I feel conflicted. On the one hand, Prusa seems to be a good and reliable brand. On the other hand, it seems overpriced compared to the competitors. Bambu seems to be a no-go but mostly for ethical open source reasons, not for price or quality reasons. At the same time, I’ve seen this article that says Prusa is even falling back on their open source principles. But not sure how up to date that is any more.
If we look beyond Bambu or Prusa, there’s a variety of smaller brands that I have trouble distinguishing. With these other brands, it’s hard to tell whether they’re worth anything or just cheap knockoffs.
If we do consider Prusa, there’s also the question of MK4S vs Core One. The Core One is much more expensive, to the point where it is ridiculously expensive compared to the competitors. The MK4S is slightly cheaper, but it seems like Prusa is focused on the Core One development going forward, so I’d be slightly worried of being “left behind” with the MK4S.
What do you think? Which printer should you get in 2026? Or perhaps there is some upcoming release or something to wait for?
I would advise to not pre order any printer from any company. Creality in particular has a history of promising specs they never actually deliver. Software is going to be important.
I had several Creality printers in the past, they were all 80% solutions. I also manage a large university print farm and am not a fan of Prusa. The biggest problem in the consumer industry is too many models with very short sales lifespans because buyers want gimmicks.
There are several patents expired to affect consumer printers, including tool changers and heated print chambers, essential for engineering grade plastics.
Lastly, Bambu established that the YouTube review process is corruptible, so wait for real world feedback from real people, not infomercials disguised as reviews. Those channels are windsocks, after a year of hyping Bambu they all now slam it to regain “credibility”.