Compare What is it: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3, Circuit Explore ONE and Circuit Explore Air are at-home electronic cutting machines for DIY projects, art and craftwork that plug into a PC or Mac with a USB cable to give great precision cutting of varied materials.

 

Compare What does it do: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
The machine cuts paper, fabric, cardstock, vinyl, and many other materials up to 12” wide and 10’ long to create into different shapes for craftwork.

Cricut Explore ONE and Cricut Explore Air provide precision cutting to different materials such as paper, cardstock, vinyl, iron-on, poster board, and fabric from as small as ¼ inch to as wide as 11½ inches and 23½ inches tall.

 

Compare Features: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo Z
The electronic cutter has built-in Bluetooth to cut wirelessly. There’s a dual carriage for blades, pens, and markers. You can cut and draw in one pass making your projects simpler and more convenient. The self-adjusting blade of Silhouette Cameo 3 changes automatically with the media selected in studio. The machine has convenient storage for pens, tools, blades and cross cutter and features an LCD touchscreen with sound. The raised bar comes with 2 mm clearance for cutting materials.

Cricut Explore ONE
The electronic cutter cuts a wide variety of materials from vinyl to leather with precision for DIY projects and craftwork allowing you to upload your own images or select from the Cricut Image Library. Smart Set dial provides 1-step material setting to eliminates complicated materials settings and provides perfect cut on any material by just a turn. It also customizes settings for different materials. Patent pending Cut Smart Technology cuts all shapes and sizes from ¼ inch to 11½ inch in width and 23½inch in height. German Carbide Premium blade gives precision cutting and it comes with a 12 x 12 StandardGrip cutting mat. Integrated storage compartments makes projects easier. There are 25+ free 1-click projects and 50+ free images. You can upload and cut images for free and design them anywhere you like on PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Cricut Explore Air
The high-tech electronic cutting machine provides precisely cuts a wide whole range of materials from paper, iron-on, adhesive vinyl and thick materials such as leather and burlap for DIY projects and craftwork. It has the capability to cut more than 60 different materials from vellum to leather courtesy high-grade German Carbide blade. You have ease of work with wireless cutting thanks to the embedded Bluetooth. Cut a greeting and write a personalized message or cut a box and score the fold lines in a single step with Cricut Explore Air’s dual carriage. Design with 50,000+ images from the Cricut Library or upload your own images for free. In spite of supporting so many different materials, it has a Smart Set® dial for easy material settings. You can design online with the free Cricit Design Space online software or use iPad app. The patented Cut Smart Technology provides precision cutting of materials from ¼ inch to 11 ½ inch wide and 23½ inch in height. The cutter is compatible with all Cricut® cartridges and it has integrated storage compartments for convenient stowing of blades and other materials. Make invitations, home décor, greeting cards and more with 100+ free images and 50+ free projects.

 

Compare What does it cut: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
It cuts paper, fabric, cardstock, vinyl, cork sheet, wood paper sheet, leatherette sheet, washi sheets, and many other materials.

Cricut Explore ONE
The electronic cutter can cut varied materials ranging from paper, cardstock, vinyl, iron-on, poster board and fabric with its German carbide premium blade.

Cricut Explore Air
With its high-grade German carbide blade you can cut more than 60 materials from vellum to leather burlap other than paper, cardstock, vinyl, iron-on, poster board and fabrics.

 

Compare Cut sizes: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
With Silhouette Cameo 3 you can cut varied shapes and sizes of materials up to 12 inches wide and 10 feet long

Cricut Explore ONE and Cricut Explore Air give neat and precise cuts to small and large sizes of any shape and pattern. The cutting range is from ¼ inches to 11½ inches wide and 23½ inches tall.

 

Compare system requirements: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
PC (Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 and in Mac OS X 10.6.8.

Cricut Explore ONE and Cricut Explore Air require Windows 8or later OS and Mac OSX 10.10 or later systems. CPU required is Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent AMD Processor in Windows and Intel CPU (1.83GHz or more) in Mac. The studio would work on 4GB RAM or more and the latest versions of Internet Explorer/Edge, Firefox Mozilla or Google Chrome in Windows and Apple Safari, Firefox Mozilla or Google Chrome in Mac. Minimum display resolution required is 1024 x 768 p and the latest version of Adobe.

 

Compare Scanning Area: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
It has a PixScan technology that allows taking of pictures on camera or smartphone and sending to the cutter. With the Scan and Cut feature of Silhouette Cameo 3, designs can be printed from their printer and cut on the machine.

Cricut Explore ONE
NA

Cricut Explore Air
NA

 

Compare Designs: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
Silhouette Design Store, the marketplace of Silhouette Cameo 3 is powerful and advanced with over 100,000 and there are 100 digital designs to begin creating right away. The software gives complete freedom to users to create designs from scratch. The purchasable images are professional-looking and not plain clip-art designs making the learning curve better.

