Today we bring you our analysis of the Anycubic Photon P1 Max: the large-format variant of the Photon P1, built for anyone who needs to print large pieces in a single go —life-size helmets, props, bulky prototypes, or full batches of miniatures— without giving up the mechanical reliability and print quality that already won us over on the standard P1.
The question we asked ourselves before starting testing was simple: can you build a much larger resin printer without losing the precision and reliability that defines the Photon line? After several weeks of use with all kinds of pieces, this review answers that question with data, our own experience, and photos of our own prints.
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Anycubic Photon P1 Max
The Anycubic Photon P1 Max isn’t just a P1 with a bigger screen and nothing else. It’s a machine designed from the ground up for large format: a wider base, a reinforced chassis, and a genuinely comfortable folding lid. Anycubic recommends leaving about 85 cm of height and 65 cm of depth clear to fully open the dome, so it’s worth measuring the space it’s going to live in before buying it.
The chassis weighs 23.1 kg (28.8 kg with packaging) and measures 430 × 414 × 625 mm. It’s a machine that feels extremely solid the moment you take it out of the box: the base is wide to give stability to a lid much larger than any previous Photon, and the exterior finish keeps that robust, “almost clinical” look we already liked on the standard P1.
The 4.5″ touchscreen on the side handles the whole machine, with a USB 2.0 port right next to it for loading print files, though as has become standard in these newer generations, we also get WiFi for transferring our projects and monitoring the printer, plus a physical power button. Nothing that will surprise anyone already familiar with Anycubic’s interface on its other Photon printers: it’s fluid, well translated, and easy to find what you’re looking for, although as we’ll mention later, some manual movement menus are unnecessarily nested.
The Photon P1 Max’s print volume is 285.5 × 214 × 300 mm, which works out to about 18.3 liters of capacity. To put that in perspective: it’s more than enough room to print a life-size cosplay helmet in a single piece, something that on most home MSLA printers forces you to split the model into four or five parts and glue them together.
Compared to the standard Photon P1 (223 × 126 × 230 mm, 6.5 L), the volume difference is almost three times as much. Here’s what changes between the two:
 Photon P1 Max |  Photon P1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Print volume | 285.5 × 214 × 300 mm | 223 × 126 × 230 mm |
| Total volume | 18.3 L | 6.5 L |
| Screen | 14″ 12K (11,520 × 8,640 px) | 10.1″ 14K (13,320 × 5,120 px) |
| XY precision | 24.8 × 24.8 µm | 16.8 × 24.8 µm |
| Z axis | C7 ball screw | C7 ball screw |
| Resin vat | 1,900 ml, heated | 1,000 ml, heated |
| Dual-material kit | Not available | Optional |
| Recommended use | Props, helmets, large batches, production | Miniatures, jewelry, medium-sized pieces |
Here’s an interesting detail: the P1 Max has lower nominal resolution (12K vs 14K) than the standard P1, but by using a 4:3 aspect ratio screen instead of the usual widescreen panel, the real pixel size ends up practically identical —24.8 × 24.8 µm— and in our tests we haven’t noticed any loss of detail attributable to the screen. The “12K” makes for a good marketing headline, but pixel density is what really matters, and there’s no trick here.
The 14-inch, 12K (11,520 × 8,640 pixels) monochrome screen works alongside the LighTurbo 4.0 optical system, which combines COB, an aspheric Fresnel lens, and a precision mask. Anycubic claims light uniformity above 92% measured across 208 points on the screen, and a collimation accuracy of ≤3°.
In practice this translates into something very concrete: on a screen this size it’s easy for the edges to cure differently than the center, forcing you to compensate with more conservative exposure times. In our tests with trays that used practically the entire surface, we haven’t detected that effect —corner pieces with the same level of cure and detail as pieces in the center—, which is no small thing on a screen with a real diagonal of 356 mm.
The system also includes an 8 mm copper cooling block to minimize UV source degradation over time, which on machines this size —with more exposure hours accumulated per print— has more impact than it might seem at first on the optical system’s lifespan.
Increasing print volume without losing precision is, on paper, a contradiction: the bigger and heavier the plate, the harder it is to move it with repeatable precision. Anycubic solves this the same way it did on the standard P1: a C7-grade ball screw combined with linear guide rails, instead of the trapezoidal lead screw typical of the Mono line.
The build plate is made of stainless steel rather than the usual anodized aluminum, with a repeatable positioning accuracy of ±0.01 mm. That plate alone weighs 3.5 kg, and it’s one of the points we’ll cover in the areas for improvement: even without a model or resin on it, it’s a notably heavy plate to handle, and with a large piece and resin dripping off it, handling it takes real effort. If we have to find a downside, in exchange we get a plate with incredible build quality.
- Practically eliminates mechanical play (backlash), something critical on a machine where the mass being moved is far greater than on a standard-size MSLA printer.
- ±0.01 mm repeatability layer after layer, even with large solid pieces that put more demand on the lifting system.
- Greater durability: rolling contact wears down far less than the sliding contact of a traditional trapezoidal screw.
The larger a piece’s cross-section, the greater the peel force needed at each layer -and the higher the risk of a model detaching from the plate or supports breaking. The P1 Max inherits Wave Release technology from the P1: a film with a wavy surface texture that reduces the effective contact area between the cured resin and the film, significantly cutting the peel force at every layer.
The VAT has a capacity of 1.9 liters —almost double that of the standard P1— with dynamic thermal control up to 40 °C, which lets you work with high-viscosity resins (Anycubic states compatibility with resins up to 8,000 cps), territory usually reserved for technical or industrial resins.
As we’ve already mentioned, the P1 Max is a beast in every respect, but Anycubic has also paid attention to ergonomics to improve how the machine is used.
If you follow us, you’ll know that something we always bring up is having a system to drain resin off our prints once they’re finished.
Besides helping recover some resin, it’s also very useful for reducing plate cleanup. That said, as we already saw with its little sibling the P1, the top of the plate is flat, so resin tends to pool there -although, on the flip side, that same flat surface makes it easier to clean than plates with relief features.
Also worth highlighting is the quick and simple VAT removal system, as well as the dome system that makes accessing the machine very comfortable compared to removable-dome designs.
The P1 Max comes factory-calibrated and includes Smart Assistant 3.0, which runs a self-check of the leveling before every print and shows real-time force readings at the plate’s four corners. It’s not full auto-leveling -the plate still needs mechanical adjustment if it drifts out of calibration- but under normal use, with the rigidity the ball screw provides, you shouldn’t need to touch it often.
On top of that there is Dynamic Release 3.0 and Dynamic Light-Off Compensation 3.0, which automatically adjust lift speed and timing based on the separation forces detected layer by layer, plus AI-driven checks of plate installation, first-layer separation, resin level, and debris at the bottom of the VAT.
Connectivity is complete: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB 2.0, with remote monitoring via an integrated camera through the Anycubic Workbench app, which lets you manage the printer from your browser or phone and link several machines on the same dashboard.
We’ve saved for last something that, just like with FDM filament printers, keeps mattering more and more… the ecosystem.
Anycubic launched its own slicer, Anycubic Workshop, a while back —now on its 4th version— and, as you might expect, it’s fully integrated with its range of printers and resins, massively simplifying the use of its machines.
But it doesn’t stop at just offering printer/resin profiles —it also includes advanced features like intelligent slicing, advanced automatic support algorithms, or support-painting tools directly on the model.
On top of that, it also lets us take advantage of remote management options to access the camera, print remotely, or monitor the progress of our prints. One nice touch is that if you’re on the same network as your printer, you can access it directly without going through Anycubic’s cloud servers.
We also have a mobile app that can be very useful for checking on our machine or print remotely.
We also can’t forget about the Makeronline service, where you can find an online library of models to print and even monetize your own designs.
Getting started
The packaging is sturdy, with shaped foam holding the machine at its heaviest points. Inside you’ll find the printer, the steel plate, the VAT, a set of hex keys, a scraper, gloves, a filter, a power cable, and a USB drive with the manual and a few sample models. The typical kit for getting the machine set up and maintained.
The first startup includes a step-by-step guided wizard: Z-axis homing, server selection (Global or China — important to pick the right one so the app and firmware updates work without issues), and installing the plate and the VAT. The whole process is designed so a user with no prior resin experience can have the machine ready to print in under twenty minutes.
Before printing, it’s worth spending five minutes on three checks that Anycubic includes out of the box and that often get skipped simply because the machine arrives factory-calibrated:
1. Assisted manual leveling (before adding resin)
Even though the P1 Max ships factory-calibrated, it’s good practice to use this moment -with the tank still empty- to double-check leveling before any serious print. The process is guided step by step on the screen: clean the platform with alcohol, confirm the leveling mode, install the platform with the tank removed and hit continue. The machine detects whether adjustment is needed and shows arrows indicating which screws to turn and in which direction (0-100N range); once no arrows remain, tap continue and the machine confirms leveling is complete.
2. Screen test (after leveling)
The second step, once the platform is leveled, is to run an exposure test from the printer’s own menu. The screen shows several test patterns (solid, checkered, and gradient) that let you visually confirm the LCD exposes evenly across its entire surface. If any of the patterns don’t match what they should look like, that’s a sign the screen may have a defective spot, and it’s worth checking before printing large pieces.
3. RERF test (after adding resin)
With resin already in the tank, the last step before printing in earnest is an RERF test (Rapid Exposure Reference Function), which lets you find the optimal exposure time for your specific resin instead of blindly trusting the default profile. Anycubic includes a ready-made R_E_R_F.pp1m file, downloadable directly from the test files section of their official wiki, ready to load via USB without having to generate it yourself.
If you’d rather generate a custom RERF test (for a third-party resin, say), you can do it from Anycubic Workshop: Help menu → Resin Calibration. There you set the number of platform zones (8 recommended) and the exposure time step between each one (0.25s recommended), select the RERF model, and generate the calibration slice. Once printed, pick the zone with the best result -complete piece, good fine-detail resolution, no failures- and use that exposure time as the starting point for your resin profile.
Either way, here’s an Anycubic video with the full unboxing of this P1 Max:
Once the network is set up, the machine gets linked to your Anycubic account and automatically shows up in Workbench alongside the rest of your registered Anycubic printers, which is especially handy if, like us, you own more than one Photon.
In the large-format resin printer segment, the most direct alternatives to the P1 Max are the Elegoo Jupiter 2 and the Uniformation GK3, both with higher nominal-resolution screens (16K). On paper they start with an advantage on that single spec, but the full user experience tells a different story.
Mechanics. The P1 Max runs a C7 ball screw on the Z axis. The Jupiter 2 uses a conventional trap screw, a cheaper solution that has generated plenty of controversy in the user community given the machine’s price: it’s common to find comparisons pointing to it as the biggest mechanical weakness against Anycubic’s proposal.
Part removal. One of the most commonly reported issues with the Jupiter 2 is that its print height exceeds the maximum height at which the plate can be extracted, making it awkward to remove tall pieces without risking damage. The P1 Max doesn’t have that problem: the folding lid lets you extract the full plate with no height restrictions, though in exchange it needs more clear space in front.
Resin handling. The Jupiter 2 includes a resin pump system that several users describe as unnecessary, prone to failure, and awkward to clean. The P1 Max skips the pump and goes with a larger-volume heated VAT instead, a mechanically simpler solution with fewer points of failure.
Software. Photon Workshop is also compatible with Chitubox, Lychee, and Tango. The Jupiter 2, according to several users, has been known to freeze up on large files due to limitations in its board’s file system, and its proprietary slicer has drawn criticism for firmware bugs.
Where does the competition win? On nominal resolution —the 16K screens on the Jupiter 2 and the GK3 beat the P1 Max’s 12K on paper—, although in practice that difference is diluted by light bleed, the resin used, and post-processing. The Uniformation GK3, meanwhile, shares its screen with the Jupiter 2 but has better overall build quality, at the cost of a noticeably higher price than both.
Overall, the Anycubic Photon P1 Max competes very well on mechanics, reliability, and software ecosystem against its direct large-format rivals, only giving ground on nominal screen resolution —a spec that matters less than it seems once you see the final printed result.
Testing and results
Over our weeks of testing we’ve run everything from single-piece large-format figures to full trays packed with fine-detail pieces, specifically to test the balance between size and precision this machine promises. The result has been, without qualification, print after print with not a single failure attributable to the machine: consistent adhesion across the whole plate, no pieces coming loose, and a level of detail that has nothing to envy in smaller-format printers.
Fine organic textures -fabric folds, scales, feathers- come through perfectly even on pieces that take up a large chunk of the plate, and the finish after washing and curing is glossy and uniform across the whole surface, without the center-to-edge curing differences you’d expect on a screen this size.
We always like to analyze UV power along with its uniformity across the whole surface, and it shows that Anycubic pays particular attention to this: the power, the distribution across the surface, and the transition between them are all at the level of prosumer-grade machines.
No machine is perfect, even less so when you take the MSLA concept to a format this large. Here are the points where we think the P1 Max still has room for improvement:
- Spring-mounted screen frame: the screen rests on a spring-based system for pressure detection, and those springs don’t always exert enough force to compress the resin down to very thin layers (30 µm) on the first layer. The result is initial rafts that are a bit thinner than we’d like, although since we always print with supports, this doesn’t affect the final model. That said, we have to say we get better results on this front than with other brands that use springs on their plates.
- Heavy build plate: 3.5 kg empty, and noticeably more once it’s holding a large piece with resin dripping off it. On top of that, its top face is flat, so resin pools up and makes cleanup more of a chore. Fortunately Anycubic now makes life easier with its resin-draining system.
- Vent on top of the lid: designed as a fresh-air intake when using the optional AirPure 2.0 extractor, but without that system connected, it lets out some of the resin’s odor and toxic fumes.
- Monitoring camera could be better: 640×480 resolution with a strong orange tint from the internal amber lighting. It’s fine for checking that the print is still running, but it’s not a camera you’d use for a timelapse. Though to be fair, given where these cameras are placed, you probably wouldn’t get great-looking timelapses out of them anyway.
- Resin consumption and the cost of failures: it’s simple physics, there’s no way around it. A large piece consumes far more resin than a miniature, and a failed print at this size hurts a lot more in time and material than a failure on a conventional MSLA printer. This is a general consideration worth keeping in mind for anyone getting into large-format resin printing. Anycubic has done excellent work with sensors and the Wave film, but they can’t prevent every accident.
- Space required: the 85 cm of height and 65 cm of depth the folding lid needs aren’t negotiable. This isn’t a printer to place next to your laptop on a small desk, although the folding lid, besides being more comfortable, needs less vertical space and does need a bit more depth compared to machines with a removable dome.
Maintaining the P1 Max follows the same logic as the rest of the Photon line, with a few quirks specific to the large format:
- Wave Release film: more durable than conventional FEP, but being a larger size, it costs more to replace than a standard film.
- Ball screw: periodic lubrication recommended, at much longer intervals than a traditional trapezoidal screw.
- UV screen: periodic checks via the built-in screen test, especially relevant on a screen this size, where a degraded spot is easier to miss.
- Ventilation: we strongly recommend the AirPure 2.0 system (optional) if you’re going to use the machine in an enclosed space without cross-ventilation, given the air vent we mentioned earlier.
- Post-processing: make sure you have a wash-and-cure station suited to the size of the pieces you’re going to print. A standard Wash & Cure station falls short for the larger pieces this printer allows.
