Printer comparison

ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo vs Formlabs Form 4

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

ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo guide Formlabs Form 4 guide

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ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo vs Formlabs Form 4 — documented properties and sources
Property	ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 ComboCOREXY	Formlabs Form 4RESIN
Identity
Brand	ELEGOO	Formlabs
Class	COREXY	RESIN
Identity & Market
Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first)	ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo[1]	Formlabs Form 4 3D Printer[2][3]
Release date (announcement and actual shipping)	Listed on the ELEGOO US store from 9 August 2026 (Shopify publish date)[4]	Not documented
Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry)	$399.00 on us.elegoo.com, Aug 2026, against a compare-at price of $449.00[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)	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[1][5][6][7]	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	256 x 256 x 256 mm; printing platform 260 x 260 mm[1]	200 x 125 x 210 mm (Formlabs quotes 5.25 litres)[2][3]
Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang)	500 x 480 x 743 mm with the CANVAS unit fitted[1]	398 x 367 x 554 mm[2][3]
Net weight (kg)	19.35 kg net, 23.8 kg gross[1]	18.3 kg[2][3]
Frame construction & material	Integrated die-cast aluminium construction (Centauri Carbon platform)[6]	Not documented
Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid	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]	Enclosed cabinet with a hinged UV-blocking cover. Operating temperature 18-28 C[2]
Kinematics & Motion Hardware
Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other)	CoreXY[1]	Masked stereolithography (MSLA). Formlabs brands the engine Low Force Display; straight-lift peel[2][3]
Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash	Three lead screws with three linear guide rods[1]	Not documented
Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?)	"Silent Drive (All Axes)"; no driver part number published[1]	Not documented
Speed & Acceleration
Max print speed (claimed, mm/s)	500 mm/s or less, with 250 mm/s given as the recommended speed[1]	Not documented
Recommended/typical print speed	250 mm/s recommended printing speed (manufacturer figure)[1]	Not documented
Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²)	20000 mm/s2 maximum acceleration; default 10000 mm/s2[1]	Not documented
Extruder
Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name	Dual-gear direct extruder with one fan[1]	Not documented
Hotend & Nozzle
Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?)	Brass-hardened steel nozzle, 0.4 mm, titanium-alloy heat break[1]	Not documented
Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values)	350 C claimed max nozzle temperature - 30 C above the first-generation Centauri Carbon[1][6]	Not documented
Heated Bed & Surface
Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit	110 C max heated bed temperature at 25 C ambient[1]	Not documented
Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided	Dual-sided spring steel sheet, textured PEI plus a PLA-specific surface[1]	Not documented
Leveling & Z-Offset
Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe)	121-point auto-levelling with full-auto calibration[1]	Not documented
Filament Handling & Detection
Filament runout sensor (type, location)	Filament run-out sensor, clog detection, auto filament unloading and power-loss recovery[1]	Not documented
Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path	CANVAS multi-material capability included - the defining difference from the bare Centauri Carbon 2[1]	Not documented
Electronics & Power
Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist)	"Powerful Self-Developed Motherboard" is all ELEGOO publishes[1]	Not documented
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	1100 W at 220 V, 350 W at 110 V rated; 24 V output[1]	480 W[2]
Firmware & Openness
Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary)	ELEGOO OS; ElegooSlicer recommended, Orca and Cura supported[1]	Proprietary. Print preparation is PreForm; fleet management is Formlabs Dashboard[3]
Connectivity, UI & Camera
Display: size, type, touch?	5-inch colour capacitive touch screen (the first-generation Centauri Carbon used a 4.3-inch panel)[1][6]	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.)	Colour touch UI; LED lighting fitted; STL, OBJ, 3MF and STEP input[1]	Not documented
WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive	USB and Wi-Fi[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 fitted[1]	Not documented
Materials Support
Officially supported filament list	Ideal: PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA. Capable: TPU, PC, PA, PET and fibre-reinforced filaments[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]
Noise & Power Consumption
Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method)	Operating 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[1][6]	Not documented
Reliability, Support & Ecosystem
Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes)	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[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

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
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
ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 Combo Shopify product JSON (price and store publish date) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 2 product page (Centauri Carbon 2 vs Centauri Carbon side-by-side table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
ELEGOO Centauri Carbon product page (full specification table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
ELEGOO US store 3D printers collection (current line-up, Aug 2026) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor
ELEGOO Refund & Warranty policy (warranty period table) us.elegoo.com · 2026-08 · vendor