Prusa XL review: A big 3D printer with a few big compromises

Bigger isn't necessarily better, but when more volume comes along with increased quality and a load of new features, it's hard to say no. Those new features include a print bed with selective heating, and the ability to simultaneously work with up to five different kinds of plastics, not just different colors.

And, yes, it's bigger too, but all that comes at a significant cost: $1,999 to start, or double that if you want it pre-assembled with tall the features. Is it worth the cost, and the two year wait since the thing was unveiled? That depends on how serious your printing needs are.

#review #3dprinting

[emuboy]

As far as I know Lidar on the bambulab printers doesn't detect failing prints, only first layer extrusion issues.

[bigbenchrob]

Great review focussing on facts and useful information rather than influencer fluff. I learned a lot from this video - thank you! Keep up this style.

[DavidDickens]

As someone who actually has the 5 tool XL printer i can tell you its amazing.

[wilsistermans]

I have a 5 tool XL. I think it is a great printer, but it took me som time to tweak the filament profiles. A 0.6 nozzle is not recommended (yet). 0.4 mm nozzles give a much better result.
The firmware is clearly not completely ready yet. The printer must be capable to run faster and the problem with stringing when using a 0.6 mm nozzle is not solved yet. Input shaping works, but there is room for improvement. It is a shame there is no (transparant) enclosure (including top) available and I mis a camera. You can use an (old) phone, but a own webcam would be better. Since we had to wait for the XL for well over a year I expected the firmware would be developed beter and accessories would be available when they started to send out the XL.
I don't use the spool holders, but print directly from dry boxes or filament-dryers.
I can recommend the kit. It saves you money and assembly is pretty doable for everyone. If your printer may need tweaking or service, it is a great advantage when you already know how the printer is assembled. 5 tools is more than most people will use. I use my printer 24/7 and have a spare roll of filament for the two most used colours and a single spool for a sparsely used colour. In this way I can use my filament rolls to the last cm, without the printing stops waiting for a new roll. If you don't plan to print in multicolour or 24/7 often, you can save a lot of money by buying only a one, or two tool version. Extra tool heads can always be added later.

[RYTHMICRIOT]

What's crazy to me was Prusa still charging almost $300 for shipping after I would spend almost $5k on a printer.

[dzdgmmdzdgmm]

The official cover for the XL is already available. You can order it. At least one point is no longer actual. If I put URL, the text is deleted.

[WaleighWallace]

Where did you get the file for that tool box? Was it on the included USB stick?

[surfalex]

Thanks for showing my upgrade ;-) Maybe you can provide a link in you descriptions to my mods? Would help me spread the word!

[tfb]

6:00 SuperSlicer uses % of nozzle instead of PrusaSlicers % of Layer height. This allows you to mix nozzle sizes, however it is pretty limited. The SuperSlicer developer restarted development in November last year and is working on the PrusaSlicer 2.7 Merge to add all the missing features as it currently has a fork of PrusaSlicer 2.5.

[Dave_the_Dave]

Just to comment on 6:10, you can extrude just as much material with a 0.4 mm nozzle as the default 0.6 mm nozzle settings. Material flow rate isn't decreased much by the change in nozzle size in my experience.

[gaaZolee]

Great recap! I've got a 5 toolhead XL and i am very satisfied with it. I was able to print multicolor, multimaterial and even multi nozzle size prints/ Prusa slicer doesn't support multi nozzle directly yet. However with some modifiers you can achieve it. Mixing materials is not a trivial thing even just different brands filaments is problem is on its own way. Think that someone is going to solve all of possible combinations with a single click is not realistic. It always brings in some additional tweaking. On other hand, it is interesting how everybody is talking about Bambu, how much advanced it is. The design is obviously changing the perception a lot. Nice looking printer. When I tried I didn't find any game changing feature with them which would change my experience ground up and allow me to do what I cannot do with Prusas.

[technosworld]

1:40 - The previous Prusa beds do move, but not vertically, they move in the y direction

[printschnitzel]

I bought it because of the tool changer: absolutely worth it for me. It is awesome.
If you want the fastest printer out there: XL is the wrong printer.
If you want quality: get it

[GotBeef]

Will be interesting to see how the Prusa XL compares to Bambu’s gen 2 XL machine that’s set to be released later this year

[michaelolz]

Do they offer an enclosure as a separate part?

[gregoryamer]

That multiple toolhead option looks awesome.

[ScytheNoire]

I'm waiting to see what the Voron Phoenix offers, and if Bambu does a larger, better designed multi-head printers.

[andruskj]

Enclosure is definitely needed and it is sad that they do not offer one.

[thamjunyan]

it's impressive that it has 5 toolhead, but the lack of any advanced and user concentric features that make the printer just works, and it being at such price, is a hard pill to swallow. year 2023 and it comes with 2000's UI and a knob. seriously over the years i'm so done with wasting time tinkering and need something that works, and if you're asking for that much money, it better be.

[petrowi]

I just tried the PLA/PETG combo for print/support and it's a mixed bag. The oozing is real, and the "ooze prevention" doesn't work all that well because the heads cool off and the first object they go to after a tool change gets a bunch of blobs. I had to add a sacrificial model that was there just for the tool heads to warm up.
There are a number of awkward pauses in the beginning of every print- the printer "absorbs heat" for 10 min (skippable via the printer's screen), then waits for unknown reason, and then calibrates - it could at least calibrate when the temperature is close while still heating.
It doesn't print all that fast, maybe 50% faster than my MK3S
Its WiFi connectivity is weird, I much prefer the octoprint on my MK3S - I still don't use the printer's web interface with its old school password popup that browsers can't auto-fill