Creality’s new flagship printer features a hardened steel quick-change nozzle, blazing fast speeds (powered by Klipper firmware), a fully enclosed environment, and an AI-enabled camera, all at a surprisingly low price. If only that were where our story ended!
My test prints came out great — fast and clean with smooth walls, no ringing, clean overhangs, and smooth top and bottom layers. Thanks to the nozzle-based auto-leveling, I had no issues with bed adherence, without tuning. The enclosure looks professional, something we’re not used to seeing in a sub-$700 3D printer. Sadly though, the K1C feels half baked, near-great but with simple things missed.
The most glaring issue? The cable chain, which guides the cables and filament to the extruder, bangs up against the lid, sometimes lifting and dropping it. Creality was obviously aware — they include a strip of rubber tape meant to muffle it and protect the lid — but it just seems silly to ship machines like this. Also, there are no load or unload scripts for changing the filament, and no instructions for it.
Conclusion
If you want a printer for advanced materials like carbon fiber, and can deal with its quirks, the K1C is a fast, low-cost option. If you’re looking for your first printer, probably skip it until the next version works the kinks out.
