3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs Stratasys F120

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

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Ender-3 V3 KE vs Stratasys F120 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality Ender-3 V3 KEBEDSLINGERStratasys F120INDUSTRIAL
Identity
BrandCrealityStratasys
ClassBEDSLINGERINDUSTRIAL
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality Ender-3 V3 KE[1]Stratasys F120, part of the Stratasys F123 Series[2]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Not documentedThe F123 series spec sheet carried is revision 0721a (July 2021). Stratasys does not print a launch date on it[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[3][1]Not documented
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][4][5][6]The F120 is the odd one out in the series: smaller cabinet (889 x 870 x 721 mm, 124 kg vs 1,626 x 864 x 711 mm, 227 kg), two external material coil boxes rather than internal spool bays, only two model materials, and no 0.127 mm layer option. Same build size as the F170 but not the same machine[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[4]254 x 254 x 254 mm (10 x 10 x 10 in)[2]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)433 x 366 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware)[4]889 x 870 x 721 mm (35 x 35 x 29 in)[2]
Net weight (kg)7.8 kg[4]124 kg (F120) or 227 kg with consumables (F170, F270, F370)[2]
Frame construction & materialNot documentedFully enclosed office/classroom-grade cabinet, factory assembled[2]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Enclosed build chamber[2]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)Cartesian bed-slinger with a linear rail on X[1]Not documented
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
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab)[1]Not documented
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDirect-drive extruder paired with the ceramic-heated high-flow hotend[1]Not documented
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]Not documented
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]Not documented
Heater cartridge power (W)60 W ceramic heater cartridge (manufacturer figure)[1]Not documented
Heated Bed & Surface
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedPEI-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[4]Not documented
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]Not documented
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[4]Not documented
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
Electronics & Power
Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto)Not documented100-132 V / 15 A or 200-240 V / 7 A, 50/60 Hz[2]
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][7][8]Proprietary Stratasys firmware; print preparation is GrabCAD Print. The F370 additionally carries an Insight software licence and DoD STIG compliance powered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux[2]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?4.3-inch touchscreen[4]Not documented
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[4][1]Wired TCP/IP at 100 Mbps minimum, 100base-T Ethernet, RJ45. Wireless-ready IEEE 802.11 n/g/b with WPA2-PSK or 802.1x EAP, CCMP/TKIP encryption[2]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listHyper PLA, PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU (95A) and ASA[1]ABS-M30 and ASA, with SR-30 support material. Notably the F120 does NOT get PLA, FDM TPU 92A or ABS-CF10, and cannot use the 0.127 mm layer height[2]
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[7][8][1]Not documented
Certifications (UL/ETL/CE/FCC — verify, don't assume)Not documentedCE (low-voltage and EMC directives), FCC, EAC, cTUVus, KC, RoHS, WEEE, REACH, RCM[2]
Noise & Power Consumption
Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method)Not documented46 dB maximum during build, 35 dB idle — manufacturer specification, no distance or method stated, and not an independent measurement[2]
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[9]Not documented
Independently Measured Performance
Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers)Not documentedParts produced within +/-0.200 mm or +/-0.002 mm/mm, whichever is greater. Manufacturer figure derived from statistical data at 95% dimensional yield; Z accuracy carries an extra -0.000/+slice-height tolerance[2]
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[4]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[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

  1. Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. Stratasys F123 Series product specification sheet (PSS_FDM_F123Series_0721a, PDF) stratasys.com · 2026-08 · doc
  3. Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 KE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  5. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  6. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  7. 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
  8. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  9. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor