Filament review: BIQU PLA matte and PLA Premium filament review - The first filament production from BIQU

BIQU / BigTreeTech is best known for their BTT SKR 3D printer motherboards, printers like their BIQU B1 or BIQU BX, and also parts like their BIQU H2 direct drive extruder. BIQU is now also introducing their own filament. Let’s take a look!

Two types of BIQU PLA

BIQU sent me two rolls of their PLA: One roll of PLA Matte and one roll of Premium PLA. The difference is the texture: Premium PLA is shiny instead of matte.

BIQU PLA comes in a cardboard box with recommended printing parameters and a short description on the side

BIQU wants to distinguish this filament by ease of use and being a general purpose printing filament. Though it is currently not available yet in a European warehouse, BIQU already sells it on their website.

Packaging

BIQU filament comes in a cardboard box with a description on the side, stating the recommended printing parameters. The spool inside is vacuum sealed.

A vacuum sealed spool with some desiccant

The plastic bag has been vacuum sealed with a strong vacuum, but it is not reusable. There is also a bag of desiccant inside to keep the filament dry during transport. The desiccant can be reused when you store the spool of filament later. There are instructions on the desiccant on how to reactivate it.

PLA Matte filament

The desiccant included is reusable - you can store your filament dry after usage

Spool

I always have some attention for the spool. Some brands, like SUNLU, have spools that are more cumbersome to use because there are only two holes in the spool to stick the filament in. I also find the reusability (master spool) or recyclability (cardboard) of importance.

The design is attractive to the eye

The spool is not reusable nor recyclable. There are at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degree angle two holes to secure loose filament in. It is not as well as a spool of Prusa, but better than Sunlu for instance.

Prints

I made several prints using this filament. Let’s go check it out!

Matte PLA

The ClockSpring Torture Toaster printed with 2.5mm retraction on a Bowden printer

Fully functional! Only the 0.1mm tolerance didn’t work - but that is pretty much unavoidable when printing at decent speeds

BondTech LGX mount for the Creality CR-10 Smart

This model had some supports, but they broke away easily.

Bathroom faucet knob

Stackable storage tray

The layer lines are only visible in a close-up - otherwise they are invisible

Multiple stacked boxes with a Velleman VTUSB stand printed in BIQU Premium PLA

Premium PLA

Premium PLA has a more shiny finish, but not as shiny as silk PLA. This results in stronger prints compared to silk PLA.

The collapsible dagger

A gift for mothers day 2021

Frozen - my daughter loves this. This model was printed with minimal (built-in) supports.

Dragon. Testing how far I can tune down retractions on my Bowden printer - this is at 3mm (I normally print at 6.5mm)

Pros and cons

So, with these prints, where does this leave this filament?

Pro’s:

• Minimal tendency stringing. On my Bowden CR-6 I was able to tune retraction to 3 mm.
• The matte PLA hides layer lines very well.
• Reliable. I haven’t had any clogs, jams on any hot-end (PTFE, all-metal, Bowden or Direct Drive).
• Comes with a reusable desiccant bag.

Cons:

• The matte PLA seems to be susceptible to print artifacts near the Z-seam when using a large nozzle.
• The spool is not reusable nor recyclable - it is a standard plastic spool.

Other thoughts:

• The desiccant bag has instruction on how to reuse it. This encourages saving the desiccant and reusing it later.
• There is a typo on the packaging of the Matte PLA. This is resolved in newer batches of the filament.

Where to get it & pricing

BIQU filament is available on EBay, AliExpress and Amazon.

The price is about 26 dollars which puts it just above SUNLU and near other PLAs.