I’ve never used a 3D printer before. Is this baby product as easy to use as it claims?

Despite the sheer magic and wonder of creating fully 3D objects out of the ether as if you were using a Star Trek replica, 3D printers You have something of a long-standing reputation. They are often viewed as high-tech, difficult to use, or only accessible to obsessive specialists willing to invest a lot of time and effort into mastering their intricacies.

The Elegoo x emoji Centauri Carbon 2 Combo aims to change all that by attaching a highly capable 3D printer (that’s still affordable for beginners) to a bright yellow smiley shell. And that’s about the depth of the Emoji collaboration, which is a thin leather coated on what is, in essence, an almost identical iteration of the company’s existing Centauri Carbon 2 Combo range. Although it may be a bit misleading, brand superficiality isn’t a bad thing, because it turns out that the Centauri Carbon 2 is an excellent printer.

Open the box and setup

My first impression, when I lifted the Centauri Carbon 2’s cargo box, was something like, “Damn, this is heavy.” Opening the box was a bit of a chore: it involved removing and separating a huge amount of packaging material, tape and screen protectors, although since the printer shipped from China, I was happy to see it securely swaddled.

I was a little less happy with the setup procedure. As the title of this review suggests, I’m a newbie to 3D printing, and while I’ve seen videos of experienced creators setting up the Carbon 2 in 15 minutes, it took just over an hour.

There’s a lot of disassembling, attaching, positioning and attaching, and the English version of the manual either suffers from a slight translation problem or from assuming that the person assembling the printer has some experience with it. This printer may be marketed to children, but there is no way a child could assemble it themselves.

Alan Bradley/CNET

In the Pro column, even when the manual pointed out a part I wasn’t familiar with, the illustrations were detailed enough that I was able to put the device together on my first try without any lasting problems.

The Elegoo includes a handy package with all the tools you’ll need, including screwdrivers and hex keys, though I was glad to have my own tools on hand because the hex keys provided, in particular, were on the flimsy side.

Software and first printing

By contrast, setting up the software needed to start printing was easy. Elegoo includes a USB key preloaded with installation files for its slicing software—the software you’ll need to interpret 3D model files and prepare them for printing.

It’s based on a popular slicing package from another brand called OrcaSlicer, and was easy to get up and running. The USB key also includes some sample models you can play with, or there is an online model section in the slicer where you can find lots of user creations.

The (most, really) part of emoji engagement is that a number of emoji samples are included in the device’s local storage by default, so if your heart is yearning for a yellow face blowing a kiss, Elegoo has you covered. There are also some other little touches, like covering the back of the hotplate with emojis, so you can print them on the bottom layer of the print.

Perhaps my cynical heart is too hard to appreciate it, but I chose to skip the expressive forms and move on to something more interesting and complex in my first edition.

I chose one of the files on the USB key, a small Buddha statue that has a fair amount of fine detail. For this print, I did everything from the printer itself, which has a handy little touchscreen on the front of the machine where you can browse local files, load filament, and print.

Speaking of loading filament, the Centauri Carbon 2 lets you preload four on the side of the printer, each with its own tube, unlike some other printers that only include one space for filament or force multiple spools to share the same tube, slowing down the process every time you want to change colors or materials.

The Canvas, the device on the side of the machine that feeds the filament into it, has an RFID reader, and Elegoo sells filament spools with matching chips so you can scan them quickly. The printer will automatically recognize them and add their data.

Brand emoji Threads Elegoo sent me with the device that lacked RFID functionality, so I had to manually program the data while adding each reel, which was unfortunate. However, all I had to do was select the filament type and brand, tap a few details on the touchscreen, and the filament loaded seamlessly into the print head.

Then it was time to print. I selected the model from the device’s built-in browser (with the USB key plugged into the port next to the touchscreen), selected the white PLA filament and fired it. Printing directly from the machine was very simple, and in about half an hour, I had a very lightweight Buddha statue.

I was impressed with the printer’s ability to capture the fine details of the character, especially around the folds of the sleeves and hood. Although it’s not a very complex miniature on the level of Warhammer 40K or Warmachine, the printer executed it almost flawlessly.

The only minor issue I had during the first print was that the machine vibrated noticeably as it worked, and the table I initially set it up on wasn’t the most stable. However, Elegoo included anti-vibration feet (previously sold as an add-on) by default with the emoji-branded Carbon 2, which seemed to help, and once I moved it to a more stable platform, vibration wasn’t a persistent issue (although it was still noticeable).

Using a slicer

Releasing prints remotely from the slicer is also a simple process. You can open a form file or drag and drop it into it, or select files that are already on the printer’s local storage or a connected USB device. If you don’t want to make any changes, you can slice the model, which translates it into a G code that the printer can read and start printing immediately.

If you want to play around with the model, the slicer’s controls are excellent. You can rotate the model, resize it, add simple geometric shapes, or place the model on different faces with incredible ease, even if you’re a green newbie like me. You can also delve into more esoteric settings like padding (structural supports within the model), layer height, cover density, and more.

Although the language can be intimidating at first, after watching a few YouTube tutorials, I felt familiar and comfortable enough to start adjusting even some of the more complex settings and dimensions for printing, and ElegooSlicer feels very accessible and powerful at that level.

I started flying through the extra prints. I built a chute to catch discarded filament shooting off the back of the device (I found it a bit odd that the Elegoo doesn’t include a built-in system to catch this debris), and then processed a relatively simple but lengthy print before removing the CNET logo sample.

Then I moved on to more complex stuff: a 20-sided die that required me to first print the base icosahedron and then 19 face plates (the 20-side was the base and didn’t require a plate). They were all printed on thin single layer paper and then glued to the template.

I also took out the dice tower (yes, I’m obsessed, if you haven’t collected that much), and to be able to put Carbon 2 through its paces, I tried using the complex non-copyright “Grimdark” model, which prints in four parts.

He’s a Warhammer-inspired soldier with a backpack, sword, intricate armor, and lots of fine details. The creator was thoughtful enough to include struts, which help support the overhanging parts of the model, so the machine doesn’t print in the air. You can also get a version without support, and ElegooSlicer includes an option to add them automatically. Either the Standard, Varied, or “Tree” version supports this branch and works best with less geometric, more organic shapes.

The results were mixed but overall very strong. He struggled with the sword’s thin blade, leaving the bottom edge more mesh than solid, and he had some issues along one edge of the base. Overall, I was amazed at how well he managed the small details. Small, flickering candles appeared around the soldier’s feet, and even some of the smallest details of his helmet and armor. This is an FDM printer that uses PLA, and will never rival a resin printer when it comes to capturing microscopic details. But under the circumstances, he performed admirably. I could also slow down the print speed and reduce the layer height to print at a higher resolution, which would likely improve the final quality.

Final thoughts

For a multi-filament printer, ELEGOO x emoji Centauri Carbon 2 collection It’s very reasonably priced, currently available for $449 directly from the manufacturer. It performed as well or better than expected on every print I tried, and I was very impressed with how easy to use the slicing software and interface on the device was. Additional features—such as the ability to take time-lapse videos of the print using a camera mounted inside the print chamber and its relatively quiet operation (due to multiple well-distributed fans)—were the icing on a delicious, expressive cake. But to be completely honest, if any of the emoji brands weren’t there, I wouldn’t miss them one bit.