Chamber temperature specs of popular 3D printers compared

Enclosed printers fall into three groups. Printers with a dedicated chamber heater, such as the Bambu Lab H2D and QIDI Plus4, are rated 60 to 65 °C. Passive enclosures such as the Prusa CORE One state 50 to 60 °C. Others, such as the Bambu Lab P1S, publish no chamber figure at all.

Which printers have actively heated chambers?

Printers marked “Actively heated chamber” in the table have a dedicated chamber heater, and their makers rate them 60 to 65 °C. The Bambu Lab H2D and QIDI Plus4 are rated 65 °C and the Creality K2 Plus 60 °C. A heater warms the air around the part directly, so the chamber depends less on how hot the bed runs.

Shipping Bambu Lab models with a heated chamber are the X2D, H2S, H2D, H2C and H2D Pro; Creality’s are the K2 Pro and K2 Plus. No printer in the database states a chamber rating above 65 °C, so none lists a 100 °C chamber.

What is the cheapest 3D printer with a heated chamber?

The QIDI Q2 is the cheapest shipping printer with an actively heated chamber. It launched at $499 and is rated 65 °C, the highest chamber rating in the database. Next by launch price come the Bambu Lab X2D at $649 and the QIDI Plus5 at $749, both rated 65 °C.

All three figures are US launch prices for the base configuration. The table also lists the discontinued QIDI Q1 Pro, which launched at $599 with a 60 °C chamber.

The Q2 bed measures 270 × 270 mm and the X2D bed 256 × 256 mm. At 320 × 320 mm, the Plus5 is the cheapest heated-chamber printer with a bed of 300 mm or more on both sides.

Printers with an enclosure but no heater start lower. The Elegoo Centauri Carbon has the lowest launch price of any enclosed printer in the database, $299.99, but no chamber heater and no stated chamber temperature.

Which large-format 3D printers have a heated chamber?

Nine shipping printers in the database pair an actively heated chamber with a bed of at least 300 × 300 mm. The largest is the QIDI Max4, at 390 × 390 × 340 mm and 65 °C. The QIDI Plus5 has the lowest launch price of the nine: $749 for 320 × 320 × 300 mm.

By build volume, largest first, with chamber rating and launch price:

• QIDI Max4: 390 × 390 × 340 mm, 65 °C, $1,149.
• Anycubic Kobra S1 Max: 350 × 350 × 350 mm, 65 °C, $899.
• Creality K2 Plus: 350 × 350 × 350 mm, 60 °C, $1,299.
• Bambu Lab H2S: 340 × 320 × 340 mm, 65 °C, $1,249.
• Bambu Lab H2D: 325 × 320 × 325 mm, 65 °C, $1,899.
• Bambu Lab H2D Pro: 325 × 320 × 325 mm, 65 °C, $3,799.
• Bambu Lab H2C: 305 × 320 × 325 mm, 65 °C, $2,399.
• QIDI Plus5: 320 × 320 × 300 mm, 65 °C, $749.
• Creality K2 Pro: 300 × 300 × 300 mm, 60 °C, $849.

The table above also includes two discontinued printers of this size, both rated 65 °C: the QIDI X-Max 3 (325 × 325 × 315 mm) and the QIDI Plus4 (305 × 305 × 280 mm). The large enclosed 3D printers list adds the printers of this size with passive enclosures, such as the Snapmaker Artisan and Prusa CORE One L+.

What does a passive chamber rating mean?

A passive rating is the temperature an enclosure reaches from the heated bed and hotend alone. It depends on bed temperature, room temperature and warm-up time, so it does not compare one-to-one with an active rating. On that basis, Bambu Lab rates the X1-Carbon at 60 °C and Prusa rates the CORE One at 55 °C.

Tom’s Hardware’s Prusa CORE One review confirms the CORE One has no separate chamber heater: its bed heats the chamber.

Why do some enclosed printers show no chamber temperature?

The Bambu Lab P1S, Creality K1 Max and Elegoo Centauri Carbon are all enclosed, yet their makers publish no maximum chamber temperature. A dash in the table means the maker does not state the figure. It is not an estimate of zero, and it does not mean the chamber stays at room temperature.

Why does chamber temperature matter?

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) and nylon shrink as they cool. In cold air, parts in these materials warp and their layers split. A warmer chamber slows the cooling. The right chamber temperature depends on the material and the part, so check the filament maker’s datasheet.

Obico’s guide to warping and split layers traces both to a large gap between the hotend and bed temperatures and the surrounding air, and notes that an enclosure blocks the cold drafts that split layers. Prusa’s ABS material guide calls for an enclosure with a higher ambient temperature and a bed at 100 °C or more.