Multicolour 3D printing used to be an expensive business. But that’s changing. Several firms are bringing out capable budget models, and the latest to impress us is the Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2.
Our reviewer, who’s tested many of the best 3D printers over the last decade, found it easy to use, beautifully built and capable of some of the smoothest results he’s had from an FDM machine.
Even at full price, it’s cheaper than the Creality K2 Pro. Now Amazon has dropped it from $424.97 to $401.28, a small yet significant saving.
Our favourite feature is the Canvas system, which lets you load up to four reels of filament. Our reviewer found it all very quick and easy to load. If your spool has an RFID chip, you just hold it up to the side of the unit and the printer sets everything automatically. When you open a multicolour file, a setup window lets you choose which spool goes where.
The Centauri Carbon 2 uses a CoreXY design for printing speeds of up to 500mm per second, with a respectable 256 x 256 x 256mm build volume. Our reviewer printed a one-piece fidget toy with moving parts, which came out silky smooth.
The main drawback is size: with the spools on the side and a waste chute at the back, you’ll need plenty of space around it. Otherwise, this a great value, especially at this discounted price. Read our full Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 review for more details.
