3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Bambu Lab A2L vs Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDX
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 Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDX comparisons
| Property | Bambu Lab A2LBEDSLINGER | Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDXTOOLCHANGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Bambu Lab | Prusa Research |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | TOOLCHANGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Bambu Lab A2L[1] | Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDX, listed as "INDX 4-Tool" and "INDX 8-Tool" variants and as an "INDX 8-Tool Assembly kit"[2][3] |
| 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[4] | Announced as shipping on 20 August 2026 ("INDX, Shipping Has Started, Complete Printers Open for Orders"). Prusa's own front page in Aug 2026 announces "Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDX, Shipping Has Started, Complete Printers Open for Orders", with the assembled 8-tool machine quoted as shipping from 15 October and the kit from 29 October[5][2] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | $469 standalone, $569 Combo at launch[4] | Not documented |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | From $469.00 on the Bambu Lab US store, Aug 2026[6] | $1,850.93 for the INDX 4-Tool and $2,082.41 for the INDX 8-Tool on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026; the 8-Tool assembly kit is $1,804.63. Camera and filtration bundles run to $2,152.78[2][3] |
| 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][4] | INDX is a multi-tool option on the CORE One+ (Gen 2) product page rather than a separate printer, sold in 4-tool and 8-tool configurations, plus a CORE One/+ INDX conversion kit for existing machines. All of the body, hotend, bed and electronics figures below come from that shared CORE One+ (Gen 2) page and were not published separately for the INDX machine, so treat them as platform figures. Prusa also sells the unrelated MMU3, which multiplexes five filaments through one nozzle[3][2] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 330 x 320 x 325 mm (manufacturer figure)[1] | 250 x 220 x 270 mm - the CORE One+ (Gen 2) figure from the shared product page; Prusa does not publish a separate INDX build volume[3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 544 x 529 x 505 mm[1] | 415 x 444 x 555 mm - shared CORE One+ (Gen 2) figure[3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 12.8 kg net[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Fully enclosed with active chamber heating up to 55 C (shared CORE One+ platform)[3] |
| 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[4] | CoreXY with a multi-tool head-changing system (INDX); Prusa's comparison table gives CoreXY for the CORE One family[3] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 10 m/s2 = 10000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Nextruder direct drive, 10:1 planetary gearbox (shared platform)[3] |
| 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] | 290 C claimed max nozzle temperature, 400 C with the optional HT hotend (shared platform)[3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 80 C max heatbed temperature[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature (shared platform)[3] |
| 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[4] | Load-cell sensor, fully automatic first-layer calibration (shared platform)[3] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Yes - run-out sensor, filament odometry, tangle sensor and clumping detection[1] | Filament sensors fitted (two on the CORE One+ platform)[3] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Not documented | INDX gives up to eight filaments; the alternative MMU3 handles five through a single nozzle[3] |
| 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 | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32 (shared platform)[3] |
| 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[7] | 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[8][9] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.5-inch 240x320 touchscreen[1] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour touch screen (shared platform)[3] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Touchscreen plus mobile app and PC app[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Ethernet and Wi-Fi, USB drive (shared platform)[3] |
| 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][10] | PLA, PETG, Flex, PVA, PC, PP, CPE, PVB; ABS, ASA, HIPS and PA as advanced materials in the heated chamber (shared platform)[3] |
| 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[11] | 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[12][9] |
| 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)[4] | 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
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.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
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A2L 3D printer review, 27 June 2026 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Prusa blog - Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDX, Shipping Has Started, Complete Printers Open for Orders (published 20 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
- 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
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab - Compare all 3D printers (A2L / X2D / H2C columns) bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Warranty Policy bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc