After reading many of the posts here I am beginning to wonder if I should just cancel my order. It has not shipped yet and I’m looking for reliability. For background, I have been using a Prusa MK3S for 7 years. It has been a workhorse but I’ve been looking to upgrade. Many friends have recommended BL printers so I ordered a P2S. I am a retired biomedical/electrical engineer by trade, so troubleshooting electro-mechanical devices is a skill I possess.
As for the feedback I’m looking for; please no brand loyalty rants. If you’ve used both mfg’s even better. Please tell me about your experiences with other BL initial launches and their ability to fix issues. Is there hope they will fix these issues or is the machine inherently flawed. I know many of the posts are from new users, so I value the opinion of seasoned BL users over those of first time printers.
My printer ships on the 15th so I need to make a final decision in 3 days or less. At this moment I’m leaning towards a cancelation. I look forward to your comments.
Art
aka kartcon
I don‘t think, that someone can take any decission for you. I can only refer you to this thread handling more or less your doubts same:
Youtube may be the best bet for honest reviews , tomshardware also ,vfa`s were a problem for some ,an issue i believe may of been or was fixed , circulating air rather than extraction from another one, im currently contemplating a purchase of one mysel, but as they wont ship till febuary, im keeping my options open for what may arrive further up the line
Curiously enough, I was playing around with ChatGPT in the attempt to see how well it might perform on market analysis. As someone who has over four decades of tech marketing experience, I used as my test subject, 3D FDM printers. After about a half hour of research refinement, I’ll share with you my final prompt to ChatGPT and it’s findings. Note that I had deliberately had it exclude resin and enterprise-class 3D printing when evaluating the market, so don’t be surprised if Ultimaker/Makerbot or Stratasys were omitted from this list as it focused specifically on Consumer/Prosumer products in the FDM category.
While this is obviously influence by the Data on that ChatGPT was trained on, I offer the prompt and the analysis for others to try out their hand with their favorite AI.
By no means am I trying to state that you should use this as your criteria but it may give you some insights.
________________________________
PROMPT GIVEN TO CHATGPT:
“Separation by new-user vs long-term owner reputation only.”
Summary below reflects FDM printers only.
MSLA/resin reputation explicitly excluded.
This is reputation only based on forum sentiment, long-term owner threads, and editorial commentary.
No consideration of price, specs, speed, or performance.
FDM REPUTATION SPLIT: NEW USERS VS LONG-TERM OWNERS
Bulleted summary, click to expand
Brand: Prusa
- New-user reputation: Positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Very positive
- Net trend: Improves with time
Brand: Qidi Tech
- New-user reputation: Neutral to positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Positive
- Net trend: Improves with time
Brand: Bambu Lab
- New-user reputation: Very positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Mixed
- Net trend: Declines with time
Brand: FlashForge
- New-user reputation: Neutral to positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Positive
- Net trend: Slight improvement
Brand: Anycubic
- New-user reputation: Positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Mixed
- Net trend: Declines
Brand: Elegoo (FDM only)
- New-user reputation: Positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Mixed
- Net trend: Declines
Brand: Creality
- New-user reputation: Positive
- Long-term owner reputation: Negative
- Net trend: Strong decline
INTERPRETATION
-
Brands whose reputation improves with ownership time tend to be trusted.
(Prusa, Qidi) -
Brands with strong early impressions but declining long-term sentiment
tend to be tolerated rather than respected.
(Bambu Lab, Creality, Anycubic, Elegoo) -
FlashForge occupies a low-drama middle ground:
rarely exciting, rarely disappointing.
One-line takeaway:
If owners like a printer more after a year than after a week, the brand has earned trust.
If sentiment worsens over time, the brand is surviving on first impressions.
__________________________________
Stated in a different format:
FDM-ONLY REPUTATION SPLIT (MSLA / RESIN EXCLUDED)
Source: aggregated forum sentiment, long-term owner threads, editorial commentary
Scope: reputation only - no price, specs, speed, or performance
| Brand | New-user reputation | Long-term owner reputation | Net reputation delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prusa | Positive | Very positive | Improves with time |
| Qidi Tech | Neutral to positive | Positive | Improves with time |
| Bambu Lab | Very positive | Mixed | Declines with time |
| FlashForge | Neutral to positive | Positive | Slight improvement |
| Anycubic | Positive | Mixed | Declines |
| Elegoo | Positive | Mixed (FDM only) | Declines |
| Creality | Positive | Negative | Strong decline |
More granular table and weighting:
| Brand | Widely used (FDM only) | Reliability reputation | Support reputation | Polarization | Reputation trajectory | Normalized reputation score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prusa | High | Very strong | Strong | Low | Stable | 92 |
| Qidi Tech | Moderate | Strong | Strong | Low | Improving | 84 |
| Bambu Lab | High | Generally strong | Mixed | Very high | Unstable | 78 |
| FlashForge | Moderate | Solid | Solid | Low | Slightly improving | 76 |
| Anycubic | High | Mixed | Mixed | Moderate | Flat | 68 |
| Elegoo | Moderate | Mixed (FDM-only) | Mixed | Moderate | Flat | 66 |
| Creality | Very high | Weak | Weak | Very high | Declining | 58 |
If you want to do a complete regenerate on your own, try out this prompt that I used with CPT and copy and paste into your favorite AI or modify the prompt accordingly. Please share your version if materially different.
Click to expand
Generate a forum-ready Markdown table for a Discourse forum with the following requirements:
- Topic: FDM-only 3D printer brand reputation.
- Explicitly exclude MSLA / resin considerations.
- Scope is reputation only based on aggregated forum sentiment, long-term owner threads, and editorial commentary.
- Do NOT include price, specs, speed, performance, or features.
- Separate perception between new users and long-term owners.
- Include a net reputation delta describing how sentiment changes over time.
Table columns (in this exact order):
1) Brand
2) New-user reputation
3) Long-term owner reputation
4) Net reputation delta
Brands to include (one row each):
- Prusa
- Qidi Tech
- Bambu Lab
- FlashForge
- Anycubic
- Elegoo
- Creality
Output requirements:
- Use standard Markdown table syntax compatible with Discourse.
- No commentary outside the table except a short title and two lines describing source and scope.
- Neutral, analytical tone.
The vast majority of posts here will always be about problems. When everything is working properly, there is nothing to say.
The same will be true of any printer, from any company.
I know some people will automatically mark me as a “brand loyalist” when they see I’m a moderator.. but please factor in I’m compensated in no way. I hate saying exactly how many printers I have because it makes me look like a complete loon, but here is the breakdown in percentages:
I haven’t had most of the problems you see posted here. I can count the major problems on one hand:
X1C: One AP board burned out.. by me. I did it. Bambu replaced it.
H2D: Flow blocker bent and scratched up build plate. Bambu replaced the nozzle blocker and build plate.
P1S/A1 Mini/P2S: No problems
Bambu’s printers are amazing. I’m holding out hope they will continue to scale up support (tech and sales), logistics and stock… I think demand continues to grow and outpace all those things. A lot of the policies that rub people the wrong way could be changed with one email. When Bambu hires me as assistant to the regional manager I promise to make that happen.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say you won’t have a problem..
24?
Kudos!
I only have three but am struggling to keep the little buggers continuously fed 
@PrinterMcgee
You have more faith in my abilities than some regional managers I’ve dealt with. 
But in all seriousness, how would you classify the vast majority of the issues posted here? I can see several root causes.
- New to 3D printing. I had a huge learning curve when starting with my Prusa. Several rookie mistakes, issues with bed adhesion and the like. I learned thru trial and error and several posts to their forum.
- Tinkerers and tweakers. Can’t leave the built in defaults alone or try to modify setting before establishing a baseline. Yes, I edited my Prusa setting (a lot) but not until I could get repeatable, successful prints with whichever material I was using.
- Didn’t put in the time. Either didn’t RTFM, didn’t do their due diligence in researching the caveats and requirements for success, or watched one You-Tube video and was an instant expert. I can honestly say I was a bit impulsive in placing my order, but when the wife says ‘It’s not like you don’t use it, so just order it’, you don’t wait for her to reconsider that statement.
I love my Mk3S but I am not bound to the brand. Prusa has had their fair share of issues with the new Core1. VFA’s in particular. But that machine, with all the extras I’d need to buy is twice the cost of a P2S combo. I firmly believe you get what you pay for, but that doesn’t justify a twofold increase over the nearest competitor. I’m truly hoping that with a little TLC and a dab of experience my first exposure to the BL ecosystem is good. I can already say that the slicer looks amazing (and VERY similar to the Prusa Slicer) with some additional features I’ve been waiting on for a long time.
Crossing my fingers, as any good engineer will do from time to time, that this is the right decision.
To add another perspective.
When I’m asked whether I would recommend a Bambu printer to a friend, my answer depends on what they expect to own.
If you want an appliance - something that mostly just works, requires minimal tuning, and you’re comfortable treating it as a sealed product with a finite service life - Bambu can be a reasonable choice. Many people simply want reliable prints and are fine replacing the machine rather than repairing it years down the road.
If, however, you believe a printer should be something you fully own, can repair yourself, and can continue to operate independently of vendor decisions, Bambu is clearly moving away from that model. Recent firmware and ecosystem restrictions show a shift toward tighter control and reduced user autonomy.
It helps to be explicit about which camp you fall into. The industry is increasingly splitting between appliance-style machines and hobbyist-style machines. Right to Repair has become the main fault line driving long-term brand loyalty. Whether you view a printer as a “forever tool” or a “disposable gadget” - and how much tolerance you have for that at $300 or $1,500 - will strongly shape how you feel about Bambu and similar platforms.
I would say the 3 categories you posted are a very fair assessment. Bambu has gotten the “plug and play” reputation which causes a lot of people to choose them as their first printer… but you still need to know how to de-clog a hotend and clean a build plate, and that frustrates some brand new users if they encounter either scenario. Which is understandable, but it also causes a lot of the posts here screaming that what they bought is “garbage”.
Another thing I’ve seen is some of the people who started with a Bambu as their first printer and that’s all they’ve used never learned the basics. If you don’t know the pain of trying to square a gantry, manually level a bed or make sure none of your pom wheels are binding then what fun is that?
I grabbed one (CoreOne) when they first went on pre-order and it’s my first Prusa. I’ve enjoyed it but as usual I moved too fast. I bought the MMU3 and it’s now half assembled.. but I also just signed up for the founders edition INDX so the MMU3 will probably go on Ebay. I also would have probably gone for the CoreOne L if I knew that was going to come out. But you live and learn.
Having used Bambu Studio for a couple of years before jumping in to Prusa Slicer I definitely prefer Bambu.. but I’ve seen people who did it the other way around and prefer Prusa. Unrelated but I also love Orca Slicer and I think Cura should be illegal 
You monster!
//i 'member when cura was the one with good supports
You do you.
Thank you for this information!! It’s replies like these, that give me reassurance!
i am in 3D printing for 10 years now and experienced with different models.
After 700 hours of happy printing I am still impressed by the stability and quality of the P2S
If you ask the same question in Prusa or Creality forums, you will get the same feedback like here.
That’s the game my friend.
At the end its a great printer.
And I am total sure there are more happy than unhappy users.
place your order and have fun
I looked at 3D printers for years, it has fascinated me. Eventually I had a project that screamed ‘just print it’. At the same time, a YouTuber I follow, Clough42 had done a pretty extensive and favorable review of the BL H2D. I bit the bullet and bought it. I did not have it shipped, I drove a couple of hours to a retailer and picked it up. I’ve spent enough of my life involved in shipping and package delivery to know that a 120lb box passing through either FedEx or UPS is going to take a beating. A retailer is getting them on a pallet. In any event, got it, hand trucked it into my basement, unpacked it, got it onto a VERY heavy workbench, set it up, loaded it and printed a Benchy. It was perfect. I never looked back, there have been a few issues, all my fault, but point is BL has raised 3D printing to the point that it’s plug and play. You can experiment and fool around all you want or you can load PLA or PETG and make parts and not look at it otherwise. Your choice. That may be possible with a Prusa, I can say BL H2D just works, out of the box.
Huh? Right when its going to ship? You could probably sell it for more than you pay for it at this point. Anyway prusa mk is REALLY BAD compare to a p2s. I suggest you keep.
Ordered my 1st Bambu, X1C, a year or two now. It shipped in perfect shape, setup was a snap, it still working like a dream. Fast forward, I ordered a H2D on Dec 26. Again order arrived in good shape, setup was absolutely flawless, runs like a dream. I share your concern over shipping. But consider this, think of how many printers they have shipped and how many who are happy and have not commented vs those have not had a good experience.
