3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Bambu Lab A2L vs Creality Ender-3 V3 SE
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Bambu Lab A2L comparisonsMore Creality Ender-3 V3 SE comparisons
| Property | Bambu Lab A2LBEDSLINGER | Creality Ender-3 V3 SEBEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Bambu Lab | Creality |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Bambu Lab A2L[1] | Creality Ender-3 V3 SE[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Pre-orders opened 1 June 2026 (Tom's Hardware spec box); Tom's Hardware review published 27 June 2026[3] | Not documented |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | $469 standalone, $569 Combo at launch[3] | Not documented |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | From $469.00 on the Bambu Lab US store, Aug 2026[4] | $186.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026; Creality's own product page shows $199.00 for the same machine on the same day, so the two Creality properties disagree[5][2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Standalone and Combo (with AMS lite) SKUs, and an optional cutting/drawing module (blade cutter and pen plotter, 300x300 mm cutting area) that is a separate attachment, not a printer variant. Do not carry A1 or A1 mini figures across: the A2L is a different, much larger machine at 12.8 kg[1][3] | The cheapest of the Ender-3 V3 family and mechanically the most conservative: it keeps a conventional i3 bed-slinger layout, while the Ender-3 V3 and V3 Plus use CoreXZ and the V3 KE keeps the bed-slinger layout but adds an X-axis linear rail, a 60 W ceramic hotend and Klipper-based Creality OS. Speed ceilings differ sharply - 250 mm/s and 2500 mm/s2 on the SE against 500 mm/s on the KE and 600 mm/s on the V3/V3 Plus. The SE also stops at a 260 C nozzle where the others reach 300 C[2][6][7][8][9] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 330 x 320 x 325 mm (manufacturer figure)[1] | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[8] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 544 x 529 x 505 mm[1] | 349 x 364 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware measurement of the machine footprint)[8] |
| Net weight (kg) | 12.8 kg net[1] | 7.12 kg[8] |
| Frame construction & material | Aluminium and steel chassis with a plastic outer frame; Tom's Hardware describes a triangular gantry frame the base drops into[1] | Not documented |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Open frame, no enclosure[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian bed-slinger - Tom's Hardware's assembly description has the heatbed bolting to a Y-carriage inside the gantry frame[3] | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger - Creality describes "neat X, Y, Z-axis, smooth T-shaped profiles" with a rigid dual Z-axis and a moving build platform on the Y axis[2] |
| Y-axis guide type | Not documented | Y axis runs on a pair of 8 mm steel linear shafts carrying the build platform[2] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not published in the spec sheet; no teardown source found that documents the Z drive[1] | Rigid dual Z-axis, which Creality says reduces Z wobble[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim)[1] | 250 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab figure)[2] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 10 m/s2 = 10000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | 2500 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim). Tom's Hardware attributes the modest Benchy time directly to this acceleration cap[2][8] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | 28 mm3/s claimed, measured by Bambu on a 150 mm round single-wall model in Bambu PLA Basic at 220 C - note this test uses PLA, unlike the ABS-based figures Bambu quotes for its enclosed machines, so it is not directly comparable[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive with a servo extruder motor and hardened-steel extruder gears; built-in filament cutter[1] | Creality "Sprite" direct-drive extruder, which Creality says works with PLA, PETG and flexible TPU and had shipped over 500,000 units as of June 2023[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Stainless-steel nozzle; 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8 mm supported. Bambu's A2L sheet does not state whether the hotend is all-metal[1] | Direct-drive hotend with a 0.4 mm high-flow nozzle (Tom's Hardware description); Creality does not describe an all-metal path for the SE[8] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 260 C maximum nozzle temperature per Tom's Hardware's spec box - the lowest of the Ender-3 V3 family, where the V3, V3 Plus and KE all reach 300 C[8][7] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 80 C max heatbed temperature[1] | Not documented |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Textured PEI plate included; Engineering Plate and Cool Plate SuperTack also supported[1] | PC-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[8] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Automatic bed levelling with automatic Z: Tom's Hardware confirms the nozzle is used as the probe and the machine can re-check level before each print[3] | CR Touch inductive/mechanical probe for auto bed levelling plus a separate strain sensor for automatic Z offset - Creality's pitch is no levelling screws and no paper method[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Yes - run-out sensor, filament odometry, tangle sensor and clumping detection[1] | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Part-cooling fan and hotend cooling fan, both closed-loop controlled. No auxiliary part-cooling fan and no chamber fan[1] | Two fans on the printhead: a front-mounted fan onto the hotend heatsink and a second fan in the shroud with twin ducts aimed at the nozzle (Tom's Hardware teardown description)[8] |
| 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[10] | Creality publishes an open-source firmware repository for this model, CrealityOfficial/Ender-3V3-SE on GitHub under GPL-3.0 (last pushed July 2024). Unlike the KE, K1 and K2 repositories, it is not described as a Klipper clone, and Creality does not call the SE a Creality OS machine on its product page[11][12][6] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.5-inch 240x320 touchscreen[1] | 3.2-inch colour screen with a control knob - not a touchscreen, unlike the KE and V3[8] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Touchscreen plus mobile app and PC app[1] | Knob-driven colour UI using motion graphics to show levelling progress and print parameters; auto filament load/unload from the menu[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only (802.11 b/g/n), Bambu-Bus, microSD card. Ethernet not available[1] | SD card only - no Wi-Fi and no USB host, in contrast to the Wi-Fi-equipped KE and V3[8] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Built-in low-frame-rate camera, up to 1080p, timelapse supported[1] | Not documented |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | Kit-style assembly from a small number of pre-built sections; Creality claims printing within 20 minutes of unboxing[2] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Suitable: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA. PLA-CF and PETG-CF suitable only after fitting a hardened-steel nozzle. ABS, ASA, PA, PC and PET are listed as not recommended on the compare page[1][13] | PLA, PETG and TPU (Tom's Hardware); Creality's own copy names PLA, PETG and flexible TPU for the Sprite extruder[8] |
| 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[14] | 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[15] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Benchmark print times (source + settings) | Not documented | Benchy in 41 minutes under Speed Boat Rules (2 walls, 3 top/bottom layers, 10% grid infill, 0.25 mm layer height, 0.5 mm width) in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware, not a manufacturer figure[8] |
| 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 (27 June 2026)[3] | Tom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[8] |
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 A2L Spec Sheet (PDF) store.bblcdn.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Creality Ender-3 V3 SE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A2L 3D printer review, 27 June 2026 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Bambu Lab US Store - 3D Printers collection listing (base prices, Aug 2026) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 SE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- GitHub - bambulab organisation repository list (11 repos, checked Aug 2026) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Ender-3V3-SE repository metadata ("Open source for Ender-3V3 SE", GPL-3.0) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab - Compare all 3D printers (A2L / X2D / H2C columns) bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Warranty Policy bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor