3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Anycubic Kobra 2 vs Original Prusa MK4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Anycubic Kobra 2 comparisonsMore Original Prusa MK4 comparisons
| Property | Anycubic Kobra 2BEDSLINGER | Original Prusa MK4BEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Anycubic | Prusa Research |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Anycubic Kobra 2[1] | Original Prusa MK4[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Listed on the Anycubic store from 15 May 2023 (Shopify publish date)[1] | Announced 29 March 2023 with assembled printers shipping immediately from stock; kits opened for ordering about two weeks later[2] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | 1099 USD assembled, 799 USD as a kit, VAT included, at launch[2] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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reach 110 C. Anycubic's own note: Kobra 2 firmware must be at V3.0.6 or above for the quoted speed[1][3][4][5][6] | Superseded by the MK4S, which is the same machine plus a 360-degree turbine part-cooling fan, a high-flow CHT nozzle and firmware/profile work; Prusa sold a 99 USD MK4-to-MK4S upgrade kit and automatically converted unshipped MK4 orders to the S version. The MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades convert an MK3S+ to part of the MK4 electronics stack but are not an MK4[7][2] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Discontinued. No MK4 appears in Prusa's Aug 2026 3D-printer listing, and the MK4 product-page slugs redirect to the MK4S page, so no live first-party price could be recorded[8][7] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 250 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] | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Net weight (kg) | 8.4 kg[1] | Not documented |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Die-cast aluminium frame - Prusa replaced the MK3S+'s cut-aluminium frame for the MK4, keeping only the Y-axis profiles, some bearings, the heatbed and the power supply[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional add-on[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 of the Prusa i3 family - Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were carried over[2] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Double-threaded rod Z axis (dual lead screws)[1] | Not documented |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 400-step (0.9 degree) stepper motors, stated by Prusa to prevent vertical fine artefacts[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | Trinamic TMC2130-LA silent stepper drivers on the xBuddy board[2] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Recommended/typical print speed | 200 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][9] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive with a dual-geared extrusion structure[1] | Nextruder direct drive with a planetary gear system, 1:10 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink, all-metal hotend, no PTFE tube in the filament path[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 1:10 planetary gearbox[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Quick-swap nozzle system, 0.4 mm default, other diameters supported[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 hotend temperature in Prusa's MK4 announcement table - note the MK4S product page publishes 290 C for the same hotend family[2][10] |
| Heater cartridge power (W) | 60 W hotend heater (Anycubic states "upgraded extruder power reaches up to 60 watts")[1] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 C hotbed temperature ceiling[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring-steel sheets; compatible with the MK3 sheets (smooth PEI, satin, textured PEI, PA nylon)[2] |
| 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] | Load-cell sensor: fully automatic first-layer calibration with the nozzle as the probe, plus automatic mesh bed levelling over the print area[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted, with power-loss recovery[1] | Built-in Hall-effect filament sensor supporting automatic filament loading[2] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Part-cooling fan rated to 7000 rpm (Anycubic figure)[1] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32, designed and built in-house, with a separate extruder breakout board[2] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W Delta PSU with hardware power panic[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not documented | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[11][10] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch colour LCD touchscreen[1] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Not documented | On-device colour UI with one-click printing and status LEDs; Prusa Link is integrated and Prusa Connect adds remote printing[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | microSD card[1] | Ethernet built in, optional ESP Wi-Fi module delivered with the printer, USB drive; print files can also arrive over LAN or the internet via Prusa Connect[2] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Modular assembly - Anycubic states 5 pieces in about 10 minutes[1] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU[1] | Prusa's launch table says "any thermoplastic including Nylon and Polycarbonate"; the enclosure is still needed in practice for ABS/ASA-class materials[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | xBuddy hardware overcurrent protection disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A; firmware is open-source and auditable[2][11] |
| 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[12] | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[13][10] |
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
- Anycubic Kobra 2 store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Anycubic Kobra 2 Neo store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 2 Pro store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 2 Plus store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 2 Max store page and Shopify product JSON (Tech Specs block, price, store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 4 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Anycubic refund and warranty policy store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc