Cricut’s new manufacturer 4 hasn’t been improved enough to justify its price
Strong Points
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Faster than the predecessor
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Trustworthy apps
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A wide selection of supported materials
Cons
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There is little improvement in accuracy
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No new supported materials
At Cricut’s Previous generation cutting machines were released in 2021the company faced little actual competition. Cricut’s industry-leading software, an impressive collection of uniquely supported materials, and the growing home brand name revealed this is where. Almost four years have passed, and in the meantime, competition has arrived from a new corner in the creator market.
Cricut’s reaction is New Manufacturer 4And the only improvement is to cut everything Cricut hasn’t been made faster for the same price as its predecessor.
Here Cricut Explore The series is positioned as the budget-friendly cutting machine that is the best choice for the most popular use of these machines, and the Cricut Maker series is designed to be limited only by imagination. With support of over 300 materials, you can do everything the Explore series can do, from chipboards and basswoods to creating your own puzzles to custom leather jewelry. Its versatility is what made Explore 3 such a great option in 2021. Because you can have one machine that doesn’t take up a large amount of room and can do more than anything else on the market.
Today, Maker 4 doesn’t really compete with traditional cutting machines in silhouettes, siblings, and cutting machines made by those companies. In recent years, the biggest competition has been from companies like Xtool and Glowforge. Both companies have released laser cutting and engraving machines designed to offer more than Cricut can, at a much lower price than previous generations. Glowforge has it Spark also allows you to cut stickers, create iron-on designs, or cut PVC-based vinyl with whatever you need. The same can be said A little bit of Xtool f1and all three of these machines cost under $800.
If you’re using Cricut Maker 3, you’re also using Cricut Maker 4. Apart from being available in a variety of colors, the outer shell and inner toolkit are roughly the same. All the accessories in Maker 3 were quickly connected and worked with Maker 4. This is great if you spend money on additional cutting tools or spools to hold a large roll of vinyl. It didn’t take long to “go” to this new version. In fact, I opened the box at 3:30pm and then ended up wearing a bottle of hot sauce with a ridiculous fake label.
Like the new Explore 4, Maker 4 is significantly faster than its predecessor when cutting things that are not part of Cricut’s smart material line. The same mat can handle multiple projects, reducing the amount of time that small and medium-sized businesses and skilled home crafters have to wait. This speed improvement is a big deal for people who only use a limited time. Also, when combined with the support of cutting mats twice the length of a standard square mat, it is a great way to improve your existing creative process.
This Cricut Maker 4 was not properly tuned, so users had to run a long process before using the print and cut features.
Its improved cutting speed is invaluable, but is met with the same many restrictions that Cricut has always had. For example, the ability to print something and cut accurately requires a long manual calibration process, despite having an optical sensor to detect edges in the design. Also, the cutting section is the only part that is faster, especially when using printing and cutting features on the sticker. Cricut is working on new algorithms to improve this process in the coming months, but detecting edges of a design remains the longest part of that process.
The speed improvement when cutting vinyl, paper, and iron materials is a great move to advance, especially with materials made or uncontrolled by Cricut, but the same speed improvement is still quite slow for thicker or more complex materials. It takes time to make puzzles and cut leather, especially compared to Cricut’s new competitors.
Stupid label made for a bottle of hot sauce using Cricut Maker 4.
If your home has enough space to do as many machines as possible, we don’t know if Cricut’s Maker 4 is the best option for 2025. Explore 4 costs just $250 It works just as fast as Maker 4. If you’re aiming to make more than what Cricut is best at, the $400 price tag on this new machine is a big question if the price of the competition is much lower than it was two years ago.