Who makes the BEST BED SLINGER? 3D Printer Comparison 2024

In this video we'll check out the latest and greatest i3 style 3D Printers, the Prusa MK4S, Bambu Lab A1 and Sovol SV06 ACE. Which bed slinger is best for you? Watch to find out!

Purchase Links:

Test Models:
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:21 Prusa Research MK4S
7:00 Bambu Lab A1
11:30 Sovol SV06 ACE
16:24 Conclusion

[bena.]

It's really cool how the market went from "yeah out of these three printers this one sucks the least and after some tinkering it may work semi-reliably" to "the three are great depending on your objectives"

[aspectratio]

9:55 I appreciated the synchronization of your saying “snap” with the actual snapping off of that piece of lattice. Chef’s kiss.

[lmorchard]

Bought my Prusa MK4 last year in kit form as a complete newb to the hobby, took me 3 evenings to assemble. One of the nicest combinations of instructions and parts packaging - and now I have a really good idea of how everything went together for later repairs & maintenance. The thing just works away on whatever I've thrown at it with only one failed print that I can remember (and that was because I hadn't learned how to use supports yet)

[DPrintingNerd]

Fantastic look at these three machines! Definitely some things to consider when going for a print farm.

[knostar]

As an early adopter of the SV06 when it was released, it had it share of problems.
The bearing was barley greased. The thermistor for the heated bed cable was so tightly packed with the rest that it had a tendency to break. The Parts cooling fan was weak and badly placed. It ran Marlin, which was standard back in the day.
BUT! The community around the SV06 is amazing. Mods came out to fix the issues and everyone was really helpful in the community groups. With a touch of Klipper as well, it really polished this budget printer into a diamond.
The ACE looks like they have fixed every issue from the original and made it better. I'm still using my og SV06 ("Cation"-edition (first batch)) and a SV06 Plus regularly as well as a A1 mini. This ACE got my interested in grabbing another.

[Wywymakes]

I have 12 of the A1’s being delivered on Monday for my classroom. It actually kind of surprised me when the shipping information came into my email a couple of days ago. I submitted a PO that I thought didn’t make it through, but did! Now six weeks later I have to figure out where to put a dozen printers.

[AikaCraftyCat]

I do think it's worth mentioning that you can set the Bambu printers to LAN mode, avoiding the cloud risk. If you're really worried, you can even block the printer at the firewall to ensure it can never reach out. That's what we do at work, for printing designs that aren't allowed to leave the local environment.

Edit: this has suddenly become much more relevant...

[rfnovo]

I'd guess that the ability to complete the cube and the stringing are related. Prusa seems to be doing more Z-Hop than other what avoids collide with the parts but generates a lot of stringing

[technodrone]

ive been 3d printing almost as long as this channel has existed and the a1 just blows my mind.

[bearwolffish]

16:20 well done, it would be a deciding factor and I will support for it.

[awilliams]

I actually like that the mk4s has 3d printed parts. I printed mine (including the injection molded ones) in purple. I have a purple printer!

[WhereNerdyisCool]

I was leery about Bambu Labs but I recently bought the A1 for $299. It has been amazing and just works! Prusa has always been overpriced and it seems like it takes them numerous fixes to eventually make the printer perform as advertised. For me, bang for the buck, the Bambu has won me over. I can buy 3 of those for the cost of one Prusa. Also, that security issue you mention - call me kooky, I just turn off my printer when not in use!

[klohto]

I caved and got the A1 after the leaving the hobby because of Ender 3 experience. What a world of difference, I have never been so happy to *just* print.

[thenextlayer]

Great video. Yeah, I was shocked when reviewing the SV06 ACE (haven't published yet). I thought my MK4S print quality was very good, then I put it alongside something I printed with the SV06 ACE, and was like "uh... what?" Anyways, contacted Prusa, because they think something is wrong with my MK4S to cause VFA's....

Impressive little printer, though, I feel that it's not as competitive on price when you consider that the other two have stronger ecosystems (multicolor, more slicer profiles, etc).

[Rakietomania]

16:50 as someone who has a print farm (15 Bambu printers) I don't think that the short setup time is that big of a deal. I can buy 3 A1s in the price of MK4 + A1 prints faster. The 15 minutes it takes to assemble will pay off almost instantly.

[PrismaticPhilo]

I always love hearing your opinions. Thanks so much for everything you do

[JonS]

Great comparison review, and well done on persuading Sovol to go open source! You are a 3D printing hero!

What is the bed surface on the SV06 Ace? Did you try washing it with dish soap?

As evidenced at 2:50, Angus is truly the king of 3D printing on a wobbly table 😂

[Ramón.Estevez]

I saw it printing on several printers, even though not all of them, but the MK4 is a really good machine. And now this upgrade is a great game changer

[ShakeTheFuture]

Another aspect to consider is whether it matters to you that Prusa is made in the EU. Personally, I love supporting an EU-based company, but I’m also aware that it’s more expensive than competitors. That’s the trade-off if you want something made in the EU—price competitiveness is challenging.

One thing I especially appreciate as a creator is that Prusa printers are well-tuned with many profiles, making the printing experience much easier. That’s how I see Prusa: if you have the budget and want to support an EU company, you won’t be disappointed with the Prusa MK4S. But if that’s not a priority or you are not in position to spend more, choosing a different printer might make more sense.

[ScytheNoire]

Have a Prusa MK4S and it was a huge upgrade from the MK3S+ format, which was very outdated.
I think the 0.4mm HF profile in PrusaSlicer isn't quite tuned well enough for the high flow. I think it needs adjustment still. I switched to a non-HF ObXidian nozzle. Slower, but better quality prints, not that the HF prints were bad, just more likely to fail, blobbing with PETG.
I do, however, think the days of the unenclosed bed-slinger should come to an end. I think Prusa needs their next printer to be a full-enclosed model designed for higher temp materials and blocking drafts. It was ridiculous that the XL wasn't an enclosed system for that price. Prusa really needs to learn that people want to print more than just PLA and PETG.