3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality K1 vs UltiMaker S5
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 UltiMaker S5 comparisons
| Property | Creality K1COREXY | UltiMaker S5INDUSTRIAL |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | UltiMaker |
| Class | COREXY | INDUSTRIAL |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality K1 (store title "Creality K1 Speedy 3D Printer")[1][2] | UltiMaker S5 3D Printer[3] |
| 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] | Starting at $6,950 at MatterHackers, in stock, checked Aug 2026[3] |
| 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][4] | Three generations share the same 330 x 240 x 300 mm envelope and are easy to confuse: S5 (280 °C nozzle, glass bed to 140 °C, 4.7-inch screen), S7 (PEI-coated flexible plate, Wi-Fi 5 GHz added, $5,999) and S8 (340 °C, 500 mm/s, 50,000 mm/s2, PEI plate to 120 °C). Build-volume figures alone will not tell them apart[3][5][6] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Superseded by the S7 and then the S8, but still sold[3][5][6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[1] | 330 x 240 x 300 mm[3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 355 x 355 x 480 mm[1] | 495 x 585 x 780 mm assembled with the spool holder[3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 12.5 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[7] | 20.6 kg[3] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Fully assembled professional chassis[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] | Not documented |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[1] | Dual-extrusion gantry with an articulating nozzle-lifting print head. UltiMaker does not publish the kinematic layout in this spec table[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] | 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 |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | Not documented | Build speed under 24 mm3/s (manufacturer figure)[3] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[1] | Dual-geared feeder rated for advanced composites; dual extrusion with swappable print cores[3] |
| Filament diameter | Not documented | 2.85 mm[3] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 180-280 °C nozzle temperature range; heat-up under 2 minutes[3] |
| Stock nozzle size & sizes included in box | Not documented | 0.4 mm standard; 0.25, 0.6 and 0.8 mm available[3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max heatbed temperature[1] | Heated glass bed, 20-140 °C[3] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Coated steel flex plate, heated, removable[7] | Heated glass build plate[3] |
| 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 advanced levelling; probe technology not stated in this table[3] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[7] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Closed-loop part-cooling fan; PWM hotend cooling fan[1] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Total rated power draw | 350 W rated power[1] | 500 W maximum power output[3] |
| 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] | Not published; print preparation is UltiMaker Cura and UltiMaker Essentials[3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[1] | 4.7-inch colour touchscreen[3] |
| 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, Ethernet, USB[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] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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 |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Not documented | Under 50 dBA operating sound, manufacturer figure. No independent measurement; distance and method not stated[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[2] | Not documented |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | Not documented | XYZ resolution 6.9 / 6.9 / 2.5 micron (manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement)[3] |
| 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][11] | 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
- UltiMaker S5 3D Printer listing matterhackers.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- UltiMaker S7 product listing shop3duniverse.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- UltiMaker S8 3D Printer listing matterhackers.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
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1C Review (spec box and measured print time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review