Comment by bangaladore
14 days ago
Firstly, neither of these are "budget". I think if you need a budget, you a probably best sticking to a Prusa Mini, Bambu P1s or A1 Mini.
Without a doubt. An X1 is 1k USD. This is 1,199 USD.
Truly this is a competitor to the X1E though which costs 2.5k (!!!) with basically the only notable addition being the heated chamber (which the Core 1 comes with for free).
I have multiple Prusa Mark 3s, a Prusa XL and an X1 carbon, and frankly I only use the Prusa XL nowadays (and sometimes the Mark 3s).
Bambu makes a good printer, but it has lots of annoying issues and proprietary annoyances. I also don't like them as a company, but that wouldn't prevent me from buying another if I needed and used it.
In my experience Prusa printers "just work" more often than Bambu printers do.
The core one doesn't have a heated chamber. It has a fan at the top that regulates air leaving the chamberm hence "active chamber heating" rather than "heated chamber" in their marketing materials. The heating is done by the heatbed, making it comparable to a P1S rather than an X1 or X1E.
The P1S has the same heater (the heat bed) and the same concept of a variable speed fan that regulates how much air is drawn from the chamber. The only real difference here is that the core has a vent cut out, whereas the P1/X1 tell you to open the door for PLA to let it very slowly pull in cooler air (the fan still runs, just at a lower speed to prevent warping).
The Core One is technically not even comparable to the P1. It's not got a camera, nor an AMS system (the MMU is well known for being incredibly unreliable and finnicky to get working well vs a box that you plop on top and plug in).
The only real compelling thing about it is the upgrade path from the MK4, and the nice design cues like the integrated spool holders with potential for a dryer.
So it has a chamber, a heater, a way to control chamber temperature. But its not a heated chamber because it does not have a single purpose heater vs using the bed for it? Sounds like semantics until testing is done.
Fair enough. Then we must declare that every single printer with an enclosure and heatbed has a heated chamber.
It's worth noting that the X1 is on sale today. Normally it's $1199 as well.
Frankly, the only advantage I see from a spec list for the Core One is a chamber exhaust (not heater, just exhaust).
Compared to a P1P it’s missing a camera.
Compared to the X1C it’s missing a camera, the LiDAR, and carbon rods.
Also, the AMS solution on Bambu printers is much better than the MMU by Prusa.
> Compared to a P1P it’s missing a camera.
The video showed a camera with an "optional" legend.
> Compared to a P1P it’s missing a camera.
Built in yes, and that's disappointing to see. Unsure why they aren't just including that at this point. Assuming its like the XL, you can use any camera you can find (phone, rpi, esp) and link it to the printer to get a "first party"
> Compared to the X1C it’s missing a camera, the LiDAR, and carbon rods.
I never use the LiDAR on my X1C. In my opinion is produces worse results then calibrating manually. Agree on the camera.
Regarding carbon rods, I would be surprised if it made any tangible difference to 99.99% of people.
> Also, the AMS solution on Bambu printers is much better than the MMU by Prusa.
Agreed. I never use AMS or MMU. For some its a dealbreaker to not have something as good as AMS. I never print multi material, other than using multiple heads on the XL.
I rarely print multi material in the same print just because of the filament wastage, but damned if the AMS isn’t worth it for not having to mess around rethreading the filament for filament changes. I know that’s a luxury “nice to have”, but after years of fighting with an Ender 3 Titan extruder and the filament curling just enough to not make it through the PTFE coupling, the AMS is such a time saver. Pop in a roll, push it in an inch, then forget about it and pick it from a list when I print. Done. Love it.
I got my P1P pretty hesitant about the closed ecosystem, but having to never really think about my printer and whether a print is worth the time it’s going to take, which prevented me from printing a bunch of times on the Ender 3, I’m sold at this point.
I wish Prusa the best of luck with their new printer, and I’m sure it’s a solid piece of kit. I think they’ll do alright. Just like I feel as though Bambu have really changed the market in the last couple of years, they’re building in the footsteps of the paths carved by Prusa.