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The Kobra range of 3D printers has continued to impress over the years, and while the aesthetic design of their open-frame Cartesian machines has until now been very workshop-like, the reliability and quality of the prints have never failed to impress. So much so that there are still two old Kobra 2’s still running. They might not be the best machines compared to the latest releases, but after three years, they’re still running strong.
The Kobra X is a further progression forward in quality and design, which really started with the Kobra 3 Combo it’s just now the level of quality, along with the touch screen interface, speed and precision, all take another step forward. Anycubic are running to catch up like all others with the market leaders Bambu Lab, and to offer a solid alternative to the dominance of the Bambu Lab A1.
However, by taking on the A1, the Kobra X has had to refine the Anycubic 3D printers that have come before, and they’re not the only manufacturer that is playing catch-up with similarly cheap and excellent machines such as the Creality Hi, which again, for the price, is another outstanding cheap option. These printers are all very much now on a par; they don’t bring anything other than refinement to the older Cartesian style of FDM bed slinger printers.
What the Kobra X does is stamp Anycubic once again as a serious manufacturer in the 3D FDM arena, with a machine that improves the design quality and function. At this entry level, it’s essential that manufacturers get things right, as these are the machines that will endear users to their product lines. That’s why it seems for around the $300 / £300 mark, you’re getting a machine with literally all the features.
Anycubic Kobra X: Price and Availability
The Anycubic Kobra X is currently only available directly from Anycubic US and Anycubic UK stores, priced at a discount $299 / £259 right now.
Combo versions are also available. If experience is anything to go by, expect this 3D printer to reach Amazon in the near future.
Anycubic Kobra X: Design
Anycubic has progressed the design of the Kobra machines significantly over the years, and comparing the old Kobra 2 against the latest X, you can see how the design and innovation of the latest model are worlds apart.
Yet, like those older machines, the Kobra X retains the older Cartesian style of design and sees the filament and print area open. While this means that for enthusiasts and those just starting out, you get to see the print being built, for those looking to use more advanced materials, the lack of an enclosure and controlled build area temperature limits the material choice.
Still, for beginners and hobbyists, that material restriction is probably a good thing, and after you’ve mastered the ways of PLA and PETG, you can then progress to the Kobra S1.
As it is, while the frame may be open, it’s been properly product designed and looks, as well as the machines usability compared with past models has all taken a leap forward.
Again, the gantry feels good and solid, and Anycubic has once again worked on the quality of the Cable routing, so less of the workings are on show.
While the design is still open, the motors and power adapter, belts and wiring are all, for the most part, hidden away. The 3.5-inch touch screen is also intuitive and easy to navigate, with the ability to load prints via USB or through the Anycubic Slicer software wirelessly.
The physical size is also relatively compact, with the four filament spools being mounted on the horizontal top bar, enabling easy accessibility. If you want the filament in a dry box, then you can couple the printer with the Ace 2 Pro, in fact, up to four of these filament boxes to enable 19 color printing.
When it comes to the dimensions, it measures in at 455.4 x 445.3 x 461.3 mm with the filaments adding to the height. Weight-wise, this is a printer that is easy to move around if space is limited, and without the filaments, it weighs 12.7kg or 18 kg for the combo model. The Ace 2 Pro will add an additional 4.8 kg per unit.
While the weight can quickly build like its competitors at the base level, it’s still very manoeuvrable and easy to carry and store. The build area is also pretty decent at a perfect 260 × 260 × 260mm, meaning that there’s plenty of room for a good amount of projects.
One of the other big design features is the Ace Gen 2 print head with a new extruder, cutter and multifilament system that helps to cut down on the filament purge compared with other systems.
Anycubic Kobra X: Features
Specs
Print Technology: FDM
Build Area: 260 × 260 × 260 mm
Minimum Layer Resolution: 0.05 mm
Maximum Layer Resolution: 0.30 mm
Dimensions: Approx. 500 × 500 × 580 mm
Weight: Approx. 9.5 kg
Bed: Heated aluminium build plate (up to 110°C)
Print Surface: Textured PEI spring steel flex plate
Software: Anycubic Slicer (Cura-based) + Wi-Fi / App / Cloud support
Materials: PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS
Print Speed: Up to 600 mm/s
At first look, the Kobra X follows the same lines of design as the other new bed slingers. Everything is a little neater and less DIY workshop, and it isn’t just the aesthetics; these new machines leap forward with the technology and features as well.
The first point to note is that for those on a budget, the machine, with discounts, can be purchased for around $299 / £259, and for that price you have the ability to print in 4 colors. That is discounted from the usual $399 / £359, but when discounted that makes it £100 less than the competition. That price point is just the start, with several different combo options that then see the price hit a peak of $1148 / £987 with four Ace 2 Pro boxes and the ability to print up to 19 colors.
Like the S1, there’s also the ability to quality swap out the nozzle for different diameters, with the machine arriving with a standard 0.4mm and options for diameters from 0.25 through to 0.8mm. What also stands out here is that many of the parts can easily be swapped out, most notably the Ace Gen 2 print head.
Compared with Anycubic’s previous multicolor Cartesian printers, this new system is double the speed and saves more filament through filament purging. It can also print 4 colors out of the box with the option to print an additional 15, taking the total to 19 colors.
The machine also builds in AI detection, which enables perfect first-layer printing, and if any issues are detected, the machine will stop before any damage is caused.
Out of the box, thanks to the new print head, the machine can also print PLA and TPU (68D) simultaneously, enabling you to print far more complex models. This type of feature is more common in multi-tool head printers and not common in single-nozzle systems like this.
A feature that I’ve seen expanding across almost all manufacturers is the ability to monitor and control the printer remotely. Again, while this isn’t a unique feature, the fact that it’s included on a portion of this print point is exceptional.
Anycubic make a big point about the new Ace Gen 2 technology, which features a 52% reduction in the distance between the filament cutter and nozzle and an 81.25% reduction in filament change length, ultimately reducing the time between filament swaps and the amount of filament that needs to be purged.
The most interesting point about this head is that it features an adaptive extrusion force compensator, which adjusts the extrusion force based on the filament hardness so that PLA, PVA and softer TPU can all be extruded without manual adjustment between filament swaps. This means you can print with the following combinations: PLA + TPU, PLA + PVA or TPU + TPU.
One of the other features that stands out, despite its simplicity, is the fact that the spools for the four colors are mounted above the machine. This means that although you do need to have quite a bit of headroom, for smaller workshop areas where desk space might be limited, this four-color solution retains a small footprint.
Print speeds can reach a maximum of 600mm/s with the default being an impressive 300mm/s. As a speed test on the machine, the USB is loaded with a fast 3DBench model that prints in a little over 14 minutes, which by any standards is fast.
Once again, the machine features the latest version of Anycubics LeviQ 3.0 levelling system with 49-point auto-leveling, Flow Dynamic Calibration, and Vibration Compensation. The heat bed has also been redesigned to ensure an even spread of heat under the platform.
The AI detection has a few key new features that I was keen to test. The first, as always, is the spaghetti detection, but then the new object skipping is of real interest. The spaghetti detection will stop the printer if something goes wrong and spaghetti strands of filament start to appear.
Object Skipping is something new. This essentially skips a print that’s failed, so if you have a series of parts printing on the same bed and one fails, usually that means that all will fail. However, once the camera detects a failure, it skips it and continues the rest of the prints without returning to the failed one.
Anycubic Kobra X: Performance
The Kobra X is one of the most straightforward Bed Slingers I’ve assembled and took a little over five minutes to unbox and build. Once powered up and the calibration steps were run, which takes around 30 minutes, then the printer is set to go.
On the first run, I checked the first layer accuracy, and once finished, the sheet of plastic that had been extruded was of exceptional quality, peeling back to reveal an even and well distributed layer of filament. The next few test models were all from the supplied USB key, and as expected, these ran through without issue.
I then progressed to my own custom test models, all initially single filament. While Anycubic had supplied a 3DBenchy model on the USB, this was highly optimised to enable fast printing, so I loaded my stock version and was able to get a decent model in around 33 minutes with a clear surface and decent structure.
As I progressed through the test, pushing 4 kg of filament through for a variety of parts and projects, the printer remained consistent, and at all times, the four filament spools were left exposed to the elements rather than being protected in dry boxes. The printer was able to withstand the workshop temperatures, which could dip to around 10ºC at night.
Checking out the Autodesk / Kickstarter quality test proved that the printer, despite its price, is an exceptional value considering the quality that it is capable of printing. The highlight here is the dimensional accuracy, which I have seen with other Cartesian printers often appears to be more accurate than many Core XY printers.
Across the board, the quality tests were exceptionally good, and considering the price and the fact that it natively prints with four colors and can support up to 19, as well as having the ability to print with two materials, TPU and PLA, makes this printer an exceptional value for money.
Through the test, there were a couple of points that caused an issue. The first is that if your filaments don’t include the Anycubic RFID chip, then it isn’t always straightforward to update the printer as to what’s loaded in and a bit of fiddling was needed, essentially scanning an Anycubic reel and then popping on a third party. However, using the Anycubic FDilament with the RFID chips, loading and using a multitude of different material options was exceptionally simple.
Benchmark results
Dimensional accuracy – score of 4
Target 25 = X: 25.83mm / 0.17mm Error | Y: 25.01mm / 0.01mm Error
Target 20 = X: 19.86mm / 0.14mm Error | Y: 19.81mm / 0.19mm Error
Target 15 = X: 14.75mm / 0.25mm Error | Y: 14.87mm / 0.13mm Error
Target 10 = X: 9.79mm / 0.21mm Error | Y: 9.88mm / 0.12mm Error
Target 5 = X: 4.91mm / 0.09mm Error | Y: 4.87mm / 0.13mm Error
X Error Average = 0.172
Y Error Average = 0.116
X&Y Error Average = 0.144
Fine Flow Control – score of 2.5
Fine Negative Features – score of 5
Overhangs – score of 4
Bridging – score of 5
XY resonance – score of 2.5
Z-axis alignment – score of 2.5
Adding up the totals gives a final score of 25.5 out of 28.
One of my other major selling points from Anycubic about this new models is the speed and reduction of filament waste. While actual print speed is increased, the new iteration of the slicer software, AnycubicSlicerNext (Kobra X), doesn’t seem to reflect the speed change compared with the AnycubicSlicer (Kobra 3) software, often quoting the Kobra 3 and Kobra X having similar print times.
Going to multi-color printing, and this is where the machine comes into its own. Again, like print speeds, the software doesn’t seem to highlight the waste difference between this and the Kobra 3; however, after printing, while the filament piles are similar, the X does have a slight filament pile reduction compared to the Kobra 3.
Having run four 1 Kg spools through the system, I’ve been impressed by the dimensional accuracy, speed and surface quality. I would, however, highlight that the print platform should be cleaned regularly.
The platform’s surface, while offering good adhesion, does need to be cleaned and seems slightly more prone than usual to finger grease, so just something to be aware of. As an open-framed 3D printer, while there are limitations on what you can print, the overall performance is exceptionally good.
Anycubic Kobra X: Final verdict
The Anycubic Kobra X is one of the latest highly refined multi-color printers that offers a huge amount of potential. The quality of the build and design is a huge step forward from what I’ve seen in the past from the open design printers, but then, with the likes of the BambuLab A1, which was launched back in 2023, no manufacturer can get away with producing a printer that looks like it’s been put together in a workshop.
The workflow has been smoothed out, and once calibrated, which is of course all handled by the printer, as long as you ensure you maintain the rails and keep things clean after every print, the reliability is superb.
There are a couple of points on the maintenance of this printer. The first is to make sure that the print surface is always given a wipe over with an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) spray and a lint-free cloth.
The other point, which is especially relevant with this and other multi-filament printers, is to clear away the filament waste pile after, and even during, each print. Those tiny piles of filament can get stuck in various parts of the printer, so don’t let them pile up.
The filament waste issue is as ever apparent, but at present, with the design that’s pretty standard and at the price that is the price you pay.
Ultimately, for a printer that is so cheap, the potential and print quality of the Kobra X is superb, and at a competitive price point, it is at present the best value in a crowded field.
Should you buy the Anycubic Kobra X?
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Row 0 – Cell 1 | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
|
Value: |
Incredible value for money for a multifilament printer with upgrade potential for even more filaments |
5 |
|
Design: |
Older Cartesian design, but refined, fast and reliable |
4 |
|
Features: |
AnyCubic has thrown every feature going at the Kobra X, camera, advanced auto levelling, and multfilament printing |
4.5 |
|
Performance: |
Fast performance for the design and decent print quality with easy multifilament printing |
4 |
|
Total: |
Outstanding value and one of the cheapest 3D printers at this quality on the market |
4.5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
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