Creality PLA Filament 1.75mm 2kg Review: Worth Buying?
A plain workhorse PLA with no surprises: predictable printing, barely any warping on an open bed, and priced fairly even once you factor in shipping. Not premium, but not the kind of plastic that'll have you reprinting half your models either.
There's a category of products where a brand markup shows up immediately — headphones, say, or a keyboard. Then there's filament. And with filament, things get trickier: two spools of plastic in the same color can print completely differently, and you only find that out when the model peels off the bed at 40% height at two in the morning. So whenever I try a new PLA brand I haven't used before, I'm always a little tense — what if this is one of those "looks fine in the box, but is actually damp and pops bubbles on extrusion" situations.
This Creality spool is exactly the case where you can exhale. The brand isn't new to 3D printing — they have their own printer lineup, and they clearly aren't making filament just to check a box, but to have it work with their own hardware — Ender, CR-series, and similar. Though there's no actual lock-in to a specific printer brand here; this is standard 1.75mm PLA, and on my Prusa clone it behaved just as politely as it should on a native Creality machine.
The first thing that stands out isn't the color or the packaging — it's how evenly the filament is wound. Sounds trivial, but uneven winding on cheap no-name spools is exactly what causes tangles and mid-print snaps on an eight-hour model. That never happened here across several weeks of active use. The diameter stays consistent, no "fat" spots that clog the nozzle or cause uneven extrusion on fine details.
The claimed "improved strength and no warping" isn't total marketing fluff, though it isn't a miracle formula either. On an open bed with no enclosure, large flat parts (stands, housings) really do lift less at the corners than regular PLA — I printed a test plate from another brand side by side for comparison, and the difference in corner lift is visible to the naked eye, about half an inch of edge that stays flatter. But this isn't ABS-level stability, and don't expect you can suddenly print without bed cooling or in a cold room in winter without any issues — the physics of plastic hasn't been repealed.
It prints at the usual PLA temperatures, with the sweet spot slightly above the middle of the range — about the same as Sunlu or eSUN, brands I'm used to. Retraction is also surprise-free, stringing is minimal if your printer's already dialed in decently. So this isn't the filament that'll magically fix bad retraction settings — but it also won't pile new problems on top of old ones.
What genuinely delights is the 2kg bundle. For anyone printing regularly — prototypes, household parts, holiday gifts off the printer — buying in a larger batch at once removes the headache of constantly reordering fresh spools every couple of weeks. And per gram, it actually ends up cheaper than buying the same brand in separate 1kg spools. Compared to AMOLEN, which also sells in bundles, this one has fewer "features" like a silk effect or color-shifting, but the price per kilogram is friendlier — this is pure working plastic without the frills.
The price is around $23.99 for 2kg, which works out to roughly $12 per kilogram — pretty generous for a brand with this level of consistency. For the full cost with shipping and import duty to your own country, check the landed price on dede.sh — not the cheapest filament on the market, but not the kind of case where you're overpaying for a sticker on the spool either.
There are downsides too, and I'll be upfront about them. The color range is fairly standard — nothing exotic like fluorescent or marble shades, so if you're after something for decorative printing with effects, look elsewhere. And second — the spool is physically quite large, and on some printers with a built-in filament holder it may simply not fit, so check your device's dimensions in advance so you don't end up rigging an external holder next to the bed.
Who should buy it, and who shouldn't
If you print regularly — prototypes, functional parts, household odds and ends or gifts — this filament covers the basic need without any extra hassle. Stable extrusion, minimal warping, a fair price per kilogram when bought as a bundle. This is exactly the kind of plastic you want to "always have on the shelf," not the one you buy once and forget the brand of.
But if you need special effects — silk, wood, color-changing with heat — look toward other lines; this is strictly basic PLA. And if you print rarely, once every few months, 2kg might just dry out on the shelf before you use it all — in that case, smaller spools with sealed packaging, stored in a box with silica gel, are the better call.
FAQ
It warps less than regular PLA, that's true, I compared it directly. But on large flat parts without a printer enclosure the corners still lift a bit, especially in a cold room. For small and medium models, there's practically no issue.
These are different products for different jobs. Creality is a working plastic for functional parts and prototypes, no effects. AMOLEN Silk gives a nice glossy look and dual colors, but costs more per kilogram and suits decorative printing rather than parts that need to handle load.
For the first few months of experimenting, yes, with plenty to spare. But keep in mind: without sealed storage the filament will start pulling moisture from the air within a few months, especially in summer, and prints will turn bubbly. If you print infrequently, split the spool into smaller portions in vacuum bags with silica gel.
No, this is a standard 1.75mm PLA with no printer-brand lock-in. It prints on any FDM printer that supports this diameter — tested on non-Creality hardware without a single complaint.
If you're looking for something to compare against, or to add to a new printer purchase, check out the picks below.
