Qidi’s MakeBuddy Smart5 Pitches “Worry-Free” 3D Printing for Parents of Small Kids
The enclosed CoreXY printer joins Creality's mBox and Toybox's Luna in a growing field of kid-focused machines ahead of the holidays.
Qidi Tech just introduced the MakeBuddy Smart5, a $349 enclosed 3D printer designed for families and pitched as a way to make 3D printing “worry-free for parents.”
The Smart5 is part of Qidi’s new MakeBuddy product line available on the Qidi Store, and Amazon from mid-November.
The family-friendly pitch centers on keeping children away from the printer’s hot and moving parts by being fully enclosed. Qidi also says there’s a flame-retardant chamber that makes the machine “more suitable for family environments with children and pets.” The company claims its triple-layer HEPA and activated carbon filtration system captures 99.5% of dust and particles.
Qidi pairs those features with its Qidi Joy app, which offers a library of printable models, guided lessons designed to teach children about 3D printing, and an AI tool that turns images into 3D models. The idea is to make 3D printing more accessible to children, with Qidi suggesting parents can “feel confident allowing children to explore independently.” It is designed for children from around 8 years old with adult guidance. Qidi says adult supervision and good ventilation are still recommended: “Parents can also follow each print remotely through the built-in camera in the Qidi app — remote monitoring supports supervision, but does not replace it.”
Underneath that kid-friendly packaging, however, the Smart5 has the hardware of a fairly capable desktop 3D printer. Its CoreXY motion system supports a maximum toolhead speed of 600 mm/s, with a 180 × 180 × 180 mm build volume. The nozzle can reach 300°C and the heated bed to 80°C.
There’s also a purple print plate that Qidi calls the “Cool Plate Pro” but there’s not indication that it actually stays cool or enables cold bed printing like some other kids’ printers.
Most of the calibration is automatic, including bed leveling. There’s a 4-inch touchscreen, a 1080-pixel camera, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a filament cutter. Qidi lists PLA and PETG compatibility, with slicing handled through Qidi Studio or third-party software, such as Orca and PrusaSlicer.
The Smart5 prints from a single spool mounted on an arm at the side of the machine, with filament fed into the enclosure through a PTFE tube.
Interestingly, Qidi’s spec sheet also lists filament tangle detection, but notes that it requires the company’s Qidi Box. The Smart5 is a single color printer but supports multicolor printing with the optional accessory. The Qidi Box costs another $228, potentially bringing the total to $577.
The specifications don’t mention a door sensor or lid lock, leaving it unclear whether the Smart5 pauses a print when its enclosure is opened.
Up Against a Growing Field of Kid Printers
The launch comes as other manufacturers are making similar pitches to families. Creality’s mBox, another enclosed printer marketed around children’s independence, also launched this week. It costs $329 on TikTok Shop in the U.S. and carries the slogan “no grown-ups needed.”
Toybox’s Luna, announced in October, takes a different approach. It uses an open-frame design but offers four-color printing, with bundles currently starting at $359.
The question with this latest batch of “kid printers” is really how much independence they can safely offer younger users. Ultimately, parents will decide.
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