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xTool F1 Ultra Review – Better Value Than Ever in 2026? — Transcript

by The Technology Man · 2,524 words · 367 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00The X Tool F1 Ultra can engrave pretty
0:02much anything from wood, slate, acrylic,
0:05and leather to almost any metal. It
0:07achieves this with both a 20 W fiber
0:09laser and a 20 W diode laser housed in a
0:12surprisingly compact fully enclosed
0:14machine. And it can even cut a range of
0:16materials, including thin metal. With
0:18several price reductions since its
0:20launch, it's now a much more affordable
0:22option in XTOL's lineup. But could this
0:24be the sweet spot? a versatile, easyto
0:26use laser engraver that's capable enough
0:28for serious hobby use or even starting a
0:30small business. That's what I wanted to
0:32find out. Machine comes beautifully
0:34packaged with everything you need to get
0:36started. There's no assembly. You just
0:38need to plug in the USB security key.
0:40The machine won't start without it. The
0:42AC adapter, the touchscreen controller,
0:45and the extraction hose. I vented mine
0:47outside through a window using a Windows
0:49vent kit. Venty outside is the preferred
0:52option, but if that's not possible,
0:53you'll need a fume extractor with proper
0:55filtration. Lasers can produce some
0:57nasty fumes, so you need to think about
0:58how you're going to extract them before
1:00deciding where to put the machine. The
1:02F1 Ultra takes up much less desk space
1:04than my X tool S1, although it also has
1:06a smaller working area. It's a so-called
1:09galvo laser using fastmoving mirrors to
1:12steer the beam instead of moving the
1:13head around on a gantry like on the S1.
1:16This makes engraving incredibly fast, as
1:18I'll demonstrate shortly. You can
1:20operate the machine entirely from the
1:21XTOL app on your smartphone over Wi-Fi,
1:23but I prefer to use XTOL Studio on my
1:25PC. You can connect with a USB cable if
1:28the machine is beside your computer, but
1:29mine's a little further away, so I'm
1:31using Wi-Fi.
1:33During setup, the software guides you
1:35through calibration using the included
1:37black scratch paper. I also needed to
1:39adjust the red indicator dot manually,
1:41so it lined up with the blue one. That
1:43was a little fiddly, but it didn't take
1:44too long. The supplied business card
1:47project is a useful way to get familiar
1:49with the workflow. Place a black
1:51aluminium card under the blue dot and
1:53click automeasure. This measures the
1:55material's thickness by moving the laser
1:57head to focus. The red and blue dots
1:59should now overlap. You can also focus
2:02manually using the controller's physical
2:03up and down buttons. Then use a camera
2:06preview to position your design and run
2:08the framing for a more precise check of
2:10where it'll engrave. Adjust the position
2:12until it's exactly where you want it.
2:14Then close the enclosure. Click start in
2:17the software and press the start stop
2:18button on the controller itself to begin
2:20engraving. This business card took 21
2:23seconds and the results look super
2:25crisp. A big reason for getting a fiber
2:27laser is for metal engraving. So, let's
2:29start there. I had two projects in mind.
2:32First, off a stainless steel dog bowl
2:33engraved with a picture of my sister's
2:35dog. I converted a photo of a dog into a
2:38black and white image and added the
2:39dog's name underneath. I experimented
2:42with settings on a cheap stainless steel
2:43ruler. Exor provides useful settings to
2:46get you started, but I often find them a
2:48little conservative. I also found that
2:50defocusing the laser by around 10 mm
2:52gives a darker engraving, which is
2:53exactly what I wanted. I positioned the
2:56bowl underneath the blue dot and used
2:57automeasure, then added 10 mm to the
2:59measured value. With highly effective
3:02materials like this, you need to be
3:04careful about reflections back into the
3:05laser lens, which could damage it. So
3:07after focusing, I move the bowl towards
3:09the back of the machine to reduce the
3:11risk of the beam reflecting directly
3:12back into the lens. The camera is super
3:14useful for initial setup, but I always
3:16use framing to get the most accurate
3:17results. And with the laser defocused,
3:20the capture is off anyway. I'd centered
3:22the image in a circle around the center
3:24of the bowl. I use this for framing,
3:26then turned its output off the actual
3:28engraving.
