8.0
Bambu Lab A1 Mini Combo
How
The best setup experience
4-color printing at a low price
Good app experience
Surprisingly fast
Funny mystery gift
I do not like it
No real change path
AMS Lite is shaky
Unusual shape and footprint
Bambu Lab’s $459 (£409, AU$749) A1 Mini Combo shouldn’t be as good as it is for a number of reasons, but those reasons disappear when you play with it. Bambu Lab said it would never make such a 3D printer and instead made one of the best laser-focused machines I’ve seen in a while.
The A1 Mini has a specific target audience and is not the die-hard 3D printing community or even the casual 3D printing hobbyist whose one machine is running and one is constantly being repaired. This printer is designed for people who have never used a 3D printer and who don’t care about the journey, only the end result.
To this end, setting up the printer and the AMS color system was as easy as setting up a traditional paper printer. Everything clicked into place easily and was color coded, making the instructions easy to follow. Once assembled it may look a bit daunting, after all it’s a lot of tubes, but I got the entire system to print a model in under 5 minutes. Even if you’ve never held a 3D printer before, I think the installation could be done in 10 minutes or less.
The color coding made setting the whole thing up very easy.
Software setup is just as easy, with an app for your PC for editing and a mobile app for on-the-go use. The mobile app is handy for monitoring prints – the push notifications when a print is ready alone are very helpful – and both have access to Makerworld, Bambu Lab’s repository of 3D models. From there you can download models straight from your phone and send them straight to your printer. No PC required.
However, I would like to note that I am still not selling Makerworld as a safe environment for developers or users. I know several excellent artists who are not currently on Makerworld but whose work has been stolen and uploaded to the site. There are reports of fake accounts that look like the artist but are not. Until this is addressed in a more meaningful way, I would still recommend using Printables, Thangs, or MyMiniFactory to find 3D models that you can print with permission from the artist.
Bambu Lab A1 Mini Combo
| Build volume | 180x180x180mm |
|---|---|
| Hot ending | Interchangeable |
| Extruder type | Direct Drive AMS (color system) |
| Nozzle diameter | 0.4mm |
| Maximum nozzle temperature | 300°C |
| Maximum temperature of the building board | 80°C |
| Official speed limit | 500mm/s |
| Supported material | PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA |
| Automatic bed leveling | Yes |
| Filament runout sensor | Yes |
| Connectivity | WiFi, app-enabled |
| Time lapse camera | Yes |
| slicer | Bamboo cutter |
Although the building board is smaller at only 180 x 180 x 180 mm, this is not a limiting factor Prussian Minione of The best budget 3D printers, and many other entry level machines have used this size for entry level machines and it works well. The idea of a printer of this size is to get people excited about the hobby in the hopes that they will expand their horizons to something bigger like that P1S, also from Bambu Lab. This transition would be easier if AMS Lite was compatible across machines.
However, Bambu has decided to make the AMS lite only compatible with the A1 Mini and not with the P1P, X1 Carbon or P1S. All of these machines use the standard AMS system, not the AMS Lite. So if you want to upgrade from the A1 Mini to a larger machine, you would have to pay, say, $900 for a P1S/AMS combo instead of using your existing AMS device and you only pay $600 for the P1S.
The AMS Lite – Automatic Material Management System – is what really sets the A1 Mini apart. For $459 (£409, AU$749), you get the A1 Mini 3D printer and the AMS lite, a separate device that feeds four different rolls of material to the A1 Mini. This means you can print multiple colors at once, which is almost completely unheard of at this price. As you can see from the cute panda on the SD card, you can achieve stunning results with very little effort.
The quality of this print from a machine under $500 is stunning.
The quality cannot be ignored
This cute little panda isn’t a one-time success either. I’ve printed dozens of models at this point, just over 100 hours of printing time, and every single model, barring the complete misses, looks excellent, with even layer lines and sharp details. CNET’s test print showed very few overhang or lockup issues, and there was no ringing at all. The spikes that indicate how well the partial cooling fan is working were a little wonky. And there were some threads – thin strands of melted filament – but not enough to affect the overall quality.
Printing on PLA and PETG worked equally well and the quality of both materials is excellent. TPU didn’t work well at all in the AMS, but in the A1 Mini it worked fine in the single line feed. The A1 has a direct drive extruder and is therefore compatible with TPU, although TPU is generally more difficult to work with. While Bambu says the A1 will print ABS, the bed only reaches 80°C, not the recommended 100°C, so it’s likely to fail frequently.
Bambu Lab states the A1 Mini’s top speed as 500 millimeters per second, which is the same maximum print speed as all other printers. However, in real-world testing it was much closer to 180mm/s if you want a high quality result. Speed depends on model and material, but I found 180mm/s to be the optimal compromise between speed and quality. To be clear, 180mm/s is faster than other printers of this size, most of which print at around 40 to 60mm/s. It’s just not the advertised 500 mm/s.
Using multiple colors makes each print more complicated, resulting in more errors and a lot of waste. Every time you change the color of a print, the machine has to rinse the filament to avoid mixing colors. This creates waste that is colloquially known as “Bambu poop.” This waste can become a significant problem and you should try to collect the different types of materials separately. There are companies that will accept and recycle your waste, but not if you have mixed PLA and PETG, for example.
Bamboo droppings are a constant problem when multiple colors are used.
The positioning of the Bambu-Kot also highlights the problem of space requirements with the A1 Mini. For a printer of this size, it takes up a lot of space. Although the printer itself is only 347 x 315 x 365 mm, it takes up far more space when you take into account the AMS Lite and the need for a tray to collect the waste. In total, the width you’ll need for all three pieces is a respectable 750mm, or almost 3 feet.
That’s a huge footprint for a printer whose build area is only 180mm wide. It’s almost twice as wide as the P1S (386mm wide), a printer with a 256 x 256mm print bed. You can place the AMS Lite behind the A1 or perhaps above it, but no matter where you place it, you have to consider the space required. It’s also worth noting that the AMS Lite can be a bit wobbly, so you can’t just put it down anywhere. It has to be stable.
A gift to get you started
In my most recent comment on the future of 3D printing, I said this about the A1 mini: “Bambu Lab clearly designed the A1 for absolute beginners. You don’t need any prior knowledge of 3D printing to work with it, and that’s not necessary.” Find out more about the inner workings if you don’t want to.
To this end, Bambu has included a mystery gift with every A1 Mini you purchase. It could be four different things, but my review unit came with what I think is the best device: a wireless mouse kit.
The small box contains everything you need to make a wireless mouse, excluding all 3D printed parts. To get these, use the Bambu app to scan a QR code on the packaging, which will open the files in Makerworld. From there, with a few simple button clicks, you need to select your printer and the colors you want and the printing process will begin. One of the hardest things about using a new product for the first time is figuring out where to start. These mystery gifts eliminate that problem by giving you a comprehensive project to work on immediately, with a tangible and fun result at the end. I love it.
The A1 Mini Combo is by no means a perfect 3D printer, and for someone like me who is immersed in 3D printing every day and has used dozens of different devices, I wouldn’t buy it. However, it’s not for me; It’s for the next group of 3D printing users. These people aren’t looking for complicated kits to show them how 3D printing works; They strive for a good end result with minimal effort. The A1 can give you that if you have the counter space for it.
The A1 Mini ecosystem has a level of granularity that shows us what 3D printing might look like in the future. It’s a fun little machine that “just works.” And if you’re new to the hobby, that’s all you want.
