End of an Era.....

[Link 34]

I have been exclusively using UM printers for 8 or so years, (2, 2+, S5), over the last few years the lack of innovation was starting to grind along with the sustained price gap between them and everything else. Paying £350 for a hardened print core is crazy but something i just tolerated.

 

Anyway, i finally gave in and ordered a Bambu X1C to see what the hype was about, to say they have moved the game on is a understatement.
It's release is comparable to when apple released the iPhone onto the mobile industry. Forget the crazy speed for a second as i am a hobbyist and speed was always secondary for me over quality - the actual print quality this thing can achieve is next level, zero layer inconsistencies, much better seam hiding, perfect first layers, 1.75mm filament etc etc, prints look better on this at 0.2mm than i could get at 0.1 on the S5. Add to which the mobile app, the UI on the printer, flex plates. I wont even talk about how good the multi-material solution is and costs the same as 1 hardened print core for the S5 !. The one area the X1C misses out on is the build volume is slightly smaller but i can live with that.

 

This isn't about rubbishing UM, i was a loyal customer for years and piled money into the solution, more a sad farewell as i sold my S5. Maybe UM will pivot, innovate on their solution and align better on pricing.....  - i hope so as they led the way for a time and i was really happy with my S5 overall.

 

 

[Gero 54]

i can only support this at the moment. we still have our ultimakers running, but have currently put the purchase of new ultimakers on hold. 

we started testing 4 of the bambu printers and even though they have their quirks, the print results are very good indeed. 
With the first larger test objects from petg, the bambu printers are faster and cleaner in the print image. 
only the fibre-reinforced materials are a little tricky to fine-tune at the moment. but even here we are already getting better results than the ultimakers with successful prints, mostly due to the direct extruder. 

since 2016, we have only ever used ultimakers. in retrospect, however, it has to be said that nothing has really changed with the ultimaker formula. 

 

Just two weeks ago, I asked if there was a way to get the Pro Subscription model for the digital factory without many of the Report features for all printers at an adjusted price because we only needed certain features. No answer later, we tested the bambu printers. Even though the cloud solution unfortunately does not offer what the ultimaker digital factory offers, I currently have to take a workaround with ultimaker anyway because I only have limited resources here. 

in addition, since version 5.0 of ultimaker and cura, i don't have the feeling that i can print simple objects with the standard settings. i always have to make certain changes in the settings. even with a small button from pla. 
there is no "load, slice, print" workflow here. 

but i have this with prusa and bambu using almost the same slicer with very reliable results. 

 

there are just a lot of little things that you notice when you start having other printers next to ultimaker again. 

the ultimaker s7 in the pro bundle (we still have s5) is definitely still a really well-rounded overall package. the material station can also have its quirks, but overall it's better than other solutions (although it's also much more expensive). nevertheless, i can't print all materials equally well due to the bowden extruder, and cura causes minor cramps in the otherwise smooth workflow due to always small but necessary adjustments to the prefabricated profiles. 

 

innovation is exactly the point. and it doesn't even have to be fundamentally new things. but a lot of things from other manufacturers could simply be implemented as well. 

 

if we go back 5 years and hold the s5 and s7 next to each other, a new and old cura version side by side, we don't notice a particularly big difference. improvements in any case. yes. 

 

but you still get the feeling of being behind.

[Framar 38]

I hope Ultimaker team is aware of the lack of feature compare to the price they charge for their products. 

I also made the switch from UMS3 + Prusa I3Mk3 for the BambuLab X1C. We still have a S5 at work but we are not planing investing in other Ultimaker product at this time.

[RudydG 62]

Same here, just ordered the first Bambu labs. Can't ignore the advantages anymore. If the Bambu labs fits, and UM does not come out real quick, with some real improvements, we will probably fase them out.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by RudydG

[PeterWhite76 1]

I use an S5 for work, but have an X1C at home, and the difference in quality and ease of use is noticeable. Not to say the Bambulab is perfect: the  AMS is just as quirky as the Ultimaker Material Station at times, particularly withdrawing filament, but the way the X1C handles faults is brilliant, and print saving. I believe that the bigger players in the market have to rush to catch up.

 

Saying that, most issues I get with the S5 are user errors (I still make those even after five years of experience! ALWAYS check your previews before sending to print!), and the S5 is a proven workhorse where the X1C is still new...  But if I was compiling my additive manufacturing project now, I'd be looking at an X1C over an ultimaker every time. 

[RudydG 62]

I see a lot of new fast printers on the market, but not by Ultimaker. They have to pick up really fast in my opinion!

[kazl 2]

Ultimaker just hasn't meaningfully progressed since the UM3. Every single upgrade since came with a significantly greater price tag while not meaningfully improving the actual printing. The price difference between the UM3 and S3 is the price of a Bambu Lab X1. For what exactly? A color screen? Some relatively small improvements?

 

Oh sure I know the S5 has a significantly larger build volume, at 330 x 240 x 300 vs the 230 x 190 x 200 of the UM3, but it's also double the price. You can have a farm of Bambu X1's for the price of a single S7. And they'll all out print the S7. $11K for the S7 bundle isn't much for the corporate clients which Ultimaker now exclusively targets. While they may not care about the price to performance, they will eventually notice that there's better quality printers that can deliver even faster results.

When I picked up two Ultimaker 3's some 6 years ago, I was excited for the future of 3D Printing. I never would have thought that right then and there I was already at the apex of Ultimaker and that it would be all downhill from there. It shouldn't have turned out like this.

[RudydG 62]

After some time printing with lowcost Bambu machines, i can't stand the slowness of the old style printers anymore! I reduce printing times x3 or 4 depending on the settings, with at least the same quality, or better. And the filament manufacterers are also making high speed materials, so printing times will even be further reduced.

When is Ultimaker catching up? I have some S5 and 3 in production, but it is harder and harder to justify their use...

 

 

[Dadkitess 19]

Anytime I can, I use my Prusa mk3s+ rather than the 10 more expensive UMS5 that is sooooooooooooo slow and has and larger chance of failing. This is such a pity and such a shame 😕

 

I still need the UMS5 because of its dual extruder, but that's it basically. I must say that she's unbeatable when it comes to first layer, never had a SINGLE fail with all the material i'm using, the glass plate and the initial calibration is incredible. But that's it and all the new competitors are doing good as well now.

 

Just waiting for Bambulab to release a true dual extruder, and that's it. I don't see Ultimaker ever looking to compete, it looks like they're not interested by that, just relying on the S5 fame when it was ok.