3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
FlashForge AD5X vs Original Prusa MK4
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 Original Prusa MK4 comparisons
| Property | FlashForge AD5XCOREXY | Original Prusa MK4BEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | FlashForge | Prusa Research |
| Class | COREXY | BEDSLINGER |
| 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] | Original Prusa MK4[3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Announced 29 March 2023 with assembled printers shipping immediately from stock; kits opened for ordering about two weeks later[3] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | 1099 USD assembled, 799 USD as a kit, VAT included, at launch[3] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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mm/s print speed against a 600 mm/s travel speed. 3DJake and eolasprints both describe it as open-frame[1][4][5][6] | Superseded by the MK4S, which is the same machine plus a 360-degree turbine part-cooling fan, a high-flow CHT nozzle and firmware/profile work; Prusa sold a 99 USD MK4-to-MK4S upgrade kit and automatically converted unshipped MK4 orders to the S version. The MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades convert an MK3S+ to part of the MK4 electronics stack but are not an MK4[7][3] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Discontinued. No MK4 appears in Prusa's Aug 2026 3D-printer listing, and the MK4 product-page slugs redirect to the MK4S page, so no live first-party price could be recorded[8][7] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 220 mm advertised[1][4] | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[3] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Die-cast aluminium frame - Prusa replaced the MK3S+'s cut-aluminium frame for the MK4, keeping only the Y-axis profiles, some bearings, the heatbed and the power supply[3] |
| 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][5] | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional add-on[3] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY[5] | Cartesian bed-slinger of the Prusa i3 family - Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were carried over[3] |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 400-step (0.9 degree) stepper motors, stated by Prusa to prevent vertical fine artefacts[3] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | Trinamic TMC2130-LA silent stepper drivers on the xBuddy board[3] |
| 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][4] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20,000 mm/s2 maximum (manufacturer claim)[1][4] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive, one extruder, fed by the 4-colour Intelligent Filament System (IFS)[1] | Nextruder direct drive with a planetary gear system, 1:10 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink, all-metal hotend, no PTFE tube in the filament path[3] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 1:10 planetary gearbox[3] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Quick-swap nozzle system, 0.4 mm default, other diameters supported[3] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 °C claimed[1][4] | 300 C claimed max hotend temperature in Prusa's MK4 announcement table - note the MK4S product page publishes 290 C for the same hotend family[3][9] |
| Stock nozzle size & sizes included in box | 0.4 mm default; 0.25, 0.6 and 0.8 mm optional[1][4] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 °C claimed[1][4] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[3] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | PEI flexible spring-steel sheet[1][4] | Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring-steel sheets; compatible with the MK3 sheets (smooth PEI, satin, textured PEI, PA nylon)[3] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Automatic levelling; probe technology not named[1][4] | Load-cell sensor: fully automatic first-layer calibration with the nozzle as the probe, plus automatic mesh bed levelling over the print area[3] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection fitted; type and location not published[1][4] | Built-in Hall-effect filament sensor supporting automatic filament loading[3] |
| 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 | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32, designed and built in-house, with a separate extruder breakout board[3] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W Delta PSU with hardware power panic[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] | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[10][9] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | Not documented | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen[3] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Not documented | On-device colour UI with one-click printing and status LEDs; Prusa Link is integrated and Prusa Connect adds remote printing[3] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi[1][4] | Ethernet built in, optional ESP Wi-Fi module delivered with the printer, USB drive; print files can also arrive over LAN or the internet via Prusa Connect[3] |
| 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][4] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PETG, PLA, TPU95A, TPU64D-75D, PLA-CF, PETG-CF[1][4] | Prusa's launch table says "any thermoplastic including Nylon and Polycarbonate"; the enclosure is still needed in practice for ABS/ASA-class materials[3] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | xBuddy hardware overcurrent protection disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A; firmware is open-source and auditable[3][10] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | Not documented | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[11][9] |
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
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- 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
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc