Creality SparkX i7: Fast Multicolor, but a Lot of Purge
The Creality SparkX i7 is a moving-bed FDM printer sold with several filament systems, and the review from 3DWork helps clarify which one is worth the money. It starts by pointing out that Creality does not sell any version called CFS Line. The official configurations are four: Standalone, Autofill Combo (CFS Mini), Nano Combo (CFS Nano) and Color Combo (CFS Lite).
The technical base is solid: a build volume of 260 x 260 x 255 mm, a maximum speed of 500 mm/s with accelerations up to 10,000 mm/s², a direct drive extruder with a quick-change hotend, a hardened steel nozzle rated to 300 °C, a bed that reaches 100 °C with a textured PEI plate on both sides, and automatic leveling with a strain gauge sensor. It runs Creality Print, which is based on OrcaSlicer.
The CFS Nano screws onto the gantry, cuts the horizontal footprint by 37% and switches colour in under a second. It does not support TPU, does not detect tangles, and its open rack offers no protection against humidity. The CFS Lite is the most complete option: a sealed box with desiccant, tangle detection, an RFID reader and TPU with a Shore hardness of 64D or higher.
In testing, quality straight from the factory settings was good, and a single-colour Benchy took 17 minutes. The weak point is purging. With default values, the ratio of purge to useful part can exceed 15:1, and on pieces weighing around 30 g the purge comes to roughly half a kilo, so it is worth adjusting retraction and purge by hand. A PLA spool left in the open rack also degraded within a couple of days.
Overall the review gives the SparkX i7 3.8 out of 5. According to the analysis, the CFS Nano is the interesting choice if space is tight and TPU is not needed, and the CFS Lite if the environment is humid. What I value most about this kind of review is that it talks about purge and humidity, which is where the real money gets spent.
Source: 3DWork
The technical base is solid: a build volume of 260 x 260 x 255 mm, a maximum speed of 500 mm/s with accelerations up to 10,000 mm/s², a direct drive extruder with a quick-change hotend, a hardened steel nozzle rated to 300 °C, a bed that reaches 100 °C with a textured PEI plate on both sides, and automatic leveling with a strain gauge sensor. It runs Creality Print, which is based on OrcaSlicer.
The CFS Nano screws onto the gantry, cuts the horizontal footprint by 37% and switches colour in under a second. It does not support TPU, does not detect tangles, and its open rack offers no protection against humidity. The CFS Lite is the most complete option: a sealed box with desiccant, tangle detection, an RFID reader and TPU with a Shore hardness of 64D or higher.
In testing, quality straight from the factory settings was good, and a single-colour Benchy took 17 minutes. The weak point is purging. With default values, the ratio of purge to useful part can exceed 15:1, and on pieces weighing around 30 g the purge comes to roughly half a kilo, so it is worth adjusting retraction and purge by hand. A PLA spool left in the open rack also degraded within a couple of days.
Overall the review gives the SparkX i7 3.8 out of 5. According to the analysis, the CFS Nano is the interesting choice if space is tight and TPU is not needed, and the CFS Lite if the environment is humid. What I value most about this kind of review is that it talks about purge and humidity, which is where the real money gets spent.
Source: 3DWork
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