Today, Bambu Lab, creator of our current best 3D printer, the P1S, announced its latest machine, the A1 Mini. This is the company’s first printer that moves away from the large blueprint that all three of its other machines use and focuses on a more compact, unenclosed version. The combo will cost $459 (£370 or AUD710).

The A1 Mini has a small 180 by 180 by 180mm print area, the same size bed as the Prusa Mini. It has an all-metal hot end, an easy-to-remove heatsink for quick repair and a four-way splitter on top of the extruder. This allows it to connect to a color system called the AMS Lite so you can print in more than one color at a time. Unlike the large enclosed AMS system on the X1 Carbon, all the mechanical parts are easy to get to. And according to Bambu Lab, this makes maintenance easier. 

Bambu Lab A1 Mini Combo $459 at Bambu Lab

The A1 comes ready to print out of the box and has several advanced features to help it achieve an official maximum speed of 500 mm per second, something that’s unheard of for a printer this small. It also has automatic bed leveling, filament runout sensors and a 1080p camera for monitoring the print, as well as making time-lapse videos for social media. The build area can only reach 80 Celsius, however, so some materials won’t work.

The AMS Lite, which comes with the A1 Mini Combo, is designed to allow up to four different color materials. PLA, PETG and TPU are recommended but ABS and ASA aren’t. It perfectly matches the aesthetic of the 3D printer itself. Having a four-color system at this price range is almost unheard of, so it’ll be interesting to see how well this works. 

The A1 Series Combo is available to preorder today, Sept. 20, 2023. The combo costs $459 (converts to roughly £370 or AU$710) and includes an A1 Mini, an AMS Lite and a mystery gift. Or you can pay $299 for the A1 Mini on its own. If you’re thinking of buying the AMS Lite, it’s retailing for $249, so it makes sense to save the $90 and buy them both together. Each Bambub Lab A1 Mini also comes with a mystery box gift, which seems to be a fun project to work on to get you started with your new printer.