'An exceptional machine capable of producing some of the best 3D prints': Creality K2 Pro Combo offers 4-color support, active chamber heating and dual AI cameras, and it's got a huge discount in Creality's back-to-school sale

Creality K2 Pro
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

The Creality K2 Pro Combo, one of our absolute favorite 3D printers, is a serious step up from an entry-level model, combining a large enclosed build area with fast printing, and active chamber heating.

The K2 Pro Combo is now down to $799 (was $1099) from Creality's online store. A massive $300 off a package that includes both the K2 Pro and one four-slot CFS (Creality Filament System) for automatic multi-material and multi-color printing.

For anyone looking to move beyond basic single-color PLA printing, there's a lot here to like, including multi-color capabilities, carbon-fiber-reinforced filament support and AI-assisted monitoring. In the UK, the K2 Pro is down to £649 (was £949) at Creality.

Creality K2 Pro Combo 3DPrinter
Save $300
Creality K2 Pro Combo 3DPrinter: was $1,099 now $799 at Creality Store

The K2 Pro offers a 300 x 300 x 300mm build volume, printing speeds up to 600mm/s and acceleration up to 20,000mm/s². There's also dual AI cameras, an air purifier, filament-tangle detection, power-loss recovery and RFID filament recognition.

In the UK: now £649 (was £949)

Why we recommend it

The combination of size, speed and material support makes the K2 Pro much more versatile than a basic 3D printer, and its 300mm-cubed build volume offers plenty of room for large models and prototypes.

The Combo package is especially handy because the included CFS has four filament slots and automatically manages filament changes, letting you create multi-color or multi-material prints without manually swapping spools.

In his 4.5-star review, our 3D printing expert Alastair called it: "'An exceptional machine capable of producing some of the best 3D prints," adding, "It looks great, and the overall build quality and mechanics, as well as the serviceability of the machine, mean that it should give you many years of use."

For more options, check out our roundup of the best 3D printers you can buy.

Should you buy it?

Buy the Creality K2 Pro Combo 3D if...

The K2 Pro Combo makes sense if want more than a basic 3D printer, including more room, faster printing and support for a greater range of materials. The heated chamber, 300°C nozzle, full-auto leveling and dual AI cameras promise plenty of capabilities to grow into.

The included CFS means four-color printing is available without buying another accessory, and the ability to add additional CFS units leaves a route to 16-color projects later.

Skip the Creality K2 Pro Combo 3D if...

If most of your projects are relatively small, single-color PLA prints, much of what makes the K2 Pro interesting won't be used. There are considerably cheaper printers capable of handling straightforward everyday printing.

Price context & historical value

At $799, the Creality K2 Pro Combo is $300 below its $1,099 regular price. For context, the same model is on sale at Amazon, but it's $848.99 there, which is more expensive than this deal.

This is the Combo rather than the standalone K2 Pro, so one four-slot CFS is included and you also get three months of Creality Cloud Premium which offers access to additional models, cloud storage and faster downloads.

For more savings, we track the best 3D printer deals with updates every week.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The K2 Pro Combo includes one four-slot CFS, so can manage four colors out of the box. Reaching 16 requires four CFS units in total, with the additional three sold separately.

There's also an important distinction between maximum and typical printing speed. The K2 Pro can reach 600mm/s, but Creality lists 300mm/s as the typical printing speed, so don't expect every model and filament to run at the headline maximum.

Finally, the printer weighs 23.7kg and its 300mm build volume comes with a much larger physical footprint, so you'll want a workspace with plenty of room.

Wayne Williams
Editor

Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.

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