It was 7:30 on a Tuesday morning when the xTool S1 arrived at our testing facility. The box was bigger than I expected, and heavier than I'd predicted. My workbench already had a stack of materials waiting: clear acrylic sheets, oak boards, three kinds of leather, and a couple of stainless steel keychains.
I'm the quality and brand compliance manager at a laser equipment company. In plain terms, I'm the person who says "no" to products that aren't ready. I review roughly 200+ machines and accessories every year, and I've rejected about 12% of first deliveries in 2024 due to spec mismatches or finish defects. My job is to catch the things that a flattering spec sheet hides.
So when a B2B client asked me to evaluate the xTool S1 for their small customization shop, I didn't open the marketing PDF and call it a day. I set up the machine on the bench, ran the tests, and took notes.
Here's what I found after three weeks of using it.
Can the xTool S1 Cut Clear Acrylic?
The first question on the client's list was: can the xTool S1 cut clear acrylic?
On paper, the 40W module says yes—up to 8mm. But "on paper" burned me before.
In my first year doing quality inspections, I made the classic rookie mistake: I approved a machine based on its spec sheet without running a physical sample. The datasheet promised "cuts 10mm acrylic." We approved it. The customer's first production batch came back with melted, frosted edges and a dead deadline. That mistake cost us about $1,800 in rework and one very uncomfortable lunch.
So this time, I tested before I trusted.
Here's what we recorded with the 40W module:
- 1.5mm clear acrylic: Clean cut at 300mm/min, with the protective film removed from both sides. Edge quality was decent.
- 3mm clear acrylic: Cut at 200mm/min, but needed 3 passes. Edges came out frosted, not smooth.
- 6mm clear acrylic: Struggled. Four passes, some charring on the bottom, about 11 minutes per piece.
The physics actually explains what's going on. Diode lasers emit at around 455nm—visible blue light. Clear acrylic lets that wavelength pass through instead of absorbing it. A CO₂ laser emits at 10600nm, deep infrared, and acrylic absorbs that wavelength far more efficiently. That's why CO₂ machines slice through acrylic so easily, and why the S1 has to chip away at it.
So the honest answer: yes, the xTool S1 can cut clear acrylic, but it isn't the machine for an acrylic-focused shop. If acrylic is 80% of your work, get a CO₂ laser. If it's 10% of your jobs, the S1 will handle it with patience.
xTool S1 Laser Module: Which One Should You Choose?
The client wanted to know about the xTool S1 laser module options. "Should we get the 40W, or is the 20W enough?"
I tested all three modules so I could give them a real answer:
10W module: Excellent for engraving leather, wood, and dark acrylic. Cuts 3mm balsa slowly. Best for detailed engraving work and jewelry.
20W module: Cuts 3mm wood in one pass, 5mm plywood in two. Engraves coated steel and anodized aluminum. This is the value pick for most small businesses.
40W module: Cuts 8mm wood cleanly, 5mm acrylic (with the frosted edges I mentioned), and marks bare stainless steel. This is the "I want to cut things" option.
The genuine surprise was how the module swap works. I expected a fragile ribbon cable and a firmware setup nightmare. Instead, the swap takes about 10 minutes, and the machine auto-detects which module is installed. No fuss.
I'll admit something honestly: I didn't believe the modular design would matter much. I figured it was mainly a way to upsell customers. I was wrong.
One of our clients does two things: jewelry engraving and wood signage. Those need completely different power levels. With the S1, they bought one machine body, a 10W module for jewelry, and a 40W for signs. That cost about $1,600 less than buying two separate machines. And it fits in a corner of their workshop.
That's efficiency in the real sense. Not a benchmark number, but a system that adapts to daily variety.
Can You Laser Engrave Leather on the xTool S1?
A lot of customers ask this one: can you laser engrave leather?
Yes. But the type of leather absolutely matters.
- Vegetable-tanned leather: Beautiful results. Dark, crisp lines at 1200mm/min, 20% power, one pass.
- Chrome-tanned leather: Not great. The chromium content reacts unpredictably, and the marks come out light and patchy.
- Patent leather: Worse. The coated finish burns and scabs. I do not recommend patent leather for laser engraving, period.
- Faux leather: Depends. Some synthetic leathers contain PVC, and lasering PVC releases chlorine gas. Always test a small spot first.
This is also where our compliance framework kicks in. We don't tell customers the S1 works on "all types of leather"—because it doesn't. Per FTC Business Guidance on Advertising (ftc.gov), claims about what a product can do need to be substantiated with evidence. An unqualified claim, a failed material test, and a one-star review later: that's what happens when you skip this step. I've seen it happen to other brands.
Diode vs CO₂: The 10600nm Honest Comparison
If you landed here because you searched "co2 laser 10600nm," here's what you need to know.
A CO₂ laser's 10,600nm wavelength is absorbed efficiently by wood, acrylic, leather, and glass. That's why CO₂ remains the standard for serious cutting.
The diode laser in the xTool S1 emits around 455nm. The shorter wavelength gives it a different superpower: it can mark metals that are reflective to infrared. Bare stainless steel, anodized aluminum, even some dark stones. A CO₂ laser without a fiber attachment will reflect off metal and do nothing.
Whether you call it a "lazer engraving machine" with a z or a laser engraver—both show up in search all the time—the real difference is wavelength matching the task.
- Cutting thick materials: CO₂ wins hard.
- Engraving metal: S1 wins.
- Leather: both work.
- Price: the S1 with 40W module costs a fraction of a CO₂ system and doesn't need water cooling.
Final Verdict
If you're deciding whether to get an xTool S1, here's what I'd tell any client:
- Get the 40W module if you're cutting anything beyond thin wood. The headroom is worth it.
- Set expectations around acrylic. Clear acrylic works, but it's slow and imperfect. Colored and frosted acrylic are the sweet spots.
- Test materials before promising clients anything. I learned this the expensive way.
- Use proper ventilation and the enclosure. This isn't a suggestion—the machine's own documentation states it. I do not recommend running any laser without proper ventilation, regardless of the model.
The xTool S1 passed our quality review after three weeks of testing. It's not perfect. The software took me a while to get used to, and the honeycomb worktable flexes more than I'd like. But it passed because it does what it claims to do—within limits that are honestly documented.
In my line of work, that's actually the rarest quality of all: a machine that tells you the truth about itself.
