3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs QIDI Max4

Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs QIDI Max4 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality Ender-3 V3 KEBEDSLINGERQIDI Max4COREXY
Identity
BrandCrealityQIDI
ClassBEDSLINGERCOREXY
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality Ender-3 V3 KE[1]QIDI Max4, sold as "Max4 High-Temp 3D Printer"[2][3]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Not documentedNot published on QIDI's product page; the machine is listed as the current replacement for the discontinued X-Max 3 (checked Aug 2026)[2][4]
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)$259.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026; Creality's own product page shows $279.00 on the same day[5][1]$1,099.00 standard on us.qidi3d.com against a $1,149.00 compare-at price, checked Aug 2026. Variants: Polar Cooler bundle $1,249.00 (was $1,348.00), Max4 Combo $1,249.00 (was $1,299.00), Combo + Polar Cooler $1,399.00[2]
Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk)Sits between the SE and the V3 in the Ender-3 V3 family. Against the SE: linear rail on X instead of wheels, 500 mm/s instead of 250, 300 C ceramic hotend instead of 260 C, 4.3-inch touchscreen instead of a 3.2-inch knob screen, Wi-Fi instead of SD-card only. Against the V3: the KE keeps the conventional bed-slinger layout while the V3 is CoreXZ and reaches 600 mm/s. Build volume also differs subtly - 220 x 220 x 240 mm on the KE against 220 x 220 x 250 mm on the SE and V3[1][6][7][8]Four variants at the US store: Standard, Polar Cooler bundle, Combo (adds QIDI Box), Combo + Polar Cooler. Direct replacement for the X-Max 3, which it differs from on every headline figure: 390x390x340 vs 325x325x315, 800 vs 600 mm/s, 370 vs 350 °C. Do not carry X-Max 3 specs across[2][4]
Market position: superseded? successor announced?Not documentedCurrent large-format flagship as of Aug 2026; QIDI's X-Max 3 page directs buyers here[2][4]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable220 x 220 x 240 mm - 10 mm shorter than the SE and V3, a difference that is easy to miss[6]390 x 390 x 340 mm advertised[2][3]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)433 x 366 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware)[6]558 x 578 x 612 mm[3]
Net weight (kg)7.8 kg[6]46.5 kg net[3]
Frame construction & materialNot documentedEnclosed CoreXY chassis; QIDI does not publish a frame-material breakdown[2]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Fully enclosed with a 3-in-1 air filter (G3 pre-filter + H12 HEPA + coconut-shell activated carbon)[3]
Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred)Not documented65 °C, independent active chamber heating (manufacturer claim), with a 4-pin PWM chamber fan with RPM feedback[3]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)Cartesian bed-slinger with a linear rail on X[1]CoreXY[3]
X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size)Steel linear rail on the X axis with a ball-bearing carriage; Creality Lab quotes a 0.04 friction coefficient[1]Not documented
Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlashNot documented2 mm lead Z screw with an anti-backlash nut[2]
Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known)Not documentedFOC closed-loop stepper motors[3]
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab)[1]800 mm/s (manufacturer claim, maximum)[3]
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)Not documented30,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim, maximum)[3]
Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s)Not documented40 mm3/s rated flow (manufacturer claim)[3]
Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping
Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary)Not documentedInput shaper listed as a feature[3]
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDirect-drive extruder paired with the ceramic-heated high-flow hotend[1]Direct drive, dual hardened-steel gears, 8.9:1 reduction[3]
Gear ratio & drive gear materialNot documented8.9:1; drive gears hardened steel[3]
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)Hotend with a 60 W ceramic heater, a bi-metal copper/titanium-alloy heatbreak to resist thermal creep, and a copper nozzle[1]Multi-metal hotend with a ceramic heater and a 0.4 mm bimetal nozzle; ceramic throat[3]
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)300 C claimed max nozzle temperature (Creality Lab test at 25 C room temperature)[1]<=370 °C claimed[2][3]
Heater cartridge power (W)60 W ceramic heater cartridge (manufacturer figure)[1]Not documented
Heated Bed & Surface
Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limitNot documented<=120 °C claimed on a 390 x 390 mm bed QIDI markets as ultra-uniform (no thermal imaging published)[2][3]
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedPEI-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[6]Aluminium plate with silicone heater; double-sided magnetic PEI build plate[3]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)One-tap self-test covering Z offset and auto levelling; Tom's Hardware records automatic levelling with automatic Z as well[1]Automatic levelling; probe technology not named by QIDI[3]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[6]Filament run-out sensor and filament tangle detection (tangle mechanism not described), plus a filament cutter[3]
Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade pathNot documentedQIDI Box multi-colour unit supported; sold bundled as the Max4 Combo[2][3]
Cooling & Air Handling
Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting designTwo part-cooling fans, one on each side of the printhead, cooling the freshly printed section from both sides[1]Toolhead, model and auxiliary fans are all 4-pin PWM with RPM feedback; mainboard and chamber fans are closed-loop, chamber fan high-power turbo[3]
Chamber/exhaust fan & filtration (activated carbon / HEPA)Not documented3-in-1 filtration: G3 pre-filter, H12 HEPA, coconut-shell activated carbon[3]
Electronics & Power
Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto)Not documented110 V / 220-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz[3]
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)Creality OS, which Creality states is "Based on the popular Klipper firmware", with open-source files published; the source is on GitHub as CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper, described as a clone of upstream Klipper, GPL-3.0. Input shaping and motion advance (pressure advance) are exposed as features[1][9][10]Not stated on the product page; QIDI Studio, PrusaSlicer and Orca are the supported slicers[3]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?4.3-inch touchscreen[6]5-inch touchscreen, 480 x 800[3]
On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.)Touch UI with a tab bar, real-time model preview, motion graphics for print parameters and a one-tap self-test[1]Not documented
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-driveWi-Fi and USB; LAN printing and cloud printing through Creality Print on PC or the Creality Cloud app, with multi-printer print-farm management[6][1]Wi-Fi, LAN, USB[3]
Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps)Not documentedAI camera with print-failure detection[2][3]
Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery
Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?)Not documentedPower-loss recovery listed; mechanism not published[3]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listHyper PLA, PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU (95A) and ASA[1]PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PA, PC, and glass- and carbon-fibre-filled polymers[3]
Safety
Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible)Not verified directly. Creality states the Ender-3 V3 KE runs a Klipper-based Creality OS and publishes CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper (GPL-3.0) as a clone of upstream Klipper, which ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check; the stock configuration was not checked here[9][10][1]Not documented
Reliability, Support & Ecosystem
Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes)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]1-year coverage, lifetime tech guidance, 14-day no-reason return[2]
Independently Measured Performance
Benchmark print times (source + settings)Benchy in 19 minutes 48 seconds under Speed Boat Rules in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware[6]Not documented
Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date)Tom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[6]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

  1. Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. QIDI Tech Max4 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. QIDI X-Max 3 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 KE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  6. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  7. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  8. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  9. GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper repository metadata ("clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  10. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  11. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor