The Maker’s Toolbox: Focalab Vario Laser Machine Review

Focalab is a new player on the scene, but they’re entering the consumer laser market with a bang. They sent me a pre-production Vario to test and I’m going to tell you all about it.

The basics

The Focalab Vario is a relatively compact desktop cartesian diode laser engraver/cutter. It will ship with a 60W blue diode laser and there will also be an optional low-power infrared laser module.

Focalab hasn’t yet published details on size (overall machine size or cutting area), so I’ll leave that information out in case anything changes before production. I will, however, say that this machine is on the smaller side.

This big selling point is the internal lens adjustment mechanism in the laser module. It can automatically adjust to increase the effective cutting range (for thick materials) or to decrease the focal point size (for fine detail).

A 13MP panoramic camera lets it see the entire work area, a 2MP “close-up” camera lets it see more detail, and a LiDAR sensor lets it measure height for autofocusing. Together, those give the Vario the ability to do many things automatically, including object detection, material recognition, and batch layouts.

Focalab is also leaning hard into AI features, with many tools built into the software to help with design. None of them are required to use the Vario, but they are a big part of the software.

Finally, there will be accessories, such as a rotary module and riser base, available in the future — though I didn’t receive them for testing.

Initial setup

I’ll skip the details about my unboxing experience, as there is a very good chance that will change by the time production machines reach customer hands. That means we can jump right to the setup.

The physical setup process is very easy. I only needed to remove four screws for a bracket that held the carriage in place during shipping. Aside from that, it was just a matter of peeling off film and pulling out foam, slotting in the laser module, and connecting the power cable.

From there, you do everything else in the FocalabStudio software. Before use, you will want to run the camera calibration that tells the software how the images line up with the physical machine, which is critical for aligning designs on material. There is also a calibration routine for the laser focus.

First impressions

This is a good time to say that I like the aesthetics of the Focalab Vario. It also feels well-built. The enclosure is plastic, but it is a nice plastic that doesn’t feel cheap at all.

The top lid has a transparent green window that gives you a good view of the work area, but that window does really attract dust and fingerprints.

Most of the ports and such are hidden on the back. The two visible controls are the “start” button on the front and the e-stop switch on the side. The e-stop switch feels pretty flimsy to me. That isn’t a big deal, but I wish Focalab had spent an extra dollar to get a nicer switch.

There are passthrough doors on the front and back, so you can put long pieces of material through. My assumption is that Focalab will release some kind of conveyor accessory to make the most of that, which would dramatically extend the working area. There is a USB-C port on the inside of the enclosure and I expect that to be used for accessory connections.

So, before actually using the Focalab Vario, my impression was pretty good.

The software

This is going to be a long section, because the software is everything with this machine. All of the machine’s advertised features require FocalabStudio and I don’t think users will have the choice to use other software.

FocalabStudio reminds me of a mix between xTool Studio and WeCreat MakeIt! software. It has a nice interface that is user-friendly and includes a library of designs to get started with. It is all very intuitive and Focalab has clearly prioritized the experience of using the Vario hardware, which is a good thing.

FocalabStudio is also deeply infused with AI tools, which may or may not be ideal from your perspective. AI credits cost money and you’ll need them for many of the advertised functions. But you can also use the Vario without touching generative AI at all.

One aspect of FocalabStudio that I really like is the understanding of why people purchase laser machines. It isn’t just about engraving or cutting a single item, it is about the bigger picture. To that end, FocalabStudio has features for laying out and cutting entire assemblies — including across multiple sheets of material.

Maybe the most exciting is Focalab’s integration with UV printing. Users will be able to “Print and Cut” using designs created within FocalabStudio, but with color added by whatever UV printer they own. xTool is doing something similar, but within their own ecosystem. Focalab will let you use those features with UV printers from other companies. Though I do expect them to launch their own UV printer at some point.

In the model library, you can find everything from simple engraving or relief carving designs, to complex models, to multi-layer art with printed graphics. You can also use AI to generate your own designs.

I’ll talk in more depth about some of the specific features later in this review.

Performance

The Focalab Vario will ship with a 60W blue diode laser module. However, Focalab hasn’t yet perfected that design and so they sent me a 40W version. Keep that in mind going forward, because the production machines that customers receive will be more powerful than my test unit.

During my testing, I cut and engraved a whole bunch of designs — both from the FocalabStudio library and from external sources.

