3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality K1 vs QIDI Plus4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Creality K1COREXY | QIDI Plus4COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | QIDI |
| Class | COREXY | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality K1 (store title "Creality K1 Speedy 3D Printer")[1][2] | QIDI Plus4, sold as "Plus4 3D Printer". QIDI's own wiki files it under X-Plus4[3][4] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Announced September 2024; QIDI ran launch promotional pricing in the week of 20-27 September 2024 (secondary reporting, not a QIDI press release)[5] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $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[2][1] | $649.00 on us.qidi3d.com for the Plus4 + 1 filament variant against a $799.00 compare-at price; $699.00 on qidi3d.com against $799.00. Checked Aug 2026[3][4] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | 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[1][6] | Two purchasable variants: Plus4 + Filament x1 at $649 and Plus4 Combo + Filament x1 at $799 (Combo adds the QIDI Box multi-material unit). Distinct from the older X-Plus 3 (280x280x270, 350 °C) and from the newer Plus5 (320x320x300)[4][3] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Superseded at the top of the large-format line by the Plus5, launched 5 August 2026 with 18% more build volume; Plus4 still listed and in stock Aug 2026[7][8] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[1] | 305 x 305 x 280 mm advertised. No independently measured usable envelope found[3][5] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 355 x 355 x 480 mm[1] | 505 x 487 x 550 mm[5] |
| Net weight (kg) | 12.5 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[9] | 32 kg gross (3DJake). QIDI does not publish a net weight on the product page[5] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Enclosed CoreXY chassis with double-layer chamber insulation; QIDI does not publish a frame material breakdown[3] |
| 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] | Fully enclosed, double-layer insulated chamber with second-generation active heating to 65 °C[3][5] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Not documented | 65 °C, actively heated by a 400 W heater which QIDI says reaches setpoint in about 8 minutes (manufacturer claim)[3][5] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1] | CoreXY[5] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not documented | Dual independent Z motors on 10 mm linear shafts and screws[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][6] | 600 mm/s (manufacturer claim, tool-head maximum)[5] |
| 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] | <=20,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim)[5] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[1] | Direct drive with hardened steel dual gears, 1.75 mm filament[3][5] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | 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[1] | Second-generation 80 W bimetal hotend with a multi-metal composite hardened-tip nozzle; 0.4 mm standard, 0.2/0.5/0.8 mm optional[3][5] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | <=370 °C claimed. No firmware max_temp verified for this model[3][5] |
| Heater cartridge power (W) | Not documented | 80 W hotend heater (manufacturer figure)[3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max heatbed temperature[1] | Conflicting manufacturer figures: QIDI's own Plus4 page states a 100 °C bed temperature, 3DJake's spec table states <=120 °C. Not resolved; the lower vendor-published figure is used as the sortable value[3][5] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Coated steel flex plate, heated, removable[9] | 6 mm aluminium-substrate heated bed with a double-sided textured PEI plate[3][5] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Automatic bed levelling (Tom's Hardware); unlike the K1 Max there is no lidar[9][10] | Full-auto calibration; QIDI markets "hands-free automatic" levelling and does not name the probe technology on the product page[3][5] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[9] | Filament run-out sensor, plus a filament cutter and filament tangle detection (tangle mechanism not described)[5] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Not documented | QIDI Box multi-material unit supported; sold bundled as the Plus4 Combo[3][4] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Closed-loop part-cooling fan; PWM hotend cooling fan[1] | Auxiliary part-cooling fan plus a chamber circulation fan; fan sizes and duct design not published[5] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz[5] |
| Total rated power draw | 350 W rated power[1] | 450 W plus 400 W for chamber heating (rated)[5] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | 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[11][12][1] | Klipper v0.12, described by QIDI as open source. Fork details and current release not published on the product page[3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[1] | 5-inch touchscreen, 800 x 480[3][5] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | 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[1] | Not documented |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Wi-Fi only - no Ethernet (the K1 Max adds RJ45); 8 GB of on-board storage[1] | Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, Ethernet, USB[3][5] |
| Cloud service & phone app; LAN-only mode possible? | Not documented | Mobile and computer control, remote cloud or LAN-only operation[3] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | AI camera optional, not fitted as standard - unlike the K1C and K1 Max, which include a 1080p camera[1] | Built-in low-frame-rate camera, up to 1080p, timelapse supported[3][5] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | QIDI claims about 10 minutes from unbox to printing[3] |
| Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery | ||
| Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?) | Not documented | Power-loss recovery listed; mechanism not published[5] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS - a notably shorter list than the K1C, because of the PTFE-lined hotend[1] | PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PA, PC, PA-CF/GF, PET-CF/GF, PPA-CF/GF, PPS-CF and other CF/GF-filled polymers[3][5] |
| 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 |
| 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[2] | 1-year coverage, 14-day no-reason return, 30-day price protection[3] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | 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[9][10][13] | 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
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Plus4 product page (global store) qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Plus4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Tech Plus4 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Plus5 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Plus5 launch write-up 3dprintbeginner.com · 2026-08 · review
- 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