3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality K1 Max vs ELEGOO Mars 5
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Creality K1 Max comparisonsMore ELEGOO Mars 5 comparisons
| Property | Creality K1 MaxCOREXY | ELEGOO Mars 5RESIN |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | ELEGOO |
| Class | COREXY | RESIN |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality K1 Max[1] | ELEGOO Mars 5. Elegoo's own product handle spells the configuration out: mars-5-4k-6-6inch-monochrome-lcd-resin-3d-printer[2][3][4] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $549.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026. Creality's comparison page shows $799 against a struck-through $899 on the same day[5][1] | $179.00 on us.elegoo.com against a $225.00 compare-at price (20% off), in stock, checked Aug 2026. The live product feed shows the same $179.00[3][4] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | 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[1][6] | Sold beside the Mars 5 Ultra, which is a materially different machine: 7-inch 9K masking LCD vs 6.6-inch 4K, 18 um vs 35 um pixels, 150 vs 70 mm/h, a 4.0-inch capacitive control screen vs 3.5-inch resistive, and Wi-Fi (the plain Mars 5 is USB only). Elegoo lists ten further Mars 5 / Mars 5 Ultra bundle SKUs pairing the printers with Mercury wash-and-cure stations at $302-$432; those are not printer prices[2][7][3][4] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 300 x 300 x 300 mm[1] | 143.43 x 89.6 x 150 mm[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 435 x 462 x 526 mm[1] | 230 x 230 x 433.5 mm[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 18 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[8] | Approximately 6.6 kg[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Metal frame with adjustable foot pads[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | 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[1] | Open-frame MSLA with a removable UV-blocking cover[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1] | MSLA — UV LCD masked stereolithography. Single Z axis, build plate lifting straight out of the vat (no tilt-release on this model, unlike the Mars 5 Ultra)[2][7] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 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[1][6] | Not documented |
| Recommended/typical print speed | 300 mm/s typical printing speed with 12000 mm/s2 typical acceleration, stated by Creality alongside the 600 mm/s headline[1] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[1] | Not documented |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | 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"[1] | Not documented |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max heatbed temperature[1] | Not documented |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Smooth PEI steel flex plate, heated[8] | Laser-engraved build plate with a quick-release design[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | 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] | Automatic levelling, one click. An intelligent mechanical sensor detects resin residue to prevent LCD damage[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Closed-loop part-cooling fan and PWM hotend fan, both annotated as changing to dynamically balanced versions; activated-carbon air filter fitted[1] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-240 V, 50/60 Hz, 24 V 3 A[2] |
| Total rated power draw | 1000 W rated power - nearly three times the K1/K1C figure[1] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | 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][1] | Not named by Elegoo. Supported slicers are Voxeldance Tango and CHITUBOX; STL and OBJ accepted[2] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[1] | 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Colour touch UI with remote monitoring, time-lapse, build-surface detection and failure detection all included[1] | Not documented |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Wi-Fi plus RJ45 Ethernet - the only K1-series machine with a wired network port; 8 GB storage[1] | USB only — no Wi-Fi on this model[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | 1080p AI camera fitted as standard with foreign-object detection[1] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | ABS, PLA, PETG, PET, TPU, PA, ASA, PC, PLA-CF, PA-CF, PET-CF[1] | 405 nm photopolymer resin. Elegoo does not publish a resin compatibility list on this listing[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | 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] | Not documented |
| Firmware safety limits (max temp cutoffs — exact values) | Not documented | Intelligent overheating protection stops printing above 80 °C[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[13] | Not documented |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Tom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[8] | Not documented |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | Not documented | 6.6-inch 4K monochrome masking LCD, 4098 x 2560 px, XY pixel pitch 35 x 35 um (manufacturer specification)[2][4] |
| Light source | Not documented | COB LED at 405 nm. Elegoo does not publish an LED count or collimating optics for this model[2] |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | Not documented | 70 mm/h maximum (manufacturer claim). Elegoo does not state the layer height or resin type the figure assumes[2] |
| Release film | Not documented | PFA film with a non-stick surface. No rated life published[2] |
| Resin vat & feeding | Not documented | Replaceable resin tank with two pouring openings and screw caps. An intelligent mechanical sensor detects resin residue in the vat. Capacity not published; no auto-refill[2] |
| Fume extraction | Not documented | None fitted. Elegoo states compatibility with the separately sold MARS MATE air purifier for odour reduction[2] |
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 - Compare K1 Flagship Series (K1 / K1C / K1 Max / K1 SE side-by-side spec table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Elegoo Mars 5 product page (technical data and description) 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Mars 5 Series collection (live US prices) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- ELEGOO Mars 5 Series live product feed us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - K1 Max 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra product page (technical data and description) 3djake.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