3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Bambu Lab A1 vs Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2)
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Bambu Lab A1 comparisonsMore Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) comparisons
| Property | Bambu Lab A1BEDSLINGER | Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2)COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Bambu Lab | Prusa Research |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Bambu Lab A1. Store title: "Bambu Lab A1 3D Printer"; spec page header "Bambu Lab A1 - Technical Specifications"[1] | Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2). Prusa's e-shop lists "Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2)" and "Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) Assembly kit"[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Announced and first shipped in the northern autumn/winter of 2023. Bambu Lab's own recall notice states A1 units were supplied from 1 December 2023; Tom's Hardware published its A1 review on 14 December 2023, so retail units were in reviewers' hands by then[4][5] | The CORE One+ (Gen 2) refresh was announced on 13 August 2026, on sale immediately, with the first assembled units shipping at once and kits, upgrade kits and individual parts rolling out over the following weeks. It succeeds the CORE One and CORE One+ on the same platform[6] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | From $299.00 (base A1) on the Bambu Lab US store, Aug 2026, during an advertised Back-to-School sale; the A1 product page shows $399.00 with the A1 Combo (A1 + AMS lite) swatch selected[7][8] | $1,202.78 assembled, $925.00 as an assembly kit, on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026. Bundles run to $1,301.85 with camera and advanced filtration. Prusa's own marketing table on the same page quotes "from $1,299" assembled, which does not match the live e-shop price[3][2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Two SKUs on one product page: A1 (printer only) and A1 Combo (adds the AMS lite four-spool unit); the printer hardware is identical. Do NOT confuse with the A1 mini (180 mm cube, single Z leadscrew, 80 C bed, 2.4-in screen) or the newer A2L (330x320x325 mm). Contamination example found in the wild: Tom's Hardware's A1 review spec box prints a 2.4-inch screen and a 385x410x430 mm footprint (both A1 mini figures) and titles a section "Included in the box: Bambu Lab A1 Mini", while Bambu's own A1 spec sheet says 3.5-inch screen and 465x410x430 mm[1][5][8] | Three generations share the CORE One name: the original CORE One, the CORE One+, and the CORE One+ (Gen 2), with paid upgrade kits between them (CORE One+ to CORE One+ (Gen 2), and an MK4S to CORE One+ (Gen 2) conversion kit). The specifications recorded here are those published on Prusa's current CORE One+ (Gen 2) page and should not be assumed to hold for a first-generation CORE One. The INDX 4-tool and 8-tool machines are variants of the same product page, and the CORE One L is a larger, separate machine[2][3][9] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Still sold new in Aug 2026 alongside the newer and larger A2L ($469 base), which Bambu positions as the mega-size A-series machine[7][10] | Current model and Prusa's mainstream enclosed machine, above the MK4S and below the CORE One L+[3] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 256 x 256 x 256 mm (manufacturer figure)[1] | 250 x 220 x 270 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 465 x 410 x 430 mm per Bambu's own tech-spec sheet. Tom's Hardware's spec box prints 385 x 410 x 430 mm for the same machine - that is the A1 mini's width, treat Bambu's figure as authoritative. Add clearance behind for Y-axis bed travel and above for the spool[1][5] | 415 x 444 x 555 mm (X x Y x Z)[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 8.3 kg net[1] | 22.5 kg[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Steel plus extruded aluminium chassis; Bambu markets all-metal rails and a cover-protected drive system[1][11] | All-steel exoskeleton (Prusa's own comparison wording, against "aluminium extrusions and frame" for the MK4S)[12] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure or door; no official enclosure is sold for the A1[1] | Fully enclosed with a door-open sensor and active chamber temperature control up to 55 C; HEPA/advanced filtration is an optional add-on[2][12] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Not documented | Active chamber heating, maximum 55 C (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian bed-slinger: toolhead moves in X on the gantry beam, heatbed moves in Y, gantry moves in Z. Bambu's own wiki calls it a Cartesian coordinate motion system; Bambu's marketing page describes it as a "Bed Slinger with CoreXY Speed", which is a comparison, not a kinematic claim[13][11] | CoreXY - stated as such in Prusa's own comparison table against the Cartesian MK4S[2] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Linear rail: "a high-precision linear rail and a beam", toolhead on a linear guide slider (Bambu wiki). Rail size not published[13] | Not documented |
| Y-axis guide type | Linear rail: heatbed mounted on a guide-rail slider, belt-driven in Y[13] | Not documented |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Dual linear rods plus dual leadscrews with nuts, both leadscrews driven from one stepper through a synchronous belt with a quick tensioner and a tension-detection algorithm[13] | Not documented |
| Belts (type, width, e.g. Gates?) | Three adjustable belt tensioners (X, Y, Z); a Belt Tension Monitor watches tension and reports out-of-range belts[13] | Not documented |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 0.9 degree X and Y stepper motors[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not published. Bambu's wiki says only that the mainboard "incorporates stepper motor drivers"; no driver part number is given and no teardown source was found that names one[13] | Trinamic 2130[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim); no independent measurement found[1] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 10000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim). Tom's Hardware notes the moving-bed mass is why the A1 does not reach the P1S/X1 20000 mm/s2 figure[1][5] | Not documented |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | 28 mm3/s claimed, measured by Bambu on a 150x150 mm single-wall model in Bambu ABS at 280 C[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive, hardened-steel extruder gears, integrated in the toolhead with a filament cutter and filament hub[1][13] | Nextruder direct drive, E3D V6 compatible with an adapter; planetary gear system with a 10:1 ratio; aluminium heatsink and all-metal hotend[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 10:1 planetary gearbox[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | All-metal integrated hotend (nozzle and heatsink combined in one unit) with a quick-swap clip - Bambu markets it as popping in and out with one clip. Stainless-steel nozzle, 0.4 mm included, 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[1][11][13] | Quick-swap nozzle system; high-flow Prusa brass CHT 0.4 mm nozzle supplied. An optional HT hotend raises the ceiling to 400 C[2] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max hot-end temperature; firmware limit not published[1] | 290 C claimed max nozzle temperature. Prusa's comparison table adds "400 C w/ HT" for the optional HT hotend, which its 13 August 2026 blog post says will only become available in September 2026 - so 400 C is a forthcoming option, not a shipping specification[2][6] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max build-plate temperature (both the spec sheet and the wiki give 100 C)[1][13] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Textured PEI plate included; Bambu Cool Plate, High Temperature Plate and Dual-Texture PEI Plate also compatible[1] | Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring-steel sheets; whole-bed heating regardless of object size[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Nozzle-touch probing: the hotend carries an eddy-current sensor that detects nozzle-to-bed contact, giving both automatic bed mesh and automatic Z-offset with no paper method. The same eddy-current sensor doubles as the Y-axis resonance sensor[13][5] | Load-cell sensor - fully automatic first-layer calibration with the nozzle as the probe[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Yes - filament run-out sensor, plus filament odometry and a filament-tangle sensor. The tangle sensor is a Hall sensor reading a magnet in the toolhead filament hub: excessive feed resistance pulls the hub down, moving the magnet toward the sensor[1][13] | Two filament sensors, plus a door sensor and five Semitec thermistors with fan RPM monitoring[2][12] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Optional AMS lite (four spools, sold in the A1 Combo); connecting the enclosed-printer AMS / AMS 2 Pro / AMS HT to an A1 additionally requires an AMS HUB accessory (SA013)[8] | MMU3 for five filaments, or the INDX system for up to eight, both officially supported[2] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | One custom 5015 centrifugal part-cooling fan with two opposing air outlets aimed at the nozzle; closed-loop (RPM-feedback) control[1][13] | High-performance turbine part-cooling fan with 360-degree cooling, the same arrangement as the MK4S[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Single mainboard carrying a low-power dual-core SoC (with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth basebands and RF), a dual-core MCU and a single-core MCU, plus the stepper drivers. Bambu's spec sheet names the motion controller as a dual-core Cortex-M4. Exact chip markings not published[1] | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32[2] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W PSU with hardware power panic[2] |
| Total rated power draw | 100-240 VAC 50/60 Hz; max power 1300 W at 220 V, 350 W at 110 V. Bed heater wattage is not published separately[1] | Power consumption 90 W printing PLA, 110 W printing ABS (manufacturer figures)[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | 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[14] | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[15][12] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.5-inch 320x240 IPS touchscreen[1] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen with touch control[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Touchscreen UI plus Bambu Handy mobile app and Bambu Studio PC application; Bambu describes the on-device UI as a simplified guided touchscreen system[1][11] | On-device touch UI; remote monitoring and printing through Prusa Connect and the Prusa mobile app; firmware updates from USB, Prusa Connect or the app[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz only (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, 2412-2472 MHz), Bambu-Bus for the AMS lite, microSD card slot. No Ethernet, no USB host port[1] | Ethernet and Wi-Fi (NFC receiver plus an optional Wi-Fi module), USB drive for print files[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Built-in low-rate monitoring camera, up to 1080p, timelapse supported; Bambu's marketing calls out a physical lens cover. Frame rate is not stated for the A1 (the P1 series camera is specified at 0.5 fps)[1][11] | Optional in-chamber camera solution (Buddy3D camera bundle listed at $1,237.03 against $1,202.78 for the bare printer)[2][3] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | About 95% pre-assembled; a handful of screws attach the gantry to the base, then the filament wiper and spool holder[5] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Ideal: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA. Not recommended: ABS, ASA, PC, PA, PET, carbon/glass-fibre reinforced polymers - the machine is open-frame and the bed stops at 100 C[1] | PLA, PETG, Flex, PVA, PC, PP, CPE, PVB, and - as advanced materials in the heated chamber - ABS, ASA, HIPS and PA[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | The xBuddy platform carries hardware overcurrent protection that cuts heater and heatbed power above 15 A, and the firmware is open-source and auditable[16][15] |
| Known safety incidents / recalls / fire reports (with sources) | Recalled in the US in cooperation with the CPSC: A1 units sold before 30 January 2024 (serial numbers with 'A' as the sixth digit) could suffer heatbed cable damage leading to a short circuit, electric shock or fire. 19 reports of damaged cables, one with observed sparking, no injuries. Remedy was refund plus $80 voucher, or heatbed+cable replacement by a trained technician plus $120 voucher. Current production ships a Kevlar-reinforced heatbed cable with thicker insulation and extended strain relief[4][8] | Not documented |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Manufacturer claim only: bambulab.com states "Silent Mode Under 48 dB" with active motor noise cancelling; the US store page for both the A1 and the A1 mini carries identical copy claiming "49dB Whisper-Quiet Operation". No microphone-based independent measurement with a stated distance was found; Tom's Hardware only says it is "much more quiet than the current crop of speed freak machines"[11][8][5] | Not documented |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | 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[17] | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[18][12] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Tom's Hardware: Editor's Choice, rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data (14 December 2023)[5] | 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
- Bambu Lab A1 - Technical Specifications bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/CORE One L comparison) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab - Bambu Lab Recalls A1 3D Printers in the US bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A1 Review, Denise Bertacchi, 14 December 2023 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Prusa blog - Better Prints, Easier Use: Prusa XL+, CORE One L+ and CORE One+ (Gen 2), Our Big Product Update (published 13 August 2026) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab US Store - 3D Printers collection listing (base prices, Aug 2026) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 store page (A1 / A1 Combo variants) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa CORE One L+ product page (CORE One L+ Technical Specifications) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab - Compare all 3D printers (A2L / X2D / H2C columns) bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 product page bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- 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
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab Warranty Policy bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc