3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Anycubic Kobra 2 vs Creality Ender-3 V3 KE

Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.

Anycubic Kobra 2 guideCreality Ender-3 V3 KE guide

2 selected · all documented properties

Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Anycubic Kobra 2 comparisonsMore Creality Ender-3 V3 KE comparisons
Anycubic Kobra 2 vs Creality Ender-3 V3 KE — documented properties and sources
PropertyAnycubic Kobra 2BEDSLINGERCreality Ender-3 V3 KEBEDSLINGER
Identity
BrandAnycubicCreality
ClassBEDSLINGERBEDSLINGER
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Anycubic Kobra 2[1]Creality Ender-3 V3 KE[2]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Listed on the Anycubic store from 15 May 2023 (Shopify publish date)[1]Not documented
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)$169.00 on store.anycubic.com, Aug 2026, against a compare-at price of $279.00 - the cheapest machine in this file[1]$259.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026; Creality's own product page shows $279.00 on the same day[3][2]
Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk)Base model of a five-way family that is easy to confuse. All of Kobra 2, Kobra 2 Neo and Kobra 2 Pro share the same 220 x 220 x 250 mm build volume, but their speed ceilings differ: Neo 250 mm/s max / 150 typical, Kobra 2 300 / 200, Kobra 2 Pro 500 / 300. The Plus (320 x 320 x 400 mm) and Max (420 x 420 x 500 mm) are bigger but drop the bed ceiling to 90 C where the three small ones reach 110 C. Anycubic's own note: Kobra 2 firmware must be at V3.0.6 or above for the quoted speed[1][4][5][6][7]Sits between the SE and the V3 in the Ender-3 V3 family. Against the SE: linear rail on X instead of wheels, 500 mm/s instead of 250, 300 C ceramic hotend instead of 260 C, 4.3-inch touchscreen instead of a 3.2-inch knob screen, Wi-Fi instead of SD-card only. Against the V3: the KE keeps the conventional bed-slinger layout while the V3 is CoreXZ and reaches 600 mm/s. Build volume also differs subtly - 220 x 220 x 240 mm on the KE against 220 x 220 x 250 mm on the SE and V3[2][8][9][10]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable250 x 220 x 220 mm stated HWD, i.e. 220 x 220 x 250 mm in X x Y x Z; Anycubic quotes 12.1 L[1]220 x 220 x 240 mm - 10 mm shorter than the SE and V3, a difference that is easy to miss[8]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)486 x 440 x 435 mm stated as HWD, so the desk footprint is about 440 x 435 mm and the height is 486 mm[1]433 x 366 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware)[8]
Net weight (kg)8.4 kg[1]7.8 kg[8]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Open frame, no enclosure[2]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)Cartesian bed-slinger with a gantry frame; Anycubic describes double metal spindles with SG15 bearings on the moving axes[1]Cartesian bed-slinger with a linear rail on X[2]
X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size)Not documentedSteel linear rail on the X axis with a ball-bearing carriage; Creality Lab quotes a 0.04 friction coefficient[2]
Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlashDouble-threaded rod Z axis (dual lead screws)[1]Not documented
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)300 mm/s maximum print speed (Anycubic Lab figure; firmware V3.0.6 or above required)[1]500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab)[2]
Recommended/typical print speed200 mm/s recommended print speed (manufacturer figure) - the number to plan around, not the 300 mm/s headline[1]Not documented
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)3000 mm/s2 acceleration (manufacturer figure) - modest next to the 20000 mm/s2 of the current Kobra generation[1][11]Not documented
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameDirect drive with a dual-geared extrusion structure[1]Direct-drive extruder paired with the ceramic-heated high-flow hotend[2]
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)Not documentedHotend with a 60 W ceramic heater, a bi-metal copper/titanium-alloy heatbreak to resist thermal creep, and a copper nozzle[2]
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)260 C nozzle temperature ceiling; 0.4 mm replaceable nozzle[1]300 C claimed max nozzle temperature (Creality Lab test at 25 C room temperature)[2]
Heater cartridge power (W)60 W hotend heater (Anycubic states "upgraded extruder power reaches up to 60 watts")[1]60 W ceramic heater cartridge (manufacturer figure)[2]
Heated Bed & Surface
Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit110 C hotbed temperature ceiling[1]Not documented
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedNot documentedPEI-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[8]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)Anycubic LeviQ 2.0 automatic levelling with smart Z-offset and a user-adjustable Z compensation value[1]One-tap self-test covering Z offset and auto levelling; Tom's Hardware records automatic levelling with automatic Z as well[2]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted, with power-loss recovery[1]Filament run-out sensor fitted[8]
Cooling & Air Handling
Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting designPart-cooling fan rated to 7000 rpm (Anycubic figure)[1]Two part-cooling fans, one on each side of the printhead, cooling the freshly printed section from both sides[2]
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)Not documentedCreality OS, which Creality states is "Based on the popular Klipper firmware", with open-source files published; the source is on GitHub as CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper, described as a clone of upstream Klipper, GPL-3.0. Input shaping and motion advance (pressure advance) are exposed as features[2][12][13]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?4.3-inch colour LCD touchscreen[1]4.3-inch touchscreen[8]
On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.)Not documentedTouch UI with a tab bar, real-time model preview, motion graphics for print parameters and a one-tap self-test[2]
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drivemicroSD card[1]Wi-Fi and USB; LAN printing and cloud printing through Creality Print on PC or the Creality Cloud app, with multi-printer print-farm management[8][2]
Calibration Routines & QoL
Assembly level & time from unbox to first printModular assembly - Anycubic states 5 pieces in about 10 minutes[1]Not documented
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listPLA, ABS, PETG, TPU[1]Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU (95A) and ASA[2]
Safety
Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible)Not documentedNot verified directly. Creality states the Ender-3 V3 KE runs a Klipper-based Creality OS and publishes CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper (GPL-3.0) as a clone of upstream Klipper, which ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check; the stock configuration was not checked here[12][13][2]
Reliability, Support & Ecosystem
Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes)One year on the complete machine (excluding gifted and second-hand machines), with component warranty periods that vary by part; the period starts on the delivery date and is suspended while a replacement is in transit. Anycubic states it will follow longer local statutory periods where they apply[14]Creality's US store states "Up to 12-Month Warranty", a 14-day return and refund window and "Lifetime Customer Support" on its printer product pages. The "up to" wording means the term is not uniform across parts[15]
Independently Measured Performance
Benchmark print times (source + settings)Not documentedBenchy in 19 minutes 48 seconds under Speed Boat Rules in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware[8]
Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date)Not documentedTom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[8]

Manufacturer claims, independent measurements, packages and test conditions retain their source wording. FDM linear speed and resin vertical speed use different units and are not directly comparable. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.

Sources for this comparison

  1. Anycubic Kobra 2 store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 KE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. Anycubic Kobra 2 Neo store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. Anycubic Kobra 2 Pro store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  6. Anycubic Kobra 2 Plus store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  7. Anycubic Kobra 2 Max store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  8. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  9. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  10. Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  11. Anycubic Kobra 4 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  12. GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Ender-3_V3_KE_Klipper repository metadata ("clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  13. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  14. Anycubic refund and warranty policy store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  15. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor