I’ve been waiting to finish up with some major life stuff before diving into the world of 3D printers. Now that is finally behind me, and I am currently trying to find out which printer I want so that I can place an order.
So far I’ve set my eyes on the new Prusa CORE One. It ticks a lot of the boxes that I think I am after, including:
- As open as I can get (before going into that Voron-stuff, which I think I’m not ready for). I don’t want to be bogged down with having to run proprietary slicers through Wine and things like that. I am not sure how big of an issue that is with e.g. Bambu or Creality (if at all), but I’ve seen enough rug-pulls and enshittification processes that I don’t really want to risk that. I want to be sure that I can use FOSS tools such as Blender and FreeCAD for design, and similarly open slicers, and the whole workflow will work just fine.
- As future-proof as I can possibly hope for. I think the upgrade path from the MK4 to CORE One shows that they are serious about sustainability and longevity of their devices, and as far as I can tell, I should have no troubles sourcing replacement parts. I also want to support companies with this philosophy.
- Has a decent print volume (I know there are bigger, maybe I will be constrained by this at some point?)
- Enclosed - a major reason I did not want the MK4S was that it was not enclosed (but maybe you can get an enclosure?). It will be placed in my study where I spend most of my computer time (which often times is a lot, so I imagine I will be in the room while it is printing). I imagine, with the additional filter, that it will be better with an enclosure. Also, it will be easier to keep good temperature control during prints, as it can get cold here during winter.
- Locally produced (I’m EU based).
I understand that other manufacturers provide more “bang for the buck” and that I in that sense will be overpaying feature-wise. I am fine with that given my emphasis on the above criteria.
However, I am a complete newbie to 3D-printing. I am sure there are some limitations I have not thought about, and I was wondering if there are any major things I have not thought about that would actually affect me negatively and should make me reconsider this model?
In my opinion, the only disadvantage is the cost.
But even the cost difference might get recouped later on, if Prusa continues releasing upgrade kits the way they’ve been doing it for the i3 line. Support is also excellent. I broke a thermistor while upgrading a printer, and they sent me a free replacement because it was unclear if it was my fault or not.
Another disadvantage might be that you’ll become a militant Prusa fanboy, and never look at another brand again ;)
Yeah, I’m OK with the cost of it. I don’t only consider a feature vs. price picture, but also factor in things (like you say) support and longevity/sustainability.
The militant fanboyism surprised me a bit (maybe it shouldn’t have?) - looking at some of the comments below YouTube-reviews was… interesting…
On the enclosure: if you print PLA, PETG or TPU (which will probably be 99,99% of the print’s you’ll do) it has to be open
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Prusa specifically say you don’t need to keep the CORE One doesn’t need to be open because of its temperature control?
That is also my understanding. It has some ventilation in the back that helps with this.
Can you explain this? Why does it have to be open?
Assuming heat creep. Pla’s transition temp is like, in the low 50s +/- a few deg c if I recall, it goes wet noodle and can easily cause jams, absolute pain in my ass doing a bunch of pla prints in the summer on my mk3s inside a prusa enclosure, ended up setting the plate to something like 30c, had issues even with the 140mm exhaust fan on to try dropping the chamber temp. I rarely print pla in my voron, it’s basically hot bed set very low and relying on my print surface to keep the print anchored when I do. Not had issues with petg in an enclosure, personally would recommend using an enclosure for all prints anyhow, even pla gives off some nasties as far as I recall.
I personally prefer abs to either petg or pla for general use, I keep all on hand as there’s not a filament best for all use cases.
would recommend using an enclosure for all prints anyhow, even pla gives off some nasties as far as I recall.
I just have to clarify that this is only useful if your enclosure also has a filter.
I think the Core ONE will be an excellent way to start 3D printing.
I was in the same situation a year ago and got a MK4 kit with enclosure and I’m extremely happy with the purchase.
Good to hear! Based on the replies here, I feel quite comfortable with this choice now.
I’m pretty sure everything about Creality is Free Software, including both firmware and their self-branded slicing software (which I think is a fork of Slic3r, just like everybody else’s?).
