AnyCubic Tries Multicolor: The AnyCubic Kobra 3 Combo

Summary

In this video, the presenter reviews the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo, a high-speed 3D printer with a filament dryer for multicolor prints. Despite initial skepticism, the printer impresses with its speed, capable of an 11-minute Benchy print. The multicolor printing feature is tested with challenging models, showcasing precision and vibrant colors. The ACE Pro's filament drying capability is highlighted, making the Kobra 3 Combo a compelling value at $449, especially for those interested in multicolor 3D printing.

Takeaways

• 🐍 The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo is a high-speed 3D printer with a filament dryer designed for multicolor printing.
• 🆓 Anycubic provided the printer and filament for free and sponsored the video, but opinions expressed are genuine.
• 🛠️ Setup was straightforward, but initial impressions were of a derivative machine similar to others on the market.
• 🏎️ The printer is incredibly fast, capable of an 11-minute 30-second Benchy print from factory settings.
• 🌡️ Cooling is a challenge at high speeds for small parts, but this isn't considered a realistic test scenario.
• 🎨 Multicolor printing capability was tested with success, showcasing the printer's precision and color-changing features.
• 🐢 The printer handled complex models like a sea turtle with intricate details well, despite some filament mapping errors.
• 🌳 There were issues with support structures detaching due to Z-offset and bed leveling adjustments still being fine-tuned.
• 🔗 The ACE Pro unit allows for linking multiple units for 8-color printing and may support non-Anycubic printers in the future.
• 📹 Remote monitoring and filament runout/jam detection were tested and worked well, with the print resuming flawlessly after a pause.
• 🌈 The printer's ability to handle multicolor PETG printing was a highlight, showing its potential despite some adhesion issues.

Q & A

What is the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo?

The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo is a high-speed 3D printer that includes a filament dryer and is capable of multicolor printing.

What did the speaker initially think about the Kobra 3 Combo?

Initially, the speaker was disappointed as the printer seemed derivative and similar to other machines on the market.

What was the time taken to print the 3D Benchy on the Kobra 3 Combo?

The Benchy was printed in 11 minutes and 30 seconds, which was pre-set on the machine from the factory.

What issue did the speaker encounter with the cooling system during high-speed printing?

The cooling system was found lacking for high-speed printing of small parts, leading to potential issues with such prints.

What multicolor print did the speaker attempt first on the Kobra 3 Combo?

The first multicolor print the speaker attempted was a set of sea turtles using Pantone filament.

What was the outcome of the multicolor print of the sea turtles?

Despite a mistake in filament mapping, the sea turtles turned out to be gorgeous and the speaker loved the result.

What additional feature did the speaker explore after the Benchy and sea turtles prints?

The speaker explored the printer's ability to handle multicolor prints with a lot more filament changes by printing a model of Skye from Paw Patrol.

How did the speaker find the printer's smart features, such as filament runout and jam detection?

The speaker was impressed with the filament runout and jam detection features, as the printer continued printing flawlessly after a long pause.

What was the speaker's experience with multicolor PETG printing on the Kobra 3 Combo?

The speaker successfully printed a multicolor PETG model after some initial issues, which they attributed to not having the correct profiles yet.

What is the earlybird price for the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo?

The earlybird price for the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo is $449.

What was the speaker's final opinion on the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo?

Despite initial skepticism and some software and firmware immaturity, the speaker was impressed with the printer and considered it a good value for the price.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Unboxing and First Impressions of the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo

The video begins with the excitement of unboxing the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo, a high-speed 3D printer with a filament dryer designed for multicolor prints. The presenter expresses initial disappointment due to the printer's similarity to other machines on the market. However, this sentiment changes as the presenter explores the printer's capabilities, including its impressive speed and multicolor printing features. The setup process is straightforward, although the printer's components require assembly. The presenter also mentions the printer's fast movement capabilities, comparing it to other top printers on the market. The first test print, the '3D Benchy,' showcases the printer's speed, despite some cooling issues with small parts. The video then transitions to testing the multicolor printing feature, with the presenter printing sea turtles and a model of Skye from Paw Patrol, highlighting the printer's precision and ability to handle complex, multicolor prints.

05:00

🎨 Multicolor Printing and Filament Drying Features

This section delves deeper into the multicolor printing capabilities of the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo. The presenter encounters some challenges, such as detached tree supports due to a learning curve with the printer's automatic bed leveling and Z offset. Despite these issues, the prints turn out impressive, especially with the vibrant Polymaker magenta filament. The video also discusses the printer's smart features, like remote monitoring through the Anycubic app and filament runout and jam detection, which prove to be reliable even after a long print session. The presenter then attempts multicolor printing with PETG, a material known to be challenging in high humidity environments. The ACE Pro's filament drying feature is highlighted as a significant advantage, especially considering the printer's earlybird price, which makes it an attractive option for multicolor printing.

10:02

🔧 Testing with ASA and Early Access to OrcaSlicer Profiles

The final part of the video focuses on testing the printer with ASA material and using early access OrcaSlicer profiles provided by Anycubic. The presenter creates custom profiles to print a large flat ASA part, taking advantage of the printer's open format and large build volume. Despite some initial issues with the printer's settings and the profiles, the print is successful with the help of Magigoo for bed adhesion. The presenter expresses satisfaction with the printer's ability to print ASA directly out of the box, given the right settings and adhesion solutions. The video concludes with the presenter's overall positive impression of the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo, emphasizing its value for the price, especially with the included ACE Pro, Pantone filament, and integrated camera. The video is sponsored, but the presenter assures that their opinion is genuine and they would not have agreed to the video if they did not like the product.

Keywords

💡Kobra 3 Combo

The Kobra 3 Combo is a high-speed 3D printer announced by Anycubic. It is paired with a filament dryer and is capable of multicolor printing. This device is central to the video's theme as the presenter provides a first look at it, tests its multicolor printing capabilities, and compares it with other printers on the market. The video script mentions the printer's high-speed performance and its inclusion in a sponsored video, indicating its significance.

💡Filament Dryer

A filament dryer is a device used to dry 3D printer filament, which is crucial for preventing print failures due to moisture absorption, especially with materials like PETG. In the context of the video, the Kobra 3 Combo includes a filament dryer, enhancing its functionality and making it a standout feature. The script describes how the ACE Pro can dry filament while the printer is stationary or actively printing.

💡Multicolor Printing

Multicolor printing refers to the ability of a 3D printer to switch between different colors of filament during a print job, creating more intricate and colorful models. This concept is a key focus of the video, as the presenter tests the Kobra 3 Combo's multicolor capabilities by printing various models, such as sea turtles and a model from Paw Patrol, showcasing the printer's precision and color-changing features.

💡Anycubic Color Engine (ACE Pro)

The Anycubic Color Engine Pro, or ACE Pro, is a component of the Kobra 3 Combo that enables multicolor printing by managing the filament changes. It is highlighted in the script as a significant innovation, allowing for the drying of filament and the printing of complex multicolor models. The presenter discusses the ACE Pro's ability to link multiple units for even more color options.

💡3D Benchy

The 3D Benchy is a standard test model used to evaluate the performance of 3D printers. It is mentioned in the script as the first print the presenter tries on the Kobra 3 Combo, emphasizing the printer's speed capabilities. The Benchy is used to demonstrate the printer's adherence to speedboat rules and its inbuilt memory, which includes an impressively fast print time.

💡LeviQ 3.0

LeviQ 3.0 is an automatic bed leveling system for 3D printers, which is crucial for ensuring a flat and even print surface. The script mentions that the Kobra 3 Combo is equipped with this system, which is still being dialed in by the manufacturer. The presenter encounters some tree support detachment issues, which they attribute to a learning curve with the new LeviQ 3.0 system.

💡Polymaker magenta

Polymaker magenta refers to a specific color of filament from the brand Polymaker, used in the video to print a model. The mention of this filament type in the script serves to illustrate the vibrancy and quality of colors that can be achieved with the Kobra 3 Combo, enhancing the visual appeal of the printed models.

💡OrcaSlicer

OrcaSlicer is a third-party slicing software that prepares 3D models for printing. The script discusses Anycubic's plans to add full support for OrcaSlicer, indicating the company's commitment to compatibility and user choice. The presenter uses preliminary profiles for OrcaSlicer to slice their own files, showcasing the printer's adaptability.

💡ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate)

ASA is a type of 3D printer filament known for its durability and resistance to UV light. In the video, the presenter experiments with printing ASA using the Kobra 3 Combo, highlighting the printer's ability to handle different filament types. The script describes a successful print with ASA, demonstrating the printer's versatility.

💡Earlybird Price

An earlybird price is a promotional price offered for a limited time, often to encourage early adoption of a product. The script mentions the Kobra 3 Combo's earlybird price of $449, which includes the printer, the ACE Pro, a kilo of Pantone filament, and an integrated camera. This pricing strategy is highlighted as a significant value proposition for potential buyers interested in multicolor 3D printing.

Highlights

Introduction to the Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo, a high-speed 3D printer with a filament dryer for multicolor prints.

Anycubic sponsored the video, but opinions are the reviewer's own.

The unboxing and setup process was easy due to the Anycubic Color Engine or ACE Pro.

Initial disappointment with the printer's similarity to other market offerings.

The printer's speed and capabilities impressed the reviewer over time.

A 3D Benchy test showed the printer's speed with an 11-minute 30-second print.

Cooling issues were noted during high-speed printing of small parts.

Multicolor printing capabilities were tested with a sea turtle model.

The filament buffer built into the ACE unit allows for multicolor printing on older printers.

The printer's smart features, including remote monitoring and filament runout detection, were tested.

A multicolor PETG print was successfully completed despite initial adhesion issues.

The Kobra 3 Combo's value proposition is highlighted against competitors.

The printer's ability to print with ASA material was tested and successful.

The reviewer's overall positive impression of the printer despite initial skepticism.

The earlybird price of $449 for the Kobra 3 Combo is considered a good value.

The video ends with a call to action for viewers interested in the printer.

Transcripts

Hey there!

I'm so glad that you're here.

So as you might already know, Anycubic recently announced their

all-new Kobra 3 Combo, a high-speed 3D printer that comes paired with a

filament dryer that prints multicolor.

And in this video, we're going to take a first look at it, try out

some multicolor prints, and see what sets this setup apart from the other

offerings coming out on the market.

Let's get after it.

Just to get the disclaimers and stuff out of the way, Anycubic did send

this printer and some of their new Pantone filament over free-of-charge,

and because I am trying to do more projects and fewer reviews, they

also did agree to sponsor this video.

So this definitely isn't a review, but all opinions are still my own and I wouldn't

say anything that I don't feel to be true.

Getting this thing unboxed and set up was relatively easy.

Because of the Anycubic Color Engine or ACE Pro taking up so much space

in the box, it actually doesn't ship flat like other bedslingers.

But there are still a bunch of things that you do need to put on, like the

toolhead, the filament flinger thing, the bowden tubes, and all of that.

Now, I'll be honest, when I initially unboxed this printer,

I was a little disappointed.

It felt to me like a really derivative machine, so similar to

some of the other machines that have been rolling out on the market.

Honestly, I was kinda like, come on Anycubic, you guys are a huge

company, can't you do something a little more innovative?

But as I spent more time with this machine, I printed out more and

more challenging models, and as I've seen what it's capable of, it's

actually really grown on me, and not just because they're paying me.

Let me show you why.

So the first thing I printed on this guy was, of course, the 3D cenchy.

I am, after all, a law-abiding citizen,

and I was actually completely shocked to see an 11-minute 30-second benchy on

the machine's memory from the factory.

But believe it or not, it is in fact an 11-minute and 30-second benchy, which

even seems to follow speed boat rules.

In fact, I think it might even use 15 percent infill instead of 10 percent.

Now, as you can see, the cooling on this machine is lacking for such high-speed

printing of such incredibly small parts, but honestly, this isn't a realistic test.

You would probably never print something so small so fast, and if

you needed to, you would just slow down for this type of bridging if you

weren't specifically trying to get under a certain number, and I suspect

that Anycubic was very deliberately trying to get under 12 minutes.

The reason that I share that this thing is technically capable of a

12-minute benchy is just to demonstrate how incredibly fast this thing moves

right up there with the other fastest printers on the market right now.

I don't really like to share top speed numbers like 600 millimeters

per second, 40,000 millimeters per second acceleration, because

those are theoretical limits, but to show that it actually can print

and move that fast is pretty cool, even if the cooling is lacking.

With the obligatory benchy out of the way, I wanted to test the kind

of headline feature of this printer, and that is multicolor printing.

I should note that for the first few days of my testing, I didn't actually have any

way to slice my own print files because Anycubic is still working on a Mac version

of their slicer, but fortunately I got some of my friends to slice stuff for me,

and I was pretty quickly off to the races.

I did decide to print a bunch of these cute little sea turtles.

I like

turtles.

Here I used actually another one of those Pantone filaments that Anycubic

provided for the green part of the turtle.

But as you'll probably notice, either myself or my colleague Sergey, who

was helping me test out this machine, accidentally swapped the different browns

when we were mapping the filament on the screen to what was sliced because

someone else had sliced it for us.

Still, I have to say that these turtles look absolutely gorgeous despite the

incredible difficulty of printing all these little scales, spanning

many different layers along the arms.

This is not a simple print and it has a ton of filament changes that

requires quite a bit of precision, and I kind of love these little dudes,

they're awesome!

I like turtles.

From there.

I wanted to really push the limits of what this printer could

do when it comes to multicolor.

So I tried printing something with a lot more filament changes that

would take quite a lot more time.

See, I still didn't have the ability to actually slice any files myself,

that would come later, but my friend Ailsa did slice this model of Skye

from Paw Patrol for, you guessed it, my uh, three and a half year old son.

Which is why, by the way, it came out a whole lot bigger than I actually wanted.

I decided to print it anyway.

In any case, this did give me an opportunity to really try out and test

a few different things on this printer.

You can see here that some of the tree supports did actually detach,

because I hadn't yet learned how to manually override the Z offset,

and they are still dialing in their new LeviQ 3.0 automatic bed leveling.

So some of my tree supports did detach.

I later figured out that there is a way to override the Z offset and correct it.

But still, I honestly think that this thing turned out absolutely

awesome, especially in this very vibrant Polymaker magenta.

It is a little bit nightmare fuel-ish with the pink and brown eyes, so maybe

in the future I will upgrade and get another one of these ACE Pro units

which is like $289 dollars, because you can actually link two of them together

for 8-color printing if you want.

In fact, Anycubic has actually built the filament buffer directly into

the ACE unit, which is going to then allow them to roll out support for

many of their other older printers,

allowing you to add multicolor to existing printers and they're actually even looking

into adding a support for non-Anycubic printers, which I think is gonna be a

game changer for those of you who don't want to throw or sell your old printers

away, but want to add multicolor to them.

Oh and by the way to whoever designed this model, they didn't

think to make it actually stand up when you fully assemble it.

So it looks like Skye is lifting her back leg to pee even though she's a girl dog.

I just thought that was a little bit funny.

Either way, this is yet another gorgeous multicolor model despite the

few failed tree supports, and it also gave me the chance to test some of

the smart features of this printer.

So I hooked up a camera because unlike the launch bundle that

Anycubic is offering right now, my review unit didn't come with one.

And I wanted to be able to monitor my prints remotely through the

same Anycubic app that I actually use with their resin printers.

And that worked great.

Also, I did get to test the filament runout and jam detection because the

white filament first jammed on the roller bunch and then ran out on a day that I

wasn't actually gonna come to the office.

SoaActually, all in all, this print took something like 30 plus hours with 17 hours

lost of just waiting for me to come back, and it still stayed attached to the bed

and it resumed flawlessly with no issues.

I actually can't even tell where the pause was, which is pretty impressive.

Honestly, this is a beautiful print besides the couple

little tree support failures.

It's a real shame my son's gonna break it in like five minutes.

Up next, I wanted to try something that I've actually never done before.

See, as you might know if you've been subscribed to the channel

for a while, hint hint, PETG and I have a hate-hate relationship.

I live in a climate where, as you can see, humidity is about 75 percent

year round, and that means that a roll of PETG can get completely

waterlogged on even a short print.

I'm also not super great about changing out the desiccant on

my other multi-material systems.

So needless to say, I've never even tried multicolor printing with PETG before.

Just because how would I?

And that's where the Kobra 3 Combo really shines.

You see, this unassuming multicolored unit, the ACE Pro, is actually

a full-fledged filament dryer allowing you to dry four rolls of

filament either while the printer is stationary or while printing.

And this might not sound like a big deal, but keep in mind that Anycubic is

currently offering this Kobra 3 Combo for an earlybird price of just $449,

which is a full $100 dollars less than the printer combo it most resembles.

And then, consider the fact that the Sunlu S4 filament dryer, the only

one on the market that can dry four rolls of filament at once, is an

extra $159 dollars on top of that.

Now, all of a sudden, this printer combo starts to look like a really,

really attractive one for the price.

Anyways, I loaded up some of my favorite SliceWorx Ocean Cyan PETG,

and I started drying the filament in anticipation of printing.

Unfortunately, the creator of this 3MF had turned on ironing, so my

first attempt actually peeled off the bed while it was trying to iron.

Ironing has honestly never really worked well for me.

And I did also forget to change the white filament to PETG so it was not

printing at the right temperature.

So yeah, that failed.

But my second print turned out really, really nicely.

It still did have a little bit of bed adhesion issues on the

drafty open air of my studio.

And that might've had to do with the fact that I still hadn't yet figured out

how to perfectly adjust the Z offset.

But next time, I think I might just use some magigoo or a

Brim to keep things planted.

But hey, all in all, I'd say that that is a pretty good multicolor PETG print.

And if I were to just deal with the bed adhesion, I might print it

again and it would come out perfect.

So at this point, I was on a roll.

Anycubic had since sent me over their very, very early pre-release profiles

for OrcaSlicer, which by the way, they are planning to add full support

for both OrcaSlicer and PrusaSlicer, including the ability to print directly

from the slicer in case you don't want to use their proprietary slicer.

So now that I had those preliminary profiles, I was actually

able to slice my own files.

I still didn't have profiles for other materials like TPU,

ASA, or anything like that.

Those are going to come later.

But I did get to wondering, would I be able to print a large flat ASA

part on this open format printer?

So to test it out and to take advantage of this pretty large 260 by 260 build

volume, I created my own profiles and then I loaded some of this gorgeous

Polymaker PolyLite ASA for both the white and the red, and I hit print.

Strangely, the printer knew that it was supposed to print at 260 and 100, but

it still tried to print at 220 and 60.

I think that's probably because I'm using hacked-together profiles for

both the printer and the filament, and I'm positive that that is something

that they're going to fix before the printer actually ships to users.

Anyways, I just manually bumped up the values once the print had

actually started, and the first print kind of detached a little bit

and got stuck on the printhead, but then I threw some Magigoo at it.

Fun fact, did you know that Magigoo's PC version also works perfectly for ASA?

And hey, wouldn't you know it, the print just worked.

No curling at the edges, no issues changing filament colors, and when

the print was cooling down, I actually heard it across the studio making

this lovely snap crackle popping sound and it released all by itself.

The end result is okay.

The print is clean itself.

But as you can see, I did some tinkering around with the profiles because they, as

I said, aren't quite ready for OrcaSlicer yet, and I tried to be very clever and

actually set it to do only one perimeter on the top layer, which resulted in

this weird kind of outline and not covering all the way on the finer text.

Honestly, I'm still thrilled that this open machine combined with a good bed

adhesion solution like Magigoo can actually print ASA right out of the box.

Get it?

Out of the box?

Cause there's no enclosure?

I'm sorry.

So this has been just a quick first look at the Anycubic Kobra 3 combo.

Again, this is a sponsored video, not a review, but I can honestly

say that even though the software, the firmware, and the third party

slicer profiles are far from ready,

I've been pretty impressed with this printer despite my initial skepticism,

and I wouldn't have agreed to do this video if I didn't like it.

Ultimately, for the $449 dollars earlybird price, which includes the ACE

Pro, a kilo of Pantone filament, and an integrated camera, it's probably the best

value for multicolor printer right now.

And as long as you don't mind the proprietary firmware, I

really don't think that you'll be disappointed with this at all.

So if you do choose to pick one up, do feel free to use my link in

the description, which does support the channel a little bit, and it

also lets Anycubic know that they should continue working with me and

sending me over cool products that I can then share with all of you.

Let me also take a moment to thank our YouTube members and Patreon supporters,

particularly our Nylon and Peek Members: Chip Cox, 2 Krazy Ketos, Amir

Chen, Kris Miller, and Don Arledge.

You guys rock.

That's all for this week, but I'll see all of you on The Next Layer.