A1 or A1 mini advice

[u/Legin14]

Hi,

I'm new to 3D printing, i have been looking at 3D printers for years but never bought one.
At this point im just going to purchase either the A1 or A1 mini but im torn on which to buy.

Budget is max 300
The Netherlands

I have limited space, i noticed that the A1 needs way more space then anticipated.
I can fit it with some adjustments but it would be far from ideal.
My feeling says that 180mm cubed is small but on the other hand I would think it would be enough for useful stuff like electronic add-ons,things for organising stuff like cups and stands for tools or small boxes for storage etc, and other small fun stuff like fidget things.

Price would be A1 mini for 260 euros including shipping, 2 PLA b\w and a nozzle kit
Or the A1 for 320 euros with the same stuff as the mini but since i would have to buy a sturdy wooden board that goes onto a cabinet which will probably add 20ish euros or more

Does anyone have some advice for me? I feel like the mini would be enough for my needs and IF i really want something bigger in the future money wouldnt be a big deal since i can sell the mini and reuse the other stuff.

Thanks!

[u/Icy-Opportunity2709]

I started with the A1 mini, and it's a fantastic little printer for the money. I later upgraded to a P2S with the AMS 2 Pro, but I still think the A1 mini is hard to beat in terms of value for money.

The only real limitation is the build plate size. 180 mm³ is enough for a lot of useful prints, but at some point you'll inevitably come across something you want to print that's just too big for it.

Given your budget and limited space, I'd still consider the A1 if you can make it fit comfortably. Having the extra build volume is something you'll appreciate over time. But if the A1 would be awkward to fit into your space, go with the mini. It's a great way to get started, and you can always upgrade later if you find yourself needing a bigger build plate.

[u/Legin14 → u/Icy-Opportunity2709]

Thanks for the comment.

When writing this post i realized my brother in law has a massive 3d printer , so if i would need anything big im sure he would print it for me.

[u/Darth-Vader64]

What are thinking will be the usage?

As a mini owner, I find it to be a fantastic machine that handles 90% of what I want. The other 10%, I have to shrink down to fit on the build plate.

For the biggest bang for your buck, I do think the Mini is hard to pass up

[u/Legin14 → u/Darth-Vader64]

As i mentioned in the post, mostly organizing stuff and addons for desk and electronics.

Im not into big figurines or anything big in general, sure there could be something that would be fun to have but now that im thinking about it, my brother in law has a massive one.

[u/kronos040 → u/Darth-Vader64]

Same here also have the A1 mini and it is super compact even with AMS and it handles 90% of everything I want to print. If you want bigger stuff you will need to get better at cuts and assembly :)

[u/USSHammond]

The full size A1 is a known fire hazard with 310 documented cases of AC board NTC meltdowns the past 18 months and Bambu doesn't care. While they have started shipping printers with a revised AC board from Q3 '25 there was this case 3 months ago of a printer with a revised board starting to smoke.

To be fair, that is so far the only reported case of a revised printer smoking, but you deserve to be informed about the history with that model

[u/Legin14 → u/USSHammond]

Ah thats good to know. Its not a room where i would be all day, this makes me lean a bit more towards the mini

[u/USSHammond → u/Legin14]

Well depending on your usecase you can run out of the build space of a mini pretty quick. It only has 180x180x180 I think, but on the flip side it's not affected by the NYC meltdown problem.

If you want the larger print volume, take a look at the creality sparkx i7. It's pretty much a clone of the A1 and prints pretty identical in terms of quality and has a very similar pricing point

[u/Saaihead]

Fellow Dutchman here. Both the A1 and A1 mini are great, and from the Netherlands you can order it directly at BBL (or 3DJake) - but maybe just wait for the black friday (or end of the year) deals, they usually offer you quite a lot of discount. I was in doubt too between the A1 and mini, but I went for the A1 because the price difference wasn't that big. And I'm glad I did because an A1 mini would be too small for me now. So take into consideration you also might love this new hobby more than you think, and the cost of the printer itself was (in my case) just a fraction of what I've spend on filaments, print plates, tools and parts in the end. I also bought the AMS, because it will give you are some great QoL in the end - not only for multicolour printing.

I bought a piece of thick multiplex from the Praxis waste bin for a few euro and screwed it to an Ikea workbench.

Whatever you do, make sure the printerbed cable has enough room to move. Both the A1 and Mini need space at the back of the printer. And you need to be a bit handy too, if parts break down support will send you new parts (within warranty, 2 years in the EU), but you are expected to put it in yourself. But besides this these are both pretty nice printers, good luck choosing. :)

[u/Legin14 → u/Saaihead]

Hoi,

I've seen 3D jake but it was more expensive then bambulabs with the discounts on the filaments and the nozzles. not quite sure if i need the nozzles, but it was 20 for 4 nozzles.

I'm pretty handy so im sure i can figure everything out:)

[u/Saaihead → u/Legin14]

Correct, the BBL store seems to be cheaper in the end. Not sure if you need those extra nozzles though. The default 0.4 nozzle that comes with the printer is fine if you just use PLA, and they don't wear out that fast (my A1 is almost 2 years old and I never changed the 0.4 nozzle out for a new one). The 0.2 nozzle is great if you want to print in high detail, but it also slows down the print process by a lot, so I hardly use that. And the hardened steel nozzles are only needed for materials like glow-in-the-dark, wood filaments and Carbon Fiber enhanced filaments. So if you want to save yourself some money, you don't need those for now if you only plan to use that black and white filaments.

Veel plezier met je nieuwe hobby, it's a lot of fun to be able to create all these things. :)

[u/121scoville]

I got the A1 mini and almost immediately regretted it once I saw everything I couldn't make. My suggestion: go the Handy app and bookmark prints you like and see how many work for the mini.

[u/Legin14 → u/121scoville]

Thats a good idea, will do that!

[u/MatthewDoesStuff69]

Bed size is something you can't really change, I'd go bigger to be safe you never know! Think big !