Amazon Basics PLA 3D Printer Filament, 1.75 mm, Black, 1 kg per Spool

Good quality works well

've been using the Amazon Basics PLA 3D Printer Filament for a few months now, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. The filament has a consistent diameter, which is great for avoiding clogs in my printer. I’ve tried a few different colors, and they all print nicely without significant issues. One thing I really appreciate is how easy it is to work with. It adheres well to the print bed, and I've had minimal warping or curling. The finished prints have a nice finish and the colors are vibrant, making my projects look good. The spool itself is also user-friendly; it unwinds smoothly without tangling, which is a huge plus when you're in the middle of a long print. For the price, it’s hard to beat this quality. Overall, I’d definitely recommend the Amazon Basics PLA filament to anyone looking for reliable and affordable 3D printing material.

Just can’t seem to get a decent print with this filament. After multiple attempts and profiles for my own sanity, I had the write this review. Does not adhere to the build plate like all other basic PLA that I have and the prints that I did manage to complete seemed very poor quality to the same print from another PLA.

I see a lot of comments out on the net with advice to steer clear of stuff like this. It's cheap and of course has to be rubbish because of that. Being the adventurous sort on a tight budget I ignored common advice and bought some. That was three years ago. Since then I have purchased several more rolls and a a few of these multipacks (when they are available. To be fair to Amazon they don't make any claims to this being premium pla. Are there better ones? Absolutely there are. For many you pay quite a bit more as well. On a budget, this pla is just fine. I get perfectly satisfactory prints with high detail and reliable replication across different prints. It melts between 210-215 degrees nicely doesn't spit, blob or run. So far, I have found this pla to be one of the most consistent and reliable at this price range. As with anything, a lot of the result is in preparation. Making sure the model is set up properly for printing in the slicer is most of the issue. The more detail you want, the more carefully you need to set up the slice. For statues and hero figure prints you also need to consider the print head that is being used. Most pla printers come with a standard 0.4 head fitted. This is a perfectly fine general use head. But for figure prints you might want to use something smaller. I have the best results for heroic statue prints with a 0.2 head. The print take longer, you need to take a bit longer in the slicer settings, but the end result is excellent. I printed a Jack Sparrow statue for my daughter using this pla, in 1/10th scale. With a 0.2 head and this pla the end result was as good as a resin print - although the resin model would have been quite a bit smaller. I use this pla for general purpose, vehicles, scenic items for game boards, scatter terrain and similar. If I have to print something of particularly high quality then I will use a smaller head, but I don't automatically reach for the higher priced pla. More often than not I will start printing with this - a couple of small pieces from the whole model, then after inspecting them I will either continue or use a more expensive pla. So far, I have used a lot more of this than I have of the other pla variants that are available. I've attached a few photos of stuff that has been printed with this pla. They should illustrate that it is possible to get detailed and complex prints from Amazon filament.

While I haven't been 3D printing for long, it's literally opened up doors that I had previously never imagined possible. Pictured is one of my ribbon microphone tools (you can find these on Thingiverse as they are fully open source hardware). This particular tool corrugates the ribbon between two closely meshed gears. This was printed on a TronXY Pro 2 printer (similar to an Ender 3 but with fairly old, and buggy, Marlin software) and a stock 0.4mm nozzle. Despite that the prints are pretty much faultless. Bed adhesion (heated) was good and the filament performs well at a range of temperatures. This pearl lustre is pleasant and while this filament was surprisingly good for the price and produced mostly tools (I bought this instead of white by mistake) it should be excellent for decorative prints and lithophanes. What really surprised me was the addition of simple but thoughtful things that I hadn't imagined would come att his price: specifically a re-sealable bag and some moisture absorbent material in the reel! This is really neat because unless you've heard about the vacuum cleaner bag trick, it will allow you to store your PLA for months at a time when not in use and not end up as wetter than my washing when I left it out in the rain *(again). PLA isn't the worst offender for its hygroscopic properties (nylon takes that crown) but it is still prone to it, particularly in the summer months when air is holding more moisture.

The colour is exactly what I wanted, a dark brown similar to old varnished wood like my grandmother's sideboard. The glossy finish adds to that effect, although it should be noted that the gloss only occurs where the print is not touching anything. Bed-touching surfaces inherit their texture from your bed surface. I'm using a Creality Ender 3 Pro flexible magnetic base, and I had quite a few problems persuading this filament to adhere to the surface - the first such problems I've had. I was able to improve this by recalibrating my Z-offset and raising the temperature of the first layer to around 220°C hot-end, 60°C bed, and dropping to 200/50 for the second and subsequent layers, but it was always a bit touch-and-go whether it would stick to the base. At these temperatures, the print job comes out rather lighter in colour than the filament went in, but once the part has cooled, the colour returns to the same as what's on the reel. It was delivered in a brown cardboard box, and within was the reel, wrapped in thin poorly-sealed (and non-resealable) shrink-wrap, which had open gaps around the edges. There was a desiccant sachet present, but with an unsealed wrap, this wouldn't be of much use, and when the filament was delivered from a cold delivery van to a warm house, condensation appeared on the filament itself. Fortunately, it seemed to evaporate soon, without noticeable effect. The reel it was supplied on was unusually wide with a narrow core, and may not fit on some holders. I was using the "filler" filament holder from Thingiverse, and it was fine on this, as well as over the standard Ender 3/3 Pro holder. The reason for the large reel seems to be that the filament was not wound in an orderly fashion like some better filaments, but chaotically. I've found no tangles in the first half-reel, so this may not matter. I had to use a Zip-Lok bag to store the filament and desiccant, as the shrink wrap can't be re-used. Overall, the filament was just about adequate, but the packaging left something to be desired. Since this brand is only a little cheaper than other better brands, I'd hesitate to recommend this, but it's not too bad.

Absolutely amazed at the performance of this PLA compared to the Creality own brand I had been using (as it came with my printer). This is the second plant pot I’m printing with my Ender 3 V3 SE, and there’s not even a hint of stringing, warping or demarcation lines or anything except a beautifully smooth print. I’ve even sped it up to 150% and it’s flawless. I’m using Pearl White but I intend to get some other colours in the range with high expectations. The only adjustment I made from the default settings was setting the bed temperature to 55C, as the temperature range of this PLA is lower than usual. Also worth noting it arrived shrink wrapped and boxed, wound neatly with no tangles.

Great filament well worth the money