Anycubic Kobra S1
WAITPast the brand's typical replacement window. A new model is more likely than not. Firmware and support remain active.
Signals last verified: 17 July 2026
Signals: Lifecycle · Firmware · Support · Spare parts. What we track
Where to buy
Specifications
- Build volume
- 250x250x250 mm
- Build size class
- Medium - Daypack / Backpack
- Price
- Base: €349 · Combo: €429
- Enclosure
- Full enclosure
- Chamber control
- Passive Controlled
- Materials
- PLA · PETG · PHA · PVB · ABS · ASA · HIPS · TPU · TPE · TPC · PEBA
- Support materials
- —
- Bowden extruder
- —
- Max hotend temp
- 320°C
- Max bed temp
- 120°C
- Max chamber temp
- —
- Nozzle material
- Brass
- Hardened nozzle
- —
- Nozzle count
- 1
- Max filament inputs
- 8
- True multi-material
- —
- Tool change
- Single Nozzle Purge Based
Ownership
- Experience level
- Beginner-friendly
- Assembly
- Minimal
- Auto bed leveling
- Automatic
- Auto Z offset
- Yes
- Auto first layer
- Yes
- Filament runout sensor
- Yes
- Spaghetti detection
- Yes
- Error guidance
- QR Partial
- Warranty
- 12 months (24 EU)
- Warranty extension
- Not available
- Spare parts
- Minimal
- Firmware version
- 2.7.2.7
Unlockable capabilities
- With hardened nozzle upgrade:
- Abrasive materials. PA-CF/GF needs ADVANCED tier even with nozzle upgrade.
Real-world performance
- Reliability
- Reliable
- Print quality
- Good print quality
- Print speed
- Fast
- Print failures
- Low failure rate
- Noise
- Quiet
- Calibration
- Rarely needs calibration
- Setup
- Easy to set up
- Beginner friendly
- Beginner-friendly
- Maintenance
- —
- Value for money
- Excellent value
- Multi-material
- —
Who this is for
If you've already settled on an enclosed, beginner-friendly printer with optional multi-color, the Kobra S1 delivers, and reviewers back it as strong value. For a first-timer it's an easy machine to succeed with: quick setup, clear guidance, reliable results. For a hobbyist it meaningfully expands what you can print beyond PLA, provided you accept the abrasive ceiling and add a hardened nozzle for anything filled. The people who should think hardest are upgraders and anyone buying this as a business tool. The limiting factor isn't capability, it's timing and support. The model is overdue for a successor, official spare parts are thin, and long-term durability is only mixed, all of which matter for a machine you need to keep running for years. Nothing here says don't buy. It says wait. Watch for a successor announcement or a further price drop, and if the window still looks good when you're ready, it's a sound pick.
PrintSignals Review
Anycubic Kobra S1 Review
Written by AI from manufacturer specifications and the aggregated consensus of
PrintSignals does not test printers hands-on. How we do this
Assessment
The Kobra S1 is a well-regarded enclosed printer that reviewers rate as fast, quiet, and reliable, and the reason to hesitate has nothing to do with the hardware. It's timing. Anycubic tends to replace a model roughly every 1.1 years, and this one is already past that window, so a successor announcement, another price drop, or stock clearing out is more likely than not. It isn't abandoned: the firmware was updated within the last 90 days, and Anycubic is clearly still supporting the model. But committing now means accepting real risk that a newer version lands shortly after you buy, which is why the call is to wait for a better purchase window rather than to write the printer off. As a machine for first-time owners and hobbyists who want an enclosed printer with optional multi-color, it does what it sets out to do.
Build and print volume
The build volume is 250 x 250 x 250 mm, enough for most functional parts and display pieces without moving into large-format work. The enclosure is the main draw here: it contains heat, reduces warping, and widens the reliable material range past what an open frame supports. The chamber is only passively managed, though. Heat from the bed and motors raises the internal temperature, but with no dedicated heater the printer can't hold a specific chamber temperature, and actual conditions depend on your room and how long the print has been running. The hotend tops out at 320°C and the bed at 120°C. Multi-color is an optional path rather than a built-in one. On its own the printer takes a single filament input; the multi-spool add-on raises that to four, expandable to eight, and beyond color changes it can hand off to a fresh spool automatically when one runs out, which is genuinely useful on long prints. Understand the method before you buy it, though. A single nozzle handles every swap by purging the previous color, so changes are slow and wasteful, and both print time and filament cost climb with each added color. It's a multi-color system, not true multi-material, and because one nozzle touches everything there's cross-contamination risk with any material mix, which limits how far you can trust it for combining materials.
Material capability
The reliable range covers PLA, PETG, PHA, PVB, ABS, ASA, and HIPS, and reviewers rate material handling across that range as good in practice. ABS and ASA are genuinely within reach thanks to the enclosure, a real advantage over open-frame printers. That doesn't make them effortless: larger parts still depend on tuning and a stable ambient temperature, and because the chamber is passive you can't lock in a fixed chamber temperature to help them along. The direct drive extruder handles flexibles well, with TPU the most accessible; TPE, TPC, and PEBA are supported too, but each one asks more of your tuning. The ceiling is abrasives. The stock nozzle is brass and not hardened, so any abrasive filament needs a hardened nozzle upgrade first, and carbon- or glass-filled nylon (PA-CF/GF) stays out of reach for most users even after that upgrade, since it demands advanced-tier capability the machine isn't built to give here.
Setup and ownership
Setup is about as painless as it gets. The printer arrives nearly fully assembled and is typically ready for its first print in under 15 minutes, with automatic bed leveling, Z-offset, and first-layer calibration handling the fiddly parts. The firmware is abstracted for beginners and well-documented, so most situations have clear guidance, though you'll still hit the occasional manual step, and the on-screen QR codes that link to error topics require you to know your exact model to land on the right fix. Reviewers consistently call it fast, with good output quality and little to no quality loss at speed, quiet for an FDM machine, and reliable, with effectively no clogs reported. At around €350 for the printer alone, or about €430 with the multi-spool add-on, it's rated as strong value. Two things to plan around: WiFi is unreliable, so keep a USB or LAN connection ready, and print-failure detection is limited, so don't lean on it as a safety net. On slicing you aren't locked in. The manufacturer's Anycubic Slicer Next is Orca-based and rated as good, and Orca and Cura both work as well.
Support and longevity
Support is a mixed picture. What owners report is positive but limited in scope, and the manufacturer's coverage is uneven across warranty handling, parts availability, and how well issues actually get resolved. Anycubic has generally acknowledged its hardware issues publicly, but resolution outcomes have been inconsistent. Spare parts are the weak spot. Very few are listed in the official store, and anything not listed means contacting support directly and hoping it can be sourced. Long-term durability draws mixed marks, with some owners reporting component wear over time, so factor that into any multi-year plan. Working the other way, the firmware is active and recently updated, and the ecosystem is semi-open, which softens the lock-in worry. It runs a modified version of Klipper (GoKlipper/K3), accepts third-party slicers, and has a community Klipper route through Rinkhals, so you aren't entirely tied to one vendor's roadmap. Filtration is limited, so keep external ventilation in mind if you're running ABS or ASA indoors.
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