Printer launch · Elegoo · June 2026
Elegoo dropped the box to drop the price
The new open-frame Centauri 2 takes the Centauri Carbon 2’s guts, strips the enclosure and a handful of extras, and lands four-color printing at a budget price. Here’s what it keeps, what it loses, and the $60 question that decides whether it’s the right buy.
- Open frame
- 4-color Canvas
- 256³ build
- 350°C hot end
- 110°C bed
- Hardened nozzle
Elegoo just launched the Centauri 2, an open-frame follow-up to early-2026’s Centauri Carbon 2. It comes in two flavors: a single-material Centauri 2, and a four-color Centauri 2 Combo that bundles Elegoo’s Canvas filament switcher in the box. The pitch is simple — take a printer people already liked, remove the parts that cost the most to build, and pass the savings on. The catch is what those removed parts let you do.
// pricing is time-sensitivePer All3DP’s launch coverage, an early-bird discount runs through July 1, 2026: $279 for the Centauri 2 and $329 for the Combo. After that the prices revert to MSRPs of $299 and $379. Prices move fast on launches — check Elegoo’s store for the current number before you buy.
What carried over
The good news: the printing core is intact
The Centauri 2 inherits its baseline printing hardware from the Centauri Carbon 2, so the headline numbers are the same. Note the usual speed caveat: 500 mm/s is a top figure, not the speed you’ll actually run day to day.
Hot end
350°C
Heated bed
110°C
Top speed*
500 mm/s
Build volume
256³ mm
Nozzle
Hardened steel
Colors
Up to 4 (Combo)
That hardened steel nozzle matters: it means carbon- and glass-fiber-filled filaments are an out-of-the-box option, with no need to buy a replacement nozzle on day one.
What got cut
The subtraction, item by item
Here’s where the lower price comes from. Compared with the Centauri Carbon 2, the open-frame Centauri 2 drops:
- The enclosure walls — it’s now an open frame, not a closed box.
- The print-monitoring camera — the one cut that genuinely stings; remote watch-from-your-phone goes away.
- The chamber LEDs — less essential once the chamber isn’t sealed and room light gets in.
- The air filter — logical to drop on an open machine, since it can’t contain much anyway.
- The auxiliary cooling system — part of the enclosed-printing package that no longer applies.
According to All3DP, Elegoo’s own comparison table lists the camera, LED, aux fan, and filter as “optional expansion,” which suggests there may be an upgrade path partway toward the Carbon 2 later. Treat that as a hint, not a promise — confirm with Elegoo before buying on the assumption you can bolt the box back on.
The real consequence
No enclosure means a shorter materials list
Losing the walls isn’t just about the camera — it changes what you can reliably print. Warp-prone engineering plastics like ABS and ASA need a stable, warm chamber, and without one they’re effectively off the table. That leaves the Centauri 2 squarely in PLA and PETG territory: the everyday, lower-temperature materials most people print most of the time.
There’s an odd wrinkle here that All3DP flags well: the stock hardware (that 350°C hot end and hardened nozzle) is capable of tougher materials, but the open frame gives you little realistic prospect of running them. It isn’t clear whether other changes to the electronics or build would affect higher-temperature chamber printing, so if a DIY enclosure is your plan, go in with eyes open. Flexibles like TPU print fine on the base machine, but not through the Canvas on the Combo — you’d have to bypass the switcher, which means printing a provided adapter first. If you’re weighing which everyday filament to load, our 2026 filament guide breaks down PLA vs PETG vs the higher-temp options in detail.
Four colors, one trade-off
How the Canvas multicolor system works
The Combo’s headline feature is the Canvas filament feeder, which handles up to four filaments. The spools sit on the outside of the frame on self-rewinding holders that keep things tidy at each filament change, and the Canvas unit has an RFID reader — tap an Elegoo RFID-equipped spool and its filament data loads automatically.
One thing every multicolor buyer should understand before getting excited: color changes cost filament. Like any single-nozzle multi-material system, the Canvas purges the old color out of the nozzle before the new one starts, and on a busy print that purge waste can quietly rival the weight of the part itself. It’s the single biggest variable in what a multicolor job actually costs to run. We dug into exactly why — and what newer designs do about it — in our piece on the end of the purge tower. The silver lining for the Centauri 2: since it’s a PLA/PETG machine anyway, and those are exactly the materials you’d reach for on colorful display prints, the open frame and the multicolor mission line up nicely.
The $60 question
As of writing, the enclosed Centauri Carbon 2 sells for about $339 — only $60 more than the open Centauri 2 at its $279 early-bird price. That gap is the whole decision.
Centauri 2 (open)
$279 early-bird / $299 MSRP
- Same print core & speed
- 4-color Canvas on the Combo
- Best for PLA & PETG
- No ABS/ASA, no camera
- Lightest on your wallet
Centauri Carbon 2 (enclosed)
~$339 at time of writing
- Enclosure + camera
- Air filter, LEDs, aux cooling
- ABS/ASA on the menu
- Same Canvas option exists
- Roughly $60 more
// Our read: if you’ll only ever print PLA and PETG and want the lowest entry price, the open Centauri 2 is a clean buy. If there’s any chance you’ll want ABS/ASA, the camera, or a sealed chamber, the Carbon 2 is a lot of capability for $60. Prices change — verify both before deciding.
From a San Diego print shop
Who it’s for — and the local angle
This is a strong first multicolor machine for someone who prints display pieces, toys, signage, and everyday parts and isn’t chasing engineering materials. If that’s you, the value is real. Two things we’d flag from the repair bench, though. First: an open frame leaves filament exposed, and in coastal San Diego humidity, wet filament is the number-one “my printer is broken” complaint we diagnose that usually isn’t the printer — budget for a filament dryer. Second: factor in running costs. San Diego electricity runs around $0.35/kWh, among the highest in the country, and a printer plus filament plus a dryer plus your weekends isn’t free.
If you just want the colorful parts without owning, calibrating, and maintaining a machine, that’s what we’re here for: we run FDM and resin in-house and print on demand. And if you do buy one and the first few prints fight you, we service Elegoo — including mobile on-site repair across San Diego County. For the full field of budget color machines, our best budget multicolor printers under $500 roundup puts the Centauri family next to its rivals, and our deals breakdown has our honest take on whether buying now is worth it.
Want the color prints without the printer?
Bring us your model and we’ll print it — multicolor FDM or resin, dialed in here in San Diego, shipped worldwide or ready for local pickup. Already own an Elegoo that’s acting up? We repair those too.
Start a print or repair request858-342-6984 · dreaming3dprinting@gmail.com · dreaming3d.net · @dreaming3dprinting
Quick questions
What’s the difference between the Centauri 2 and the Combo?
The standalone Centauri 2 is a single-color, single-material machine. The Centauri 2 Combo adds Elegoo’s Canvas filament switcher in the box for up to four-color printing. Both share the same open frame and core printing hardware; the Combo just adds the multicolor feeder.
Can it print ABS or ASA?
Not reliably. Those plastics warp without a heated, enclosed chamber, and the Centauri 2 is open-frame. It’s best suited to PLA and PETG. The stock hot end is technically hot enough for tougher materials, but without an enclosure you have little practical prospect of printing them well. If ABS/ASA matters to you, look at the enclosed Centauri Carbon 2 instead.
Does it come with a camera like the Carbon 2?
No. The print-monitoring camera is one of the components dropped to lower the price, along with the enclosure walls, chamber LEDs, air filter, and auxiliary cooling. Elegoo reportedly lists several of these as optional expansions, so an upgrade path may exist later — confirm with Elegoo before counting on it.
Is the open frame a problem in humid areas like San Diego?
It means your filament sits exposed to the air, and damp filament causes a lot of failed prints. It’s very manageable — keep spools in a dry box or a filament dryer between sessions. Wet filament is one of the most common issues we diagnose locally, and it’s almost always fixable.
Can Dreaming3D print multicolor parts for me?
Yes. We run FDM and resin in San Diego and offer multicolor printing on demand — send an STL or describe what you want. We also repair and calibrate Elegoo and other brands across San Diego County, with worldwide shipping on prints. Call or text 858-342-6984 or email dreaming3dprinting@gmail.com.
Editorial & production notes (remove before publish)
Slug: elegoo-centauri-2-open-frame-budget-multicolor-printer
Meta title: Elegoo Centauri 2: Open-Frame Budget Four-Color Printing | Dreaming3D
Meta description: Elegoo’s new open-frame Centauri 2 and Centauri 2 Combo bring four-color printing at a budget price by dropping the enclosure. What it keeps, what it loses, and whether the $60-cheaper open frame beats the enclosed Carbon 2.
