Bambu Lab launches their affordable A1 Mini 3D Printer
A new gateway into 3D printing – Bambu Lab’s A1 Mini delivers a solid feature set at an incredible price
Bambu Lab’s new A1 Mini is a new and affordable gateway into the 3D printing hobby. Shockingly, Bambu Lab has also managed to add multi-colour printing to this mini printer thanks to their compact new AMS Lite add-on.
For £269, the A1 Mini offers users fast printing at an aggressive price tag. The printer ships pre- assembled and is designed to be plug-and-play, allowing owners to start printing in minutes.
Is this Bambu Lab’s Prusa Mini killer?
With a print volume of 180mm x 180mm x 180mm, the Bambu Lab A1 Mini is a direct competitor to the popular Prusa Mini+. Bambu Labs’ Mini A1 ships with advanced features like Active Flow Rate Compensation, Automatic bed level calibration, and pressure advance, and input shaping out of the box. In short, the Bambu Lab Mini A1 is designed to be a Prusa-killer, offering users lower pricing and a more advanced feature set.
Built into the Mini A1 are sensors that calibrates the A1 Mini before every print. This includes bed level optimisation, vibration resonance, and nozzle pressure. Bambu Lab enables ultra-fast printing and maintaining accurate results with these features.
With an asking price of £269, the A1 Mini is over £100 less expensive than the Prusa Mini+ kit. Remember that users have to build Prusa’s kit printers themselves. For the cost of a built Prusa Mini+, Bambu Lab can sell a A1 Mini with an AMS Lite multi-material kit. This is an incredibly aggressive price from Bambu Lab.
The latest features at an affordable price
The A1 Mini features automatic printer calibration, input shaping, pressure advance, and flow rate compensation. These features allow owners to start 3D printing as soon as they unbox their printer.
Bambu Lab’s A1 Mini eliminates the fiddling the plagued early 3D printers. This is how the A1 Mini delivers an excellent experience for beginners and 3D printing enthusiasts alike. Filament tangle detection and runout monitor also ensure that fewer prints fail due to filament related issues. Quick-swap nozzles and easy detach build plates also help to make 3D printing easier.
Bambu Lab has brought some real competition to the low-cost 3D printer market with their new A1 Mini. With attractive pricing and a rich feature set the A1 Mini leaves almost nothing to be desired. Well, perhaps multi-colour printing support will be desirable for some users. The AMS Lite addresses this desire, making the A1 Mini an ideal small form factor 3D printer.
At £269, the A1 Mini appears to be a solid 3D printer for its asking price. Addon the AMS Lite upgrade for £409, and you have a hugely capable, albeit unorthodox, setup at an incredibly low price.
You can join the discussion on the Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D printer on the OC3D Forums.
