3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Bambu Lab A2L vs Creality Ender-3 V4
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 V4 comparisons
| Property | Bambu Lab A2LBEDSLINGER | Creality Ender-3 V4BEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| 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 V4[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] | $369.00 for the Ender-3 V4 Combo on store.creality.com, Aug 2026 - the combo includes the CFS filament system, so this is not a bare-printer price[5] |
| 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] | Sold as a combo with the CFS multi-material unit. Build volume is 220 x 220 x 235 mm, which is neither the SE/V3's 250 mm nor the KE's 240 mm Z height - three different Z heights across four Ender-3 V3/V4 machines. Several features (filament tangle detection, RFID filament identification) are conditional on the CFS being fitted[2][6][7] |
| 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 235 mm[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 544 x 529 x 505 mm[1] | 396 x 359 x 456 mm for the printer alone; 838 x 396 x 456 mm for the combo with the CFS beside it - the combo needs more than twice the bench width[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 12.8 kg net[1] | 6.8 kg (printer net weight)[2] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim)[1] | 500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 10 m/s2 = 10000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | 12000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| 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] | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[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] | Not documented |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[2] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 80 C max heatbed temperature[1] | 100 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Textured PEI plate included; Engineering Plate and Cool Plate SuperTack also supported[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Yes - run-out sensor, filament odometry, tangle sensor and clumping detection[1] | Power-loss recovery, automatic filament relay and filament tangle detection (tangle detection only with the CFS fitted)[2] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Not documented | CFS compatible - RFID filament identification and multi-filament printing with the Creality Filament System[2] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | Rated power 900 W; input 100-240 V AC 50/60 Hz[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[8] | Not documented |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.5-inch 240x320 touchscreen[1] | 2.8-inch colour touchscreen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Touchscreen plus mobile app and PC app[1] | Colour touch UI; input shaping and a lighting kit are listed as standard[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] | USB drive, Wi-Fi and Creality Cloud file transfer[2] |
| 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 |
| 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][9] | Hyper-PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU 95A, ABS, ASA, PLA-CF, PA-CF[2] |
| 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[10] | 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[11] |
| 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 (27 June 2026)[3] | 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 A2L Spec Sheet (PDF) store.bblcdn.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Creality Ender-3 V4 product page (full specification table) 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 V4 Combo 3D Printer product page (live price) store.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 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
- 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