Rainbow filament or multi-colour printer: the real buyer's choice

Display

This category doesn’t really apply in the normal consumer-electronics sense, because Product A is filament and Product B is a printer. If we translate this to the user interface and day-to-day control experience, Product B wins easily: the FLASHFORGE AD5X is an integrated machine with on-device controls, calibration workflows, and a multi-material system designed for one-click operation. Product A has no display, no UI, and no onboard features because it is simply a spool of filament. Winner: Product B, by default, because it is the only product here with a real interface and printer-level control.

Performance

On raw printing capability, Product B is the clear winner because it is the thing doing the printing. The AD5X is rated for 600mm/s and is built for 4-colour printing, full-auto calibration, and filament backup, which are meaningful performance features for anyone producing multicolour models or wanting less manual setup. Product A’s “high speed 600mm/s” claim is about material compatibility: Creality Hyper Rainbow PLA is designed to feed smoothly at high speed on a compatible printer such as the Ender 3 V3 Plus. That’s useful, but it doesn’t increase the capability of your printer on its own. Winner: Product B, because it delivers the actual machine performance and workflow automation; Product A only supports performance in a narrower material role.

Build quality and design

Product B again takes the win on engineering and system design. A multi-material printer has to manage filament routing, calibration, and consistent extrusion across colours, so the AD5X’s full-auto calibration and filament backup suggest a more complex and capable design aimed at reducing failure points. Product A’s build quality is about the filament itself: a 1kg spool of gradient rainbow PLA with dimensional accuracy of ±0.03 mm is a strong spec for a consumable, and Creality generally has a solid reputation in the budget-to-midrange maker space. But filament quality is only one part of the chain. Winner: Product B, because its design directly expands what you can print and how reliably you can print it.

Battery life

Neither product has battery life, so this category doesn’t apply. Product A is passive filament, and Product B is mains-powered desktop hardware. If we reinterpret this as “uptime” or “how long can you keep making stuff without intervention,” Product B wins thanks to filament backup and automated calibration, which reduce stops and fiddling. Product A cannot improve uptime except by being a decent, tangle-free spool. Winner: Product B, on practical uptime and workflow continuity.

Price and value for money

This is where Product A absolutely dominates. At £25.99, the Creality Hyper Rainbow PLA is dramatically cheaper than the FLASHFORGE AD5X at £399.00, a difference of £373.01. If you already own a compatible printer and want to add a flashy long-gradient rainbow finish, Product A is superb value: low cost, strong rating at 4.6/5 from 1,180 reviews, and a useful dimensional tolerance of ±0.03 mm. Product B’s 4.4/5 rating from 352 reviews is respectable, but the price is in a totally different league because you are buying an entire multi-colour printer, not a consumable. Winner: Product A, by a huge margin for value per pound spent.

Game library/features

Neither product has a game library, so this category does not apply literally. In maker terms, the equivalent is feature set. Product B wins decisively: 4-colour printing, 1-click print, DIY IFS creations, full-auto calibration, and filament backup are real feature advantages that unlock more ambitious projects with less manual effort. Product A’s feature set is narrower but still meaningful for the right user: long-gradient rainbow effect, PLA ease of use, and high-speed compatibility. If your goal is aesthetic variety without changing hardware, the filament is neat; if your goal is capability, the printer is far richer. Winner: Product B.

Overall user experience

For a newcomer with no printer, Product B offers the complete experience: unbox, calibrate automatically, load multiple filaments, and start making multicolour parts. That said, it is a much bigger investment and comes with the usual learning curve of owning a printer, maintaining it, and feeding it enough filament to justify the purchase. Product A is the opposite: it is simple, cheap, and immediately rewarding if you already have a printer. A gradient rainbow PLA spool can transform basic prints into eye-catching showpieces with very little effort, and the 4.6/5 rating across 1,180 reviews suggests many users are happy with the consistency. Winner: tie in overall experience, because it depends entirely on whether you need a consumable upgrade or a whole new machine.

Overall summary: if you already own an Ender 3 V3 Plus or another compatible printer and want the easiest, cheapest way to get colourful, high-speed-friendly prints, Product A is the smarter buy. If you do not yet own a printer, or you specifically want 4-colour printing, automation, and a more advanced workflow, Product B is the only one that actually solves that problem. These are not direct substitutes, but if forced to choose one for maximum capability, the FLASHFORGE AD5X is the clear winner; if forced to choose one for value, the Creality Hyper Rainbow PLA is unbeatable.