3:29It didn't look as dark as I wanted, so I
3:31adjusted the settings slightly and did
3:32another pass. The result looks good and
3:35it's pretty much what I was after. Next,
3:37I wanted to engrave a chef's knife I got
3:39for my son's birthday. It's always a
3:41little nerve-wracking doing something
3:42like this that's fairly expensive. You
3:44only get one shot. I again position the
3:46knife towards the back of the machine
3:47and try to get it as flat and stable as
3:49possible with some Blu-Tack. A little
3:51bubble level is handy here. Even if it's
3:53slightly off, the engraving won't be
3:54consistent. The live framing here is
3:56absolutely crucial. It's hard to pick up
3:59on camera, but you can see exactly where
4:00you're going to engrave. Since the image
4:03capture is off again with the laser
4:04defocused, I can nudge the text around
4:06on the computer with the cursor keys to
4:08get it exactly where I want. I wanted
4:10something quite subtle, but I think it
4:12came out pretty well. The defocusing not
4:15only makes the text darker, it also
4:16helps blend the individual laser lines
4:18together, giving a smoother, more even
4:20finish. One of the capabilities of a
4:22fiber laser I was most keen to try out
4:23was cutting metal. It has limited
4:26capabilities on this front, but I tried
4:27cutting one of those 0.2 mm aluminium
4:30business cards I engraved earlier.
4:32You could use it to make washers or
4:33shims, but I thought I'd try engraving
4:35and then cutting some name plates for my
4:37metal filing cabinet. After a little
4:39experimentation, I got the best results
4:41by using double-sided tape to stick the
4:43thin cars to some sacrificial wood. Need
4:45some way to keep them flat, otherwise
4:47they'll curl from the heat. I think they
4:49turned out very well. While we're on
4:51metal, a highly marketed feature of the
4:53F1 Ultra is 3D embossing in metal. You
4:56convert your image [clears throat] into
4:57a depth map either in X tool studio or
5:00other software including image R and
5:01then set the processing mode to
5:03embossment. I again used an image of
5:05Luna and tried engraving it on a brass
5:07coin that came with a material pack from
5:09X tool. With the default settings, the
5:12machine engraves 256 layers, slightly
5:14lowering the laser focus as it does so
5:16to get a true 3D engraving. This is
5:19super slow. This 40mm coin took well
5:21over 4 hours. Leaving a 3D print for
5:24over 4 hours is fine, but you shouldn't
5:26leave a laser machine unattended and
5:28having to be in the same room while it's
5:29doing its thing is not only tedious, I'm
5:31also concerned about whether all those
5:33tiny metal particles are being extracted
5:35out of my window. That said, compared to
5:38a lot of fiber lasers, the enclosed
5:39design of the F1 Ultra provides much
5:41better protection from exposure to the
5:42laser beam and also makes fume and
5:44particle extraction much more effective.
5:47The built-in extraction works pretty
5:49well, particularly with the lid fully
5:50closed. Although, even venting outside
5:52through a window, I can still smell some
5:54fumes in the room. There's also some
5:57noticeable flex in the laser head, so
5:59you really need to avoid knocking the
6:00table during a long job. The result is
6:02okay, but I'd have liked a much deeper
6:04engraving. I could probably improve it
6:06by experimenting further with the depth
6:08map and settings. That would likely mean
6:10even longer processing times. For me,
6:12that's the biggest limitation. The F1
6:14Ultra can do 3D embossing in metal. I'm
6:17not convinced it's particularly
6:18practical for regular use. For the
6:20occasional special project perhaps, but
6:22if this is something you're looking to
6:23do more frequently, I'll be looking at a
6:25more powerful fiber laser. And even
6:27then, you'd want an enclosed one like
6:29this one with extraction. I did try 3D
6:31embossing some wood too using the diode
6:33laser. This piece of hard maple. This
6:36looks like it has more potential to me,
6:37but you need to get the settings just
6:39right so you don't scorch the wood or
6:40worse still set it a light. I did get
6:43some better results directing this small
6:44air duster as a sort of makeshift air
6:46assist, which I'll come back to. Still
6:49using the diode laser, I tried engraving
6:50an image onto a bamboo chopping board.
6:53Bamboo isn't the best wood for engraving
6:54because of the variation in its grain
6:56and density. I started with a material
6:58test to find the most suitable settings.
7:00Exor's recommended settings for bamboo
7:02were actually pretty close. I tried two
7:04engravings on this test chopping board.
7:07First, an image I prepared in Photoshop
7:08based on a photo with some text added.
7:10The final plan is to make a personalized
7:12chopping board as a present for my
7:13cousin's wedding. It came out okay,
7:15although perhaps a little lighter than
7:17I'd have liked. I also tried engraving
7:19part of the original image directly.
7:21Xool Studio has various built-in tools
7:23for preparing photos for engraving, or
7:25you can process them using something
7:26like Image R or DX and then label pass
7:29through in X to Tool Studio. This came
7:31out okay, too, provided you don't mind
7:33the variation in darkness caused by the
7:34bamboo. I'll probably make my own
7:36chopping board from some maple I have,
7:38which should give a cleaner, more
7:39consistent engraving. Denser, more
7:41uniform woods generally engrave more
7:43consistently, although it depends on the
7:45effect you're after. As I alluded to
7:47earlier, cutting wood and other
7:48materials on the F1 Ultra isn't ideal.
