I’ll start out by saying I really like it, but it’s not fully baked yet. So far, the issues aren’t terribly problematic (outside of the 110v amp draw) and all of the issues can be worked around until they get patched. And it’s important to note, I can’t see any issues that can’t be patched.
The Good:
- I’m liking the size. I haven’t used it all yet, but I’m definitely working on a couple of things that will. Physically, its big and heavy, but manageable. It has a very compact footprint (for its size).
- Its relatively quiet. I was expecting it to be a little quieter than the P1S I previously had, but its definitely better described as moderately quieter. Not life changing, but VERY noticeable. I judge it based on whether I can watch TV in the same room. With the P1S it was possible, but not ideal. However, the H2D only requires a slight volume adjustment and is very acceptable. I believe this is mostly due to the optimized fan settings. I believe the stepper resonance tuning is a little better too, but the P1S motion sounds didn’t seem miles off. But the fan settings were notably quieter on the H2D.
- Improved Z axis speed. This is a small thing, but I HATED how slow past printers moved the Z axis up and down when setting the various pre- and post-print routines. If I were to guess… it’s probably doubled.
- Improved nozzle wiping. In all honesty, I’ve never had a problem with the original wiping system on the P1S. I would get a purge fall into the bottom of the printer every once and a while (rare), but the wiper always worked. I never needed to remove anything from the nozzle. But the new system is more robust and looks more thorough.
- Improvements to lighting. Quite simply, lighting is pretty much excellent all around. No more dead or dungeon like areas. Additionally, the ability to sleep the lighting (all of it except the nozzle single bulb left/right designator LED) is useful if you don’t want to adjust it manually. Also, the status bar LED is useful for a quick and dirty estimation of the progress.
- Nice LCD. I’m coming from the P1S panel and that was the only thing I didn’t like about it. And in all honesty, the only reason I would have bought an X1 printer. The H2D’s LCD is nice. It is responsive and relatively well laid out. I definitely would have done some things differently because it isn’t totally intuitive, but it is fairly well laid out. No real complaints except the LCD protective plastic. It was insanely difficult to remove without damaging the LCD. I had to get a knife because my had no lifted edge or pull tab. Honestly, I would have assumed the LCD had a poor-quality screen if I didn’t see the small bubbles screen protectors can have (because the protective coating was slight clouded). So, in effect I’m lucky they didn’t put that on perfectly, or unlucky mine didn’t have a tab. Not sure.
- I believe everyone is going to like the straight edge sweep out of stuff on the bottom of the printer. Having to get debris over the bottom lip was annoying. But it should also be said, the better wipe system should see less stuff down there anyway.
- The wider opening door is a welcome improvement. Not something that particularly bothered me before on the P1S, but I do like the additional angle adjustment.
- Another small thing, but I like the longer door handle and beefed-up hinges.
- I’m loving the handle cutout on the bottom of the printer. Not really good for moving the whole printer from point A to point B (although it helps), but it’s really well placed for minor moves on a desktop.
- The bed plate guides are massively improved. Gone are the days of wondering if it’s in right. It’s a very positive engagement and leaves no room for error (at least that I have noticed yet). HUGE improvement on the last design.
- I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the vents but I’m finding them useful. In the past I’ve largely been able to print completely closed up for PLA and TPU, so I didn’t really care one way or the other. But it’s nice to not have to worry about it at all now. More like free insurance.
- The motion system seems to run smoother than before. Not sure if that is the linear rail where maybe the carbon rods were just less smooth, possibly the improvements to the stepper tuning, or maybe a mixture of both and some else… can’t say. But it is smoother.
- Good spaghetti and error detection. I’ve had 1 failure due to the part coming off the bed and the printer recognized it and stopped within 2 layers (possibly on the same layer). Very nice. BTW, the failure was likely my fault, fingerprints and a low cross section bed contact base for the model. Cleaned bed and reprinted and it worked fine.
- AMS Drying is a gonna be on both the Good and Bad list for me. I do like that it is an option, and the heater is downright powerful. It feels like the AMS chamber is warmer at 55C than my Poly Dryer at full, but I could be misremembering. However, I will say at 65C the AMS feels hotter than the Poly Dryer ever got. That could be the materials used and/or thickness, but I do believe the heating system is good on it. But I’m 100% sure it is quieter than the Poly Dryer. Very acceptable noise level. No drone like the Poly Dryer.
- AMS maintenance appears to be significantly improved. Haven’t needed to do any yet, but seeing a direct path to the PTFE tubes is greatly appreciated.
- The fit and finish is great. I would say a half step up from the past Bambu products. Which is unexpected, because the improvement in fit and finish should come with a notable bump in costs, but I don’t think that happened. The only bump in cost came from the new hardware. Good job BBL.
- Uber fast bed warmup. This is another one on both the Good and Bad list. It’s amazing how fast it builds temp. People were not joking when they said it took 1 or so minutes to get over 70C. But this comes at a cost, see the Bad section on bed heating.
- I think there have been improvements to how the printer handles overhangs. I haven’t done enough to have a clear opinion yet, but it seems to have stronger performance there.
The Bad:
- I’m not a fan of the TPU printing procedure. The hassle of pulling a PTFE tube is gonna get old quick. The upper buffer path for the right nozzle isn’t particularly easy to pull out (a little fidgety) and that needs to be disengaged and re-engaged to swap back and forth. I’m gonna try to setup a Y-splitter that doesn’t impede the motion system and basically have a dedicated filament path that stays set. But it does appear a little tricky, so it may take a few attempts.
- Not a fan of how the AMS dryer is programed. There is a block to drying and printing (presumably to stop the filament from getting soft and deformed while travelling through the path). Not a fan of that, but I can understand it. My real problem is what appears to be a bug, you can’t dry PLA and PLA temps when the printer is idle. If you set it to PLA drying, the printer asks you to remove the PLA. Head scratcher. You can work around this by removing the filament from the feeder, basically tricking the AMS to think there is no PLA in the chamber. Additionally, there are safeguards to keep people from accidentally drying PLA at ABS temps. This works as it should and is no problem. There were guesses prior to release that the AMS would automatically manage the filament humidity, but this is not true (from what I’ve seen). There really isn’t any auto management. You tell it when and how long, and it gets it done.
- I’m also not a fan of the Bambu Studio Nozzle/AMS/Spool management. It’s confusing and a point of contention for those who are not on top of everything. The syncing feature in Studio works as expected sometimes but does odd things at other times. I’m not sure if it is my fault or not, but it does unexpected things occasionally. The automatic nozzle recognition is cool but I’m finding it default or recognize the wrong nozzle here and there. I installed the High Flow nozzles immediately, and every now and then, it will sync and choose the normal nozzle. Also, I’m not finding the High Flow nozzles all that useful. I want to wrap my head around it better, so I’ll leave it at that for now.
- The high amp draw during bed warmup. It’s not the end of the world, but I find I have to manually bump the bed temp up by 5 degrees until I get to the bed temp I want, in order to keep it from tripping over the high draw point on my circuit. Again, not the end of the world, but I do see lights flickering when the bed is on its warpath to the desired temp.
- AMS feeder path issue. I have noticed the AMS feeding has been a little odd. On the original AMS, I had only 1 issue with it ever (in 2+ years). But I’m already noticing the initial path is a little bothersome to feed. I’ve somehow found a way to feed a filament in and can see it miss the path it’s supposed to take. So, the new ceramic feeders can be a little fiddly.
Non-Issues or Not Tested Yet:
- I haven’t used the heated chamber yet. But I suspect it will be good. It looks stout and the other features have given me a confidence that it should be good, but I haven’t tried it yet.
- Issues with bed adhesion. This, SO FAR, seems to be greatly exaggerated. I’ve only done around 20 prints and only had 1 fail (adhesion). That one had a very thin bed adhesion point (1.5mm around an 80x50 mm rectangle). I chalked it up to a fingerprint laden plate and a small cross section. A cleanup of the bed and reprint left me a good print afterwards.
- I haven’t done any multiple material prints yet. Hoping this works as expected.
- I bought the standard AMS combo, no laser/cutting setup.
So overall, I’m happy with it. My complaints are minimal, and they all seem to be things that can be improved without much effort. The positives look to be transformative for me. I’ll wait to say too much more, because these initial thoughts can quickly change, but as of now, things are going well.
). There’s a basic one as well, with no TPU floor. Unfortunately, due to the height of the machine, you will need a H2D to print it (315mm tall), without cutting and gluing.
