3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Ender-3 V3 vs Creality K1 SE

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

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Ender-3 V3 vs Creality K1 SE — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality Ender-3 V3BEDSLINGERCreality K1 SECOREXY
Identity
BrandCrealityCreality
ClassBEDSLINGERCOREXY
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality Ender-3 V3, marketed as a CoreXZ machine[1]Creality K1 SE[2]
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)$239.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026 (listed as "Ender-3 V3 CoreXZ 3D Printer")[3]Creality's K1-series comparison page lists $359 for the K1 SE (Aug 2026); it does not appear as its own product on the Creality US store printer sitemap, so no separate live store price could be recorded[2]
Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk)Do not confuse with the Ender-3 V3 SE or KE, which are cheaper and slower and use a conventional bed-slinger gantry - only the V3 and V3 Plus use CoreXZ. The V3 Plus is the same idea scaled to 300 x 300 x 330 mm. Creality's own spec table gives the V3 a 110 C bed, where the SE, KE, V4 and K1 series stop at 100 C[1][4][5]The cheapest K1. It keeps the 220 mm cube volume, CoreXY frame and 600 mm/s claim but drops a lot: hotend body is PA+30%GF rather than all-metal, the build plate is epoxy rather than PEI, there is no air filter, no chamber heating entry at all in Creality's table, no foreign-object or failure detection, and the AI camera, remote monitoring and time-lapse are optional. Its filament list stops at Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG and TPU. It does get the steel-tipped nozzle integrated with the heatbreak and dynamically balanced fans, which the base K1 does not[2]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable220 x 220 x 250 mm[1]220 x 220 x 250 mm[2]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)358 x 374 x 498 mm[1]355 x 355 x 482 mm[2]
Net weight (kg)7.83 kg net (Creality); Tom's Hardware rounds it to 7.8 kg[1][6]Not documented
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Enclosed body, but Creality's comparison table leaves chamber heating blank for the K1 SE where the K1, K1C and K1 Max are listed as passive heating[2]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)CoreXZ kinematics - the X and Z axes are coupled and driven together, with the bed still moving in Y[1]CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[2]
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)600 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim; Creality Lab states the typical speed is 300 mm/s)[1][4]600 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim). Creality's own footnote says the 600 mm/s figure was achieved in Creality Lab and that the typical speed is 300 mm/s[2][7]
Recommended/typical print speed300 mm/s typical printing speed (Creality Lab figure quoted on the sibling V3 Plus page for the same CoreXZ platform)[4]300 mm/s typical printing speed with 12000 mm/s2 typical acceleration, stated by Creality alongside the 600 mm/s headline[2]
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1]20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[2]
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameNew high-speed direct-drive extruder[1]Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[2]
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)Quick-swap nozzle with a hardened steel tip integrated with the heatbreak (Creality's "unicorn" nozzle), replaced as a unit[1][6]Hotend body in PA+30% glass fibre with a steel-tipped nozzle integrated with the heatbreak - not the all-metal assembly of the K1C[2]
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 limit110 C max heatbed temperature - higher than the rest of the Ender-3 V3 family[1]100 C max heatbed temperature[2]
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedPEI flexible build plate, removable spring steel[1]Epoxy flexible build plate - different from the PEI plate on the K1C[2]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)Auto levelling with automatic Z offset (Creality states auto levelling; Tom's Hardware records "Automatic + Z")[1][6]Not documented
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[1]Not documented
Cooling & Air Handling
Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting designNot documentedDynamically balanced closed-loop part-cooling fan and dynamically balanced PWM hotend fan; no air filter[2]
Electronics & Power
Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist)32-bit mainboard (Creality does not name the board or MCU)[1]Not documented
Total rated power drawRated power 350 W; input 100-120 V / 200-240 V, 50/60 Hz[1]350 W rated power[2]
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)Creality Print slicing ecosystem; input shaping with an included G-sensor accelerometer. Creality does not name the firmware base on the V3 page (the sibling KE page states Creality OS is Klipper-based)[1][8]Open-source Creality OS, a Klipper derivative (CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper on GitHub, GPL-3.0)[9][10][2]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?4.3-inch HD colour touchscreen[1]Not documented
On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.)Colour touch UI; power-loss recovery; file transfer from USB drive, WLAN or Creality Cloud[1]Colour touch UI; remote monitoring and time-lapse are optional because they require the optional AI camera[2]
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-driveWi-Fi; USB drive, WLAN and Creality Cloud file transfer[1]Wi-Fi[2]
Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps)AI camera optional, not fitted as standard[1]Not documented
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listPLA, TPU, PETG, ABS, PLA-CF, PETG-CF and Creality CR-carbon[1]Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU only[2]
Safety
Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible)Not documentedNot verified directly. Creality's published firmware for the K1 series (CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper, GPL-3.0) is described by Creality itself as a clone of upstream Klipper, and upstream Klipper ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check; whether Creality's stock printer.cfg enables it, and with what thresholds, was not checked here[9][10]
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]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
Benchmark print times (source + settings)Benchy in 14 minutes 54 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 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. Creality - Compare K1 Flagship Series (K1 / K1C / K1 Max / K1 SE side-by-side spec table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 CoreXZ 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. Creality Ender-3 V3 Plus product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. Creality Ender-3 V4 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  6. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  7. Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  8. Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  9. GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper repository metadata ("clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0, last push Dec 2025) 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