Diode vs CO2 vs Fiber Lasers: What Each Type Is Specified to Engrave or Cut

The short version (manufacturer statements only)

• Diode. Blue diode modules; the pages in our table state 5–60 W. Wavelength as stated by makers: "455nm" (xTool F1 Ultra page), "450nm" (LaserPecker LP5 page). Material claims are per model: AtomStack A24 Pro: "perfect for wood, leather, acrylic engraving and cutting"; Creality Falcon2 Pro (60 W): "cuts 22mm basswood or 0.2mm stainless steel in a single pass" (Creality's claim).
• CO2. Glass-tube machines; the pages in our table state 40–65 W (Glowforge Plus 40 W, Glowforge Pro 45 W, Monport Reno 45/65 W, Gweike Cloud 50 W, OMTech Polar Lite 55 W). Glowforge states "10,600 nm". Glowforge's material list: "Cuts & Engraves wood fabric leather paper cardboard plexiglass (acrylic) Delrin (acetal) mylar rubber cork sandpaper foods"; "Engraves Only glass marble rubber stamps stone ceramic tile anodized aluminum titanium corian".
• Fiber (galvo). 20 W in our table; LaserPecker states "1064nm". xTool's F1 Ultra page: "20W fiber, which can do deep metal eng[raving]" (xTool's claim). Sculpfun G20: "20W Galvo Fiber Laser Engraver".

Wavelengths are quoted from manufacturer pages where stated; nothing else above is ours.

What the manufacturers in our table say

Thickness and pass claims are the makers' own; we do not publish cut tests.

Where to buy (two types from the table)

Amazon listings checked on 2026-10-09 for one diode machine and one fiber + diode unit from the table above. The specs in each card come from the manufacturer pages, not from the listing.

Spec patterns you can see in the table

1. Work area vs. type. Galvo units state small fields: G20 "150 × 150 mm"; LP5 "120 x 160mm(Ellipse) 100 x 100mm(Square)"; F1 Ultra "220*220mm". Gantry diode and CO2 units state 360 × 280 mm (A24 Pro) to 510 × 300 mm (OMTech Polar Lite, Gweike Cloud).
2. Speed vs. type. Galvo units state 10,000 mm/s (G20 "up to 10,000 mm/s"; LP5 "10000mm/s"; F1 Ultra "10000mm/s"). Gantry diode units state 250–600 mm/s (E1 Pro "36,000 mm/min" = 600 mm/s converted; A1C "15,000 mm/min" = 250 mm/s; S1 "600 mm/s"). CO2: OMTech "500 mm/s"; Glowforge publishes only multipliers relative to the Spark. All are stated maximum travel speeds, not cutting speeds.
3. Enclosure vs. type. Sold enclosed per manufacturer text: S1, Falcon2 Pro, A1C, E1 Pro, E1, Glowforge Pro/Plus/Aura/Spark, OMTech Polar Lite, F1 Ultra ("fully enclosed cover"). Open-frame with enclosure sold separately: A24 Pro, Laser Master 3, LM3 LE. Optional enclosure: G20, LP5, LP4. Not stated verbatim: Gweike Cloud, Monport Reno.
4. Rotary. 11 of 20 rows name a rotary accessory on the manufacturer page (S1, F1 Ultra, OMTech Polar Lite, Falcon2 Pro, LP5, LP4, A24 Pro, E1 Pro, G20, Laser Master 3, Gweike Cloud); the four Glowforge rows list none (negative evidence); A1C, E1, Reno, LM3 LE do not state one; P2S is pending verification. Details: rotary guide.

Safety note

Quoted text only. Creality (Falcon2 Pro): "FDA Class 1 Safety Certified: A fully enclosed professional workspace". xTool S1 product JSON: "Class 1 Safety". Sculpfun E1 Pro JSON: "Class 1 laser safety standards". Glowforge tech-specs: "The Glowforge Basic and Glowforge Plus are Class 1 laser devices with no special training required"; "The Glowforge Pro is a Class 4 laser device and comes with all necessary safety training materials". For machines without a stated class, the table cell is blank; we do not infer a class from an enclosure. Regulator reference for class definitions: FDA 21 CFR 1040.10 and IEC 60825-1 (published by the IEC, iec.ch).

Read next

Comparison table · How to read laser specs · Enclosed laser engravers

Sources

Manufacturer pages read on 2026-10-07: AtomStack A24 Pro, Creality Falcon2 Pro, Sculpfun E1 Pro, LaserPecker LP4, Glowforge tech specs, OMTech Polar Lite, LaserPecker LP5, xTool F1 Ultra, Sculpfun G20, xTool S1, Creality Falcon A1C. Per-field sources: comparison table.