3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
AnkerMake M5 vs Bambu Lab A1 mini
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore AnkerMake M5 comparisonsMore Bambu Lab A1 mini comparisons
| Property | AnkerMake M5BEDSLINGER | Bambu Lab A1 miniBEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | AnkerMake | Bambu Lab |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | AnkerMake M5. AnkerMake has since been rebranded eufyMake, and ankermake.com now redirects to eufymake.com[1][2] | Bambu Lab A1 mini. Store title: "Bambu Lab A1 mini 3D Printer"[3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Shipped in the second half of 2023; Tom's Hardware published its A1 mini review on 13 October 2023, ahead of the full-size A1 review of 14 December 2023[4][5] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | Not documented | From $219.00 (base A1 mini) on the Bambu Lab US store, Aug 2026, during an advertised Back-to-School sale; the product page lists A1 mini and A1 mini Combo variants[6][7] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Paired with the cheaper M5C, which is smaller (220x220x250 vs 235x235x250), has a higher flow rate (35 vs 24 mm3/s) but no screen, no camera and no AI recognition. The M5's headline 500 mm/s is a high-speed-mode figure; its default is 250 mm/s[1][8][2] | Two SKUs: A1 mini and A1 mini Combo (adds the AMS lite). Distinguish from the full-size A1 by build volume (180 vs 256 mm cube), bed ceiling (80 vs 100 C), screen (2.4 vs 3.5 inch), Z drive (single leadscrew with a coupling vs dual leadscrews belt-synced) and weight (5.5 vs 8.3 kg)[3][9][10][11] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | 3DJake lists the M5 as sold out and no longer stocked. The brand has been folded into eufyMake[1][2] | Still the entry model in the Bambu Lab US store line-up in Aug 2026 and the cheapest machine listed[6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 235 x 235 x 250 mm[1][2] | 180 x 180 x 180 mm (manufacturer figure)[3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | Not documented | 347 x 315 x 365 mm (Bambu tech specs; Tom's Hardware prints 347 x 314 x 365 mm)[3][4] |
| Net weight (kg) | Not documented | 5.5 kg net[3] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Steel plus extruded aluminium chassis[3] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame[1] | Open frame, no enclosure[3] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian bedslinger[1] | Cartesian bed-slinger: toolhead on an X guide rail and crossbeam, print platform moving in Y on a guide rail, toolhead carried in Z[10] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Not documented | Horizontal linear guide rail with the printhead on a sliding block; rail size not published[10] |
| Y-axis guide type | Not documented | Horizontal linear guide rail carrying the print platform, belt-driven in Y[10] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not documented | Single leadscrew with nut, coupling and stepper motor - the motor drives the leadscrew directly through the coupling. This is the clearest hardware difference from the A1, which uses two leadscrews synchronised by a belt[10][11] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 250 mm/s default; 500 mm/s in high-speed mode (manufacturer figures)[1] | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim); no independent measurement found[3] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 5,000 mm/s2 in high-speed mode (manufacturer claim)[1] | 10000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim)[3] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | 24 mm3/s (manufacturer claim)[2] | 28 mm3/s claimed on a 150x150 mm single-wall model in Bambu ABS at 280 C - note this is the ABS figure quoted for a machine whose own spec sheet lists ABS as not recommended[3] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct-drive extruder[1] | Direct drive with hardened-steel extruder gears; toolhead also holds the cutter unit, filament hub and filament sensor[3][10] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | All-metal integrated hotend (nozzle plus heatsink in one unit), quick-swap; stainless-steel nozzle, 0.4 mm included, 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[3][10] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | Not documented | 300 C claimed max hot-end temperature[3] |
| Heater cartridge power (W) | 60 W heating block, quoted by AnkerMake as reaching 200 °C[1] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | Not documented | 80 C max build-plate temperature - the lowest of the current Bambu range, and the reason ABS/ASA are listed as not recommended[3][10] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Scratch-resistant PEI-coated magnetic build plate[1] | Textured PEI plate; Smooth PEI and Dual-Texture PEI plates also compatible[3] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Automatic 7 x 7 levelling; probe technology not named[1] | Nozzle-touch automatic bed levelling and automatic Z-offset; Tom's Hardware confirms the nozzle itself is the probe[4][10] |
| Mesh grid size (probe point count — firmware evidence) | 49 points (7 x 7)[1] | Not documented |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Not documented | Yes - run-out sensor, filament odometry and filament-tangle sensor[3] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Not documented | Optional AMS lite (A1 mini Combo); AMS / AMS 2 Pro / AMS HT need an AMS HUB (SA013) accessory[7] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | One custom 5015 centrifugal part-cooling fan with two opposing outlets; closed-loop control. A separate MC board cooling fan is also fitted[3][10] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Bambu names the motion controller as a dual-core Cortex-M4; no board model or chip markings published[3] |
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 100-240 VAC 50/60 Hz; max power 150 W for the whole machine. Bed heater wattage is not published separately[3] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not documented | Closed-source proprietary firmware - not a Klipper or Marlin derivative, and no printer-firmware source is published. The bambulab GitHub organisation carries 11 repositories (Bambu Studio, wxWidgets/boost/ffmpeg forks, the wiki); none is printer firmware. Updates are delivered over the air via Bambu Studio / Bambu Handy[12] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch colour LCD touchscreen[1] | 2.4-inch 320x240 IPS touchscreen[3] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Not documented | Touchscreen plus Bambu Handy app and Bambu Studio PC application[3] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Wi-Fi and USB-C[1] | Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz only (802.11 b/g/n), Bambu-Bus, microSD card. No Ethernet, no USB host[3] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | 1080p camera with AI recognition and time-lapse[1][2] | Built-in low-rate camera, up to 1080p, timelapse supported[3] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Assembly kit; AnkerMake quotes about 15 minutes[1] | Arrives mostly pre-assembled - only the filament wiper, spool holder and Bowden tubes to fit[4] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Not documented | Ideal: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA. Not recommended: ABS, ASA, PC, PA, PET and fibre-reinforced polymers[3] |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Not documented | Manufacturer claim only: the US store page claims "49dB Whisper-Quiet Operation" - the identical sentence appears on the A1 page, so treat it as line-level marketing copy rather than a per-model measurement. No independent dB measurement with a stated distance was found[7][13] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | Not documented | 2-year limited warranty for consumers in the US, Canada, the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year in the rest of the world. Bambu Lab's own policy records the US/Canada term as a 2026 extension from one year to two[14] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | Print accuracy quoted at 0.1 mm (manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement)[1] | Not documented |
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom's Hardware: Editor's Choice, rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data (13 October 2023)[4] |
Manufacturer claims, independent measurements, packages and test conditions retain their source wording. FDM linear speed and resin vertical speed use different units and are not directly comparable. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- AnkerMake M5 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- AnkerMake M5C review and spec summary (eufyMake) eufymake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 mini - Technical Specifications bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A1 Mini Review, 13 October 2023 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A1 Review, Denise Bertacchi, 14 December 2023 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Bambu Lab US Store - 3D Printers collection listing (base prices, Aug 2026) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 mini store page (A1 mini / A1 mini Combo variants) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- AnkerMake M5C technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 - Technical Specifications bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Wiki - A1 mini introduction wiki.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab Wiki - A1 introduction wiki.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - bambulab organisation repository list (11 repos, checked Aug 2026) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab A1 store page (A1 / A1 Combo variants) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Warranty Policy bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor