The One to Beat: Bambu Lab X1-Carbon 3D Printer Review

Today, I'm reviewing the Bambu Lab X1-Carbon Combo 3D printer.
*This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated

Models printed in this video:
*This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

00:00 Introduction
01:11 Facts Features and Stats
03:49 The Need for Speed
06:24 Print quality
11:39 Software: Bambu Studio and Bambu Handy
14:50 But not open source
17:27 Parts availability and pricing
18:35 Bed adhesion difficulties
20:05 The heat beds aren't quite flat
21:52 Poop chute and noise levels
23:06 Should you buy one?

[somebodyelse]

That's how a review should be done. Gold star, James!

[EEEEMMMMKKKK]

This review was so relaxing to watch. No distracting music just a wise man talking, i am so tired of youtube....

[namedjasonc]

"I haven't been able to test the spaghetti detection, " is a flex that hits hard in the 3D Printing community!

[markfletcher]

What a review. They sent me one. I tried it. I went out and bought one. Is there any better endorsement than that? Of course, you, as always, did a great job of pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of this machine. I admire your consistent integrity and unending level of thoroughness in covering the details. That is one of the magnificent reasons that I treasure watching your channel.

[jhawker]

Thanks for your review ... I got lucky and purchased my Bambu Lab X1 Carbon with the AMS when it was a Kickstarter campaign at a discounted intro price. I received mine mid-summer last year and although I don't print nearly as much as you do, I have experienced ZERO problems. My printing experience has been for the most part flawless. I am old, as in late 70's, and I find the Bambu Lab support to be wonderful. I asked a few questions when I received the printer just to make sure I was totally prepared to use and not destroy the unit before I could experience my first print. If Bambu labs has any problem in the USA, it's having filament in stock. It seems every time I go to purchase filament it's out of stock. Maybe it's just poor timing, but that is my experience. I also would echo your review and add I love the product, service and I agree that the filament ( when in stock ) is worth the little extra cost to make printing a "Slam Dunk", in MY EXPERIENCE... Thanks for sharing ... Stay Safe and Well...

[jeffb]

Prusa MKS3 owner here, and I really liked your review. I think it was pretty fair and unbiased. I'm not in the market for another printer, but if I was I think I would at least consider the X1. In the "But not open source" section, you mentioned that many people's default expectation is that a 3D printer is to be OpenSource. I don't think of it in terms like like. For me, the issues I have with Bamboo is 1) this hobby/industry/community (or whatever you want to call it) is based on Open Source, and the advancements made over the last 10+ years couldn't have been made if it weren't for Open Source firmware and Open Source slicers. My guess is that their firmware relies on innovations made by others, and leveraging innovations made in software that is Open Source, yet closing your own source seems a bit hypocritical and a bit like "cheating" to me. 2) Our hobby/industry/community has grown due to innovations and discoveries made over the years, and with the innovations being openly discussed, shared, and improved on. By closing their source and not "paying it forward", it hurts the industry.

PS. you said, "Prusa has set a real precedent in the 3D printing industry by Open Sourcing their printers". Prusa isn't alone in this (there's Lulzbot/Taz, and many others), and they weren't the first, so I wouldn't say they they set the president. I mean, RepRap... _they_ set the precedent.

[mattholden]

James, I wish news outlets delivered information with the level of candor and transparency you showed in this vid. Thanks for sharing.

[nerdinside]

I have this printer with the AMS unit, with over 1, 000 of print time. I love it. I don’t believe a single print job has ever messed up. 😊

[zwurltech]

I own the X1C for four weeks now and my experiences with the printer are exactly the same. I was a huge fan of Prusa, but now my MK3s+ is out of work. I've ordered a P1P as second Printer which arrived yesterday. My first experiences with this machine are also amazing!

[jesperhansen]

Probably the best review of anything, that I've ever seen. Clear, concise and no bs. Thank you very much!

[Madeinoz]

Ive had my X1 for a month now, and is the 5th 3D printer I’ve owned over the last 12 years. It is by far the best printer I own. I print eSun+ PLA with no problems. Ive always used the textured build plate set to 60Degc and zero first layer or adhesion issues. Bambu defiantly has a winner and build quality is fantastic. It’s a set and forget once I press the print button.

[Makerspaces]

Love that you named one "Fear" and the other "Loathing".

[maxmustermann]

I'm using the X1 for my printing service business and it has repaid itself fully within the first 2 months and less than 700 print hours. Couple small replacement parts, otherwise rock solid. No need to say more I think.

[pieterpennings]

I ordered mine yesterday after doing 3 weeks of research and debating between this and the prusa mk4. The speed and quality on this thing got me and the prusa is out of stock until september. I can’t wait for this thing to arrive this week. Great video!

[christinaharrod]

This machine is amazing and I love it. I have had it for 4 weeks and it has printed non-stop. My students design and model objects, so prototyping is a part of this process. I have 4 other 3D printers in my classroom, all different manufacturers, but this machine blows them away, because of the crazy speed. Most teachers aren't interested or equipped to tinker with machines, so this would be the perfect machine to encourage them to enhance lessons. It is basically plug and play. I can't say enough about the ease and value of this machine. It's actually a useful and reliable tool, rather than a new issue. I LOVE THIS MACHINE!

[landon]

I really like how you took the time to fully explain that they had sent you a unit, their expectations, your own purchase, and affiliate status. While yes, you do have an incentive for people to buy these, fully disclosing the details makes it feel much less like a "money grab" review. I'm not sure if you purchased the second one because you had to return the one they sent or if you just really liked the unit and wanted to remove any possible "obligation" that could be viewed as influencing an honest review before making the video.

In short, I appreciate the upfront and honest transparency, and you created a good review!

[DaveEtchells]

I've had an X1C and AMS since ~December, and it's been transformative (life-changing?) After years of futzing with the hardware and endless fiddling with settings, I finally have a *tool* I can use to make other things with. It's hard to overstate the difference this has made in what I do and how I use 3D printing. I can actually design something and iterate it 5 or 6 times in a day (I'm a noob Fusion 360 user, so there's lots of iterating ;-) Or if I want a bunch of something (Gridfinity bins, for example), it'll just crank out piles of them.

The one downside? I"m spending a whole lot more on filament these days :-0 (But I'm having good success with even cheap brands like bulk-purchase Eryone PLA at $12-13/kg and only minor tweaking and perhaps slightly slower speeds, so that helps with the cost.)

The AMS is surprisingly useful, not because I do multicolor prints, but because as you said, I can keep 4 different spools bone-dry and ready to go at a moment's notice. For my usage, it's been very well worth the added cost.

I honestly can't say enough good about the printer, and the Reddit community for it is very helpful as well, making it even nicer.

The one decision people might be wrestling with is whether to get the less expensive P1P or the X1C. This is purely anecdotal, and could simply be the result of more P1Ps being sold, but FWIW I've seen a lot more P1P than X1C owners asking for help solving print problems on the Reddit forum. Like I said, it's entirely anecdotal, but I can say that I myself have had next to no issues with my X1C/AMS combo. (The biggest one has been trying to run old, brittle filament through the AMS and having it break inside. Once you've been through the process of clearing the resulting jam once it's pretty straightforward, but still a pain. If you have old filament, do yourself a favor and run it as an external spool.)

[WatchMe]

I am 90 days into 3D printing. A friend recommended the X1 Carbon. It's the iPhone of 3D printing. It just works. I've had to do maintenance which consists of cleaning the Z-axis rods and wiping down the carbon rods for the printhead support. The PEI textured plate does have some adhesion issues (look at me using the lingo like I know what i'm talking about). I now plan to use the cool plate with glue for small pieces that have low surface to plate area. Loving the X1 Carbon. If your time is worth more than a few hundred extra dollars, get this machine now!

[thelondoncraftsmanworkshop]

You are an unbelievable presenter!! Amazing information and so well presented!
Watched the whole video through without stopping as it was really easy to watch!
Thank you for all of your information!

Ryan

[John-royk]

When I saw the early reviewers prior to production release it looked compelling and so I ordered one. I have had no other prior experience with an FDM printer. I use it in support of my design work and it's fantastic to go from SolidWorks model, to 3MF file to sending the sliced file to the printer and pull out a finished part in 30 minutes. It is an excellent tool for this work.