3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality Ender-3 V4 vs Creality K1
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 comparisons
| Property | Creality Ender-3 V4BEDSLINGER | Creality K1COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| 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 (store title "Creality K1 Speedy 3D Printer")[2][3] |
| 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[4] | $299.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026. Creality's own K1-series comparison page shows $389 against a struck-through $599 on the same day[3][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] | Base model of the K1 family. The differences that matter are in the hotend: the K1 uses a metal + PTFE-tube hotend with a copper nozzle, while the K1C is all-metal with a steel-tipped nozzle integrated with the heatbreak and adds an air filter and a 1080p AI camera. Creality's own comparison table annotates the K1 hotend "Changing to All-metal Soon", so the hotend on a given unit depends on when it was built - check before buying. The K1 Max is the 300 mm version with 1000 W rated power and Ethernet; the K1 SE has a PA+30%GF hotend and an epoxy plate[2][7] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 235 mm[1] | 220 x 220 x 250 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] | 355 x 355 x 480 mm[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 6.8 kg (printer net weight)[1] | 12.5 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 (Teflon) tube in the filament path and a copper nozzle. Creality's own comparison table adds "(Changing to All-metal Soon)", so this is a moving target across production runs[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 | Coated steel flex plate, heated, removable[8] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Not documented | Automatic bed levelling (Tom's Hardware); unlike the K1 Max there is no lidar[8][9] |
| 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; PWM hotend cooling fan[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Total rated power draw | Rated power 900 W; input 100-240 V AC 50/60 Hz[1] | 350 W rated power[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not documented | Creality OS, a Klipper derivative. Creality publishes the source as CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper on GitHub, whose own description is "clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0, last pushed December 2025[10][11][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; remote monitoring, time-lapse, failure detection and build-surface detection are all optional on the K1 because they depend on the optional AI camera[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB drive, Wi-Fi and Creality Cloud file transfer[1] | Wi-Fi only - no Ethernet (the K1 Max adds RJ45); 8 GB of on-board storage[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | AI camera optional, not fitted as standard - unlike the K1C and K1 Max, which include a 1080p camera[2] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Hyper-PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU 95A, ABS, ASA, PLA-CF, PA-CF[1] | Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS - a notably shorter list than the K1C, because of the PTFE-lined hotend[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[10][11] |
| 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[3] | 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[3] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom's Hardware rating 4 out of 5 in the page's structured data - the lowest of the K1 family, where the K1C and K1 Max both score 4.5[8][9][12] |
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 - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.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 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 Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Max Review (spec box) 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
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1C Review (spec box and measured print time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review