3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo vs Bambu Lab A1 mini
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo comparisonsMore Bambu Lab A1 mini comparisons
| Property | Anycubic Kobra 3 ComboBEDSLINGER | Bambu Lab A1 miniBEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Anycubic | Bambu Lab |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo - the Kobra 3 sold together with the ACE Pro filament unit[1] | Bambu Lab A1 mini. Store title: "Bambu Lab A1 mini 3D Printer"[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Listed on the Anycubic store from 30 April 2024 (Shopify publish date)[3] | Shipped in the second half of 2023; Tom's Hardware published its A1 mini review on 13 October 2023, ahead of the full-size A1 review of 14 December 2023[4][5] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $329.00 with a US plug on store.anycubic.com, Aug 2026 ($355.00 for the EU plug variant)[3] | From $219.00 (base A1 mini) on the Bambu Lab US store, Aug 2026, during an advertised Back-to-School sale; the product page lists A1 mini and A1 mini Combo variants[6][7] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Two things to watch here. First, the Combo is printer plus ACE Pro; the ACE Pro alone weighs 4.6 kg and measures 366 x 283 x 235 mm, so plan bench space for both. Second, Anycubic's own specification table on this page mixes generations - the weight row reads "Kobra 3 V2 - 9.2kg" while the package row reads "Kobra 3 - 12kg", and a separate Kobra 3 V2 Combo product is listed at the same price. Treat any single figure from this page as needing confirmation against the exact SKU[1][3][8] | Two SKUs: A1 mini and A1 mini Combo (adds the AMS lite). Distinguish from the full-size A1 by build volume (180 vs 256 mm cube), bed ceiling (80 vs 100 C), screen (2.4 vs 3.5 inch), Z drive (single leadscrew with a coupling vs dual leadscrews belt-synced) and weight (5.5 vs 8.3 kg)[2][9][10][11] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Still the entry model in the Bambu Lab US store line-up in Aug 2026 and the cheapest machine listed[6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 250 x 250 x 260 mm; Anycubic quotes a 16.25 L maximum printing volume[1] | 180 x 180 x 180 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 452.9 x 504.7 x 483 mm for the printer; the ACE Pro is a separate 365.94 x 282.84 x 234.5 mm box[1] | 347 x 315 x 365 mm (Bambu tech specs; Tom's Hardware prints 347 x 314 x 365 mm)[2][4] |
| Net weight (kg) | Anycubic's table gives "Kobra 3 V2 - 9.2kg" for the machine weight and "Kobra 3 - 12kg" for the package weight, plus 4.6 kg for the ACE Pro - the two rows do not refer to the same thing, so treat 9.2 kg as the machine and 12 kg as shipping weight[1] | 5.5 kg net[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Steel plus extruded aluminium chassis[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Open frame, no enclosure[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Anycubic's specification table gives the construction as "Gantry System" - it is a bed-slinger, not the CoreXY layout used by the Kobra S1 series[1][12] | Cartesian bed-slinger: toolhead on an X guide rail and crossbeam, print platform moving in Y on a guide rail, toolhead carried in Z[10] |
| X-axis guide type (rods / linear rails / V-wheels; size) | Not documented | Horizontal linear guide rail with the printhead on a sliding block; rail size not published[10] |
| Y-axis guide type | Not documented | Horizontal linear guide rail carrying the print platform, belt-driven in Y[10] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not documented | Single leadscrew with nut, coupling and stepper motor - the motor drives the leadscrew directly through the coupling. This is the clearest hardware difference from the A1, which uses two leadscrews synchronised by a belt[10][11] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 600 mm/s maximum print speed (manufacturer claim), with 300 mm/s recommended[1] | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim); no independent measurement found[2] |
| Recommended/typical print speed | 300 mm/s recommended print speed (manufacturer figure)[1] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20000 mm/s2 maximum acceleration, 10000 mm/s2 recommended (manufacturer claims)[1] | 10000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | Not documented | 28 mm3/s claimed on a 150x150 mm single-wall model in Bambu ABS at 280 C - note this is the ABS figure quoted for a machine whose own spec sheet lists ABS as not recommended[2] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive (Anycubic's term is "short distance extrusion")[1] | Direct drive with hardened-steel extruder gears; toolhead also holds the cutter unit, filament hub and filament sensor[2][10] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | 300 C quick-release hotend; 0.4 mm standard nozzle, expandable to 0.6 and 0.8 mm[1] | All-metal integrated hotend (nozzle plus heatsink in one unit), quick-swap; stainless-steel nozzle, 0.4 mm included, 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[2][10] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C maximum nozzle temperature (manufacturer figure)[1] | 300 C claimed max hot-end temperature[2] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 C maximum hotbed temperature on a PEI spring steel build plate[1] | 80 C max build-plate temperature - the lowest of the current Bambu range, and the reason ABS/ASA are listed as not recommended[2][10] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Textured PEI plate; Smooth PEI and Dual-Texture PEI plates also compatible[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | LeviQ 3.0 auto-levelling with Z-offset, plus area levelling[1] | Nozzle-touch automatic bed levelling and automatic Z-offset; Tom's Hardware confirms the nozzle itself is the probe[4][10] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection with auto resume, filament entanglement detection, nozzle clog detection and power-loss resume[1] | Yes - run-out sensor, filament odometry and filament-tangle sensor[2] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | 4-colour printing with one ACE Pro, or up to 8 colours with two units[1] | Optional AMS lite (A1 mini Combo); AMS / AMS 2 Pro / AMS HT need an AMS HUB (SA013) accessory[7] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | One custom 5015 centrifugal part-cooling fan with two opposing outlets; closed-loop control. A separate MC board cooling fan is also fitted[2][10] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Bambu names the motion controller as a dual-core Cortex-M4; no board model or chip markings published[2] |
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 100-240 VAC 50/60 Hz; max power 150 W for the whole machine. Bed heater wattage is not published separately[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Kobra OS. Anycubic's slicer, Anycubic Slicer Next, is stated to be built on the open-source Orca slicer[1] | Closed-source proprietary firmware - not a Klipper or Marlin derivative, and no printer-firmware source is published. The bambulab GitHub organisation carries 11 repositories (Bambu Studio, wxWidgets/boost/ffmpeg forks, the wiki); none is printer firmware. Updates are delivered over the air via Bambu Studio / Bambu Handy[13] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 30-60 degree adjustable tilt[1] | 2.4-inch 320x240 IPS touchscreen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Touchscreen plus Anycubic Slicer Next, the Anycubic app and USB (print only); AI spaghetti detection and object skip are supported[1] | Touchscreen plus Bambu Handy app and Bambu Studio PC application[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Printer UI, slicing software, Anycubic app and USB drive (print only)[1] | Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz only (802.11 b/g/n), Bambu-Bus, microSD card. No Ethernet, no USB host[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Camera is optional on the Kobra 3 - a 720p HD unit, not fitted as standard, unlike the Kobra S1, Kobra 4 and Kobra X[1][12][14] | Built-in low-rate camera, up to 1080p, timelapse supported[2] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | Arrives mostly pre-assembled - only the filament wiper, spool holder and Bowden tubes to fit[4] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, PETG and TPU, and Anycubic notes TPU is not compatible with the ACE Pro multi-material unit[1] | Ideal: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA. Not recommended: ABS, ASA, PC, PA, PET and fibre-reinforced polymers[2] |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Not documented | Manufacturer claim only: the US store page claims "49dB Whisper-Quiet Operation" - the identical sentence appears on the A1 page, so treat it as line-level marketing copy rather than a per-model measurement. No independent dB measurement with a stated distance was found[7][15] |
| 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[16] | 2-year limited warranty for consumers in the US, Canada, the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year in the rest of the world. Bambu Lab's own policy records the US/Canada term as a 2026 extension from one year to two[17] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom's Hardware: Editor's Choice, rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data (13 October 2023)[4] |
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 3 Combo product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 mini - Technical Specifications bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo Shopify product JSON (variant prices and store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A1 Mini Review, 13 October 2023 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Bambu Lab A1 Review, Denise Bertacchi, 14 December 2023 tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Bambu Lab US Store - 3D Printers collection listing (base prices, Aug 2026) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 mini store page (A1 mini / A1 mini Combo variants) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic store 3D printers collection (current line-up and headline prices, Aug 2026) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 - Technical Specifications bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Wiki - A1 mini introduction wiki.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab Wiki - A1 introduction wiki.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Anycubic Kobra S1 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - bambulab organisation repository list (11 repos, checked Aug 2026) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Anycubic Kobra 4 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab A1 store page (A1 / A1 Combo variants) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic refund and warranty policy store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Warranty Policy bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor