a 4 is insane, I would give it a 2 at best, their enclosure is a joke not to mention all the upgrades ends up being more expensive than a ready made full working enclosed printer. But to each their own I guess.

[@jeepaholic326]

@@Ombladon1991 I'm not trying to be disrespectful, no internet warrior stuff. I definitely could be wrong, but maybe you were fairly new to the 3d printing world at the time. Prusa, personally, has never let me down and I hope you are still printing, regardless of printer. Have a good one. (edit, I own 3 printers, all different brands)

[@fact4fiction35]

I had more or less the same experience as ombladon. As someone who has custom engineered and built lab equipment for my phd, the mk3s and mms were the absolute worst. My experiences with prusa machines at work put me off 3d printing as a hobbyist for years. Finally gave in and bought a p1s 2months ago and boy is it an entirely different experience. Simply amazing machine.

[@SportsStream365]

@@Ombladon1991 I hear you loud and clear and I was dead set on buying the Bambu P1S until I found a couple of videos explaining the Bambu Labs privacy policy / terms of service and was appalled. (Just search Bambu labs spying on you). So, I decided to NOT buy the P1S because of those videos and I am really hoping the Bambu labs TOS is changed soon. What I discovered is that Bambu stores a copy of everything you print and may share that with 3rd parties. They also store camera data along with your personal information, but what’s worse is that if you are printing anything that involves firearms, copyright, trademark or NDAs, good luck thinking you have some privacy with the Bambu Labs machines.

[@jeffdawnMustang]

I have a Prusa MK2 that has never let me down! I did build the Prusa which will help if i EVER need to work on it. Thousands of parts. I just truned it on to look at the statistics on the machine. It has printed 284 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes thus far. I think it's 5 years old! My buddy at work just got the X1 carbon and likes it too....but he just got it 12 days ago.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@badermeinhof123]

I also have the mk2 and only has to replace fan and resolder two cables they broke to the probe. Prints are just nice and bulletproof, but I’m looking for the bamboo labs because it is new and shiny and enclosure. Have looked at mk4 but can’t defend the investment since mk2 is still working. Built my own and it was a nice experience and “simple”, like an adult Lego set 😂 Time will tell, but it will be something with multi material print.

[@malibu_jones]

first video i’ve seen of yours and it’s excellent quality. i will say though that the *ding* sound effects for the scores is WAY too loud, i actually jumped. just my two thoughts!

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your feedback. Yes, I have received some comments that the bells were either too loud or annoying so in the spirit of continuous improvement, I stopped using that sound effect in future videos. I appreciate your candid feedback!

[@amarug]

I have zero interest in 3D printers and "hackability", I only care about 3D printing and for that reason I chose the Bambu and I love it! Someone else has different priorities and will be happier with the Prusa.

[@MikiCab1]

I am a Prusa Fan Boy. Will probably stick with Prusa. I like open source and would like to keep supporting open source companies. I will probably wait for a bit and see if Prusa comes out with a direct competitor to the Bambu. Currently have an MK3 and it does everything I need at this point in time.

[@ristinnovations]

I certainly understand your position and thank you for sharing your comments.

[@BeefIngot]

Prusa isn't open source hardware wise though

[@kaankaradeniz]

I never comment on videos but u are speaking very clear, thank you! I am writing this comment at the 3rd minute of the video.

[@ristinnovations]

Thank you for your positive feedback. I really appreciate it😊

[@joeylopezdesign]

I just recently bought the Creality K1 at Microcenter, then after 2 weeks, returned it and bought the Bambu X1C as well. It's literally the best 3D printer I've ever touched, and i've used many.

[@ristinnovations]

I’m glad you are having a good experience with the Bambu Lab X1C. Thanks for sharing your comment!

[@gregoryknight2928]

Great review and great video. Thanks! My Bambu Labs P1P arrives today and your analysis provided a great comparison. Thanks!

[@ristinnovations]

You are very welcome! I hope you really enjoy your P1P. I think you will really like it. Thanks for your comment😊

[@tomaszpankowski8903]

Few other bits of information that may help someone with the decision. X1C: - The filter works ONLY when the internal fan is on, so it will be useless when you most need it - when printing ABS - The first layer sensor works only with a smooth bed. - The LAN only mode locks you out of any firmware updates. - The AMS unit is not compatible with some spools, there is a hydra mod for it but you will loose the warranty if you do it. - The "logs" that the printer sends "home", where decoded and they contain everything including stl files you print and camera snapshots. - There is a sweet spot in 3d print speeds, the faster you print the weaker the parts, speed is not always important - Every time there is a new prusa you have the option to upgrade your printer, with bambu your only option is to sell it. The list is much longer but that're the main things that made me pick MK4 over x1c. Shame I had to wait a year for MMU3, a touch screen and input shaping.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for taking the time to provide your detailed comments!

[@BH4x0r]

Bambu is new, we don't know yet if things will be upgradable or not. apart from that, i really don't care, the Bambu's really have everything you need and they're (almost) perfect as-is they have pretty much all the stuff Prusa just added a year after Bambu made it mainstream, because they shit their pants fearing their stagnated development wont sell no more, without Bambu, i'm sure people would still be on the MK3S+ or something very similar without input shaping and other things remaining a 2020 level printer, their input shaping isn't even good, it's super basic and premeasured, if you mod anything it won't even know how to deal with it as they do not run Klipper or have an accelerometer even just changing the bed surface to something different or belts stretching a tiny bit overtime could break the entire "input shaping" as the resonant frequencies will not be the same as whatever they had in their factory to me, Prusa's are more like the old Creality's except decently tuned out of the box and with a far better hotend and extruder Bambu's how they are right now are like at the level of current smartphones, in a few year they will still be more than capable and need no upgrades, unless you're gonna play the newest heavy games on your phone (which you could compare to printing faster, i suppose) there's not even a need to upgrade aside from things wearing out, which you can buy, i don't see why they won't be capable printers in 5-10 years from now these are not like the old crap Enders that need constant adjustment and tuning, they're fast and just work

[@solasauto]

Also print quality is not that much better. If at all. My ender 3 s1 plus has nicer prints, I think it's because it prints slower.

[@ASapWheelie]

Ah, man. I was gonna choose the x1c but I don't like it logging everything I print and taking pics. 😅 might have to decide on something else.

[@BH4x0r]

@@ASapWheelie uhm like the other good printers like the Creality K1 wont

[@jazzcat9363]

I do remember someone saying that Bambu Lab said that if they ever do close up shop, they would open their system up to be open source so that owners can still use the printers and fix them both on the hardware and software side. For customer service, I do hope that improves. They are still a small and young company, so i'm sure that as they grow, customer service will increase as they hire more people. But one thing I do like is that they have an entire wiki page dedicated to troubleshooting issues for hardware, software, and their app. I also like how quickly they jumped on the recent issue with the new A1 series. Only one or two people had a problem and they decided to take a risk by recalling every A1 and giving customers 2 options. That to me showed great customer service. Owning up to a flaw before it became too big. Most companies shrug stuff like that off until it becomes a major problem.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree that Bambu Lab made the right decision to recall their A1 printer due to the print bed cable issue. Not every company would have done that.

[@masklessninja]

Just started printing with my new X1C and I absolutely love it. I went from a highly modified Ender3 v2 to Bambu Labs and it’s definitely next level in so many ways. I made a multicolor red and black lightsaber with a glow in the dark blade for my kid’s birthday and it turned out fantastic!! It was a hit and because the printer is so fast, it’s easy to replace the shattered blades when my four boys decide to take the sword fight too far 😂

[@ristinnovations]

I’m really glad you are having a great experience with the X1 Carbon! I love the project you made for your kids. I also love the speed of the printer. I recently made 8 successive prototypes of a project by making improvements with each revision very quickly. I was much more efficient because I didn’t agonize over the CAD design because I knew I I could make a few changes and just print again😊 Thanks for sharing your comment!

[@masklessninja]

@@ristinnovations time is priceless and the quality outcome with the print speed makes for an exceptional value and experience. Thanks for the video. Just became a subscriber:)

[@ristinnovations]

@@masklessninja I fully agree. Thanks so much for becoming a subscriber😊. I will continue to work to earn your trust and produce useful and entertaining videos. Feel free to offer any suggestions on how I could improve my content so that you will look forward to seeing my future videos😊

[@benpeterson7530]

Same path as me. Ender 3 V2 to X1C, and I haven't turned my Ender on since getting the X1C. It is just that good. I've only really only had issues with more difficult materials like PC, but even then it's like 1 or 2 failures out of many. The difference in speed is huge. I love how fast the X1C is. I am just printing in standard speed with the 0.4 mm. I am thinking a bigger nozzle and bumping up the speed would be crazy fast, I might try the 0.6 mm. I do like Bambu studio, but it has been a bit more of a learning curve than Cura. I am getting better at finding things in their slicer. Being closed source doesn't matter to me, since their machine and software work so well. If they were like Stratasys, and made it so you could only use their $200 / Kg filament, that would be a deal breaker. I'd like to see a support material offered for higher temp materials. I've had a few PC and ABS-GF parts that I've really had trouble removing support from. Sliced my finger a few times already.

[@craigjok]

Awesome video presentation. I’ve been a woodworker for three decades and am going through a similar journey as you describe. This is very helpful.

[@ristinnovations]

It sounds like we are on similar paths😊. Thanks for your comment!

[@MarkSnop]

I watched your whole video and thought it was excellent. Thank you! After listening to your whole video, I was feeling bad because I had just earlier placed an order for the X1 carbon. I was second-guessing myself until I heard the last section where you visited your friend and changed your mind. Now I am relieved as I ordered the right one. I am still concerned about tech-support. If support is bad, that’s not gonna be very good. So pray and hope that it works well. I am brand new to 3-D printing so hopefully I have a good experience. Thanks again for your videos.

[@ristinnovations]

I don’t think you will regret buying the Bambu X1C. I have not had any problems with mine since I have had it for the last 6 months. Bambu Lab’s CEO acknowledged that they needed to improve their customer support so I am hopeful that will continue to improve. In the meantime they are constantly bringing new products to the market in both filaments and new models of printers. BTW, I’m evaluating another manufacturer’s printer as we speak and it’s not nearly as user-friendly, so I think you have chosen the most user-friendly printer on the market, especially since this your first time jumping into 3D printing. Let me know if I can help in any way if you have any questions or problems with your X1C. Thanks for your comment😊

[@chezshirecat1872]

Thank you for the video, these two printers are the choice I was coming down to, like the way each printer was broken down.

[@ristinnovations]

I’m glad you liked the video. Thanks for your positive feedback 😊

[@kaiu-fin]

I am lazy so i got Bambu. Prusa was on my top list. Happy printing. Thanks for the video!

[@ristinnovations]

Happy printing to you too😊

[@Yggdrasil42]

I love your humor. Such a fun video to watch. And yes informative too.

[@ristinnovations]

I’m glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate your positive feedback😊

[@SourPoultry]

I've been thinking about getting a higher end 3d printer lately, and this video was very helpful! I think I will settle with the Bambu Lab X1C

[@ristinnovations]

I'm glad you found my video helpful. I will say this, I have been very happy with my Bambu Lab X1C. I have since purchased the A1 Mini and I plan to buy a P1S in the near future. I wish you the best of luck in you decision and please let me know if I can be of any further help in the future!

[@vega480]

Awesome review. I felt it was the most fair rating them for your specific needs / wants. After buying a MK3s three years ago and only using it for a month because every time I adjusted something I made the prints worse.Watching tons of reviews and people gushing over the X1C I was about to buy one. I felt there was too much love for it. Stumbled upon 3D Musketeers and their troubles with the X1C. At that point it was still a toss up. I have no problem living within a walled garden (Apple). There were some privacy concerns with what information became theirs (Bambu), what they had control of if you connected the printer online. The recent accidental starting of prints when they rebooted their cloud severs. In the end I ordered a MK4 kit and enclosure. After finally asking for help I was able to get my MK3s printing great again. It came down to what everyone agrees on, reliability of Prusa. And the open source of their hardware / software. I can print new parts if needed. Replace / upgrade to get it working again by ordering things through them or buying from third party. Also their commitment to an upgrade path. Side note, you can increase speed on MK3/4 by using a 0.6 nozzle and keep same 0.4 details by using PrusaSlicer.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your detailed experience with the Prusa printers. Have you received and assembled your MK4 yet? I would love to hear how you like the MK4. I certainly understand your path and I wish you all the best with your choice. I also want to eventually build a MK4 kit. Please stay in touch. -Ken

[@vega480]

@@ristinnovations I have not received it yet. I will try to remember and come back with an update after some printing on it.

[@ristinnovations]

Great 👍

[@jamesgates1074]

I think you did a great job of spelling out the differences between these two printers and companies. I think of it a lot like different car companies. Do you want the Mazda with a bunch of fancy new features? Or do you want the Toyota, which may not be as fast or fancy, but it will get you there reliably. Different people want different attributes, and that's cool, go with whatever works for you. For me reliability and trust in the company is more important, I'm going with a Prusa.

[@ristinnovations]

I know how you feel because I was going down the Prusa path. Only time will tell if I made the right decision for me going down the Bambu path. As I mentioned in the video. I still plan to buy. Prusa MK4 kit when their lead times drop. Thanks for your comments.

[@stal1963]

I bought a Mazda and I am really happy with it, especially with its quality and features 😊

[@oleurgast730]

@@ristinnovations Definitly you should correct the question, not the answer. It's not "buy a Bambu or a Prusa" but "Buy a Bambu or a Prusa first" ;-) And definitly, as a beginner a Bambu is a good choice, as its good for everything. But better solutions for certain tasks: Qidi with activly heated chamber is better for ABS and PA12, mk4 with MMU2 does filament change faster (does not need cut&poo) and produces less waste.

[@MarcoAntonioButron]

How much things have changed after a year! I got my first 3D printer a couple months ago and it was a BambuLab X1C, since my son (who has an Ender 3 farm) needed some help printing some parts. It was so easy to set up, and, even though it's still a closed source system, they allowed other companies to make and sell their own. I would still buy parts from BL if they shipped to Mexico or if the distributor had them in inventory, but since this not the case, I've become an expert at buying stuff in AliExpress. There's also a large ecosystem with shared files for upgrading the printer, so I already got a raiser, a modified AMS and then some... happy printing y'all!

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your 3D printing experience!

[@cerebroferby9163]

I was super excited when I finished assembling my Prussia MK4 kit, after all that effort I encountered slow Wi-Fi transfer, some stringing on prints and a heat bed that got small white dots after cleaning it with the recommended isopropyl alcohol. Also, now I have to spend time researching what type of print bed I should use and all the small tweaks to improve the quality of my prints. Lastly, it gave me a bit of anxiety that I assembled the printer wrong and that it was my fault the prints being stringy. I haven’t tried a bamboo lab X1 carbon printer but for the extra features (nice mobile app, camera, faster internet transfer, out of the box printing without too much tweaking) Prusa seems behind. Prusa’s slicing software is amazing tho!

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the MK4

[@antscott5433]

I've just ordered the Bambu Lab with the AMS. I was going to upgrade my Prusa Mk3S+ which I built a couple years ago now to a Mk4. The cost of the upgrade where I had to print many of he parts myself was high enough to attract additional taxes and duties on import, plus the delay in getting anything delivered made the idea of buying a full MK4 kit already in the country an attractive proposition. However, after having a look around at what was what in the market and discovering that the MK4 kit was the same price as the fully constructed Bambu Lab X-1 Carbon with AMS, admittedly that was a Black Friday sale price, that included a fix to some issues I was wanting to resolve with the Prusa, mostly a temperature controlled enclosure but also the the ability to use support filament, it was a bit of a no brainer as they say. Looking forward to the new machine but the Prusa isn't going anywhere, its a beautiful thing and it still has its place on my bench and maybe when currency exchange rates improve or prices go down it will get the upgrade.

[@Clandaries]

I just ordered a Bambulab X1C with AMS. Thank you for the video :)

[@ristinnovations]

I don’t think you will regret it. I wish you all the best with your purchase and please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.😊

[@GladkY]

Great Video! A few months ago I was having the same dilema. In the end I chose Prusa, as I already had an experience with close-source system before and was afraid that in case of issues, it will be much more difficult / more expensive for me to get the printer back online. By the way, at the time I ordered my printer, Input Shaper was much more defined, which increased printing speeds significantly and my printer was delivered in around 3 weeks (kit). Living in Europe - shipping costs were also around 10 USD, which with Black Friday freebies made the purchase much better deal - with all of those, I would probably have a nit different scores when compared to yours. My printer is in closed cabinet and I did not really plan any multi-colour prints, so both this and enclosure were really not that important for my needs. I think there is also one more thing worth considering in speed-printing. Generally based on my experience so far, input shaping tends to affect the printing quality. this is not a "make or break" situation though. Those prints still look very good and for commercial printing not getting 100% quality will probably not be a big issue, however in detailed work, slower printing still seems to be better. I also expect input shaping to speed up the wear of the parts, however this is something we will probably be able to reflect on in a few years. Either way both printers are pretty awesome and Bambu seems to heve slightly better print quality, so I think that in the end both are great options, depending on what you are looking for. By the way, building a 3d printer is also a great fun and experience, which helps you understand how things work, so I highly recommend trying it.

