3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ vs QIDI Max4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ comparisonsMore QIDI Max4 comparisons
| Property | Original Prusa i3 MK3S+BEDSLINGER | QIDI Max4COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Prusa Research | QIDI |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Original Prusa i3 MK3S+. The only version still listed in Aug 2026 is the "Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ 10th Anniversary Edition"[1] | QIDI Max4, sold as "Max4 High-Temp 3D Printer"[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Not published on QIDI's product page; the machine is listed as the current replacement for the discontinued X-Max 3 (checked Aug 2026)[2][4] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $1,199.00 assembled, $899.00 as a kit, for the 10th Anniversary Edition on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026. This is above the price the standard MK3S+ sold at, so do not read it as the MK3S+ street price[1] | $1,099.00 standard on us.qidi3d.com against a $1,149.00 compare-at price, checked Aug 2026. Variants: Polar Cooler bundle $1,249.00 (was $1,348.00), Max4 Combo $1,249.00 (was $1,299.00), Combo + Polar Cooler $1,399.00[2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Only the 10th Anniversary Edition remains on sale; the standard MK3S+ is gone from Prusa's printer listing. Two official upgrade paths change the machine substantially and are frequently confused with it: MK3.5 (xBuddy board and new LCD, keeps the MK3 extruder) and MK3.9 (adds the Nextruder). A caution on Prusa's own pages: the "Awards & Press Reviews" paragraph about the MK3S is reproduced verbatim on the MINI+ product page, so award text found on a Prusa page does not necessarily belong to the printer on that page[1][5][6][7] | Four variants at the US store: Standard, Polar Cooler bundle, Combo (adds QIDI Box), Combo + Polar Cooler. Direct replacement for the X-Max 3, which it differs from on every headline figure: 390x390x340 vs 325x325x315, 800 vs 600 mm/s, 370 vs 350 °C. Do not carry X-Max 3 specs across[2][4] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Superseded by the MK4/MK4S line. Prusa cut MK3S+ prices at the MK4 launch in March 2023 and said it would keep selling the MK3S+ at a lower price and hold spare parts in stock[6][7] | Current large-format flagship as of Aug 2026; QIDI's X-Max 3 page directs buyers here[2][4] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 25 x 21 x 21 cm = 250 x 210 x 210 mm (manufacturer figure)[1] | 390 x 390 x 340 mm advertised[2][3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 500 x 550 x 400 mm (X x Y x Z), without the spool holder[1] | 558 x 578 x 612 mm[3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 7 kg (without spool)[1] | 46.5 kg net[3] |
| Frame construction & material | Cut aluminium frame - Prusa's MK4 announcement contrasts "the cut aluminum frame we used so far" with the MK4's new die-cast frame[6] | Enclosed CoreXY chassis; QIDI does not publish a frame-material breakdown[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional separate product[6] | Fully enclosed with a 3-in-1 air filter (G3 pre-filter + H12 HEPA + coconut-shell activated carbon)[3] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Not documented | 65 °C, independent active chamber heating (manufacturer claim), with a 4-pin PWM chamber fan with RPM feedback[3] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger. Prusa's MK4 announcement notes the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were among the few parts carried into the MK4[6] | CoreXY[3] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not documented | 2 mm lead Z screw with an anti-backlash nut[2] |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | FOC closed-loop stepper motors[3] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Trinamic 2130 drivers at 256 microstepping on the EINSY RAMBo 8-bit board, co-developed with UltiMachine; sensorless homing on X and Y[1] | Not documented |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | Not documented | 800 mm/s (manufacturer claim, maximum)[3] |
| Max travel speed | "200+ mm/s" max travel speed (manufacturer figure, no measurement basis given)[1] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | Not documented | 30,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim, maximum)[3] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | Not documented | 40 mm3/s rated flow (manufacturer claim)[3] |
| Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping | ||
| Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary) | Not documented | Input shaper listed as a feature[3] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive with Bondtech gears and an E3D V6 hotend[1] | Direct drive, dual hardened-steel gears, 8.9:1 reduction[3] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 8.9:1; drive gears hardened steel[3] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Multi-metal hotend with a ceramic heater and a 0.4 mm bimetal nozzle; ceramic throat[3] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | <=370 °C claimed[2][3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 120 C max heatbed temperature[1] | <=120 °C claimed on a 390 x 390 mm bed QIDI markets as ultra-uniform (no thermal imaging published)[2][3] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Removable magnetic spring-steel sheets in several finishes; heatbed with cold-corner compensation[1] | Aluminium plate with silicone heater; double-sided magnetic PEI build plate[3] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | SuperPINDA inductive probe (Prusa's temperature-drift-free replacement for the original PINDA), driving automatic mesh bed levelling and a self-test routine[1] | Automatic levelling; probe technology not named by QIDI[3] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | IR filament sensor built in, supporting filament auto-loading; the print pauses when filament runs out[1] | Filament run-out sensor and filament tangle detection (tangle mechanism not described), plus a filament cutter[3] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Not documented | QIDI Box multi-colour unit supported; sold bundled as the Max4 Combo[2][3] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | Toolhead, model and auxiliary fans are all 4-pin PWM with RPM feedback; mainboard and chamber fans are closed-loop, chamber fan high-power turbo[3] |
| Chamber/exhaust fan & filtration (activated carbon / HEPA) | Not documented | 3-in-1 filtration: G3 pre-filter, H12 HEPA, coconut-shell activated carbon[3] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | EINSY RAMBo 8-bit board, co-developed with UltiMachine[1] | Not documented |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Custom Delta PSU with hardware-based power panic[1] | 110 V / 220-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz[3] |
| Total rated power draw | Power consumption 80 W on PLA settings, 120 W on ABS settings[1] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware on GitHub, GPL-3.0, whose README states it is "proudly based on Marlin 1.0.x" and covers the MK3S/MK3/MK2.5S/MK2.5 line; last pushed August 2025. Updated over USB from a PC[8] | Not stated on the product page; QIDI Studio, PrusaSlicer and Orca are the supported slicers[3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | Not documented | 5-inch touchscreen, 480 x 800[3] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | SD card (16 GB card included); Ethernet and Wi-Fi only via an optional Raspberry Pi[1] | Wi-Fi, LAN, USB[3] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | AI camera with print-failure detection[2][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[3] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, PETG, ASA, ABS, PC, CPE, PVA/BVOH, PVB, HIPS, PP, Flex, nGen, Nylon, carbon-filled, woodfill and other filled materials[1] | PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PA, PC, and glass- and carbon-fibre-filled polymers[3] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Prusa shipped Thermal Model protection to the MK3 line as a firmware update shortly before the MK4 launch; the firmware is open-source and auditable[6][8] | Not documented |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | 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[9][10] | 1-year coverage, lifetime tech guidance, 14-day no-reason return[2] |
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
- Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ 10th Anniversary Edition product page (Technical Parameters + Full Features List) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI Tech Max4 technical data table 3djake.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- QIDI X-Max 3 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Original Prusa MINI+ Semi-assembled 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + Full Features List, January 2025 Edition) prusa3d.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
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware (MK3 line, GPL-3.0, based on Marlin 1.0.x) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor