Fast printing and Qidi gets involved again. With several models but a brisk speed and quite attractive prices, one would now like to get involved in the market for fast printers alongside Bambu Lab, Creality, Ankermake and other manufacturers.
You can already get the cheap of the 3 fast Qidi printers 499€ on eu.qidi3d.com with delivery from a EU-Lager.
In terms of price, the brisk printers start from 499,00€ on S.zbanx.com on offer.
Specifications of the Qidi Tech X-Smart 3 & X-Plus 3
| X-Smart 3 | X-Plus 3 | X-Max 3 | |
| printing technique | FDM, (Fused Deposition Modeling) | ||
| design type | Core X/Y | ||
| printing surface | 180 x 180 x 170 mm | 280 x 280 x 270mm | 325 x 325 x 325 mm |
| Dimension printer / weight | 370 x 362 x 397 mm/10,5 kg | 511 x 527 x 529 mm /19,5 kg | 553 x 553 x 601mm 24,5 kg |
| Print Speed / Acceleration | ≤500 mm/s, / ≤20.000 mm/s² | ≤600 mm/s, / ≤20.000 mm/s² | |
| Flow | 30mm³/s | 35mm³/s | |
| accuracy | ±0,1 mm | ±0,1 mm | |
| layer height | 0,1 – 0,4 mm | 0,1 – 0,4 mm | |
| Extruder | Direct Extruder | ||
| nozzle size | 0,4 mm, 1,75 mm Filament | ||
| Nozzle temperature | ≤300℃ | ≤350℃ | |
| print bed temperature | ≤120℃ | ≤120℃ | |
| Empfohlenes Filament | PLA | PAHT-CF, PET-CF, PA12-CF | |
| Software/Hardware | Klipper/Qidi Slicer, RK3328 1,5 GHz, Octa-Core, 1GB RAM/8 GB Speicher | ||
| Features |
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| connection | WLAN, USB, | WLAN, USB, LAN | |
| power consumption | 350 W | 800 W | 900 W |
| Preis | €499 RRP | €850 RRP | €1159 MSRP |
The Need For Speed
After the groundbreaking success of the Bambu Lab 3D printers and the fast Ankermake M5, Creality and QIDI with new fast printers are now coming into play. Here, too, the rather reserved pricing of the fast 3D printers is noticeable.
The printers presented in our article QIDI X-Smart 3 with RRP 499€ and the QIDI X-Tech Plus 3 for RRP 859€ are in a more pleasant price range for a completely closed printer than other offshoots from QIDI. If I remember the QIDI i-Fast, we were just around €1900 and it wasn’t really good or particularly fast either. That should now be changed.
The QIDI X-Smart 3 should with up to 500 mm/s print that X-Plus 3 should 600 mm/s to reach. As with all other fast current 3D printers, the acceleration is included 20.000 mm/s². Thus, the time for printing is one Benchy Schiffchens also roughly in 15 minutes Frame.
So that fast prints also feed enough filament, the X-Plus 3 in a position 35mm³/s To process filament in the melting chamber and from the 0,4mm Düse to press. The smaller and cheaper offshoot X-Smart 3 still manages 30mm³/s to process filament. The usable ones layer heights are not specified, but due to the speed achieved and the filament flow between 0.1 and 0.3mm lie on average.
Differences in installation space & features
Basically, the two printers mentioned work identically. It is a Core X/Y Drucker. The usable print areas are rather small 180 x 180 170 mm at the Smart 3the Plus 3 brings at least 280 x 280 x 270 mm build volume with. Who needs more volume, would have to X-Max 3 for 1159€ grasp. It delivers 325 x 325 x 325 mm.
(QIDI Tech X-Smart 3)
The nozzle on the small model is made of copper, the Plus 3 uses a copper alloy nozzle and comes with another, flexibly replaceable hotend with a hardened steel nozzle. The temperature differences between the devices are 300°C to a maximum of 350°C. The Smart 3 is recommended for PLA. Due to the higher nozzle temperature, the Plus 3 can also be used with PAHT-CF,PET-CF,PA12-CF filaments other than PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, TPU, PET-CF, PA12-CF, PC, UltraPA, Nylon, etc. press.
(QIDI Tech X-Plus 3)
There is also a fee for that heated space for the QIDI Plus 3/Max 3 before. Likewise, an auxiliary part cooling fan, which the Smart 3 is probably missing. However, the normal component cooling at the print head is present. The Trocknerbox + desiccant there is also only at QIDI Plus 3 there or the even bigger one X-Max 3 in addition. A flexible HF pad is used as the print bed. There should be no adhesion problems, no matter what material is printed.
Other differences lie in the built-in display. Here the cheaper model gets a sufficiently large one 4.3 inches Screen with a narrow resolution of 480 x 272 missed pixels. The Plus and Max 3 printer get one 5 Zoll Display with better resolved 800 x 480 Pixel.
Clipper Firmware & QIDI Software
As firmware one uses Rocks. However, there is no separate control element with a screen like Creality’s Sonic Pad or the Flsun V400. Hardware-wise you have it Entry-level SOC RockChip RK3328 octa-core with 1,5 GHz tact as well 1GB LPDDR3 random access memory and 8GB memory installed. But that is roughly on the same level as the speeder pad on the V400.
(Specs of the Smart 3, the X-Plus 3 can print at up to 600mm/s)
With the given computing power, a “automatic resonance compression“, which analyzes the vibrations during printing and creates opposing movements to minimize oscillations and vibration. The Creality K1 also uses this technology.
(All three models can do this)
Finally with Auto Leveling
Of course, you no longer have to worry about aligning the print bed yourself, it is fully automatic 16 points leveling has also been integrated into the print head. A nice detail that the Qidi I-Fast for 1900 € only had 3 wheels on the bottom and no automatic leveling…. Not that you couldn’t align the duck bed manually, but it’s easier, more convenient and above all more precise with the auto level sensor.
(Finally also integrated: automatic print bed alignment)
The Qidi Slicer, which is based on a Cura Fork, is used again as the slicer. A few simple presets are provided. In order to max out the printers, you would certainly have to make some adjustments here and there. We can’t yet judge how good the settings are. Alternatively, you can also use other software. It’s up to you. 🙂
Conclusion / assessment: Buy a Qidi-Tech X printer?
The prices of the two printers presented and also of the largest model, the Qidi X-Max 3, are consistently quite pleasant. The speed easily exceeds that of the previous models. Thanks to the Klipper software, the prints should also be correspondingly clean at high printing speeds.
For me it remains exciting to see how the software and its adaptation to the respective printer turn out. With X-Max and I-Fast I criticized the meager basic settings.
But what you have to do without, what the competition does better, is an integrated camera (but there was with the predecessor), AI error detection and the LIDAR sensor for the perfect flow ratio of the filament.
Otherwise it remains to be seen but it is also exciting to see how the new fast Qidi printers will fare.