Creality K1 Max 3D Printer – CoreXY High-Speed Printing

Speed is one of the factors that tend to slow down the creative process when it comes to 3D printing masterpiece projects. The 3D printing industry has long since evolved a solution to that problem. The high-speed CoreXY design was exclusive to only the most advanced printer kits that Makers painstakingly built like the powerful Voron kits. But the everyday Maker lost out; Not anymore! After Creality’s foray into high-speed printing with the Ender 5 S1, which reached 250mm/s, they stepped into the deep waters and drew out the K1 and K1 Max 3D Printer that lets you crank up the speed and quality to unholy levels.

The Creality K1 Max is the super big and supped up version of the K1 3D printer. Stepping away from the classic design that they’ve produced for years with the Ender and CR series, Creality finally dived in on the CoreXY printer design, striking 3D printers into the high-speed golden age. The K1 had a slightly bumpy start with the community, but Creality took that feedback, updated the K1 and released an even better K1 Max that’s bigger and offers a few extra features. For the most part, the K1 Max is the same mind-blowing speedy fully-enclosed 3D printer but now it comes with an AI camera and LiDAR. That gives you even more ability to monitor your prints remotely, but most importantly gives you a huge build volume of 300x300x300mm.

What’s a High-Speed Printer like the Creality K1 Max have to Offer?

• Well, High-Speed Printing that Blows Our Minds – The Creality K1 and K1 Max are a coreXY design that is optimised for speed while providing stable print quality. Every aspect of this printer’s sturdy frame to a high flow hotend comes together to give you 600mm/s print speeds and a whopping 20000mm/s² acceleration. Creality’s first coreXY 3D printer certainly does impress. Print your first Bency in 13min. You can fine-tune your speed to print fast and pump out high quality prints every time.
• AI Camera and LiDAR – The Creality K1 Max has AI smart features! The Camera allows you to monitor you prints remotely and can even tell you if something is in the way before you press go. The LiDAR sensor scans every first layer to make sure everything is okay before continuing on to use the rest of your filament in an amazing huge print. These AI add-ons makes life even easier and care free.
• High Flow Hotend with Direct Drive – To accommodate the rate your filament is shooting out of the nozzle, the K1 Max’s hotend has to be up for the task. Creality provides a direct drive dual-gear extruder to smoothly feed your filament. The hotend itself reaches 300°C with all-metal parts and a ceramic heater to reach those high temperatures faster. At full blast, the K1 and K1 Max hotend achieves 32mm³/s flow. Creality also boasts less stringing thanks to a large 18W auxiliary fan that enhances the model cooling as each layer goes down.
• Flexible Ultra-Stick A Plate Build Surface – The K1 Max sports a new magnetic flexible build plate called the A Plate. This PEI coated steel flex plate offers 300x300mm build volume and holds fast onto your first layer. It is highly recommended to use a glue stick on this bed. Not to help it stick, but to help it unstick! The glue acts as an intermediate layer to help you remove prints. Also, the flexible bend of the plate helps you pop them off.
• Creality OS Speedy CPU – With great speed comes great processing power. At its core, the K1 and K1 Max holds the Creality OS as the brains behind the operating system, with snappy dual-core 1.2GHz power and 8G ROM to store up to 400 model files. This hardware is equipped for high-speed printing and comes with WiFi.
• Klipper Software and WiFi Control – Yes, the Creality K1 series is their first step away from Marlin operating and into the wide possibilities of Klipper. With their modified Klipper firmware, you can enjoy the smart connected network and control your 3D printer straight from your PC or phone. With space to install a camera, the software will even let you monitor your prints after a bit of tinkering. See your print progress, temperatures, and speeds from anywhere.
• Fully Enclosed and Preassembled – The Creality K1 Max is boxed in to keep your printers free from stray cool winds and printing at optimal temperatures. Enclosures are particularly useful for printing temperamental filaments like ABS. Preassembled and ready to go, the K1 Max will have you printing within minutes without needing to interpret Chinese English assembly instructions. The sleek design of this printer is gorgeous and works so well.
• Automatic Bed Levelling – The features just keep coming on the K1 Max. A strain gauge within the print head itself gives this printer automatic bed levelling. You can truly be hands-free as you press print, sit back, and watch the K1 Max make magic.

We can go on all day about the new standard that the Creality K1 and K1 Max has set for the everyday hobbyist 3D printer. As one of the best available in the market, this printer is a game-changer to any Maker’s workshop and brings 3D printing even closer to a common household device to have in homes across South Africa. The Creality K1 Max is a professional level 3D printer that’s smashing into the hobbyist’s price range with user friendliness any beginner can get started with.

Our Verdict on the Creality K1 Max 3D Printer:

The K1 Max is the bigger version of the K1 with a few extra surprises. AI surprises! Our 3D printers are getting smarter and the Creality K1 Max has introduced AI into their range for the first time. This of course leads to an even better user experience than ever before. Other than that, this K1 Max largely functions exactly like its smaller sibling but gives you an even bigger play area. The 300x300x300mm build volume is nothing to sneeze at. You can print practically anything with a bed this size and then more. The AI and auto levelling makes the process worry free too as you sit back and let the machine do its thing. You phone is sure to buzz you about anything untoward. With speeds that leave others in the dust, the K1 and K1 Max are true speed demons, delivering your creations swiftly without compromising on quality. Whether you're a seasoned Maker looking to boost productivity or a newbie eager to bring your ideas to life in record time, this K1 series is absolutely amazing.

But speed is just one piece of the puzzle. The K1 series is Creality’s dive into a coreXY design and Klipper firmware, a double whammy of great choices. Unfortunately, they don’t give complete access to all of Klipper's potential in their Creality OS version, but the software has merits and now you can monitor and control your prints from your phone or PC over WiFi. Finally, no MicroSD card is in sight. USB or remote transering your print files is the future. They went for hands-free and meant it, even eliminating manual bed levelling. This is a pivotal moment in the 3D printing industry. We’ve never seen this before from Creality, although it is a clear response to the popularity of printers like Voron and Bambu Labs.

We can see how the K1 became their new flagship 3D printer and we hope more of this fantastic design is coming, like this big boy K1 Max. It’s got a focus on convenience while pumping our fast quality prints. We can go on all day about the new standard that the Creality K1 Max has set for the everyday hobbyist 3D printer. The Creality K1 Max is a professional level 3D printer that’s smashing into the hobbyist’s price range with user friendliness any beginner can get started with.

If you’re interested in a different opinion, JJ Shankles reviews the Creality K1 Max 3D Printer on his YouTube Channel with this informative helpful video:

Although Creality 3D have been working within the industry since 2014, their addition of the Creality CR-10 series is what really catapulted them to the front line of competition, as it offered substantially better quality compared to other 3D printers – while simultaneously reducing the cost and complexities of the machines.

The quality of Creality’s 3D Printers and accessories shows through in their market history, with the brand selling around 3000 printers in their first year on the market, followed by about 10,000 sales over the next year. Now, Creality easily sells around 30,000 or more 3D printers each year, with sales continuously rising as they bring out more models. These are impressive numbers when considering the fact that they entered the industry as unknown competitors, quickly rising through the ranks and now even competing with Wanhao and similar top brands.

If you are looking for excellent 3D Printers that offer affordability without compromising on quality, Creality 3D is certainly a brand that you should take note of. From the basic Creality Ender 2 all the way up to the large build volume Creality CR-10 S5, there are few other brands who are capable of offering such a refined package while still maintaining some of the most enticing prices in the industry.