3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Anycubic Kobra 4 vs Creality K1
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Anycubic Kobra 4 comparisonsMore Creality K1 comparisons
| Property | Anycubic Kobra 4BEDSLINGER | Creality K1COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Anycubic | Creality |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Anycubic Kobra 4[1] | Creality K1 (store title "Creality K1 Speedy 3D Printer")[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Listed on the Anycubic store from 29 May 2026 (Shopify publish date)[4] | Not documented |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $279.00 with a US plug on store.anycubic.com, Aug 2026, against a compare-at price of $379.00 ($320.90 for the EU plug variant)[4] | $299.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026. Creality's own K1-series comparison page shows $389 against a struck-through $599 on the same day[3][2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Shares its 260 mm cube volume and its exact machine dimensions (455.4 x 445.3 x 461.3 mm) with the Kobra X, so those two cannot be told apart on size. The difference is multicolour: the Kobra X ships with native 4-colour capability, while the Kobra 4 needs an ACE 2 Pro unit for multicolour and drying. The Kobra 4 also has a smaller 3.5-inch screen where the Kobra 3 and S1 use 4.3-inch panels[1][5][6] | Base model of the K1 family. The differences that matter are in the hotend: the K1 uses a metal + PTFE-tube hotend with a copper nozzle, while the K1C is all-metal with a steel-tipped nozzle integrated with the heatbreak and adds an air filter and a 1080p AI camera. Creality's own comparison table annotates the K1 hotend "Changing to All-metal Soon", so the hotend on a given unit depends on when it was built - check before buying. The K1 Max is the 300 mm version with 1000 W rated power and Ethernet; the K1 SE has a PA+30%GF hotend and an epoxy plate[2][7] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 260 x 260 x 260 mm[1] | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 455.4 x 445.3 x 461.3 mm for the printer; the optional ACE 2 Pro is a separate 368 x 291.5 x 236.5 mm unit[1] | 355 x 355 x 480 mm[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 9.9 kg for the printer (ACE 2 Pro 3.7 kg); packaged 12.6 kg bare or 17.5 kg as the Combo[1] | 12.5 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[8] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Enclosed with passive chamber heating only - Creality's comparison table lists "Passive Heating" for the K1, K1C and K1 Max and no chamber heating for the K1 SE[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Anycubic's table gives the construction as "Gantry system" - a bed-slinger, not CoreXY[1] | CoreXY (Creality's own K1-series comparison table)[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 600 mm/s maximum print speed (manufacturer claim), 300 mm/s the default[1] | 600 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim). Creality's own footnote says the 600 mm/s figure was achieved in Creality Lab and that the typical speed is 300 mm/s[2][7] |
| Recommended/typical print speed | 300 mm/s default print speed (manufacturer figure)[1] | 300 mm/s typical printing speed with 12000 mm/s2 typical acceleration, stated by Creality alongside the 600 mm/s headline[2] |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20000 mm/s2 maximum acceleration, 10000 mm/s2 recommended[1] | 20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive ("short distance extrusion")[1] | Dual-gear direct-drive extruder[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Hardened-steel nozzle, 0.4 mm standard with 0.25, 0.6 and 0.8 mm optional[1] | Metal hotend with a PTFE (Teflon) tube in the filament path and a copper nozzle. Creality's own comparison table adds "(Changing to All-metal Soon)", so this is a moving target across production runs[2] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C maximum nozzle temperature[1] | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[2] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C maximum hotbed temperature on a PEI spring steel build plate[1] | 100 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Coated steel flex plate, heated, removable[8] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | LeviQ 3.0 49-point auto-levelling with Z-offset; Anycubic claims levelling repeatability under 0.02 mm and states no manual compensation is needed[1] | Automatic bed levelling (Tom's Hardware); unlike the K1 Max there is no lidar[8][9] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament detection with auto resume, entanglement detection and power-loss resume[1] | Filament run-out sensor fitted[8] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Multicolour and active drying both require the separate ACE 2 Pro unit; Anycubic quotes 4 independent brushless feed motors in that unit[1] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | Closed-loop part-cooling fan; PWM hotend cooling fan[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Total rated power draw | Not documented | 350 W rated power[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Kobra OS with pressure advance and flow calibration; a built-in accelerometer drives vibration compensation[1] | Creality OS, a Klipper derivative. Creality publishes the source as CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper on GitHub, whose own description is "clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0, last pushed December 2025[10][11][2] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen - smaller than the 4.3-inch panels on the Kobra 3 and S1 series[1][6][12] | 4.3-inch 800x480 colour touchscreen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Touchscreen plus Anycubic Slicer, the Anycubic app and USB; AI spaghetti detection and object skip supported[1] | Colour touch UI; remote monitoring, time-lapse, failure detection and build-surface detection are all optional on the K1 because they depend on the optional AI camera[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB, Anycubic Slicer and the Anycubic app[1] | Wi-Fi only - no Ethernet (the K1 Max adds RJ45); 8 GB of on-board storage[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Standard HD camera fitted, 720p[1] | AI camera optional, not fitted as standard - unlike the K1C and K1 Max, which include a 1080p camera[2] |
| Calibration Routines & QoL | ||
| Assembly level & time from unbox to first print | Anycubic claims assembly and first print within 15 minutes[1] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, PETG, TPU 95A - and Anycubic notes TPU 95A cannot be used through the ACE 2 Pro[1] | Hyper PLA, PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS - a notably shorter list than the K1C, because of the PTFE-lined hotend[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | Not verified directly. Creality's published firmware for the K1 series (CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper, GPL-3.0) is described by Creality itself as a clone of upstream Klipper, and upstream Klipper ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check; whether Creality's stock printer.cfg enables it, and with what thresholds, was not checked here[10][11] |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | 48 dB or less in standard mode and 45 dB or less in silent print mode - manufacturer figures with no distance or method stated[1] | Not documented |
| 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[13] | 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[3] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Benchmark print times (source + settings) | Anycubic claims a 14-minute Benchy - a manufacturer figure with no slicer settings published, not an independent measurement[1] | Not documented |
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Not documented | Tom's Hardware rating 4 out of 5 in the page's structured data - the lowest of the K1 family, where the K1C and K1 Max both score 4.5[8][9][14] |
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 4 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality - Compare K1 Flagship Series (K1 / K1C / K1 Max / K1 SE side-by-side spec table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 4 Shopify product JSON (variant prices and store publish date) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra X product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality K1C product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1 Max Review (spec box) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/K1_Series_Klipper repository metadata ("clone from https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper/", GPL-3.0, last push Dec 2025) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Anycubic Kobra S1 product page (Specifications table) store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Anycubic refund and warranty policy store.anycubic.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality K1C Review (spec box and measured print time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review