9/10
Open rating explainerInformationWIREDEasy for anyone to use. Consistently perfect prints. Enclosed chamber for temperature control. New tool-free nozzle-swap feature. AMS add-on makes multicolor printing a breeze.TIREDSpeed causes a lot of shaking—needs a very stable surface to sit on. Filament waste disposal makes a mess. Fumes from high-temperature filaments are still very intense.Does the average consumer actually need a 3D printer? Isn’t it just for people who want to sell fidgets at the flea market, design obscure brackets in CAD, or print groups of Warhammer figurines?
Yes, they do, and no, it isn’t.
Photograph: Kat MerckIn my four weeks of testing the Bambu Lab P2S Combo, I have printed a sponge holder for my kitchen sink; caps and parts for my hydroponic gardens; various clips and hangers; a Mason jar lid organizer; a shovel; a couple of funny signs; plant pot coasters; a shoehorn; truck bed tie-downs; a pair of earrings; and, of course, a Benchy—every piece perfectly smooth and looking like it was purchased from a store. Owning a 3D printer is like having an Amazon fulfillment center right in your house.
While I'm no stranger to 3D printing—I owned the open-frame Bambu Lab A1 before I started testing 3D printers—I have never used a machine as easy to operate as the P2S. In fact, when we reviewed Bambu Lab’s P2S predecessor, the popular and bestselling P1S, earlier this year, tester Brad Bourque declared it the easiest-to-use 3D printer he’d ever tried, claiming its lack of complicated steps and futzing has changed the way he thinks about 3D printing.
The P2S builds on the already excellent P1S design with a new 5-inch color touchscreen, tool-free nozzle swapping, a beefed-up 1080p 30-frames-per-second camera with improved AI failure detection, and a redesigned airflow system. I wasn’t exactly in love with the latter, but one complaint for a system with thousands of failure points is more than enough to earn the P2S a solid A-grade.
Detail of identical pigeon figurine printed on white Bambu Lab PLA: A1 on left, P2S on right.
Photograph: Kat Merck.jpg)
Photograph: Kat MerckIt Really Is That Easy
If you own another brand of mid- or lower-tier 3D printer, any Bambu Lab machine will already feel like an upgrade. Much like an iPhone, any Bambu Lab printer will work seamlessly right out of the box, with easy-to-use software and intuitive design elements. With a little assembly, you’re ready to go.
The large touchscreen allows you to perform many functions and troubleshooting right on the machine. These printers are easy for even the most clueless newbie to use and understand—so much so that some call the company “the Apple of 3D printing.” (Even better, the company’s free, flagship Bambu Studio software is open source.)
What makes both the P1S and P2S worth the upgrade from the A1 is the enclosed chamber that provides environmental control for acrylonitrile filaments like ASA and ABS, which require high temperatures to melt and are notoriously prone to warping. In the P2S, Bambu Lab incorporates a new airflow system that switches modes depending on the filament—it pulls in cooler air for more easily melted PLA, or retains air (and therefore heat) for ASA and ABS.
However, I did notice that when printing in ASA (note that the P2S comes with only a rough-textured build plate; I had to buy the smooth $30 engineering plate separately), the resulting fumes were overwhelming—I had to close the door, open the windows, and turn on an air purifier. There is a carbon filter in the back of the device, but during high-heat prints, the airflow is supposed to circulate inside the unit; instead, it seemed to leak out around the door and other cracks.
Video: Kat MerckFumes are emitted from all 3D printers, so this is not really a flaw on the company’s part, just an indication that the redesigned airflow system has room for improvement. Make sure you keep the printer in a room with a door that can close if you’re printing with any kind of impact-modified plastics. Bambu Lab’s helpful Wiki also offers a 3D-printable exhaust kit that can redirect fumes outside.
And speaking of locations, you will also want to ensure the 15 x 16 x 19-inch P2S is on a very firm surface—perhaps even on the ground. At 600 mm per second, the nozzle moves vigorously, which will shake whatever it’s on. I was using a low wooden table, but since I found myself using the printer near-daily, the shaking eventually loosened the table’s leg joints, resulting in multiple X-Y axis error messages on the machine. Research showed this to be a somewhat common issue, almost always resolved by finding a firmer surface.
I was not able to test the AI failure detection, as none of my 30-plus prints failed (aside from a couple of mismeasurements on my end), but I did have occasion to view through the 1080p camera—if you download the free Bambu Handy app, it will store a little time-lapse video of your object being printed, which is fascinating to watch.
In Living Color
The “Combo” in the name refers to the Automatic Material System (AMS) that sits on top of the printer. (You can also buy it separately at $299.) It holds four spools of filament that auto-feed to your project—a game changer if you’re printing something with multiple colors. Without it, a multicolor print would necessitate stopping the print, removing the spool of filament, and installing a new one on the side. For the P2S, the AMS also has the ability to dry the filament—this removes any absorbed ambient moisture that would create steam when heated and mess up your print.
The AMS add-on allows for seamless multicolor prints.
Photograph: Kat MerckI tested the P2S on the West Coast in late summer, when the humidity was very low, so my filament stayed below 40 percent relative humidity, according to the built-in hygrometer—it didn’t need drying. However, if you live in a humid region, springing for the AMS will be a massive time-saver.
With the P1S, if you needed to swap out a different nozzle, it was something of an ordeal—you basically have to unplug everything and take apart the assembly with screws. On the P2S, the front of the nozzle head is magnetic and pops right off—simply unclip the old nozzle and clip in the new one. Another massive improvement if you find yourself swapping nozzles often.
The P1S’s automatic nozzle cleaning function that “poops” filament blobs out the back of the machine is still in effect on the P2S. I’d been warned, but I was still surprised to see the amount of detritus it left on the floor, especially during multi-color prints. I highly recommend that a “poop chute” or collection basket be one of your first prints. (And there are plenty of fun designs for using the waste filament blobs once they’ve accumulated, from creative games to a “poop Atlas” filament waste world map.)
Do You Really Need One?
Yes, unless you need a dual-nozzle printer or a commercial-grade unit that can also laser cut and engrave—features this printer doesn’t offer. The ability to print and customize useful household and garage objects, art projects, and toys easily and quickly—with minimal fuss—makes the P2S worth every penny. This is doubly so if you have some basic engineering skills, as importing files into Bambu Studio is a cinch.
Bambu Lab-brand filaments start at about $15 a roll with spool. Note that we flagged some app inconsistencies when using non-Bambu filaments with the P1S, but I did not have any non-Bambu filaments on hand to test in the P2S, so I can’t vouch for whether this issue has been fixed.
While the P2S may well be overkill if you only want to print the occasional fidget or figurine, if you regularly find yourself in need of some annoyingly specific organizer, replacement cap, or bracket, this machine could well pay for itself over time in both convenience and material costs.
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$769 at Amazon$569 at Amazon (Without AMS)$780 at Bambu Lab
