3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality K1 SE vs UltiMaker S8

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

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality K1 SE vs UltiMaker S8 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality K1 SECOREXYUltiMaker S8INDUSTRIAL
Identity
BrandCrealityUltiMaker
ClassCOREXYINDUSTRIAL
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality K1 SE[1]UltiMaker S8 3D Printer[2][3]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Not documentedLaunched March 2025; the technical-specification and pricing announcement is dated 14 March 2025[3]
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]Starting at $8,999 at MatterHackers, in stock, checked Aug 2026. The launch announcement quoted approximately $9,000[2][3]
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]Sold as printer-only or as a Pro Bundle. The bundle is not a trim level but a different machine footprint and weight: 495 x 500 x 1210.5 mm and 47.7 kg with the 6-spool Material Station, versus 495 x 585 x 800.5 mm and 30 kg for the printer alone. Print cores AA+ 0.40 x2 are included; BB, CC+ and DD 0.40 are separate purchases[2][3]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable220 x 220 x 250 mm[1]330 x 240 x 300 mm[2][3]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)355 x 355 x 482 mm[1]495 x 585 x 800.5 mm printer only; 495 x 500 x 1210.5 mm as the Pro Bundle[2][3]
Net weight (kg)Not documented30 kg printer only; 47.7 kg as the Pro Bundle[2][3]
Frame construction & materialNot documentedFully assembled, made in Europe[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]Enclosed, with an Air Manager UltiMaker says removes up to 95% of ultrafine particles[2][3]
Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred)Not documentedBuild-volume temperature under 50 °C with open-loop control (manufacturer figure)[2][3]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1]Dual-extrusion print head with auto nozzle-lifting, flood detection and inductive probing. UltiMaker's Cheetah motion planner uses third-order continuous motion with corner blending[2][3]
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][4]Up to 500 mm/s in XY (manufacturer claim)[2][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]Up to 50,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim)[2][3]
Jerk / square-corner-velocity setting (exact value)Not documentedJerk up to 100,000,000 mm/s3 (manufacturer claim)[2][3]
Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s)Not documentedUp to 35 mm3/s extrusion flow (manufacturer claim)[2][3]
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDual-gear direct-drive extruder[1]Dual gripper feeder with tension adjustment, release function and filament feed-rate control[2][3]
Filament diameterNot documented2.85 mm[2][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]Swappable print cores; AA+ 0.40 x2 included, BB 0.40 / CC+ 0.40 / DD 0.40 sold separately[2][3]
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1]Up to 340 °C (manufacturer claim)[2][3]
Heated Bed & Surface
Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit100 C max heatbed temperature[1]Up to 120 °C on a flexible PEI plate (manufacturer claim)[2][3]
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedEpoxy flexible build plate - different from the PEI plate on the K1C[1]Flexible PEI plate[2][3]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)Not documentedInductive probing, integrated into the print head[2][3]
Filament Handling & Detection
Spool holder location & max spool size; drybox compatibilityNot documentedDual spool holder with NFC recognition on the printer; the Pro Bundle substitutes a 6-spool Material Station with NFC and a dual-geared abrasion-resistant feeder[2][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 documentedAir Manager, which UltiMaker says removes up to 95% of ultrafine particles[2][3]
Electronics & Power
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)[5][6][1]Not published; print preparation is UltiMaker Cura 5.10 or newer, fleet management via UltiMaker Digital Factory[2][3]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
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 and 5 GHz (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0[2][3]
Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps)Not documentedFull HD HDR camera[2][3]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listHyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU only[1]UltiMaker cites 301+ compatible materials including its own PLA, PETG, ABS, CPE, CPE+, PC, TPU and PET-CF, plus third-party grades[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[5][6]Not documented
Noise & Power Consumption
Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method)Not documentedUnder 50 dBA operating sound, manufacturer figure. No independent measurement; distance and method not stated[2][3]
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[7]12 months, extendable to 5 years with an UltiMakerCare plan[2][3]
Independently Measured Performance
Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers)Not documentedDimensional accuracy +/-0.15 mm +/-0.15% of feature nominal length (manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement)[2][3]

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. UltiMaker S8 3D Printer listing matterhackers.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. New UltiMaker S8 high-speed 3D printer: technical specifications and pricing 3dprintingindustry.com · 2026-08 · review
  4. Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. 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
  6. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  7. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor