The Bambu Lab A1 Mini Changed My Opinion About 3D Printing

I’ve watched way too many friends wrestle with 3D printers – endless calibration processes and hours of print settings tweaking just to get a half-decent result. It all seemed like way more trouble than it was worth, and for years, that kept me from even considering buying one myself. But then I discovered the Bambu Lab A1 Mini, and everything changed.

Bambu Lab A1 Mini

Bambu Lab A1 Mini makes 3D printing fun! It is easy to use and ready to print right from the start.

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A €200 Purchase That Changed My Mind

When I spotted the Bambu Lab A1 Mini on sale for $200, my interest was immediately piqued by the promise of a plug-and-print experience with high-quality output right out of the box.

This hassle-free experience is made possible by a suite of intelligent features that eliminate the typical frustrations of 3D printing. The entire calibration process is fully automated thanks to a network of sensors: it measures the bed level, sets the perfect Z-offset, calibrates the belt tension, and even fine-tunes the vibration compensation before each print.

There’s also the Active Flow Rate Compensation system, which actively measures and adjusts the pressure in the nozzle as it prints to eliminate common headaches like blobby corners or inconsistent layers.

The compact size was another selling point. At just 347 x 315 x 365 mm, the Bambu Lab A1 Mini has almost exactly the right size for my modest desk setup. Sure, its 180 x 180 x 180 mm build volume isn’t the largest out there, but it’s more than adequate for most of my home printing needs.

It’s worth noting that the Bambu Lab also offers an optional A1 Mini-compatible AMS (Automatic Material System) for multi-color printing, but I decided to skip it. As cool as multi-color prints look, the process requires frequent purging of filament when switching colors, which creates a lot of waste. Since my needs for multi-color prints are pretty limited, I couldn’t justify the extra cost and material waste.

Convinced that the A1 Mini is worth the price, I placed my order through Bambu Lab’s European store on a Wednesday evening. After a week that felt much longer than usual – thanks to my growing excitement and endless YouTube reviews – a box arrived at my doorstep, and I was ready to unbox my new printer.

From Box to First Print in Under an Hour

The A1 Mini came pre-assembled – a welcome departure from the DIY kits I’d watched friends struggle with – and the setup process was refreshingly straightforward.

After placing the printer on my desk and removing a few pieces of protective foam, I just needed to attach the spool holder and plug it in. The touchscreen interface walked me through each step with clear instructions that actually made sense.

Loading the included sample filament was equally intuitive. The printer guided me through the process on its 2.4-inch touchscreen: insert the filament until the sensor detects it, then tap “Load.” The printer handled everything else automatically, heating up the nozzle and feeding the filament through. When plastic emerged from the nozzle, I knew I was ready to print.

Then came the moment of truth: my first Benchy, the little 3D printed tugboat that serves as a standard test print across the 3D printing community. The printer confidently ran through its pre-print calibration routine, checking everything from bed level to belt tension. Then it started printing at a speed that made me nervous – until I saw the results.

About 20 minutes later (this includes the time it took the printer to complete its calibration routines), I was holding a nearly perfect Benchy. The layers were clean, the overhangs were smooth, and even the tiny details like the door arch and window frames came out crisp. No stringing, no layer shifts, and no elephant’s foot at the base.

Bambu Studio vs. OrcaSlicer

Like most major manufacturers of 3D printers, Bambu providers its own slicer software, called Bambu Studio.

Those familiar with PrusaSlicer will find Bambu Studio to be instantly familiar, and for a good reason: it’s a direct fork. Indeed, Bambu Lab has taken the well-loved PrusaSlicer framework and enhanced it with features tailored specifically for their printers, such as seamless integration with the AMS system for multi-material printing and optimized profiles for high-speed, high-quality results.

Bambu Lab’s own slicer software impressed me from the start with its clean interface and intelligent default settings, but I soon discovered OrcaSlicer (a fork of Bambu Studio) after seeing it repeatedly recommended in online communities.

While OrcaSlicer’s standout advantage is its superior compatibility with non-Bambu printers, I personally use it from time to time mainly because it supports some advance print settings that Bambu Studio doesn’t. For instance, I often find myself turning to OrcaSlicer specifically for its mouse ears brim feature – small circular additions to the brim that provide extra adhesion exactly where needed.

What I Actually Print With My A1 Mini

Like many new 3D printer owners, I needed a practical project to justify the purchase to my skeptical spouse, and our Ikea sofa provided one. You see, it’s low-profile legs created a black hole for toys – anything that rolled under it was effectively lost until our next major furniture-moving cleaning session. This was my chance.

Using TinkerCAD (a free, browser-based 3D modeling tool), I designed a set of sleeve-like adapters that could slide over the sofa’s legs while providing mounting points for a wooden barrier. The print took a few hours using Bambu’s black PLA filament, and the results exceeded my expectations. The adapters fit perfectly, and now our living room floor stays toy-free.

Encouraged by this success, I started looking for other household challenges to tackle. A broken dishwasher soap dispenser clip? Printed a replacement in 30 minutes. Our oddly-sized shower drain that no standard plug would fit? Designed and printed a custom solution that works better than anything we could have bought.

But I have to admit, while practical projects justified the purchase, toys for my kids make up the bulk of my printing these days. This is where Bambu Lab’s MakerWorld website has become an invaluable resource. It’s a community platform that hosts thousands of 3D models, many with pre-configured print profiles specifically optimized for the A1 Mini.

My kids have been particularly delighted with the custom Duplo-compatible bricks I’ve printed. The adapters that let them connect their Duplo blocks to wooden Brio train tracks were an instant hit. We’ve also printed specialized pieces like a working crane tower, custom railway switches, and even a replica John Deere tractor in perfect Duplo scale. One of their favorites is a series of elevated train track pieces that let them build more complex railway layouts than what’s possible with standard Duplo tracks.

Thanks to the pre-configured profiles on MakerWorld and the A1 Mini’s automated calibration, most prints succeed on the first try and look fantastic without any additional work required. I simply download a model, send it to the printer, and come back a few hours later to find exactly what I wanted.

The Quirks and Fixes You Should Know About

While the A1 Mini has been a remarkably reliable printer, I did encounter two minor issues that were easily solved with, ironically enough, 3D printing.

The first quirk was somewhat messy: the printer would occasionally flick bits of purged filament (affectionately known as “filament poop” in the 3D printing community) onto the floor around the printer. A quick search on MakerWorld revealed dozens of community-designed solutions for this problem.

I opted for the “Compact Poop Bucket” design, which catches these bits of waste filament neatly and can be easily emptied when full. The sheer number of different catch solutions available is actually quite amusing – whether you want something purely functional or a design that turns the waste collection into a decorative feature, you’ll find it in the community.

The second issue was more annoying and potentially problematic. In its stock configuration, the A1 Mini’s filament guide moves up and down with the Z-axis. During calibration routines or tall prints, this movement sometimes caused the filament to slip off the spool or become tangled – not exactly what you want to discover halfway through a long print.

Thankfully, another community-designed solution came to the rescue: a top-mounted Bowden guide that attaches to the top of the Z-axis tower. This keeps the filament path consistent regardless of the print head’s height, completely eliminating the tangling issues.

I’ve also printed several quality-of-life improvements, like covers for the printer’s various ports and cable management clips. While none of these upgrades were strictly necessary, they’ve helped keep my setup tidy and protected.

It’s somewhat meta that one of the best uses for a 3D printer is printing improvements for itself, but that’s part of what makes this hobby so engaging, especially if you take the time to learn a CAD software tool and gain the ability to create your own 3D models.

Images by David Morelo.