Cricut Explore ONE and Cricut Explore Air have more than 50,000 images, projects, and fonts in the Cricut Image Library and you can upload your own images and fonts, too. The electronic cutters have designs to make birthday and party invitations, seasonal home décor, school science projects, personalized DIY wedding gifts, monograms, and poster designs.

 

Compare Quilt Patterns: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
There are different patterns from clamshells, stars, and hexagons with prints such as text, shoe, animals and more.
Cricut Explore ONE
NA

Cricut Explore Air
Prism, Poinsettia, Spectrum, Twilight, and Starfall are some of the patterns available.

 

Compare LCD Display: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
Full-color LCD touchscreen with mini tutorials ensures easy use and navigation. It also allows you to select language, set the sleep time, change color scheme, and display help icons.

Cricut Explore ONE
NA

Cricut Explore Air
NA

 

Compare Max Material width it can handle: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
12 inches

Cricut Explore ONE
11½ inches

Cricut Explore Air
11½ inches

 

Compare Language: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
NA
Cricut Explore ONE
NA
Cricut Explore Air
NA

 

Compare Price: Silhouette Cameo 3 vs Cricut Explore ONE vs Cricut Explore Air

Silhouette Cameo 3
$299.99

Cricut Explore ONE
$199.99

Cricut Explore Air
$ 249.99

 

Silhouette Cameo 3 Review:
Silhouette Cameo 3 is an updated version of previous models and comes with huge changes. The new version of the electronic cutter has incorporated elements from a rival machine into its design. However, one of the concerns is that it does not allow for the user to use more pressure to handle thicker media such as glitter paper. The fine tuning of the technology and pressure being absent, the electronic cutter may not provide the ability for precise cuts or a way to cut thick materials.

The machine has added several desirable features such as a dual carriage to for blades, pens, markers, and allows you to cut and write or cut and draw in a single pass. Silhouette Cameo 3 also has easy slide rollers and storage for different tools to make your DIY projects more convenient. The LCD touchscreen with sound has mini tutorials that make for easy use and navigation. Bluetooth connectivity makes it possible to make projects wireless. There is no need to change the blade when you want to cut a different media as the blade is self-adjusting. The machine also has storage for pens, tools, blades and cross-cutter.

Cameo 3 Silhouette has introduced Silhouette Studio 4.0 that has a simpler interface and easier tracing tools. You can jump between help tutorials and floating panels. The studio also has cut time estimates and a smoothing feature. Along with the machine there are several new products such as Cameo light totes, printable vinyl, wood paper sheets, etc.

 

Cricut Explore One Cutting Machine REVIEW:
A reviewer says that Cricut Explore One Cutting Machine is well-constructed and operates well but the requirement of Adobe Flash and web-based software to operate it is impractical. The reviewer adds that the customer service is inefficient. The power supply of their order failed and they had to order a replacement. But they made a mistake on shipping and couldn’t correct or cancel it on the website because it’s not allowed after placing the order.

Another customer says that the machine has a steep learning curve and you need separate accessories for everything. You cannot cut objects larger than 12” wide and they need to be cut in parts and glued together. The website Design Space is difficult to learn and one has to pay for the images after the first 2-week trial period. There are no instructions on putting images together. They spent 20 minutes speaking to a customer care representative about putting together a 3D model from the image library but the rep couldn’t figure it out.

One reviewer says that machine is not useful or user-friendly and has inadequate instructions. You constantly need to spend on supplies and accessories like markers, peeling tools, design, etc. The machine is useful only if used for a business to churn out bulk.

Another user says that the machine is good and does as it advertises. But all the functions require internet connection. So it’s useless if you have a slow or no internet. Another user is upset because one has to buy the subscription to print or cut an image even if it’s one’s own.

 

Cricut Explore Air Machine REVIEW:
A reviewer of Cricut Explore Air Machine says that it cuts beautifully but the software is slow and unintuitive and Cricut needs to develop an offline program. Another customer says that you need a lot of patience if you buy this product. Design Space stops or loads slowly most of the time even when tried in multiple browsers. Though they add that when it works it is a great machine. Their computer can handle other heavy software but not Cricut Design Space and they were regretting buying it.

One user says that it is an okay machine for the price. When buying it one needs to remember to buy that adhesive backing refills. It curls paper or envelope when inserted and thin paper has problem. The software is online, which is a shortcoming if one doesn’t have internet connection. Another customer says that the machine has potential to be great. The templates or monthly membership needs to be bought separately. The tutorials are unclear and fast for a new user. They could make beautiful cards with it and it cut with precision. However, the user adds that the number of cards was few because it is not user friendly.

One reviewer says that they love the powerful machine but the cloud-based software had glitches and they couldn’t complete a single project. The software is ideal for simple designs but cannot handle many layers or prints and doesn’t cut images at the same time. One needs to be careful while buying the machine.