If you are a casual crafter who makes one project a season and thinks “chipboard” is something you eat with salsa, get the Explore Air 2. It’s reliable, fast, and won’t make you cry when you see the price of its blades. It’s the perfect machine for making a shirt that says “My other car is a Cricut.”
If you are the type of person who sees a piece of wood and thinks, “I could cut that into a replica of my pet iguana,” get the Maker. You will use it to make a custom wooden nameplate for your desk. Then you’ll realize you own wood, leather, and a bunch of tools you don’t understand. Congratulations, you are now a crafting demigod—with a messy table.
In the end, both machines are fantastic. They both hook up to your phone, both make you say “ooh” when they finish a cut, and both will eventually be covered in stray bits of glitter. The real question isn’t which one is better—it’s how much of your spare bedroom are you willing to sacrifice to the vinyl gods? Choose wisely, and may your cuts be clean and your glue dry quickly.
