Anycubic P1 Max Hands-On Review: Is 18.3L Worth It?

• By Christopher Hoffman
• Posted in Uncategorised
• On September 28, 2026
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What happens when your resin printer makes parts so big that your wash and cure station can’t fit them? That’s the first problem I ran into with the Anycubic Photon P1 Max. In this Anycubic Photon P1 Max review, I’ll cover a month of testing, from tiny miniatures to a full 300 mm Eiffel Tower, plus the quirks you should know about before you buy a large resin 3D printer this size.

Save $15: Use code HOFFENG at checkout on the Anycubic US store.

Anycubic Photon P1 Max Specs

Spec	Value
Printer Type	MSLA resin
Build Volume	285.5 x 214 x 300 mm (18.3 L)
Screen	14″ 12K monochrome LCD
Resolution	11520 x 8640
XY Pixel Size	24.8 x 24.8 microns
Light Source	LightTurbo 4.0 (COB + aspherical Fresnel lens), 92%+ uniformity claimed
Z-Axis	C7 ball screws and linear rails, ±0.01 mm repeat positioning
Resin Vat	About 1.9 L to max line, heated up to 35°C
Leveling	Force-sensor assisted leveling and pre-print check
Connectivity	Anycubic app, built-in camera, remote monitoring
Price (at time of review)	$849 (US)

Photon P1 Max Pros and Cons

14″ 12K Screen and LightTurbo 4.0 Light Source

The P1 Max uses a 14-inch 12K monochrome LCD with a resolution of 11520 x 8640 and square 24.8-micron pixels. One thing that’s easy to mix up: the smaller Photon P1 has a 10.1-inch 14K screen. So the Max has a lower resolution number, but it’s a much bigger screen, and those 24.8-micron pixels still produce very fine detail.

Anycubic calls the optics LightTurbo 4.0. It pairs a COB light source with an aspherical Fresnel lens and claims 3 degrees or less of collimation and over 92% light uniformity. In plain terms, the goal is even, nearly straight UV light from one side of the plate to the other.

I tested this with a sheet of paper over the screen. I couldn’t see any hotspots or dim areas. That’s not a lab measurement, but compared to earlier Photon printers I’ve tested, the lighting looked remarkably consistent. On a screen this big, that matters, because you’re printing across a lot more surface area.

Build Volume and Z-Axis

The headline feature is the 285.5 x 214 x 300 mm build volume, which works out to 18.3 liters. Compared to the resin printers most of us own, it’s huge.

The build plate rides on C7-grade ball screws and linear guide rails, which Anycubic rates at ±0.01 mm repeat positioning accuracy. In a month of printing, I saw no Z-wobble and no layer shifting, even on the full-height prints.

The plate itself is precision-ground steel with no heavy texture or perforations. Once it was leveled properly, adhesion was solid, and prints still came off without a fight.

Heated Resin Vat and Wave Release

I like this vat a lot. Quick-release clamps and handles mean no fiddly screws, and there’s a real pour spout for getting unused resin back into the bottle cleanly. It holds about 1.9 liters to the max line.

You’ll need that capacity. Large prints eat resin, even when hollowed. It’s not unusual for a print to use half a liter or more when you’re filling the build volume, so budget for resin along with the printer.

The vat heats resin up to 35°C. I tested in a warm Florida spring, so I couldn’t stress-test the heater, but in a cold garage or basement it should keep resin viscosity consistent. Anycubic’s Wave Release Technology is also designed to cut peel force by up to 60%, which helps reliability on big, heavy parts.

Leveling: Do This on Day One

This is the biggest tip in the review. Anycubic ships the P1 Max factory-calibrated, and it runs a leveling check before every print. My first two prints still failed from poor bed adhesion, even though the printer passed that check.

The fix was easy. The assisted leveling routine uses force sensors in all four corners and tells you exactly which screws to turn and by how much. It took a couple of minutes, and I never had to touch it again.

So even if the printer says it’s ready, run the assisted leveling routine when you first set it up. It would have saved me two failed prints and a good amount of resin.

Camera, App Monitoring and Failure Detection

Remote monitoring is one of my favorite parts of the P1 Max. The Anycubic app sends notifications when a print starts, finishes or runs into trouble. The built-in camera gives you a live view and captures great timelapses.

The failure detection caught both of my failed prints. On one, a layer stopped attaching about 90% of the way through. The printer warned me, I told it to continue anyway to see what would happen, and it didn’t recover. The detection did its job.

The app and Photon Workshop also show the layer separation force over time. The printer uses that data for its Dynamic Release system and part of its failure monitoring. There’s camera-based AI detection too, though I didn’t get a good chance to test it directly.

One quirk: like the Photon Mono M7 Pro, the fans run whenever the P1 Max is plugged in, even when it’s powered off. If it lives in a quiet office, you’ll want to unplug it.

Photon Workshop Slicer

Photon Workshop worked well. The P1 Max profiles are built in, with validated settings for Anycubic’s resins. I used the defaults for Anycubic Standard resin, and they printed perfectly with no tuning. On a build plate this large, not having to gamble on settings is a big deal.

Automatic supports worked well too. I added a few extra now and then for peace of mind. It can also hollow models and add drain holes, which matters a lot at this size. Give hollow parts proper drainage and vent holes, or you’ll trap uncured resin and create suction during printing.

The one gap: there’s still no auto-orientation. You’ll need to tilt your models yourself before generating supports. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it feels like an obvious missing feature.

Anycubic also runs MakerOnline, a model-sharing site. That’s where I found the Silent Bloom and Easter Twilight Temptress models in the results below.

