This 3D printer is my pick for the CNET Editor’s Choice Award and here’s why

Editor’s note: The P2S is the best all-around 3D printer I’ve seen in a while. A new cooling and ventilation system helps print quality, and all the small updates from the original P1S have resulted in the perfect 3D printer for every potential owner. That’s why it received a CNET Editors’ Choice Award in 2026. Below is the original review.

Incremental promotions are par for the course in every industry. until Best 3D printers They are often the third or fourth iteration of the original product line.

3D printing has reached a point of maturity where established companies like Bambu Labs now have product lines that truly connect with specific audiences. If you’re already interested in 3D printing, a new release from a trusted brand almost feels like upgrading your phone on a regular schedule. As with phones, you can upgrade every two years when you’re ready — or every year, as I do with my Pixel phones.

Yes, I’ve owned them all. No, I don’t have a problem. decent.

3D printing company Bambu Lab recently launched its latest device, an upgrade of its most popular 3D printer, the P1S. This new printer is called, unsurprisingly, P2S, and it does incremental updates the way they should be done. It improves on everything while maintaining what made the original so good.

Under the hood, P2S uses a lot of what we know and love, with some compromises on price and some nice upgrades as well.

The entire chassis and much of the infrastructure is clearly inspired by Bamboo’s most popular printer, the X1 Carbon. The carbon bars that gave the X1C its name have been replaced with smooth steel bars that are cheaper and, frankly, easier to maintain. Those of you who have used the X1C know that this isn’t a bad thing. Getting a device like the X1C at a P2S price is a bargain.

The hot end has been redesigned with the same magnetic extruder as the H2D. Bambu Lab says the maximum force the extruder can exert has increased by approximately 70%, so you should be able to push more filaments faster than ever before. Combined with the H2D’s solid steel nozzle instead of the stainless steel nozzle, you have a machine that is equivalent to the X1C in almost every way.

It also has H2D’s adaptive airflow system. It draws cool air into the print chamber while printing cooler materials like PLA and exhausts warm air out the back, keeping the entire airflow system fresh and even. It works really well and means I don’t need to keep the door open while printing these cooler materials.

P1S Lab Bamboo vs. P2S Lab Bamboo

	Bamboo Lab P1S	Bamboo Lab P2S
Build volume	256 x 256 x 256 mm	256 x 256 x 256 mm
Printer dimensions	389 x 389 x 458 mm	392 x 406 x 478 mm
Hot end	All metal	All metal
nozzle	0.4mm (optional 0.2, 0.6, 0.8) stainless steel	0.4mm (optional 0.2, 0.6, 0.8) tempered steel
top gear	500 mm/s	600 mm/s
Supported materials	PLA, ASA, PETG, PVA, TPU (no AMS)	PLA, ASA, PETG, PVA, TPU (not AMS)
Filament exhaust sensor	Yes	Yes
Color system	Yes	Yes
storage	Micro SD card, 4GB internal	USB-A port, 8GB internal capacity
slicer	Bamboo Studio (other compatible segments)	Bamboo Studio (other compatible segments)
Build a plate camera	Yes	Yes (1080p) high fps
Color support	AMS x 4 (total 16 colors)	AMS 2 Pro x 4, HT x 4 (total 20 colors)

Like most of the best printers of the past few years, the P2S did a great job printing CNET’s test copy. The 0.2mm tolerance test was comfortable, but not combined; The turrets were sharp with no jitter and the text on the back of the model showed no sign of ringing. Resonance occurs when the 3D printer vibrates too much on the workbench, which is the bane of these high-speed 3D printers, but P2S handled it like a champ.

Although I didn’t manage to reach the 100 hours of printing I need to qualify this as a review, I printed up a storm using as many materials as I could, and so far, the results have been excellent.

No matter the size or shape of your form, the P2S handles it all with ease and prints crisp and clear. Even deep overhangs of over 65 degrees look great. Having multiple models in the printing area was not a problem for P2S. It will be an absolute workhorse.

Multi-color printing is a breeze, too, as you’d expect with a P-series printer. Like the H2D, the P2S is compatible with the new AMS2 and OG AMS, so if you’re upgrading from the old P1S, you can keep your old AMS and get an eight-color setup with minimal effort. Eight colors isn’t the maximum it can support either. You can connect up to four AMS modules along with four individual high-temperature carriers, giving you a maximum of 20 color printing if you really want to go all out.

It will need a lot of money, but it can be done.

However, the problem of standard waste still exists, and the more materials you use, the more waste will accumulate. I printed the Hazy Project model on my own, and the weight of the model was just over half the weight of the waste. The more color changes, the more waste, so if you’re considering printing in color, print in batches if you can.

Using the P2S is really similar to using the X1 Carbon, right down to the large LCD screen with the latest Bambu Lab software. The LCD screen upgrade alone makes the P2S a much more usable device than the P1S’s small dot matrix screen.

The P2S takes everything great about the P1S, mixes it with some guts from the X1 Carbon and sprinkles it with the latest technology from H2D to produce a 3D printer that will last for years to come.

Currently, P2S is listed on $549 For 3D printing alone, and $799 for the kit that includes AMS. Given the amount of aggressive promotions from P2S, a $50 increase is pretty good.