3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality K1 Max vs Original Prusa MK4S
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 Original Prusa MK4S comparisons
| Property | Creality K1 MaxCOREXY | Original Prusa MK4SBEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | Prusa Research |
| Class | COREXY | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality K1 Max[1] | Original Prusa MK4S (Prusa Research, Prague). Sold as "Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer" and "Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer kit"[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Announced and available to order on 12 August 2024, the date of Prusa's launch blog post, with assembled printers, kits and an MK4S/MMU3 bundle in stock at announcement[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] | $925.00 assembled, $657.40 as a kit, on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026. Bundles: $1,171.11 with MMU3, $1,185.65 with the Enclosure, $1,438.33 with both[3][2] |
| 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] | The MK4S is a revision of the MK4, not a new platform: Prusa sold a $99 upgrade kit that gives an MK4 all of the MK4S features (360-degree turbine part cooling, high-flow CHT nozzle, firmware and profile changes). Watch the published nozzle ceiling: Prusa's MK4 announcement table says 300 C, while the MK4S product page says 290 C. Related family members are the MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades of the MK3S+, which are not the same machine. With the MMU3 the standard (non-high-flow) nozzle is the recommended one[4][7][2] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Still sold in Aug 2026 as the entry point to the Nextruder line, positioned below the enclosed CORE One+ (Gen 2). Prusa also sells an MK4S-to-CORE One+ (Gen 2) conversion kit[3][2] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 300 x 300 x 300 mm[1] | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 435 x 462 x 526 mm[1] | 500 x 550 x 400 mm (X x Y x Z), stated without the spool holder[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 18 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[8] | 7 kg (without spool)[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Aluminium extrusions and frame. Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the cut-aluminium frame of the MK3S+ was replaced by a die-cast aluminium frame for the MK4 platform, which the MK4S inherits[2][7] |
| 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. The Original Prusa Enclosure is a separate add-on and raises the achievable chamber temperature to 45 C; there is no active chamber heating[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1] | Cartesian bed-slinger - Prusa's own comparison table gives "Cartesian" for the MK4S against "CoreXY" for the CORE One and CORE One L[9] |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 0.9 degree X and Y stepper motors, which Prusa states are used to prevent vertical fine artefacts[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | Trinamic 2130. The MK4 announcement is more specific: TMC2130-LA drivers on the xBuddy board[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] | Nextruder, direct drive, E3D V6 compatible with an adapter; Nextruder planetary gear system with a 10:1 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink and all-metal filament path[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 10:1 planetary gearbox in the Nextruder[2] |
| 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] | Quick-swap Prusa nozzle system with an all-metal filament path; the MK4S ships with the high-flow Prusa brass CHT 0.4 mm nozzle. Standard (non-CHT) Prusa nozzles remain usable and are the recommended choice with the MMU3[2][4] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 290 C claimed max nozzle temperature on the MK4S product page (Prusa's MK4 announcement table gave 300 C for the MK4)[2][7] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max heatbed temperature[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Smooth PEI steel flex plate, heated[8] | Magnetic heatbed with removable double-sided PEI spring-steel sheets; smooth PEI sheet supplied[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][10][11] | Load-cell sensor in the toolhead - the nozzle itself is the probe. First-layer calibration and mesh bed levelling over the print area only are fully automatic, with no Live Adjust Z step[2][7] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] | Filament sensor fitted as standard; on the MK4 platform this is a built-in Hall sensor that also drives automatic filament loading[2][7] |
| 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] | High-performance turbine part-cooling fan with a 360-degree air-delivery duct - the headline change from the MK4, derived from work on Prusa's HT90 industrial machine. Fan RPM is monitored in firmware[2][4] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with an STM32 MCU, designed, manufactured and tested in-house, plus a custom extruder breakout board for fans and thermistors[2][7] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W PSU custom-made by Delta with hardware power-panic support[2] |
| Total rated power draw | 1000 W rated power - nearly three times the K1/K1C figure[1] | Power consumption 80 W on PLA settings, 120 W on ABS settings (manufacturer figures)[2] |
| 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[12][13][1] | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[14][2] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[1] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen with touch control[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] | On-device colour UI with G-code preview and one-click printing; remote control and firmware updates through Prusa Connect and the Prusa mobile app[2] |
| 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] | Ethernet, Wi-Fi via the ESP module delivered with the printer, USB drive for print files, plus an NFC receiver used to hand over Wi-Fi credentials from the phone app[2][9][4] |
| 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 |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | Sold both assembled (plug-and-print after a 10-minute self-test) and as an assembly kit[4] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | ABS, PLA, PETG, PET, TPU, PA, ASA, PC, PLA-CF, PA-CF, PET-CF[1] | PLA, PETG, Flex, PVA, PC, PP, CPE, PVB; ABS, ASA, HIPS and PA only when using the Original Prusa Enclosure with the filtration add-on[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[12][13] | The xBuddy platform carries hardware overcurrent protection that disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A, and the firmware is open-source and auditable. Prusa also shipped Thermal Model protection to the earlier MK3 line[7][14] |
| Certifications (UL/ETL/CE/FCC — verify, don't assume) | Not documented | Prusa states the MK4S is the first consumer 3D printer to receive UL GREENGUARD certification[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[15] | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[16][2] |
| Spare parts availability & pricing (nozzle, hotend, plate, board, belts) | Not documented | Prusa cites a perfect 30/30 print-quality score from TechRadar and a CNET "Best Printer for Quality" title; these are quoted on Prusa's own page and were not verified against the original reviews here[2] |
| 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 |
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
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- 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
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Max Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/CORE One L comparison) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- 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
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) 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
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc