I am about to order a new printer and among 2 or 3 that I am looking at (and not Bambu) the Creality K2 is on the short list. However, I am a bit concerned about buying one though, I have been following this printer on this forum and can only see comments of problems that many users are suffering. When I look at YouTube, I don’t get a sense of the same magnitude of problems being shown by creators. Does anyone on this forum have anything good to say about these printers? Any comments, good, bad or indifferent would be appreciated.
I thought I was lucky because mine came in with no shipping damage and worked perfectly out of the box. Only when I started printed high temp filaments did the problems start.
It quickly became clear that Creality did not test these thoroughly for high temp printing with using the chamber heater. Most of the issues I resolved with preheating the chamber and bed before printing and setting a positive z offset in the slicer for high temp models. After that it printed pretty good, but still not as good as it did PLA.
But then I started getting layer shifting on my longer prints. I knew this was bad because this printer has closed loop servo motors so it can tell if it misses any steps and should correct. Over a week or so they started happening sooner each time until the printer got to where it couldn’t even home the xy axis any more.
Unfortunately for me this happened late JAn right as all of china shut down for chinese new year. So I had to wait almost 2 weeks to get through to customer support. I have learned that whatsapp is the best way to reach them and you have to do it after 8:30 eastern time.
They agreed to replace the main control board, both stepper motors, and also my heated bed because my bed mesh looks like a taco. I was ok with this, I just want it to work. But it has been 2 weeks since I finally got through to them and the parts still have not shipped, and they can’t tell me why. All I get are “sorry’s” and “please be patient”.
I loved the printer when it was working, and I know there are plenty out there that seem to work fine. Shipping damage is a big issue, I would definitely order it with the cfs seperate to help with that. It being in the printer is causing a lot of the damage I see.
I’m hoping when I get it fixed that it is good after that. Only time will tell, but at this point I have little confidence in it.
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Save yourself time and money—buy something else.
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Really like the printer. The software is mwah. Got 178 prints with only 3 failed and 14 i have stopped myself because i now know i need a z-offset 0,035 for petg. Also for some prints the orientation is different then my other printer the cooling on the extruder is not that good so for some print you need to use more cooling from the side coolers. I think so far that most things can be fixed with firmware updates. Sometimes the first layer is a little bit ruf with pla thats because the bed not heated long enough before the bedmesh. I needed a new extruder fan making lot of noise creality is sending me one. Had some errors think it because creality cloud got some event that you need to upload settings for k2 stl files and the are not good those prints gives me error and needed to do a factory reset, so now i only slice them myself. Overal i am stil really happy overall.
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I’ve really enjoyed my K2 Plus, for what it’s worth. Like life, you can do 99 things right, but one thing wrong, and people will hyperfixate on that single flaw while ignoring everything else.
I own two K2 units, two Ender 3s, a Halot, and my neighbor has a CR-10 and an Ender 5. I’ve always loved Creality, so I’ll admit some bias in what I’m willing to tolerate. That said, I actually teared up a little when I first powered on my K2 and watched it run through calibration. I geek out over this stuff, and considering I grew up in a household that was practically an anti-electronics gray zone, this kind of tech means a lot to me.
I love the build size, speed, and overall quality. It looks great, the nozzle is solid, and calibration is straightforward. CP6 keeps improving with every iteration. The unit delivers high-quality, consistent prints, and it’s not super loud. I’ve printed PLA, PETG, ASA, TPU, PET-CF, and a few PA components without major issues. The only trouble I had was with TPU, and that was on me. Definitely read up before diving into TPU printing—it’s a different beast.
One thing to keep in mind: people tend to post about their negative experiences far more than their positive ones. Not because positive experiences are rare, but because when something works as expected, people don’t feel the need to say much.
That being said, this is not a Bambu. If you want top-tier prints, you’ll need to fine-tune it. Out of the box, the prints are already excellent, but if you want that molded-quality finish, it takes precision calibration. If you’re comfortable with that level of tinkering, you can achieve prints superior to what a Bambu can produce. The only Bambu printer with a true temperature-controlled chamber is the X1E, and even then, it’s limited in size and lacks the same degree of manual tuning. That doesn’t make it a bad printer, they run on a different philosophy.
The first thing I did after unboxing my K2 was check every fastener. A loose screw can ruin a print, and shipping conditions, climate variations, and basic material expansion/contraction (especially with aluminum and plastic) can all cause slight shifts. Loctite or not, we’re dealing with tiny components where fractions of a millimeter make a difference. A 0.25mm shift matters when your fasteners are only 8mm long—or 3mm at the extruder assembly. At these speeds, tolerances matter.
Input shaping is great, and it compensates for a lot of vibrations from loose parts, but it can’t account for everything.
The CFS system is also sensitive. I’ve seen people rip filament out of the extruder without heating and retracting it properly, then blame the printer when a tiny drop of leftover filament triggers an error. Same with PTFE tube issues… some folks have had them pop out, though I haven’t experienced that myself. I have my theories on why it happens, though.
If you’re rough on hardware or don’t have a basic understanding of additive manufacturing, this might not be the printer for you. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first or even second printer if you’re unfamiliar with Creality’s ecosystem. It’s not an Ender 3, but it’s also not just an oversized Bambu. It can outperform a Bambu, but only if you put in the effort.
Regarding bed leveling, some people have claimed their bed is warped. Mine wasn’t the aluminum itself, but a combination of the magnetic pad, glue, and PEI plate. To investigate, I ran 45 bed mesh scans, five at each temperature increment of 10°C from 50°C to 120°C, with five additional control scans at room temperature. The heat deformation from 50°C to 100°C was 0.31mm on average, and from 50°C to 120°C, it dropped slightly to 0.28mm. For a 350³ bed, that level of consistency is actually impressive.
This printer is huge, and there’s a reason Bambu hasn’t released the H2D yet. As print beds get larger, the logistical challenges, from shipping to component consistency, become more complex. Bigger and heavier machines introduce more potential points of failure.
Overall, I’d rate the K2 a solid 8.9/10. It would be in the 9s with a few small refinements. For comparison, a custom Voron with a graphite bed and CPAP cooling would sit in the upper 9s.
A Bambu? Well… it doesn’t qualify for the 350x350 weight class. It also lacks a temperature-controlled chamber, a 350°C nozzle, or a community as classy as this one. 
Plus, it’s not open-source. Its out-of-the-box capabilities for PLA/PETG/ASA/ABS are great, but you’re paying a premium for that convenience.
If you’re willing to fine tune and really learn the machine, the K2 can outshine a Bambu. But if you just want something that prints well right now without extra effort, the Bambu might be the better choice. It all depends on what you want out of a printer.
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Hello Iron3Dad,
Your check’s in the mail 
Well written. It is so good to see such a positive review and explanation.
I hope to see more users give such an insight ,
Cheers.
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The K2 is an excellent printer in theory, and even lives up to its specs in practice for some people. However, there is quite a list of potential issues that any particular printer or CFS may have, resulting in a wide range of quality, from perfect to complete lemon. Many of these issues only appear under certain conditions such as high chamber temperature, so it’s very difficult to get a sense of how common they are.
The good news is that the community has solutions to many of the problems, and even some substantial improvements. So if you are a tinkerer, you can definitely end up with a very good printer, even if the one you got from Creality was not so good. But if you’re not a tinkerer and you just want a printer that works, it’s a gamble, and your odds depend on how hard you plan on pushing the printer.
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I have a line of photography accessories and everything is 3D printed. The business started to grow when I was running parts on some old Raise3D N2-based frankenprinters that I had modded up the wazoo over the years. I needed a solid machine to produce these parts. I’ve been testing machines on and off for over 3 years. Some boutique “Industrial” printers with fairly hefty price tags, and some other Chinese machines.
My career was Mechanical Engineering - mostly industrial automation equipment … so I know a thing or two about machines.
I’ve only been running the K2 for 1-1/2 weeks, so it’s early. My initial impression is that my 3-year journey is over. I finally found a machine that can deliver the goods. The firmware is open so I can get the machine dialed in exactly where I need it. I can use whatever slicer I want. Print quality so far is outstanding.
Happy enough that after one week I ordered a second.
I have a dozen Bambu X1C machines. I use those for other products that are easier to print. I have two Qidi Plus 4 machines that I picked up this fall - but one of those is already looking and acting like a junk yard dog. They are not holding up AT ALL.
The full diecast frame on the K2 is amazing. Attention to detail with things like wire routing and serviceability is MILES ahead of the Qidi machines. The more expensive “Industrial” machines I tested had serious engineering shortfalls and required a lot of my own time to redesign and rebuild
While the K2 isn’t perfect, most of the issue seem to be firmware/software … and those should improve over time. For the price point, I think it’s a great machine.
I could justify paying $10K for a printer, but that class of machine hasn’t caught up to the convenience and sophistication that Bambu brought to the market and that that the K2 also has. Auto Z-offset, auto input shaping, print speed, etc.
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I’ll gladly take that check in the form of filament vouchers! 
These K2s with their massive build plates are absolute filament devourers 
It’s like feeding a pair of hungry hippos, but with PLA and PETG. 
Appreciate the love, and looking forward to what Creality cooks up next!
Anubis is wise, listen to these words… Or… Mentally digest them as you read. Ha!
100% spot on; if you are a tinkerer, you can make a “meh” condition printer, into a “muahaha!” printer! That’s what I find great about Creality. You are ABLE to tinker when necessary, with a lot more free reign.
Just dont expect a smooth user experience like Bambulab. There are small details here and there thats just plain annoying. If you plan to work with PLA and PETG only, then you are fine. But if you plan to use engineering materials that need higher chamber temperature, be ready to get headaches. In just 1 week, I disassembled the extruder more often than I disassembled my X1C extruder in 2 years. Somehow, eSUN ABS+ filament is deemed too soft for K2+ extruder. Go figure.
A friend had a layer shifting problem lately on a K1 - but that printer type doesn’t matter here. We found out that it was caused by a loose cable connecting one stepper motor. Most of the time it was connected, but sometimes it was disconnected. After we fixed it it worked like a charm.
Maybe you try checking all the cables?
I got my K2 ~5 months ago and it worked perfectly right out of the box. Since then it printing something almost every day.
Compared to my K1 Max, which I also have, the mechanics are more rigid and print quality is absolutely fine for me. My favorite feature is the filament changing. It is so comfortable that I’m thinking to replace my K1 Max by another K2 Plus Combo.
When I started years ago with an ANET A8 and a CR6 SE, I learned a lot which helps if(!) there are problems. But now I just want to print and not tweak around. In my opinion the K2 Plus is perfect for that.
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I own the K2+ Combo now since ~12 weeks and was printing >600 hours so far.
I had so far 2 issues: after ~3 weeks the extruder shell PTFE-Tube-insert was missing a blade and therefore the the PTFE tube were moving out from extruder when CFS pushed filament in. I got form customer support a replacement extruder shell.
The second issue was after ~500h printing the nozzle need to be replaced because it was clogging too fast so I replaced it with the spare nozzle coming with the printer and ordered another spare set.
All other problems were more or less related to my or filament faults. I therefore made some mods to the CFS and the tubing because of some problems with 3rd party filament or filament spools.
p.s.: Every ~200h printing I do some cleaning, applying grease and re-calibration.
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I think the worst about Creality is their customer service. But I couldn’t say that other manufacturers are better, no experience there.
My K2 is still broken since December 25th.
Broken extruder motor.
Support sent me another motor after about 1 month.
Replaced motor, getting only CM2784 errors after that, so there is more broken, board maybe.
No further help from creality so far.
The worst is the long email response times (each time multiple days), and then getting answers that show they did not understand the problem.
All in all, this support issue is really the only negative about Creality.
I loved the K2 when it was still working.
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@HagTei, I had also the CM2784 errors before I changed nozzle. First I thought that it would be extruder but when I checked extruder using guidance from Troubleshooting for K2 Plus Jammed Filament I realized that it is just too hard to push the filament through nozzle, even for PLA @230°C! The needle which is part of the tool set delivered with the printer was bending and could not easily like before push filament out.
Therefore I exchanged nozzle and everything was working again!
For me it was the first nozzle change on K2 but I am used to it also on all other printers I own.
p.s.: Creality seem to work on customer service changes! I raised 2 weeks ago a lot of bugs of Creality Slicer V6…latest and first time got feedback with a case number!
It’s a different topic for me.
Got the replacement motor, and did not yet install the extruder, just to see if the motor works.
Getting these errors without extruder mounted, without filament…
So I think the board or a sensor is damaged as well.
Oh and I got a case number for 6 weeks already, doesn’t change the result…
Ok, then it would be most probably the extruder control board which measures extruder motor’s power usage or, as one other colleague here had, a broken cable/connector to the controller.
Hello Wurlitzerwilly,
That speaks volumes !!!
Thank you for sharing such an excellent print job 
Cheers.
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