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Anycubic is bringing multicolor printing further down the price range with the Kobra X, an FDM printer that handles four colors out of the box and can be expanded to as many as 19 colors. The four-color version was listed at €299 on the company’s French store when this article was checked. Introduced around Formnext 2025 and released in early 2026, it is one of the more affordable ways to start printing in color. I have not tested it myself, but independent reviews are now available alongside the manufacturer’s specifications, giving us more than a launch sheet to work from.
Multicolor printing without a large external box
The Kobra X is a conventional open bedslinger with a 260 x 260 x 260 mm build volume. Four spool holders sit across the top of the gantry, keeping the feeding system relatively compact. Anycubic says the spools and their mounting arrangement can also help damp vibration, although the moving bed still needs clear space in front of and behind the printer.
The clever part is the ACE GEN2 mechanism built into the toolhead. A motor-driven cam selects one of four filament paths and engages only the appropriate feed gears. The filament cutter and purge system are kept close to the nozzle, which reduces the length of material that must be retracted and discarded. Anycubic claims an 81.25% reduction in purge length during multicolor changes. The exact saving depends heavily on the model, colors and slicer settings, but Tom’s Hardware reported that ACE GEN2 handled PLA, PETG and both 95A and 85A TPU reliably during its review.
Key specifications
- Multicolor printing: four colors built in, expandable to 19 with ACE 2 Pro units and filament hubs.
- Speed: 300 mm/s recommended and up to 600 mm/s maximum, with acceleration up to 20,000 mm/s².
- Direct-drive extrusion: a short filament path intended to improve control of flexible materials.
- High-temperature nozzle: standard 0.4 mm hardened-steel nozzle rated to 300°C, with optional 0.25, 0.6 and 0.8 mm sizes.
- Heated bed: textured spring-steel PEI plate rated to 100°C.
- LeviQ3.0 automatic levelling: automatic first-layer calibration and Z-offset compensation.
- AI monitoring: 720P camera with spaghetti and foreign-object detection, plus object skipping when one part fails.
- Noise: claimed operating level of 48 dB or less, measured by Anycubic at one metre.
The machine also supports power-loss recovery, runout and filament-tangle detection, dual-band 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi and Ethernet. Anycubic advertises a 14-minute Benchy, but that is an optimised demonstration file rather than a realistic benchmark for every model. TechRadar obtained a decent result from its own standard Benchy in roughly 33 minutes, which is a more useful point of comparison.
Specification sheet
| Specification | Announced value |
|---|---|
| Build volume | 260 x 260 x 260 mm |
| Colors | Four built in, up to 19 |
| Print speed | 300 mm/s recommended, 600 mm/s maximum |
| Acceleration | 10,000 mm/s² recommended, 20,000 mm/s² maximum |
| Nozzle | 0.4 mm hardened steel, up to 300°C |
| Build plate | Spring-steel PEI, up to 100°C |
| Extrusion | Direct drive |
| Levelling | Automatic LeviQ3.0 |
| Camera | 720P with AI monitoring |
| Connectivity | 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi and Ethernet |
| Materials | PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA, PLA-CF, PETG-CF, ASA |
| Noise | 48 dB or less, manufacturer measurement |
| Printer weight | Approximately 9.5 kg |
Price and expansion options
The four-color Kobra X was listed at €299 in France when this article was verified, with a displayed regular price of €389. Regional pricing varies: US and UK reviews have seen promotional prices around $299 and £259, while later store listings have also been higher. Check the local Anycubic store before ordering.
Several bundles are available. The base printer handles four colors by itself, so an ACE 2 Pro is not required for ordinary four-color printing. The Combo expands the system to seven colors, while further ACE 2 Pro boxes and hubs provide 11 or 19 paths. The European 19-color bundle was listed at €1,186, showing how different the final budget is from the €299 entry price. Active filament drying also requires ACE 2 Pro; it is not built into the base machine.
Software and day-to-day use
Anycubic provides Anycubic Slicer Next with material profiles and multicolor preparation tools. The Anycubic mobile app offers remote monitoring, camera viewing and time-lapse capture. Users can switch between the company’s cloud platform and local-network operation, an important option for anyone who would rather keep printer control inside the home network.
The hands-on reports available so far are encouraging. TechRadar found assembly straightforward and praised first-layer consistency after calibration. Tom’s Hardware reported reliable ACE GEN2 feeding across several materials, with its only jam caused by an old and extremely brittle lightweight PLA spool. That reviewer did note that reaching the internal extruder for a more serious blockage would be relatively involved. In other words, the integrated mechanism works neatly when everything is healthy, but it is mechanically more complex than a basic single-filament toolhead.
Is the Anycubic Kobra X worth considering?
The Kobra X makes a convincing case for beginners who want color without immediately buying a large external material system. Four built-in paths, a useful 260 mm cube, automated calibration and camera monitoring are a strong package at €299. Independent reviews also suggest that the compact ACE GEN2 mechanism is more than a paper specification.
There are still compromises. Color changes generate waste even if the purge path is shorter, the 19-color configuration is expensive and complicated, and active drying requires separate hardware. Maximum speed figures should not be confused with everyday quality settings either. For a maker who wants practical four-color printing at a relatively low entry price, however, the Kobra X is now a credible option rather than merely an interesting announcement.
