As 2024 draws to a close, All3DP, a 3D printing industry news website, has selected the best multi/double extrusion 3D printers of 2024 across five categories, including:
IDEX, single printhead, printhead replacement mechanism and related dual printhead printers.
Dual extrusion (or multi-extrusion) 3D printing is significant for many manufacturers.
For some, this means the possibility of printing multi-color objects, reducing post-processing and finishing work after printing parts.
For others, this is a way to achieve more complex printing using soluble or separable support materials—something that cannot be done using a typical single-extrusion 3D printer.
Quick Overview
| model | Features Overview | brand |
| Bambu Lab A1 Mini + AMS Lite | A compact, interconnected mini printer, ideal for color printing. | Bambu Lab |
| Bambu Lab P1S + AMS | Better line protection and increased multicolor printing capacity. | Bambu Lab |
| Ultimaker S5 | Expandable, professional-grade printing with reliable software. | Ultimaker |
| Snapmaker J1s | A compact heavy-duty printer with printing modes that improve productivity. |
|
| Original Prusa XL | The scalable, stand-alone nozzle mechanism can be expanded to meet your needs. | Original Prusa |
How to Choose a Dual Extrusion 3D Printer
The considerations for dual extrusion 3D printers are not particularly complicated.
Ultimately, it all comes down to the type of 3D printing you want to achieve and how cleanly the printer finishes that print.
While feeding material into a single printhead with two extruders carries the risk of cross-contamination and requires more thorough nozzle cleaning for clean printing, IDEX or tool-changing 3D printers use completely separate printheads for each material, minimizing contamination, but at the cost of increased complexity in the motion system and calibration.
Physical or software offsets may be required to properly align the IDEX printhead , so a printer that reliably automates this process is essential for a good multicolor or multimaterial printing experience.
There are also dual -head printers, which have only one printhead but two independently extruding nozzles . Compared to single- head 3D printers, they are more flexible and can perform multi-material printing faster. They are faster because of less filament changeover time and more versatile because the individual printheads allow for printing with different printhead diameters in a single print run.
Each type of system has some advantages over the other types.
Single -head systems reduce complexity and typically provide a rock-solid basic printing experience with fewer calibration considerations.
Meanwhile, the nozzle replacement device excels in material flexibility and minimizing waste.
When choosing a multi-extrusion 3D printer, consider what you want to achieve.
If you simply want to print in multiple colors, then a single printhead system is probably the most affordable and can minimize maintenance costs.
If you want to use soluble supports or different printhead sizes for printing, then you must consider multi -head systems, whether it's IDEX, dual printheads , or printhead changing mechanisms.
[Super Low Budget] Bambu Lab A1 Mini + AMS Lite
Fast speed, intelligent self-calibration, high uniformity printing, and a pleasant, beginner-friendly printing experience.
Despite its mini size and name, the Bambu Lab A1 Mini is a surprisingly complete 3D printer that offers the full, smooth, connected, and efficient experience that other products in Bambu Lab's other premium 3D printer lineup provide in a compact and slim form factor.
Therefore, we regard it as a low-cost entry point for multicolor printing.
This cantilever 3D printer features a build volume of 180 x 180 x 180 mm, automatic calibration, flow compensation, motor noise compensation, and a self-monitoring system that alerts you to problems and remedies.
All of this suggests it's a clever little machine. You can quickly change the printhead when needed (no tools required) – this is just one of many reasons we recommend the A1 Mini. The variety of materials and colors is what brought us here, so let's get started.
The Bambu Lab A1 Mini uses a companion device for multi-line printing. This device, called AMS Lite, is located next to the printer and feeds the filament into a buffer located on top of the print head via a series of conduits. AMS Lite is directly powered by the printer and connects via a single data/power cable.
Using Bambu Lab's own materials provides the smoothest experience in wire setup because the company's spools contain RFID tags. AMS Lite can read these tags and obtain spool details, then transmit this information to your computer.
The A1 Mini and AMS Lite, when used together, allow you to combine up to four different spools of consumables in a single print job, whether it's multiple colors of the same material or a limited number of different materials.
The A1 Mini printer is only suitable for materials that require lower temperatures, such as PLA, PETG, PVA, and TPU.
[Single Nozzle] Bambu Lab P1S + AMS
Temperature-controlled closed-volume rapid, high-quality printing and efficient cooling; a smooth, interconnected software ecosystem.
Bambu Lab P1S is the successor to the company's low-cost P1P and is used in conjunction with AMS, with a price comparable to P1P.
This single-extrusion 3D printer is designed for increased speed, producing high-quality prints in a fraction of the time required by many other printers on the market.
On its own, it is not a multi-color or multi-material 3D printer. However, when combined with Bambu Labs’ Automated Material System (AMS) (a separate box that holds four spools), the P1S can use up to four spools in a single print run, enhancing the printer’s capabilities and making it a truly versatile multi-color (or multi-material) machine.
A key difference between Bambu Labs' AMS and AMS Lite is that standard AMS can cluster up to four devices at a time.
The machine benefits from reliable software and a user experience supported by the Bambu Studio slicer and the Bambu Handy companion app.
Conveniently, you don't even need to split the model for multicolor printing here - you can draw the colors in the slicing software, allowing you to dynamically configure color printing from a single model.
It's important to note that the advantage of this system for printing multiple wires lies in using the same type of material. Temperature fluctuations between different material types can increase printing time.
In addition, it is a very high-quality 3D printer, allowing you to effortlessly print exquisite works.
Ultimaker S5 with Independent Dual Printheads
Powerful printer management software, simplified printing experience, streamlined printhead replacement core system
As a simple and efficient machine, the UltiMaker S5 allows you to easily print dual-material prints.
The UltiMaker S5 3D printer has a build volume of 330 x 240 x 300 mm and enables dual-extrusion 3D printing through UltiMaker's replaceable "print core".
These compact hot ends allow for quick insertion and removal from the printer, with each hot end tailored to a specific material and print type; from PVA-soluble support for specific cores to large-diameter tempered printheads best suited for filling abrasive polymers.
These print cores can be mixed and matched, giving you a lot of freedom to implement specific printing strategies.
To fully leverage the advantages of the S5, you must enhance its ecosystem by adding a housing and air filtration system through bundled upgrades, as well as a material station for extended continuous printing.
UltiMaker's software ecosystem began with the free and open-source Cura Slicing software, which had a simple UI that allowed users to select from a long list of materials and find more content in the company's online library (or create their own). It has gradually evolved into the enterprise-centric UltiMaker platform, which includes model management, printer management, online support, software plugins, and educational materials and certifications.
[IDEX] Snapmaker J1s
The superior appearance and user-friendly feel of the IDEX print mode, along with its guided calibration methods, enhances productivity.
There aren't many IDEX-style 3D printers with consumer-friendly prices. Even fewer can pass the rigorous market testing, but the Snapmaker J1s can.
The J1s excels in key areas where you need IDEX calibration. Snapmaker's system bypasses the entirely manual process, automating the X and Y axis offsets and intuitively guiding you through the process on its gorgeous 5-inch touchscreen display.
Furthermore, it boasts a premium-quality hardware. Its die-cast frame, stamped metal side panels, cover, and base all exude quality, and the heavy-duty motion system operates on linear guides. From almost every angle, the J1 resembles a tank.
You can use a 320 x 200 x 200 mm build area, with two quick-change nozzles whistling through this volume. Furthermore, these nozzles can be upgraded to different nozzle sizes.
In general printing, the J1s offers a thoroughly modern printing experience with vibration compensation and linear advance to quickly resolve extrusion artifacts.
Being an IDEX means that the J1s has an independent printhead and can operate in a variety of productivity-enhancing modes.
This also means that wire waste and downtime between material changes are minimized, and depending on the material used, there is only a brief heating phase between extruder changes.
Snapmaker’s Luban slicing software (J1s shared with the company’s three-in-one CNC and laser engraving machines) can do the job, but offers fewer options for fine-tuning prints compared to many other popular slicing software programs today.
However, you can still use other slicing software you prefer, such as Orca Slicer, PrusaSlicer, ideaMaker, or Cura.
Snapmaker provides a profile for Cura, so this may be the best starting point for beginners.
[Sprayer Replacement Mechanism] Original Prusa XL
Great material flexibility to scale to your print volume; fast, high-quality printing experience.
Prusa Research’s 360 x 360 x 360 mm build volume XL does an excellent job, opening up a useful niche market in multi-material space that few other machines can do.
The Prusa XL is an excellent machine because it can be equipped with five separate nozzles , providing versatility for materials.
It has the advantage of completely independent nozzles, which means that materials do not share nozzles, so there is no risk of clogging due to changes in viscosity, filler and temperature.
The temperature of each nozzle can reach up to 290 °C, and the temperature of the heated bed can reach up to 120 °C, which means that reliable performance can be achieved even using tough filaments such as polycarbonate.
Downtime between extrusions is also minimized because each active nozzle can be at a ready-to-use temperature.
The printhead replacement mechanism is quick and reliable. Therefore, the actual uptime of the printer is much longer than that of a single printhead system.
The XL heated bed is divided into 16 individual blocks, each of which can be heated individually, depending on the location and number you use it for.
Prusa XL effectively adapts to your printing needs, regardless of material or size, and minimizes waste.
The line between the nozzle changing unit and IDEX is somewhat blurred; both share many of the same advantages as single- nozzle systems.
Of course, this comes at the cost of more moving parts and more points of failure, but in the case of the XL, Original Prusa has a strong track record of rigorous quality control and new features.
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