Hi everyone, it's been around 2 weeks since I've owned the Prusa Core One. I've been seeing some interest in the Core One in the 3D2A space, and I thought it would be fun to share my experience with the community and perhaps help any of those shopping for a new printer.
At this point there are lots of great reviews online, I'll be more diving into the experience of the machine, my thoughts on certain features, and an often overlooked topic: The future of the machine and company.
Biases
I started my 3D printing journey on a wanhao duplicator i3 and Ender 3 many years ago. Since then until 2024, I've been running a pair of Prusa i3 Mk3sto their limits, with nearly 1,000 days of printing on both machines. That naturally inclines me into being a fan, but I will try to let objectivity get a hold of me!
Is this THE 3D Printer
What most of you are looking for is a machine you can take right out of the box and expect perfect prints with a seamless experience. If that's what you're looking for, this is the machine, almost. I will straight up say it, this is the best machine from Prusa and extremely impressed me.
Unfortunately, more user control can equate to a slightly higher learning curve, and slight quirks to the end user. It has the "Prusa quirks". If you're used to a seamless yet locked ecosystem such as bambu, I can see how you will quickly notice small nuisances. But is this a deal breaker? Not at all.
An enclosed ready-to-print machine, that prints fast, and just works. It's competitive, it's amazing. For people like me who solely pursue function in a machine, this is literally all we ask of, and it delivers. For some of you out there who want a bit of a shinier appeal, I can see how this machine falls just a hair short of delivering.
Hot end/Reverse Bowden Repair
Prusa's Nextruder is really an awesome system, I enjoy it a lot. Nozzle swapping is no longer a chore. However, I once again am not the biggest fan that it is technically Prusa's proprietary nozzle standard. Though they offer replacement/adapters, and I highly doubt Prusa will be gone anytime soon, and yes companies like E3D do make nextruder nozzles, I wish the source was more diversified.
I had one user error-induced extruder jam, it was completely on me. Opening the top of the printer was honestly not the most pleasant. The Core One uses push pin plastic rivets like you find on automotive trim, and it's a bit annoying to work with. Screws would have been much better, or even better for areas like the top plate, magnets. The Core One uses magnets cleverly on the screen mount (in case you tip the machine forward, so you won't crush the fragile screen) and on the doors. I don't know why they didn't do this for the top panel. Accessing your reverse bowden is rare, but it is something that may be necessary more than once in the machine's life.
Bed Size
I was surprised that the Core One maintained the Prusa i3 lines' identical bed size. As an owner of both the Prusa XL and the Prusa i3s, my experience has been that the XL bed is 90% of the time too large (You don't take advantage of its full bed size that often), and the i3's bed size is 90% of the time just right. It would've been nice if they made the bed even 15-20 mm wider on the X and Y axis. But I'm being picky here, for most people it should be all they ever need.
Data Security/Software Ownership
One big upside to the Prusa Core One is its modern features such as wireless connectivity and a touchscreen interface, yet still running open software and the ability to run offline without much of a change in workflow. I value digital ownership and user control tremendously, a norm that is quickly being alarmingly irradicated.
However, in all honesty, one small part I am still a bit hesitant with even Prusa is where the future of the "newer generation" printers will lead to. Will they continue to support the open ethos? Though I personally do believe Prusa will be based on their trends, we're still assuming the leadership and core of the company will be preserved and maintained, and that's not always easy for a company that grows fast. Time will tell, and I remain cautiously optimistic.
Modern UI
I understand that color screens and slick digital UI's are almost a necessity to compete in the new 3D printer market. In some ways I do enjoy the B/W LCD display on the i3s, it's simple and to the point, and reliable. I'm not the biggest fan of the new "modern printer UI's" for something I will glance at for a minute at the most to start and stop prints and change the filament. It's nice, but frankly not as useful as you may think.
Long Term Reliability/Repair
I've only used this machine for 2 weeks, and frankly, there is no way to know it's long-term reliability but time. But luckily my experience with nearly a thousand days of printing on two machines means I do have experience with wear and tear and can make a pretty good educated guess and analysis.
There are small details such as solid printed cable strain guides, or material changes in wire holders to tougher carbon fiber polycarbonate in which are vast improvements. I'd go as far as to say the strain management is actually better done on the Core One than the Prusa XL. Velcro straps for the hotend wiring sheath were a very nice touch, and the connection points are solidly mounted with just enough flexibility. A big issue on my i3s was abrasion wear on the wires, and poor strain guides loosening or even cracking off. Though I can't definitively say the Core One will last much longer without requiring major repairs, I'm confident most wear-related issues have been resolved, probably thanks to Prusa's extensive torture tests at their own print farms.
My only concern is, if a major overhaul repair needs to be done in its lifetime, and the enclosed printer is not your friend, especially a core XY. I don't know how hard belt repairs or roller bearing repairs are going to be, but it may require some major disassembly. Time will tell.
Anyway, that's all for this write-up, I'll be printing more of my printer experiences on here for anyone who finds it useful. I hope this was educational or at the least entertaining 🙂
