The QIDI Technology X-Maker 3D printer is a mid-priced printer suitable for homes, classrooms, labs, and offices. You’re able to print right out of the box with this 3D printer from QIDI Technologies. The company made this printer with families and education in mind making it kid-friendly. In this review, we will cover this 3D printer from top bottom. Here are the technical specifications.
QIDI Tech X-Maker Technical Specifications
- Build Volume: 170 mm x 150 mm x 160 mm
- Build Speed: Maximum 180 mm per second
- Nozzle: Single extruder
- Nozzle Diameter: .40mm
- Print Bed: Heated, Magnetic, Removable, Flexible
- Leveling: Automatic
- Filament Type: PLA, ABS, TPU, HIPS, PET-G
- Filament Diameter: 1.75mm
- File Types: OBJ, STL, JPG, PNG, G-Code
- Slicer Software: QIDI print, Cura, Simplify 3D
Design & Features
The X-Maker is a sturdy QIDI 3D printer made with colorful red injection-molded parts and a solid frame. There are chrome accents along the axis with expandable arms, similar to a luggage handle, that snap together to make a spool holder. The print area is enclosed with removable screens and a vent hood that can be placed on top. This enhances the ability to maintain high temperatures while printing with ABS.
There’s a 3.5” touchscreen display that makes it easy to navigate the printer’s settings and connect to your wireless router for sending print jobs to the QIDI X-Maker via WiFi. It allows the QIDI 3D printer to be used without being tethered to a computer. There’s an included 16GB USB drive with user guides, videos, and sample builds to put the X-Maker 3D printer through its paces. Some other features include alerts for when the filament runs out during the print job and a power loss recovery. Breakpoint printing allows for the printing jobs to be paused during a build and continued later should any adjustments need to be made. A 720 HD internal camera allows you to monitor the build process via an app that can be downloaded to a mobile device. There’s also a light to illuminate the small build area as well.
The QIDI Tech X-Maker 3D printer comes equipped with silent stepper drivers to minimize print noise and rear extraction fans to help vent fumes, especially with filaments like ABS. The fans shut off once the print job is complete. It’s easy to level the bed as there’s an automatic feature in the X-Maker’s 3D printing menu. The bed itself is magnetic, heated, removable and flexible which alleviates the frustration with having to scrape and pry builds off of the plate within the heated build area.
This QIDI Tech 3D printer isn’t made for the hobbyist that allows for modifications or third party replacement parts.
Printing
Printing with the QIDI Tech X-Maker is a quiet process due to its small enclosed build area making it great for classrooms and offices. The automatic bed leveling feature allows for quick setup with this plug and play 3D printer. After adjusting the settings, it’s best to print with PLA or ABS. TPU is able to be used but some room for error should be allotted as the filament may be too soft and requires some additional tinkering with the settings. Printing with other filaments like HIPS or PET-G can be done with additional adjustments to the settings as well.
The slicer software that comes with the QIDI X-Maker 3D printer offers two versions. The professional version is great for 3D printing enthusiasts and industry professionals. There’s an additional modified version developed for children to use with education as its focus with a fun underwater theme. The QIDI print slicer software is included, but other software that can be used are Cura and Simplify 3D.
The automatic bed leveling makes it easy to print from job to job without constant adjustments being made for the first layer. The max print speed is 180 mm per second but it’s recommended to print at 60 mm per second. Printing the benchy with PLA has been successful for many users. The QIDI X-Maker prints with ABS well but there are some cooling issues that can happen between layers that cause warping. There’s an internal filament holder to control the temperature settings for filaments like ABS, while others can be held on the external spool holder above the 3D printer which makes it easy to feed the filament into the extruder.
Packing
The QIDI Tech X-Maker 3D printer comes fully assembled and ready to print right out of the box. Simply connect the power cord and filament holder, load your preferred filament, activate the automatic bed leveling, adjust your settings for the correct material, select your job from one of the manuals and print. You can connect the printer to your WiFi network to send jobs and monitor builds from your computer or mobile device.
Package Includes:
- 1 x QIDI Tech X-Maker 3D printer
- 1 x PLA filament sample roll
- 1 x Tool kit
- 1 x 16GB USB drive
- 1 x Manual
- 1 x Ethernet cable
- 1 x Power cord
Customer Support
3D printers from QIDI Technology come with a one year warranty that’s best to be used via QIDI Tech’s Amazon after-service team where they promise to reply to inquiries within 24 hours. The website is lacking essential information regarding the QIDI Tech X-Maker 3D printer. Software is available on the website for Windows and MAC operating systems.
Contacting customer service can be done outside of Amazon’s website via email, Skype, and WhatsApp. There are several guides and video tutorials included on the USB drive for the QIDI Tech X-Maker, so it’s best if you don’t lose it or at least back it up to secondary storage space. There is an online community on QIDI’s Facebook page as well should you run into any issues and want some feedback. You can also reach out to the company on their page which also promises a response within a day.
QIDI Tech X-Maker Pros & Cons
Here are the pros and cons we found for the QIDI Technology X-Maker
Pros:
- The enclosed build area and feature that shuts the fans off after the print is finished allows for quiet printing
- It’s easy to use with clear instructions and several guides included on the USB drive
- It comes assembled and ready to print right out of the box
- Bed leveling is automatic and easy to access from the touchscreen
- Internal light and camera allow for monitoring the progress of print builds through an app downloaded to your mobile device
- Power loss recovery and filament runout detection sensors make it easy to adjust settings and replace the filament before a print fails
- Untethered printing over the WiFi network is great when not printing from the desktop slicer software
Cons:
- The build area is really small in comparison to other 3D printers within the price range
- The website is absent of useful information regarding technical support, troubleshooting, and other resources specifically for the QIDI Tech X-Maker 3D printer
- You can’t print with exotic filaments as it may cause the extruder to jam and the extruder isn’t easily swapped out either
- Hard to find replacement parts and accessories for the QIDI Tech X-Maker
Verdict
Overall, the QIDI Tech X-Maker 3D printer is a moderately priced 3D printer that’s easy to use right out of the box. It’s a good tool for teaching children how to use slicer software and operate a 3D printer while protecting them from the high temperatures of the print bed and extruder hot end. It prints quietly making it optimal for classroom settings. The internal light and camera are great for monitoring the builds making sure they don’t fail. Even though the print area is small, it still prints decently with PLA and ABS filaments. To sum up this 3D printer review, while it’s not best for making modifications, it’s definitely worth giving a try.
Last update on 2024-11-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