I just bought an Ender 3 V3 SE and have been using it with FreeCAD and PrusaSlicer (on Linux) and sometimes controlling the printer with Octoprint – I haven’t even bothered downloading anything from Creality yet.
I picked the printer because it’s supposedly currently the best cheap 3D printer (mine was an open-box from Microcenter for $135). It doesn’t tick your last three boxes, but you can’t beat the price!
I just realized that there are some important questions that none of us are asking (it sounded like you’ve already done some research, and have an idea of what you want (or at least what you think you need), but just so that everyone’s all on that same page):
- What are you looking to get out of the hobby?
- What is your tolerance for tinkering? Or in other words, are you willing to learn and fiddle with the machine or would you rather it “just work”?
- What kinds of things are you looking to print (not necessarily mutually exclusive categories: big things, small details, multi-color, outdoor/ automotive, etc)
- What’s your budget?
- What are you looking to get out of the hobby?
In general, I want to build my skill set to include CAD-modelling and printing things that could help me around my home and for other non-helpful, but fun, things. Some examples below. I am not looking at adding this to my professional skill set.
- What is your tolerance for tinkering? Or in other words, are you willing to learn and fiddle with the machine or would you rather it “just work”?
In general, I would like to tinker some. But I don’t want it to be prohibitively difficult to get started. I am new to this, and am not looking for an incredibly steep learning curve. For instance, I have understood that the Voron might suit my desire for openness more, but my impression is that it would be too much tinkering at this stage.
- What kinds of things are you looking to print (not necessarily mutually exclusive categories: big things, small details, multi-color, outdoor/ automotive, etc)
The immediate projects I have in mind are cases for various Pi/Pi Pico-based projects. Some indoor climate monitors for instance. There are several other smaller projects I have in mind, which could be for instance some custom mounts for my devices. So not too large things to begin with, and these things are what is most important to me now. But I want a multipurpose printer, that could handle both smaller figurines and larger sculptures also (not that exceeds the print volume of the Core One as of now). I know for instance that miniatures would probably be a lot better with a resin printer, but for now I don’t have a space that is properly ventilated for this. In the future I will consider getting more specialized printers if I find that I need it and have space for it.
- What’s your budget?
The Core One is in the higher end of what I had envisioned spending on this, but I can go a little higher if necessary
Tbh it sounds like the core one is a good choice here. Look at tinkering as something you use the printer to do and less as something to do to the printer itself.
I’ve got 2 prusas and while the XL has required a bit more work than my mk3s+ they both are excellent machines that I’ve run for thousands of hours with very little effort.
Welcome to the hobby! CAD modeling is the absolute best way to make your printer useful. A good pair of calipers are all you need to solve myriad issues around the house.
Thanks! Yes, a good pair of calipers are long overdue in my household. Now I will finally have a reason to measure everything!
My first printer back in 2016 was a FlashForge, which at that time filled a similar role in the market as Bambu is doing now.
Their designs were initially more open than Bambu is now, but went more proprietary over time - I had a Dreamer which still used a lot of “standard” parts. Despite that I ran into several issues that were either a pain to work around, or impossible, due to Flashforges attempts at keeping bits proprietary. I switched to Prusa after that, and have been happy ever since.
For me personally that experience was enough that I’ll never by something like Bambu - though for people with less technical abilities who just want a box that works they’re perfectly fine.
Currently I have a mk4 upgraded from a mk3s as main printer, in the enclosure, with mmu. I’m considering upgrading it to a core one next year, purely because of the lower footprint of the core one in a case compared to the prusa enclosure, and my limited space. My old flashforge was corexy, and was quite annoying about bed leveling - which lead to me avoiding corexy for a while after that. But as far as I can tell the bed mount on modern corexy are way better than on the old flashforge (which had a tendency to bend forward), plus there’s autoleveling now.
Their designs were initially more open than Bambu is now, but went more proprietary over time - I had a Dreamer which still used a lot of “standard” parts. Despite that I ran into several issues that were either a pain to work around, or impossible, due to Flashforges attempts at keeping bits proprietary. I switched to Prusa after that, and have been happy ever since.
Yeah, that is the situation I am hoping to avoid. I was very close to buying a Flashforge some years back actually. Glad to hear you are happy with your current setup. :)
I think you have it down pretty well.
It’s not perfectly open Source. Upgradeability can be reasonably expected, it’s not the cheapest, but a very good option.
One more thing that could be considered is if one believes Prusa may die as a company. That would of course reduce the aspect of upgradeability. Personally I believe they are fine, and just growing slower (more organically? Than Bambu for example).
Also Bambu will bring out another printer in a similar timeframe as Core 1 will come out. Depending on priorities it can make sense to wait to compare the offerings.
But I don’t think, given your reasonig you’d be making a mistake if you could buy now.
I’m not so sure Prusa will go out of business. But I can see them switching focus from consumer machines to “pro-consumer” machines due to the race to the bottom with consumer machines. It’s impossible for Prusa to compete with Chinese manufacturers on price. The XL and the HT90 already appear to be moves towards that focus.
While I have recently added a Bambu A1 mini to sit along side my trusty old Mk3s+, that Prusa ain’t going nowhere. You will get my Mk3s when you can pry it from my cold dead hands…
But I can see them switching focus from consumer machines to “pro-consumer” machines due to the race to the bottom with consumer machines.
Yes, that has been my impression during my research as well.
One thing that people neglect to mention when they debate “Bambu vs Prusa” is the level of support. And support costs money. Prusa’s level of support is why I chose their brand over other far more expensive printers I was looking at the time. That support level matters to a business. And they are willing to pay for it. So Prusa is well situated to enter the commercial market as a known name.
Thanks :)
One more thing that could be considered is if one believes Prusa may die as a company. That would of course reduce the aspect of upgradeability. Personally I believe they are fine, and just growing slower (more organically? Than Bambu for example).
Yeah, the thought had crossed my mind. From what I’ve gathered, Prusa has been playing catch-up in terms of functionality and price competitiveness and for many, the CORE One did not fully meet their expectations. I know nothing of their financial situation, but I can only imagine the general 3D-printing market growing more and more, so hopefully they can maintain a sufficient market share to keep a sustainable business going.
If Prusa went under, I still think I would have a better chance of maintaining a functional printer than if e.g. I had a Bambu printer and they went under (although that does perhaps not seem so likely at the moment?).
so hopefully they can maintain a sufficient market share to keep a sustainable business going
When the market grows, one can lose market share and still have a sustainable business ;).
You don’t even need a growth in revenue for sustainable businesses either.If Prusa went under, I still think I would have a better chance of maintaining a functional printer than if e.g. I had a Bambu printer and they went under (although that does perhaps not seem so likely at the moment?).
That seems reasonable. Let’s not forget that Bambu only increased their Firmware-Feature update promise from 2 years (march 2025) to 4 years (march 2027) after community outcry.
btw (I do not know either way) did a bambu printer ever get a firmware feature like Input Shaping, Phase Stepping, Crash Detection etc. as an update? For example does their LIDAR now work on textured plates? (I think it didn’t in the beginning)
For example does their LIDAR now work on textured plates? (I think it didn’t in the beginning)
Yes it works fine now on standard textured plates.
cool, thanks!
You can get both Bambu and Orca skicer(s) from the AUR if your distro is arch-based or a flatpack of either if you’re Debian based if that’s your main concern, but from what you’re saying you’re more interested in the “open-ness” of the platform. I’ve never owned a Prusa myself, but I’ve seen them in action and was very impressed. I currently run a P1S and daily-drive Debian now and couldn’t be happier, but iI do understand the concerns people have with Banbu. Sounds like you’ve done your research, and if the Prusa ticks all (or the majority) of your boxes, is local to you and you don’t mind the price tag, I don’t think you’d be disappointed at all.
@cyberwolfie I am happy MK4S owner and would recommend the CORE, but some considerations:
- Print volume IS small. Not having at least 250x250 x/y has been a step back from my previous printer.
- The platform is less open than I wished (or, better said, than they make us believe).
- I’d recommend getting the kit so you will get to know the printer better. However, CORE’s build process difficulty is yet to be seen. I built my own MK4S and it was a fun weekend project.For many people the size will be fine. Most people can get along with 180 cubed for probably 80% of their printing needs. Not a lot of people need the really large print volumes.
I would assume that a CORE kit would come with Prusa’s excellent assembly instructions. Which should make it quite easy to put together.
I’m starting to think that Prusa is switching their focus from consumer grade printers to entry level pro machines and better. Prusa can’t really afford to be in that market as the race to the bottom accelerates. But there is a niche for small business use and full blown commercial use. Qidi seems to be the only player in that market right now. And the CORE seems to offer all the goodies that Qidi has with a much better reputation for reliability and support that would appeal to a small business.
@bluewing I am sharing my personal experience with the MK4S, since I went down from a 256^3 printer.
Belt tensioning on the MK4S Kit was a pain to do, so I am curious how belt tensioning for a core kit will go. I hope they give a better solution than the tuning app, as tensioning belts for a core xy is noticeably harder.
Neither of these are blockers anyway, like I said, I am happy with my MK4S.
Yeah, There are some maintenance things with CoreXY I’m not overly impressed with. The belts being one of them. Still, I think they are the future for consumer printers now. It’s going to be interesting to see how the CORE does in the market.
I did consider an up grade to my Mk3s to Mk4 abilities. But in the end I didn’t figure it was worth the money and effort for my needs. In the end, it might be considered slow now but it’s a tank of a printer. I am considering upgrading the control system by adding Klipper to my Raspberry Pi and flashing new firmware for the old 8bit Rambo board. It sounds like it would get me a Mk3.5 level of control and speed.
- Print volume IS small. Not having at least 250x250 x/y has been a step back from my previous printer.
Hm, I don’t think I can quite grasp how much of a difference it would make to have a couple of cm extra in each direction. For my actual planned projects, I know it will be sufficient (except for one, where none of the consumer grade printers would be, and I would need to splice multiple parts somehow). But I also know that the list of planned projects will expand much faster than I am able to plan, design and print…
- The platform is less open than I wished (or, better said, than they make us believe).
Hm, in what way have you experienced any problems with this? I understand that it is not fully open source, but as far as I could tell, you can’t go much more open without going with a Voron?
- I’d recommend getting the kit so you will get to know the printer better. However, CORE’s build process difficulty is yet to be seen. I built my own MK4S and it was a fun weekend project.
I would love to get the kit, both as a learning experience and a fun project. However, they are not shipping the kits until April/May or something like that, while the assembled printers start shipping in January. I don’t think I want to wait that long.
In practice, I haven’t found the print volume of my MK4 to be too limiting. Occasionally more X/Y would be nice, but plenty of parts that are too big for my printer would be too big for any printer and still need to be cut. The other issue is that even fast 3d printers are slow and I don’t really print things that take entire days. Even printing dactyl keyboard halves takes hours thanks to the need for supports, so I can’t imagine someone frequently doing really huge prints (particularly in height).
I have also thought that the prints where I need more volume would not be solved by an additional cm or two in the xy-plane, and would need to be spliced in some way. How is that process anyway? Do you use a glue gun or a 3D pen to do this splicing? My guess it will not look very pretty, but could I expect to be able to make watertight seals for example?
- When splitting a model into chunks, one important thing is to not just cut it along a flat plane, but instead design in tabs and slots so that the pieces locate and interlock.
- In addition to gluing pieces together with things like cyanoacrylate (super glue) and epoxy, it’s also possible to solvent-weld them together with things like acetone or other solvents that depend on what kind of filament you’re using (e.g. ethyl acetate for PLA). Such solvents can also be used for vapor-smoothing. They’re relatively nasty chemicals, though, so you need ventilation and PPE and whatnot.
- Even an object printed as a single unit may not necessarily be watertight because of pinhole gaps between layers.
- In general, if you want your final object to be watertight, look good after being spliced together, or even just not look obviously 3D-printed, you should expect that you’re going to have to sand/fill it (with e.g. bondo) and paint it.
- If you want to make something like a food-safe container or a sex toy (i.e. where it’s important that the material both be non-toxic and not have any layer line crevices that could harbor bacteria), your best bet is to 3D-print a mold or blank, finish it as described above, and then use that to cast the actual finished part out of some other material like silicone or metal.
Thanks for the write-up! :)
There are a fair number of methods to join pieces into larger assemblies.
Some people have used a 3D pen to “weld” an assembly. But from my observation, it’s not particularly strong. Super glues are popular for PLA. It bonds and holds well to PLA. PETG is better glued with epoxies vs super glues. But super glue will work in a pinch. Sometimes printing threaded parts is acceptable. But issues with fitment and strength of threads can be a problem. Simple machine screws and nuts are good for somethings. Even self-tapping screws are popular. Heat set brass threaded inserts are cheaply and widely available. And can be set with a cheap soldering iron. Various “snap together couplers” can be designed and 3D printed.
These are just a few ways to make assemblies with 3D printed parts. The trick is to learn how to choose what is the best for any particular model and that’s on you.
Making a model hold water can be as simple as “the thicker is better” approach by adding more perimeters and top and bottom layers. Or it can involve applying various suitable paints and sealers. Again like fasteners, your use will most likely dictate the methods that you choose.
Edit to add: From what I can see, PrusaSlicer currently offers the best tools to create cuts and locators right in the slicer. With perhaps Cura a close second, (but I haven’t use Cura in couple of years now).
Cheers! Saving this reply for when I have got my printer and need to figure out how to do things like this!
RE: Open-Source
> in what way have you experienced any problems with this?
For example, and I know is very niche, but I wanted to fix an issue with their app (I am an app dev), to discover that it isn’t FOSS like the slicer.
Also as a CAD aficionado, I would love to get the actual step files and not just STLs.
But don’t get me wrong, none of these was a blocker for me to get a MK4S.
I am also not sure if I will upgrade to CORE, but that’s another story.
but I wanted to fix an issue with their app (I am an app dev), to discover that it isn’t FOSS like the slicer.
Prusa has other software than their slicer? What does it do?
Mobile app, web app, firmware, bootloader…
@aard most importantly, it notifies me when the printer needs my attention (e.g. change filament). My biggest annoyance (and what I wanted to fix/change) is that their app icon is not a proper vector graphic image, so it doesn’t look good in themed Android launchers.
Ah, yeah, I would also have expected their app to be open source.
Are the step files not generated by the slicer?
@cyberwolfie so what I mean is files that I can open on FreeCAD and can be modified to create my custom parts (step files), rather than importing an STL, which leads to worse results / more difficult to modify.
This doesn’t affect me directly much, but it does affect the community as a whole, and it’s a step (heh) back from previous printers that do have the step files available.
Ah, I see! I have much to learn, but looking forward to getting started :)
I advise against getting the brand new thing. My experience has been that frequently the reliability and feature set of yet-to-be-released things tend to be highly overstated. The CORE looks cool but I would give it six months after release before you consider buying one so you can see some real reviews.
Prusa has a pretty decent track record but they are really branching out of their comfort zone now and I would be cautious.
If you don’t want to wait, the Bambu P1S is a phenomenal printer. I wish they were more open along with everyone else but I have many, many, many hours on mine and has been an excellent purchase. It was a massive upgrade from my Prusa Mk3S.
Yeah, ideally it would already be out and I could look at some reviews. The timing is such that I want to get one now, and I would hesitate to get a MK4S instead where the Core One seems to better fit my wants. If it was either a brand new company or a printer that somehow revolutionized 3D-printing, I would be more hesitant to order before launch. But seeing as Prusa is an established company, and they are not reinventing the wheel here, I feel more comfortable (even as you say, they are stretching out of their comfort-zone - but isn’t one of their commercial grade printers already core xy?).
The XL is indeed corexy but it’s also marketed to professionals who would be able to navigate any issues. I’ve seen some mixed reviews on if it’s good.
FWIW, Prusa has definitely had some major failures. The MMU2 was fundamentally broken on release with sensors that were unreliable at best and the community had to step in with replacement models to get it even somewhat reliable.
Just be wary of trusting the brand. I like Prusa too but they aren’t immune to misses.
For me, pre-purchasing a Phrozen resin printer that every single YouTube influencer assured me was the absolute best printer ever made only for it to be an absolute mess that just sits on my shelf unused because it is complete garbage, was my lesson to wait for the reviews.
The core 1 is a pretty iterative, not so huge leap from the mk4s which was a little hop from the Mk4. I don’t think there’s too much drastic new tech to worry about and Prusa has a solid reputation for both testing and support. I’d argue safe to pull trigger now. I think Bambu is a stain on the 3d printing world personally but that’s a philosophical argument not a performance review.
No, Prusa is perfect for them based on what they stated. Don’t recommend then stupid Chinese crap
I don’t like the closed nature of manufacturers like bambu, but damn the Prusa fanclup is sniffing some pretty strong copium these days. The core One is way overpriced for a medium-sized (bordering a bit small these days TBH) coreXY printer with nothing out of the ordinary with regards to capabilities.
Depending on how much you value open source vs domestic production, part of me thinks that you may want to consider the Sovol SV08. Sovol is based out of China, but that printer is basically a Voron 2.4 modified for mass production (ie much of the printer comes preassembled), and because of it the printer is very open source, as in here’s the GitHub repo. My only major concern would be that the machine ships with a non-standard hot end, however I recently learned (Here) that the community already has a mod to fix that. You also gain a much bigger build volume, for a fraction of the upfront investment. (Edit: That said, it may not be the most beginner friendly machine in existence (see replies))
I’m also somewhat hesitant to recommend a machine that isn’t out and doesn’t really have any reviews yet. With any new product launch like this, I’d almost guarantee that there will be a teething period as the bugs, glitches, and hiccups all get worked out (as goes the early adopter tax). Which means that you may face a slightly steeper leaning curve as someone new to the hobby (Prusa has been around for a hot minute, so I don’t expect it to be too bad, but it’s still worth mentioning). That said, if none of that scares you and if you’re already prepared for the pricetag, Prusa’s are known to be absolute workhorses, there’s no reason they can’t be entry level machines.
The SV08 has been out since at least summer. I’ve had mine since September and I’m super satisfied with it. It is not a beginners machine however, there are a couple of mandatory tweaks and upgrades to make it usable. Nothing unsurmountable but having modded the shit out of my Ender 3 helped a lot.
I have had a SV08 for a few weeks. Had a K1 Max for the same time period. I had 2 or two failed prints on the SV08 and about 3 dozen failed prints.
I returned the K1 Max (with huge struggles with support)
Previously I had a Labist ET4 that only worked for a out 5 prints total before giving up on it.
I will agree with your statement. If you are willing to put in a bit of research on YouTube and GITHUB and swap a few parts and spend a few hours you’ll have a hilarious large printer that just spits out almost anything you throw at it, besides ABS and ASA… For now…
I don’t personally own one, so that’s really good to know! I mostly thought of it since it checked most of what OP was looking for, without being a full on Voron. That’s said, I’m not sure how much of a beginner machine the Core One will be either. Regardless, I’ll add a proceed with caution on my recommendation.
Out of curiosity, what upgrades did you have to make to sv08?
(I also graduated from the Thessian Ender 3 program and went to a v2.4)
I had to swap the stock fan for a Noctua since it was unbearably loud, adjust the volumetric flow and spend some time adjusting the Z-offset. I should also tension the belts a bit but it looks super non-trivial.
@cyberwolfie @cyberwolfie you might wanna checkout ratrig too, they’re a Portuguese company (tho I don’t know where they manufacture the printers, Prusa has factory in Prague) and are kind of open too.
As for Slicer, you can use Prusaslicer for Bambulab or Creality, Bambulab has their own slicer opensourced (actually fork from Prusaslicer) and AFAIK works on linux.
You’ll always be able to use freecad, blender whatever modelling tool. You model it and export STL, which can be then fed into any slicer.
As for HW, it’s hard to say. Průša core one isn’t much more pricey than Bambu, what it can do we shall yet to see.
Bambulab started as closed source, but it seems they’ve been opening at least some of it (they now allow custom firmware, allegedly offline firmware updates, so you can run them fully offline), whereas Průša has moved from the 100% opensource to someting more restrictive, still being much more open than Bambulab.
N. B. I’m a Prusa owner and have never owned a Bambulab.
