Product Comparison: Cricut Explore Air 2 vs Cricut Maker

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Cricut Explore Air 2 Personal DIY Cutting Machine

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Cricut Maker Champagne

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General Specifications

About the Product

Cricut Explore Air 2™ is a DIY speed machine. This smart cutting machine cuts and writes up to 2x faster than previous models and helps you make projects with over 100 different materials.

Introducing Cricut Maker - the Ultimate Smart Cutting Machine™. With its expandable suite of tools and advanced Rotary blade and Adaptive Tool System (including Knife Blade and Scoring Wheels1,) Cricut Maker™ gives you the freedom to make virtually any DIY project. It's professional-level cutting performance, accessible to everyone.

Brand

Cricut

Model

Explore Air 2

Maker

Origin

China

Key Specs

Type

Electric

Number of Cutting Blades

Cutting Area

12 x 12 in.

12 x 24 in.

Clearance

3 mm

2.4 mm

Cut Pressure

8.8 lb/sq.in

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Cricut Explore Air 2 Personal DIY Cutting Machine

Cuts very intricate details with ease. Easy to use interface. Fast cutting/drawing.
This Cricut was the right one for me. I have do so much with it since I got it, and you'd be amazed at all the little personalized craft projects your friends and coworkers will bring to you once they know you have one.
Love this machine! I use it all of the time! It is very precise. The print then cut feature is amazing! I could never say enough good things about it.
It's ok. Cuts great and cuts lots of materials. It is very simple and easy to use my 8 year old can use it on her own from the designing to the cutting.
The tools are minimal to design with. There isn't much creative freedom with this machine. Creating complex designs hard time consuming and tedious due to lack of tool options.
It's not even been a week and i'm having issues, sometimes it ruins a paper and doesnt cut correctly, or it just marks the paper while its on cardstock, other times it disconnects mid cutting, i was really excited to buy this machine but now it just takes too long to cut one thing.

Cricut Maker Champagne

It is so easy to use and cuts flawlessly. While I don't take it on the go very often, it is fairly easy to transport if needed. It can be paired for use with your laptop, iPad and now your phone. I strongly recommend the Cricut Maker to all.
I LOVE the new rotary blade!! That blade plus the new fabric mat are a magical combination. So easy to cut and I love to use it. Plus the fast cut option makes life so easy.
That rotary blade is so precise, I was so impressed. It cuts lace and delicate material perfectly. And then really thick synthetic leather, not a problem!
The rotary blade is amazing and I've made about 70 mats worth of items with no issues so far, except for a couple times when I didn't clean my mat off well enough.
Even with the mats and blades they require and offer NONE of these features would work. The wood was horrible and the leather cut but was frayed and choppy looking so none could be resold.
Bought this machine to cut balsa wood as advertised. Cricut has delayed knife blade release twice now - now no definite release in site. I feel their advertising was deceptive - it still says it can cut wood - it can't.

Size & Weight

Height

6 in.

6.2 in.

Weight

21 lbs.

24 lbs.

Width

22.2 in.

22.6 in.

Depth

7 in.

7.1 in.

Features

Cutting Materials

Paper, Cardstock, Vinyl, Fabric, Magnet paper, Heat transfer material, Photo paper, Copy paper, Rhinestone template material

Paper, Cardstock, Vinyl, Fabric, Magnet paper, Photo paper, Copy paper, Vellum, Leather, Felt, Chipboard, Metallic Foil

LCD screen

Built-in Scanner

Yes

Wireless Cutting

Yes

Accessories Included

German carbide premium blade, USB cable, Power cord, Accessory Adapter, Pen & cardstock sample, Cricut 12 in. x 12 in. StandardGrip cutting mat

Cricut Rotary Blade + Drive Housing, Cricut Premium Fine Point Blade + Housing, Fine Point Pen, FabricGrip Mat 12"x12", LightGrip Mat 12"x12", USB cable, Power cord, Cricut Access free trial membership, Materials for your first project

Extras

Up to 2X Faster. Select Fast Mode when you need to make every minute count, Create on your computer, tablet, or smartphone, Embedded Bluetooth® for wireless cutting, Cut 100+ materials from vellum to leather, Smart Set® dial for easy material settings, Upload your own images for free (.svg, .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .dxf), Thousands of designs and ideas to kickstart virtually any project, Upload and use your own image files or fonts for free

Cuts hundreds of materials, from the most delicate fabric and paper to matboard and leather, Expandable suite of tools, Rotary Blade™, with its gliding, rolling action, cuts through virtually any fabric, Sewing pattern library with hundreds of patterns available to choose from, Simple design apps and the ability to use your own designs, Applies up to 4 kg of force

What customers say about "Features"

Cricut Explore Air 2 Personal DIY Cutting Machine

Absolutely Love Love Love this machine! So easy to use with the Cricut design studio. The best feature is the dial for what type of paper you are using. No guessing how much pressure you need as it does it all for you.
Amazing product for DIY for fraction of the cost. I made my own onesies for my friends baby shower and everyone was stunned that I made them. Its so great to personalize things with the Iron-on Vinyl.
love that this machine has the ability to use a pen to write content. I also like the fact that this machine can still use cartridges.
Admittedly, it can be difficult to cut small intricate images and words. I've found the "print and cut" feature a good solution to this problem. That feature allows you to print an image off on your computer and simply have the Cricut cut out the shape of it. I use this technique to make stickers.
The Cricut software needs an always-on, active internet connection to work. Generally speaking, this isn't a problem, however, it does limit your ability to "fire and forget"...as in, send a design to print and walk away with your computer or turning it off.
There is one downfall and it might be something I am doing wrong and that is using the Scoring Tool. It really doesn't score very well. Can't see the lines on the paper of where to fold, so I put one of the cricut markers in the carriage to draw the lines on where to fold.
I bought this on valentines day for my wife. Here 2 weeks later, she gets a notice that she can no longer use the software without paying $10 month. She gets on chat with Cricut and they confirm it. So this machine is now useless to us.

Cricut Maker Champagne

Only had it for a few days, hooked it up, downloaded software, started using right away. I’m a first time user of any die cut tool so can’t compare to others, but this Cricut Maker is super easy!
I have made three quilts with the Cricut Maker and I'm addictied. I have always wanted to make quilts and this machine makes it all possible in record time. The possibilities are endless and Cricut has out done them self with this machine.
I was creating projects within hours of unboxing. It was purchased with the intent to start a home/etsy business and in a little over a month, I accomplished that goal.
Machine did not connect to my computer. Many technical issues that followed. I had so many issues with this thing. This machine is not for beginners. In order to operate this machine, you have to have internet access.
Very poor setup instructions to start. No written instructions included - just a website that - at the time of my setup - was unavailable - and the error was a domain name error.

Warranty / Certifications

Certifications

CE, EAC

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download