Final verdict on the Anycubic Photon P1 Max
We’ve reached the final section, time to give our verdict after weeks of intensive use.
The Anycubic Photon P1 Max delivers exactly what it promises: it almost triples the print volume of the standard P1 without sacrificing either the mechanical precision or the reliability that already won us over on that machine. The ball screw, the steel plate, Wave Release, and the larger-capacity heated VAT aren’t cosmetic upgrades: they’re engineering decisions you can feel print after print.
Throughout our testing period everything worked as expected, with no print failures attributable to the machine. That said, as we detailed in the previous section, a format this size brings a set of trade-offs —plate weight, space required, resin consumption, camera quality— that are worth keeping firmly in mind before taking the plunge.
Anything it could improve on? Yes:
- The spring-mounted screen frame causes initial rafts to be dimensionally less precise; if you print pieces that need high dimensional accuracy directly on the plate, you’ll need to compensate for this carefully.
Either way, whether through the slicer or by using the excellent assisted manual leveling system, this can be worked around almost entirely. - The build plate is heavy and its flat top makes cleanup harder. That said, as we mentioned, thanks to the built-in system for draining the plate and its flat surface, cleaning it isn’t complicated by hard-to-reach spots.
- The monitoring camera falls short on resolution and color for 2026.
- The vent on the lid makes using the AirPure 2.0 extractor highly recommended.
But for the maker or professional who needs to print large pieces in a single go —cosplay, props, prototypes, batch production— the P1 Max solves that problem without the mechanical compromises we’ve seen on other large-format printers from the competition.
Ideal for:
- Cosplayers and prop makers who need to print large pieces in a single run
- Batch production of miniatures or medium-sized pieces, making the most of the entire plate surface
- Prototyping bulky pieces with high-viscosity technical resins, thanks to the heated VAT
- Users who already know their way around resin and want to move up to large format without losing reliability
Not so ideal if:
- You mostly print miniatures or small pieces: the standard P1 will give you the same quality level with lower overall maintenance costs
- You don’t have the necessary operating space or a properly ventilated environment
- It’s your first resin printer: the size and the cost of a failure make it preferable to start out with a smaller format
Where to buy the Anycubic Photon P1 Max?
Anycubic has the Photon P1 Max available in its official store, where alongside the printer you can also find accessories, spare parts, and consumables. Launch periods usually come with special introductory prices, so we recommend checking the product page for the offer currently running.
Here’s the link to the official store:
| Anycubic Photon P1 Max |  |
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we’ve included answers to some of the questions you’ve asked us on our social media:
What’s the main difference between the Photon P1 Max and the Photon P1?
The print volume: 18.3 liters on the P1 Max versus 6.5 liters on the P1. The mechanics (C7 ball screw, steel plate) are identical on both; what changes is the screen size, the VAT size, and the operating space required.
Can I print a life-size helmet in a single piece?
In most cases, yes. Iron Man-style helmets at 100% scale fit without any issue. Especially wide or bulky designs might need to be rotated, scaled down slightly, or split into two pieces.
Do I need the AirPure 2.0 system?
It’s not mandatory, but we recommend it if you’re going to use the printer in an enclosed space without good ventilation. The lid has a vent on top specifically designed to connect this optional extractor.
What slicer do you recommend for the Photon P1 Max?
To get started: Photon Workshop 4.0 (free, with factory profiles and remote sending). For more demanding projects: Lychee Slicer or CHITUBOX, both with native support for the P1 Max.
How much space do I need for this printer?
The closed machine measures 430 × 414 × 625 mm, but to fully open the folding lid you’ll need about 85 cm of clear height and 65 cm of depth in front.
Is the 12K resolution worse than the standard P1’s 14K?
On nominal resolution, yes, but the real pixel size (24.8 × 24.8 µm) is practically identical thanks to the screen’s 4:3 aspect ratio. In our tests we haven’t noticed any loss of detail attributable to the screen.