Differentiation / cannibalization audit
Queries run: site:dreaming3d.net Elegoo Centauri and site:dreaming3d.net multicolor Canvas OR AMS OR purge waste filament. Closest neighbor is the “best budget multicolor under $500” roundup, which covers the enclosed Centauri Carbon 2 Combo among five machines; the Prime Day post and the Bambu X2D comparison also mention the Centauri Carbon. No existing post covers the new open-frame Centauri 2 / Centauri 2 Combo launch (Jun 29 2026). This post owns that single-product launch query cluster + the “open vs enclosed, is $60 worth it” decision. Differentiation angle documented: news-pegged launch explainer framed around subtraction (what got cut) and the buyer’s $60 decision, with a purge-cost reality check — it links to the roundup rather than overlapping it.
Confirmed cross-links embedded (verified live this session)
• /blogs/news/the-best-3d-printer-filament-of-2026-every-material-every-use-case-one-definitive-guide
• /blogs/news/the-bambu-lab-h2c-and-the-end-of-the-purge-tower
• /blogs/news/best-budget-multicolor-3d-printers-under-500
• /blogs/news/the-prime-day-3d-printer-deals
• /pages/repair-request
Claims-hedging log
• Specs (350°C hot end, 110°C bed, 500 mm/s, 256³, hardened nozzle, inherited from Carbon 2) — attributed to Elegoo via All3DP; 500 mm/s explicitly flagged as top-not-typical.
• Pricing ($279/$329 early-bird through Jul 1; $299/$379 MSRP; Carbon 2 ~$339) — attributed to All3DP, labeled time-sensitive with verify-before-buying note. Post-dated build is Jun 30 2026; early-bird ends next day, so urgency stated honestly without pressure.
• Dropped components (enclosure, camera, LEDs, filter, aux cooling) — from All3DP.
• “Optional expansion” upgrade path — attributed to Elegoo’s comparison table per All3DP; hedged (“hint, not a promise”).
• High-temp-chamber uncertainty after mods — All3DP’s own caveat, restated as uncertainty, not fact.
• TPU base-only / not-through-Canvas / adapter-first — from All3DP.
• Purge-waste cost — stated qualitatively as a general multi-material principle; no invented gram/dollar figures for the Canvas specifically (no data available). Linked to existing H2C purge post for the deep dive.
• First-hand limits: not affiliated with Elegoo; we haven’t tested this unit. San Diego humidity/electricity/service framing is our own standing context.
Visual identity rationale
Namespace cntwo-. Concept “The Stripped Frame” — the story is subtraction, so the signature is a technical line-drawing of the open gantry with the dropped components (enclosure, camera, LED, filter, aux fan) rendered as dashed grey ghosts with red strike marks, while the four Canvas filament spools are the one place color enters (feeding a 4-color print on the bed). The “×”-prefixed subtraction list reinforces it structurally. Palette: drafting paper #edf0f3, ink #141b22, cobalt accent #2456c8, ghost slate #8a97a3, strike #b0473b, and four subject-derived filament swatches (#d6336c / #1098ad / #e6a700 / #2f9e44) used only as color tokens. Type trio: Chakra Petch (squared industrial display) / Hanken Grotesk (body) / JetBrains Mono (data, labels) — deliberately different from the previous post’s Bricolage/Plex stack. Light hero + dark “$60 question” panel for contrast (inverts the prior post’s dark-hero approach so no two posts look alike). Brand orange confined to the single CTA button.
Shopify compatibility
No :root, no var(), no CSS custom properties. All colors hardcoded hex with !important. Light-on-dark text (versus panel, shop block, editorial) uses element-qualified, namespaced selectors to beat .rte specificity. Native <details>/<summary> for FAQ and this block. Google Fonts via @import. Filament colors live in the SVG and as small swatch tokens, not on text. All content visible by default; reduced-motion honored. Single-file, self-contained.
Reciprocal-link recommendations (future pass)
• Add a line + back-link from the “best budget multicolor under $500” roundup to this post (the new open-frame option in the Centauri family).
• Add a back-link from the Prime Day deals post (Centauri section) once this is live.
• Consider referencing this from the H2C purge post as a real-world “here’s a budget single-nozzle system where purge cost applies” example.
Refresh triggers
• July 1, 2026 — early-bird ends; update pricing to MSRP ($299/$379) and adjust the “$60 question” math.
• Elegoo confirms / ships an enclosure or component upgrade kit — update the “optional expansion” section.
• Hands-on reviews or our own testing land — replace reported specs with measured results; consider a short verdict.
• Carbon 2 price changes — the whole comparison hinges on the gap; revisit.
Schema
Article + FAQPage JSON-LD included. No HowTo schema (this is a launch explainer, not a step sequence). No Product/Review schema since we haven’t tested the unit and aren’t issuing a rating.