In our Creality K1 Max Review, we will look into this product that is versatile enough to meet your needs. It has many excellent features and a user-friendly design perfect for use in classrooms or even design studios.
This review will discuss its features, design, functions, specifications, and performance. Is it better than other 3D printers, or should you look elsewhere?
Before we look deeper into the product, our Creality K1 Max Review shows what the company included in the box.
Creality K1 Max Packaging
There is nothing special about the product packaging since it ships in a basic cardboard box. On its exterior, you will find an illustration of the 3D printer, the company branding, and the unit name.
Inside, everything is secure from any possible damages during shipping, and the K1 Max ships with the following:
- Touch Screen
- Filament
- Glue Stick
- Lubricating Grease
- Set of Wrenches and Screwdrivers
- Material Barrel
- Blade
- Cutting Plier
- 1.2mm Nozzle Cleaner
- M6 Socket Spanner
- USB Flash Disk
- Power Cable
- User Manual
Creality K1 Max Review – Design and Functionality
Remember that the K1 Max is a massive printer, ideal for large build volumes. It measures 435 x 462mm without the filament reel that hangs on a post that protrudes from the rear. Because of this, you will need a table that is around 600mm deep.
At 526mm high, a taller space is necessary to remove the glass top when changing the filament. This area is the sole access point for the release lever at the top of the extruder.
The front door and the top surface are constructed from tempered glass to provide a sleek and sturdy design. However, it has non-removable plastic sides.
Overall, the entire 3D printer weighs 18kg.
The front of the printer features a massive colour touchscreen interface. It allows you to navigate and control over-loading models from a USB and its printing process.
We also noticed the direct Wi-Fi operation along the LCD while writing our Creality K1 Max Review. It is accessible via the Creality Print application, which is available for most operating systems.
While writing our Creality K1 Max Review, we noticed its air purifier – a feature often on similar products. Seeing one in the K1 Max is excellent, and we appreciate Creality for including this element.
You also have the choice to affix an extractor at the rear. Doing so proves invaluable when working with materials like ABS that emit potent fumes.
At the core of this printer lies its 300 x 300 x 300mm build volume. The latter is a standard offering in this category and price range. The dual-gear direct drive extruder ensures a consistent filament feed, allowing you to use other compatible materials.
The hotend features a 0.4mm nozzle, but you can opt for 0.6mm or 0.8mm nozzles too. This versatile hotend allows a maximum temperature of 300℃, while the build platform can reach 100℃. These help widen the range of compatible materials.
It integrates innovative features like the LiDAR sensor and blends seamlessly into the design without drawing undue attention.
Its printhead is lightweight and has the proprietary hotend from Creality. This element heats the filament and houses the extrusion nozzle rather than relying on an off-the-shelf component.
Notably, Creality includes a full spare hotend in the package. It is complete with a silicone sock and the necessary screws for your convenience.
The sizeable aluminium alloy bed operates on AC power, offering rapid heating. In just about 90 seconds, it can go from room temperature to 60°C. Furthermore, it achieves a temperature of 100°C in three minutes but can reach an impressive 120°C.
The K1 Max can construct a levelling mesh with its embedded strain sensors. It can correct any minor imperfections on the bed to guarantee a flawless first layer during printing.
The best part is it all unfolds automatically. It means you do not need to take any action, not even adjusting a z-offset, which is truly remarkable.
Creality K1 Max Magnetic PEI Build Plate
A magnetic PEI build plate has a remarkably smooth surface. Once your printing is complete, you can effortlessly remove and flex this plate. It offers a far more convenient method for detaching your models than using a scraper on a fixed bed surface.
Creality even provides a handy glue stick for better adhesion – a must for securing smaller parts during printing. The build plate features two notches at the rear. These simplify the alignment process when placing it back onto the bed.
Extrusion System and Nozzle
With a dual-gear direct drive extruder, the K1 Max lets you manage and control filament extrusion and retraction. This element is compact and lightweight at just 190g, allowing high-speed 3D printing options.
The K1 Max also features an innovative hotend with a newly engineered circular ceramic heater. It swiftly reaches a temperature of 200°C in a mere 37 seconds.
This all-metal hotend withstands temperatures up to 300°C, making it compatible with more materials.
The nozzle has a built-in vibration sensor that automatically compensates for machine resonance during high-speed printing. This feature effectively eliminates surface artefacts formed by vibrations.
The nozzle housing has a cooling fan and incorporates a simulated air duct design, channelling airflow directly toward the model. This design boosts the cooling efficiency to meet the demands of high-speed 3D printing.
Key Features of the Creality K1 Max
12 Times Faster, Defying Limitations
The K1 Max can print as fast as 600mm/s in only 0.03s, making it highly efficient and productive. It can produce as many prints as several 3D printers combined. Later in our Creality K1 Max Review, we will discuss its performance and print quality at high speeds.
Nimble Setup for Increased Speed
This 3D printer combines a 190g lightweight printhead with a nimble Core XY for reduced motion inertia.
Maximum 32mm³/s Flow
The new ceramic heater of the K1 Max encircles the entire hot end, heating up to 200°C within 40 seconds. As a result, it instantly melts the filament. Plus, its dual-gear extruder offers strong extrusion force.
The hot end has a titanium alloy heat break and a hardened steel nozzle. With these features, the K1 Max can operate seamlessly at speeds above 300°C.
Creality Print 4.3 with Speed Genes
The latest self-developed slicer, Creality Print 4.3, streamlines the slicing process in three stages. It has rich presets and supports high-speed printing with variable arc paths, line widths, and more.
Uses Space Efficiently
The K1 Max has a sizeable build volume of 300 x 300 x 300mm. It is ideal for design verification and rapid prototyping. Its build volume to printer size ratio is 25.5%, making it a size-efficient FDM 3D printer.
Reliable AI LiDAR That Takes Care of the First Layer
AI LiDAR is a reliable technology that scans the first layer of your print with 1μm resolution LiDAR. It will pause printing when it recognises an error.
This feature made us enjoy our experience when we tested the product for this Creality K1 Max Review. It helped save time and materials since it immediately notices an error before a printing failure happens.
AI Camera Keeps a Keen Watch
The K1 Max integrates an AI camera to watch for foreign objects, debris, spaghetti failure, and more. It will also give you alerts if such errors occur. It monitors the printing process and creates time-lapse videos for sharing.
Smart System, Unbridled Performance
K1 Max adopts the Creality OS, which has a straightforward UI. It also syncs commands and data with the PC, mobile device, cloud, and additional modules.
The high-speed dual-core 1.2GHz processor powers high-speed printing. Plus, 8GB ROM can store up to 400 model files while allowing quick reading and writing.
Intelligent Aid to Your Print Farm
You can monitor and control the printing from a PC or phone using the Creality Print software or Creality Cloud. But before that, your 3D printer must be connected to the internet or data-secure LAN.
When many k1 Max printers are online, you can group or cluster these for volume production.
Sturdy and Stable Frame of the Creality K1 Max
The rigid die-cast frame of the K1 Max uses aluminium alloy parts to allow steady printing at high speeds. It contributes to producing excellent print quality.
Delicate Texture without Z-banding
Creality positioned the upgraded Z-axis more accurately to reduce Z-banding, resulting in a delicate texture.
Smooth Surface with Input Shaping
The printhead features a G-sensor that shapes the input and measures the resonance frequencies of high-speed printing. It eliminates ringing and ghosting on the print.
Motion Advance for Improved Feeding
Motion advance is a function that delivers the optimal feeding flow for effective oozing and reduced blobs.
Hands-free Auto Levelling
The heatbed has strain sensors that generate accurate levelling mesh for automatic compensation.
Ready for Printing Out of the Box
Creality pre-assembled and pre-calibrated the K1 Max before shipment. It also has an integrated boot-up quick guide to make things more convenient. You can start printing once it arrives.
Effective Air Purifier
The built-in air filters of the K1 Max purify hazardous compounds produced when printing to keep your environment safe.
Specifications
- Print Technology: Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
- Printer Dimensions: 435 x 462 x 526mm
- Net Weight: 18kg
- Build Area: 300 x 300 x 300mm
- Minimum Layer Resolution: 0.1mm
- Maximum Layer Resolution: 0.35mm
- Heatbed Temperature: 100°C or lower
- Print Surface: Flexible build plate
- Software: Creality Print; compatible with Cura, PrusaSlicer, and Simplify3D
- Materials: ABS, PETG, PET, PA, ABS, TPLA, PU, ASA, PC, PA-CF, PET-CF, PLA-CF,
- Print Speed: 600mm/s
Hands-on with the Creality K1 Max
We printed various models with this 3D printer to share our experience in this Creality K1 Max Review. Of course, we also tried its different features to see if it delivers what the company promises. Before we discuss how well it performed, we will focus on Creality Print, the software exclusive for Creality 3D printers.
Creality Print is a Cura-based open-source proprietary software optimised for 3D printers from Creality. You can conveniently slice and print by selecting the machine and preferred material.
It supports LAN printing to send files from a local network to the 3D printer. With this feature, printing takes only one click, making it highly convenient.
Since the K1 Max has a camera, you can monitor its printing process and create time lapses via the app.
Another benefit of this software is its integration with the model library of Creality Cloud. You can log in and download any model you want within the software. It is also available via the Creality Cloud mobile app, which has a community platform to meet fellow 3D printers.
We used this 3D printer for one week to discuss how well it worked in our Creality K1 Max Review. Surprisingly, this product is a huge step forward in 3D printing due to its reliability and excellent print quality. With the K1 Max, Creality aims at those who value speed and precision without compromise.
The AI technology and LiDAR sensors ensure impressive precision and intricate details. These allow the printer to effortlessly handle detailed shapes and designs that were challenging for most FFF printers. As a result, we can print without relying too much on support materials.
The high-speed printing capability makes major projects possible. It can quickly print tiny models like Benchy, which does not happen with 3D printers that operate at 60mm/s.
Surprisingly, the quality of our prints is superb. They have no undesirable elements like zits, and all edges are clean. Its output is even better than other 3D printers that are five times slower. The superior accuracy means the K1 Max excellently fitted the sections together.
What impressed us the most is we have no print failures among all our prints. It paused before starting a print and sent us an alert about the print quality problem.
Creality K1 Max Review Summary
The K1 Max is another game-changer from Creality, and it is an excellent machine for 3D printing enthusiasts and professionals. Its impressive speed, improved print quality, and increased print volume size set it apart from the competitors.
Aside from fast performance and high-quality prints, which we mentioned earlier, we love the quiet operation of the K1 Max. Plus, it has other unique features that make 3D printing more convenient.
We highly recommend the K1 Max to hobbyists, designers, and engineers. It is a convenient and reliable machine for creative expression and functional prototyping.
Visit the official Creality product page to learn more about the K1 Max.
