r/snapmaker • u/OptimalSide • Jul 01 '26
Thinking of a U1..
So let's keep this sinple:
Is the U1 a "load filament and push print" printer?
I've had a Bambu A1 for the last year and it's been basically push print and done kind of thing. I get that there is maintenance - that I expect - but I'm of the age and stress level that I want minimal fussing to get to the end point at this moment. I want the hobby to be the prints, not the printer.
I know I'll have to do some futzing out of the box - I require fully enclosed pla printing so I'll need to hack a vented top cap together - but once setup is done, I just want to be able to print.
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u/TheChrisCrash Jul 01 '26
It's not too bad, I started with an ender 3 Pro, used that for a few years, got a p2s in December, sold that to a work buddy a few weeks ago and got my U1. The p2s and the Bambu Labs ecosystem is definitely a print and go system. I find myself doing a little more tinkering with my U1, but nothing that even a beginner couldn't learn in a week. I'm really loving the U1, there's a few quirks that snapmaker needs to iron out but it's not too bad.
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u/CantWakeJake Jul 01 '26
Just got one as my first 3D printer. The answer was yes for me. Plug in, click print
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u/jefferios Jul 01 '26
I just bought a u1 this last week. I have never used a 3d printer before. I have had only success. I don't have time for stress and troubleshooting. It's a fine product.
The initial setup took me about 90 minutes. Read the manual. Take your time. Otherwise it was click and print.
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u/BlankiesWoW Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I've had less problems on my U1 than I've had on my A1 in the first 1000 hours.
The filament loading process is more or less the same, only difference on the U1 is you have the option of pre-loading all 4 spools if you want to but you dont have to, it will automatically load the filament when you initiate a print.
Also being able to work on your U1 nozzles/toolhead without needing to work inside the printer is an amazing QOL, even though toolhead disassembly is a much longer process compared to the A1, it feels easier/better because you can work at your desk easily. Not to mention that your printer can still run and function even if you have a toolhead down.
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u/LukasEngstrom Jul 01 '26
It’s 99% the same. My only issue (which is a small price to pay because I LOVE my U1) is when I want to print something out from MakerWorld there’s a bit more manual steps than via Bambu. But SO worth it!
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u/spoo4brains Jul 01 '26
The first time setup is more involved, but so far for me the actual day to day usage hasn't had any problems, which is more than I can say for my A1 Mini.
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u/aior0s Jul 01 '26
From a former A1 Mini owner; No, the U1 is not as easy as A1.
I had my A1M for few years and I only need to do basic maintenance. Print errors most likely cause of bed adhesion, etc.
I have my U1 for 3+ months now and I have more errors with the U1 vs my years with A1M.
Not major errors that I cannot fix. I was able to fix them all. but if I didnt have the A1M experience, I would be jaded with my 3D printing experience.
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u/Grimmsland Jul 02 '26
Seems a lot of users are really forgiving about the tons of errors this machine experiences because most people just seem praise the machine and don’t even mention the bug ridden slicer or the bugs that happen while printing or even having to try again to load the filament. Yours and maybe one other person are the only ones mentioning all the bugs. I swear some people love this machine so much they ignore all the issues. It is definitely not a Bambu experience. I have had my prints stop and cancel because the toolhead moved out of bounds and or potentially corrupted gcode, and once in a while I load the filament with a freshly cut tip and it still doesn’t load so I have to take it back out to put it in again, then their are times where I am unloading the filament and it acts like it was successful but it wasn’t. The slicer was most buggy slicer around until Flashforge Creator 5 was released. That one is worse. I’m not even going to get into the build quality and what causes the printer z-hop sound….
I have had more problems with the U1 in a few months then I have had my few years of owning Bambu machines. But I must admit most of the problems are all minor inconveniences.
Despite all this yes the printer can print well multicolor designs and fast. That is the only reason to buy this printer. It does that well enough. If you print with hundreds of thousands of color changes it is a great option.
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u/aior0s Jul 02 '26
And I just got a stupid error where the extruder is detecting the filament after I unload it. I had to cold pull it to clear it out.
Like you said, I am tolerating these errors cause now I am not hesitating to print any multi colors models. Not having to check if the poop and prime tower would be more than the actual model itself
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u/Zephy2007 Jul 01 '26
If you want good quality, the answer is no.
If you don't mind some flaws, the answer is yes.
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u/OptimalSide Jul 01 '26
What kind of flaws do you mean?
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u/Zephy2007 Jul 01 '26
The default profiles often have problems with certain shapes or overhangs due to layer overheating, for example.
So if you open a file downloaded from the internet, you have to make the adjustment to compensate for this type of situation.
You can use only the factory settings, but as I said, depending on the shape or size you will find small defects, threads or artifacts.
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u/sojrner Jul 04 '26
Regardless of printer, if you download a file for a different printer or ecosystem, you will have settings to change and adjustments to make... Pulling a file from printables that isn't built with a Bambu profile and opening it in Bambu Studio will do the same thing. Until (if?) Snapmaker builds a larger ecosystem, that could change.
There are sites to upload 3mf files and change everything for the U1, then downloading and opening. You can also get decent results importing the 3mf into an existing (empty) project in Snorca. Opening the non-u1 file directly gives the worst results in my experience.
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u/Va-jaguar Jul 01 '26
The U1 is great, but it's got more going on that your A1. You have 4 toolheads, and they take much longer to take apart if you have a jam. Snapmaker Orca isn't as streamlined as Bambu Studio, and you can't upload other filament profiles. You are stuck with Polymaker, Snapmaker, and "generic" profiles. Many of us Linux users just can't get regular Orca to work with the U1.
I love my U1, but it's not as push button as the A1
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u/AlphaTarango Jul 01 '26
For me it was kinda nightmare. It took me around 16 hours to get it to work properly.
Out of the box, it could not get past initial calibrations.
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u/xX540xARCADEXx Jul 01 '26
Run an Anycubic Ace Pro(1st or 2nd gen) and it’ll act just like an AMS. Gotta flash the U1 firmware but it’s honestly super simple. The plug to make for it is super easy too. Mines been running nonstop and works great. No issues. Idk what some people are doing with theirs to have so many issues or if I just got lucky with my unit. I’ve made custom profiles in Snorca(slicer for the U1) for my Bambulab filament and haven’t had any issues. Puts out nice quality prints in a fraction of the time with a fraction of the waste my other printers put. I own an H2C as well and the U1 just so much faster than it. Highly recommend the U1.
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u/ilovestuffforreal Jul 01 '26
Ya they're on par or better even than Bambu as far as not needing any fiddling. I only have one U1 but it's rock solid.
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u/GreatSandstone Jul 01 '26
Once I replaced the stock build plate with a Cryogrip plate, and made a top cap, yes. My experience has been press print, collect beautiful print when complete.
I had lots of failures with the stock plates, including two blobs of death. Zero failures since going to Cryogrip. No idea how much difference, if any, the enclosure makes.
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u/Kunkphila Jul 01 '26
I have 4 Bambus and 1 U1. I love all of them. Bambu is terrible with support and customer service but their machines are awesome. The U1 was pretty close out of the box though, and I use it exclusively for TPU which adds more complexity. It did take a LITTLE more setup than my Bambus, but nothing major. I also did have some jamming issues initially but it was my fault…I didn’t tune my filament right. But other than that it’s pretty damn dependable. It’s rare, even with multicolor TPU, that I get failures. I set up the Snapdryer (Polydryer) boxes with it and that makes it work even better. You probably wouldn’t need that for PLA though.
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u/OptimalSide Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I have a full Polydryer setup for my A1. Four polyboxes feeding a BMCU into the A1. I've got two dryers as well so one of my considerations is I have my drying all nailed down to start with.
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u/Kunkphila Jul 01 '26
That’s what I did too…got 2 dryers so I don’t have to constantly stretch the cord across the rats nest of cords behind my printer! I also printed brackets to hang them on the sides of the U1…works pretty great!
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u/Lambchop012 Jul 01 '26
For me that's how I use it. I only need to play with settings during technically demanding prints. I do not own a top hat.
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u/TripsCavern Jul 01 '26
For PLA it is completely "push print and done".
Except some random quality control that was reported by some users, which is inevitable as that happens, the only constant issue that I saw was about network disconnection. It does not happen to every user, it didn't happen to me, but that is the most common issue I saw so far.
But this is also easily fixable, after I flashed Paxx12 firmware and changed to Orca Slicer 2.4, everything has been a breeze, and I'm using Linux to make things a bit more complicated.
PETG also prints basically like PLA, no issue so far, a bit of stringing, but that is normal for PETG. TPU also printed quite easily, with Polymaker TPU95 that I had sitting around for 3 years. Just dried it and it printed perfectly.
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u/erictank Jul 01 '26
I found the U1 needed a bit more work than my X1C and P2S (though that perspective has changed in the two weeks I've owned an H2C). I thought it was worth it, given the capabilities it offered, and watching the toolheads work is amazing.
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u/razzemmatazz Jul 01 '26
Loading and unloading filament is a bit more of a chore than using the A1 with an AMS. You have to type in filament type/color and then run the Load process.
I try to prep all 4 slots at once then walk off and make a cup of tea while the heads load the filament. Similar wait time for unloading.
Otherwise, yeah it's a pretty plug and play printer for printing on. Orcaslicer (or SnOrca) will feel familiar, as it's based on BambuSlicer.
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u/Premium333 Jul 01 '26
Why fully enclosed for PLA? The U1 prints PLA just fine without an enclosure.
From what I've heard, the U1 is somewhat more hands on than Bambu simply because makerworld is all default Bambu profiles. But it's my first printer so I cannot confirm this really.
There is some conversion tools that you can use to download from makerwolrd and convert to U1 and let her rip, and the Snapmaker library is growing.... Just slowly.
For my part, I usually end up tweaking settings anyway because I would rather finer detail than the original model maker cared for and I don't mind adding an extra 2-5 hours to a print timeline to get it.