# Formlabs Studio 1 Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/formlabs-studio-1/ 12 people recommended Formlabs Studio 1 in Hacker News comments, 8 had mixed feelings and 19 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 12 months, in 2 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. 10 of the 12 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Formlabs Studio 1 $699 Resin Printer”. **Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. People like its detail, ease for beginners and low $699 price for a resin printer, and say it is more open than Formlabs' industrial machines. Critics warn that resin is toxic and messy and that consumables add up. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Toxic resin needs ventilation (4 comments in the sample): "It uses toxic resin, you really don't want it working near humans without proper ventilation setup" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50282689)) "They are nasty, chemically, they require you to set up a "hot zone", you need ppe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50284898)) "A tad messy" really undersells it. You need a solid process to manage the (sticky, carcinogenic, smelly) liquid resin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50286819)) - Proprietary cartridges and locked ecosystem (4 comments in the sample): "glosses over the fact that it uses proprietary resin cartridges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283982)) "I don't need to shell out for any proprietary nonsense like cartridges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50290568)) "they just release to get consumers innto their ecosystem before slowly starting to lock people in again" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50294604)) - Tank and tray add cost (2 comments in the sample): "the Studio 1 does require you to buy a special $80 tray" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281732)) "The amount of upselling, extra parts necessary for basic functionality, predatory resin pricing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281541)) - Cheaper printers offer more specs (2 comments in the sample): "There are loads of options with --on paper-- better specs for half this price or less" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50284316)) "USD700" is almost double what a mid-sized Creality printer costs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283038)) ## Why people recommend it - Good price for resin printing (5 comments in the sample): "I just saw it on Applied Science and was impressed that mainstream resin printers were available for that price." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281482)) "That is a pretty good price in todays manufacturing landscape." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50092933)) "$699 is an incredible price" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281428)) - Detailed, precise prints (4 comments in the sample): "the main thing this gets you is much more precise and detailed prints" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281503)) "I do appreciate what seems to be the first ever initiative in 3D printing to address the elephant in the room of VOCs directly at…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50282676)) "In many scenarios it's 10x faster than FDM with better resolution and compatibility with advanced materials" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281638)) - Open to third-party resins (1 comment in the sample): "This printer at least comes with the "Open Material Mode (included)" that lets you print with 3rd party resins." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281360)) - Designed to handle resin safely (1 comment in the sample): "I think they’ve considered a lot of these problems from the perspective of handling resin when they designed the system." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50292125)) ## Other 3D printers people recommend - [Bambu Lab 3D printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bambu-lab-3d-printers/): 73 recommend, 39 mixed, 139 criticize - [Prusa 3D printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/prusa-3d-printer/): 57 recommend, 11 mixed, 21 criticize - [Bambu Lab A1 Mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bambu-lab-a1-mini/): 22 recommend, 5 mixed, 3 criticize - [Voron 2.4 3D printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/voron-3d-printer/): 19 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://formlabs.com/) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Formlabs Studio 1", https://hackerapproved.com/p/formlabs-studio-1/ (12 recommend, 8 mixed, 19 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.