3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality Ender-3 V4 vs Creality K1 Max
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Creality Ender-3 V4 comparisonsMore Creality K1 Max comparisons
| Property | Creality Ender-3 V4BEDSLINGER | Creality K1 MaxCOREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | Creality |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality Ender-3 V4[1] | Creality K1 Max[2] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $369.00 for the Ender-3 V4 Combo on store.creality.com, Aug 2026 - the combo includes the CFS filament system, so this is not a bare-printer price[3] | $549.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026. Creality's comparison page shows $799 against a struck-through $899 on the same day[4][2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Sold as a combo with the CFS multi-material unit. Build volume is 220 x 220 x 235 mm, which is neither the SE/V3's 250 mm nor the KE's 240 mm Z height - three different Z heights across four Ender-3 V3/V4 machines. Several features (filament tangle detection, RFID filament identification) are conditional on the CFS being fitted[1][5][6] | The large K1. Build volume 300 x 300 x 300 mm and footprint 435 x 462 x 526 mm, both much larger than the K1/K1C's 220 mm cube and 355 mm-wide body; rated power is 1000 W against 350 W; it is the only K1 with RJ45 Ethernet. Its hotend is the older metal + PTFE-tube type with a copper nozzle, annotated by Creality as "Changing to All-metal Soon" and "Copper Nozzle Changing to Steel-tipped Nozzle Integrated with Heatbreak Soon", so hotend type varies by production run - do not assume it matches the K1C[2][7] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 235 mm[1] | 300 x 300 x 300 mm[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 396 x 359 x 456 mm for the printer alone; 838 x 396 x 456 mm for the combo with the CFS beside it - the combo needs more than twice the bench width[1] | 435 x 462 x 526 mm[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 6.8 kg (printer net weight)[1] | 18 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[8] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Enclosed with passive chamber heating only - Creality's comparison table lists "Passive Heating" for the K1, K1C and K1 Max and no chamber heating for the K1 SE[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Not documented | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim)[1] | 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 speed | Not documented | 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) | 12000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | 20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[1] | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Metal hotend with a PTFE tube and a copper nozzle, both annotated by Creality as changing to all-metal and to a steel-tipped integrated nozzle "soon"[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 limit | 100 C max heatbed temperature[1] | 100 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Smooth PEI steel flex plate, heated[8] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Not documented | Automatic bed levelling assisted by a lidar sensor - Tom's Hardware records "Automatic + LIDAR", a feature the K1 and K1C do not have[8][9][10] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Power-loss recovery, automatic filament relay and filament tangle detection (tangle detection only with the CFS fitted)[1] | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | CFS compatible - RFID filament identification and multi-filament printing with the Creality Filament System[1] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | Closed-loop part-cooling fan and PWM hotend fan, both annotated as changing to dynamically balanced versions; activated-carbon air filter fitted[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Total rated power draw | Rated power 900 W; input 100-240 V AC 50/60 Hz[1] | 1000 W rated power - nearly three times the K1/K1C figure[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not documented | Creality OS, a Klipper derivative published as CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper on GitHub (GPL-3.0); the printhead front cover is listed as an open-source part[11][12][2] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 2.8-inch colour touchscreen[1] | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Colour touch UI; input shaping and a lighting kit are listed as standard[1] | Colour touch UI with remote monitoring, time-lapse, build-surface detection and failure detection all included[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB drive, Wi-Fi and Creality Cloud file transfer[1] | Wi-Fi plus RJ45 Ethernet - the only K1-series machine with a wired network port; 8 GB storage[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | 1080p AI camera fitted as standard with foreign-object detection[2] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Hyper-PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU 95A, ABS, ASA, PLA-CF, PA-CF[1] | ABS, PLA, PETG, PET, TPU, PA, ASA, PC, PLA-CF, PA-CF, PET-CF[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | Not 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[11][12] |
| 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[13] | 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[13] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[8] |
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
- Creality Ender-3 V4 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality - Compare K1 Flagship Series (K1 / K1C / K1 Max / K1 SE side-by-side spec table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - Ender-3 V4 Combo 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - K1 Max 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Max Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1C Review (spec box and measured print time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- 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
- GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor