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This printer's been out a while now and
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I've been using it quietly behind the
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scenes. And honestly, I didn't expect to
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like it as much as I do because in some
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ways it beats the competition, but in
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others it reminds me exactly who made
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it. It's clever, it's tidy, it's
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frustrating, it's very, very Creity. So,
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let's talk about the Creity High. I'm
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Ross and this is Faux Hammer Videos. And
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if you don't know me, I like to test,
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poke, and occasionally swear at the
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machines you're thinking of buying. And
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this this is Creality's answer to the
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A1. It's called the high. Yes, like it's
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greeting you. And to be fair, it does
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make a pretty strong first impression.
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It looks good. It feels solid. The build
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quality is genuinely impressive. And
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even though it ships flat pack, the
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setup is stupidly easy. Everything just
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slides into place. And honestly, this
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was easier to build than some so-called
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pre-built printers I've tested recently.
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the ones where all you technically need
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to do is attach a hotend and a screen.
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The cables are tucked away nicely. The
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aluminium frame wraps everything up
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clean, and it just looks modern,
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professional, finally, like it belongs
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in the current lineup of modern
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printers. Underneath, you've got thick
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rubber feet that help dampen vibration.
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A small thing, but it adds to that
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premium feel. Around the back, you've
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got the power socket and rocker switch,
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and both are neatly tucked away. Over on
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the right, just behind the screen,
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you've got the USB port and the
1:24
connection point for the CFS, which
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we'll come back to later. The build
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volume is a healthy 260x 260x300 mm, so
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that means it's slightly larger than
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some of its direct rivals, and it comes
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with some nicely integrated features.
1:38
The dual-sided build plate slots
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perfectly into place thanks to tabs in
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the rear corners, and there's also a
1:44
nozzle wiper for keeping things clean
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during prints. And even without the
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multimaterial CFS system plugged in, it
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has got a filament kicker and this makes
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filament changes easier because you just
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tell the printer what you want to do and
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it walks you through the swap. There's
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also an integrated 720p camera which is
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great for monitoring and recording
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time-lapses. But being a bedser, the
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time-lapses are well, let's just say
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more functional than sexy. The camera
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includes a light which is decent. Not
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amazing in low light, but it's
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definitely workable. And there's also a
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privacy cover because, well, no one
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needs a surprise only fans moment with a
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half-finish Pikachu at 3:00 a.m. And
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I've got to say, I love that the spool
2:23
holder is mounted up top. I think this
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is exactly where it should be. It gives
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a clean and direct path from reel to
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hotend, and that's perfect for flexibles
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like TPU. And it's also way less faf
2:35
when feeding filament. And with the
2:37
runout sensor inside the extruder,
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you've got a setup that lets you
2:40
actually use your filament rolls right
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down to the end, minus the usual purge
2:45
blob, of course. But it's rather
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irritating that the hotend's power and
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data cable is often pinched against the
2:51
frame when it's at the top. That's some
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serious wear waiting to tear. And as I
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said, this printer supports the CFS
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system. Well, up to four of them,
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actually. These are Creality's enclosed
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multimaterial feeders. Personally, I
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think they're a much better idea than
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the open air solutions that some other
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brands have. Now, I didn't test the CFS
3:11
on this particular printer, but I did
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use it with the K2 in that review, and
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well, I really liked it. I love the
3:17
digital readout. It shows temperature,
3:19
humidity, and even IDs each individual
3:22
unit. The top loading tubes are great,
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and you can easily get to the
3:26
connections underneath, too. Honestly,
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I've got to say it. I much prefer this
3:30
over the original AMS because it's just
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more practical. And in those practical
3:35
elements, I also prefer some of this
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over the AMS2 as well. Now, when it
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comes to the UI, this is your standard
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basic clippery printer kind of thing.
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It's clean, it's responsive, and it's
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got just enough Creality branding to
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feel consistent without being annoying
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in any way. And the flip out screen is
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excellent. It's got a solid hinge,
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decent clicky rotation, and great
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viewing angles. It actually feels like
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it belongs on a premium machine. There's
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nothing crazy in the UI side, neither
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good nor bad. It's just solid. And I
4:06
really like that Creity have added NFC
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support on their newer filament reels
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because with this printer, you can now
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just tap the reel against the reader on
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the left of the printer, and it
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automatically updates and tells the
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printer what you're using, which can
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then feed back to the slicer. And unlike
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other brands, this NFT feature isn't
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locked behind a multimaterial system. So
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you get it even if you get the Solo
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version of this machine to print in a
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single color at a time. So with all
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those positives, what's the issue? Well,
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it's me. And this time, I'm going to
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winge about two things. One is the
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slicer again. The other is the hotend.
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Now, I used to complain that Creality's
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phone app felt like a Trojan horse for
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selling you Creity coins as part of
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their marketplace. But lately, credit
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where it's due, they've really refined
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things massively. This app has become a
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much more monitoring focused assistant
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with the store tidily off to the side.
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look, it works. And I'm going to get
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people in the comments saying it's fine.
5:07
Stop moaning. But look, I call things as
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I see them, and other people will be
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bothered by this as I am. So, what I see
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is Creity took Orca Slicer and then
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changed it. But not just for the
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branding like other companies have, but
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for the sake of I genuinely don't know
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what. They've messed with the icons,
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rearranged the layout, and somehow just
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overall made it less intuitive. Key
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settings are buried. Some of them I
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can't find. Things are backwards, and
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the whole experience feels clunkier than
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it was before they ever touched it. Now,
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if you buy this printer and genuinely
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it's worth considering if you're anti-
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other brands, just download Orca, run
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both side by side and try to convince
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yourself reality's version is better.
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Straight face though, I dare you. In
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fact, even without the printer, just go
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and download them both and have a play.
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Which is better? And how much better is
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it exactly? I don't get why Creity are
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doing this. I don't know what their
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objective is. You would think if they're
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going to change it this much, the goal
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would be let's make this better than
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other slices. But it is worse, right?
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It's not just me. Yeah. And now let's
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talk about the hotend. Now, good news
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first. I love that the Creity logo
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spins. Yeah. It's a small thing. It's
6:19
cute, but it's also functional because
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it tells you the extruder gear is
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turning. But then we get to the bad
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news. According to their marketing, the
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nozzle is clogfree and quick swap.
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Right. Look, in my experience, I have
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genuinely had more clogs on Creality
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printers than any other brand, and that
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includes this one. And quick swap, I
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don't know what their definition is. I
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don't think they know what the
6:46
definition is, but it's a buzz word, so
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they'll use it. For me, quick swap means
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a lever or a clip and the nozzle slides
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out. Maybe a couple of screws at most.
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With this printer, you've got to first
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unscrew the casing rather than just pop
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it off like other brands. Then follow a
7:02
multi-step dance just to get the nozzle
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out. Don't take my word for it. Go and
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watch their tutorial. I'll wait. Come
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back here when you're done and let me
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know what you think in the comments. And
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my clog wasn't even in the nozzle. It
7:14
was in the extruder gear. Once again,
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like every other Creality printer that
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I've had jam. It's not been all of them,
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but it's been more than half. But they
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have got a tutorial for that, too.
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Again, go ahead and watch it, then come
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back here and tell me how quick or easy
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it was. Now, extruder jams can and
7:31
probably will happen on any and every
7:34
printer. And when they do for me, I'll
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tell you I've experienced it. You see, I
7:39
see extruder jams just like paper jams
7:41
in inkjets. So, in my view, these days,
7:44
it's something that should be considered
7:45
in the machine's design. And the thing
7:48
is, we've seen Creality already do far
7:50
better in this area on other machines,
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both in terms of nozzle swaps and
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extruder gear access. So why are they
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going backwards? Once again, like the
8:00
Slicer, like other printers, it's a
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decision that just doesn't make logical
8:04
sense. It doesn't move the brand or the
8:06
technology forward. If anything, it is
8:08
stepping them back whilst also muddying
8:10
the water on their crossbrand
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compatibility of components. You see,
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where other brands have steadily
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iterated on one style of nozzle or other
8:19
component and then you can use that
8:21
component on multiple machines, Creity
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come across like they're still trying to
8:26
just play around and having a go at
8:28
something new with every opportunity
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they get. So, every new printer does it
8:33
a new way. Now, sometimes these add
8:35
benefits, but when they add them, they
8:37
seem to continually forget the ones they
8:40
previously made. But all in all, I can
8:42
winge about this all day, but to be
8:44
honest, it is a couple of small things
8:45
that I know a lot of people out there
8:47
will be willing to accept to get their
8:49
hands on this printer because when it
8:51
works, it works decently. Now, my first
8:54
layer wasn't perfect. There was some
8:55
overextrusion which caused a rough
8:57
surface, and this was using Creality's
9:00
filament and profiles, and this
9:02
machine's been out long enough for that
9:03
to have been dialed in. But again, in
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despite of that, I printed out some good
9:07
things. I printed out a few more of
9:09
these Eternal Forge hammers and yeah,
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they came out fantastically. If you
9:13
haven't seen these yet, you will. I'm
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going to be doing them on every single
9:17
review until I printed the entire
9:19
collection and then I'll probably print
9:21
them again. And I'm even doing a very
9:23
fun one you might have already caught on
9:24
my social channels. What I love about
9:26
these models, though, is that they print
9:28
in place, support free, and they snap
9:30
and screw together with built-in threads
9:32
and clips. No glue, no screws, just
9:34
smart design and a really satisfying end
9:37
result. This is exactly the thing that
9:39
gets you straight into painting, which
9:41
for me is the fun bit. I love showing
9:43
these off because I hope it encourages
9:45
other upcoming designers to make models
9:48
like this with, as I say about a lot of
9:50
printers, ease of use and user
9:52
experience in mind. The less of a
9:55
barrier there is for somebody printing
9:56
your thing to using your thing, the more
9:59
they're going to love it. So anyway, in
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conclusion of the Creality High, it's
10:04
generally a solid printer, and you'll be
10:06
happy with this right up until you
10:08
aren't. The build is clean, the feature
10:10
set is clever, the CFS compatibility is
10:13
genuinely useful, and again, I prefer a
10:16
lot of the CFS to other brand solutions.
10:19
It's got a top-mounted spool holder,
10:21
tidy USB placement, and that extra bit
10:23
of build volume. They're all wins, but
10:26
there's still that slight lingering
10:28
feeling of, yeah, it's a reality. And
10:32
unfortunately, we all know what that
10:34
means. If you don't, ask in the
10:36
comments, and more experienced members
10:38
of the printing community will tell you.
10:40
I would, but I don't want to be accused
10:42
of being nothing more than a reality
10:43
hater. When the truth is, I love
10:46
reality, but I see so many opportunities
10:49
that are face palm. You can do better.
10:53
How is this stuff not obvious? TLDDR,
10:56
great machine with some very obvious
10:58
opportunities to improve. I want to say
11:00
a massive thanks to you for watching and
11:02
especially to our channel members. Your
11:04
names are on screen now and your support
11:06
is so appreciated. Thank you. For
11:08
everyone else, please consider joining
11:10
them if you want early access, exclusive
11:12
videos, Discord rolls, or just to
11:14
support the chaos that is my life. Until
11:17
next time, I don't tip because society
11:19
says I have to. All right. I mean, I'll
11:21
tip if somebody really deserves it. Faux
