Anycubic's Kobra Go 3D Printer Hands-On Review

Unboxing a new 3D printer is always a treat, and Anycubic seems to understand how important this first impression is. The Kobra Go is packaged neatly and safely in a well-organized box, with no space wasted (you will, for instance, find the tool kit and misc. components tucked away in a perfectly-sized box in the center of the printer's base).

Like all Anycubic printers that I've had the pleasure of reviewing, the Kobra Go is stylishly designed, offering sturdy plastic parts mixed with a solid metal base and frame. A couple of the plastic parts have weak points that, during a careless assembly, could get damaged, but the risk of that is small (and, once in place and screwed down, that danger vanishes entirely).

I found myself instantly enamored by the Kobra Go's spring plate bed, which both looks lovely and offers a great improvement for getting my prints free after they have cooled.

Anycubic's Kobra Go is their answer to the kit FDM printers like the Creality Ender 3 v2. These kit printers have been a massive hit with seasoned and greenhorn enthusiasts alike, and Anycubic clearly has a strong sense of what people in this DIY class are looking for.

Print bed

The print bed is 9.8 x 8.7 x 8.7 inches (25 x 22 x 22 centimeters HWD), which compares equally to the Ender 3. The Ender 3 comes with a glass build plate which does just fine for most purposes, but the PEI spring steel build plate that comes with the Kobra Go is a treat. Glass works fine for PLA, but I've had much more luck printing ABS on the spring steel plate of the Kobra Go. And there's the ease of removal to consider. Once the print is finished, cool it, and then just remove the spring steel plate, flex it, and the print pops off. I love that this is included in the kit.

Levelling

This is the big winner for Anycubic against other kit printers. While you can upgrade the Ender 3 with components that give it automatic levelling capabilities, the Kobra line from Anycubic comes with great auto-levelling built in. The discussion between those who love manual levelling and those who hate it is a bit old-hat, but at the end of the day, there is nothing nicer than pressing a single button and having your 3D printer's build plate levelled for you.

Otherwise, the functionality of the Kobra Go compares relatively equally to the Ender, with both featuring optional filament detection (Anycubic's through an add-on, Ender's through a modification). Both can handle the main filament types (PLA, ABS, PETG, and TPU), and both feature a separated bowden extruder. As expected for kit printers in this range, the Kobra Go doesn't feature any sort of online connectivity.

When considering a printer, you need to decide first if you want to go the route of an FDM printer (which takes plastic filament, melts it, and uses that to build a model layer by layer), or a resin printer, which uses light beams to solidify a liquid. You'll always get higher resolution with resin printers, but there are many use cases where the FDM will be faster and much better suited.

The Kobra Go is a great FDM printer for anyone who doesn't need a huge print area, wants automatic levelling built in, and generally wants to deal with as few hassles as possible. Assemble it, adjust it, level it, and you're good to go. This makes it far easier to set up than other kit printers for the same price that I've encountered.

One question to ask yourself, however, is "should I consider a different Anycubic printer instead of the Kobra Go?". While this is the best Kobra printer at this price range, my favorite printer from Anycubic so-far is the Kobra Plus. The Kobra Plus offers a perfect middle ground between price, features, and build volume.

However, the Kobra Plus does sit at a much higher price point than the Kobra Go, or even the normal pre-assembled Kobra. For nothing more than the (well worth it) price of the time and experience of putting it together yourself, you end up with a real bargain.

Comparisons: Kobra Go vs Ender 3

The Kobra Go compares very favorably to the Ender 3, especially for anyone who wants a low-priced printer that works as soon as you set it up. Not everyone wants to get into 3D printer modding, which is the area that the Ender 3 really shines, and since the Kobra Go features Anycubic's insanely handy automatic levelling system, it's an easy choice for anyone who wants simplicity at a good price.