3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Hi vs ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo

Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Hi vs ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality HiBEDSLINGERELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 ComboCOREXY
Identity
BrandCrealityELEGOO
ClassBEDSLINGERCOREXY
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)Creality Hi, sold as the "Creality Hi Combo" with one CFS unit[1]ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo[2]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)Not documentedListed on the ELEGOO US store from 9 August 2026 (Shopify publish date)[3]
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)The Creality US store Hi Combo page lists three variant prices - $299.00, $399.00 and $539.00 - on the same page, Aug 2026; the lowest is recorded here and the combo includes one CFS unit[4]$399.00 on us.elegoo.com, Aug 2026, against a compare-at price of $449.00[3]
Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk)Sold as a combo bundled with one CFS multi-material unit; up to four CFS units can be stacked for 16 colours, and the extra three are bought separately. Three price variants exist on the store page, so a single "Creality Hi" price is ambiguous[1]The Centauri Carbon 2 sold with the CANVAS multicolour unit. Every printing figure matches the bare Centauri Carbon 2; what changes is the body - 500 x 480 x 743 mm and 19.35 kg with CANVAS fitted - and CANVAS capability being listed Yes. Against the first-generation Centauri Carbon: 350 C nozzle rather than 320 C, clog detection added, and a HEPA plus coconut-shell carbon filter stack rather than the nano mineral crystal filter. An ELEGOO x emoji collaboration edition of the same machine is also listed[2][5][6][7]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable260 x 260 x 300 mm[1]256 x 256 x 256 mm; printing platform 260 x 260 mm[2]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)409 x 392 x 477 mm (Tom's Hardware measurement of the printer's footprint)[8]500 x 480 x 743 mm with the CANVAS unit fitted[2]
Net weight (kg)11.58 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[8]19.35 kg net, 23.8 kg gross[2]
Frame construction & materialFull metal body with frame parts die-cast from aluminium alloy[1]Integrated die-cast aluminium construction (Centauri Carbon platform)[6]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Fully enclosed; the Centauri Carbon 2 uses a HEPA plus granulated coconut-shell activated-carbon filter stack rather than the first generation's nano mineral crystal filter, and adds a smart exhaust grille[5][6]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)Not documentedCoreXY[2]
Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlashNot documentedThree lead screws with three linear guide rods[2]
Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?)Not documented"Silent Drive (All Axes)"; no driver part number published[2]
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim)[1]500 mm/s or less, with 250 mm/s given as the recommended speed[2]
Recommended/typical print speedNot documented250 mm/s recommended printing speed (manufacturer figure)[2]
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)12000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1]20000 mm/s2 maximum acceleration; default 10000 mm/s2[2]
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameModular direct-drive extruder, which Creality markets as clog-free and designed for repairability[1]Dual-gear direct extruder with one fan[2]
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)0.4 mm high-flow hardened steel "unicorn" quick-swap nozzle[8]Brass-hardened steel nozzle, 0.4 mm, titanium-alloy heat break[2]
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)300 C maximum nozzle temperature (Tom's Hardware)[8]350 C claimed max nozzle temperature - 30 C above the first-generation Centauri Carbon[2][6]
Heated Bed & Surface
Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limitNot documented110 C max heated bed temperature at 25 C ambient[2]
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedTwo-sided epoxy-resin flexible build plate, heated[8]Dual-sided spring steel sheet, textured PEI plus a PLA-specific surface[2]
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)Auto levelling, plus automatic filament load and unload[1]121-point auto-levelling with full-auto calibration[2]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[8]Filament run-out sensor, clog detection, auto filament unloading and power-loss recovery[2]
Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade pathPairs with up to four CFS units for up to 16 colours; the combo ships with one CFS. Multi-material also enables snap-away support material[1]CANVAS multi-material capability included - the defining difference from the bare Centauri Carbon 2[2]
Electronics & Power
Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist)Not documented"Powerful Self-Developed Motherboard" is all ELEGOO publishes[2]
Total rated power drawNot documented1100 W at 220 V, 350 W at 110 V rated; 24 V output[2]
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)Klipper-derived firmware - Creality publishes the source as CrealityOfficial/Hi_Klipper on GitHub, GPL-3.0, last pushed March 2026[9][10]ELEGOO OS; ElegooSlicer recommended, Orca and Cura supported[2]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?3.2-inch touchscreen, pre-assembled and foldable to shrink the footprint[1]5-inch colour capacitive touch screen (the first-generation Centauri Carbon used a 4.3-inch panel)[2][6]
On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.)Touch UI with input shaping, alarm sounds and auto filament identification via the built-in RFID reader (needs Creality RFID filament)[1]Colour touch UI; LED lighting fitted; STL, OBJ, 3MF and STEP input[2]
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-driveUSB, LAN, cloud and app[8]USB and Wi-Fi[2]
Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps)Not documentedCamera fitted[2]
Calibration Routines & QoL
Assembly level & time from unbox to first print95% pre-assembled[1]Not documented
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listPLA and PETG (Tom's Hardware's materials line for the Hi Combo)[8]Ideal: PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA. Capable: TPU, PC, PA, PET and fibre-reinforced filaments[2]
Safety
Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible)Not verified directly. Creality publishes CrealityOfficial/Hi_Klipper (GPL-3.0) for this model; upstream Klipper ships the verify_heater thermal-runaway check, but the stock configuration was not checked here[9][10]Not documented
Noise & Power Consumption
Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method)Not documentedOperating sound published as 45 dB or less - a manufacturer figure with no distance or method stated, and 10 dB below the first-generation Centauri Carbon's published figure[2][6]
Reliability, Support & Ecosystem
Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes)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[11]12 months on brand-new machines and parts, but ELEGOO's own table excludes a long list of parts from that: PEI plate / build plate / nozzle kit / PTFE tube / heater / thermistor / hot end / packaging / manual / tools carry no warranty at all, and the extruder, extruder kit and printhead kit get 6 months. Certified pre-owned machines carry no warranty[12]
Independently Measured Performance
Benchmark print times (source + settings)Benchy in 32 minutes 33 seconds under Speed Boat Rules in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware[8]Not documented
Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date)Tom's Hardware rating 3.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data - the lowest score of any Creality machine recorded here[8]Not documented

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

  1. Creality Hi Combo product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  2. ELEGOO compare-products page, which embeds the full per-model specification JSON for every Neptune, Centauri and OrangeStorm machine us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo Shopify product JSON (price and store publish date) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. Creality US store - Creality Hi Combo 3D Printer product page (live prices for the variants) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 product page (Centauri Carbon 2 vs Centauri Carbon side-by-side table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  6. ELEGOO Centauri Carbon product page (full specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  7. ELEGOO US store 3D printers collection (current line-up, Aug 2026) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  8. Tom's Hardware - Creality Hi Combo review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  9. GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Hi_Klipper repository metadata (GPL-3.0, last push Mar 2026) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  10. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  11. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  12. ELEGOO Refund & Warranty policy (warranty period table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor