3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo vs Formlabs Form 4
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 Formlabs Form 4 comparisons
| Property | Anycubic Kobra 3 ComboBEDSLINGER | Formlabs Form 4RESIN |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Anycubic | Formlabs |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | RESIN |
| 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] | Formlabs Form 4 3D Printer[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Listed on the Anycubic store from 30 April 2024 (Shopify publish date)[4] | 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)[4] | Starting at $2,625.00 at GoEngineer, in stock, checked Aug 2026. Formlabs sells the printer as part of packages (Form 4 Complete Package etc.), so package prices are much higher than the printer-only figure[3] |
| 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][4][5] | Three machines share this platform and are constantly conflated. Form 4: 200 x 125 x 210 mm, 50 um pixels, 18.3 kg, 480 W, one resin cartridge, NOT biocompatible. Form 4B: identical hardware but validated for 38 Formlabs materials including 15 biocompatible. Form 4L: 353 x 196 x 350 mm, 46 um pixels, 58.5 kg, 900 W, two cartridges[2] |
| 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] | 200 x 125 x 210 mm (Formlabs quotes 5.25 litres)[2][3] |
| 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] | 398 x 367 x 554 mm[2][3] |
| 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] | 18.3 kg[2][3] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Enclosed cabinet with a hinged UV-blocking cover. Operating temperature 18-28 C[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][6] | Masked stereolithography (MSLA). Formlabs brands the engine Low Force Display; straight-lift peel[2][3] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 600 mm/s maximum print speed (manufacturer claim), with 300 mm/s recommended[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive (Anycubic's term is "short distance extrusion")[1] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C maximum nozzle temperature (manufacturer figure)[1] | Not documented |
| 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 |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection with auto resume, filament entanglement detection, nozzle clog detection and power-loss resume[1] | Not documented |
| 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 |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Not documented | 100-240 VAC, 4.8 A, 50/60 Hz, 480 W[2] |
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 480 W[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] | Proprietary. Print preparation is PreForm; fleet management is Formlabs Dashboard[3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 30-60 degree adjustable tilt[1] | 7-inch interactive touchscreen, 1280 x 800 (control panel — not the masking LCD, see W1)[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] | Not documented |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Printer UI, slicing software, Anycubic app and USB drive (print only)[1] | Dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbit), USB-C 2.0[2][3] |
| 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][6][7] | Not documented |
| 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] | Formlabs resins across rigid, tough, general purpose, flame retardant, silicone, elastic, ceramic and castable families. Biocompatible resins require the Form 4B, not the Form 4[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[8] | Not documented |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | Not documented | XY dimensional tolerance +/-0.15% — a manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement[2][3] |
| Resin & MSLA | ||
| Masking LCD | Not documented | Low Force Display masking LCD with a 50 um pixel size and pre-tuned anti-aliasing. Formlabs does not publish the screen diagonal or pixel count[2][3] |
| Light source | Not documented | Backlight unit with 60 uniform-wavelength high-power LEDs behind collimating lenses, with integrated cooling[2][3] |
| Vertical print speedmm/h | Not documented | Maximum 100 mm/h; average 40 mm/h at a 100 um layer height (manufacturer figures — GoEngineer publishes both, which is unusually explicit about the basis). Formlabs separately claims most prints finish in under 2 hours[3][2] |
| Layer height range | Not documented | 25-200 um per Formlabs' own tech-spec page; GoEngineer's listing for the same machine says 25-300 um. Unresolved[2][3] |
| Resin vat & feeding | Not documented | Single next-generation resin cartridge; Formlabs claims 5-10x faster filling and 63% less waste. Resin tank rated for 75,000+ layers with any Formlabs material. No vat capacity published[2][3] |
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
- Formlabs resin printer technical specifications (Form 4 / 4B / 4L) formlabs.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Formlabs Form 4 3D printer listing store.goengineer.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo Shopify product JSON (variant prices and store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic store 3D printers collection (current line-up and headline prices, Aug 2026) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra S1 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 4 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic refund and warranty policy store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor