QIDI PLUS4 3D Printer, Max 600mm/s High-Speed Printing, 65℃ Chamber Heat, Fully Auto Leveling, 370°C Direct Extruder with Integrated Nozzle, Support PPS-CF Filaments, Large Print Size 12"x12"x11"

I have previous experience with QIDI printers (X-CF Pro) and their tech support is very good. I started my 3D printing journey with a Taz Lulzbot Mini. So, I have a little knowledge and expectations for my 3d printers at this point.Looking to have the capability to print the newest hottest printing filament, have a heated chamber and gain speed and 3D print size/volume, the QIDI Plus 4 caught my eye.After hours of watching review videos and weighing the pros and cons, I ordered my first QIDI Plus 4. Fully aware that this is a newly released printer, a couple of issues had already been found by early reviewers and QIDI had either updated firmware or provided instructions to make corrections/fixes.My first Plus 4 arrived in about 10 days and I immediately setup the printer and one of the first things that you really must do is download the newest firmware onto the included USB drive, from the QIDITech website, and update the printer's firmware through the touch screen menu, selecting 'Set', 'Check for updates', 'Offline Update'.I have many successful prints and well over 100 hours on the first printer, with various filaments (ASA, ABS-GF, PA12-CF, PLA+). The only filament issue I had, was when unloading/loading between filaments, I selected the incorrect, too low of a temp, for the filament that the printer cut off and was about to extrude out of the drive gears. The lower temp caused the filament stub to hang in the nozzle and drive gears. Two small hex bolts hold the hot-end on the printer head. With the bolts and hot-end removed, it was easy to pull the stub of 'cold' filament down and out of the way and back to loading new filament and printing. Lesson learned ... be sure you select the correct temperature for the nozzle to be plenty hot enough to extrude out the remainder of the old filament stub.One of the first print jobs was the 'Poop Chute', to catch the purge filament that ejects out the back of the printer. Close to a 8 hour print job and I printed in Polymaker PLA Pro. Flawless print quality for this large-ish print. The longest print job so far was 24 and 1/2 hours of some large cable organizing trays. I printed them in PA12-CF, for strengh. Probably overkill, but might hang heavier items in the trays in the future? Again, impeccable print quality.So, with over 100 hours of pretty much trouble-free printing, I continued to watch for more experiences of other new owners. Mostly positive, with a few early adopter issues, as we can expect. I was having so much fun with the Plus 4, that I decided to buy a second one.The second printer came in only about a week. I already knew the new Plus 4 setup routine and took much less time getting up and going the second time around. After updating the firmware to the newest, I attempted to heat the print bed, before running auto bed leveling and input shaping. As soon I select the temp to heat the bead, the printer shut down. Powered the printer back on and repeated the process, with same shut down results.I had already seen some reviews and new owners, with this issue. Some printers are shipped with the power supply switched for 230V-240V operation, even with a sticker beside the power switch, that says, 'The input power of the machine is 100V-130V'. You cannot always believe what you read.Tipping the printer up on the side with the power switch, you can see the red slide switch on the power supply to switch it to 100V-130V operation. No shut downs after make the change. NOTE: My first Plus 4 never had to be switched, so you milage may vary. Just be aware that you might have to toggle the little switch.Just finished the 'Poop Chute' on the second Plus 4, again in just under 8 hours. This time I printed in ABS-GF and same amazing quality of print, just like the first Plus 4.I had looked closely at the Bambu Lab printers, especially with the multi color filament option (AMU). QIDI has announced their own AMU, for the Plus 4 and possibly other recent QIDI models, that should be out in first quarter 2025. I figured I could wait and get familiar with the Plus 4's capabilities and any quirks in the mean time. The speed, heated chamber, print size/volume and ability to print the most extreme heat filaments and already being familiar with QIDI, eased my decision making. Oh, and did I forget to mention price? Seems to be a very good value for the price. Of course time will tell.So, I am very happy, so far, with both printers. My previous interactions with QIDI tech support has always been positive. They have always been easy to work with, for me.

Given the generally very positive reviews, I was expecting minor difficulties. As it is, I can't even make it to the input shaping and calibration step, since loading filament is impossible. It appears the hotend came factory-jammed, which is super. I'm getting ready to disassemble it, but it's sad that that's the first impression this device is giving. I'm sure it's all up from here, and I'll update this review when I have more information. At the moment, the printer is a paperweight, and an excellent one at that!FWIW, it's very pretty, well-lit, and quiet (especially in the "off" position, since it can't print).Update: I took the extruder apart, and there was something partially blocking the area above the gears. Weird, but no big deal. I learned a bit taking it apart, and while irritating, I feel like I can do more of my own maintenance at this point. Next problem: after running calibration and bed leveling, I tried updating the software. No dice. It recognizes the new software update, downloads some of it, then either fails or hangs. My Wifi is dicey, but still - it should work, and my other printers never had any problems. I guess I'll order an ethernet cable (they give one, but given where I have my printer, it's much, much too short).Third problem: even though the printer shows it's online, I can't detect it with Qidi Studio. Whereas prior printers would populate nicely and quickly, no luck here either. Again, my Wifi is terrible, but it still works well enough for cell phones and other devices to pull HD streams, etc. In any case, I think the physical cable will solve the problem.I'll report back for another update when I can!Next update: OK, turns out the Wifi had nothing to do with it. Even wired, the printer doesn't get past 33% installing the update and just hangs. I'll try an offline update, but yeesh. Even wired, the printer is undetectable in Qidi Studio. The link the printer provides via QR code doesn't do anything in the Qidi android app, just bounces back to the "add a device" screen.So apart from a passable and very quick bench, the experience so far has been pretty bad. I'll try plugging a gcode file in via usb and we'll see what happens. One problem at a time, right?Third (and final?) update:The "automatic" connection never really worked, but manually connecting to the machine's IP worked perfectly. Now that I know it's not just plug-and-play like other premium printers, we're good. I'm printing wirelessly, monitoring the print, etc. Print quality is near-Bambu so far.So for ease-of-use, I'm NOT going to recommend this to a new printing enthusiast - just get an A1 mini or A1 IMO. For someone willing and able to take bits apart just to get up and running, yeah, so far so good! In terms of value for the size and speed, it's pretty impressive.4th Update: Almost a month in, and this printer has been a pain in my butt. I've had it jam and had to disassemble the hotend (good practice, but it NEVER happened on my Bambu). That's forgivable, but the firmware isn't.As-shipped, the printer can't perform OTA updates. In other words, you have to download the file, put it on a thumb-drive, and manually update it. No problem, right? Shouldn't be, but following the instructions on their Wiki doesn't work, and while the USB drive is detectable, no update files are detected (even when appropriately placed and renamed after downloading). This is pretty terrible, and a very, very bad user experience. Even if I get this working EVENTUALLY, I'm increasingly annoyed and displeased with this purchase.Why update the firmware? Oh, no reason, just without doing so, you can't resume a print that fails due to power outages, etc. I mean, the printer will offer to do so, but it'll demand re-homing before beginning, meaning that it'll crush the print and/or damage itself when it raises the bed to home it out. So... yeah. Basic functionality was missing when shipped, and that's not good, and the ability to patch away the problems... also doesn't exist, at least for me, and at least at the moment. I'll update if this changes.In addition, errors others have noted regarding how a bearing was glued in place and can come loose, and heating issues if you're trying to use the entire build volume, so putting everything together, I'm going to say that unless you're comfortable monkeying with a printer, don't get a Qidi Plus4 at the moment. Maybe a future production run will have updated firmware from the factory, better QC, etc. - but at the moment, I don't recommend this.Just wait for a bigger Bambu, IMO.Fifth update:I finally managed to sort out the update issue half by working with tech support and half by accident. It turns out one of the methods they suggest to use to update the device doesn't appear to work, at least for me but the other did. In the end, in theory now the +4 should be over the air updatable so I don't need to mess around with that again. And now we should have the ability to resume a failed print without destroying the remains of your failed print after a power outage.The main thing of note for this update is apparently the device doesn't have a filament runout sensor which is bizarre. If one is included, then it didn't work, at least for me, and I woke up to a half printed "Successful" print after my filament had run out.In general, the print quality is excellent. The speed and volume are excellent. The value is excellent. The quality control is ? And the features are all over the place. It wasn't TurnKey for me, but it's still a pretty good printer that I'm not sure I would recommend.6-ish month update:I've been using this printer for Christmas decoration, parts to mount lights at home, and cosplay helmets, etc. All the results have been fantastic. Once this printer is up and running, it's been amazing - great quality, great speed, and honestly, the customer service has been really good - they've followed through to make sure everything was working, and that any replacement parts I needed (for a power board issue affecting 120v power users) were sent. I don't think there's a better value out there for quality and volume at the moment, and if I were in need of a large-format printer around 300mm^3, I'd get this again.

The media could not be loaded. This printer will print many different types of filaments fast and without hassle. Due to its reliable bed leveling system to get that critical 1st layer down and stick properly. The days of messing around with clogged nozzles and finding a bed Stick method are not a problem with this printer. It’s just prints without all those issues. I use them at work to get jobs done faster and easier with these printers. The plus 4 has a large print bed at 305 x 305mm and with it being enclosed you’ll have more success at printing filaments that have a tendency to warp like ABS. This printer is way faster than previous 3d printers that were normally sold just a few years ago. What would take 13 hours to print can now be done in about 4 hours or less. This printer has the shaper built in which improves the surface qualities of the prints. The reel mounted on top makes filament changes easier and the filament runout detection has been reliable. This printer does do a nozzle clean and kicks out a filament blob out the back. This feature will be useful in the future for a multi filament containment box to feed to this printer. The slicing software is tuned to this printer and I find it very easy to use without changing many preset settings. Just be sure to select the type of filament used with the printer in the software. It has a WiFi built in and a network connection on the back. The door and top is glass and fits great. The top of the printer also has built in handles to move it to a location. It also has a active carbon filter system to help neutralize odors exiting out the back of the printer. Would I recommend this printer? Absolutely yes for it reliability and quick printing performance.