3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality K1 vs QIDI Q1 Pro
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Creality K1 comparisonsMore QIDI Q1 Pro comparisons
| Property | Creality K1COREXY | QIDI Q1 ProCOREXY |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Q1 Pro, listed by QIDI as "Q1 Pro 3D Printer". QIDI traded as Qidi Tech until end-2024[3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Not stated on QIDI's own product page; the page now carries a discontinuation notice instead of a launch date (checked Aug 2026)[3][4] |
| 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] | $499.00 on both qidi3d.com and us.qidi3d.com, checked Aug 2026 — but the listing is marked Sold Out and the page states "This model has been discontinued". qidi3d.com shows it against a $599.00 regular price; the US store shows compare-at $499.00[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][5] | Succeeded by the QIDI Q2, which QIDI's own comparison on the Q1 Pro page distinguishes as 270x270x256 mm (vs 245x245x240), 370 °C hotend (vs 350 °C) and 65 °C chamber (vs 60 °C). Do not read Q2 figures onto the Q1 Pro[3][4] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Discontinued and out of production; QIDI states spare parts and support for existing owners remain available. Replaced by the Q2[3][4] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[1] | 245 x 245 x 240 mm advertised (QIDI). No independently measured usable envelope found[3][6] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 355 x 355 x 480 mm[1] | 477 x 467 x 489 mm machine dimensions (QIDI)[3][6] |
| Net weight (kg) | 12.5 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[7] | 17 kg net, 20.3 kg gross (QIDI). 3DJake lists the 20.3 kg figure as gross weight[3][6] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Metal CoreXY motion frame with panelled enclosure; QIDI publishes no frame-material breakdown for this model[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 with independent chamber heating to 60 °C; QIDI does not publish the panel materials for this model[3][6] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Not documented | 60 °C, actively heated (manufacturer claim — this is a heater setpoint, not a measured passive figure)[3][6] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1] | CoreXY[6] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Not documented | 10 mm linear steel rods with automatically tensioned belt (manufacturer description)[6] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not documented | Independent dual Z lead-screw motors[6] |
| 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][5] | 600 mm/s, worded by QIDI as maximum tool-head speed (manufacturer claim, not a sustained printing speed)[3][6] |
| 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)[3][6] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[1] | Direct-drive extruder with hardened steel gears[3][6] |
| 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] | Tri-metal hotend with a ceramic heater plate and a bimetal nozzle, 0.4 mm standard[3][6] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | <=350 °C claimed. No firmware max_temp verified for this model[3][6] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max heatbed temperature[1] | <=120 °C claimed. No firmware limit verified for this model[3][6] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Coated steel flex plate, heated, removable[7] | Double-sided textured PEI plate on an aluminium substrate bed[3][6] |
| 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[7][8] | Automatic levelling; QIDI markets it as "hands-free automatic levelling" with dual sensors, without naming the probe technology[3] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[7] | Filament run-out sensor fitted; QIDI also lists filament tangle detection without describing the mechanism[6] |
| 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 count and duct design not published)[6] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz[6] |
| Total rated power draw | 350 W rated power[1] | 350 W plus 300 W for chamber heating (rated)[3][6] |
| 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[9][10][1] | Klipper, running on a 64-bit processor per QIDI. Exact fork and version not published on the product page[3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[1] | 4.3-inch touchscreen, 272 x 480[3][6] |
| 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 6 (QIDI states "150M 2.4G") and USB 2.0. No Ethernet listed for this model[3][6] |
| 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 camera, up to 1080p, timelapse supported. Framerate not published[3][6] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | Ships fully assembled[3] |
| Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery | ||
| Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?) | Not documented | Power-loss recovery listed as a feature; mechanism not published[6] |
| 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] | QIDI lists compatibility with common filaments; storage 32 GB eMMC. No per-material list published on the current page beyond the general claim[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[9][10] | 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, lifetime tech guidance (QIDI's standard terms as shown on its store)[11] |
| 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[7][8][12] | 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 Q1 Pro product page (global store) qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Q1 Pro product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Tech Q1 Pro technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- 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
- QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1C Review (spec box and measured print time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review