Bambu A1 mini vs Prusa MINI - Which 3D printer is the clear winner?
This is the most requested 3D printer comparison by far! I compared the Bambu Lab A1 mini against the Prusa MINI for performance, price and value! See which one scores the highest and comes out as the clear winner!
I'm not sure this is a HUGE surprise, but this video will definitely help someone who is struggling to choose between these two machines. Two vastly different levels of technology at the same price point.
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:14 History
01:13 Price
01:31 3D Model
02:36 Filament Selection
04:15 Keeping Score
04:22 AMS / MMU
04:46 Build Volume / Plate
05:25 Nozzle Temperature
05:53 Extruders
06:32 Default Nozzles
07:32 Filament Runout Sensor
08:05 Camera
08:54 Interface
09:21 Networking
09:46 Additional Sensors
10:05 Alpha Firmware
11:10 Model Printing
11:48 KZhead Members
12:26 Print Reveal
13:51 Summary
14:36 Thank You!
#prusa #bambulab #3dprinting
LONG winded response here based on my evening rants the last few nights: My two cents are the Prusa Mini has been the biggest headache of a printer I ever owned. I was plagued by heat creep constantly jamming the nozzle. Then the printed extruder would constantly be unreliable combined with that issue. One day I caved and spent a good chunk of change on the Revo kit and bondtech extruder. This got my mini to the starting line, but at that point I'd spent so much money on a printer that was promised to "just work because it was a Prusa." That day I realized Prusa is not as good as I had hoped. I have an MK3S+ that I do genuinely think is an incredible machine, but it is DATED. And it was dated from the day I got it. But it did ACTUALLY work and has been a great printer. But this is about the Mini. After all that work I had a printer that was "okay." The poor design of the Mini doesn't allow for a nice square frame, and its so prone to flexing and bowing that its prints were never really up to snuff. For the price I paid along with upgrades I was very disappointed. I recently got an A1 mini, and H.O.L.Y.C.R.A.P it was and incredible experience for a first time bambu owner. "It just worked" and did it so much nicer than the Mini ever did. I knew the Mini was dead the moment the A1 hit peoples homes. I was actually MAD at how well the A1 worked, because it just validated my feelings about all the time and money I spent on the Prusa Mini. That said, I don't like the A1 interface, the Prusa dial does just work a lot nicer, and you can do a lot more tweaking with it. But for that "I just want to click print and go" mentality that the A1 is trying to hit, then its perfect. I am genuinely blown away by the value of the A1. And honestly I would ignore the AMS added price when considering the printer. Yes they're trying to push it together with the A1 BECAUSE it will be the same price as the mini, but thats the marketing. In the end you could nab yourself an A1 for $300. I only got the AMS to try it, but for a lot of people and print farms hey won't waste the space or money on it. The input shaping "update" was a definite knee-jerk reaction to the A1. They had to promise SOMETHING. The update did reawaken a little love for the Mini, I felt as though it was FINALLY a printer worth having. But with all the money I had already spent, and the alpha firmware getting no more talk since its release (typical prusa) I am a bit upset that it hasn't been tweaked more. It does well, but still is overshooting corners and bulging at speed. Realistically, the Prusa mini just CANNOT compete with that it its current price point. I'm guessing Prusa was making wild overhead on the mini with all the printed parts and cheap structure parts. That luxury has sailed, prusa will need to start learning fast how to be an adaptive company. First thing I would do would be to make the mini $250 kits. Which is honestly where I thought it should have been without the prusa tax. Then add the filament sensors and a version with better input shaping. Find a way to stiffen up the frame and I think it could still be a totally viable buy in 2024. BUT, if they don't do those things I don't think they'll sell many more to most consumers, print farm owners may not abandon them outright since they have the infrastructure for them. but thats about it. OKAY. if you read all this thank you, and let luck be on your side for the day.
Okay! You win for the LONGEST comment I’ve ever received. Wow. Also, I pinned your comment because you shared so much insight into how a lot of people feel in this space. I have a lot of Prusa MINIs and I’ve been fortunate to not have a lot of problems with them, but I’m not deaf to those that have. I sincerely appreciate the time you spent sharing your experiences and thoughts. Also, I too think the Prusa MINI price needs to drop and their needs to be some new hardware to go with their software updates. Thank you! 💜
@@LoyalMoses thanks for taking the time to read it. Writing out the comment saved my wife from another night of my rants. She sends her thanks. Happy printing!
I had the same problems. Replaced the extruder with a Bondtech, replaced the hotend with a Revo Prusa Mini Edition, and after all that effort and expense it was finally a decent printer. But Prusa is selling a "premium" product at a very premium price, aren't they? Really makes it that much more hilarious when Prusa shills can't shut up about how reliable their printers are. If the Mini was an attempt to lure people into buying an MK3S+ later on, Prusa screwed up monumentally.
From a fellow Prusa Mini+ owner: I would still buy the Bambu Labs even if the Prusa was $250. They would need to discount the price much deeper than $250 to make it compete with the A1. If I didn't want a larger printer I would pick up an A1 Mini asap. ;) Totally agree with all of your talking points. -Gafleg
I own a prusa mini+ and had it upgraded with the Revo micro and bondtech extruder too. Has the A1 the possibility to change nozzles to 0.6 or 0.8? I know it's not the same, but at least you can switch nozzles in the mini and improve speed with a trade-off on details with taller layer heights
It’s not even a competition, Prusa got too comfortable now they are paying the price. Their pricing is just ridiculous, his argument is it’s because where his printer are built, but the market doesn’t care.
It's crazy how fast things are changing isn't it?!
I think his argument is valid! But you as customer have the choice to choose if you think that is important or not ;-)
Especially with the former excuse that Prusa's were economical because of them using in house 3D printed parts. I don't see how they save money by printing their own parts.
