Choosing Between Prusa XL and Bambu X1C?

Ever since I started making videos about the Prusa XL, people have asked me if they should get an XL or a Bambu X1C. This video aims to answer this question. The answer really depends on what you're looking to do, what your needs are, and how you intend to use the machines. There's no single printer for everyone!

00:00 Intro
00:53 Bambu X1C
01:51 Prusa XL
03:17 New to 3D Printing?
04:45 Car Analogy
06:10 Price and Value
07:07 In Summary
08:08 The Future

[kaween]

A neutral, non fanboy video. Such a relief. Thank you for spelling out what should have been obvious for everyone since day 1.

[qiliu]

Great video and thanks Robert. Really informative video. What Prusa should really include with the XL is an enclosure with heated chamber and HEPA filter - that will complete the package. XL as it is today, cannot print ABS / PC / ASA / PA6 / PA12 or any new materials that requires enclosure, which severely impact the usability for those who actually need the size & versatility with their use.

[angelofdev]

Awesome thank you for this! Double thank you for not fluffing the video with unnecessary content to blow out the video time, such relief!

[webfilesutube]

AWESOME video, thank you so much for the video, this answers my question I asked on your previous video, I really appreciated you taking the time to make this video. Perfect analogy was used.

[bami]

Very nice video with a clear explanation of the thought process, it somehow is super hard to find some actual content like this on 3d printers these days since there are so many shills and it's pretty difficult to tell "reviews" or "comparisons" from "advertisements", at least with your channel I know I get some honest opinions instead of trying to sell me a printer with a promo code where the content creator receives a kickback.

For the choice between a Prusa XL and a Bambu X1C the proposition is quite clear: do you just want an allround printer that works out of the box without too much fiddling (the Bambu, but you waste quite a bit of filament doing multi-material printing since there is only 1 toolhead that needs to be purged), or do you need a bigger work area with multiple toolheads so you can print more efficiently for projects that require these extras (the Prusa), but it gets really hard to tell the differences when there aren't any stand-out features of the printers.

I'd be interested in a similar video but on comparable 3d printers, like comparing a Bambu X1C to a Prusa Mk4 with enclosure: they are about the same price, offer about the same functionality and it's really hard to find the exact differences and advantages/disadvantages between them aside from the Bambu being a CoreXY and the Prusa a bedslinger. For example the Bambu has CF rods in the gantry that are marked as wear items, but how many hours printing is to be expected before these need to be replaced? How open is the firmware on both these machines (especially the telemetry and weird language in the EULA leave me worried)?

[dazzauk]

I have x1c but will also get this pursa xl after its been out longer.
I have been an early adopter once and never again.

[karmakh]

I have the XL 2T, and for functional prints I would buy it again (instead of the 5 head). Sure, a third toolhead would unlock a couple use cases, but two heads have accomplished all my needs for now. Prusa also offers upgrade kits now, so there's that. Single head XL is the one config I don't recommend. Edit: Almost forgot about the missing enclosure. That's something that I will absolutely acquire for the XL at some point. Either from Prusa (when they release it) or one of the various third party projects.

[quaz]

Now if one company or another offers multiple heads with color changing systems (like the AMS) then that would be a great hybrid. The other consideration with the X1C is not being limited to just the 5 colors. You can effectively set up to 20 different colors without having to really think about it.

[jenspetersen]

Great neutral review! Having used 3D printers since 2011 and using the X1C for engineering, I love how incredibly much more reliable it is and the absence of having to tinker.
It irritates me that you cannot have engineering plastics and flexibles in the tool changer, but Bambu has announced that they have a filament coming out that will do that.
What I really need is a double wide Bambu X1C. It would be cheap to develop, and open up a huge amount of stuff that we could prototype!

[lifeholdstrategic]

Finally a video that hits the mark on why someone would choose the XL, , combining different materials in the same print. Someone making colored dragons is completely different than someone like me, needing to make complex silicone molding systems that use soluble supports to create void spaces in the final product. Great video which is helping me lean toward the XL.

[furfoxsake]

I own both printers, and have been a prusa customer for years. When I got the Bambu I was very impressed with the ease of use and slick design, but when I had to reach out to their support I was surprised how hard it was to get a response. Prusa is top notch in terms of customer support and troubleshooting, which is also something to consider IMO.

[indyjons]

I was literally asking myself this question today.

[VanoverMachineAndRepair]

Thanks for the video exactly what I am looking for!

[Silveredy]

XL 3.999 + tax and shipping…. Just buy 3x P1P wtih AMS and take leftover money and go dinner with wife and give her the rest of the money… life will be Amazing after that.

[alexsalchemy]

Honestly, I think another elephant in the room is Bambu's very sketchy intellectual property practices, both for the end user, and for the broader market.

[AwwwSnapperz]

The Xl is a very very niche device for my needs. None of my parts use dissimilar filament. I am hard pressed to fine a reason to mix PC/ABS or nylon with lesser filaments types(pla/petg etc)

The waste argument is kinda moot in my world. The price difference cannot be ignored.
2500 worth of waste filament is a huge amount to justify the XL
Just thinking about the math, a color swap is about .3-.7grams, before swap tweaks to get 30-50% additional yield
I buy filament in bulk and that is about 200 -250rolls for $2500
I would need hundreds of thousands to several million filament swaps to just match the price of the XL before it prints a single gram of filament.
That would could be years worth or printing before the waste is an issue.
Also it's only waste if you deem it waste. There are several ways to reuse it.

So you are correct size can be done with many other types of single head printers, and large multi filament prints it's main use case. 3500-4k is a hard sell.

[AudieChason]

I had an XL on backorder for 2 YEARS. I attempted to finalize the order and tried to include some filament with the order because of the high cost of shipping Prusa supplies to the US. The Prusa rep said no can do despite it's in their web page that you can do it (I double checked). My wife has 2 Prusa Mk3S+ printers and bought a Bambu. She doesn't use the Prusas now. Every contact with Prusa has ended in frustration. I decided to cancel my XL order and will buy a Bambu instead. It's a thousand dollars less than a Prusa with 2 tool heads ands its only advantage is a slightly larger build volume, offset by fewer tool heads, but the primary reason is we are just fed up with Prusa. In my opinion, they have a chip on their shoulder.

[floatingcameras]

Having experience with both I agree with the Sedan vs Pickup comparison for average users. I would like to add that for serious multiple material printing the Prusa XL5 puts the Bambu X1C in the rear view mirror. It is incredibly freeing to pretty much ignore the number of tool changes. The difference is a lot more than just size and capability. I feel the XL is one of the best purchases I've ever made. You get what you pay for.

[blindsay]

I have about 3000hrs on my X1c and just ordered a 5 head Prusa XL. The X1C has been great, especially for the money. I have been getting more into multi color and multi material prints and while the AMS does a good job it is definitely slow and generates a ton of waste. Often it ends up wasting more material than it actually uses on prints with a lot of swaps. Also the increased size of the XL will be nice. I will likely keep my X1C for engineering materials since the prusa is not enclosed though

[fredhag]

Nice video, but there still seems to be some gray area even with the significant time spent on comparing the X1C and XL strengths. I need that XL multi-toolhead functionality (like the Ultimaker printers), but the bit at 4:10-4:25 suggests the XL is best if you get all 5 toolheads. What if you just need two and don't want to spend the $$? It sounds like the XL is not the recommendation in that case, but I don't hear any recommendation there. Do you have advice? I've had an Ultimaker 3 that worked pretty well, but it's basically dead now, and their replacement models are way more expensive these days. Thanks.