7:51The 20 W diode laser is powerful enough
7:53to cut wood, leather, and acrylic, but
7:55there are two main issues. Firstly,
7:57there's no air assist, which would
7:58normally blow smoke and debris away from
8:00the cutting area, helping to reduce
8:01charring and extinguish any small flames
8:03that develop during cutting. Secondly,
8:06because the laser beam is directed by
8:07the galvo system, it hits the material
8:09at an increasing angle the further you
8:11move from the center of the working
8:13area. This results in angled rather than
8:15perfectly vertical cuts, particularly
8:17notable in thicker materials. Still,
8:19with thinner materials and by using
8:21slightly lower power with multiple
8:22passes, you can get decent results. And
8:25again, using my air duster trick, I was
8:27able to cut thicker materials more
8:28cleanly in fewer passes. Coming back to
8:31the fiber laser, I also tried on some
8:33plastic. You need to make sure you're
8:35not engraving PVC since it releases
8:37toxic gases. Though, it's not always
8:39easy to know exactly what something is
8:40made from. I engraved my YouTube
8:43channel's initials on a power bank, and
8:45it worked very well with the engraving
8:46closely matching the existing text on
8:48the power bank. I also engraved some
8:50Bamboo Labs black PLA. Starting with a
8:52material test and then some labels for
8:54my filing cabinet. Again, the contrast
8:57you get will depend on the exact
8:58filament type and color. These came out
9:00okay and are certainly usable. Next, I
9:03wanted to make a little perspect stand
9:04for the resin print I made in a recent
9:06video. I created the basic design in XTO
9:09Studio and use a default black acrylic
9:11settings. Since it's reflective, I made
9:13the cut towards the back of the machine,
9:15so you can see the angled cut, but did a
9:17very clean job in just one pass. I tried
9:20various other materials, including slate
9:22and leather, and a 20 W die laser worked
9:24perfectly. The last thing I wanted to
9:26try was the batch processing mode. Next
9:28studio, you can drop an assortment of
9:30identical objects onto the bed of the
9:31laser, create a design on one object,
9:34and the machine will identify all the
9:35other objects automatically. You can
9:37then send the job to the laser. It
9:39worked very well. This mode also works
9:42with the optional conveyor belt for
9:43continuous operation, but that's not
9:45something I've tried just yet. The F1
9:48Ultra is a very versatile machine, and
9:50I've been impressed with just how much
9:51it can do. The enclosed design, built-in
9:54extraction, camera positioning, live
9:56framing, and external studio software
9:58make it very easy to use. There are a
10:00few things though that I'm not so keen
10:02on. Although the machine feels very well
10:04built overall, there's some noticeable
10:05flex in the laser head, and I often have
10:07to push down on the back of the lid to
10:08get it to seat properly. There's also a
10:11constant worring noise whenever the
10:12machine is switched on. It's not loud
10:15but a little annoying if you're working
10:16in the same room. And while it can cut
10:18various materials, the lack of air
10:20assist and the angle cuts you get the
10:22thicker materials mean it wouldn't be my
10:24first choice if cutting is a priority.
10:26As I film this, the F1 Ultra cost just
10:28over £2,000 on its own, which is hardly
10:31cheap, but it's considerably less
10:33expensive than when it first launched,
10:34and it's still just as capable. I do
10:37think you could run a small business
10:38with this machine and it's certainly
10:40more than capable enough for serious
10:41hobby use. I will be taking a look at
10:43the newer F2 Ultra with its more
10:45powerful lasers. One of its main
10:47advantages will be faster engraving, but
10:49how much that matters really depends on
10:51what you're making and how many items
10:52you need to produce. Generally,
10:54preparing any artwork, experimenting
10:56with settings, and getting everything
10:57just right will take far longer than the
10:59actual engraving, which often takes less
11:01than a minute. Of course, that depends
11:03on the sort of engraving jobs you're
11:04doing, but I found the F1 Ultra pretty
11:06quick for most of the jobs I tried. So,
11:08overall, if you can live with a
11:09relatively small working area, don't
11:11need to do much cutting, and aren't
11:12planning on regularly doing deep 3D
11:14engraving, there's lot to like. With its
11:16fiber and diode lasers in a compact
11:19enclosed machine, and at its current
11:20price, I think the F1 Ultra genuinely
11:22might be all you need. I'll put links to
11:25the F1 Ultra down below if you want to
11:26find out more. These are affiliate
11:28links, which help support the channel
11:30and no extra cost to you. Make sure
11:32you're subscribed if you want to see my
11:33follow-up review of the F2 Ultra, where
11:35I'll find out whether it's worth
11:36spending the extra money. And do take a
11:39look at my review of the XTOL S1, which
11:41might be a better option if you're more
11:42interested in cutting. Engraving metal
11:44isn't such a priority and you have space
11:46for a larger machine. If you found this
11:49video useful, please give it a thumbs
11:50up. If you have any questions or
11:52comments on the laser, let me know in
11:54the comments below. Thanks for watching
11:56and I'll see you in the next one.

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