Bambu Lab P2S review: Almost perfect

The Bambu Lab P1S quickly became the go-to 3D printer for many, and everyone (including me) has been waiting for the P2S to come out. Now that it's been out for a few months, how does it stack up to its predecessor? I'd say the Bambu Lab P2S is better in almost every way, but a few things hold it back from its true potential as the next 3D printing king.

Price and availability

The Bambu Lab P2S 3D printer costs $549 for just the printer itself, and $799 for the printer with AMS 2 Pro. You can purchase the Bambu Lab P2S directly from Bambu Lab, at Best Buy, MicroCenter, or B&H Photo.

Up and printing in 15 minutes

I've never used a 3D printer that was this easy to set up

I've used quite a few 3D printers over the years, and the P2S has to have been the simplest one I've ever set up. After taking it out of the box and removing the packaging inside the printer, I simply had to remove a few screws that held the threaded rods in place, and it was ready to go.

From taking it out of the box to printing was 15 minutes, and I couldn't have been happier. From there, the 3D printer itself completed the setup. It handles vibration offset, leveling, pressure advance tuning, and all other calibration functions itself. The only thing I had to do was set it on a stable surface and let it do its thing.

Fantastic print quality and speed

Average build volume with way above average performance

I moved from a Bambu Lab A1 mini to the P2S, and I was shocked at just how much faster and better it printed than the A1 mini. I loved my A1 mini (and my Ender 3 clones that came before it), but the P2S is definitely another level above those.

The fully enclosed chamber and core XY design allow the P2S to print at incredible speeds with fantastic accuracy. Yeah, machines like the Voron can run circles around it in terms of speed, but it's hard to deny just how great the P2S prints.

I have only used the 0.4mm nozzle that came with it (though I also have a 0.2mm and 0.6mm for when projects come around that need those nozzles), and the detail is incredible.

Since the system is core XY, the bed doesn't move, which means many models are more stable when printing. The bedslinger A1 mini I had would sometimes throw a print off the bed if it didn't have great adhesion, but I haven't really had a lot of problems in that area with the P2S since the head itself moves instead of the bed.

I was actually quite surprised by just how great the P2S printed, even on my more rickety table. As the P2S head slings itself around during a print, the entire table will shake. But that shaking isn't present in the print quality at all. I've had it on a variety of different surfaces so far with a range of stability, and there has been zero print quality difference in the prints I get, regardless of what I have it set on.

This is, in part, thanks to the vibration compensation that happens before every print, and that can be done from within the calibration menu of the printer. Any time I move it to a new area of my office, I make sure to run a full calibration set so that it can acclimate to the new environment, vibration frequencies, and anything else it works on.

All the right upgrades

The P2S delivers all the updates that the P1S lacked

The Bambu Lab P1S is really the 3D printer that turned the industry on its head a few years ago when it came out. The P1S lacked in a lot of areas, though. Bambu used the P2S to fix just about everything that the P1S had wrong with it, in all the best ways.

For starters, the P2S now ships with a hardened steel nozzle from the factory, which used to be a paid upgrade. Speaking of the nozzle, the P2S got the quick-swap nozzles that the A1 series introduced after the P1S was released, making it easier than ever to swap to a new nozzle.

The new servo motor extruder is a nice upgrade, but it can be finicky (as I'll talk about in a bit), but it does allow the system to know if there's a filament clog just by the force exerted on the motor, which can save you from hours of a failed print or a destroyed nozzle.

The cold air ventilation system means there's no more having to prop the lid open when printing PLA, which is a huge upgrade over the P1S. Add to that an all-new 1080p camera with an AI failure detection system, and you have a solid upgrade all around.

By far my favorite upgrade has to be the 5-inch touchscreen. I also have a P1S sitting next to my P2S, and I refuse to navigate my P1S through its terribly small and hard-to-use screen. The P2S, however, I exclusively use the touchscreen when doing filament swaps, starting a previous print, or anything else that I have to do with the printer. The touchscreen just makes it so much better to interact with.

A few things the previous generation did better

The P2S is great and all, but the P1S really does still shine for certain tasks

While the P2S improved on the P1S in almost every area, there's at least one area that the P1S still does better: filtration.

The P1S didn't have HEPA filtration out of the box, but it did have a carbon filter on the active exhaust system. That carbon filter could easily be replaced with a HEPA filter if you needed it, and there were 3D printable systems, like the BentoBox , that really upgraded the system.

The P2S, on the other hand, doesn't have any filtration on the exhaust—it just spits air out the back. Bambu did finally release a filtration kit that can be purchased separately and added onto the P2S, but it costs more money and sticks out the back.

Air filtration feels like an afterthought for Bambu Lab on the P2S, and that really makes me upset, because 3D printing is not all that healthy for you long-term if you're printing in the same environment that you work.

One of the main reasons I prefer to use enclosed 3D printers is the fact that the exhaust can be filtered, and making me spend money, time, and filament to add my own exhaust when Bambu Lab could have easily done it from the beginning just feels like a major step back compared to the P1S.

Some minor (potential) reliability issues

Most people aren't affected, but I (and a few others I know) definitely are

I mentioned the new servo extruder and all its awesomeness, but it also has a few drawbacks. I, among others, suffer from extruder motor issues. Bambu Lab sent out, under warranty, a full extruder motor assembly for me. It took a few hours to take everything apart, figure out how it all worked, and then reassemble it and start printing.

The problem is, after I did that, I only got one or two good prints and now I'm back to no longer being able to print again, and I'm waiting for Bambu Lab to respond to my support tickets to get the extruder fixed, yet again.

If you head to Reddit or YouTube and search for P2S extruder issues, you'll find quite a few other people who are having the same problems as me. On the other hand, I have a good friend who runs a print farm with around 50 P2S printers, and he hasn't had a single problem with any of his.

I'm not sure how far this problem reaches, but it's quite annoying to have a $550 printer sitting next to my desk that's unusable because the servo extruder motor has gone out on it… twice.

Should you buy the Bambu Lab P2S 3D printer?

I know that I just had a few bad things to say about the Bambu Lab P2S , but really, the experience with this printer has been fantastic. Outside of the extruder issue, I've had no other reliability problems with the P2S whatsoever, and it's been a fantastic machine.

If you don't need the extra features that the P2S offers, the P1S is now down to $399 for just the printer of $549 for the P1S Combo with an AMS, which is a much better buy, depending on what features you need.

At $549, I'd say the Bambu Lab P2S is priced fairly given its feature set. It's an extremely capable printer and delivers fantastic performance. I think if you've got a P1S or any other Bambu Lab printer and you're wanting some of the upgrades I've mentioned, like the better camera, quick-swap nozzles, or AI failure detection, then the P2S is absolutely worth the buy.