Might have been… but it doesn’t show up on the website for download for those of us the only use the printers offline. So if those are production firmware, they are only available via Bambu Handy, which is completely ridiculous.
2 Likes
Offline firmware always seems to be 2ish weeks late to update and realistically that’s a bit better for us digital prepers who like to run offline.
There seem to have been some generic " 1. Security Enhancements: Includes essential security updates." patches placed in and in some of those, they closed off the ability to use BMCU (cheap DIY AMS) and things like that. Better off to wait anyways. They might end up doing some more “personalisation blocking” patches in coming machine updates and blocking off the ability to roll back.
Yeah, definitely concerned about their locking down of the environment to prevent any sort of personalization.
In my case, I was trying to do a small laser job on the H2C only to find out that it simply would not work under any circumstances, and was surprised to find out that there was actually an updated firmware.
On the X2D I was in the process of figuring out why the Z access would make noise when it was moving and I was getting an error saying that future use of the printer might have a problem. (I’m paraphrasing, but that’s more or less what it said.) turned out that the Z-Axis set screw had worked its way loose! It was time to do a full-blown belt retension anyway, so at the same time I also looked to see if there are any firmware updates, even though I despise the concept of having to use Bambu handy. (having to go to the firewall, allow the printers out to the Internet, install Bambu handy on some device I don’t care about, check the printers to see if there’s any firmware updates [thinking beta here… but I obviously got whatever was there], let the printers update everything, plug in the laser modules, let the printer re-update everything two more times, turn on the firewall blocking of the printers again, and then start performing all the calibrations. It is always interesting to watch a packet capture when they are supposedly not trying to go to China…)
Yeah, I just put the machine on an open network (but still in lan-only mode) and sneaker net everything.
I am curious how you set up your firewall.
I’m using a PA-455… so an industrial firewall. Running through the AI to monitor the connections. 
The biggest fix I did for the filament path was the model to raise the top glass by a bit to give the PTFE tube more room. That fixed a lot of frustration. X2D + P2S - flat riser V2 - Free 3D Print Model - MakerWorld
2nd thing I did kind of surprised me that it helped rather than hurt. That was the Filament Track Switch: Filament Track Switch | Bambu Lab US Store I expected this to make the filament path even worse. It actually helped it a bit, not sure if it has some filament pulling ability giving the path more power to keep the filament moving, but seemed like it.
The only thing not fixed yet, is not quite an X2D issue, but an accessory, and that’s the AMS 2 Pro and it’s issue with gear switching from backwards to forwards keeping filament spools, especially near empty spools, from rotating forward at times.
1 Like
From what I saw of the internals of the switch was that there is nothing inside that actively draws filament. The only thing is a moving flipper that swaps pathways.
Given that, the switch can only increase filament friction. Perhaps the rerouting of the PTFE lines to the switch actually reduced some friction?
I have an A1 since almost a year. I’ve printed around 2k hours and sold many items i design and sell for a specific hobby.
I mainly use petg and pla, but i was willing to step up with some pla-cf.
I am thinking abount an X2D or P2S. At the actual price, the little 100$ difference make the choice quite obvious, but with the anniversary incoming the price difference could easily reach 200/250$. You guys reckon that price difference would make the p2s the best choice?
Thanks for a comprehensive warts and all review. I am considering the X2D as an upgrade from my A1 combo. I want to print engineering plastics and colour combos are low on the list. One of my requirements is decent filtering of exhaust air and noise levels. I am more than happy with complex maintenance requirements, having done that with the 3 printers prior to the A1. The Bambu environment has worked well for me with the A1, I don’t have a problem with its proprietary nature. The availability of spares is another plus factor. I will certainly take on board your comments about improvements to the filament paths.
Thanks for your efforts in producing a “real” review.
1 Like
Hey there!
Great review, thank you!
As someone who has started their journey about 4 months ago and chose P2S as first machine(X2D was not released back then) and who went through that “why my first layer isn’t sticking phase” I have something to add.
It really depends on how much and what you’re planning to print. Someone should really try figuring it out before getting ANY 3D printer :).
For me it was like 300 hours of printing during first month alone which really was a learning curve. 4 months later and I am researching how to print PETG with PLA support for smoother prints, gradually going from “oh why do need to dry PLA Glow before printing” and “why do I need to wash my plate” to “oh, lets heat up chamber to 65 degrees for 10 minutes before printing ABS and started to play around with Fusion 360.
About 2 months after getting into 3D Printing I would 100% opt out towards X2D instead of P2S. Heated chamber and printing supports in second nozzle is useful.
