This 3D Printer Is My Decide for a CNET Editor’s Alternative Award and Right here’s Why

Editor’s Observe: The P2S is the perfect all-around 3D printer that I’ve seen shortly. The brand new cooling and venting system helps print high quality, and all of the small updates from the unique P1S have resulted in a 3D printer that’s nearly good for each potential proprietor. Which is why it acquired a CNET Editors’ Alternative Award in 2026. The unique assessment follows.

Incremental upgrades are par for the course in each business. Even the best 3D printers are sometimes the third or fourth iteration of an unique product line.

3D printing has reached some extent of maturity the place established firms like Bambu Labs now have product strains that actually join with particular audiences. In case you’re already into 3D printing, a brand new launch from a trusted model virtually appears like upgrading your cellphone on a daily schedule. And identical to with telephones, you possibly can improve each couple of years while you’re prepared — or yearly, like I do with my Pixel telephones.

Sure, I’ve owned all of them. No, I don’t have an issue. It’s positive.

3D printing firm Bambu Lab just lately launched its latest machine, an improve to its hottest 3D printer, the P1S. Known as, unsurprisingly, the P2S, this new printer makes incremental updates the way in which they need to be carried out. It improves every little thing whereas staying true to what made the unique so darn good.

9.2

Bambu Lab P2S

Like

• 
  All-around the P2S is just the perfect 3D printer to personal
• 
  The standard, velocity, and accuracy are above cheap expectations
• 
  Adaptive Airflow means you possibly can print any materials with the door closed with out compromising high quality
• 
  Your chamber stays on the temperature it ought to
• 
  The P2S upgrades all of the components of the P1S that I disliked and the P1S is a former finest total winner.

Don’t love

• 
  The waste you get from coloration printing continues to be there and it is nonetheless an excessive amount of

Underneath the hood, the P2S makes use of loads of what we all know and love, with some concessions for worth and a few cool upgrades, too.

The whole chassis and far of the infrastructure are clearly impressed by Bambu’s most well-known printer, the X1 Carbon. The carbon rods that gave the X1C its identify have been swapped for clean, metal rods which can be cheaper, and, frankly, simpler to keep up. These of you who’ve used the X1C know this is not a nasty factor. To get a machine just like the X1C for the value of a P2S is a cut price.

The new finish has been redesigned utilizing the identical magnetic servo extruder that the H2D makes use of. Bambu Lab says the utmost drive the extruder can exert has elevated by round 70%, so you need to have the ability to push extra filament by quicker than ever. Coupled with the hardened metal nozzle from the H2D reasonably than a stainless-steel one, you’ve gotten a machine that is equal to the X1C in virtually each approach.

It additionally has the adaptive airflow system from the H2D. It pulls cool air into the printing chamber whereas printing cooler supplies like PLA and vents heat air out of the again, preserving your complete airflow system recent and even. It really works very well and means I needn’t preserve the door open whereas printing these cooler supplies.

Like many of the finest printers of the previous couple of years, the P2S did an amazing job printing the CNET check print. The 0.2mm tolerance check was cosy, however not fused; the steeples have been sharp with no stringing and the textual content on the again of the mannequin confirmed no signal of ringing. Ringing happens when the 3D printer vibrates an excessive amount of on the workbench, and it is the bane of those high-speed 3D printers, however the P2S dealt with it like a champ.

Whereas I have not managed to hit the 100 hours of printing that I have to name this a assessment, I have been printing up a storm with as many supplies as doable, and to this point, the outcomes have been wonderful.

Regardless of the scale or form of the mannequin, the P2S handles all of it simply and prints crisp and clear. Even deep overhangs above 65 levels seemed nice. Having a number of fashions within the print space was additionally no downside for the P2S. It may be an absolute workhorse.

Multicolor printing can be a breeze, as you’ll anticipate with a P-series printer. Just like the H2D, the P2S is appropriate with the brand new AMS2 and the OG AMS, so in the event you’re upgrading out of your outdated P1S, you possibly can preserve your outdated AMS and have an eight-color setup with minimal effort. Eight colours will not be essentially the most it might help, both. You may join as much as 4 AMS items together with 4 single high-temperature holders, supplying you with a most of 20-color printing in the event you actually need to go all out.

You will want some huge cash, however it may be carried out.

The usual subject of waste continues to be there, nonetheless, and the extra supplies you employ, the extra waste you’ll accumulate. I printed the Hazy venture mannequin alone, and the mannequin weighed simply over half of what the waste did. The extra coloration modifications, the extra waste, so if you’re pondering of printing in coloration, print in batches in the event you can.

Utilizing the P2S actually does really feel like utilizing the X1 Carbon, proper right down to the big LCD display screen with the most recent Bambu Lab software program. The LCD improve alone makes the P2S a much more usable machine than the tiny dot matrix show of the P1S.

The P2S takes every little thing nice in regards to the P1S, mixes it with some X1 Carbon guts and sprinkles within the newest tech from the H2D to supply a 3D printer that is going to final you for years to return.

At the moment, the P2S is listed at $549 for the 3D printed by itself, and $799 for the combo that features the AMS. Given the quantity of strong upgrades from the P2S, a $50 improve is fairly good.