Long-term X1C owner just got an X2D

Bambu Lab X Series Bambu Lab X2D
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Hi all. I’ve had an X1C since early 2023 and it was pretty buggy when I got it, but slowly over the years it just kept getting better and better to the point where I was constantly amazed by the output it was producing. Glass finish ironing, barely visible layers, just quality prints time and time again.

When I saw X2D had dropped I was immediately interested by the fact it has 2 nozzles. One of the big problems for me with the X1C was using PVA in my prints, it nearly always ended in tears. The X2D would solve all that, aswell as generally speeding up multicolour prints.

I read all the blurb on the Bambu website - the auto-flow calibration, the heated chamber etc. I was really impressed, and then when I saw the price I couldn’t believe it was so cheap. I’d been planning on getting an AMS 2 Pro for my X1C, but I could actually get an entire new printer too for half the price I paid for my X1C combo back in the day.

Well I’ve just finished setting up the X2D and honestly, you can tell in many ways that this is a cheaper machine. The build quality just doesn’t feel as premium, it’s tough to put my finger on it, but it’s just the alround quality of the plastics inside, the screen without a microSD slot, the fact so much has to be mounted externally. It definitely doesn’t have the poise of the X1C.

But none of that matters if the print quality is good, right? I’d watched a few youtube reviews before commiting to the purchase and all said the same, it was outstanding for the money and better than its predeccessor in every way.

The problem is, so far this has not been true for me. The printer wobbles like mad on a hardwood floor, it’s ridiculous how much it moves, it makes the entire thing look cheap and surely has an effect on print quality?

I’ve re-sliced a few regular prints from my X1C and they have all so far come out in worse quality on the X2D. The ironing on it is a joke. I’m not sure what’s going on but the X1C produced a glass finish using a flow range from between 10-30%. I have had to up the flow rate to 80% just to even stop the cross-hatch finish I was getting, and even then the final result is nowhere near as good as the X1C.

When I came on here I see alsorts of people with early adopter issues. My question is: Is it right so many companies these days, Bambu Lab included, expect us to beta test their products for months before they become the thing they promised on their website at launch? I gave them the benefit of the doubt with the X1C because they were new to the game. The X2D should be matching (even bettering) the experience ot its predecessor straight out of the box.

I did wonder whether they’d repositioned the X2D as the inbetween machine now and the H2D was the true successor to the X1C.. but then, my A1 mini is producing better prints right now

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Downgraded from my old X1C to the New X2D
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Thank you for your writeup and opinion. I am currently waiting on them to be back in stock without the AMS. Now I will do some more reading before I make a decision.

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X2D will be welcomed in orcaslicer, where I can finally get control of jerk. I know the feeties are designed to do the dance, but I don’t like commanding my machines to do that. Bambustudio gives you accel control but that isn’t enough

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The feet remind me of the aftermarket feet they sold for the X1C, they were worse than the originals. Looks like they’ve used them out the factory on X2D..

Also, the toolhead causes a really annoying knocking sound, sounds cheap af

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The soft feet reduce vibrations transmitted to the table and it works. It won’t affect quality of the print.

The aluminium panels used in the X1C would be a poor choice for a heated chamber as it would use more electricity and take longer to heat up as it’s a good conductor of heat, the plastic is a better choice.

However… My first layers are terrible on my X2D’s though, every other Bambu I had did it better, dunno what’s going on there. Maybe they are trying to reduce warranty numbers with bed scratching or something?!

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Feet should limit vibrations and also limit machine wobble. These feet don’t. I’ve just found some aftermarket prints on makerword that you fit over the factory feet so it’s clearly an issue for some people?

The H2D has aluminium panels does it not?

Yeah same, first layers are so bad, I’ve tried all my plates and even slowed the first layers down to 10mm/s to try and get it done right. At the moment I’ve had to disable the super new auto-flow feature because it just makes everything worse. Really frustrating they sell us a beta test.

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Yes, the X2D does shake like a drunken epileptic, but my guess is that is by design and the calibration should compensate for it. I’m not a fan of its looks, but not sure if a rigid mount would make the inertial mass more of a problem or worse.

I can’t say I honestly notice any difference between my outgoing X1C versus the X2D with respect to PLA print quality, but I haven’t played much with any advanced methods to mitigate layer lines and the X2D may require a different set of settings than the X1C.

However, I think the heated chamber and improved airflow system is a great improvement since I am more interested in functional engineering parts than PLA figurines - although we have printed a few of those and the print quality was fine by my eye.

I did invest in the engineering plate and I think that helps with any first layer problems.

My only gripe (besides the grandma seizures) is the AMS 2 Pro issues with not passing filament. I printed the little work-around slug to partially depress the button on the AMS’s hub and that has worked so far. Nothing from Bambu Lab beyond an acknowledgement for my ticket I submitted.

Perhaps give it some more time and try different settings to see if you can dial in the magic sauce for the X2D.

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I think the H2 series are plastic as well (been hearing people complain about panel bulging).

Nevertheless, aluminum would be better and lined with some kind of insulation. But you wouldn’t get this package at the same price if they did that.

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Everything has it’s price, sadly. X2D is only 100 bucks more than P2S, and you get external exhaust fan kit, second extruder with nozzle, actively heated chamber, and rest of the new features. So, there’s almost no room for any “premium” package like X1C was, in it’s time. Basically, it is P2S upgraded. And that’s fine, competition is getting stronger and cheaper. What’s not fine, you are getting a machine that struggles in it’s primary role - 3d printing on level of it’s predessesors.

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All that’s fine, except it’s sold as being better in every regard than the X1C, which has been coroberated by YouTubers and other review outlets. That is not what we’re seeing at launch..

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I dont have first layer problems w/ my X2D, it does that ok. I do have what I would describe as z-banding from wobble, when a tall thin print gets up more than 50ish mm. I am blaming it on the speed control atm, but having trouble teasing it out without another viable slicer

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Yeah, it’s not the first time that reviews are looking more like a part of a marketing campaign than an actual in-depth analysis of the product.

Firmware updated, still nothing changed. Tomorrow i will try to print test objects using aux extruder.

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So far I’ve found the aux extruder to be more consistent

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While these reviewers are not contractually obligated to say one thing or another about the machine, there is a need by the people reviewing the machine to get as many viewers as possible.

So, I don’t feel that much of what you find on youtube has the viewers interests at heart as much as the person making that video. Many try too hard to make it a production show. The more viewers, the more revenue.

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Bottom two are X2D with and without auto-flow enabled and partially ironed before I stopped the print.Top one is X1C.

Same filament, same settings, same AMS, same print plate

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the ironing differences presented are really extreme :thinking: that’s indeed weird

just to share my experience, I’ve replaced a P2S with the X2D and I get top quality prints ‘out of the box’

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Do you have the version 1 or version 2 X2D? I have the V1 with separate cleaner for the Aux nozzle. I’m wondering if there’s more changes than just the removal of that in V2

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This seems to be an ongoing trend for you. The “new” printer isn’t ever good enough.

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The ongoing trend is BL launching printers that aren’t ready. I gave them the benefit of the doubt with X1C because they were new to the game. It took months for that to get to a reliable point. The same shouldn’t be happening with new hardware 4 years down the line..

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Wizardbynight, this is a print I did yesterday. It started out using eSun white, but the end of the roll got tangled, so I swapped in Bambu matte white (you can see the slight yellowish tint at the boundary between the two filaments) to finish the print. The matte white is out of Bambu’s package without drying.

I would say that the quality is not necessarily outstanding, but it appears good to my eye and you need to understand that the attached image is going to show any flaws much better than the eye would see holding this in your hand.

This is printed on an engineering plate with default Bambu slicer settings.

Again, I can’t complain and my memory of the X1C it replaced produced similar results. I can’t explain why others are having trouble and if you have a different opinion on the quality of this print, please feel free to share.

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