@@jbrou123the print farm isn't really to save them money. It's to help them innovate. Since they are running hundreds of their own products 24/7 they get to deal with all the ways things break and fail. Plus all the little issues that make them annoying to use. If they find an issue and fix it with a new part they can just start printing that part. Injection molding would make any change take a lot more time and money. At the scale they are operating at now it is probably holding them back. But I think it is what got them to the point where people that had multiple printers would just end up using their prusa's because they were just nicer to use overall.
The truth is that prusa has never really innovated and they just make high quality copies of the economy machines With that said, I always recommended them to people that had money to burn and wanted a very reliable machine
I've had a Prusa Mini for the past few years, amazing little bed slinger. Updated to the alpha IS firmware when it came out, mind blowing performance upgrade - especially 4 years after release. Yes the alpha slicer profiles need heavily tweaking, but for a completely open source printer and slicer, not a problem at all.
They are great machines, I own 24 of them! I want to compare the final release firmware to the A1 mini as soon as I can!
What heavily tweaking do you mean?
Prusa really has no excuses. They had control of the 3D printer market, so should have been well placed to lead innovation and maintain their market position. But like many growing companies, they dropped the ball on innovation, clearly just focusing on maximising their profit by keeping their prices high and clearly cutting back on R&D. Their own lack of innovation, just left the market open to new players.
I am hearing this similar sentiment from a lot of people!
I think their persistence with using 3D printed parts for everything is their downfall. There's really no reason for it at all past the MKII. All that time, energy, and manpower could have been better spent elsewhere.
@@electronicsandewastescrapp7384 That's a good observation. You'd think with their production volume, and in the interests of delivering lower price and a more refined finish quality, it would make more sense to at least move to injection-moulded parts?
Just don't forget how much RnD went into PrusaSlicer that most of us use in one form or another
@@gregclare They could have went CNC and started making printers that could do engineering materials in heated enclosures or something instead. It does seem they have a big value problem right now.
I looked up some videos on KZhead and also compared these two, but for me personally it is hard to compare. To keep it simple, the A1 is the DEFINITE one to go, but if we dive deeper, the difference of 4 years does matter a lot. The MK4 really shows that for me, since it got even faster than some other new generation printers and the quality is pretty excellent! If Prusa would at least pack more features and the things everyone wants these days they will definitely catch up. Like your videos!
Thank you! Things are changing so fast, I love it! I can’t wait to see what the next year does for us!
This is an excellent video! I was looking at purchasing a Prusa Mini but then learned of the A1 Mini and almost bought that. Honestly, if I had seen this video I would have bought the A1 mini. I ended up completely changing my mind and getting the P1S w/ AMS because I had received a bonus at work lol. Excellent video!
Thank you! 💜Awesome! These machines are getting so good out of the box! I love it!
I bought my Mini in 2019. Since then I’ve upgraded the parts to make it a mini+, did the WiFi upgrade because native networking didn’t exist until this year, and upgraded to the Revo nozzle set. I love that little machine, but if NEEDED a small form factor printer today it’d be the A1 hands down. I love the open source nature of Prusa, that’s why I even bought their new XL, but you pay a lot of money for the privilege potential modifications later. That is a big buying motivation for me, but I imagine it won’t be for a HUGE majority of people. Im grateful that bambu came along and didn’t just make a similar printer, but an engineered a whole bunch of awesome functions that will drive the market.
That's awesome! I bought our first MINIs in 2020. Thank you for sharing!
I think the XL at around 3500€ or whatever is a good printer for a good price. The 5 toolheads make it do things a system like AMS could never do.
As always...Love your straight to the point reviews. But if it's A1 w/ams vs P1s w/ams which one would you pick?
P1S is what I would go with if you have the budget!
So excited for this printer, can’t wait to take my first dive into automated multicolor swapping
Technica you will LOVE IT!
I'm new to 3D printing and trying to figure out what to get for my first machine. Just wanted to say I love your channel and I'm binging on your videos since you give so much great info.
That is very kind of you! Welcome! Which machines are you looking at? A great machine is that Bambu A1 mini. I am so darn impressed with it!
I find it interesting that until the A1 prusa finally released a new firmware to include input shaping to speed up that printer. Just shows that competition is great for the consumer.
Yes! The competition will be good for us!
in your opinion, Im in need of a larger volume printer, affordable, speed with great print quality. Would you choose a Neptune 4Plus over an ender 3?
Yes, Neptunes are INCREDIBLE!
@@LoyalMoses ty your recommendations is what I was looking for.
Prusa has been coasting on complacency for years and now they are paying the price, literally.
I can't wait to get myself an A1 Mini, the price point is so competitive and I think people are really sleeping on the addition of the AMS in reviews, because as somebody that has spent many many hours removing (and getting splinters from) supports from inside complex parts, the idea of being able to both double the print speed and also use soluble supports is just mind blowing to me.
The technology is changing so quickly, I love it!
Hi Friend can you use soluble supports with PETG or is it just PLA ? thanks .
I believe that it doesn't matter (don't quote me I'm not an expert) but ya, I think you can. @@scottsound4711
Thanks for making this comparison vid & def agree that it's hard to compare a new A1 mini to a 4yr old Prusa mini...however nicely done! I've got a A1 mini on pre-order and look forward to getting started with it. On another note, I see that you use a trackball mouse...what brand and model is it?
Logitech, love those trackballs! Congrats on an A1 mini order! We had a lot of requests to compare these machines. Thank you!
@@LoyalMoses I use a Logitech MX Ergo Trackball and love it!
I have a solid budget of around 400 would you prefer me getting the a1 mini with ams or the regular a1 because I don’t really know how much of a difference the ams and no and it. I don’t know if a bigger printing space or more colors is better. Can you help me decide?
Regular A1 is a awesome machine!!
I really wanted to stick with Prusa printers, but the Original Prusa MINI+ is $479 while the Bambu Lab A1 mini is currently $249. Prusa is losing its appeal.
I totally get it! I own A LOT of Prusa machines, but there is just far better tech and ecosystems now for far less money. Things have dramatically changed over the last year or two.
For the speed, doesn't the prusa mini now have input shaper making it faster?
Alpha firmware, I talk about that in the video. It won’t have an accelerometer so it can’t be as accurate as one that does calibrations before printing. I’ll compare it the moment it is a final release.
I would have love to see how the prusa mini+ with the alpha firmware would hold up to that A1. I've used the Alpha firmware on my mini+ but gave too many blue screens, so I revert to the normal firmware and wait for the normal firmware for higher speed.
Well, you have your answer then! The alpha firmware from what I have seen and been told is not stable enough to even mess with. People are damaging build plates with it, etc. I'll compare it with the Bambu A1 mini when it is released though for sure!
@@LoyalMoses That was exactly what I meant ;-)
I started my farm with enders and ender clones..... Eventually we got a x1c then 3 more BL machines.... Then i finally built a Prusa Mk3s+ from scratch sourcing all my own parts. It really is a great little bed slinger you do have to own one to know how solid they are... I still wonder to this day how much better our journey would have been if we just started with Prusa's. There's no going back now it's BL's all the way from here on end and hoping our A1 mini's come soon :)
This tech is advancing so fast and I love it. Congrats on your farm and the new A1 mini!
The 4 color is definitely a game changer and also the speed
I have a Tevo tarantula that after $400 dollars in upgrades, I could have just bought a better printer, but the tinkering was invaluable. I havent used it for a few years and I am looking into toy making so I wanted to go with an ABS printer but I think some new PLA's and TPUs give nice toy results I hear. That A1 speed is something I definitely like. When doing prototypes, you want to know now, not later if your thing you designed all day is going to work or not.
Thanks for sharing, very true!
What about the build? Is the prusa mini fully assembled for this price or do you need to build it?
Partially assembled, still need to connect wiring and cantilever arm, etc.
I'm personally looking forward to when Bambu has the A1 (printer only) in stock, since I would like one for quick prints while I wait for the larger P1S+AMS to finish what ever it's printing. If I get another AMS, it will be another full size one for the P1S so I can do 8 color printers.
Yes, that will be WILDY popular the moment that printer is sold standalone!
@@joeking433 good thing no one is telling you how to spend your own money. Even if the A1 was a thing when I purchased my A1 Mini, it wouldn't have changed my mind about getting a Mini.
@@joeking433 huh, you talking about the AMS Lite? Uhm, no, I bought the A1 Mini Standalone. But thanks for playing.
Until about six weeks ago I’d never even seen a 3D printer, but I decided to buy an A1 Mini after a bit of on-line ‘research’. It didn’t take much reading to go with the Bambu. Since then, as an absolute beginner, I’ve printed dozens of terrific models with hardly a failure. Of course I still have a lot to learn, but it’s so easy. And I don’t understand why people have difficulty printing with PET-G. My prints are perfect and I’ve done no fiddling about with settings, I just set ‘generic PET-G’ in BAMBU STUDIO and that’s it. I can’t believe how brilliantly easy and reliable this little machine, although I have no experience with any other printer. But I can say, do yourself a favour and get one of these, especially if you’re a newbie like me. Well, I’m off to have a shave with my 3D printed safety razor which works brilliantly 😊
That’s awesome to hear and welcome in! 💜
heres a question for you, k1 max or one of the bambu labs printers? or something else im not thinking of?
That Max is a big machine, and if you want to do helmets that would be a great one. Bambu P1S or P1P w/ an AMS would be great. Also, have you looked at QIDI? The X-PLUS 3 is a great machine too.
Just curious: in what case is a Bowden drive better than direct?
Keeping weight down on the toolhead is one particular example that comes to mind. Companies have varying preferences for it when designing.
@@LoyalMosesIn the past, keeping head weight down was needed to enable faster speeds and improved print quality. A1 proves that's no longer the case. Plus, it's such a pain and nearly impossible to print TPU with Bowden tube.
Long comment, sorry. Being new to the 3D printing world, combined with not knowing anybody personally, I bought my first printer, an Anycubic Kobra Neo, with high hopes. That was 6 months ago. 5 months in, the cooling fan stopped working at any level other than full speed. As of last week, the extruder failed me entirely, stopping all my progress (Christmas gifts) in it's tracks! While Anycubic is relatively responsive, having only to wait a couple days usually for responses to my emails AND they've already sent me a replacement main board to fix the cooling issue (didn't work), then a new fan (also didn't work), plus a new extruder is on it's way right now... I don't think I should be having any issues at all, being just 6 months into using a brand-new machine! Additionally, these issues brought to light just how much many printer owners actually enjoy constantly fixing their printers! My mind is blown at just how many negative responses I received on a Facebook post I created in a 3D printing community! Some came right out and said I shouldn't be 3D printing if I'm not willing to "tinker" (their fun word for constantly repairing your equipment)! I love to tinker! I bought a 3D printer to aid in my tinkering - NOT so I'd have something else to tinker on! I came somewhat close to "dropping out" of 3D printing altogether - except I still couldn't deny the freedom that 3D designing and printing offers! Instead, I shut the comments off on my post - something I NEVER do. I love debating and hate closing out learning opportunities, but it seemed the post had ran its course and leaving it on was just allowing other commenters to tell me how I started the wrong "hobby". And "should've spent more on a printer - you can't expect a sub-$200 printer to be dependable (what kind of BS is that?! It's not like I went to the dollar store. This is a BIG name! Why would there be anything in their lineup that doesn't hold up?). More importantly, I didn't buy a 3D printer to "start a hobby". To those that did, good on you! I don't see anything wrong with people having hobbies - including this. I, on the other hand, DID NOT purchase a 3D printer in pursuit of a hobby. I bought one so I could create custom parts for other projects I'm working on - while possibly starting a small business as a potential kicker. To me, a 3D printer is a tool. I don't want to spend my time and money fixing my tools! Very much not a hobby. I'm a married homeowner that works away from home 5 days and nights, with pets and garage projects. I don't have that kind of time! lol Maybe it's just my American-learned personality but I believe a good product lasts AT LEAST as long as it's warranty so when I saw Anycubic has a 1 year warranty, I interpreted that as I'd get at least a year's worth of trouble-free operability! Why is this not the case??? I'm well aware that everything eventually breaks, and there's a lot of truth to the old "you get what you pay for" adage but am I wrong to think that it's in the manufacturer's best interest to provide products that can outlast at least their warranties? This still confuses me. Long story short, I'm very disappointed in my printer experience, having struggled for 6 months to get my settings dialed in - which they're still not great... followed up with early equipment failure. I'm the perfect customer for Bambu! I don't want to waste my time fixing NEW equipment, tweaking quasi-decent settings (I could only DREAM of getting the results your Prusa got, not to mention Bambu's!), and waiting 20 hours for a prototype print to complete - just to discover my next design tweak and start the entire process all over again! Bambu for the win!
Great comment, and I really appreciate you taking the time to share how you feel with me. It’s also very sad to see that this is how you were treated, and unfortunately it’s all too common in our industry. The good news, we are working hard to change this. Everything you said, I agree with completely. Times are changing, and companies like Bambu are a big part of this. I invite you to come join our discord, we have an amazing community, the best there is! We’d love to have you there! Come say hi and be sure to remind me of where you came from! discord.thelmshow.com Loyal.
I am sorry and hate to hear that you had such a horrid experience a negative community of 3d printing.. Everyone should be 3d printing if they truly are interested in it. I agree with Loyal Moses, you should join the LM family! We love and welcome everyone and any experience level. We would love to have you and love to help you have a great experience with your printer! Don't let the haters get you down! I hope to see you soon!
I feel you. I was told anycubic kobra was an amazing printer, but I have had more problems with it then my og ender3. So it’s just my backup printer. Don’t give up just because someone had a bad day and pretty much took it out on you. How will we know which one works for us if we don’t try. You can always sell it later. And the loyal family is an amazing group of peeps. They will help you out with trouble shooting and stuff.
So sorry to hear what happened to you. I second Loyal's invitation to join the discord, feel free to ask any questions that you have and people will try and help you to the best of their abilities.
@designsbyrdw907daphnejwalker yeah, I've gotten some ok results before it konked out but they were never presentation-worthy
How do the beds compare. Can you swap them out with each other.
Sizes are the same, you can swap them, tabs don’t align, but they don’t need to.
Is the bambú mini Cad and Solidworks compatible? Noob asking, trying to get into Cad/Sw
Absolutely!
what prusa needs is a industrial grade fast large format heated enclosed printer or a printer like the voron v0
That would be cool!
Any points awarded for community size, open source design, or quality of support?
This was about performance and price as well as the quality of the print results. Prusa definitely has a great support system, but I also think that would be strange to get extra points just because it existed longer. I own more Prusas than anyone I know, and I really hope they do some upgrades and also a new MMU for the MINI.
As a print farm owner the A1 Mini is far better value for money... but is just not an option for me. The data security concerns mean that with the nature of the jobs I do, I cannot risk having them in the workshop. Yes you can run it on LAN only mode but then you start losing features and you are not even able to update your firmware. For your average user or just someone looking to get into the hobby it's not a problem and the A1 mini I think wins hands down
Thanks for sharing. They aren’t risking millions of dollars and market domination to get someone’s STLs, I promise. This is the most advanced tech we have ever seen in 3D printing, crazy to see people rationalize not using it.
Security concerns are correct. There could be strict requirements on production in terms of "not to put 3d models online", etc. It is not only that manufacturer on purpose can kinda sell your model (of course not), but think about hackers getting inside Bambo cloud is stealing models from there. Also low possibility but still possible. This is a risk which many serious companies can't accept - so only LAN mode, or only printing from SD cards, etc. For home users of course it doesnt make any sense (and A1 mini is for home users mainly)@@LoyalMoses
@LoyalMoses they may not but hackers can. ITAR and NDAs can be very specific around data and network security, regardless of what people's thoughts are on intentions with models. It's not about rationalising, it's a breach of contract if I do and facing financial repercussions at best, jail time at worst. Again, your average home user doesn't need to worry about it but it's still a thing
I will say having them both the A1 is a CLEAR winner BUT….the A1 mini sufferers from bed adheasion issues when printing at 100% speed small parts break away easily as you might expect. Parts with a larger contact area do run great at 100% speed. Just don’t expect core XY levels of performance with the A1 mini. Still a fantastic printer!!!!
It’s an amazing little machine!
I'm hearing changing the infill patterns may resolve this. Something nozzle hitting the infill crossing over it.
I’ve owned just about every brand printer and am EXTREMELY happy with Bambu printers, especially now with X1 plus firmware - which I have installed and like a lot. It’s a real shame Josef Prusa is such a db… Loved the Prusa MK3 I had, but sold it a month after getting the X1C. Now a couple years later, I’m in the minority and got an A1 mini for small stuff I don’t want to wake the beast for… Didn’t even get the AMS. One filament, in a dry box… Looking forward to it. Thanks for the input.
Awesome! It’s cool that we get to use these machine the way we want to. 🔥
Buying the A1 big brother (XL or whatever it is called) when it launches this week. Bambu is killing it lately
Bambu IS killing it! So much awesome tech in a short time!
How can you allocate points each for prusa and bambu when Bowden excludes Tpu printing?
That’s not correct, the Prusa MINI prints TPU wonderfully.
@@LoyalMoses The Bambu A1 mini also on the separate spool holder
I'm excited to see what else Prusa has instore in response to the A1. Since they're coming out with better firmware, I wonder if they'll offer upgrade kits to add additional sensors and/or features. Prusa Mini has incredible print quality, however, A1 kind of blows it out of the water. Thanks LM!
Hey! Thanks for commenting. I’m also excited to see what they come up with for sure!
They have nothing in store. Look at the XL disaster... stringing, low speeds, wonky weak tool changing mechanism that creates crazy layer shifts, firmware issues, the electronics can't handle proper input shaping like others (can't tune the machine according to what the accelerometer says). Prusa is dead, greed and feeling comfortable killed them.
Less than 8000 subscribers to this awesome channel. Its criminal. Tell everyone you know, let's get this channel to 10000 before Christmas.
You are so very kind! Thank you! 💜
is this with out without input shaper on the prusa mini?
Without, can't compare alpha firmware to a finished product. The moment it is final release, we can do another.
@@LoyalMoses mk4 is a different story but for a 3 year old machine in honestly happy and impressed!
@@LoyalMosesyes because i think with new firmware of prusa mini is not the same result
@@ameliabuns4058 no not really, marlin has input shaping and all you need is a 32 bit board, the kini has a 32 bit board, its not that impressive tbh
Now I'm curious how the Bambu A1 compares to the Prusa MK4... print quality and time comparison mostly.
Not sure! I don't have a MK4. Would be a good test.
my two cents. when the prusa mini mk2 comes out there will be a upgrade kit as with all prusa models. and they are still supporting it with firmware upgrades. the Bambu lab will be obsolete next year with a new model.
Hopefully we'll see something from Prusa soon.
I seem to constantly read commentary warning about keeping filament in the bag with desiccant and/or drying it before use. Yet I see you and other presenters with shelves stacked with open spools. Are the moisture warnings overblown?
Yes and no! Exaggerated for sure, but I’m in a low humidity area.
tbf the stomach was cleaner on the prusa, there seemed to be some z-scarring on the bambu
If your Bambu breaks, is it easy to get parts and fix it yourself?
It has a warranty, and also the parts are available on their website for SUPER cheap. Have you looked? They offer entire heatblock / nozzle and thermistor drop ins for cheaper than nozzles from other companies.
I would have scored it 1 for the Prusa and 11 for the Bambu, but it's a newer machine so it SHOULD be better.
Thanks for sharing!
The mini still isn’t feature complete from what initial announcement. People always talk about Prusa support, but they haven’t even delivered on what they sold us years ago.
A lot of people feel the same, frustrated that they were promised so much when they bought into the MINI, and never got it even after 3 years.
I think it will be interesting to see what bambu does to the hobby side of printing, I’m new to it myself and I think this video really shows why there’s such a huge dislike for bambu because as the new kid they are really rocking the boat with their printers and all these companies that have been around now really have to find an answer to the A1 and the rest of the bambu line up
I think you nailed it right there. They are really changing the industry, faster than many expected.
Compared to Bambu's X1C, P1P, P1S, the Alpha Mini IS the hobby side of printing.
@@jbrou123 absolutely is, my main point is it’s challenging the other manufacturers to up their game
@@LoyalMoses I’ll be interested to see what this does to the industry and what changes it will or might bring
The best value between the two is the one you already have ^_^ Interesting to note: the "clicking" a that a lot of people hear on the prusa is the filament flexing in the bowden tube on retraction, tapping on the walls of it
👍
Personally I find incredible value in having various color filament loaded in AMS so I can start MakerWorld prints from my phone at any time (-8
Great idea!
I've had a Prusa MK3 MMU2 for years, and it has done very well. But I recently purchased the Bambu X1 Carbon, and I'm looking to give the MK3 to a good home. The Bambu just blows the doors off the MK3.Oh wait, the MK3 does not come with doors. That was a big problem, along with the always finicky MMU. The only thing I dislike about the Bambu, is that it poops too much.
The AMS system is just so well done, nothing like it before!
Putting aside quality, the filament looks cool! I have to stop buying filaments as I already have around 8 rolls including the one Mrs. LM sent and I still don't have a printer. 😂 A1 Mini is awesome. In another universe or timeline, I would have bought it. But I am still limited to 1 printer. If I can make some money off it to justify buying a 2nd, this is top of the list. But of course, it depends on what prints I do that sell, meaning the size of the prints.
Are you overflowing with filament?! 💜
@LoyalMoses 😂 Can't wait to get more! Is it Black Friday yet? In your opinion, should I wait if Bambu will offer a discount on that day or just go ahead and buy the P1S already?
Eight rolls? I must be doing something wrong because I have around sixty. But then, I don't have anyone to tell me no. Lol
Man...I'm very tempted to snag an A1. I've got two Prusa Mini+ machines running the new alpha firmware. One surprising discovery I've had recently is their ability to print smaller ASA objects very quickly with amazing quality. I was blown away at the consistency and quality of these smaller ASA prints on these printers without enclosures. Truthfully, with Prusament ASA, the Mini's absolutely trump the quality I'm getting on my Voron v2.4 for the same smaller prints. I've been able to sell over $200 worth of of these prints on Etsy in the last 2 months because of this. With the bed only being able to reach 80C on the A1, I'm curious if it could still reliably print small ASA objects. If it could pull that off as well, I'm all for it. Sadly, without that ability though, I may have to stick with my Minis. Have you tried the A1 with ASA yet?
The A1 mini is going to be for PLA, PETG and TPU -- those MINIs of yours will do a great job with ASA as long as you keep the temp under 260c where you don't want to be cooking that PTFE liner (toxic fumes).
Thanks for this video. I’m a Prusa fan, but as I said before the multicolored speeds of the past just killed that for me. I’m just about ready to press that Purchase button on the A-1……😳
I love Prusa too, I own more Prusas than all other printers combined and I want them to create some awesome stuff. If you have the budget, I’d click that purchase button then moment they are available, it’s an amazing machine. Simple. Perfection. User experience is like nothing else.
@@LoyalMoses Thanks for your reply!
Of course! 💜
Just got a K1 for 379,00. As it is sold right now it is a serious machine with full Klipper support. I couldn’t be happier and honestly I don’t really get this „Mini“ hype. The AMS lite is interesting but the footprint is hilarious (Mini?).
Fantastic price! WOW!
As a totally ignorant armature thinking about 3d printers. I have been looking at and considering one of these two printers. And the AMS option has driven me to the A1 mini. However I'm also considering the A1 for just $100 more. Still considering. Actually the A1 print quality looks best.
I think Prusa lost the game or i'ts about to lost it. It charge for everything. The company split every addon and tell you oh yeah you can have it but you must to pay. The most positive in Prusa is the open source. Anyway I don't have anyone of them (I had an mk3s+ but I sold it to make a Voron Trident). Also I think it's too early to talk about repairability prusa has it already. I think Bambu will make all the companies to push technology to the limits that is good for us. Both of these machines are great whoever has them they are going to be happy.
I agree with everything you said!
What is a 4 color ams?
The AMS and AMS Lite are multi-color filament accessories that enable the machine to switch filaments while printing. The switching is determined by the Bambu Studio software, which you use to prepare models for printing. It’s very intuitive and simple to use.
newby thanks you...@@LoyalMoses
There is a one huge difference too the build quality of the bambu a1 mini there is no printed parts and linear rails and this make it more rigid 😊
Very true
then buy a cnc machine and make real parts.
Will there be A1 XL? I wonder...
I think there will be at least one more model in the A1 line and i think that model will be an XY enclosed - I hope it is an XL but, I'd be happy with a similar footprint to the X1 and P1 lines (maybe we'll get both). You can buy hardened steel nozzles for the A1 today even with the bed not getting to high enough temps for more exotic or industrial materials which seems like overkill if the parts were only designed for the existing A1 Mini (I know hardened steel can be useful for PLA/PETG/TPU but, generally it isnt required). Having the nozzle swap from the A1 in a larger form factor printer would be fantastic and being able to share parts between multiple machines lessens the burden of their proprietary parts. It also seems like they are pushing the X1 series to more industrial markets based on their latest release which opens the A1 series to be more of a platform to build on. I would not be surprised if we heard something more here in a few months.
@@cannedwolf a1 mini seems to be perfect for me but just a bit tad too small. I wouldn't mind A1 that's the same size as the Bambu printers.
@@elitedeciel same. I ordered it anyway for some smaller prototyping as a desktop machine. They have confirmed that a large format is something they are working on in some interviews so, hopefully, it won't be too much longer before we hear more.
@@cannedwolf hopefully soon!
🤔
The mini only became tolerable for me the moment I switched out the extruder and adding the revo system in terms of operating it. I do like how it has the input shaping now. I mean, I bought the mini+ with the wifi module back when there was no bambu labs to begin with so it's not like I had choice.
How about a comparison from the A1 mini and Ender 3 S1 Pro?
That would be great! I have that machine here.
Should have put the text for each printer on the same side as each printer.
Was too late to change!
Comparing one-to-one would be comparing the A1 Mini without the AMS at a price of $299. I own a Prusa Mini and I definitely would have bought the Bambu Labs A1 Mini with the AMS for the same price I paid for the Prusa. The A1 Mini however is the clear winner for beginners maybe not understanding AMS and just getting into the hobby at the $299 price point. Cheaper one-to-one, new tech, and much speedier. Thanks as always for your insight Loyal. I wish this had been out when I bought the Prusa. Don't get me wrong, the Prusa has been great but even just the speed difference would have been welcomed. ;) -Gafleg
Thank you! I considered comparing with that price point, but they aren’t yet available stand alone yet, and I wanted to highlight how much value you receive for $459. Crazy to think how fast everything is changing in this space.
There is barely a point in buying it without the ams. It’s more expensive to buy afterwards and you would regret that decision pretty fast, just like many people not buying an X1C as a combo or even an X1 did. Better wait a few days instead buying it incomplete. The things it can do it does actually better than its bigger brothers, but size and temperature limitations will soon be a problem as a solo printer for a beginner. A P1S combo would be my current recommendation for that scenario, even though I own both X1C and A1 mini combo( besides others).
I also don't like the Prusa mini heatbreak PTFE liner were the A1 has a full metal one. Imput shaping one the Prusa Mini is not good (yet) as you do lose some print quality on the visible layer lines. Maybe it can still be improved with updates. The BBL A1 is the better option for now but that does not make the Prusa Mini a bad printer. It's still as good as it has been for the last years. Also the Prusa is still easy to repair and mod. The BBL A1 is however the most plug and print 3D printer ever made so far. A big + for beginners and print farms.
💯 agree with everything you said!!! Thank you for commenting.
Definitely A1 has greater features, plus the time and quality equilibrium is unmatched. I am a big fan of Prusa but here I would go with babu lab ...
I have a feeling that A1 mini is going to be VERY popular!
Agreed if I had to chose today I would go with the A1 mini. The Prusa Mini is a dated machine and shows in this review. One thing you did not go over was support which is one area where Prusa is much better over Bambu.
Thank you! That's fair! I left out a few things, like build quality, I was trying to just talk about the highlighted features and not beat up on one or another.
If the firmware comes with InputShaper for the Mini it is not significantly slower than the A1, if at all. And as with the mk4, it makes no difference in practice whether it has a sensor or not. But I highly doubt whether Bambulab would offer its A1 with such an upgrade for free. And Prusa has always done things that way.
The Mini+ (which does include things like the filament sensor) was my very first printer and, at that time, was a great machine to cut my teeth on. Before Bambu and before others truly stepped up their game, Prusa led the way on support and usability. I had a problem when first assembling my Mini, emailed Prusa, and got a reply in less than an hour with detailed instructions to help resolve my screw-up! However, I agree entirely that their time has passed on several fronts and I wouldn't recommend the Mini to anyone anymore. When you can get a CoreXY beast for 1/3rd the price of Prusa's bed slingers and competition like Bambu exist to beat out the Mini, there's no point in buying a Prusa unless you *really* want their pro-level products and support. My other HUGE complaint with the Mini is long-term serviceability. I actually just retired my Mini+ recently when the heater core died. The Mini doesn't use an eletronic breakout backplane on the hotend, instead using individual long wire runs back to the mainboard. So, replacing either of the fans, the thermistor, heater core...all require complete disassembly of the wiring hardness all the way back to the controller box -OR- some hacky hand-installed quick connectors at the hotend. So, after two noisy fan replacements, I've thrown in the towel at the heater core dying. It just isn't worth rewiring again at its age when I can replace it with something newer, faster, and easier to work on. Plus, Prusa doesn't have any US retailers for those parts and shipping alone costs more than the damned heater core itself!
The fact that you had to scale to 80% to avoid LONG print time on Prusa Mini, is a top reason A1 is better. Edit1: A1 should have received a point for its hardware input shaping, vs Prusa firmware input shaping, as some people are getting worse results on Prusa's when input shaping is enabled vs without. There is too many variables between users, environments and printers to rely on a predetermined input shaping setting.
Crazy, these faster machines change everything!
Bambu just recently drop the price of the A1 mini to $399 with the AMS. This is an incredible deal for an awesome printer. I already have an A1 and I love it, but this was too good of a deal to pass up.
I'll be rocking my Ender 3 for a while longer, but may look at something from Bambu in a few years.
No reason to stop using that machine! Run it as long as you can!
I never understood why people were buying the Prusa Mini when a Kingroon KP3S cost half as much and produces great prints out of the box. They come with linear rails in the X and Y axis and a direct feed extruder. I have two myself and they haven't needed anything other than filament. I know of people using multiples of KP3S in print farms with no maintenance required other than nozzle changes.
A lot of people love those KP3S machines for sure! 🔥
I have a prusa mini.. have had mine since the first batch and had barely any issues with it. Never had a filament jam or heatcreep, under extrusion but i understand that a lot of others did not have the same experience. Only issues now are due to age. It's getting a little too noisy so ill probably have to grease the bearings or something. I have a second 3d printer which i completely built from scratch but there's more than i need to do with it. I like the mini though because its something that a beginner like my housemates can get up and running printing stuff with very little effort. Support has also been very helpful whenever i had a question as well. All in all, im not surprised a new printer has entered the fray and is killing it. Technology has improved a lot since the birth of the mini. Dont forget the printers are made in china where its a lot cheaper to manufacture. Imagine the cost of an A1 mini built in the US, or the UK, or the Czech republic
Definitely, everyones experiences are different. My MINIs make a lot of noise now too.
why not let the prusa finish the print? seems odd to compare quality when one is half done.
I answered in the video… didn’t have time to wait around for it. When Prusa releases a final firmware update, I’ll compare that one.
What is the point of giving both points for having extruders? Give them points for having power supplies also...
Okay! 2 points for power supplies and 3 points for existing in the same universe at the same time!
@@LoyalMoses Now that's fair
I think best value is this creality k1 i picked up at microcenter for $350...
That is a GREAT price! Congrats!
sorry not sorry but Prusa is no longer an option for me. I picked up a X1C instead of a MK4, and will be getting an A1 instead of a Prusa mini.
The A1 is about as perfect as it can get!
I am on the fence between the A1 Mini and a P1S or P1P. Is it worth the upgrade (twice the price)?
Do you think you will print with more technical filaments like ABS, ASA, Polycarbonate? The larger build volume could come in handy? The P1S w/ AMS is enclosed and would allow for these, with a more regulated enclosure. Definitely worth it, if you have the budget. Although, for your dollar, you won’t find another printer that can match the features of the A1 mini.
While I love my Prusa Mk4 (as a kit; first and only printer), I think that its a shame that Prusa's mini doesnt even come close to what the A1 mini offer. If I was getting a first machine or wanting multicolor or just looking for a best value, I think its hands down the A1 mini.
Things are changing so fast, it’s going to be hard to keep up for a lot of companies.
Add a few points to the prusa for installed base and parts availability
Good point (pun intended)!
It should be noted btw the A1 mini price here shown is the one that comes with the AMS, if you take out the AMS the A1 is waaay cheaper.
Crazy pricing huh?!
How is bowden better than direct drive in some senarios? Never heard of that, and it doesnt make any sense
Bowden absolutely has a purpose, just like any other engineering decision.
So many PLAs are made super pretty and ABS / ASA and other structrual filaments seem to be more plain colours. I guess it shows PLA is for fun, the others for work. Pressure Advance on the Prusa Mini is because Marlin has added the hardcoded version of pressure advance in the newer versions, so PRusa are just updatingthe version of Marlin on it. Marlin does not yet support accelerometers, which is why Prusa have it hard coded. It's very much a compromise as every single machine will be different. If you roll your own Marlin, you coan run the tests and hard code it to work in the exact place you have the printer, but obviously if you move the printer or swap filament, it throws it all out the window again.
PLAs are purchased 100 to 1 to other filament types, so this is the primary reason why we see so many colors and mixtures. Lately we’ve been seeing fun ABS and ASA colors and mixtures, with glitter even. 🔥
The only thing these two printers have in common is the size of the bed, apart from that the A1 is in a different league than the Prussa, it takes a very very loyal customer to reject the A1 and that's without talking about prices
That’s what I’m noticing in the comments, some are turning a blind eye to the tech advances and are swearing off the most advanced 3D printers we’ve seen for some strange brand loyalty. It’s not a lot of people, a small few.
@@LoyalMoses "some strange brand loyalty" what is teh dumbest thing.. just because "brands" does not care with their customers at all.
It is a much better option (A1 mini), but you need to get, that the PRUSA Mini is 4 years earlier released the A1 mini, so there is going to be a large difference. Also at that time, it wasn't about speed, it was more about quality, and it was great at its release date. Nowadays, it just can't keep up with these newest 3D printers on the market. But this is just my opinion, correct me if you have more info.
That's why I think they should reduce the price!
They lowered the price of the a1 mini to $250 that’s insane
It’s such a good buy!
er, why can't you print ABS on an A1 mini?
You can, just have to keep the temp as low as possible because the PTFE liner can easily melt.
@@LoyalMoses is that still a problem with the upgraded hotends that bambu sells?
I don’t think the camera itself inherently can’t film 30/to fps it’s the computing power of the machine
Yes. That’s what people have been sharing.
Prusa can't compete on price with someone doing manufacturing in China, since wages in China are just 1/5 of what they are in the Czech Republic. Cube for cube the A1 Mini is the better buy. When you buy from Bambu your money goes to China. When you buy from Prusa your money goes to the Czech Republic, and by extension the European Union. Which one is better is up to you. When you by a Bambu you're paying for advanced features. When you by a Prusa you're paying for half a decade of tech support and upgrades. I don't regret buying a Prusa Mini, but if I were buying today it might have been the Bambu.
Prusa Mini with Alpha2 is now really fast brother.
It’s an alpha, and I’ve seen all the build plates damaged and fails. I’ll compare it when it is a final release. Also, even if it’s fast, it can’t compete for value because of the AMS. I wish it were different, love Prusa, but they have to add value.
Need to mention it is $249 as tested on sale right now or $299 regular price as tested since you didn’t use the AMS and kind of took it out of the scoring system
Why not test the alpha version of the mini?
Because it’s an alpha. When it is final release I will.
The pumpkin in the background is awesome!
Thanks!
The biggest issue with the A1 is that bed temp. I wouldn’t buy a printer that will never allow me to print higher temp materials.
Thanks for sharing!
See Prusa Printers are already expensive and instead of redesigning their printers they "upgrade" it by charging you extra.
The only reason why I’m not getting the A1 combo, is because it’s just for multi-coloured prints, not really multi-material, and definitely no flexible filaments on the ams.
That's correct, it is marketed as multi-color.
@@LoyalMoses I get that, but no version of AMS is truly multi material. And that just feels like a massively missed opportunity for a company so advanced as Bambulabs. I do appreciate that they aren’t just straight up lying in their marketing materials though, like some other companies do.
For about the same price, you could get TWO A1's and either have them both online printing or cannibalize them between each other for replacement parts while you source a replacement. Assuming you even print enough to wear one out. I love Prusa for what they stand for, but they are going to have their lunches eaten. People will happily pay a premium price if they're going to get a truly premium experience. Right now, there's nothing premium about the Prusa experience except maybe their software/firmware approach. If Prusa is going to be the Porsche of 3D printers they can't keep bringing Late 90's Civics (a truly good car to be sure) to market in 2024.
Well... I'm still contemplating. The comparison was informative but my interest in 3d-Printing would be motivated in 'making real stuff' - not just little boats, Darth Vader Busts, or fancy Vases (which all maybe instructive in terms of learning about, and along usage of this technology). But as for this, Filament materials as ASA or CF-inforced ones were better, weren't they ?! And working with these isn't necessarily the Bambu A1 mini's ultimate point, or is it ?!
Everyone enjoys 3D printing differently, and if you are interested in more mechanical filaments, then definitely look at enclosed printers like the Bambu Lab P1S, or X1C - loyal.ms/bambu (aff)
I think you forgot another big point as well ( at least with some people anyway). Bambu is closed source and Prusa is open source. This is not an deal breaker for me but I have seen, read, and heard a lot of people decide to go with Prusa just cause of the open source. Just my thoughts.
Thank you! I intentionally left that out, it isn’t really a deciding factor for the majority of buyers, and I feel if someone is so concerned with open source that they let it decide purchase or not, they likely already know.
I think open vs closed is a red herring. If you are part of the OS community and contributing than sure. But 99% of people out there dont code, contribute code or know how to read the code. These printers are reaching appliance reliability and penetration. We arent asking GE to open source a microwaves you would be hard pressed to find someone refusing to buy one because it isnt open source . Even prusa is holding back open sourcing their new printers completely. Can you imagine someone checking if HP, canon, brother, epson had an open source printer before just buying whatever was on sale or had cheaper consumables? I think those people are firmly in the Prusa corner and will forgo a superior printer to keep the tribe happy.
This is all very true, and for me it seems silly to not experience the latest and greatest tech in our industry because the source code isn’t available for them to never read.
This is a big one for me. I found out that when I print TPU it likes to come out of the extruder. I was able to download the STEP files for the printer, isolate the extruder casing, and modify it to tighten the space. This made it possible for my Mini to print soft TPU, which it originally could not do reliably.
Bambu over Prusa any day of the week
Amazing how things changed so quickly!