R QIDI TECHNOLOGY QIDI MAX3 High-Speed Large 3D Printer

I bought this on a whim, a friend said he wanted this printer and it sat open in a tab on my computer for a few months before I decided to go for it. I’ve wanted one of these for years but wanted to wait for a while for the tech/hardware to get better. I didn’t want to get something cheap and disposable and from what research I did this seemed like a great deal for the price.

If you do get into this hobby, familiarize yourself with SSH clients and commands because you will be connecting to the printer for either maintenance or installing new software to use. It had been about a decade since I’ve done any coding so it took me a while to catch up and remember commands for SSH navigation. Luckily g.code and config files are pretty straightforward and the macros and commands aren’t too hard to figure out if you have any familiarity with coding logic.

The company is great and actually cares about their customers, their feedback, and experience. My first time contacting them was the night before my wife went into labor with our first child and I was running on about 3 hours of sleep over a 48h period and I was NOT very nice in my first communications. Annie took it in stride and is still emailing me to check in and answer questions I have as I move on to more difficult materials and more complex software questions. I’ve had parts break and they have sent me completely free replacements which has been very helpful as I am still new to this and am trying to learn as I go. And with a 1 month old at home money is definitely tighter than it was.

I use QIDI filaments and they work great. I’ve used a few other brands but had issues with quality/adhesion so I stick to their filaments since they make the printer. I got the package and within an hour I was printing PLA items while I went back to work to finish the day. Their included slicer is a great beginner tool and I still use it from time to time but have been experimenting with OrcaSlicer for calibration tests that auto generate, additional settings to tinker with, and being able to slice and directly send my print via WiFi. They are constantly updating their slicer/firmware using customer feedback so I don’t seem them lagging too far behind as they grow. I had the printer inside and it was honestly great since I live in a cold, humid area but since I started printing volatile materials such as ABS, ASA, and PETG I moved it to the detached garage. Not the worst thing since all of my tools are in there and they appreciate the heat and the printer helps drive out humidity.

The dry box on the printer is a great idea and I’ve ordered more silica packets since the garage usually sits between 45-65% humidity regardless of the time of year. I typically print one spool at a time since an open roll of filament would probably be ruined if I left it outside the dry box, but I have had a few rolls of PLA I stored in a heated/controlled cabinet (~35% humidity) and when I wanted to use it again I didn’t see any issues. The placement of the dry box is a problem for some but I have 360 degree access to the printer in the garage so that hasn’t been an issue, although side mounts exist for the box if you wish to move it.

Print quality is superb. Some materials will be touchy (ASA has been functional but not perfect for me, which is fine since I’m replacing outdoor fixtures for plumbing/ducting) but once you calibrate your filament, keep up on maintenance, and keep an eye on your first few layers you will find there are thousands of settings and variables you can change to adjust the print quality. I’ve been printing anything from statues/models to pots, functional items for outdoors, dryer ducting, and parts to enhance my existing tools like my dremel and reloader. The library of models available is huge now which is great, but I have recently been trying to model my own items since I have a CAD license for work and there are just some items you can’t find.

The volume of the printer sold me and has been great for printing pots for our large garden, or just large items in general. Gluing parts together isn’t the worst thing but if I can print something large as a single item it’s much less of a headache. Multi-material or color feeds would be great but I don’t care much as if I want something cosmetic I will spraypaint or paint with acrylics. Any problems I’ve had will be found in any printer and I don’t blame the hardware for issues. I’m not an expert and can’t speak much on the software but I know they use a hard forked custom version of klipper/moonraker. I’m assuming their PCB’s are programmed around that and updating might be very labor intense. If you want to you can erase their firmware and use custom firmware on the machine but I don’t see any reason to. Also NEVER update klipper or moonraker in the fluidd interface. As I said they have a custom version and you cannot undo an update. I tried for days but eventually support helped me find a new eMMC with the correct firmware installed and a tool for connecting it to your computer for backup/reflashing if anything goes wrong again.

Overall, great support, great features, not too hard to learn for someone with 0 experience in this hobby and the issues can usually be fixed. The possibilities are endless and the capability of this printer in particular is great. I plan to use it to print automotive parts, UV and weather resistant items, and many other advanced materials since it has a high heat build plate and a heated enclosed chamber. I wish they would gain a bigger following and be able to grow since I can tell the company wants to succeed and are very responsive to customer feedback. I look forward to continue using the printer and contributing to the knowledge base to help the company grow and improve.

I am one of those believing that in order to make useful models you need as large as possible and enclosed 3D printer. This is my forth 3D printer, having two of the older Creality (Ender 3 and 5Plus ) and the BambuLab X1C . While the Ender 5 Plus has a slightly bigger bed, Qidi XMax3 is way more faster (and much bigger than BambuLab). At this size and speed, the prints quality came very good. The little things that I needed to improve on my Qidi , they were a breeze with the very prompt and meaningful help from Annie and Alice from Qidi Tec. I will probably buy the next Qidi upgraded printer model also.