Bring out your inner craft enthusiast with the new Cricut Explore 3

Cricut Explore 3, €330

We hate to use the C word, but Christmas is fast approaching. If you are craft-inclined, the Cricut Explore 3 could be a good present to yourself. It’s cheaper than the Maker 3, reviewed here a few months ago, but does a lot of the same stuff. The Explore 3 is a digital cutting machine that will work with designs on paper, card and vinyl. It can be expanded beyond that with a few extras and a bit of know-how: a compatible pen from Cricut’s range to write or draw; a foil kit to add a touch of glitz to a card; a deep point blade to cut thicker materials such as thin leather or felt; or even a bonded fabric blade to cut, well, bonded fabric.

That’s largely the same as the previous version of the device, the Explore Air 2, but the Explore 3 gets one additional feature: it can use Cricut’s smart materials to cut without mats. That means you can load Cricut’s smart vinyl or sticker paper into the machine without having to attach it to a sticky mat, opening up the possibility of cutting designs up to 3.6m (12ft) in length. It will also work faster with the smart materials, cutting more quickly.

Like previous models, you tell the Explore 3 what material you are using, and it will set the pressure, number of passes and cutting tool automatically, guiding you through the process step by step. It puts craft expertise into the hands of almost anyone.