3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
FlashForge AD5X vs Formlabs Form 4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore FlashForge AD5X comparisonsMore Formlabs Form 4 comparisons
| Property | FlashForge AD5XCOREXY | Formlabs Form 4RESIN |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | FlashForge | Formlabs |
| Class | COREXY | RESIN |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Flashforge AD5X, sold as "AD5X - Multicolor 3D Printer for High-Speed, Full-Color Printing"[1][2] | Formlabs Form 4 3D Printer[3][4] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $399.00 sale against a $549.00 compare-at price on flashforge.com, in stock, with a further $50 off at checkout, checked Aug 2026. A refurbished AD5X is listed at $315.00[1][2] | Starting at $2,625.00 at GoEngineer, in stock, checked Aug 2026. Formlabs sells the printer as part of packages (Form 4 Complete Package etc.), so package prices are much higher than the printer-only figure[4] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Shares the 220 mm Adventurer chassis with the 5M and 5M Pro but differs on the points that matter: 300 °C nozzle (vs 280 °C), 4-colour IFS unit, NO air filtration, NO auto shutdown, and a 300 mm/s print speed against a 600 mm/s travel speed. 3DJake and eolasprints both describe it as open-frame[1][5][6][7] | Three machines share this platform and are constantly conflated. Form 4: 200 x 125 x 210 mm, 50 um pixels, 18.3 kg, 480 W, one resin cartridge, NOT biocompatible. Form 4B: identical hardware but validated for 38 Formlabs materials including 15 biocompatible. Form 4L: 353 x 196 x 350 mm, 46 um pixels, 58.5 kg, 900 W, two cartridges[3] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 220 mm advertised[1][5] | 200 x 125 x 210 mm (Formlabs quotes 5.25 litres)[3][4] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | Not documented | 398 x 367 x 554 mm[3][4] |
| Net weight (kg) | Not documented | 18.3 kg[3][4] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure and no air filtration — FlashForge's own table records "Air Filtration: No". Chamber lighting and remote monitoring are listed as expandable options rather than fitted[1][6] | Enclosed cabinet with a hinged UV-blocking cover. Operating temperature 18-28 C[3] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY[6] | Masked stereolithography (MSLA). Formlabs brands the engine Low Force Display; straight-lift peel[3][4] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | FlashForge publishes two separate figures: max travel speed 600 mm/s and max print speed 300 mm/s. The 300 mm/s print figure is the one that describes printing[1][5] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20,000 mm/s2 maximum (manufacturer claim)[1][5] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive, one extruder, fed by the 4-colour Intelligent Filament System (IFS)[1] | Not documented |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 °C claimed[1][5] | Not documented |
| Stock nozzle size & sizes included in box | 0.4 mm default; 0.25, 0.6 and 0.8 mm optional[1][5] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 °C claimed[1][5] | Not documented |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | PEI flexible spring-steel sheet[1][5] | Not documented |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Automatic levelling; probe technology not named[1][5] | Not documented |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection fitted; type and location not published[1][5] | Not documented |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Four-colour printing via the integrated Intelligent Filament System (IFS), which handles filament switching[1] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-240 VAC, 4.8 A, 50/60 Hz, 480 W[3] |
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 480 W[3] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not named by FlashForge; the supported slicers are Orca-Flashforge and OrcaSlicer[1] | Proprietary. Print preparation is PreForm; fleet management is Formlabs Dashboard[4] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | Not documented | 7-inch interactive touchscreen, 1280 x 800 (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[3] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi[1][5] | Dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbit), USB-C 2.0[3][4] |
| Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery | ||
| Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?) | Power-outage recovery supported; mechanism not published[1][5] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PETG, PLA, TPU95A, TPU64D-75D, PLA-CF, PETG-CF[1][5] | Formlabs resins across rigid, tough, general purpose, flame retardant, silicone, elastic, ceramic and castable families. Biocompatible resins require the Form 4B, not the Form 4[3] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | Not documented | XY dimensional tolerance +/-0.15% — a manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement[3][4] |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | Not documented | Low Force Display masking LCD with a 50 um pixel size and pre-tuned anti-aliasing. Formlabs does not publish the screen diagonal or pixel count[3][4] |
| Light source | Not documented | Backlight unit with 60 uniform-wavelength high-power LEDs behind collimating lenses, with integrated cooling[3][4] |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | Not documented | Maximum 100 mm/h; average 40 mm/h at a 100 um layer height (manufacturer figures — GoEngineer publishes both, which is unusually explicit about the basis). Formlabs separately claims most prints finish in under 2 hours[4][3] |
| Layer height range | Not documented | 25-200 um per Formlabs' own tech-spec page; GoEngineer's listing for the same machine says 25-300 um. Unresolved[3][4] |
| Resin vat & feeding | Not documented | Single next-generation resin cartridge; Formlabs claims 5-10x faster filling and 63% less waste. Resin tank rated for 75,000+ layers with any Formlabs material. No vat capacity published[3][4] |
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
- Flashforge AD5X multicolour 3D printer product page flashforge.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Flashforge store product feed (live prices and stock) flashforge.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Formlabs resin printer technical specifications (Form 4 / 4B / 4L) formlabs.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Formlabs Form 4 3D printer listing store.goengineer.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- FlashForge AD5X technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Flashforge printer buyer's guide, 5M to Creator 5 eolasprints.com · 2026-08 · review
- Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro product page flashforge.com · 2026-08 · vendor