| HN Mirror

Because the extra features of the A1 are not much useful in practice. The main thing that is required to print well is auto bed leveling, that works well with the Mini as well. The Mini is very quiet so the noise canceling feature is not useful. Input Shaping is now available on both. So what remains is that the Mini is a printer that provably was able to print in what are basically miniature factories. I printed with 4 minis for a couple of years 24H, and everything that breaks you can either print it yourself, if it's a plastic part, or get it for a reasonable price. If the A1 can do it, is to be seen, and we for sure know that the vendor itself discourages printing anything but PLA/PETG/TPU. Printing ASA is very useful for everything you want to put something inside your car under the sun or alike. Also Prusa has a long history in supporting the printer for a long time, so we can expect that the next Mini will ship with an upgrade kit.

However don't get my wrong, I believe that the A1, especially without the multicolor gear, is a reasonable purchase, with some risk ahead because there is yet to see if it is a reliable printer. If you buy the multicolor gear you paid for more than the Mini, and I believe soon you'll no be using it anymore in most cases, and just be left with a printer that in practice can't be used so extensively as the Mini.