detailedReviews: detailedReviews 1: content: As a fairly experienced 3d printing enthusiast, this printer and filament changer combo is a pretty smooth out-of-box experience. There is some assembly required, but miles less than most. There are, as always, a few "gotchas", and you'll need to find slicer settings that work best for you, but this is overall a great, and importantly FAST and PRECISE printer. I'm using Orcaslicer, which I'm used to, and has presets for the K2 Plus - the Creality software also works great.
A couple pointers for new purchasers of the K2 Plus combo with CFS: DON'T be like me and carelessly load up super old, non-dried PLA filament - if it snaps when you bend it with your fingers, it will 100% snap in the CFS and/or extruder, and you'll have to do some (easy but annoying) disassembly to sort it out. On the plus side, this thing is VERY maintainable, and you can get to everything you need to with the included tools, easily and quickly. Also, for PLA prints using reasonably low temperature PLA (including Creality PLA), a few minutes before a filament swap or the print ending (or earlier), OPEN THE DOOR. This will let the chamber cool down a little, which will harden up the PLA inside the extruder a little, preventing it from splitting inside the extruder when the CFS attempts to retract the filament at changeover or the end of the print. This will save you from having to open up and disassemble the (super maintainable) extruder to clear the retraction clog from time to time on these lower-temp PLA prints.
And YES, if you load up two same-enough filaments and set them to the same details and "colour" in the CFS settings, the K2 Plus will happily do an automatic changeover to the second filament when the first one runs out - so you can finally print right to the end of a roll and have it just switch to the new one, no more nursing nearly-empty rolls or anxious waits for the filament to run out so you can change it. Oh, and the automatic time lapse was a nice surprise!
I'm very much a fan, I would definitely recommend this, especially over any bed slinger. For me, the open source firmware, huge build platform, and maintainable hardware of the printer and CFS are big green ticks.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 4
title: Smooth experience, fast and precise printer
detailedReviews 2: content: I've been 3D printing for about 3 years now and honestly I've avoided Creality like the plague, as there were always unacceptable issues with their printers, when you visit their forums. On top of that it seemed like everyone who owned one would spend several hundred dollars just to upgrade their $200 printer, when they could have just purchased a $500 printer and had none of the issues.
Jump ahead to 2025 and it appeared for awhile, that Bambulab was the only brand raising prices as a result of the tariffs. This simple fact left me with the choice of paying $1749 for an X1C with AMS, no high flow nozzle, no actively heated chamber, and a build volume that matched my P1S in every dimension, or just buying the K2 Plus to see if Creality finally had a high quality printer.
I purchased the K2 Plus from Creality about 2 weeks ago, where I had found a notable lack of high profile reviews for the printer, and thus assumed I was getting a larger print volume version of the X1C; spoiler alert, I wasn't... what I was getting was a slightly better, and larger format version of the X1E. When you consider that Bambu wants $2700 for that unit with an AMS.
Here are the upgrades over the X1C...
1. Larger build volume (350mm vs 256mm)
2. Actively heated chamber
3. High Flow, Hardened Steel Hot End (this is a $80 upgrade)
4. Linear Rail for the Extruder
5. Higher Hot End Temp (350c vs 300c)
6. Better Filtration
The upgrades over the X1E are...
1. High Flow, Hardened Steel Hot End
2. Larger Build Volume (350mm vs 256mm)
3. Higher Hot End Temp (350C vs 320C)
BUILD QUALITY
If there's one thing that's impressed me the most about this printer, it is the build quality. It has a die cast aluminum frame, linear rail for better stability, glass door and side panels, and a 5mm thick aluminum alloy build plate. It is a solid build and you notice it right out of the box.
PERFORMANCE
On average, single filament performance is about 25% faster than my upgraded P1S. It gets a lot closers on multi color filament performance but that is largely due to the filament change speed and reduced filament flushing where the P1S is better optimized at this time.
PRINT QUALITY
The quality of the prints with PLA and PETG from multiple different vendors has been fantastic. There have been no notable issues at all and that's pretty impressive considering I hadn't even made custom profiles for 3rd party filament yet.
CMS vs AMS
The base AMS appears to have a hygrometer in it, but Bambu hadn't activated it, until they launched the AMS 2 and then it was only visible in the slicer. On top of this you had to print a holder and buy a 3rd party hygrometer to be able to see the humidity levels in that AMS. Even more, the build was more complex, as the AMS required you to remove screws to get at the PTFE tubes should you need to replace them and there was no release option to release the rear PTFE tube without opening the inside.
The CMS has open access to the PTFE tubes on the bottom, so you can easily replace those without breaking out tools. There's also a PTFE tube release on the back of the device and that makes it so much easier to deal with there as well. In addition to this, there's. hygrometer and display built into the CMS that can clearly be seen from across the room. One other advantage this has is the fact that the rollers in the CMS are rubber and these allow you to use cardboard spools, without requiring a 3rd party bracket to be printed for the spools.
As far as the filament and waste goes, the K2 Plus wastes a whole lot more than the AMS, but given the state of their current software, I see no reason to believe this will not improve over time.
SOFTWARE
If there's any place I would ding the K2 Plus it would be the Creality Slicer. Although it isn't horrible, it is nowhere near as mature as Bambu Studio at this time. Even more it is a modification of ORCA Slicer (which Bambu Studio is as well), yet they went out of their way to make it look like the inferior CURA slicer. It is functional, even if it takes getting used to and missing some optimizations as well.
Another piece of software is the Creality Cloud Mobile App vs Bambu Handy. With the Handy, if you change the nozzle size, you'll run into all kinds of issues tryin to print files from this, as there is no built in slicer for Bambu's mobile app.
Creality Cloud Mobile, has a cloud slicer, this is infinitely superior to the Bambu solution, as I can have any size nozzle I want in the printer and start a print from anywhere that I have an internet connection and that's something that has frustrated me about Bambu for months!
OVERALL
Honestly, this printer has been far more impressive to me, than any other printer I've ever owned and that list includes, Snapmaker, Elegoo, Bambu, and Creality. After looking at the other reviews, it is clear that the biggest issue has been with damage during shipping and the 2nd biggest issue with a coupler that holds the PTFE tube on the extruder (there's a fix for this with a part that prints in under 4 minutes, if I can find the link I'll add it as a comment to this review).
So, Creality literally beat Bambu at their own game and this is pretty much superior to just about any single extruder Bambu printer on the market! Yes it literally is that good, assuming it makes it to you in one piece.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Superior build quality and performance compared to competitors
detailedReviews 3: content: Reading the signifiant number negative reviews, it seems like many issues are due to shipping damage. Beyond those, the buggy Creality Print software and K2 firmware versions may have been a factor. As of February 20, version 1.1.2.6 of the firmware is available. It installed without issue and delivered no errors. Creality Print version 6.0.4.1793 for Apple Silicon was released on March 3 and it seems to work well with no connection issues, error messages or erratic interface behavior. The only problem encountered on startup was with the metal nozzle wiper at the waste chute. The wiper caught on the hot end nozzle and needed to be replaced. My sense is that the polyethylene foam packing got hung up on it and bent the part just enough to cause problems. After replacing the wiper, I am four prints in with the machine is working as it should. Both the speed and the print quality are a major leap from the Ender 5 plus. As a suggestion to Creality, the software interface could use some work. Cura's strategy of contextual information and recommended settings would be a significant help in understanding the software. From previous experience with Cura, Orca and Octoprint, it does not take long to figure out the Creality interface. Nonetheless, it would be useful to have some level of documentation that covers practical use of the expert mode. The leap between basic and expert mode is significant—essentially no control to complete control.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Software improvements needed, but speed and quality are great
detailedReviews 4: content: Purchased one of these in the pre-order group from Creality's website. I have been using it for about a month now with amazing results. The print quality from this printer is identical to my Bambu X1C, I cannot tell them apart. This is true with all types of filament, the K2Plus just works that well. The big difference? the SIZE, this printer allows me to pint full wall sized HueForge pictures without issue due to the 350x350 print bed.
I have also had good luck with warranty support. A foot on the printer was broken off in transit. Creality had a new one on the way in 24 hours. I only wish I bought it through Best Buy so that I could use my Total Tech membership warranty in addition to the Creality one.
Overall, I have high hopes that this printer will continue working well in the foreseeable future. Everything is metal and feels very well built, with none of the flimsiness that I encountered in some of Crealitys older printers.
Pick this one up, you will NOT regret it!
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Identical print quality to X1C, much larger size
detailedReviews 5: content: What a machine, endless possibilities! Was glad i decided to step up to this large Creality printer thats capable of so many models & filament types. Set some time aside for unboxing & setup, but once all laid out, the steps to get to first print were straight forward. CFS is running like a charm, i did buy the Creality RFID filament to test and am enjoying the easy loading. So far the test prints have been flawless so excited to print a large helment or mask soon. Creality print app is intuitive & function great, i do usually grab premade files from some other 3D sites though. highly recommend
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Endless possibilities, intuitive software, highly recommend
detailedReviews 6: content: Works great out of the box, love the multicolor printing. Prints way faster than my old 3d printer turning a 24hr print into a 6hr print. This thing is huge and you can print full size helmets without having to cut into smaller parts. No issues using other brand filament with it. Love the feature where you can have partial roll and when it runs out you can automatically switch to another of the same type. easy to use all of your almost empty rolls.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Huge size, faster prints, automatic filament switching
detailedReviews 7: content: The Creality K2 Plus Combo's massive 350x350x350mm build volume lets me print helmets, cosplay props, and functional prototypes in one go. The lightning-fast 600mm/s speed with CoreXZ structure cuts production time by 40% compared to my old printer. Dual-gear direct drive handles flexible filaments perfectly. Setup was surprisingly smooth – auto-leveling worked flawlessly right out of the box!
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Massive build volume, lightning-fast speed, smooth setup
detailedReviews 8: content: I have owned this machine for about a month now, I picked it up in store so I didn’t have any issues with it being damaged on arrival. So far my experience has been amazing, it worked right out of the box with no tweaking and I have been printing on it for around 10 days of straight print time with minimal tweaking. If your hesitant like I was because it’s creality, just buy it lol it’s not the old Enders anymore, creality has really stepped up the game with this beast.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Stepped up game, works out of the box
detailedReviews 9: content: I am really impressed with this machine. I had no problem with delivery as others have mentioned. It’s a good sized machine, heavy! and seems to be built very well. Set up was easy. I am happy with the multi color printing and speed of this product and look forward to more projects.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Impressive machine, well-built, easy setup
detailedReviews 10: content: AMAZING. Just got out of the box, no scratches or damages, followed the instructions to build it up, took twenty minutes, very Eazy, only 3 screws locking the base and other for that 2 screws for the door push.. After that, it updated the firmware, got all automatic tests and stunning, after that asked to print 4 objects that came in the printers memory. AMAZING.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Amazing out of the box, easy build
