Anycubic Kobra 3 Review — Best Budget Multi-Color Printer?

The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo arrived as a direct competitor to the Bambu Lab A1 Combo, offering multi-color FDM printing at a lower price with a few tricks of its own. With built-in filament drying, Klipper firmware, and support for up to eight colors, it aimed to prove that Bambu Lab does not have a monopoly on accessible multi-color printing.

After extensive use, here is a thorough review of the Kobra 3 Combo — what it does well, where it falls short, and whether it deserves your money over the established competition.

Specifications at a Glance

| Spec | Anycubic Kobra 3 | |---|---| | Build Volume | 250 x 250 x 260 mm | | Max Print Speed | 600 mm/s | | Recommended Speed | 300 mm/s | | Firmware | Klipper | | Extruder | Direct drive | | Max Nozzle Temp | 300°C | | Max Bed Temp | 110°C | | Auto Leveling | Yes (25-point) | | Input Shaping | Yes (onboard accelerometer) | | Filament Sensor | Yes | | Display | 4.3-inch color touchscreen | | Connectivity | WiFi, USB | | Price (standalone) | ~$299 | | Price (Combo with ACE Pro) | ~$449 |

Data sourced from the official Anycubic Kobra 3 product page.

Unboxing and Setup

The Kobra 3 arrives mostly pre-assembled. You attach the gantry to the base, connect a few cables, and tighten a handful of bolts. Total assembly time is approximately 20 to 30 minutes. The instructions are clear, and Anycubic includes all necessary tools.

The ACE Pro unit (the multi-material system) is a separate box that sits beside the printer. It connects via a PTFE tube to the printer's extruder. Setup involves feeding four filament spools into the ACE Pro's slots and running the initial calibration through the touchscreen.

First impressions are positive. The frame feels solid, the touchscreen is responsive, and the overall build quality is noticeably better than Anycubic's earlier Kobra models.

The ACE Pro Multi-Color System

The ACE Pro is Anycubic's answer to Bambu Lab's AMS Lite. It holds up to four filament spools per unit, and you can connect two ACE Pro units to the Kobra 3 for a maximum of eight colors in a single print.

How It Works

When the printer needs to switch colors, the ACE Pro retracts the current filament, cuts it with a built-in cutter, feeds the new color, and purges the residual filament into a waste chute. The process adds time to each color change — approximately 15 to 25 seconds per swap — but this is comparable to the AMS Lite.

Built-In Filament Drying

This is the ACE Pro's standout feature and one area where it genuinely beats the AMS Lite. The ACE Pro includes an active drying function with adjustable temperature (35 to 55 degrees Celsius) and timer (2 to 24 hours). According to the Anycubic product listing, this means you can dry hygroscopic filaments like PETG, Nylon, and TPU directly in the multi-material unit without a separate filament dryer.

As noted in the All3DP comparison, the AMS Lite does not have built-in drying capability, which is a significant advantage for the ACE Pro when printing with moisture-sensitive materials.

Filament Compatibility

The ACE Pro supports PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, PET, PA (Nylon), PC (Polycarbonate), PP, and HIPS for multi-color printing. The printer itself also handles TPU in single-color mode. This is a wider range than the AMS Lite, which works best with PLA and has mixed results with other materials.

Print Quality

Single-Color Performance

In standard PLA printing at 150 to 200 mm/s, the Kobra 3 produces clean, detailed prints with good dimensional accuracy. Layer adhesion is strong, and surface finish is comparable to other Klipper-based printers in this price range.

At the advertised 300 mm/s recommended speed, quality remains good for most geometries but shows some ringing on sharp corners. The onboard accelerometer and input shaping help, but the bedslinger design has inherent limitations at very high speeds — the bed's mass creates momentum that even input shaping cannot fully compensate for.

Pushing to the maximum 600 mm/s is technically possible but not practical for most prints. At this speed, quality degrades significantly. It is a spec-sheet number rather than a real-world operating speed.

Multi-Color Performance

Multi-color prints are where the Kobra 3 Combo justifies its existence. Color transitions are clean with minimal bleed when properly tuned. The purge system wastes a noticeable amount of filament — expect 3 to 8 grams of waste per color change, depending on the colors involved. Dark-to-light transitions require more purging than light-to-dark.

The slicer (AnycubicSlicer, based on OrcaSlicer) handles multi-color slicing well. You paint colors directly onto the model, and the slicer generates the tool-change G-code automatically. The workflow is straightforward once you get past the initial learning curve.

Problem Areas

Stringing between color sections can occur, especially with PETG. Tuning retraction settings and the wipe tower parameters reduces this but does not eliminate it entirely. The filament cutting mechanism in the ACE Pro occasionally leaves a small blob at the start of a new color section, which is visible on detailed prints.

Anycubic Kobra 3 vs Bambu Lab A1 Combo

This is the comparison everyone wants to see. According to Tom's Hardware's review, both printers produce similar print quality, but they differ in important ways.

| Feature | Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo | Bambu Lab A1 Combo | |---|---|---| | Price | ~$449 | ~$559 | | Build Volume | 250 x 250 x 260 mm | 256 x 256 x 256 mm | | Max Speed | 600 mm/s | 500 mm/s | | Colors | 4 (8 with 2x ACE Pro) | 4 (AMS Lite) | | Filament Drying | Built-in (ACE Pro) | Not available | | Motion System | Metal pulleys on linear rod | Linear rails and bearings | | Software Ecosystem | AnycubicSlicer (OrcaSlicer-based) | Bambu Studio + MakerWorld | | Camera | Optional add-on | Built-in (A1 Combo) |

Where the Kobra 3 Wins

• Price: Roughly $100 cheaper for the combo package.
• Filament drying: The ACE Pro's integrated drying is a genuine differentiator.
• Filament compatibility: Broader material support in the multi-material system.
• Open ecosystem: Uses standard G-code and is compatible with OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, and other open slicers without restrictions.

Where the Bambu Lab A1 Wins

• Motion hardware: The A1's linear rails produce less vibration and slightly smoother motion than the Kobra 3's rod-and-pulley system, as noted by Maktra Equipments.
• Software ecosystem: Bambu Studio is more polished, and MakerWorld provides one-click printing with tested profiles.
• Community and support: Bambu Lab has a larger user community and more extensive documentation.
• Reliability: The A1 has been on the market longer and has a more mature firmware with fewer quirks.

Software Experience

The Kobra 3 uses AnycubicSlicer, which is forked from OrcaSlicer. It is a capable slicer with multi-color support, but it feels less polished than Bambu Studio. Profile management is adequate, and the multi-color painting tool works well.

WiFi connectivity allows you to send prints directly from the slicer to the printer. The connection is reliable once established, though initial setup can require a few attempts. The touchscreen interface on the printer itself is responsive and well-organized, with clear menus for temperature control, calibration, and print management.

Anycubic's cloud platform is optional — you can use the printer entirely offline with a USB drive or over local WiFi. This is a plus for users who prefer to keep their printers off the internet.

Who Should Buy the Kobra 3 Combo

The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo makes the most sense for:

• Budget-conscious multi-color users: At roughly $100 less than the Bambu A1 Combo, it offers genuine multi-color capability at a lower entry price.
• Users who print with multiple material types: The ACE Pro's filament drying and broader material support matter if you regularly use PETG, ABS, or Nylon.
• Open-ecosystem advocates: If you prefer using OrcaSlicer or PrusaSlicer without vendor lock-in, the Kobra 3's open approach is appealing.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

• Users who prioritize software polish and ease of use: The Bambu Lab A1 Combo's software experience is simply better right now.
• Users who want a large community for troubleshooting: Bambu Lab's community is larger and more active.
• Users who print primarily PLA: If you do not need the ACE Pro's drying feature, the price advantage narrows, and the A1's polish becomes more compelling.

Finding Models for Multi-Color Printing

Multi-color printing is only as good as the models you feed it. Search for multi-color models on 3DSearch to find designs across Printables, MakerWorld, Thingiverse, and other platforms that are specifically tagged for multi-material or multi-color printing. This saves time compared to searching each platform individually.

Final Verdict

The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo is a legitimate multi-color 3D printer that delivers good print quality at a competitive price. The ACE Pro's built-in filament drying is a genuine innovation that addresses a real problem, and the broader material compatibility gives it an edge for users who print more than just PLA.

However, it does not quite match the Bambu Lab A1 Combo in overall polish, software experience, or community support. The hardware is good but not best-in-class, and the software ecosystem needs more maturation.

If budget is your primary constraint and you value material versatility, the Kobra 3 Combo is an excellent choice. If you can stretch to the A1 Combo's price and primarily print PLA, the Bambu option remains the safer pick. Either way, accessible multi-color printing at this price point was unthinkable just two years ago, and both printers deliver on that promise.