Bambu A1 review

Fairly why Bambu launched the A1 Mini earlier than the A1 is anybody’s guess. However after just some brief months of ready, the A1 provides these on a price range the choice of a top-quality 3D printer that may – optionally – use the AMS Lite to print fashions in as much as 4 colors at ‘regular’ sizes.

Meaning 256mm cubed: the identical construct quantity that the pricier P1 and X1 fashions provide. The A1 Mini, because the title suggests, is smaller and may print fashions as much as 180mm cubed.

Options & design

As a substitute of the standard black, Bambu has chosen a lightweight gray for the A1 and, together with the rounded corners and lined X- and Z-axes, it appears to be like way more like a contemporary shopper gadget than plenty of 3D printers, which are inclined to have the looks of an overgrown Meccano set. It appears to be like a bit just like the Ankermake M5.

Except for the apparent absence of an enclosure, this can be a bed-slinger. Also referred to as Cartesian, it’s a unique movement system to coreXY, which Bambu’s P1 and X1 fashions use.

Till just lately, Cartesian printers have been a lot slower than coreXY printers, however Bambu and others have labored out the way to ramp up the velocity with out sacrificing print high quality. Earlier than I get onto a number of the tips the A1 has, it’s value saying that you simply’ll want a reasonably large quantity of  desk house for this printer as a result of the mattress strikes forwards and backwards, extending past the printer’s footprint.

Additionally, should you go for the A1 Combo – or purchase the AMS Lite individually – you’ll want significantly more room for this freestanding four-spool holder. It’s designed to be placed on the right-hand facet of the A1, however you possibly can print a bracket to mount it on high of the gantry.

Jim Martin / Foundry

I didn’t do that, not as a result of I used to be anxious about flimsy construct high quality – removed from it – however with 4 1kg reels of filament, plus the load of the AMS Lite itself, it appears greatest to let your desk take the pressure fairly than a 3D-printed bracket.

The A1’s spec record ticks all of the containers: an all-metal hotend that goes as much as 300°C, a heated mattress that can attain 100°C, a magnetic, textured PEI plate, totally automated mattress levelling, an honest color touchscreen, and Wi-Fi for printing through the cloud.

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There’s extra. The printhead is identical because the A1 Mini’s, and it’s stuffed with intelligent stuff. There’s an Eddy Present sensor which measures extrusion strain for extra correct prints at velocity, and a runout sensor and odometer to detect whether or not there’s filament and how briskly it’s shifting by means of the nozzle.

Jim Martin / Foundry

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There’s a filament cutter, operated by the ‘finger’ on the suitable of the X-axis and, do you have to ever need to or must, the nozzle is impressively straightforward to swap out, do you have to ever must. It’s held in solely by a clip and a powerful magnet. All it’s important to do is press the filament cutter arm, pop off the plastic entrance cowl and take away the silicon shroud: there are even directions behind the plastic cowl.

On the rear of the print mattress is a silicone wiper to take away filament earlier than the auto-levelling course of, and there’s a spare wiper included within the field.

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On the left-hand facet of the X-axis is a Purge Wiper. That is used to catch filament that’s purged between color adjustments or when a brand new filament is loaded. The one drawback is that it isn’t designed to retailer the waste filament. Comically, it’s ejected onto the desk – or your flooring – so that you’ll need to work out a method to seize this, even when it’s only a field positioned to the facet of the A1.

Meeting and AMS Lite

Though Bambu might have feasibly shipped a barely bigger field and equipped the A1 totally constructed, it opted to do what most of its rivals so and get the customer to screw the gantry to the bottom.

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I actually just like the A1’s design on this respect, because the gantry is a full rectangle with a big foot that permits it to face unsupported on the desk. You then tilt the bottom (above) and slide it by means of the hole, aligning the cutouts and pushing it residence.

Then, you take away the plastic cowl beneath the construct plate and set up 10 screws to carry the 2 items collectively. As soon as that’s completed you flip it on its facet and join the three cables – all color coded – and that’s just about it.

It nonetheless took me 45 minutes in whole, as a result of the AMS Lite additionally requires a little bit of meeting: screwing the unit to its base, and pushing on the 4 reel holders. Not like the P1S Combo and X1 Combo, whose AMS items use rollers to show the spools, the AMS LIte grips the centre gap: it appears to be like a bit like an enormous cassette tape whenever you set up two spools on the identical facet.

Additionally, as an alternative of only one PTFE tube operating from the AMS to the printhead, there are 4. It is a profit as a result of the filament doesn’t need to be retracted very far when swapping colors, making color adjustments a bit quicker.

Motors throughout the AMS Lite flip the spools and feed the filament into the printhead, and color adjustments are totally automated.

For those who don’t go for the Combo, or should you merely don’t need to use the AMS Lite for a bit, you’ll use a single spool holder (included within the field) which attaches to the highest of the printer.

Jim Martin / Foundry

You possibly can depart that holder put in completely for instances when you could use a spool that received’t match the AMS. I found that Creality’s cardboard spools don’t match, and neither does its plastic ones, whose inside diameter is smaller than the 53-58mm supported by the AMS Lite.

Efficiency

The Bambu A1’s efficiency completely blew me away. Not solely is print high quality the very best I’ve seen from any mattress slinger, it’s additionally comparatively quiet and really dependable.

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I ran check prints for dozens of hours and was impressed that the A1 simply bought on with them with nearly no fuss. Lots of that is due to the sensors within the print head which reliably detect tangles or different issues with filament.

And if there are points, it’s normally attainable to get better from them. For instance, I used up some high-speed gray filament from Anycubic and it tangled thrice throughout a three-hour print. Every time, I bought a notification from the Bambu Useful app and was capable of repair the tangle and proceed the print.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The mattress temperature is stored excessive to make sure prints don’t come unstuck, and the one time a print wasn’t capable of proceed was after the A1 had been switched off mid-way by means of a print. It did proceed for a bit, however the half finally got here free because the mattress had cooled down for a few hours within the meantime.

Any errors or issues are clearly proven on the display screen or within the app, and Bambu makes use of codes – just a little just like the engine error codes you get when utilizing an OBD-II reader in your automobile – which might be regarded up on its wiki on-line.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The nice display screen additionally makes the A1 a pleasure to make use of in comparison with the P1S. It’s simply the suitable measurement and the interface has been properly thought out, so all of the choices you count on to see are proper there. If there’s a tiny criticism it’s that it’s gradual to refresh whenever you faucet on one thing. But it surely doesn’t actually have an effect on usability.

Jim Martin / Foundry

When it comes to noise, Bambu does some intelligent noise cancelling to quieten the motors at completely different frequencies. It really works properly, however the followers can nonetheless be fairly noisy: they velocity up and decelerate when obligatory, and at full energy are fairly distracting. I wouldn’t need to work or sleep subsequent to the A1 whereas it’s printing.

Jim Martin / Foundry

For testing, I primarily used Bambu’s primary PLA and bought incredible outcomes. The dynamic circulation compensation seems to work properly, that means components come out the scale they’re presupposed to with crisp, clear edges.

Surfaces, particularly vertical partitions, are very clear and correct, and overhangs are dealt with properly. Tolerances are excellent too, so you possibly can confidently print articulated and hinged components figuring out they received’t get by chance welded collectively.

Velocity-wise, the A1 could be very practically as fast because the P1S and X1C, which is significantly spectacular contemplating each of these are coreXY printers. Mattress levelling and all the opposite preliminary calibration takes round 5 minutes, which isn’t a lot so as to add to a multi-hour print, and is just like the P1S and X1C.

Jim Martin / Foundry

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I printed the identical plate containing a number of components on each the P1S and X1C, and the P1S took just a little below three hours, whereas the A1 took round 20 minutes longer at 3 hours 16 minutes. The time distinction does grow to be important when prints take a number of hours longer than this, but it surely’s rattling fast for a mattress slinger, and don’t neglect that is all with glorious high quality.

It’s value saying, too, that Bambu’s desktop (Studio) and cellular (Useful) apps are each spectacular, even when Studio has a little bit of a studying curve, significantly if you wish to ‘paint’ fashions in numerous colors. Fortuitously, Bambu gives profiles for its completely different filaments and nozzles, so it’s straightforward to pick out these within the apps and depart the whole lot on the default settings.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The one factor I discovered irritating was that the digital camera feed was gradual to load, and appeared to supply one body each couple of seconds – a worse body fee than the P1S – but it surely’s sufficient to do a distant visible test that the whole lot is okay.

And the one actual gripe in regards to the A1 is that it lacks any type of print failure detection. So if a mannequin comes adrift from the plate, the A1 will produce spaghetti till it finishes, otherwise you test in and cease it.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Worth & availability

By itself, the A1 prices £369 / $399. That’s nice worth given the velocity and options on provide.

You should buy it from Bambu’s web site.

It’s additionally so much lower than the P1S, however keep in mind that the A1 can’t deal with warp-happy filament sorts reminiscent of ABS and ASA, which the P1S can due to its enclosure.

If you need multi-colour printing, go for the A1 Combo that features the AMS Lite. That’s £509 / $559, cheaper than shopping for the 2 issues individually.

Ought to I purchase the Bambu A1?

For those who’ve no want or want to print issues in ABS, ASA or different filaments that want an enclosure, then sure, the A1 is a completely very good 3D printer. It blows the competitors out of the water and is properly definitely worth the worth.

It even beats Bambu’s P1S in a number of areas, together with the contact display screen and dynamic circulation compensation. Nevertheless, should you do need the choice to print with a greater variety of filaments, don’t let the P1S’s lack of a touchscreen put you off as you actually don’t want to make use of it fairly often.

Nearly all of residence customers most likely received’t really feel restricted by the filaments the A1 can deal with. PLA is a lot robust and long-lasting lately, and comes within the widest selection of colors and types.

For alternate options, see our roundup of the very best 3D printers.

Bambu A1 specs

• FDM 3D printer
• Metal + aluminium chassis
• All-metal sizzling finish
• Nozzle diameter 0.4mm (optionally available 0.2, 0.6 and 0.8mm nozzles)
• Makes use of 1.75mm PLA/TPU/PETG/PVA filament
• Max print measurement: 256x256x256mm
• Max construct plate temperature: 100°C
• Max nozzle temperature 300°C
• MicroSD slot + Wi-Fi
• 1080p digital camera
• Max print velocity 500mm/s
• Max acceleration 10 m/s²
• AC 110-240V enter
• 1300W energy consumption (220V)
• Weight 8.3kg
• Printer measurement: 385mm×410mm×430mm (WDH)