3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs QIDI X-Max 3

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

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs QIDI X-Max 3 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality Ender-3 V3 KEBEDSLINGERQIDI X-Max 3COREXY
Identity
BrandCrealityQIDI
ClassBEDSLINGERCOREXY
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality Ender-3 V3 KE[1]QIDI X-Max 3, listed by QIDI as "Qidi Tech X-Max 3 3D Printer" and in navigation as X-Max3[2][3]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Not documentedNot published by QIDI; the product page carries a discontinuation notice rather than a launch date (checked Aug 2026)[2]
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[4][1]$899.00 (from a $999.00 sale reference) on us.qidi3d.com but marked Sold Out and discontinued, checked Aug 2026. 3D Printers Online Store lists $1,099 USD, also out of stock[2][5]
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]Same-generation siblings X-Plus 3 (280x280x270, 500 mm/s, 800 W) and X-Smart 3 (175x180x170, no chamber heating, 300 °C, 350 W). All three share the Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz / 1 GB DDR3 / 8 GB eMMC control board, so shared-board specs are not evidence of shared print specs. Replaced by the Max4[3][9][10][11]
Market position: superseded? successor announced?Not documentedDiscontinued and out of production; QIDI directs buyers to the Max4[2]
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]325 x 325 x 315 mm advertised[2][3][5]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)433 x 366 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware)[6]553 x 553 x 601 mm[3][5]
Net weight (kg)7.8 kg[6]30.2 kg net[3][5]
Frame construction & materialNot documentedEnclosed CoreXY chassis, fully assembled from the factory. QIDI does not publish a frame-material breakdown[3]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Fully enclosed, with a chamber circulation blower and activated-carbon air filter[3]
Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred)Not documented65 °C maximum, independent chamber heating (manufacturer claim)[2][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]Linear optical axis (polished steel rod) of high-strength steel[3]
Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlashNot documentedDouble Z axis[3]
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab)[1]<=600 mm/s (manufacturer claim)[2][3][5]
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)Not documented20,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim)[2]
Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s)Not documented35 mm3/s extruder flow (manufacturer claim)[3]
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDirect-drive extruder paired with the ceramic-heated high-flow hotend[1]High-flow direct-drive extruder; QIDI states a 9.5:1 gear ratio for this model[2][3]
Gear ratio & drive gear materialNot documented9.5:1[2]
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]Ceramic heating core. Two interchangeable nozzle-head sets shipped: copper alloy for standard materials, hardened steel for abrasives. 0.4 mm stock, 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[2][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]<=350 °C claimed[2][3][5]
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[3][5]
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedPEI-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[6]Double-sided flexible magnetic plate (QIDI's "HF" plate)[2][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 via Klipper adaptive meshing; probe technology not named by QIDI[2]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[6]Filament detection fitted; type and location not published[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]Not documented
Auxiliary part-cooling fan?Not documentedAdditional (auxiliary) cooling fan fitted[3]
Chamber/exhaust fan & filtration (activated carbon / HEPA)Not documentedChamber circulation blower with activated-carbon air filter[3]
Electronics & Power
Host computer (SoC, RAM, storage) if firmware runs on embedded LinuxNot documentedCortex-A53 64-bit at 1.5 GHz, 1 GB DDR3, 8 GB eMMC[2][3]
Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto)Not documented100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz[3]
Total rated power drawNot documented900 W rated[3][5]
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][12][13]Klipper with the Fluidd web console. Fork and version not published[2]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?4.3-inch touchscreen[6]5-inch touchscreen, 800 x 480[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 (QIDI states 150M 2.4G), Ethernet, USB flash drive[3]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listHyper PLA, PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU (95A) and ASA[1]ABS, PLA, PETG, TPU, nylon, carbon fibre, PC[5]
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[12][13][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[14]1-year coverage[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 X-Max 3 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. QIDI Tech X-Max 3 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 KE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. Qidi Tech X-Max 3 FDM 3D Printer listing 3dprintersonlinestore.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. QIDI Tech X-Plus 3 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  10. QIDI Tech X-Smart 3 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  11. QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  12. 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
  13. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  14. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor