3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Formlabs Form 4 vs QIDI Plus5
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Formlabs Form 4 comparisonsMore QIDI Plus5 comparisons
| Property | Formlabs Form 4RESIN | QIDI Plus5COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Formlabs | QIDI |
| Class | RESIN | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Formlabs Form 4 3D Printer[1][2] | QIDI Plus5, sold as "QIDI Plus5 3D Printer"[3][4] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Launched 5 August 2026, 09:00 EDT / 15:00 CEST[5] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | $749 regular launch price; a launch-window member discount put it under $700[5] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | 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[2] | $749.00 for the standard model on us.qidi3d.com, checked Aug 2026. Other variants: Polar Cooler bundle $899.00, Plus5 Combo $899.00, Combo + Polar Cooler $1,049.00. No compare-at price listed[3] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | 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[1] | Four purchase variants at the US store: Standard, Polar Cooler bundle, Combo (adds QIDI Box), and Combo + Polar Cooler. The Polar Cooler is a pre-sale add-on shipping separately, so its specs are not Plus5 specs. Replaces the Plus4 (305x305x280, 450 W + 400 W chamber)[3][5] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Current flagship of QIDI's large-format line as of Aug 2026; sits below the Max4 (390x390x340)[3][6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 200 x 125 x 210 mm (Formlabs quotes 5.25 litres)[1][2] | 320 x 320 x 300 mm advertised — QIDI states this is about 18% more volume than the Plus4[3][4][5] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 398 x 367 x 554 mm[1][2] | 500 x 488 x 558 mm[4] |
| Net weight (kg) | 18.3 kg[1][2] | 29.0 kg net[4] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Enclosed CoreXY chassis; QIDI does not publish a frame-material breakdown[3] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Enclosed cabinet with a hinged UV-blocking cover. Operating temperature 18-28 C[1] | Fully enclosed, with a 3-stage air filter (G3 pre-filter + H12 HEPA + coconut-shell activated carbon)[3][4] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Not documented | 65 °C, actively heated, 550 W chamber heater — reported as a 37.5% increase in heater power over the Plus4 (manufacturer claim)[4][5] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Masked stereolithography (MSLA). Formlabs brands the engine Low Force Display; straight-lift peel[1][2] | CoreXY[4] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Not documented | High-precision linear rails on X[3][5] |
| Belts (type, width, e.g. Gates?) | Not documented | 1.5GT belts, 9 mm wide — wider than the 2GT 6 mm belts common in this class[3][5] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | Not documented | 600 mm/s (manufacturer claim)[4] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | Not documented | <=20,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim)[4] |
| Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping | ||
| Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary) | Not documented | Resonance compensation listed as a feature; implementation not named on the product page[4] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Not documented | Direct drive with hardened dual gears[4] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Ceramic heating-plate hotend with a bimetal nozzle; 0.4 mm standard, 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[4] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | Not documented | <=370 °C claimed[3][4] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | Not documented | <=120 °C claimed, described by QIDI as an even-heating bed[3][4] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Aluminium silicone heated bed with a dual-sided textured PEI plate[4] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Not documented | Automatic levelling using an integrated load cell; QIDI describes it as direct nozzle-contact detection[4][5] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Not documented | Filament run-out sensor, plus a filament cutter[4] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Chamber/exhaust fan & filtration (activated carbon / HEPA) | Not documented | 3-in-1 filtration: G3 pre-filter, H12 HEPA, coconut-shell activated carbon; QIDI claims 99.5% capture of airborne particles and dust[3][4][5] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | 100-240 VAC, 4.8 A, 50/60 Hz, 480 W[1] | 100/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz[4] |
| Total rated power draw | 480 W[1] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Proprietary. Print preparation is PreForm; fleet management is Formlabs Dashboard[2] | Not stated on the product page. QIDI's slicer ecosystem is QIDI Studio, and Orca/PrusaSlicer are listed as supported[4] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 7-inch interactive touchscreen, 1280 x 800 (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[1] | 4-inch touchscreen, 480 x 320[4] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbit), USB-C 2.0[1][2] | Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz, Ethernet, USB; 32 GB eMMC storage plus USB 2.0 flash drive[4] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | AI camera with failure detection, up to 1080p, timelapse supported (low frame rate)[3][4][5] |
| LED chamber/toolhead lighting | Not documented | RGB status light[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[4] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | 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[1] | PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PA, PC, carbon- and glass-fibre-reinforced polymers[4] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | Not documented | QIDI store terms: 1-year coverage, lifetime tech guidance, 14-day no-reason return[6] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | XY dimensional tolerance +/-0.15% — a manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement[1][2] | Not documented |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | 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[1][2] | Not documented |
| Light source | Backlight unit with 60 uniform-wavelength high-power LEDs behind collimating lenses, with integrated cooling[1][2] | Not documented |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | 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[2][1] | Not documented |
| Layer height range | 25-200 um per Formlabs' own tech-spec page; GoEngineer's listing for the same machine says 25-300 um. Unresolved[1][2] | Not documented |
| Resin vat & feeding | 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[1][2] | 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
- 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
- QIDI Plus5 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Tech Plus5 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Plus5 launch write-up 3dprintbeginner.com · 2026-08 · review
- QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor