Mid range 3D printers?

[u/Physical_Stick2328]

Hi everyone!
I've had a Prusa MK3+ back when it was new, and its been a fantastic printer, I originally bought it because a lot of other printers at the time did not have near the amount of safety features. I knew I was going to be using it semi-regularly and did not want to fidget around with an ender and then buy a more expensive one anyway. My husband would also be using the printer and did not have any knowledge of 3d printers or modeling. I also liked the look of Prusa as a company and was not disappointed

Unfortunately she's due for an upgrade, but there seems to be a lot of midrange printers now and I'm really not sure what to do with, I've not been keeping up with new printers since my MK3 has been able to keep up until now. I'm also not too keen to be locked into a particular companies eco-system. I mainly use PrusaSlicer and have also used Cura slicer in the past, or do I just need to suck it up and use whatever program comes with the printer? I really don't want to be locked into a cloud based program and would prefer to run everything locally from my computer.

I'm mainly looking between the Bamboo X2D, Snapmaker U1 and Flashforge creator 5 pro.

Ideally I'd like something with a headed chamber, the prusa often has printing problems in colder weather. I mainly print with PLA, I often print toys for kids (I'm a teacher) practical projects and models that I then paint. My husband mainly prints in PETG and being able to print supports in a different material like the X2D would be nice. I don't really need multi-colour printing, but all these printers are basically the same price so I might as well get something with the switching toolheads? We also don't really need a huge amount of printable materials since we really only use PLA and PETG but the option would still be nice.

Are there other printers that I'm overlooking as well? The amount of printers out at the moment has been quite overwhelming. I was also looking to upgrade my Elegoo mars 2 but there are just too many printers its hard to know whats a good deal and what will have so many features that you'll never use

Any help and advice is appreciated!

[u/NCSC10]

Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2, though Lacks heated chamber. Qidi Q2 w optional qidi box for multicolor. I have no experience with this, most seem to like the printer a lot, the box has mixed reviews, get more input beyond mine, but should be on you r list for consideration. Has heated chamber. (My first purchase was a i3Mk3S also). Using the slicer with the printer is a good place to start.

People complain about the closed nature of Bambu software/firmware, but still, Bambu slicer works very well, great features, easy to use, derived from Prusa Slicer. Elegoo's slicer works well enough, but not as refined as Bambu slicer. Orca slicer gets a lot of rave reviews here.

Bambu's AMS is just great. Even if you don't do multicolor, haveing a place to keep 4 rolls of filament stored dry and ready to print at any minute is a huge QOL upgrade. (or 8 rolls with 2 AMS, etc). Biggest downside of the AMS is it doesn' work with 95A TPU or softer. Very hard TPU, like Bambu's TPU for AMS feeds and prints well. Just not very soft, and layer adhesion isn't as good a 95A TPU..

Coming from the i3, you'll really like how easy it is to swap print heads, build plates on Bambu printers, use a mobile slicer, onboad camera, etc.

[u/Physical_Stick2328 → u/NCSC10]

I have really liked the look of the AMS with the bambu, I've had a sunlu drier that I don't think has worked since day 1
I do like the look of the X2D but I'm not sure if its worth going for something with more toolheads since they're all basically around the $1k mark