xTool S1 Review: The Enclosed Diode Laser to Start With

The S1 is a diode laser in a box. That sounds like a small detail and is the whole case for it.

Most diode lasers are open frames: a gantry on a table with a beam you must never look at. The S1 puts the same kind of laser inside a tinted enclosure that xTool rates Class 1, the same safety class as a laser printer. Nobody in the room needs goggles while it runs, the smoke stays in the box until the exhaust takes it away, and a curious child or dog cannot walk into the beam. For a laser that lives in a house rather than a dedicated shop, that is the feature.

What it does well

The bed. The working area is 498 x 330 mm with the 20W module (the 40W module gives up a little depth, at 498 x 319 mm). That is enough for a full-size cutting board, coasters in batches of a dozen or more, or signs that are not toy-sized.

Modules instead of models. The laser head is swappable. Start on the 20W listed here, add a 2W infrared module later if you want to mark bare stainless and jewellery, or step up to 40W if cutting speed turns out to matter. xTool rates the 20W at 10 mm of cherry in one pass, and the 40W at 18 mm. Those are xTool’s own figures, set up under ideal conditions; plan for less on knotty or resinous stock.

Software choice. It runs xTool Creative Space, which is free and beginner-friendly, and LightBurn, which most experienced laser users end up on. Some xTool-specific features are only in xTool’s software, but the option to move is worth having.

What it does not do

No camera. Camera machines show the bed on screen so you drag the design onto the material. On the S1 you position by moving the head and using its red-dot pointer. It works, but placing a design on an irregular offcut is slower.

Autofocus is a step, not a button. The S1 measures material height with a touch probe, and you have to pull the head over the workpiece before it can.

It is still a diode. A diode laser’s blue light passes straight through clear and many light-coloured acrylics, so it cannot cut them. It also cuts thick wood far more slowly than a CO2 tube. If acrylic signage is the plan, read diode vs CO2 vs fibre before buying anything.

The enclosure is not ventilation. Smoke from burning wood still has to go somewhere. Run the exhaust hose out a window, or use a filter; see laser safety and ventilation.

Against the alternatives

The Creality Falcon2 Pro S is also enclosed and adds a camera, on a slightly smaller bed. The Sculpfun S30 Pro Max is an open-frame diode for much less money, but it needs goggles and a room you can dedicate to it. If you need to cut acrylic or thick hardwood regularly, the xTool P2S is the CO2 step up.