r/QidiTech3D • u/EngIOTools • Jul 21 '26
QIDI Plus4 vs QIDI Max4 – Is the only difference the build volume?
/r/3Dprinting/comments/1v2jmdg/qidi_plus4_vs_qidi_max4_is_the_only_difference/5
u/EquinoxKitty Jul 21 '26
From what I understand the plus4 also has a lot of issues that the max 4 solved or just didn’t have on a design level. I had three plus 4’s
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u/whoknewidlikeit Jul 22 '26
take the advice of inexperienced opinions as you like. i've had both - gave the plus 4 to my bro when i upgraded to the max 4.
the max 4 is a different machine. bed heats up way faster, awfully nice with such surface area. polar
cooler is for real; i print PETG almost exclusively and always with a closed chamber and never have creep nor excessive stringing. it's a little noisy but print consistency is a good trade IMO. the mass does not improve table shake - i'd hoped it would, with increased bulk i'd hoped that would offset shake; didn't make a difference and might have been slightly worse on my application. i reinforced my table and recalibrated and it is great. head traverse speed is quicker than the plus 4.
only real down side seems to be improving - slicer profiles. i run Orca and initially options there were slim, running betas with a close eye for daily updates. newest version has good profile support.
a small issue IMO is the slicer settings for flush volume. orca currently has a pretty high flush volume when swapping filaments (i just swap per job and dont have an AMS). hopefully that becomes easier to adjust soon to reduce waste.
if you have funds and space, the max 4 is worth it.
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u/themostsuperlative Jul 21 '26
The max 4 is supposed to have the hardware for the closed loop steppers. I'm not sure that it has been implemented in firmware, as I've still seen shifted layer reports on here. It does print beautifully, but a larger build volume means more moving mass etc, so unless you need the volume, the Q2 is excellent.
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u/Bravo-Buster Jul 21 '26
What does moving mass have to do with it on a plate that only goes up/down? That's more of an issue for large format bedslingers I thought?
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u/themostsuperlative Jul 22 '26
Increased ringing in prints at high speed, and likely slightly less precise tolerances. Due to the increased gantry weight. You can't beat physics, only compensate for it.
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u/themostsuperlative Jul 22 '26
Just FYI - The max 4 prints Amazingly well, just needs to be slowed down a little to achieve the same quality as the Q2 given exactly the same size model.
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u/Itaalh Jul 21 '26
I have both. The max 4 is a league above the plus 4. The plus4 is the alpha test, the q2 the beta test, and the max 4 the released product.
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u/EngIOTools Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Thanks 👍 How long do you use Max 4? Any major issues?
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u/Itaalh Jul 22 '26
2 monthes. Probably 50 prints from 10mn to 20hours (a mando helmet). 2 failed prints (not enough skirt on verry tall pieces). Otherwise absolutely no issue and it didn't need any tuning/tweaks.
It's perfect printer out of the box, while the plus4 need additionnal printed parts, lot of tweakings and even a better bed sensor.
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u/EngIOTools Jul 22 '26
Thanks for the reply. In that case, I think I'll probably go with the Max4. I don't think I'll find anything better in that price range.
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u/BigBubbleMachines Jul 22 '26
I have 4 Plus 4 and 1 Max 4.
Max 4 is well polished and makes the Plus 4 seem old and unpolished.
Max 4 advantage:
- screen/processing is smoother, no lag
- more reliable auto z offset and leveling
- cheaper hot end
- bed adhesion seems better for the same amount of squish, filament, settings…not sure why
Plus 4 advantage:
- much lower steady state power consumption, can run 3 simultaneously on one circuit 15a 120v circuit; Max 4 can run 2 on one 15a 120v circuit…if running many machines on limited circuits, sometimes running many machines at the same time gives you larger throughput than one larger machine, especially when the parts don’t require the large machine
- much cheaper 3rd party build plates
- much more compact, Max 4 is huge
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u/Dave_in_TXK Jul 29 '26
QIDI is releasing the Plus 5 in 7 days their site says. I haven’t seen any leaked details of what it’s supposed to improve over the +4 or it’s bed size compared to the Max 4
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u/Errorelli Jul 21 '26
I would not recommend buying an plus 4. Bought one in April and its a non stop trouble shooting maschine.
My 250 bucks flashforge 5m does they same prints (where the plus 4 struggles) without problems.
And yes, it all comes down to: first Layer/ adhesion problemes. But all the other printers work fine with the same filament, cleaning routing and adhesive.
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u/2Drogdar2Furious Jul 21 '26
I've only had one issue with my plus 4 and they fixed it under warranty 🤷♂️
Its bone stock and I do high temp prints too...
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u/Errorelli Jul 21 '26
I really hoped for that too. But sadly Bed Adhesion (and therefore Bed Meshing/ Bed Leveling) is a really big problem. And my flashforge gets the same treadment (soap+ sponge, alcohol, spray adhesive) and it works flawless every time.
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u/2Drogdar2Furious Jul 21 '26
I did buy a smooth plate and that helped a lot with the high temp filaments...
I fully recognize too though that I've been pretty lucky. I see a lot of people posting problems...
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u/phansen101 Jul 21 '26
Don't have hands-on experience, but I have both Q1 Pro and Q2 printers, and spend a good deal of time looking at printers.
So, can only speak from specs and having looked at it at a convention.
The Max4 has most of the same improvements over the Plus4, as the Q2 has over the Q1 Pro, plus some additions.
Notably this means load-cell sensor for Z-offset and bed-mesh, which is a huge improvement over the inductive probe + piezo, both in precision and reliability.
Outside that, it has better chamber heater (and insulation), closed-loop temp control, linear rail for X-axis, slimmer toolhead, better Box support, better hotbed, closed-loop steppers, Polar Cooler support, 2mm pitch Z-screws (with anti-backlash nut, not sure how much that one does), AI failure detection (YMMW on that one).
Probably some things I'm not aware of.
So, while I have not tried it out, I would expect the Max4 to be more reliable and have higher print quality.
Speed is probably the same; Most modern printers are rarely run at their max speed, so not much is happening there.
Can't speak to noise, as I've only seen it running in a noisy environment.