xTool F1 vs F1 Ultra: Worth the Upgrade?

xTool's F-series pairs a fiber source with a blue diode so one machine can both mark bare metal and engrave wood. The question buyers ask is whether the bigger, pricier F1 Ultra is worth roughly $800 more than the compact F1, or whether the little one is enough. For a maker who sells personalized metal, the answer usually comes down to volume and bed size.

We score by class, standardizing published specs against owner reports and community results rather than running a test lab.

The quick answer

• The xTool F1 is the portable pick: a compact dual-source engraver, an infrared fiber for bare-metal marking plus a blue diode for wood and leather, on a small roughly 4-inch-square bed, for around $1,100 to $1,300. It is a grab-and-go personalizer.
• The xTool F1 Ultra is the production pick: 20W fiber plus 20W diode on a much larger 8.66-inch (220 mm) bed, a 16MP camera with batch auto-placement, and enough fiber power to cut thin metal, for around $1,900 to $2,200.

If you mark small items on the move, see the xTool F1; if you run metal at volume and want a camera and a bigger bed, the F1 Ultra is the upgrade.

F1 vs F1 Ultra at a glance

Specs current as of mid-2026.

What the F1 is great at

The F1's whole pitch is portability. It is small enough to carry to a market booth or a client's site, boots fast, and its galvo head marks names, logos, and serials on bare stainless, brass, and anodized aluminum in seconds, then switches to the diode for wood and leather. For a maker personalizing knives, flasks, jewelry, and hardware in small runs, or doing on-site work, that grab-and-go footprint is the feature. Its limits are exactly its size: a roughly 4-inch bed and no camera for batch placement, so large or high-volume jobs get fiddly.

What the F1 Ultra adds

The F1 Ultra is the same idea scaled for a business. Twenty watts of fiber marks faster and darker and can cut thin metal outright, around 0.3 mm stainless and 0.4 mm brass, while the 20W diode cuts wood up to roughly 15 mm and acrylic to about 12 mm, turning it into a real cutter as well as a marker. The much larger 220 mm bed fits bigger work and more parts per load, and the 16MP camera with batch auto-placement is the productivity story: lay out a tray of blanks, let the camera map them, and run the set. For volume metal marking, that camera workflow is what earns the extra $800.

The MOPA question

One clarification saves disappointment: neither of these is a MOPA machine. The F1 Ultra's 20W fiber is a fixed-pulse (Q-switched) source, excellent for crisp black marks and annealing, but it does not offer the fine pulse-tuning that produces the full range of permanent colors on stainless. If color-on-metal is your product, step up to a MOPA machine such as the xTool F2 Ultra 60W, which is built for it. Buy an F1 or F1 Ultra for fast, clean marking and cutting; buy MOPA for a color palette.

Materials and safety (both machines)

A fiber-plus-diode machine still follows the never-list. Never mark or cut PVC, vinyl, PVC-backed faux leather, or any chlorinated material: the chlorine gas becomes hydrochloric acid that harms your lungs and corrodes optics. Avoid polycarbonate and ABS. Fiber marking of metal throws fine particulate, so ventilation and, for volume work, a fume extractor matter; keep a fire blanket or extinguisher within reach, and never leave either machine running unattended. Fiber light is invisible and hazardous to eyes, so use the shielding and rated eyewear the machine specifies. Prove new materials on a test grid using our settings calculator as a starting point.

The business math

Metal marking is a high-margin lane, so the upgrade math is really about throughput. The F1 pays back on low volume and mobility: cheap to buy, easy to carry, and marking stock like stainless keychains costs pennies to personalize. The F1 Ultra costs more but marks faster, cuts, fits more parts per load, and its camera turns batch jobs from fiddly to fast, so if you are filling dozens of orders a week, the time saved covers the $800 quickly. Low volume or on-the-go favors the F1; steady volume and cutting favor the Ultra.

The verdict

• Portable, occasional, small-item marking: xTool F1.
• Volume metal marking, bigger bed, camera batch work, and light cutting: xTool F1 Ultra.
• Permanent color on metal: neither; that is a MOPA machine like the F2 Ultra.

See the class in our best fiber laser roundup, read the full xTool F1 Ultra review, weigh a MOPA rival in F1 Ultra vs ComMarker B6 and the class basics in fiber vs CO2 for metal, and browse all our buying guides.