[@ristinnovations]

Thank you for your detailed reply. It sounds like we both have had a good experience with both of our decisions regarding printers. As you said, there are slightly different features so it just a matter of deciding which of them are important for each of us. I continue to wish you the best with your Prusa.

[@i.b.blithe3263]

I agree and just bought a Prusa MK4 factory reassembled and it works great.

[@folgee7368]

Repair ability and being able to modify my printer is what made me choose pursa over bambu

[@michaelmoss5476]

A few years back I ordered the MK3S+. I was completely new to 3D printing and I did not read the instructions correctly. I tried jamming in new filament when the test print filament was still in the Prusa MK3S+. Needless to say, I really fouled things up. I reached out to Prusa and they walked me thru the entire process of dismantling my printhead, clearing the jammed filament and replacing the PTFE tube. Good luck getting that support from any other 3D printer company. For that reason I am now and will always be a Prusa Fan Boy. The Bambu might be a bit faster, but Prusa existing track record, service and reliability have have me sold. Just ordered my 5th printer from them. This will be my first MK4S. I do hear a lot of good things about the Bambu... but I am sticking with Old Reliable for now.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Prusa printers. You have many valid points.

[@amputeemarksman]

I have a Prusa MK3.5 and it has been a great printer. I am looking to upgrade and naturally coming from the Prusa Ecosystem I was planning on getting a MK4. After looking everything over I have decided on the Bambu P1S. It just makes sense when you do a cost benefit analysis. The economy is bad with no signs of improvement and I want to get the best deal for my hard earned money.

[@ristinnovations]

I think the Bambu P1S is Bambu Lab’s best value. It is fully enclosed so you can print a variety of materials, but it doesn’t have the cost of the X1C. I hope you have a good experience with the P1S.

[@talbech]

Thanks for a nice comparison of the two printers. I did exactly the same with doubting my purchase of the Prusa, but what made me stick to the Prusa was the open source nature and track record for supporting their printer for many years. I can honestly say that today I am the happy owner of a Prusa MK4 which is being heavily modified these days.

[@ristinnovations]

I don’t think you can go wrong with getting a MK4. Prusa is a great company that has a strong track record. I’m glad you are enjoying your MK4. Thanks for your comment!

[@jamiemartin8756]

Ken, you had me on the edge of my seat waiting in anticipation as to which printer you chose! What a twist ending! Thank you for this video b/c I am in the exact boat with these two printers and trying to decipher which I will purchase as my first 3D printer for my Assistive Technology Makers Lab!

[@ristinnovations]

Please let me know if I can help you in any way on your 3D printing journey! Thank you for your comment😊

[@lukasvonniederhausern6153]

It is a good review. In the end it comes to quality and reliability. Unfortunately, i can not get reliable good quality prints out of my Bambu for a large part. So I am thinking of switching back to Prusa MK4. Originally coming from Prusa MK3.

[@ristinnovations]

I’m sorry to hear that you are having issues with your Bambu Lab printer. Which model do you have? I have heard good things about the MK4 if you decide to go in that direction. Thanks for your comment.

[@lukasvonniederhausern6153]

I have the X1 Carbon@@ristinnovations

[@lukasvonniederhausern6153]

I have the X1 C. My Friend has the MK4 and his prints are looking awesome. @@ristinnovations

[@_pixelpicnic]

"tell me more, Bambu Boy" did it for me. Great breakdown - Thanks!

[@ristinnovations]

lol, I’m glad you liked the video! Thanks for your comment 😊

[@blm7929]

Prusa MK3S+ owner here. I debuted with a Ender 3 and can confirm it's not a good choice if you just want printing. You spend the majority of the time at tinker, repair, etc. I changed for a MK3S+ in kit. I was afraid to mount it but it was easy. I was afraid of the results of such a simple printer with plastic parts and mounted by me, but the first prints oblown me away. Never changed anything, never have to set up something but z-axis, this printer is a beast. It prints wonderfully, all the time, all the materials without headache. Mine is always printing, I print a lot of parts, mainly in PETG or PLA, sometimes in PC-Carbon, TPU,... It nevers fails, a real workhorse like I never seen before. Now, I'm looking to buy a second printer. I'm 90% sure it will be the Prusa MK4. I am 100% confident to Prusa and their products (bed sheets are extra, never had to use glue or something to make the pieces stick just isopropyl to clean, their filaments are verry good, never a complaint about anything). The Bambulab in the other ends seems verry good too but closed software, new company, all rely on their cloud which is a big problem as we seen with their cloud bug that made hundred/thousand of printers start printing alone and broke some of them. Plus, a Prusa can be here for life. They always offers possibility to upgrade your printer to the newest version. Someone that have a MK2 today can upgrade it to a full MK4. It costs money but they offer this possibility. A piece broke ? With Bambulab, you rely on their store. If they close, no parts. And you have to pay the parts ! With Prusa, it's open-source. You juste have to download the file and print the part. It will be there forever and free. To finish, the printing results are the same. One have more speed and more gadgets but the other have reliability, all for the exact same result, their is not much difference. There is a lot of users that complains about the Bambulab customer support that is inexistant. If they complains about it, it's because they need it. People complaining about problems on their printers are not so rare... It's no coincidence that most 3D printing farms have Prusas and stay on Prusas.

[@ristinnovations]

You do make some very good points. I appreciate you taking the time to provide your detailed experience with the Prusa printers.

[@johnpaullogan1365]

can you upgrade your mk2 to an xl?

[@oleurgast730]

Actually I do not recommend upgrading a mk3(s(+)), as you change nearly everything exept for the frame, the x and y rods and bearings and the y-carriage. As I had the soldered heated bed, I also got a new heated bed in the upgrade. As I had the old silver PSU, I opted for the black PSU for half the price. The reson I did the upgrade path non the less: Years ago I tried to upgrade an cheap chinese acrilic mk2 clone to a steel frame ("p3steel"), wich is quite solid. The frame (including rods and bearings) collected dust. So I ordered a cloned y-carriage for the mk3 on aliexpress, and when it arrives, I will rebuild the mk3 in a p3steel frame... However, I plan to upgrade my mk3s+`s to Klipper. Not so much for faster printing, but getting less ringing due to input shaper. Actually I am very happy with the nextruder on the mk4. The filament tip after unloading filament looks perfect. Can not wait to get the MMU3, as with this reliable filament tips it should work perfectly.

[@xbrewcoffee9001]

I had a mk3 and it was nothing but trouble. Ymmv.

[@2010ngojo]

I hear people are switching over to bambu printers because they require less setup time with similar or better print reliability. Part durability I have no comment on.

[@ericeinsmann5559]

Nice comparison! I just ordered a Bambu Labs A1. I don't know if it was available when you made this video, but it is the same as the X1C in the areas that are important.. Plus, it's a fraction of the price.

[@ristinnovations]

At the making of my video the P1S, A1 Mini, and the A1 didn’t exist. I agree the A1 is a great value. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for your feedback😊

[@cybergnetwork588]

Nice thing about the A1 is that you can buy 3 for the cost of a single MK4! 😂

[@ristinnovations]

@@cybergnetwork588 LOL, this is true. Of course at the making of this video only the Bambu Lab X1C existed so Bambu Lab has been busy during the last year producing the PIP, PIS, A1 Mini and the A1. Thanks for your comment

[@cybergnetwork588]

@@ristinnovationsVery nice channel btw!

[@sausage5849]

Wow, a real plot with a twist at the end 🙂 As a Anet A8 home printer owner (now if you really want to assemble a printer, this one's for you haha) and a Banbu P1S user at work, I think you made the best decision. Just a side note, it appears you only connect to China Bambu servers if you live in China. The rest of the world connects to AWS servers.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your feedback!

[@sausage5849]

@@ristinnovations You're welcome!

[@farmcat3198]

Thank you for your review. I just ordered a Mk4 kit as my first 3d printer. The math on the enclosures is one of the things I considered when comparing these printers. Who knows if I made the right choice or not. I see you have several Festool items. Have you tried Mafell tools yet?

[@ristinnovations]

It’s always a challenge to make what we think is the right decision when buying tools/equipment based on so many choices. I’m sure you made the right decision based on what was important to you. I haven’t used any of the Mafell tools. Do you have some experience with them? Thanks for your comment!

[@farmcat3198]

@@ristinnovations I looked at this as a long-term investment, and the Prusa seemed like the safest bet for service and support over 5+ years. Not the cheapest, nor the best value, but maybe the least risky. I do have experience with Mafell tools. I quit using my Festool track saws after getting a Mafell saw. The rails are easy to connect. I can rip thin pieces. I could just do the work. I didn't need to buy a bunch of accessories or build a bunch of jigs to get stuff done.

[@VK1HF]

Mate, REALLY good video...I currently have 2 X prusa. Thinking I might grab a X1C. Sorry Josef

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your positive feedback! I’m very happy with my X1C so let me know if you go for it😊

[@Standbackforscience]

I have a MK3S+s which is ultra reliable, so I went with the MK4, and love it. I put a .6mm nozzle in it, and it prints fast enough for me. I still have my MK3, and I've started looking out for people selling theirs at a good price, as the MK3 is still my sweetspot for features, reliability, and maintainability. I print a lot, I do a lot of rapid prototyping and design, and I love that I can have two printers right next to my desk and can barely hear them. From what I gather, Bambus high speed comes at the cost of high noise.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Prusa printers. Yes, you are correct that the Bambu printers can be noisy, especially if you are printing PLA with the door open. I appreciate your comment.

[@_datapoint]

Excellent comparison video. Thank you!

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your feedback 😊

[@telelaci2]

Thanks very accurate comparison and very informative. Although the weighting could be different, but you also mentioned that. It's 4 months old video. What is your opinion today?

[@ristinnovations]

Overall, I would score the Bambu and Prusa printers approximately the same now as I did 4 months ago. Thanks for the question.

[@mikefly562]

I own a Ankermake M5, which so far has been a great printer and fairly reliable. But now, I actually want to add a Prusa MK4, so I can learn to build one and learn more about 3D printing. I build a lot of RC cars and good with building in general, so I feel like I want the challenge to build the MK4 and then have both the Ankermake M5 and Prusa MK4

[@ripmax333]

So now that the Prusa MK4s is out, would you still consider the Bambu X1 carbon over the Prusa?

[@ristinnovations]

Although I don’t have any personal experience with the MK4s, from everything I’m hearing, the MK4s has some nice upgrades over the MK4. I personally would still buy a Bambu Lab P1S or X1C over the MK4s because for me I think the Bambu printers are a better value. Your situation may be different depending on what is critical to you. Thanks for the question.

[@SMIXOGAMING]

Hey Ken ! Really nice video, thank you for sharing your thoughts ! Today the question became way harder with the release of the MK4S, as it's way more recent it should be better than the X1C, what do you think?

[@ristinnovations]

I don’t have the MK4S, but the early press is encouraging. For $100 more the Bambu X1C offers a lot more options to print higher temperature materials due to the enclosure. It sounds like both printers produce high quality parts at similar speeds so it is a matter of what is important to the individual. The MK4S does make things interesting 😊Thanks for your comment!

[@SMIXOGAMING]

@@ristinnovations Thank you for your answer ! The MK4S has an enclosure option so if I buy it, I'll take it with full options. For now I'm waiting to see comparaisons on youtube, I'm not really in a rush, already have 5 printers at home 😁

[@ristinnovations]

@@SMIXOGAMING You are right, I had forgotten that you can buy an enclosure for the MK4/MK4S so that does make the decision even harder. It sounds like you are busy with your 5 printers, but please let me know if you buy the MK4S because I would be very interested in your experience with it.

[@noiricha]

After a few years of use reliability and ease of service with become the most important issue. I can see how the Bambu has performance advantages but nobody can tell you how easy they will be to repair/maintain. When you have print issues you will then have to deal with Bambu support which so far has been reported as less than ideal.

[@ristinnovations]

Yes, long-term maintenance for the Bambu Lab printers is an unknown and I have heard inconsistent support issues. I don’t have any firsthand experience with Bambu Lab’s support so I’ll have to wait and see.

[@aaron4820]

I own an Ultimaker 3 that served me well many years, but I'm looking to upgrade, like you I'm after simple click and print as I want this for R&D prototype instead of 3D printing as a hobby. It seems like these brands have exceeded the prosumer brands a while ago.

[@ristinnovations]

I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the Bambu Lab printers or the Prusa MK4S. They all have their good points. It really depends on what is important to you; size, open vs. closed source, #years in business, etc. Both brands make high quality parts. Thanks for your comment.

[@vudew]

Great video! Only critique I have is the "Ding" you used killed my ears (personal problem, don't think most people will have the same issue), and there were some fluctuations in the audio. But alas, the information was awesome, and has sealed my decision to start with the X1C.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for the feedback on the audio and for your other feedback. I appreciate it!

[@british1970s]

Same here great vid but the ding noises went right through me! I found the speech audio excellent and thankfully no annoying music! I bought a Bambu carbon X1 with ams. I am just about to assemble it by watching Rist Innovations video again on unboxing and setting up.

[@StevePrior]

Another thing I'll mention is related to speed. I think a lot of people when trying to decide between the Bambu and Prusa Mk4 want to say "well if it's reliable then I can be patient and get the more well known Prusa", especially if they're new to 3D printing. First of all 3D printing is quite slow in general. It's one thing if you're setting up a print farm with a lot of printers and repeatedly printing some known parts, you can make up for speed of each printer with having more printers. But my usecase is totally different from that, I'm usually trying to design something new and then refine that design over a few iterations, so once I start printing something I'm often stuck until that print finishes before I can try it, see what changes need to be made and then print the next version. So the Bambu can print something in maybe two hours that would take the Prusa Mk4 4-5 hours. This has a major impact on how many iterations I can try in a weekend that I'm working on something. Or maybe I'm building something and realize I'm missing a part or something broke, I've got to stop work until that part is printed and with a CoreXY printer I'm back to my project in half the time. The printers I've had longer than my Bambu and Voron are still nicely calibrated and work great, I just don't have the patience to use them when I can just get it done quick on my Bambu. When I built my Voron it was already so much faster than my other printers that I didn't have the patience to use them, now my Bambu is even faster and will often use that over the Voron.

[@ristinnovations]

Hi Steve, your comments make a lot of sense. Thanks again for your insight and advice on 3D printing. I’m still so glad I listened to you when I made my final decision on what to buy😊

[@Keith-um1pj]

I agree with you. I started with an Ender s1 pro added a Sonic pad and built an enclosure. A former Machinist I like to tinker but not as much as my Ender makes me do. I bought my 3rd printer, an Anycubic Kobra Max for just that reason, large prints and speed is not an issue. My second printer was the Carbon x1. That little window of time I have being semi retired (that's a joke) allows me to do some of my designs on the X1 Carbon and get them printed. Forget the Ender. A great starter machine but it's time to move on. With limited space I would like to replace the Ender with another Bambu. Once you've driven a Cadillac why would you want to return to a Chrysler LeBaron .

[@VELVET462]

thanks your comment helped me after weeks to make my final decision and go with the X1C instead of the MK4S. It was realy realy hard to decide. There are BIG communitys behind Bambu and Prusa and its like a fight one against the other when it comes to feed newcomers with recommendations. But i will work exactly like you wrote. I cant wait for to long, i have to print and redesign a lot of times im sure.

[@StevePrior]

@@VELVET462 The other thing is the AMS. Unless you are a very patient person multi-color printing is VERY slow if you are changing colors one or more times per layer. If you have a print that has a bunch of layers of one color, layers of a different color and so on then that's not bad. I bought my X1C with 1 AMS and quickly decided that when I do try a multi color print that 4 colors isn't enough, 5 or 6 is common. So I bought the AMS hub and a second one so now I have 8 colors. But multi-color printing isn't even the reason I love having the AMS so much - I've got an assortment of filaments loaded, in my case all ABS and I vary the colors but you can just as easily have some ABS, PETG, and PLA at the ready. And they are all stored in that humidity controlled environment. I've got my X1C plugged into a smart switch, from upstairs I can design something, remotely turn on the printer, pick a material/color, and start the print without going downstairs until the print is done. With my other printers if I want a color that's not already loaded I've got to go down, heat up the printer, feed/purge the new color and then I'm ready to start. The X1C with AMS is just plain awesome.

