3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Original Prusa MK4S 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 Original Prusa MK4S comparisonsMore QIDI Plus5 comparisons
| Property | Original Prusa MK4SBEDSLINGER | QIDI Plus5COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Prusa Research | QIDI |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Original Prusa MK4S (Prusa Research, Prague). Sold as "Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer" and "Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer kit"[1][2] | QIDI Plus5, sold as "QIDI Plus5 3D Printer"[3][4] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Announced and available to order on 12 August 2024, the date of Prusa's launch blog post, with assembled printers, kits and an MK4S/MMU3 bundle in stock at announcement[5] | Launched 5 August 2026, 09:00 EDT / 15:00 CEST[6] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | $749 regular launch price; a launch-window member discount put it under $700[6] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $925.00 assembled, $657.40 as a kit, on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026. Bundles: $1,171.11 with MMU3, $1,185.65 with the Enclosure, $1,438.33 with both[2][1] | $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) | The MK4S is a revision of the MK4, not a new platform: Prusa sold a $99 upgrade kit that gives an MK4 all of the MK4S features (360-degree turbine part cooling, high-flow CHT nozzle, firmware and profile changes). Watch the published nozzle ceiling: Prusa's MK4 announcement table says 300 C, while the MK4S product page says 290 C. Related family members are the MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades of the MK3S+, which are not the same machine. With the MMU3 the standard (non-high-flow) nozzle is the recommended one[5][7][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][6] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Still sold in Aug 2026 as the entry point to the Nextruder line, positioned below the enclosed CORE One+ (Gen 2). Prusa also sells an MK4S-to-CORE One+ (Gen 2) conversion kit[2][1] | Current flagship of QIDI's large-format line as of Aug 2026; sits below the Max4 (390x390x340)[3][8] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[1] | 320 x 320 x 300 mm advertised — QIDI states this is about 18% more volume than the Plus4[3][4][6] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 500 x 550 x 400 mm (X x Y x Z), stated without the spool holder[1] | 500 x 488 x 558 mm[4] |
| Net weight (kg) | 7 kg (without spool)[1] | 29.0 kg net[4] |
| Frame construction & material | Aluminium extrusions and frame. Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the cut-aluminium frame of the MK3S+ was replaced by a die-cast aluminium frame for the MK4 platform, which the MK4S inherits[1][7] | Enclosed CoreXY chassis; QIDI does not publish a frame-material breakdown[3] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame. The Original Prusa Enclosure is a separate add-on and raises the achievable chamber temperature to 45 C; there is no active chamber heating[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][6] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian bed-slinger - Prusa's own comparison table gives "Cartesian" for the MK4S against "CoreXY" for the CORE One and CORE One L[9] | CoreXY[4] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Not documented | High-precision linear rails on X[3][6] |
| 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][6] |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | 0.9 degree X and Y stepper motors, which Prusa states are used to prevent vertical fine artefacts[1] | Not documented |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Trinamic 2130. The MK4 announcement is more specific: TMC2130-LA drivers on the xBuddy board[1][7] | Not documented |
| 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 | Nextruder, direct drive, E3D V6 compatible with an adapter; Nextruder planetary gear system with a 10:1 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink and all-metal filament path[1] | Direct drive with hardened dual gears[4] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | 10:1 planetary gearbox in the Nextruder[1] | Not documented |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Quick-swap Prusa nozzle system with an all-metal filament path; the MK4S ships with the high-flow Prusa brass CHT 0.4 mm nozzle. Standard (non-CHT) Prusa nozzles remain usable and are the recommended choice with the MMU3[1][5] | 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) | 290 C claimed max nozzle temperature on the MK4S product page (Prusa's MK4 announcement table gave 300 C for the MK4)[1][7] | <=370 °C claimed[3][4] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 120 C max heatbed temperature (manufacturer figure)[1] | <=120 °C claimed, described by QIDI as an even-heating bed[3][4] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Magnetic heatbed with removable double-sided PEI spring-steel sheets; smooth PEI sheet supplied[1] | 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) | Load-cell sensor in the toolhead - the nozzle itself is the probe. First-layer calibration and mesh bed levelling over the print area only are fully automatic, with no Live Adjust Z step[1][7] | Automatic levelling using an integrated load cell; QIDI describes it as direct nozzle-contact detection[4][6] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament sensor fitted as standard; on the MK4 platform this is a built-in Hall sensor that also drives automatic filament loading[1][7] | Filament run-out sensor, plus a filament cutter[4] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | High-performance turbine part-cooling fan with a 360-degree air-delivery duct - the headline change from the MK4, derived from work on Prusa's HT90 industrial machine. Fan RPM is monitored in firmware[1][5] | Not documented |
| 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][6] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with an STM32 MCU, designed, manufactured and tested in-house, plus a custom extruder breakout board for fans and thermistors[1][7] | Not documented |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | 240 W PSU custom-made by Delta with hardware power-panic support[1] | Not documented |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz[4] |
| Total rated power draw | Power consumption 80 W on PLA settings, 120 W on ABS settings (manufacturer figures)[1] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | 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][1] | 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? | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen with touch control[1] | 4-inch touchscreen, 480 x 320[4] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | On-device colour UI with G-code preview and one-click printing; remote control and firmware updates through Prusa Connect and the Prusa mobile app[1] | Not documented |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Ethernet, Wi-Fi via the ESP module delivered with the printer, USB drive for print files, plus an NFC receiver used to hand over Wi-Fi credentials from the phone app[1][9][5] | 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][6] |
| LED chamber/toolhead lighting | Not documented | RGB status light[3] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Sold both assembled (plug-and-print after a 10-minute self-test) and as an assembly kit[5] | Not documented |
| 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 | PLA, PETG, Flex, PVA, PC, PP, CPE, PVB; ABS, ASA, HIPS and PA only when using the Original Prusa Enclosure with the filtration add-on[1] | PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PA, PC, carbon- and glass-fibre-reinforced polymers[4] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | The xBuddy platform carries hardware overcurrent protection that disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A, and the firmware is open-source and auditable. Prusa also shipped Thermal Model protection to the earlier MK3 line[7][10] | Not documented |
| Certifications (UL/ETL/CE/FCC — verify, don't assume) | Prusa states the MK4S is the first consumer 3D printer to receive UL GREENGUARD certification[1] | 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[11][1] | QIDI store terms: 1-year coverage, lifetime tech guidance, 14-day no-reason return[8] |
| Spare parts availability & pricing (nozzle, hotend, plate, board, belts) | Prusa cites a perfect 30/30 print-quality score from TechRadar and a CNET "Best Printer for Quality" title; these are quoted on Prusa's own page and were not verified against the original reviews here[1] | 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
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.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
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- QIDI Plus5 launch write-up 3dprintbeginner.com · 2026-08 · review
- 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
- QIDI Max4 product page (US store) us.qidi3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/CORE One L comparison) 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