This is the Bambu Lab A1 mini 3D printer, it’s an easy to use entry level desktop 3D printer that has heaps of amazing features. Such as the full auto calibration system, that calibrates the Z-offset, bed-level, vibration resonance and active flow rate all automatically, there’s an excellent quick swap nozzle system for changing out nozzle sizes. It also has impressive printing with speeds, along with excellent print quality and multi-color printing capabilities with the AMS lite.
Key Specs
- Compact Size
- 180 x 180 x 180 mm Print volume
- PEI Build Plate
- Quick Swap Nozzle System
- Multi Material and Color Printing with the AMS Lite
- Built in Camera and LED Light
- Bambu Handy App for remote motoring and printing
- Touch Screen
- Minimal Assembly almost ready to go out of the box
- WiFi, LAN Only and SD card printing
- Fast and High Quality Prints
- Full Auto Calibration
Specs & Tour Around the 3D Printer
Taking a quick look around the 3D printer, the A1 mini has a clean modern cantilever design, with a small foot print that won’t take up much work space.We have a textured PEI plate with a build volume of 180mm cubed, which good size for smaller models and this size comes in slightly smaller than the larger A1 at 256mm cubed build volume.
Built in there’s a LED light for lighting up the print area, and a basic low frame rate camera, that’s used to check on prints and to create time lapse footage.The tool head is the comes with a 0.4mm steel nozzle installed that reaches up to 300c, and together with the heated bed that reaches 80C, makes the open frame design suitable for printing basic filaments like PLA, PETG, TPU and PVA.
At the front we find the colour touch screen, with a user friendly interface making it easy to navigate the menus. And from here we can start prints and adjust printer setting.Prints can also be sent over Wi-Fi, through the LAN only mode, or sliced files can printed via the micro SD card.
At the side near the SD card slot, we also have the connection ports for the AMS Lite. And at the back of the printer we find the integrated heated bed cable, the power cable and the power switch.
Unboxing and Setup
The printer come really well packaged and everything is included to get started. The A1 mini comes almost fully assembled which is perfect for beginners.
There’s some protective packaging to remove, and there’s a black plastic transport z axis limiter to remove which is held on with 4 screws. Under the bed there are 3 pre-installed screws that need to be tightened. Next the purge wiper is attached to the end on the x axis and screwed into place. At the back the base mount for the spool holder is installed and then we slide on the spool holder. Attach the PTFE tube, then install the cable organizer. Next the PEI Build plate snaps into place and then we load some filament and it’s all ready for the first print.
It’s a super easy and straight forward process to set up the 3D printer. The manual has clear instructions on the assembly and the bolts are clearly labelled in bags to make thing easy.
On the initial power up there’s a basic setup procedure to go through on the touch screen and it will run the calibration for motor noise cancellation, vibration compensation and auto bed leveling. And if you do get stuck on any steps, Bambu Lab has a detailed setup video and guide available.
First Test Print
For the first test print we will start with the included pre-sliced Benchy file that’s found on the SD card. For this print we’re using Red PLA Basic filament from Bambu Lab. This is a good first test print to start with, that help us check and confirm everything is working well. The benchy boat printed quickly in 18 minutes and the completed model looks nice and clean.
AMS Lite
So the AMS is an automatic material system which is good to use for multicolour prints where models have numerous colour changes, multi material printing which is great for using a different materials like this support for PLA that’s used as a support interface on the prints, and the AMS is even used as auto material back up where it can switch to a backup spool of the same colour automatically if one runs out during a print.
Another thing is that BambuLab spools have an RFID tags, that the AMS auto detects a spools material type and color and this automatically applies the material setting to the printer, making the whole process seamless so we can just focus on creating and printing.
Now the single spool holder that’s attached to the back of the printer is still used for individual rolls of filament. It’s also recommended to use it for when printing with flexible filaments like TPU or with abrasive filaments.
Software
Taking a quick look at the Bambu Studio software, it has a user friendly interface and it’s easy to use to prepare 3D models for printing. I find the default pre-sets are great for printing and I’m only usually making adjusting to the layer height, wall thickness, and infill settings all depending on the model requirements.
There’s also the cool paint feature that allows us to add colour to any objects for printing. It’s a simple process to prepare and add colour to a model with the built in tools.Within the software we can also send prints, watch printing progress and control the connected printers.
What’s also great is we have the ability to access Maker World to discover models for printing, there’s a large community of users sharing their designs and 3D models and there’s always something new to find. And these design can be opened in Bambu Studio or sent directly to the printer with the Bambu Handy mobile app.
Different Sized Nozzles and How to Swap
The A1 Mini comes with a 0.4mm nozzle installed and there’s different sizes available from 0.2, 0.4mm, 0.6mm and 0.8mm. Changing nozzle with the quick swap system is super easy, just remove the front plastic cover, remove the silicon sock, un-clip the nozzle, and remove the hotend with the nozzle, then install a different size and reverse the process. An easy system and no tools needed! Then back in the software select the printer parts tab and adjust the nozzle type and diameter to the one we installed.
Print with 0.2mm Nozzle – Mini Benchy (25%) = 15mm Length
For the next print were testing out the 0.2mm nozzle and printing a mini Benchy Boat at 25% of its original size. This is printed using a 0.08mm layer height with the default high quality settings adjusted to 3 walls. It’s cool seeing how small we can print models and this finished print turned out great and measures about 15mm in length.
At 25% of the original size this Benchy is only 15mm in length. A really good result using the 0.2mm Nozzle on the A1 Mini.
Print with 0.6mm Nozzle
For the next print we’re using the 0.6mm nozzle to print this cool bowl design. In the software the nozzle setting is changed set to 0.6mm, and it’s sliced with a 0.3mm layer height without any infill or top layers which will use the thickness of the nozzle to create a single wall around the edges with neat looking weaved mesh finish. The finished print turned out great, and it’s a quick print with a really interesting finish.
0.2mm vs 0.4mm Nozzle on a Mini Figure
For the next print were printing this mini figure, and this is printed with the 0.4mm nozzle with a 0.12mm layer height. The model took 1 hr to print and next step is to clean up the print and remove the support material. The finished print turned out really nice and with some good details.
So how does the same model look printed with the 0.2mm nozzle? While it did take twice as long to print with the smaller nozzle and a 0.08mm layer height, it’s an even better result, with the details being cleaner, sharper and the layer lines are harder to spot. So if you want the best detail on smaller models go with the smaller nozzle and lower layer height.
Multi Color Print
Next up we have this Traffic Cone model that has been coloured in Bambu studio. And this is printed using the AMS Lite that automatically changes between the black, orange and white colours. The completed the model looks good and using the paint feature in the software is a great way to add colour to models.
Hue Forge Print
For this next print, we printing a Hue Forge design of a Storm Trooper. The AMS Lite will automatically change colours at set layer heights to give a detail painted look. And while we could do manual filament swaps with a layer pause, using the AMS makes the whole process easier to print.
The finished print of the storm trooper turned out well and has a neat and interesting design that was easy to print.
Final Thoughts
The A1 mini produced some seriously impressive and amazing results! It’s an excellent plug and play starter 3D printer, perfect for beginners, or as a handy second printer for smaller projects.Keep in mind you if it’s your only printer, you might eventually want to print something bigger so the larger A1 model might also be worth checking out.
Overall the compact size of the A1 mini delivers excellent prints, it’s easy to use and a great option for anyone wanting to get into 3D printing that’s on a budget or needs a small desktop 3D printer.
Product Links
Watch the full detailed video review here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-qmeFGx-aM
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