[@VELVET462]

@@StevePrior It is the case that I primarily want to build components and my own 19-inch rack cases. I plan to print the housing parts, CNC mill the faceplates, and powder coat them. Therefore, I will initially print in the same color, allowing me to save a bit here amidst all the immense costs I have to manage on the side. However, I may consider upgrading in the future, although I must say that I have read a lot of good things too about the MMU3 of the Prusa. It’s certainly quite individual; some people have great experiences with it, while others have had some bad luck here and there. Another thing is that the X1C works via Wi-Fi, which is a big plus, while the Prusa only uses an SD card? I’m not sure if that’s the only option, but that’s what I’ve read, or since the MK4S model, it might be possible via an app, but I’m not sure about that. So yeah, I'm looking forward to hopefully being happy with the X1C, thanks to you! It really took me more than a few weeks of consideration until I read your comment. You are the goat! 😂

[@bobhepple5752]

like the video reliability of colour change comes to mind and the fact its easy to change nozzles on the MK4 not so easy on the Bamboo

[@dustyrhodes1655]

Excited to see what Prusa does in their next gen printers(Mk5 and beyond) now that the Bambus are out

[@nwmi493]

Im curious to what Prusa will scramble to release now that the bar is rising. There was a FB sponsored ad for the X1. There were almost 1,000 reactions and comments. Then followed the Prusa sponsered ad. Less than 25 reactions and only 3 comments. Doesnt mean anything but just an observation I noticed

[@ristinnovations]

Interesting observation

[@PaulB-justme]

I am looking into getting a 3D printer to use for model railway items (as well as the inevitable toys and gadgets! 😄) The choice does seem to be heading towards the Bambu P1S, as it seems to have the positives of the X1C but without the high price. I do like the look of the Prusa Mk4, but would have to buy the kit version to keep the cost down, and it would lack the enclosure of the P1S. Any thoughts on my musings?

[@ristinnovations]

I don’t think you could go wrong with either the Bambu P1S, P1P, or the Prusa MK4. All three produce high quality prints. I think the best value is the P1S if you don’t mind Bambu’s closed-source model. The P1S gives you the most options in case you want to eventually print higher temperature materials. Thanks for your comment😊

[@PaulB-justme]

@ristinnovations thank you for your reply! Yes, this is the way I am thinking too. The P1P is cheaper, but the P1S does give me more scope to experiment with different materials once I have got some experience with the basics. Thanks once again! 👍

[@wolrab381]

Great video, and I agree with everything you said......maybe my scoring would have been slightly different but the end result would be the same. I have the Prusa Mini, MK3S+ with MMU2 and just recently bought the MK4 kit as well as the Bambu Lab Carbon X1 with AMS. I absolutely love my Bambu, it just works right out of the box, and I have been printing ABS flawlessly. It is lightning fast for a 3D printer, and the prints are very nice. I need to buy or make another enclosure for my MK4, but finding it hard to want to do when that Bambu runs so well. Close to selling my Prusas to buy another Bambu.

[@ristinnovations]

I really appreciate you taking the time to provide your feedback/comments. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@oleurgast730]

Actually I ordered the MMU3 upgrade now. If you look on the unloaded filament on a mk4, it has massivly improved. The tip is perfect now. While the MMU2 was a bit problematic if you havent finetuned every ramping profile (to descibe it nice - in reality it was a hell) and only after upgrading to Revo it worked ok, with the new nextruder nozzle I get a perfect filament tip on unload. This should improve the reliability of the MMU a lot. As cut&poo takes a lot of time and produce a lot of waste, imho for multicolour the mk4 with MMU3 might be the superior solution. It does not matter if the mk4 prints slower if the bambu uses 1:30 min for a filament change with cut&poo, increasing the time for multi colour print an eternity. However, for single colour prints, there are good/better alternatives to the X1C (like the X-Max 3, wich has activly heated chamber. Nice for PA12 and bigger ABS prints).

[@holotape]

I laughed so hard at the shot of you waiting by the mailbox :)

[@ristinnovations]

I’m glad you liked that part! Thanks for your comment😊

[@Thadopeera]

I just picked up Prusa MK4. It’s hard to beat. The print quality is amazing while having good speed and runs quietly.. Plus it’s open source like everything else I use..

[@ristinnovations]

Those are all good qualities of the Prusa MK4. I hope to buy the MK4 kit when the lead time comes down. I wish you all the best with your MK4! Thanks for your comment

[@yoyomin]

Is your phone open source? I like open source too but lets be realistic, not everything is open source.

[@Thadopeera]

@@yoyomin actually yes it is. I have Kali Linux system running on my Galaxy

[@arbjful]

I went with the Prusa MK4, I like the fact that most the spare parts could be printed. Also the fact that it prints out of the box without any tweaking. The problem with Bambu lab is that they don’t have support in India, the other issue was sourcing the spare parts, with the Prusa that is generally not the issue as it was designed to be open source from the start. I think the Bambu lab used to have a cloud approach, not sure now. This meant all your designs will be sent to a server in China. That’s not a good idea at all. Secondly I am a bit wary about using high value Chinese products

[@keetahh]

awesome video, thanks! i already have a mk3s, i think i'll be getting the bambulab x1c next :)

[@ristinnovations]

I’m glad you liked the video! Sounds like you will have the best of both worlds. Good luck with your purchase and thanks for your comment😊

[@keetahh]

@@ristinnovations quite literally, lol. i'm very eager to try filament other than PLA especially for parts that could get some sunlight thrown at them. :D

[@StevePrior]

A minor enhancement to your explanation, the Prusa Mk4 being a bed slinger is a Cartesian style printer while as you said the Bambu is a CoreXY, the Prusa XL which is in the process of being released is also a CoreXY. The Cartesian style printers have more mass that needs to change direction than the CoreXY style, so even with input shaping available for both the CoreXY style will be able to move faster at a better level of quality. The other thing that's nice about any printer that's not a bed slinger (there are non bed-slinger Cartesian printer designs) is that they take up less front to back space because the bed doesn't move. In terms of the slicer software, Bambu Labs took a very different approach to designing for multi-color than Prusa, the Bambu Lab slicer makes it very easy to keep track of what colors are loaded into the machine and assign those colors to parts and surfaces, Prusa isn't quite as easy. A feature that PrusaSlicer does have that Bambu Slicer does not is that when you slice a model that is a surface with raised text or a logo, Prusa will detect that and ask if you want it to add an automatic color change. This is REALLY nice. You can accomplish the same thing with Bambu it's just not automatic and takes a little practice. The Prusa MMU system is a slightly older design than the Bambu AMS, the AMS has a built in filament cutter which eliminates concerns that when you retract filament from the nozzle that there is no stringing that might jam the system. This means the AMS should be far more reliable. The Bambu also has a "poop chute" which allows the printer to purge filament out the back of the printer for color changes where the Prusa has to use extra print bed space for a prime tower to do the same thing or use tricks to purge into the infill. Bambu will also use a purge tower, but a smaller one. Also the AMS is a sealed container with desiccant so it can be used for filament storage and keep it dry, whereas the Prusa doesn't contain the spools at all. Even if you don't print multiple colors within a single print the AMS is an awfully nice feature that lets you you use a different color from print to print with no manual intervention.

[@ristinnovations]

Hi Steve, thanks very much for your detailed comments. I really appreciate it!

[@amndk34]

I guess the AMS also allows for a special support fillament? I think I saw in another KZbin video that one of the filaments that came with the BambuLab X1C in that video, was a roll of white support material, so not meant to be used for prints, but some more brittle support material for prints needing this. If true I think that would be another bonus for using the AMS for prints that does not necessarily need multicolor, but still benefit from the AMS this way.

[@StevePrior]

@@amndk34 Yes, the only things the AMS can't deal with are flexible filaments (you have to use the manual spool holder for those) which will get caught in the more complicated filament path of the AMS or abrasive filaments which will wear out the plastic guides and PTFE tubes involved. However most of the Bambu supplied carbon fiber reinforced filaments are supported with the AMS.

[@ristinnovations]

@@amndk34 Yes, using the special support material in the AMS is recommended by Bambu. Another benefit of the AMS is that you could have 2 spools of the same color material and if you run out of filament on the first spool, the AMS will automatically begin using the second spool without interruption. You just need to set up the software at the beginning of the print.

[@JustinBuildsThings]

the bambu labs will always be faster than the prusa until prusa puts out a high flow hotend with a comparable flowrate, and it will always be less rigid than a cube frame printer like the bambu. the dirty secret is this also means the mk4 is actually the exact same theoretical max speed as the mk3s+, because they have basicaly the same flow rate hotend and can both saturate the flow rate before running into issues like the tick rate of the legacy 8bit board on the mk3s+, etc, or motion system limitations of the motors and drivers on either, which are considerably higher than anyone would actually reasonably run at. the mk4 will add a lot of the more modern automation features that voron users and bambu users are familiar with to a mk3s+ friendly shape and ecosystem, and will be much more rigid than the predecessor which will also help reduce ringing artifacts compared to the mk3s. the mk4 is a great printer, but it still has the bedslinger limitations like having a heavy y axis and having to accelerate the part along the axis. motion speed is unintuitively a very bad barometer for net part time/speed, because what really determines that, is basically your flow rate relative to your toolpaths. the analogy i usually give, is asking whether waving your arms faster makes more toothpaste come out of a tube, or squeezing it more. in this case, the bambu is better at both. the bambu hotend can hit a flow rate of about 32 cubic mm per second, and the prusa is about 12 (but you can get to around 25 reliably with a cht nozzle upgrade and an adapter which is an expensive pair of wear parts). you can get to that by this formula: layer width x layer height x speed= volumetric flow rate (VFR) in mms^3. since the bambu can sustain higher acceleration rates, it can also hit that speed more quickly. you can actualy use the widget at the bottom of the page on prusas calculator page to ballpark how long it takes to hit max speed in terms of travel distance at a given accel. using the bambu speed modes is actualy not the ideal way to tune it and can induce some artifacts or unexpected behaviors, the best way is to understand the dynamics of the flow equation i mentioend above, and directly set the settings in the slicer. you might also want to try out orcaslicer, which is a fork of bambu studio, with a lot more features added. lastly, input shaping doesnt actualy make the printers faster, smooths the motion planning to reduce vibration artifacts. essentially, its a compromise of sacrificing part accuracy for surface finish, and across certain frequency ranges and acceleration rates, it may actualy lead to effects of oversmoothing your parts by a few microns, but this is usualy a worthwhile tradeoff. this allows you essentially to reduce defects while printing faster at the tradeoff of accuracy, but doesnt actualy make the printer faster. its also primarily driven by accel, which is also usualy the primary driving factor for stuff like ringing defects, more so than speed in most cases. i think you'll love both the bambu's ease of use, and the experience of building a prusa, both of which i think are valuable experiences to have as you get deeper into learning these tools, and i think it will be a wonderful addition to your shop. Building my first prusa from a kit was one of my absolute favorite experiences in the 3d printing space and then later building my first voron a couple of years ago when i first discovered that community later on, i think the act of assembling the printer and learning about it from that context gave me a much better foundational understanding of how to get it to do what i want to make the parts i want. Since you also like woodworking, you should totally check out the ussa woodworking channel where they frequently make 3d printed tools and also printed parts to combine with woodworking projects, its one of my favorite channels, and i think you'll like it. i really liked the honest and analytical format of your decision process, and am excited to see where your content evolves, it feels super genuine, something deeply lacking in modern youtube where most content seems to be sponsor driven. looking forward to your future content. I'm going to share this video to some of my friends, hopefully it helps your video get some more views. cant wait to see whats next!

[@ristinnovations]

Wow Justin, what a thoughtful, insightful, and detailed explanation of the difference between the printers. Also, thank you for suggesting to check out the woodworking channel you mentioned. I really appreciate your comments. You are one of the reasons why I am excited to join the 3D printing community because I have noticed most people are very interested in helping others learn by sharing their expertise. Thanks again for taking the time to provide your comments. Regards, Ken

[@SniperGangRaRa]

Great analysis. Thanks!

[@yannickver]

I'm thinking to buy a 3D printer and doubting between those 2 models. Nice and structured comparaison of both. the only thing is miss is the 'bell and whistles' that the bambu has like cam and Lidar. Does it make it that much better ?

[@ristinnovations]

I find the camera very useful because I can monitor the print progress from anywhere, especially using Bambu’s phone app. I’m not so clear regarding the necessity of the LiDAR because I use the texture plate for a lot of prints and the LiDAR doesn’t work with the texture plates. The Bambu does have a lot of features such as it automatically detects if you have the wrong build plate in the machine versus what is in the slicer software. It also has a “spaghetti detection” feature which has worked for some of my failed prints. It comes down to what is important to you. I wish you the best on your decision. Thanks for your comment.

[@yannickver]

@@ristinnovations thx ! your video was great !

[@ristinnovations]

@@yannickver Thanks for the feedback 😊

[@CompassCustomCreations]

I very much appreciate your prioritization matrix approach to aid in your decision making! I like to use 1, 3, and 9 as my scores to improve discrimination. I find that a 1-5 scale tends to produce very tight ranges; it nearly always reverts to an average of 3-4. Your results tend to bear out that observation. Most excellent video, thank you sir!

[@ristinnovations]

I do see your point about suggesting to expand the scale to 10. Great suggestion! Thanks for your comment !

[@johnpaullogan1365]

@@ristinnovations i like to use multipliers on each category myself. if you weight a category as more important it gets a higher multiplier so it has a bigger impact on ending score

[@ristinnovations]

@@johnpaullogan1365I like your idea of weighting. I will use that on future comparisons. Thanks for the suggestion😊

[@MrKlawUK]

open/closed source - firmware is one thing but if things fail they’re just as likely to be hardware and I’d expect third parties to make spares availalbe - I think there are already replacement third party print heads available for instance. If you’re a parts maker and not a tinkerer I’m surprised how much weighting you put on that element tbh

[@MrKlawUK]

moral of the story - ask your local Steve

[@rache5399]

I'm curious how you feel about customer support with bambu now (if you've had to use it) amazing comparison video btw. Best I've seen in tons of posts and videos I've seen!!

[@ristinnovations]

I haven’t had any recent experience with Bambu’s customer support so I don’t know if they have improved. I do know their CEO mentioned this was a focus of his to improve in this area. Thanks for the positive feedback!😊

[@MacRobeson]

I've got 2 custom built Vorons and a Prusa Mk3s, can't wait for my X1 Carmon + AMS!

[@ristinnovations]

Wow, you already have a nice collection! I hope you enjoy your X1Carbon when you get it😊

[@sunnyf8625]

Now I know which should I choose. thanks

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your comment😊

[@juggernaugh75321]

I personally ended up going with the prusa purely because of how loud the P1P and X1C is. A lot of reviewers don't talk about the noise of the thing in your home office when they talk about it.

[@ristinnovations]

That’s a good point. I have mine in my basement workshop so the noise is okay for me, but I could never have a Bambu in my bedroom or I would never get any sleep. Thanks for pointing out the noise topic.

[@StevePrior]

The Prusa doesn't move fast enough to make that much noise :-) There are fan noise issues. In general I'm very happy my printers are down in the workshop instead of the office, they can also heat up the space they're in.

[@MartinWolker]

​@@StevePriorwhen I compared Prusa MK4 with Input shaper alpha FW with BambuLab P1P at the same speed. The Prusa is still much more quiter than P1P. Also X1C is loud AF. My friend had to sell it bcs it was impossible to work from home near these chinese printer even a next room to them. Also my Voron printer is kinda loud, but not so much thanks to better fans.

[@yoyomin]

Just run the bambu slower?

[@StevePrior]

@@MartinWolker I don't see how you're running an i3 style Mk4 at the same speed as a corexy machine even with input shaping. But I'll agree that my Voron 2.4 is quieter than my X1C in part because I used Noctua fans.

[@leapnlarry]

I have had at MK2 for 7 year and a MK3s for one year they are pretty good but I would consider the bambo but i love how prusa comes in kits that you build yourself. I think that the prusa is for a tinker kind of guy, if you want a buy an and start printing printer then bambo is the best choice. Larry

[@ristinnovations]

I agree with your feedback. Thanks for commenting.

[@andrewbarney5503]

Im getting a printer for work and I'm really torn between the value of the P1S Bambu with AMS and Prusa MK4. I really want one that has an enclosure but also is extremely quiet for office printing.

[@ristinnovations]

It sounds like it's a tough choice for you. Both printers are reliable and will produce high quality prints so it's a matter of the other aspects that are important to you (open-source vs. closed-source, price, etc.)

[@ninjaride1312]

Why did you only show from creality 6y printers? Show their newest offerings as well

[@panagiotismavridis1922]

I think someone that starts on 3d printing can buy a p1p, if budget is a thing and don't know if they will be putting effort on 3d printing. An enclosure and upgrades can be bought later on and the p1p already has many features of the X1C. Now bambu labs have also their own bed slinger, the A1 which is also a great choice, maybe a steal at the price with the AMS lite. :D

[@ristinnovations]

I agree with your comment

[@amndk34]

I did not buy one yet, but looked at the exact same two printers. I also had the exact same considerations regarding Prusas pro and cons, and same for BambuLab. In the end I have also decided that when I buy the 3D printer, it will be a BambuLab X1C with AMS. No idea what their roadmap is though, and if they would be considering the next gen 3D printer yet, or still be pushing the X1C for a good while yet.

[@ristinnovations]

There are some rumors that Bambu may be coming out with a larger 3D printer, but that’s just a guess on somebody’s part. I listened to a recent interview of Bambu’s CEO and he mentioned “projects” in the works, but he didn’t elaborate. My own opinion is that I think Bambu will continue to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. I think the X1 Carbon and P1P will continue to be a part of Bambu’s product line as they expand their product line. Thanks so much for your comment.

[@earlowens998]

Prusa Mark 4 is a very expensive bed slinger. You can buy 4 Anycubic Kobra 2 for the price of a MK4. I have a Kobra 2 and after I got the z compensation adjustment right it ran very well.

[@ristinnovations]

I agree there are many lower cost printers like the Kobra out there, but I narrowed my choice to the Prusa due to their reliability and their customer support and my other choice was the Bambu Lab due to its advanced features. Thanks for your comment.

[@trskinn]

I have mk4s and the bambu x1 carbon. My bambu has failed 4 times since I got it in November. I only print pla on bambu and mostly print petg on mk4s. My mk4s has had 1 failed print over the same time. The ams has contributed to all my bambu failures where machine fails to pull out filament on swaps.

[@ristinnovations]

I’m sorry to hear about your struggles with the X1C, especially with the AMS.

[@rsxteufel]

My son and i own anycubic kobra pro....its a tinker . We knows by now how to fix everything on that machine. We are both in IT fields and after long days of troubleshooting we dont want to come home and deal with more troubleshooting. We could have get the prusa if we want their hq is about 3 to 4 hrs away from us but we pick x1c because of plug and play.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your comment!

[@xanhxanh5097]

thank you for making this video and I placed an order for pruse thanks to your video. Also I live in the eu so I also have eu customer rights.

[@ristinnovations]

Glad I could help! Thanks for your comment.

[@johnpaullogan1365]

technically you can have a corexy where the bed does not move in the z dimension. the voron 2.4 is the best example of this. it uses a flying gantry where the head moves in all 3 dimensions

[@oleurgast730]

Also you can have cartesian printers with z-moving bed. Like ultimakers crossing rod design or the ender 5 (were the x-motor moves with the x-axis). Actually I like crossing rods a lot, esp. if going big size. Anyway, I prefer x moving in z, so Trident instead of 2.4, as there are some interesting designs for toolchangers. If the xy gantry moves in z, you need a lot of movement to do a toolchange (or need extra z-axis for the toolbay to move it along).

[@Jolly_Green23]

It's rare to come across a video nowadays where the person has done real research. I'm usually annoyed as they repeatedly state incorrect facts or make assumptions without verifying. I own a MK4 with the encloser and MMU3. I messed up the wired while doing a nozzle swap and my printer was out of commission for 3 weeks while waiting for parts to ship from Prusa. (3 weeks to SHIP, not arrive) I realized I couldn't be limited to a single printer, especially the slow order fulfillment Prusa has. In that time, I considered buying a Prusa Mini+, which lead me to look into Bambu. I really like Prusa and wanted to stay within their ecosystem, but I purchased an A1 Mini for half the price of a Prusa Mini+. Buying the A1 Mini opened my eyes to Bambu. It may be a "closed system", but I use OrcaSlicer and can print offline if I want. I'm watching this video for entertainment, but I've also already ordered an X1-Carbon. I'm finding way more value with Bambu than Prusa, which makes me sad. I want Prusa to stay ahead, but they're falling really far behind.

[@ristinnovations]

Thank you for sharing your first-hand experience with both the Prusa and Bambu Lab printers. It sounds like you have had a good experience with both and I wish you continued success with all of your printers.

[@magicmanspaz]

In the same boat. Been waiting for xl for way to many years now. ordered a mk4 recently out of losing patients. Might cancel my order and get a bambu now for the harder to print type materials like cf nylon and abs and wait for the xl for large prints. I have loved my mk3s+ print farm but I want something that just works well with nylon and abs.

[@ristinnovations]

I understand your concerns. I wish you all the best with your decision. Thanks for your comment.

[@magicmanspaz]

@@ristinnovations Bit the bullet and just cancelled the mk4 order and ordered a x1c, I will still keep my pre order for the XL . should get the best of both worlds.

[@ristinnovations]

Sounds like a great plan!

[@zero00tolerance]

Bambu Lab for the win, previous owners of multiple printers for 7 years, Flashforge, Creality, Wanhao, Artillery, Sovol and Mk3S+. Save yourself from all the hassle of spending money to upgrades, time and tinkering effort and just get the Bambu Lab. Bambu Lab is very good for your soul, solidly well made and reliable for both new and pro users.

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@Knowbody42]

How would you rate the Bambu P1S?

[@ristinnovations]

I think the Bambu P1S is the best value of Bambu’s product line, especially if you don’t need to print Carbon fiber filaments. The X1 has the LiDAR, but that doesn’t work with the texture plates so I still lean towards the P1S.

[@GustavoAMD]

You have a lovely charisma

[@ristinnovations]

That is very kind of you to say. That’s probably the nicest comment I have received since I started my KZbin channel. Thank you very much!😊

[@NoSQLKnowHow]

My question about the Bambu is, does it have to connect to the internet at all? Can I keep it and my phone on my local network and it will work fine. I do not want it connecting to servers out of country at all.

[@StewBoi3000]

Also worth mentioning the Prusa comes with a pack of gummy bears to eat while building the kit. I give Prusa a 5 and Bambu a 0. 😂

[@ristinnovations]

lol, good point😊

[@fmh357]

P1S seems to be the sweet spot for print farms.

[@ristinnovations]

Yes, I agree with you. Thanks for the comment.

[@rufustoad1]

I own the MK3S+ with MMU and love it so much I purchased the XL with 2 heads. They should change their name to IT JUST WORKS!! Not to get personal but how do you incorporate a Print farm into a wood shop:)

[@ristinnovations]

I have a area that I am setting up the 3D printers and I have a very good dust collection system for the sawdust from the woodworking equipment so it doesn’t contaminate the 3D printer area.

[@hood1148]

@ristinnovations Which mid range (£800 avg), core xy, enclosed printer do u recommend?

[@ristinnovations]

I think the Bambu Lab P1S with AMS unit at $949 USD is a great value for what you get.

[@donkeymarco]

Warranty, that is not customer service per se, is a big plus of Prusa. If their pre-assembled printer doesn't work, after initial try to be fixed by the cudsomer with their support, than they will send a courrier to get it back for repair, very often they send a new one to reduce customer's out of service time.

[@ristinnovations]

That’s a very good point. I didn’t mention warranty in my video so thank you for sharing the Prussia warranty!

[@RagdollRocket]

very good video and great review. Thank you!

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for the positive feedback 😊

[@PungBoy3]

Thanks for this, very interesting. I was nearly going to, seriously, maybe, kind of, ask the boss/wife and get a PRUSA. But! I prefer ABS as it’s more forgiving than the other brittle rubbish. So that means an enclosure. And being far away from Europe as well, means expensive rolls/shipping.

[@ristinnovations]

ABS is my favorite material as well. Thanks for your comment!

[@gregg-d4l]

x1c is the way to go! out of the box and printing , now my only problem is i need more printers and filament 😂

[@ristinnovations]

Lol, I wish I could help you (but I have the same problem)😊

[@SwapnilBhartiya]

xtool is also a chinese company but one of the most popular laser machines. DJI is also a chinese company so is Volvo, MG and even Polestar.

[@PatJones82]

Does Bambu have a website 16:55 with troubleshooting and replace part steps documented as well as Prusa does? I’ve built a Prusa MK3S and an MK4 and each time I felt they spoon fed me everything I needed to know and I have no worries about a future failure and how I will fix it. Maybe Bambu is on par in this regard but if so, I haven’t seen that fact yet. I can’t help but be interested in the Bamboo though, even though I’m currently a Prusa guy.

[@kuba6344]

I own Prusa clone printer (not that hard to make since it is open source). I used bear frame for it, dragon hotend, every part I have is slightly better, despite stepper motors - these are the same. It costed me less than 500 bucks. And the hardware is slightly better than stock. So for me clones are way to go - but of course it comes with quite a bit of tinkering and basicaly zero consumer support since I`m not anyones consumer lol.

[@kuba6344]

And I forgot to mention, it`s ugly AF since printed parts are made from brown filament - looks like crap, quite litteraly.

[@ristinnovations]

It sounds like you have quite a talent to assemble your own printer!

[@kuba6344]

@@ristinnovations friend of mine does actually. I own it but I am not the one who assembled it :D

[@Farts19]

So Bambu has enclosure/camera which gets it 5. Prusa has neither and gets 4? what would it take to get a 3 or 2 then? SHouldn't that be 0?

[@ristinnovations]

I was including the optional Prusa enclosure with my scoring. I don't think Prusa offers a camera so that is one reason why I rated it less than the Bambu Lab. Thanks for the comment.

[@Dr_Sethers]

Wow! Perfect video! I am in this exact predicament and this helped alot. The cloud, activation, and firmware updates are my biggest concern with the bambu products

[@ristinnovations]

I’m glad the video was helpful. Good luck with your decision and thanks for your comment.

[@worshaw]

@@ristinnovationsafter two months in, any regrets going with Bambu? I’m curious about your thoughts on the P1S they introduced since.

[@ristinnovations]

@@worshaw I’m very satisfied with my Bambu Lab X1 Carbon. I have been cranking out parts on almost a daily basis with very few problems. I plan to eventually build up a 3D print farm so my next printer will be the P1S. I think it’s a great deal for the money. I like my X1 Carbon for making Carbon fiber parts, but in the future most of my prints will be made from ABS and PETG so the P1S will fit my needs at a much lower cost than the X1 Carbon. Thanks for reaching out.

[@sqalg]

@@ristinnovations If you're considering the P1S instead of the X1 Carbon for the next one, isn't the lack of LiDAR on the P1S a problem for you?

[@ristinnovations]

@@sqalg The lidar doesn’t work with the texture plate so I don’t think I will miss it on the P1S.

[@oleurgast730]

Actually, while the AMS is the most prominent feature of bambulabs, using it for full multicolour takes an eternity or two. It also produces an insane amount of waste. The reason is relibility on unload and reload filament, as you can have hundreds of filament changes in one print and if only one fails, the print is waste. There are different aproaches for reliable filament change: a) Ramping. Using special unloading sequences and a special profile inside the heatbreak, you try to get a good filament tip on unload. You have to tune every filament - and it should be perfectly dry. Also it is very problematicly on high-flow hotends. b) Cut&Poo: Instead of unloading the filament wich is inside the nozzle, the filament is cut inside the printhead, unloading just the unmolten filament. The filament inside the nozzle and heatbreak is left inside and "pooed" on next filament load. This not only creates a lot of waste, but also takes it's time: 1:30min on the AMS, 1:20min on the AMS light. Independend of the method, some plastic still is in the nozzle and has to be wiped out (waste tower, wipe2infill or wipe2extraObject) On the mk3s+/mmu2 the reliability increased a lot, after changing from an e3d v6 to a revo hotend due to the integrated nozzle/heatbreak combo. However the mk4 is even a step ahead: While I do not have the MMU3 now, I have the mk4 and the filament tip after unload has an insane good quality. The nextruder nozzles, also made by e3d, have a much longer heatbreak than the Revo. I haven't tuned anything, I even printed silk PLA with 240°C and got a perfect tip after unload. So definitly cut&poo would be a total waste of material and time there. The bambulab machines try to handle fast printing with high flow nozzle and filament changing at the same time. This is totally OK if you only need a few filament changes (for example for support interface layers) or printing multicolour just a few times a year. However, 16 filaments against 5 isn't an advantage if you block your bambu printer for 2 weeks just to do the print, so you practicly never use this anyway. Imho the first to decide is if you need multi filament or not. If not, there are better alternatives. For a workshop, the Qidi X-Max 3 with its activly heated chamber definitly is the better choise compared to a bambulab. It is not as beginner friendly, as you have to adjust z-offset yourself and also have to pull the filament manually on unload, but it's bigger volume, the activly heated chamber (up to 65°C) and the extremly solid construction, combined with being open source (Klipper) makes it first choice for ABS, ASA, PC, PA6 and PA12. Still, of course you can do manual filament change, if you only want to add maybe a text or logo at the bottom layer. Also due to open source you could add a filament changer later on. So while it is beginner friendly (not as beginnerfriendly as an bambulab, but still), it's also tinker friendly. For example, I upgraded my X-Max 3 to a revo hotend and now can choose between fast printing with RevoHF, easy filament change (I plan to add an ERCF) with standard Revo nozzle and ObXidian for abrasives. If you realy want multicolour and plan to use it more often, the mk4 definitly is the better choise. Much less waste, as it do not use cut&poo. However, if you want multi material like for soluble support, a toolchanger (like the Prusa XL) might be best. Personally of course the answer to the question "bambulab or prusa or Qidi" obviously is a simple "yes" ;-) It's only about the order I buy them. X-Max 3 was the first of the "new generation" printers (I have a lot of older ones, my hobby is more tinkering than actually printing), as activly heated chamber is definitly most important to me now (due to energy cost I only heat my house to only 12°C, so even PLA would warp, and also I wanted to print larger ABS parts), the mk4 upgrade I got a week ago, and I just ordered the A1 (mostly to do a bit of reverse engeneering).

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for such a detailed comment. I'm sorry that I overlooked replying to you sooner.

[@Drumaier]

Great video good man. I'm not in the market for any of them but curious about new 3d printers in general. This video is great because is very fair with both brands and products; and very fun to watch also. Would be cool if you can make some videos showing the bambu printer at work etc. Keep the good work!

[@ristinnovations]

Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it😊

[@TechnologistAtWork]

The bell ring in your video is VERY loud compared to the rest of the audio in your video.

[@ristinnovations]

Yes, I have received similar feedback so thanks for mentioning it. Based on your feedback and others, I won’t use this sound effect without better understanding the volume of the sound.

[@vladimirminkov9245]

i was sharing this view of X1C but after been using it for over 7 Months almost constantly and in parallel Prusa mk3S+ with upgraded revo six high flow extruder now i vote for Prusa . Apart from the AMS , Prusa over all is a better printer for me after enough experience with both. But both good printers . Intend to upgrade Mk3s+ to Mk4 or juts get one more MK4. Note the actual speed of the MK4 and the X1C is close once you know what how to tune speed. My mind changed completely after hitting a few problems with X1C which i never had with Prusa. And especially after learning a few tricks from X1C and applied to the Mk3S+ for speed now both printers are more or less close speeds. X1C problems heat bed warping. Issues in some soft materials , uneven temperature inside the chamber, terrible support , almost impossible to print soft materials, constantly changing the plates( 1 Prusa vs 4 X1C same amount of prints). And yes X1C is a nicer setup to start , but half of the features are not needed or not good enough including but not limited to the autocalibration. The Bambu slicer have issues which Prusa slicer does not have , and other small things. Over all both printers have a good and bad points. But until you print with both printers more than XXXX hours and get to some challenging prints is difficult to judge.

[@GuusK]

I have a Prusa MK3S for more than 2 years but Now I am very exited to buy the Bambu Lab X1C. More speed, beter and reliable. The Prusa MK3S is nice but to old for commen market with 32Bit proccecing etc. Also Prusa has also his faults , If the filament get stuck it needs lot of work and twitter to get it back in good working conditions what I do not like. Bambu Lab Is realy next level. And sucked into the hobby of 3D printing RC planes

[@ristinnovations]

I think you will enjoy the Bambu X1C. It sounds like you’re having a great time with the 3D printing RC planes!😊