Data as of 20 September 2026. Specs are from each maker’s own page on that date.
Buy the A1 mini if your parts fit in a 180 mm cube: it has four times the acceleration on paper, and it has Wi-Fi where the Ender has a card slot. Buy the Ender-3 V3 SE if you need the bigger bed for the least money and do not mind carrying an SD card to the machine.
The figures come from Bambu Lab’s A1 mini specification page and Creality’s Ender-3 V3 SE support page, plus Creality’s Ender-3 V3 SE product page. This is a comparison on paper. We have not printed on either machine.
Where they differ
| A1 mini | Ender-3 V3 SE | |
|---|---|---|
| Build volume | 180 x 180 x 180 mm | 220 x 220 x 250 mm |
| Build volume in liters | 5.8 | 12.1 |
| Max nozzle temperature | 300 °C | 260 °C |
| Max bed temperature | 80 °C | 100 °C |
| Max speed | 500 mm/s | 250 mm/s |
| Max acceleration | 10,000 mm/s² | 2,500 mm/s² |
| Max hotend flow | 28 mm³/s | not stated |
| Getting files to the printer | Wi-Fi | SD card |
| Camera | Yes, up to 1080p with timelapse | not stated |
| Filament sensors | Runout and tangle | not stated |
| Multi-color option | AMS lite | none stated |
| Filaments the maker lists | PLA, PETG, TPU and PVA as “Ideal” | PLA, PETG and TPU 95A |
| US list price, checked 2026-09-20 | $219 on Bambu’s US store | $199 |
Both are bed-slingers with a 0.4 mm nozzle fitted and 1.75 mm filament. Creality’s page gives a direct-drive “Sprite” extruder, a CR Touch probe for automatic bed leveling, and automatic filament loading. Prices move with promotions, so treat those as the day’s snapshot.
Volume: the Ender’s one big win
It is a big one. 12.1 liters against 5.8 is 2.07 times the space, for $20 less. Per liter of build volume the Ender costs about $16 and the A1 mini about $38.
Laid flat and square, the A1 mini takes a 180 mm part and the Ender a 220 mm one. In height the gap is wider, 250 mm against 180 mm. Bed area is 484 cm² against 324 cm². Measure the largest thing you plan to make. If it is under 180 mm every way, this whole section stops mattering, and everything that follows favors the Bambu.
If volume is what you are shopping for, see build volume under $500. If you like the A1 mini but not its size, the A1 vs A1 mini guide covers the 256 mm A1 at $299.
Speed: twice the number, four times the acceleration
Bambu quotes 500 mm/s and 10,000 mm/s². Creality quotes 250 mm/s and 2,500 mm/s². Top speed is the less useful figure. Small parts are made of short moves, and on short moves the head spends its time getting up to speed and slowing down again. That is acceleration, and the A1 mini has four times as much on paper.
The honest limit on either machine is how fast the hotend can melt plastic. Bambu states 28 mm³/s, measured with its ABS at 280 °C on a single-wall model. Creality states no flow figure, and I would not assume the Ender matches it. The volumetric flow calculator shows what 28 mm³/s allows at your layer height.
Materials: each one gives up something on PETG
Hold both printers against the ranges in our filament temperature table.
| Material | A1 mini | Ender-3 V3 SE |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | Yes | Yes |
| TPU 95A | Yes | Yes |
| PETG | With care: bed reaches 80 °C, some brands ask for up to 90 °C | Yes, at exactly the 260 °C top of the nozzle range |
| ABS | With care at best: 80 °C is the bottom of the bed range, and no enclosure | Not stated: nozzle is 10 °C short of the top of the range, enclosure unclear |
| ASA, nylon, PC | No | Not stated, and not on Creality’s list |
PETG is the interesting row. The published PETG range in our data is 230 to 260 °C at the nozzle and 65 to 90 °C at the bed. The A1 mini has nozzle heat to spare and a bed that stops at 80 °C, so a brand that wants 85 or 90 °C is out of reach. The Ender’s bed clears it easily and its nozzle lands exactly on the top figure with nothing in hand. Check the bed figure on the label before buying PETG for the Bambu, and the nozzle figure for the Creality. The PLA vs PETG guide covers when PETG is worth it.
On engineering filaments the makers agree with our numbers. Bambu marks ABS, ASA, PC, PA and carbon or glass fiber filaments “Not Recommended” on the A1 mini. Creality’s supported list for the Ender stops at PLA, PETG and TPU 95A. A 300 °C nozzle over an open 80 °C bed does not make a nylon printer.
Why “not stated” for the Ender’s enclosure: Creality’s support page lists the frame as enclosed, which contradicts its own photos of an open bed-slinger, so we record the field as unknown. For ABS and up, the check of 25 printers against ABS, ASA, nylon and PC lists the enclosed machines, starting at $359.
Living with it
This is where $20 buys the most. The A1 mini connects over Wi-Fi, has a camera for checking a print from another room, and senses both filament runout and tangles. Creality’s spec table gives SD for file storage and file transfer, a 3.2 inch screen driven by a knob, and no camera or filament sensor that we could find stated. None of that changes what comes off the bed. It changes how often you walk to the printer, and whether a filament runout at hour six costs you the print.
Multi-color is one-sided too: the A1 mini takes Bambu’s AMS lite, and Creality lists no multi-material option for the V3 SE.
Who each one suits
The A1 mini suits a first-time buyer who wants to print, not tinker, and whose parts are small: miniatures, brackets, desk organizers, cable clips. It is also the pick if multi-color is on the horizon.
The Ender-3 V3 SE suits someone with a fixed $200 and parts that need more than 180 mm, such as tall vases or cosplay sections. It also suits anyone happy to run a printer from an SD card, which is a fair thing to want.
My view: if your parts fit, the A1 mini wins most lines of the table, and $20 is a small fee for the speed and the sensors. If they do not fit, no sensor will help, and the Ender is the cheapest way in our database to get past 12 liters. Put the two side by side in the comparison tool.
