3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality K1 SE vs QIDI Plus5

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

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality K1 SE vs QIDI Plus5 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality K1 SECOREXYQIDI Plus5COREXY
Identity
BrandCrealityQIDI
ClassCOREXYCOREXY
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality K1 SE[1]QIDI Plus5, sold as "QIDI Plus5 3D Printer"[2][3]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Not documentedLaunched 5 August 2026, 09:00 EDT / 15:00 CEST[4]
Launch MSRP (USD)Not documented$749 regular launch price; a launch-window member discount put it under $700[4]
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)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[1]$749.00 for the standard model on us.qidi3d.com, checked Aug 2026. Other variants: Polar Cooler bundle $899.00, Plus5 Combo $899.00, Combo + Polar Cooler $1,049.00. No compare-at price listed[2]
Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk)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[1]Four purchase variants at the US store: Standard, Polar Cooler bundle, Combo (adds QIDI Box), and Combo + Polar Cooler. The Polar Cooler is a pre-sale add-on shipping separately, so its specs are not Plus5 specs. Replaces the Plus4 (305x305x280, 450 W + 400 W chamber)[2][4]
Market position: superseded? successor announced?Not documentedCurrent flagship of QIDI's large-format line as of Aug 2026; sits below the Max4 (390x390x340)[2][5]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable220 x 220 x 250 mm[1]320 x 320 x 300 mm advertised — QIDI states this is about 18% more volume than the Plus4[2][3][4]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)355 x 355 x 482 mm[1]500 x 488 x 558 mm[3]
Net weight (kg)Not documented29.0 kg net[3]
Frame construction & materialNot documentedEnclosed CoreXY chassis; QIDI does not publish a frame-material breakdown[2]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidEnclosed 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[1]Fully enclosed, with a 3-stage air filter (G3 pre-filter + H12 HEPA + coconut-shell activated carbon)[2][3]
Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred)Not documented65 °C, actively heated, 550 W chamber heater — reported as a 37.5% increase in heater power over the Plus4 (manufacturer claim)[3][4]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1]CoreXY[3]
X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size)Not documentedHigh-precision linear rails on X[2][4]
Belts (type, width, e.g. Gates?)Not documented1.5GT belts, 9 mm wide — wider than the 2GT 6 mm belts common in this class[2][4]
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]600 mm/s (manufacturer claim)[3]
Recommended/typical print speed300 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]<=20,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim)[3]
Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping
Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary)Not documentedResonance compensation listed as a feature; implementation not named on the product page[3]
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDual-gear direct-drive extruder[1]Direct drive with hardened dual gears[3]
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)Hotend body in PA+30% glass fibre with a steel-tipped nozzle integrated with the heatbreak - not the all-metal assembly of the K1C[1]Ceramic heating-plate hotend with a bimetal nozzle; 0.4 mm standard, 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[3]
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1]<=370 °C claimed[2][3]
Heated Bed & Surface
Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit100 C max heatbed temperature[1]<=120 °C claimed, described by QIDI as an even-heating bed[2][3]
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedEpoxy flexible build plate - different from the PEI plate on the K1C[1]Aluminium silicone heated bed with a dual-sided textured PEI plate[3]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)Not documentedAutomatic levelling using an integrated load cell; QIDI describes it as direct nozzle-contact detection[3][4]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Not documentedFilament run-out sensor, plus a filament cutter[3]
Cooling & Air Handling
Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting designDynamically balanced closed-loop part-cooling fan and dynamically balanced PWM hotend fan; no air filter[1]Not documented
Chamber/exhaust fan & filtration (activated carbon / HEPA)Not documented3-in-1 filtration: G3 pre-filter, H12 HEPA, coconut-shell activated carbon; QIDI claims 99.5% capture of airborne particles and dust[2][3][4]
Electronics & Power
Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto)Not documented100/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz[3]
Total rated power draw350 W rated power[1]Not documented
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)Open-source Creality OS, a Klipper derivative (CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper on GitHub, GPL-3.0)[7][8][1]Not stated on the product page. QIDI's slicer ecosystem is QIDI Studio, and Orca/PrusaSlicer are listed as supported[3]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?Not documented4-inch touchscreen, 480 x 320[3]
On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.)Colour touch UI; remote monitoring and time-lapse are optional because they require the optional AI camera[1]Not documented
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-driveWi-Fi[1]Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz, Ethernet, USB; 32 GB eMMC storage plus USB 2.0 flash drive[3]
Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps)Not documentedAI camera with failure detection, up to 1080p, timelapse supported (low frame rate)[2][3][4]
LED chamber/toolhead lightingNot documentedRGB status light[2]
Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery
Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?)Not documentedPower-loss recovery listed; mechanism not published[3]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listHyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU only[1]PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PA, PC, carbon- and glass-fibre-reinforced polymers[3]
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[7][8]Not documented
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[9]QIDI store terms: 1-year coverage, lifetime tech guidance, 14-day no-reason return[5]

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 - Compare K1 Flagship Series (K1 / K1C / K1 Max / K1 SE side-by-side spec table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. QIDI Plus5 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. QIDI Tech Plus5 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. QIDI Plus5 launch write-up 3dprintbeginner.com · 2026-08 · review
  5. QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  6. Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  7. 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
  8. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  9. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor