3D Printing Info

Printer comparison

Creality Hi vs Rat Rig V-Core 4

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

2 selected · all documented properties

Creality Hi vs Rat Rig V-Core 4 — documented properties and sources
PropertyCreality HiBEDSLINGERRat Rig V-Core 4COREXY
Identity
BrandCrealityRat Rig
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]Rat Rig V-Core 4, sold in the US as "RatRig V-Core 4 3D Printer Kit"[2]
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[3]$2,319.99 at Fabreeko for the fully-specified US kit (price includes shipping and duty in the continental USA), Batch 4, checked Aug 2026. 300 mm ABS-parts variant in stock, 400 mm down to one unit. Rat Rig's own base kit is priced separately in EUR[2][4]
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]Three sizes (300, 400, 500 mm cubes) and three motion configurations: Standard CoreXY, Hybrid CoreXY (+$149.99, adds two motors to Y), and IDEX with two independent toolheads (+$450.00). Superseded by the V-Core 4.1. Raspberry Pi and enclosure panels are not included[2][4]
Market position: superseded? successor announced?Not documentedSuperseded by the V-Core 4.1, which adds a steel X gantry, a full-metal toolhead, improved part cooling, 8 mm beds on the 400 and 500 sizes and pre-made cables. Rat Rig sells a 4.1 upgrade kit for existing V-Core 4 owners[4]
Physical & Frame
Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable260 x 260 x 300 mm[1]300 x 300 x 300, 400 x 400 x 400 or 500 x 500 x 500 mm. Sortable value is the 300 mm kit[2][4]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)409 x 392 x 477 mm (Tom's Hardware measurement of the printer's footprint)[5]Not documented
Net weight (kg)11.58 kg (Tom's Hardware measurement)[5]Not documented
Frame construction & materialFull metal body with frame parts die-cast from aluminium alloy[1]30-series aluminium extrusion with printed ABS structural parts[2][4]
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lidOpen frame, no enclosure[1]Open by default; enclosure panels sold separately[2]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)Not documentedCoreXY, or Hybrid CoreXY, or Hybrid CoreXY IDEX depending on the configuration ordered[2]
Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?)Not documentedTMC2209[2]
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)500 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim)[1]Not documented
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)12000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1]Not documented
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design nameModular direct-drive extruder, which Creality markets as clog-free and designed for repairability[1]LDO Orbiter 2.0 direct-drive extruder[2]
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)0.4 mm high-flow hardened steel "unicorn" quick-swap nozzle[5]Phaetus Rapido 2.0 UHF[2]
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)300 C maximum nozzle temperature (Tom's Hardware)[5]Not documented
Heated Bed & Surface
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sidedTwo-sided epoxy-resin flexible build plate, heated[5]Keenovo silicone bed heater[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]Beacon eddy-current probe[2]
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)Filament run-out sensor fitted[5]Not documented
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]Not documented
Cooling & Air Handling
Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting designNot documentedNidec 4028 part-cooling fan[2]
Electronics & Power
Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist)Not documentedBigTreeTech Octopus[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[6][7]RatOS, Rat Rig's Klipper distribution[4]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?3.2-inch touchscreen, pre-assembled and foldable to shrink the footprint[1]Not documented
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]Not documented
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-driveUSB, LAN, cloud and app[5]Not documented
Calibration Routines & QoL
Assembly level & time from unbox to first print95% pre-assembled[1]Self-assembly kit; Raspberry Pi and enclosure panels sourced separately[2]
Materials Support
Officially supported filament listPLA and PETG (Tom's Hardware's materials line for the Hi Combo)[5]Not documented
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[6][7]Not documented
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[8]Not documented
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[5]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[5]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. RatRig V-Core 4 kit (US distributor listing) fabreeko.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  3. Creality US store - Creality Hi Combo 3D Printer product page (live prices for the variants) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  4. Rat Rig V-Core 4.1 product page ratrig.com · 2026-08 · vendor
  5. Tom's Hardware - Creality Hi Combo review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
  6. GitHub API - CrealityOfficial/Hi_Klipper repository metadata (GPL-3.0, last push Mar 2026) api.github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  7. GitHub - CrealityOfficial organisation repositories (per-model firmware sources) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
  8. Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor