The Bambu Lab P1P is a strikingly fast 3D printer that offers unique features and a high degree of customization, all at a reasonable price. Thanks to its Core XY architecture, the printer reaches speeds of up to 500mm/s and a rapid 20,000 mm/s acceleration. All without compromising on print quality.
The open frame design provides exceptional customizability, striking the heart and imagination of the maker community.
This FDM printer is about more than just speed and customization, though. The PIP has premium features such as auto bed leveling, input shaping, a self-cleaning tool head, LED, a built-in camera, and compatibility with Bambu Lab’s four-color AMS unit for multicolor prints.
At first glance, the P1P is a stripped-down version of Bambu Lab’s deluxe X1-Carbon 3D printer. The P1P doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the X1 Carbon. But you get 90% of the features at half the price.
In summary, the Bambu Lab P1P is a robust and easy-to-use 3D printer that offers an exciting blend of speed, customization, and user-friendly features, all at a competitive price. With some tweaks and upgrades, you won’t find a better 3D printer.
Specifications
| Technology | Fusion Deposition Modeling (FDM) |
| Machine Footprint | 386 x 389 x 458 mm (15.2 x 15.3 x 18 inches) |
| Build Volume | 256 x 256 x 256 mm (10.1 x 10.1 x 10.1 inches) |
| Filaments | PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU, PC, Nylon |
| Extruder | Direct Drive |
| Max Nozzle Temperature | 300℃ |
| Max Build Plate Temperature | 100℃ |
| Print Bed Material | PEI-coated spring steel sheet |
| Max Print Speed | 500mm/s |
| Net Weight | 9.65kg (21 pounds 4 ounces) |
| Automatic Bed Leveling | Yes |
| Filament Runout Sensor | Yes |
| Year | 2022 |
| Assembly | Assembled |
| Frame | Steel |
| Recomended Software | Bambu Studio |
Design
It’s not the prettiest printer on the market. When you open the box, the machine looks half-finished, like an X1 Carbon stripped of every non-essential component.
The minimalistic appearance and open frame design are intentional, aiming to prioritize affordability and provide customization for makers.
Bambu Lab designed the P1P with the 3D printing community in mind. Unlike the X1 carbon, a fully-enclosed printer, you can print your side panels to complete the look of your P1P.
The look and style of the enclosure are up to you. The side panels will probably be your first print after the obligatory 3D Benchy print test.
One major drawback to the printer is the way it handles multi-filament prints. Unlike most 3D printers, which use a purge tower to “purge” excess filament before switching, the P1P disposes of the extra filament out the back of the printer.
YouTubers dubbed this hole the “poop shoot.”
However, the P1P lacks any container to catch the discarded material. In other words, the excess plastic is shot out of the back of your printer, leaving a mess on your table.
Thankfully, there are several designs for containers to collect the droppings.
It’s a minor oversight, but we would appreciate a built-in system for managing the wasted plastic.
The Bambu Lab P1P is a strikingly fast 3D printer that offers unique features and a high degree of customization, all at a reasonable price. Thanks to its Core XY architecture, the printer reaches speeds of up to 500mm/s and a rapid 20,000 mm/s acceleration. All without compromising on print quality.
Features
With blazing speed and excellent accuracy, this 3D printer has much to offer for both beginners and experts. Out-of-the-box prints are exceptional for the printer’s price, and with upgrades and some tinkering, the print quality is unmatched for the price range.
Below are some features that make the P1P the best 3D printer of 2023.
Speed and Quality
The Bambu Lab P1P boasts an impressive default printing speed of 250 mm/s and an acceleration of 10,000 mm/s².
If you’re looking for even faster speeds, the printer can reach up to 500 mm/s and a staggering 20,000 mm/s² acceleration. It’s one of the fastest FDM printers on the market at any price.
The fast speeds are achievable because of the Core XY architecture.
Rather than a traditional two-belt system, printers using a Core XY design only use one belt and a series of printers. It might not sound like much of a difference, but the design allows the print head to move faster and more accurately.
Despite the high speed, the P1P doesn’t compromise print quality. Its vibration compensation feature uses an automatic calibration to help counter vibrations on the fly, leading to greater accuracy.
One key feature we appreciated is the vibration compensation and pressure advance. The printer runs an automatic calibration to help mitigate any vibrations caused by the machine during operation. The vibration compensation is an essential component allowing the printer to reach high printing speeds.
Additionally, the print head uses a direct drive extruder to precisely control filament extrusion.
You can achieve print quality on similar-priced machines, but the P1P produces identical prints in a fraction of the time.
Compatible Filaments
This printer is versatile regarding filament compatibility, allowing you to print PLA, ABS, PETG, and TPU.
The 300 ℃ hotend allows you to print from a range of materials.
Auto Bed Leveling
Setting up the P1P is a breeze, thanks to the simple auto bed leveling system.
Like other modern machines, the Automatic Bed Leveling (ABL) uses precise leveling sensors to achieve a top-notch first layer and prints that stick to the build plate.
Automatic Material System (AMS)
The P1P is compatible with Bambu Lab’s Automatic Material System (AMS), enabling up to 16 filament reels you can use anytime. The AMS makes it easy to switch between filaments without any manual intervention.
With four to sixteen filament reels available, you can take multi-colored prints to a new level.
User-friendly Interface and Connectivity
Navigating the P1P is easy, thanks to its LCD display and user-friendly interface. But we do miss the full-colored screen on the X1 Carbon.
WiFi connectivity makes it convenient for you to monitor your prints from the Bambu Studio slicer remotely.
The printer uses a microSD card for printing.
And we’re not a fan.
Call us picky, but we would prefer if the P1P used a full-sized SD card. Too often, we found ourselves fumbling to get the card in the slot.
Mobile App
Bambu Handy is a useful mobile app that connects to your printer.
Its main benefit is facilitating remote printer control, allowing you to monitor and manage prints remotely.
The app allows for printing error checks and provides real-time reports, ensuring you always stay informed about the printing status.
One of the app’s standout features is its ability to monitor the printing process through a high-resolution live view. You can check the printing project anytime, record time-lapses, and update the basic speed and temperature settings.
Additional Features
The Bambu Lab P1P comes with several other noteworthy features:
- All-metal hot end
- WiFi networking
- Durable stainless steel nozzle
- Filament run-out sensor
- Power loss recovery system to resume printing after a power outage
- Semi-automatic belt tensioning for easy maintenance
- Built-in LED and camera perfect for timelapse videos
Overall, the Bambu Lab P1P offers many attractive features, making it a reliable, easy-to-use option for any 3D printing enthusiast. With its fast printing speed, versatility, and user-friendly setup, it’s easy to see why this printer has garnered such positive attention.
The Bambu Lab P1P is a strikingly fast 3D printer that offers unique features and a high degree of customization, all at a reasonable price. Thanks to its Core XY architecture, the printer reaches speeds of up to 500mm/s and a rapid 20,000 mm/s acceleration. All without compromising on print quality.
What’s In The Box
We were eager to see what was included inside the box when we received the Bambu Lab P1P 3D printer. Upon opening the package, we found it neatly packed with all the essential components needed for a smooth setup.
The entire setup took around 15-20 minutes.
Once assembled, we downloaded the files for one of the ModPlate side panels to complete the look. The customizable side panels are a nice touch. By printing our panels, we felt more pride in the ownership of our machine.
Here’s what we found in the box:
- The P1P printer
- Tools to calibrate and maintain the machine
- A spare hotend
- A spare PTFE tube
- A spare 0.4 mm nozzle
- Two spare nozzle wiping pads
- Two hex keys for the assembly
- A spare razor blade for the filament cutter
- A micro SD card (loaded with a few test prints)
- A full-sized roll of white filament
- Screws to attach the DIY side panels
- Getting started guide
- Bambu Slicer installation instructions
To help us get started, Bambu Lab also provides a comprehensive user guide that covers everything from assembly to calibration and best printing practices.
Bmabu Studio Slicing Software
Bambu Lab provides a slicing software called Bambu Studio, which works seamlessly with the P1P.
The software is a modified version PrusaSlicer but with the bells and whistles you’d expect from Bambu Labs. The slicing software has several presets for their machines, but you can tinker with the settings to achieve optimal performance.
The software is easy to use and navigate for beginners but provides plenty of tools for advanced makers.
The basic profile already produces prints at lightning speed. But if you’re in a hurry, you can switch to the “sport” or “ludicrous” printing profiles, upping the speed to 124% or 164%, respectively.
Our favorite feature is the built-in networking which allows us to send prints directly to the P1P without using the microSD card.
Bambu’s P1P is compatible with other slicing software like Cura, Simplify3D, or PrusaSlicer. If you upgrade your Bambu Lab P1P printer with the AMS, we recommend sticking with Bambu Studio to “paint” colors onto your printer.
In the “Device” tab, you can use the built-in camera and LEDs to view the print in progress, tweak the speed and temperature settings, or set up a timelapse video.
Printing
Much has been said about the print speed, but it still blew us away.
It’s one thing to talk about the 500mm/s print speed and another to see it in action.
To put the P1P’s speed into perspective, it took 21 minutes to print a standard Benchy, compared to around an hour on our Prusa i3 MK3S+.
Our 3D Benchy did have some minor quality issues as we pushed the printer’s speed to its breaking point. But the quality was passable even when operating at top speed.
Despite its insane speed, the Bambu Lab P1P doesn’t sacrifice print quality. Thanks to the automatic bed leveling, we found the first layer to be consistently perfect.
We used the basic profile in Bambu Lab, and it produced near-flawless results. Our test prints had minimal to no stringing, and layer lines were only noticeable when observing the model up close.
The only downside is that the printer is a bit noisy when running. You can use a “silent mode.” but it lowers the speed significantly to reduce noise.
The Bambu Lab P1P printer balances speed and quality while standing out in the market. So even though it may not seem like the most polished printer at first glance, this industrial machine is anything but ordinary.
The Bambu Lab P1P is a strikingly fast 3D printer that offers unique features and a high degree of customization, all at a reasonable price. Thanks to its Core XY architecture, the printer reaches speeds of up to 500mm/s and a rapid 20,000 mm/s acceleration. All without compromising on print quality.
Comparisons and Competitors
In this section, we’ll look at some of Bambu Lab P1P’s main competitors in the 3D printing market.
Bambu Lab X1 Carbon
The Bambu Lab X1 Carbon is a sibling to the P1P, both being products of Bambu Lab. The X1 Carbon is a more advanced printer with lidar sensors and AI technology to aid with bed leveling and detecting print errors.
Additionally, the X1 Carbon feels more complete, with a larger LCD screen and full enclosure.
Both printers produce nearly identical print quality. In our books, the added features of the X1 Carbon don’t make it worth the cost when the P1P has identical performance.
Voron 2.4
The Voron 2.4 is another CORE XY printer boasting fast speeds and incredible quality. The printer boasts an impressive 350 x 350 x 350 mm build volume and has a large community of support.
Despite the high price tag and excellent performance, this printer is not beginner-friendly. The Voron 2.4 requires a high-level assembly that takes up to 100 hours to complete. While the Voron 2.4 isn’t the only assembly-required machine on the market, it’s not for the faint of heart.
Creality Ender 5 S1
The Creality Ender 5 S1 is a solid competitor, especially when comparing its printing volume and output quality. The printer can reach impressive speeds, but it’s still no match for the P1P.
The Ender 5 S1 can print various materials up to 300°C.
Overall, it’s a great machine and would be our top pick if it weren’t for the P1P.
Price and Value
The P1P has a price tag of $699 USD.
The P1P is a budget-friendly option, offering competitive performance with its higher-priced counterpart, the X1 Carbon, which is priced at $1,450.
Accessories and Modifications
Bambu Lab P1P might be a stripped-down printer, but there are plenty of accessories and modifications to upgrade your printer.
The P1P is to be a barebones printer, so it doesn’t include side panels. However, if you want to enclose the printer or add extra protection, you can purchase side panels separately or even print custom panels thanks to Bambu’s Modplate Customization.
You can print multiple colors and filaments thanks to the compatible AMS holder. Each holder supports four rolls of filament, and you can connect up to 4 AMS units per printer, providing up to 16 different colors.
Remember the filament ejector we mentioned earlier? You’ll find a mess behind your printer without a container to catch the filament. Thankfully you can print a bucket from Thingiverse to collect all the wasted filament and keep your workspace tidy.
Bottom Line
The Bambu Lab P1P is a strikingly fast 3D printer that offers unique features and a high degree of customization, all at a reasonable price. Thanks to its Core XY architecture, the printer reaches speeds of up to 500mm/s and a rapid 20,000 mm/s acceleration. All without compromising on print quality.
We found the Bambu Lab P1P to be a reliable, efficient, and easy-to-use 3D printer.
The true CORE XY machine design allows the printer to reach insane speeds, producing prints in less than half the time of a standard machine. And the automatic bed leveling and vibration calibration ensure that every print is near perfect with minimal intervention.
The P1P is pricier than other printers on the market. But you won’t find a better printer for the price range.
It’s perfect for beginners, hobbyists, small businesses, and rapid prototyping.
The speed, print quality, networking, upgrades, and support easily make it our pick for the best 3D printer of 2023.
