3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s vs Creality K1
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s comparisonsMore Creality K1 comparisons
| Property | ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5sRESIN | Creality K1COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Anycubic | Creality |
| Class | RESIN | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s[1][2] | Creality K1 (store title "Creality K1 Speedy 3D Printer")[3][4] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $609.00 on store.anycubic.com, with the compare-at price also $609.00, but marked Sold out, checked Aug 2026. 3DJake also shows it sold out and delisted[1][2] | $299.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026. Creality's own K1-series comparison page shows $389 against a struck-through $599 on the same day[4][3] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Older and smaller than the M7 family: 12K LCD (11520 x 5120) vs 14K, 218 x 123 x 200 mm vs 223 x 126 x 230, an LED-matrix light source rather than COB + Fresnel, and 105 vs 150-170 mm/h on high-speed resin. Note Anycubic's spec table lists the machine dimensions in H x W x D order[1][2][5][6] | Base model of the K1 family. The differences that matter are in the hotend: the K1 uses a metal + PTFE-tube hotend with a copper nozzle, while the K1C is all-metal with a steel-tipped nozzle integrated with the heatbreak and adds an air filter and a 1080p AI camera. Creality's own comparison table annotates the K1 hotend "Changing to All-metal Soon", so the hotend on a given unit depends on when it was built - check before buying. The K1 Max is the 300 mm version with 1000 W rated power and Ethernet; the K1 SE has a PA+30%GF hotend and an epoxy plate[3][7] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 218 x 123 x 200 mm (Anycubic quotes 5.4 L; the table writes it as 200 x 218 x 123 mm in H x W x D order)[1][2] | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 460 x 270 x 290 mm (H x W x D per Anycubic; 3DJake writes 270 x 290 x 460 mm)[1][2] | 355 x 355 x 480 mm[3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 8.9 kg[1][2] | 12.5 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[8] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open-frame MSLA with a UV-blocking cover[1] | Enclosed with passive chamber heating only - Creality's comparison table lists "Passive Heating" for the K1, K1C and K1 Max and no chamber heating for the K1 SE[3] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | MSLA, single Z axis on double linear guides, straight-lift peel[1][2] | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[3] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Double linear guides, 10 um precision[1] | Not documented |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | Not documented | 600 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim). Creality's own footnote says the 600 mm/s figure was achieved in Creality Lab and that the typical speed is 300 mm/s[3][7] |
| Recommended/typical print speed | Not documented | 300 mm/s typical printing speed with 12000 mm/s2 typical acceleration, stated by Creality alongside the 600 mm/s headline[3] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | Not documented | 20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[3] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Not documented | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[3] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Metal hotend with a PTFE (Teflon) tube in the filament path and a copper nozzle. Creality's own comparison table adds "(Changing to All-metal Soon)", so this is a moving target across production runs[3] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | Not documented | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | Not documented | 100 C max heatbed temperature[3] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Laser-engraved aluminium-alloy build platform[1][2] | Coated steel flex plate, heated, removable[8] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Levelling-free design[1][2] | Automatic bed levelling (Tom's Hardware); unlike the K1 Max there is no lidar[8][9] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Not documented | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | Closed-loop part-cooling fan; PWM hotend cooling fan[3] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Total rated power draw | 100 W rated[1][2] | 350 W rated power[3] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not documented | Creality OS, a Klipper derivative. Creality publishes the source as CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper on GitHub, whose own description is "clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0, last pushed December 2025[10][11][3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch TFT touchscreen (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[1][2] | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[3] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Not documented | Colour touch UI; remote monitoring, time-lapse, failure detection and build-surface detection are all optional on the K1 because they depend on the optional AI camera[3] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB Type-A 2.0 and Wi-Fi[1][2] | Wi-Fi only - no Ethernet (the K1 Max adds RJ45); 8 GB of on-board storage[3] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | AI camera optional, not fitted as standard - unlike the K1C and K1 Max, which include a 1080p camera[3] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | 405 nm photopolymer resin; no closed compatibility list published on this page[1] | Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS - a notably shorter list than the K1C, because of the PTFE-lined hotend[3] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | Not verified directly. Creality's published firmware for the K1 series (CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper, GPL-3.0) is described by Creality itself as a clone of upstream Klipper, and upstream Klipper ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check; whether Creality's stock printer.cfg enables it, and with what thresholds, was not checked here[10][11] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | Not documented | Creality's US store states "Up to 12-Month Warranty", a 14-day return and refund window and "Lifetime Customer Support" on its printer product pages. The "up to" wording means the term is not uniform across parts[4] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom's Hardware rating 4 out of 5 in the page's structured data - the lowest of the K1 family, where the K1C and K1 Max both score 4.5[8][9][12] |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | 10.1-inch monochrome masking LCD at 12K, 11,520 x 5,120 px, 480:1 contrast, XY pixel pitch 19 x 24 um (manufacturer specification)[1][2] | Not documented |
| Light source | LED matrix UV light source. Anycubic does not publish wavelength or collimating optics for this model[1][2] | Not documented |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | 105 mm/h with high-speed resin, 70 mm/h with standard resin (manufacturer claims; Anycubic labels these average printing speeds and does not state the layer height assumed)[1][2] | Not documented |
| LCD life & replaceability | Swappable scratchproof screen protector film over the masking LCD. Anycubic publishes no rated screen life in hours[2] | Not documented |
| Resin vat & feeding | Unibody resin vat with scale lines. Capacity not published; no auto-refill and no level sensing stated for this model[1] | Not documented |
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
- Anycubic Photon Mono M5s product page store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Photon Mono M5s technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality - Compare K1 Flagship Series (K1 / K1C / K1 Max / K1 SE side-by-side spec table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Photon Mono M7 product page store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Photon Mono M7 Pro product page store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Max Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper repository metadata ("clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0, last push Dec 2025) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1C Review (spec box and measured print time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review