Bambu Lab A1 Mini Hands On - It Blows Away The Competition

In this hands-on review of the BambooLab A1 Mini, I take a deep dive into this new "gateway" printer, talking about features, comparing it to traditional options like the Prusa Mini+and sharing my firsthand experiences. 🛠️

🤔 Thinking of buying the A1 Mini? Drop your questions and thoughts in the comments! I'm here to help you make the best choice.

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[sllingky]

Fantastic review! My son researched printers for his tiny little high school last year and ended up purchasing the Prusa Mini for them. He built it and learned how to teach students how to use it. We decided he needed his own so assumed we'd just buy him his own Prusa Mini. Until we came across the Bambu A1. Now we're doing our own research, and reviews like this have really helped us decide the Bambu is for us. For someone who wants to build parts for his own RC vehicles (and has no commercial ambitions), this machine sounds like the hands-down top choice. Thanks!

[thelastengineer]

but is the buid volume enough iam currently thinking about to get the a1 or the mini (maby the mini combo)

[daves]

I have been printing non stop on the A1 mini with AMS lite since Christmas, it’s a professional workhorse printer, not just for beginners.

[RealShebang]

Mine is arriving tomorrow! I got it because it looks fun. I think the focus on it as a "starter printer" sells it a bit short. I have all sorts of printers for this-and-that sort of duties, but the A1 Mini I picked up because it just looks like a printer perfect for having actual fun with.

[knoxieman]

Great insight and it's definitely on the list in January as a late Xmas present for me

[leonjustus]

I can‘t wait for mine to arrive in December. So excited

[UncleJessy]

Watching this while setting up a print on my a1 mini 🙃🤘

[JimboJonesTherd]

You think it will be possible to feed filament from a dryer box standing next to the printer? I don't want to use the spool holder on the back for space reasons... thx!

[Festivejelly]

Your description of coreXY isnt accurate. Core XY is the relationship of the motion system to the motors. CoreXY utilities 2 motors in tandem for moving the toolhead. Where as other systems like Cartesian use 1 per axis. For example the bed only moves up and down on the Ender 5 plus, but it is not a CoreXY as it still uses 1 motor per X and Y Axis and it runs these independently.

[bhartissimo]

I was planning to get a used Prusa Mini+ or Mk3S+, or a new Prusa Mk4. Probably would already have so if I hadn't been away for three weeks. Now, I'm planning on getting the A1 Mini with AMS lite mainly cos of the price difference.

[OmahaWayne]

I am looking at what to buy right now in this price range for my first printer. I like this and the elegoo 3 Pro. (the 4 seems to have several issues). I looked at the creality but I want A nice printer in the sub 500 range that I can just set up and go. I would rather tinker with my projects then to be tinkering with the printer.

Thanks for the video !!!

[Viseodp]

I just hope the a1 mini will last as long as the prusa mini does because i have a prusa mini that has been printing for two years every day and all i have had to do is change the nozzle once.

[GeekGarageDK]

Agree on everything except the wording many uses that it's a starter printer. It's a printer that a starter can use and have a great experience with. But it's definitely also a printer that can grow with the user and a printer you can have for a very long time until you need a bigger bed, but you can still keep it as it's not a printer with reduced functionality, it's just smaller. I just sold my Ender 5 Plus that was heavily modified, and bought the mega combo A1 Mini (waiting on delivery). and honestly i cannot wait to have a printer that just works and I don't have to modify to get good prints. For way too long the market around printers in the lower price range has always been focused around the "modify and upgrade" mentality, but this time around you actually get a tool to use as a tool and not another project you always has to attend to. My plan is I'm getting the A1 Mini, and when the successor to the X1 carbon gets released, i think I'll get that if the specs are right for me and what I do. yes I lost quite a lot of print area 350x350x400 compared til the A1 Minis 180x180x180, BUT I also got rid of hours of tinkering to fix the printer that now can be used on design and actual print time. I didn't get the combo for color change options, but i will for sure try it out and use it. I primarily got it for multi material, so i don't have to switch rolls all the time, that was the selling point to get the AMS lite for me, else i could have waited until they opened up for printer only sales. I do custom lamp designs and mechanical designs, and 90% of what i do, fit in the 180mm print envelope anyway, so i would rather be able to pump out products than tinker with the printer, just to be able to runt the last 10%.

[andreas.grundler]

Do you realize that this is an unfair comparison?

The Prusa Mini+ was developed at a time when most 3D printers still had 8-bit boards and resonance compensation was still unknown in 3D printing. Only with more powerful mainboards and corresponding software were such features even possible.

Compare the Bambu Lab A1 with a RatRig V-Minion. The two are much more similar in terms of design and features.

And I don't know if it's so good to have a 3D printer as a starter that does all the calibration itself. You basically just learn which buttons to press but nothing more. It's a bit like calling an Apple iPad your entry into the world of computers. Most users will never get past this stage and will always be stuck at this level. And when problems do occur, they don't know how to fix them.

[kaween]

The A1 was specifically designed to kill the Prusa Mini. The P1 series are designed to do the same with Prusa MK3/MK4 and does a very good job doing that. Be sure Bambu will be going after the XL next year.

[jmsether]

I hate bambu as a company. Its hard to deny the fact that they make a good product though. I own a couple of x1's that I have converted to klipper. Its a great printer. Just wish bambu stopped stealing code.