I think the caveat here is “I know a lot of posts here are from new users”. For context, I’m a brand new user. Didn’t have a single issue with my printer. Once I placed my order, spent weeks going through the wiki, academy and you tube videos. I understood my machine and understood how it worked. Maybe all those “issues” were from folks who simply didn’t even read the manual that comes with the printer. Maybe not…
I’ve got an A1 Mini, H2s and Prusa MK3S+ (built from kit). All 3 have been very good and even though Prusa support is excellent i’ve found BL support to be good as well - XY Motor broke after two weeks and got sent a new replacement kit, that was a bit fiddly to fix (less hard than building Prusa from a kit though) but the online guides are very good.
BL defintely much more plug and play rather than tuning/mods and had a lot less failed prints from my old MK3S workhorse. Touch wood all working reliably at the moment though the Prusa is getting a little cranky in it’s old age and I miss the H2S features when I use it.
Only 2 years of experience with both printers running about 60% of the time. I have a machine shop and like printing parts before sending job to metal removal part. Prusa MIni and then a A1. I print mechanical parts to higher tolerance than printers can be expected to do. Sometimes having to machine printed parts to size. First was a Prusa Mini. The only printing issue with it besides speed was the Z axis was not perpendicular to the bed by LOTS! .035” out! 8” Starrett Machinist square and shims fixed this. Not a single print has failed. Surface finish is better than the A1 using factory settings and holes are more round and to size than the A1. Attempts to top speed it up works fairly well until the Y starts making noise. The bearings are not that great and have too much play for rapid movements. I got adjustable bearings and am in the process of making new bearing holders for Y. The machine may need this “slop” because of the rest of the machine needs this in order to function being just printed connectors ect. I enjoyed putting it together. I like the way the build plate mount to bed. I have stopped prints, removed plate and put it back on and resumed print several times with no print issue. My son has one for years and actually talked to Mr. Prusa on support issues. I did not find that to be true now when contacting support on the Z and Lan connectivity issues. Emails not returned for as much as 36 hrs and with replies that made no sense as if they didn’t read the email I sent.
I don’t like the Lan connectivity and what you have to do to slice and send to printer.
Now the A1. It just worked in minutes out of the box which was nice but I am a tinkerer and miss the build part. I really like the larger build platform. I hate the way the plate lays on the bed and is my biggest issue with it. I ended up filing down the tabs on the outside. THey were not high enough to be effective and not low enough to be out of the way. No way can you remove and reinstall plate mid print, not that that is a big issue. I have taken the plate off mid print to measure parts and see if I should continue or not. Tall parts had layer separation issues. BL support is a joke. The power switch failed and what is expected of the end user to repair this just a few months old is unacceptable. I ended up jumpering it to bypass and just use a power strip. They sent me a whole bottom end of the printer to replace myself. I did take it mostly apart, wow so many screws! I decided to just bypass the switch even though I had it apart being this is a known issue and I didn’t want to to this again. I have had failures that needed downgrading firmware. Maybe just reinstalling the same version would of fixed it, will never know. I did not upgrade the firmware, it just corrupted itself. I’ve had to replace the PEI sheet 3 times now with BL ones. Had top surface peel off as small parts were just stuck to well and required razor to remove. Smooth plates have too soft of top surface and mar easily. I can put a groove in it with just my fingernail, so I’ve learned to be extra careful and spray Aqua Net now on all PETG prints. I’ve had corners lift on large PLA prints covering the whole build plate. Holes are not as round as I would like and require reaming. Prints are for the most part undersize using factory settings. I need to scale or adjust sizes in drawing to compensate. Again I am expecting higher tolerance than can be expected from plastic printed parts at this speed I guess. Toys, fidgets, art projects and multi color prints come out great except surface finish on some radii. I like the BL slicer better and the speed at which I can slice and post to printer way better. I don’t like the 8 mins of calibration before print starting but I guess it has to because of the speed? Popp is insane and what it does mid print with pooping and cleaning cycles and who knows what some of the movements are for. I just have to ignore the printer and what it does.
Over all the A1 with AMS lite gets used way more but when I need quality prints and am in no hurry the Prusa Mini is what I use.
Support is best done through group posts and filter out and figure settings out on my own unless you are in no hurry and even still BL support is way worse than Prusa. What BL expects users to do is just unacceptable. This is NOT some kit!