Would I buy X2D now to replace P2S though now? Definitely not. Waiting a bit to get chamber heated is fine. I don’t print with ABS/ASA every day. Do I need second nozzle only for supports? Not really. It doesn’t increase waste / print time achieving the same with P2S.
Would I get similarly priced model with swappable heads? Definitely 
While not compromising on other features. And probably bigger print volume. I do print lots of kitchen optimization parts. And 256mm is just not deep enough
Color printing is super nice when you have a kid Printing different cute monsters which weight 20 grams while you get 100 grams of poop is painful to watch. Printing 10 of the same thing doesn’t make sense.
This is the thing though isn’t it. When you’re brand new you might not now this and it becomes a situation of not knowing what you don’t know.
I’m genuinely happy for you that your journey is going well. It does sound that you’re technically inclined as well so you take on challenges and issues that the machine throws at you head on. This is something that I can respect and you clearly understand that you got a tool and things can go wrong.
A lot of people however aren’t necessarily like us, and that’s perhaps the crowd I’m aiming my conclusion at. The people even who might have racked up 500h+ but have done so exclusively by printing from bambu handy and have never opened up a slicer. And that, alongside the absolute “this is my first machine” kind of beginner that I’d urge to consider other options.
I feel there’s a lot of FOMO going on with the X2D vs P2S and a lot of “what if”. What if I’ll need a chamber heater, what if I’ll want to print a second nozzle, etc etc. whereas I personally feel that the decision should be, as you said partially, what do I need now.
Edit: I’ve actually noticed a lot of makerworld profiles for the X2D are the websites auto-generated profiles. Creators without one won’t be optimising things like supports to be used in a dissimilar fashion, so you still need to go in an alter things like that manually. Cool, you got an auto-profile and chose a dissimilar material for the supports, but you still need to go through all the other settings to actually make it print in the best way possible. Which to me further makes it a more “advanced”, less beginner friendly machine.
1 Like
I don’t mean to lol, but it’s really clear when a users first experience with a printer was a modern direct drive short-path, instead of their first experience being the long suffering of tuning retraction thru a bowden on an Ender. Maybe bambu is just trying to retraumatize the new generation.
I’m not telling you to give up on “good”, or accept “bad”, but never expect “perfect” from your aux. Temp → Flow rate → pressure advance → retraction ; series of tests should get you to good enough.
1 Like
long suffering like tuning pressure advance on 0.2s 
btw ok I think it’s a nice upgrade from an A series for the kid. I’ll be fully honest, I am trying to convince his relatives that the X2D is for poor people and that they should buy them an H2C Combo instead 
In either case, after 15 years, I’ll be claiming at least a box of beer from him 
This! I clarify “now” as what kind of projects person would like to do in the first 2-3 months. Like a decision tree where you end up either with WD40 or Duct tape.
This rabbit hole is a bit deeper than just autogenerated profiles though. I am at a stage where I am actually starting to see some remixed model that are just scaled versions with added “cubes” to patch gaps. I have noticed it too late while trying to print that with PETG with PLA for supports. I’ve never seen anything sliced like this before 
Problem with me at this point is – I can identify the problem. I know why that happens, but I don’t know how to fix it. But that is totally different story, not related to X2D. Free versions are free for a reason.
I wondered about making a riser but don’t have extra headroom and need to stack the AMS2. I installed the AMS flipper and left side filament holder, and modified the left handle flipper/handle support for a smoother Aux filament path from the left side: ~9” of PTFE between the spool and bowden box.
Without a riser, watching during a print, I saw a problem: only two clips held the PTFE tubes to the cable chain. The aux PTFE tube bunched up against the right side and top, and snapped when the carriage moved in some paths: it was under-constrained to the cable chain closer to where the tube enters the chamber.
My solution: model and print another clip (ASA) and two TPU split rounded grommets that fit in it, using this for reference. That keeps the aux PTFE tube more closely constrained to the cable chain: no snapping. I haven’t had aux feed issues during prints since making this change, though it still doesn’t think I’ve loaded the aux extruder when I clearly have, and that doesn’t affect prints so that minor fw bug is fine. It may be due to my bypassing the filament buffer for the aux filament path.
thank you @SquidMan and all of you for this awesome thread. I have a question that I still cannot answer from reading about the X2D online. So I previously owned the P2S and sold it when bambulab dropped the X2D. About that question “Is it correct to say that the X2D is exactly a P2S + an extra extruder?“. Why I’m framing my questions like this is because I loved the P2S and got used to it, so I would accept any flaws that the X2D have with the new extruder if I can still use it as P2S. To an extent that if the new extruder stops working completely and I still get the heated chamber I’m totally okay. But if you folks tell me that they introduced deal breaking issues to the main extruder, then I would pass.