3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo vs Creality Ender-3 V3 SE
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 Creality Ender-3 V3 SE comparisons
| Property | Anycubic Kobra 3 ComboBEDSLINGER | Creality Ender-3 V3 SEBEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Anycubic | Creality |
| 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] | Creality Ender-3 V3 SE[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Listed on the Anycubic store from 30 April 2024 (Shopify publish date)[3] | Not documented |
| 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] | $186.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026; Creality's own product page shows $199.00 for the same machine on the same day, so the two Creality properties disagree[4][2] |
| 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][5] | The cheapest of the Ender-3 V3 family and mechanically the most conservative: it keeps a conventional i3 bed-slinger layout, while the Ender-3 V3 and V3 Plus use CoreXZ and the V3 KE keeps the bed-slinger layout but adds an X-axis linear rail, a 60 W ceramic hotend and Klipper-based Creality OS. Speed ceilings differ sharply - 250 mm/s and 2500 mm/s2 on the SE against 500 mm/s on the KE and 600 mm/s on the V3/V3 Plus. The SE also stops at a 260 C nozzle where the others reach 300 C[2][6][7][8][9] |
| 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] | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[8] |
| 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] | 349 x 364 x 490 mm (Tom's Hardware measurement of the machine footprint)[8] |
| 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] | 7.12 kg[8] |
| 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][10] | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger - Creality describes "neat X, Y, Z-axis, smooth T-shaped profiles" with a rigid dual Z-axis and a moving build platform on the Y axis[2] |
| Y-axis guide type | Not documented | Y axis runs on a pair of 8 mm steel linear shafts carrying the build platform[2] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Not documented | Rigid dual Z-axis, which Creality says reduces Z wobble[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 600 mm/s maximum print speed (manufacturer claim), with 300 mm/s recommended[1] | 250 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim, Creality Lab figure)[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] | 2500 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim). Tom's Hardware attributes the modest Benchy time directly to this acceleration cap[2][8] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive (Anycubic's term is "short distance extrusion")[1] | Creality "Sprite" direct-drive extruder, which Creality says works with PLA, PETG and flexible TPU and had shipped over 500,000 units as of June 2023[2] |
| 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] | Direct-drive hotend with a 0.4 mm high-flow nozzle (Tom's Hardware description); Creality does not describe an all-metal path for the SE[8] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C maximum nozzle temperature (manufacturer figure)[1] | 260 C maximum nozzle temperature per Tom's Hardware's spec box - the lowest of the Ender-3 V3 family, where the V3, V3 Plus and KE all reach 300 C[8][7] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 C maximum hotbed temperature on a PEI spring steel build plate[1] | Not documented |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | PC-coated spring steel sheet, heated, removable[8] |
| 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] | CR Touch inductive/mechanical probe for auto bed levelling plus a separate strain sensor for automatic Z offset - Creality's pitch is no levelling screws and no paper method[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection with auto resume, filament entanglement detection, nozzle clog detection and power-loss resume[1] | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | Two fans on the printhead: a front-mounted fan onto the hotend heatsink and a second fan in the shroud with twin ducts aimed at the nozzle (Tom's Hardware teardown description)[8] |
| 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] | Creality publishes an open-source firmware repository for this model, CrealityOfficial/Ender-3V3-SE on GitHub under GPL-3.0 (last pushed July 2024). Unlike the KE, K1 and K2 repositories, it is not described as a Klipper clone, and Creality does not call the SE a Creality OS machine on its product page[11][12][6] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 30-60 degree adjustable tilt[1] | 3.2-inch colour screen with a control knob - not a touchscreen, unlike the KE and V3[8] |
| 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] | Knob-driven colour UI using motion graphics to show levelling progress and print parameters; auto filament load/unload from the menu[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Printer UI, slicing software, Anycubic app and USB drive (print only)[1] | SD card only - no Wi-Fi and no USB host, in contrast to the Wi-Fi-equipped KE and V3[8] |
| 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][10][13] | Not documented |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Not documented | Kit-style assembly from a small number of pre-built sections; Creality claims printing within 20 minutes of unboxing[2] |
| 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] | PLA, PETG and TPU (Tom's Hardware); Creality's own copy names PLA, PETG and flexible TPU for the Sprite extruder[8] |
| 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 documented | Benchy in 41 minutes under Speed Boat Rules (2 walls, 3 top/bottom layers, 10% grid infill, 0.25 mm layer height, 0.5 mm width) in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware, not a manufacturer figure[8] |
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom'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
- Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 SE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo Shopify product JSON (variant prices and store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 SE 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic store 3D printers collection (current line-up and headline prices, Aug 2026) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 KE Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Anycubic Kobra S1 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Ender-3V3-SE repository metadata ("Open source for Ender-3V3 SE", GPL-3.0) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Anycubic Kobra 4 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic refund and warranty policy store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor