Creality has sent a review sample of the Falcon A1 Pro fully enclosed laser engraver and cutting machine. It’s designed to be easy to use out of the box since it’s mostly pre-assembled. It is equipped with a 20W blue laser and can engrave and cut a wide variety of materials such as cardboard, wood, bamboo, rubber, leather, fabric, acrylic, plastic, and more.
It notably supports cutting 10 mm thick basswood and 8 mm thick black acrylic. The machine can engrave materials at a speed of up to 600 mm/s, and offers smart features such as auto focus, real-time flame detection, and an HD camera for accurate workpiece positioning. It’s compatible with a range of laser engraving software, such as LightBurn and LaserGRBL for Windows and macOS, but we’ll use Falcon Design Space in this review.
Creality Falcon A1 Pro Laser Engraver Specifications
- Main laser module
- Laser power – 20W
- Laser source – Semiconductor laser
- Laser wavelength – 455mm ± 5 nanometers
- Materials – Cardboard, wood, bamboo, rubber, leather, fabric, acrylic, plastic, etc.
- Laser Safety Level – Class 1 (according to FDA standards)
- Optional infrared laser (not included in the model reviewed here)
- Laser source – Solid-state Laser
- Laser power – 2W
- Laser wavelength – 1064mm ± 1 nanometers
- Supported Materials – Gold, silver, brass, steel, aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, dark opaque acrylic, titanium alloys, plated metals, slate, ceramic coasters, etc.
- Safety Standards – FDA, CE, ROHS, FCC, PSE
- Engraving area – 358 x 268 mm
- Supported operating systems – Windows / macOS
- Supported laser software – Falcon Design Space, LightBurn, LaserGRBL
- Files – JPEG, JPG, PNG, BMP, SVG, DXF, and others
- Power Supply – Input: 100–240V ~ 50–60Hz; output: 24V DC up to 7.5A
- Dimensions – 567 × 468 × 211 mm (with screen attached: 685 × 468 × 211 mm)
- Weight – 16.8 kg
Creality Falcon A1 Pro unboxing
We received two packages from Creality.
Let’s start by opening the larger box first. That’s where we’ll find the Creality Falcon A1 Pro laser engraver and other components neatly packed inside the device itself and secured with protective foam.
The main unit has a sturdy enclosed structure (358 x 268 mm work area) with an orange acrylic cover and sides that filter laser light. This helps protect the eyes from direct laser exposure without wearing protective goggles while still allowing clear visibility inside the machine.
The top cover integrates the HD camera along with a “privacy” switch to disable it.
The right side of the machine comes with an emergency switch the cable for the display, and various connection ports, namely: a USB Type-C port for connecting a USB flash drive or other accessory devices, a USB Type-C port for connecting a computer, an air tube connection slot, a rotary kit port (kit not included in our sample), a power on/off switch, a power supply port,
an Air Pump port for control and power, and a safety lock.
The rear panel mainly features the exhaust and a sticker with some technical information about the laser module and machine. Getting a full enclosed machine is another benefit over traditional open design machines since smoke and fumes can be more easily redirected.
Accessories include a silicone tube, an air assist pump, a control screen, a user manual, an exhaust hose and clamp, an anti-static brush, USB Type-A to Type-C cable, a rotary kit connection cable, a USB-A to USB-C adapter, an adjustable focus block, key, a 300m x 300 x 3 mm basswood sheet, a test and calibration card, a 24V/7.5A power adapter, plastic tweezers, a lint-free cloth, a protective lens, and a few Allen/hex keys.
Time to look at the second package. It contains materials for engraving and cutting: green, red, and orange acrylic plates, as well as plywood of different thicknesses up to 10mm.
You can scan the QR code to get more details about the recommended engraving and cutting parameters for the materials at a given power level.
See green acrylic link for example.
Creality Falcon A1 Pro laser engraver assembly and wiring
Since the Creality Falcon A1 Pro main unit is pre-assembled at the factory, there’s not much to do in terms of assembly. Let’s start by connecting the LCD cable to…
.. the actual LCD. The cable will clip with the matting connector on the display, and you can then just slide the screen in the slot reversed for mounting.
The next step is to install the exhaust hose to the rear side of the ahcine and secure it with the provided hose clamp.
We mostly followed the instructions provided in the user manual for the rest of the assembly/wiring.
This includes connecting the silicon tube to the air assist pump and connecting the silicon tube and power/data cable to the reserved ports on the machine. After than connect the power adapter, insert the safety key to unlock the machine, release the emergency button, and press the on-off switch to start the machine.
The machine will start up, the internal lamp will light up as well as the laser status indicator light (green).
At this point, we decided to remove the protective films from the machine. Doing so for the front door requires the user to loosen two screws securing the handle, remove it, peel the film, and reinstall the handle.
Hardware installation is done at this point. It should only take a couple of minutes.
Initial setup
When the machine starts up, the display will start a setup wizard to set the language, Wi-Fi credentials, the time zone, and show a QR Code to log in to the FalconSpace App. We’ll skip this step for now.
The next step is the Self-test process. Make sure everything is properly installed before initiating the test that will take around two minutes. The test checks the tilt sensor, RTC module, WiFi, camera, air assist pressure, and calibration parameters.
Once all systems have passed the inspection, it will display the message “Calibration completed” to confirm that the machine is ready for use. Note that calibration here does not require any operation from the user. Everything is automatic, and we’ll use the calibration sheet later on.
Just tap the OK button to start using the laser engraver.
Creality Falcon A1 Pro engraving methods
Creality Falcon A1 Pro supports processing in online, offline, and cloud modes, and we’ll test all three modes in this review, mostly following the instructions provided on the wiki.
Online Processing
We’ll need to install the Falcon Design Space v1.8.1 software available for macOS or Windows, as well as Android or iOS mobile devices. Sadly, no Linux support unless using the LightBurn software. We installed Falcon Design Space on a Khadas Mind Premium mini PC running Windows 11 Home, and connected the laser engraver to it through one of its USB Type-C ports.
In the interface, select the device model Creality Falcon A1 Pro and laser power (20W).
It’s also possible to use WiFi for connectivity, instead of USB, and that’s what we used in the review since the computer and laser engraver were in different rooms.
The dashboard also lets the user select the processing material and thickness, with a wide variety of options available, both pre-defined ones and custom settings.
The built-in camera allows the user to see a live view inside the machine.
The screenshot above shows how the Layers function allows the user to add multiple layers and select different modes for each layer. Three modes are available:
- Line engraving (Blue)
- Fill engraving (Green)
- Line cutting (Black)
The software will automatically fill in the parameters for cutting/engraving based on the layer’s mode, or custom parameter values. The layers are also superposed on the live view. While testing, especially for cutting, you may need to perform multiple tests on small parts to select the best parameters before proceeding with the full design.
It’s also recommended to calibrate the camera using the test and calibration card (white background and black dots) and a wooden board to engrave four calibration points. There are quite a few steps, so we won’t reproduce the full procedure here, but let’s say it’s better if the computer and laser engraver are next to each other during calibration (not in different rooms). You can check the calibration documentation for details.
After calibration, you can perform a test by creating a virtual rectangle in the program. After engraving the rectangle, you compare the one in the program with the real one to check the accuracy.
Processing settings allow you to choose between “Absolute coords” starting from the machine’s standard coordinates according to the job file, or “Current position” starting cutting or engraving from the current position of the laser head. We went with “Absolute coords” and “Auto-plan” for the processing path.
Let’s go to the Preview mode to check the path of the laser head during engraving and cutting.
Click on “Frame” to check and ensure that the laser dot and focus setting are correct. You can set the machine to autofocus after placing the material where the red dot shows (center of the work table) to automatically measure the height. Note that we had initially planned to use a honeycomb plate from another machine, but it was too high in combination with 10mm thick plywood.
Alternatively, you can manually adjust the Z-axis (manual focus) through the software on the PC or the machine’s interactive screen and the provided adjustable focus block. It’s also possible to adjust the X and Y axes in case you want the laser head to work at a specific position.
We’re now ready to start. Perform a final check to ensure the lid and front door are properly closed before clicking on Start.
When the job is completed, a “Completed” message will show up on the screen, along with the time taken. The flower took 10 minutes and 15 seconds to engrave and cut. We’ll discuss parameters in more detail below, but for reference, engraving and cut was done at 600m/mm with 85% power and 7 passes (for the cutting part).
Offline Processing
It’s also possible to engrave a model without software simply using a USB flash drive connected to the Falcon A1 Pro through the provided USB-A to USB-C adapter.
Select File –> U disk on the attached display and the G-code file you want to process.
Place the material under the red laser dot to set the position, and tap the Auto focus button to set the focus automatically. Once done, tap the Start Processing button to start the engraving process.
Cloud Processing
This is basically the mode used to engrave through the mobile app. Log in to the user account by scanning the QR Code for login by going to Menu Settings > Account on the machine screen via the Falcon Design Space mobile app.
Add the Creality Falcon A1 Pro device to the app. We can either create a new job file ourselves by tapping Canvas, or load some pre-created examples. Tap the camera icon at the top to view a live preview, set up layers, select the material, specify the thickness, and finally set the parameter values like speed, power, and number of passes (aka “Process Times”). After that, press Preview, then select Process to send all the settings to the engraving machine.
You can select File–>Cloud File on the display and select the file you just created or loaded.
Place the material under the red laser dot and activate the auto focus function.
Tap the Start Processing button to start engraving.
Testing the Creality Falcon A1 Pro laser engraver with various materials and settings
Basswood
We’ll start with 4mm thick basswood. The automotic settings are power: 30%, speed: 5,000mm/m.
- Layer: Line engraving
- Engraving speed: 5,000mm/m
- Power: 10 to 100%
- Pass: 1
In the next step, we varies engraving speed while keeping the laser power at 30%.
- Layer: Line engraving
- Engraving Speed: 1,000 – 10,000 mm/m
- Power: 30%
- Pass: 1
We find that the best speed is 5,000 to 6,000 mm/m for this sample.
So in the next sample, we engraved a cat model on 4mm basswood with the following parameters
- Layer: Line engraving
- Engraving Speed: 5,000 mm/m
- Power: 30%
- Pass: 1
We carried on with 1mm basswood (48×30) tags to engrave something for an upcoming event with the same parameters.
Once completed, we can compare the expected and actual results, and there’s only a very slight deviation. Some pieces moved a little because of the air assist pump.
Overall, the work came out pretty well.
The Creality Falcon A1 Pro is pretty good at small, highly detailed work.
However, some pieces were not that clear/sharp due to slight variations with the materials used (slightly warped/bent).
We engraved some more designs on 7mm basswood with the same parameters, and the results look great on both pieces.
We also engraved a dice on 15mm thick Basswood with the following parameters:
- Layer: Fill engraving
- Speed: 5,000 mm/min
- Power: 30%
- Pass: 1
It took just 15 seconds, and the output was mostly fine, although with minor charring/burn marks.
So we reduced the power to 20% for the “6” on the device, and the result was much better. It took 27 seconds.
Let’s switch to something a little more complex that involves line and fill engraving, as well as cutting. We selected 10mm basswood with the following layers and parameters:
- Layer: Line engraving, speed: 5,000 mm/m, power: 30%, pass: 1
- Layer: Fill engraving, speed: 5,000 mm/m, Power: 20%, pass: 1
- Layer: Line Cutting, speed: 600 mm/m, power: 85%, pass: 7
The material link recommends 100mm/m, 100% power @ 22W, 1 pass for cutting, but we noticed some burns when testing with small cylinders, and decided to increase the speed, lower the power, and increase the number of passes to reduce the burns.
The job took 10 minutes and 15 seconds in total. It didn’t fully cut through, requiring manual extraction with a cutter, a chisel, and a hammer. The piece looks great overall, but there’s charring on the underside from the cuts since the honeycomb plate couldn’t be used (too tall for the setup). This was done with the air assist pump on “high”.
Acrylic
We’ll now switch to acrylic, more precisely, 3mm green transparent acrylic, using the following parameters
- Layer: Line engraving, Speed: 3,000 mm/m, Power: 20%, Pass: 1
- Layer: Image Engraving, Speed: 5,000 mm/m, Power: 30%, Pass: 1
It took 4 minutes and 32 seconds.
We also cut 3mm red transparent acrylic using the following parameters
- Layer: Line engraving, Speed: 5,000 mm/m, Power: 30%, Pass: 1
- Layer: Line cutting, Speed: 120 mm/m, Power: 60%, Pass: 3
The work took 12 minutes and 26 minutes, and the result is pretty good.
We used a 15mm honeycomb table for this job, but didn’t add the metal plate that came with it because it would have been too high due to the plate’s feet. However, it was not such a good idea, as the laser power level was high enough and the speed low enough, that it ended up leaving marks on the machine itself. Placing a thin wood plank underneath would have helped.
Conclusion
Creality Falcon A1 Pro is a fully enclosed laser engraver that is easy to use, safe, and accurate. It is suitable for both DIY work and small creative projects, with useful features such as auto focus, an HD camera, and automatic parameter configuration that helps reduce adjustment steps, allowing work to start quickly.
Testing the line engraving mode with basswood resulted in sharp and clear engraving, and we could work with multiple pieces easily by placing the design on top of the pieces with the help of the camera. Fill engraving resulted in uniform results when selecting the right parameters, and we managed to cut 10mm thick basswood, although in multiple passes to reduce burns, as well as acrylic with excellent results. We also appreciated that the Falcon Design Space is available for desktop PCs running Windows or macOS, as well as Android or iOS mobile devices, but lamented the lack of support for Linux.
Overall, the Creality Falcon A1 Pro laser engraver is great for high-detail engraving work and small production runs, and can perform cutting on 10mm thick wood. It’s ideal for beginners since it’s so easy to get started. The important part is to adjust the parameters (speed, laser power, and passes) appropriately to the selected material and design. Fully enclosed laser engravers like the Falcom A1 Pro have clear benefits in terms of safety, reduced pollution from fumes, and ease of assembly compared to open designs, but downsides include a more limited Z range, so you can’t always insert a honeycomb table, and larger/longer workpieces may not fit into the enclosure.
We’d like to thank Creality company for sending the Falcon A1 Pro laser engraver for review. It can be purchased for $1,099 on Amazon or the Creality store.
This article is a translation – with a few additional insights – of the review on CNX Software Thailand by Suthinee Kerdkaew.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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