Setup and Post-Processing: Plan for Big Parts

Unboxing was easy. Pull out the foam, peel off the protective film and slide on the build plate. The touchscreen walks you through the rest, and I went from sealed box to first print in about 30 minutes. The touchscreen itself is responsive and easy to navigate.

Post-processing is where you need to plan ahead. My wash and cure setup couldn’t fit the biggest prints, so I ended up washing in large plastic tubs with over 20 liters of isopropyl alcohol. I could usually make my curing station work by removing its platform and angling models diagonally.

Even Anycubic’s Wash & Cure 3 Max can’t take the P1 Max’s full 285.5 x 214 mm footprint, though it handles most prints. If you’re buying a printer this size, budget for post-processing too.

Standard resin safety applies: good ventilation, nitrile gloves and eye protection. The P1 Max also connects directly to Anycubic’s AirPure 2.0 system, which makes it easy to vent fumes outside.

Anycubic Photon P1 Max Print Results

Chitubox resolution test. Even the smallest 0.25 mm pillar printed, the finest horizontal and vertical lines are visible, and the 0.2 mm walls came through. Only the middle support in the support test printed. Still, this is one of the best results I’ve seen on this model.

300 mm Eiffel Tower. I printed this at the full build height. Every truss and overhang came out clean, and the detail holds all the way to the top. It’s a great showcase of the full Z height.

Silent Bloom. The filigree on the wings, the flowing dress and the individual flower petals all turned out beautifully.

Easter Twilight Temptress. One of my favorite results. The layers are nearly invisible, and Photon Workshop’s auto supports held everything while leaving very few marks. Even the tiny details at the end of the tail printed cleanly.

Resin vs FDM: Faster at One-Third the Layer Height

I printed the same Temptress model on my Snapmaker U1 FDM printer. The U1’s smaller build area meant I couldn’t even print it at the same size, and the FDM version couldn’t match the resin detail.

The speed surprised me more. The FDM print, 10% smaller, took 22 hours at 0.16 mm layers. The P1 Max finished in a little under 12 hours at 0.05 mm layers. That’s roughly half the time at about one-third the layer height.

Miniatures. The P1 Max isn’t only for big parts. Vaelira the Soulbinder shows off fine detail in the hair and armor. On Shadow of the Harvest, the crossbow, armor and every individual arrow printed fully. The one defect across all my prints was a succubus wing that didn’t finish, most likely from a missing support I didn’t catch.

Photon P1 Max vs Photon P1 and M7 Pro

If you’re deciding between Anycubic’s resin printers, here’s how I’d think about it. The Photon P1 Max is the scaled-up sibling of the Photon P1. The P1 has a smaller 10.1-inch 14K screen, while the Max trades a little pixel count for a much larger 14-inch screen and 18.3 liters of build volume.

If you don’t need that much space, the Photon Mono M7 Pro is worth a look. It’s smaller, cheaper to feed, and fits standard wash and cure stations. You can watch my full Photon Mono M7 Pro review here.

Is the Anycubic Photon P1 Max Worth It?

The Anycubic Photon P1 Max is an impressive large-format resin printer. The 18.3-liter build volume is the star, and it doesn’t cost you consistency or fine detail. Every test, from the resolution print to full-height models and miniatures, came out great. The camera, app alerts and failure detection make long prints easy to keep an eye on.

It’s not perfect. Level the bed on day one even if the self-check passes. The fans never fully turn off. Photon Workshop still needs auto-orientation. And your wash and cure setup will probably need an upgrade.

So who is it for? If you regularly hit the limits of your current resin printer, or you want to batch out lots of parts in one run, the P1 Max is a fantastic choice. If you print one 28 or 32 mm miniature at a time and your current printer handles that fine, you don’t need something this big. But if you have the space, the resin budget and the post-processing setup, it’s an excellent machine. After that first leveling fix, it was remarkably reliable for the rest of my testing.

Check the latest price on the Anycubic Photon P1 Max (use code HOFFENG for $15 off)

Pricing and Where to Buy

• Anycubic Photon P1 Max – $849 at time of recording
• Anycubic Wash & Cure 3 Plus
• Anycubic Wash & Cure 3 Max
• Anycubic AirPure 2.0

Use code HOFFENG for $15 off at checkout. Anycubic also sells P1 Max bundles with the Wash & Cure 3 Plus or 3 Max, plus replacement release films, screens, vats and build plates.

Prices may have changed. Click the links for current pricing and discount codes.

Anycubic Photon P1 Max FAQ

Is the Anycubic Photon P1 Max worth it?

Yes, if you regularly print large models or want to batch many parts at once. It delivers excellent detail across its full 18.3-liter build volume. If you mostly print single miniatures, a smaller printer like the Photon Mono M7 Pro will serve you well for less.

What is the build volume of the Photon P1 Max?

285.5 x 214 x 300 mm, or 18.3 liters. That’s big enough for a 300 mm tall Eiffel Tower in one piece.

What’s the difference between the Photon P1 and P1 Max?

The P1 Max is the larger model, with a 14-inch 12K screen and an 18.3-liter build volume. The Photon P1 uses a smaller 10.1-inch 14K screen. The Max has the lower resolution number but a much bigger print area.

Does the Photon P1 Max need leveling?

It ships factory-calibrated, but I’d run the assisted leveling routine on day one. My bed passed the self-check and still caused two failed prints. The force-sensor leveling takes a couple of minutes and held for the rest of my testing.

Will Photon P1 Max prints fit in a wash and cure station?

Not always. Most standard stations are too small for full-size prints, and even the Wash & Cure 3 Max can’t cover the full build footprint. Plan on a larger wash container for your biggest parts.

Disclosure: This Photon P1 Max was provided by Anycubic for review. Anycubic did not pay for this review. This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own.