The laser performance was exactly what I would expect from a 40W blue diode. It is powerful and engraves compatible materials with ease. It can also cut through materials like plywood quickly. And, of course, the production 60W laser module will have even more oomph.

The adjustable lens seemed to do its job well. When engraving this image, the detail and quality were the best I’ve ever seen — and I’ve done tests with this particular image on many other machines, because I like it and it highlights laser engraving quality.

When cutting, it didn’t have any issues getting through the wood in a single pass. If the 60W version of the laser module is as good as the 40W version, then you won’t have anything to worry about.

Cameras and object detection

Getting into some of the smart features, the story isn’t quite as good. But I must say again that this is a pre-production machine and things may improve. I can only tell you about what I experienced.

Object detection works well, if the camera can see the object properly. Dark material that doesn’t stand out from the background and glare can cause problems. Then the software might fail to detect the object outline. However, you can still manually place designs based on what you see — you just won’t get the automatic outline.

The autofocusing system is similar. If it can detect the object, everything goes smoothly. If it can’t see the object well, you need to manually select a point to use for the height measurement.

The same is true of the material detection feature. That is a useful feature that is able to recognize a material based on what it looks like. That doesn’t require a QR code or anything, which is how most other manufacturers do it.

In my testing, it could detect things like plywood and MDF well. But it wasn’t very good at differentiating between types of plywood. It also couldn’t recognize materials that don’t have obvious patterns or textures, like a painted metal keychain.

Those features all worked reasonably well. Unfortunately, alignment proved to be a pretty big problem.

Alignment issues

Sometimes, the laser would cut designs exactly where I placed them. Other times, it would be very far off — easily an inch from where it should be, ruining the job.

I’m not sure why that happened, as it wasn’t consistent with placement in any particular area (which is what you’d expect from parallax errors). The height of the material also didn’t seem to matter and this would happen right after a camera calibration.

If there is one thing Focalab needs to address before production, it is the camera system and alignment. For me, the alignment problems were a frustrating inconvenience. For buyers, it could mean a lot of money in wasted material and time lost to re-running jobs.

AI features

FocalabStudio has many AI-based features integrated into the software. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test them, because they aren’t yet deployed in this pre-release version.

However, I do still want to tell you about a couple of them.

One that I find interesting is “AI Texturing.” That is meant for users that also own UV printers. It lets you apply color to a model, using AI. You can then do the “Print then Cut” capability to actually put that onto your material. The AI can do that in different styles, with either a text prompt or image reference.

I’m very skeptical of AI tools, but that has potential. And for those who want to avoid AI altogether, you can do “Manual Texturing” there in the FocalabStudio software.

The other AI features that stand out to me are “Multi-Layer,” “Puzzle,” and “Vector.”

Multi-layer is for creating artwork from stacked slices and looks pretty neat. Puzzle adds jigsaw puzzle-style cuts to a picture. Vector is for AI-generated images — but, crucially, images in vector format, which is a big deal when most of the popular image generators only do bitmaps.

Luckily, you don’t have to use any AI features if they aren’t your thing. All of the normal functionality works without AI and doesn’t require any credits.

The offer

Focalab will launch the Vario through a crowdfunding campaign soon (exact date unknown). But you have the option to put down a refundable $50 deposit right now.

That will get you $100 off the Super Early Bird price. Focalab says the “price starts from $999” and that will likely just be for the machine itself with the 60W laser module, but no accessories.

That offer will also give you a free “30-piece wood kit worth $50.” I suppose that’s nice.

But the big benefit, aside from the price, is an included extended warranty. You’ll get the standard one-year warranty, plus an additional one-year crowdfunding bonus. A two-year warranty on a consumer machine like this is pretty great, so that is worth considering.

Conclusions

I think Focalab has a winner here.

The Focalab Vario packs in a lot of great hardware at a really affordable price, with user-friendly software to match. In most regards, I would put the hardware and software on-par with xTool and WeCreat, which are two of my favorite consumer laser machine manufacturers.

But the Focalab Vario has a significantly lower price than the machines available from those manufacturers. It also has the adjustable lens laser module, which is a nice feature.

Of course, Focalab is a new company and the Vario is still unproven. My pre-production test unit worked well, but production machines may not be identical. And I did have real problems with the camera-based design alignment, which Focalab really needs to fix before the Vario goes out to customers.

I can’t tell you if you should put a deposit down on the Focalab Vario or not. But I can tell you that I’m impressed with it and think the value proposition is strong. Personally, I have my pick of laser machines these days and I plan to keep the Vario for my own projects for the foreseeable future.