This is key. With those other brands, you constantly have to be wary of all the gotcha’s that the reviewers aren’t telling you about, but would if they were being completely honest and unbiased.
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So far my X1C has been fantastic ! Does excellent prints and no problems for me. As with all printers you need to know what works well for your environment (temperature, humidity, etc). You said you were looking at other printers? Did you see how available their parts are, and the price? I made a mistake printing one time and got a spaghetti ball on the nozzle. Was easy to fix, but I thought I would order an extra housing anyway. I ordered the houseing and they got it to me very quickly, and for only $25, it was a good price. You mentioned you want a “hobby” one, but sounds like you want an industrial one? If you want an industrial one then Stratsys is your go to, but expect to pay about $70k for starters.
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Oh how true - this week once more: Sorry, we haven’t stocked the spare parts for this system since 15 years 
Luckily there are still 3D printers… 
I’m new to Bambu Lab printers also, having only purchase my X1C in January, but have to say I have absolutely no regrets so far. My first real prints have been my version of an AMS riser (not finished due to filament shortage) and my own designed filament re-winder (photo). I am amazed at the fits achieved by this printer compared to my Ender 3 Pro. Outstanding!
I do have a question though. Is it safe to update firmware directly from the installed version (1.06.02.12) to the latest, and will that include all changes in between?
regards, Oz
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The only issue was the vented air filtration. The Carbon Filter does not seem to help when printing aromatic materials like ABS and ASA. The prints came out great, but the smell was not good. I installed a Bento Box. Solved the issue for me.
I started with an Ender 3 V2 as well. I decided to switch hobbies from tinkering with my printer to actually designing and printing. I see the Bambu Lab printers more like appliances. They just work. Every failure that I have had was self-induced. Yes, cleaning the build plate with dish soap helps. Using a roll of filament that sat out for a few weeks without drying it first.
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I’ve had X1C for about 9 months now and it stands head and shoulders over the other three printers I’ve owned. There’s simply no comparison.
The quality of the prints - without any manual tuning whatsoever - is remarkable and probably saves me about half the time I would spend printing with a conventional unit.
As far as problems go, I haven’t had many. I had one 4mm nozzle clog-up and I just replaced the nozzle and heat sink with new. When I do order parts, they ship from a facility in Texas (I think), usually same day and are delivered to me in Florida 2-3 days later. While I have a lot of filament in stock already, the Bambu filament is reasonably priced, high-quality and has already been characterized by the engineers at Bambu. When I drop the Bambu filament in the AMS, I don’t even have to consider details like temperatures, retraction distanace and flow rates. The printer reads most of that from the NFC tag and calculates the rest during calibration before printing begins. The result in minimal efforts and maximal results. I might spend a buck or three extra buying the Bambu filament, but it’s worth it for convenience, time savings and elimination of wasted materials. I’ll gladly spend $3.00 extra per spool for those advantages.
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Just as an addition to be complete. I’m one of those people who would even pay $10 more per spool.
Why they don’t even get the $3 more from me (This list has no claim to completeness or to be free of errors):
Lack of transparency in chemical composition e.g. residual content of questionable but still permitted substances. No Residues and proof of origin. My obligation as a “distributor” for sustainable products without endangering user (Not even a publicly accessible of the CE proof and for which parts the CE applies to for the Bambulab Spools in the shop - nothing at all). No transparent product verification when manufactured by third parties - not even a one-time (and in my case I even demand a permanent check by incorruptible third parties). Worse performance (according to my experiences at least with PETG) than the competition I use. Poor limited selection of materials (only those who only pay attention to colors have may an advantage).
As long as it doesn’t fulfill that (at least for me side), it’s nothing more than a massively overpriced, inferior product from China that you can just as easily buy from an unknown dealer from an unknown manufacturer on Amazon… And I don’t buy on Amazon. No way and at least for me an absolute no go. Maybe for training but then it’s over… and especially when it comes to programmers with very limited knowledge of production, maintenance, quality assurance, warranty services and manufacturing.
I’ve been 3d printing for 7 or 8 years. Had a few different brands but ended up with a small farm of Ender 3s with various mods for different purposes, from huge beds to direct extruder for TPU, etc etc.
Last year I bought a P1S. It blew my mind. I haven’t been using bambu filament. Had a few blockages with pla+ silk. Moved to 0.6 nozzle, no more problems with that notoriously tricky filament type.
I gave away a couple of my enders.
Then I got an AMS. Are you kidding me?! This thing is amazing. I’ve never stacked so many empty spools in such a short time. Wow!
I gave away another ender.
Now I’ve bought another P1S and dedicated it to TPU. I’m considering buying another AMS and the expander module to bring my first P1S to 8 filaments.
It’s time to find a new home for my last Ender. It won’t be missed! Very, very happy with the P1S. Love it.
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I started with a Prusa Mk3 printer. Had it for a couple of years and kept updating it with new releases from Prusa. I spent a lot of time tweaking it and never really got the MMU3 to work consistently. I was an early adopter of the Prusa XL, but waited over a 18 months of delays and then got my order pushed back to behind others that ordered after me. When that happened, I searched around and got the excellent X1-C Combo. That was a year ago. The printer is great. Just normal maintenance and one small issue with the built in camera, and Customer Service was quick to respond, analyze, and fix the issue. Spare parts are plentiful and at a reasonable price. IMHO, you should have kept the order.
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Just buy it iv been printing for 4 or 5 years nothing but try, try, try and about 50% of the time worked ok had mostly Voxelab aquilas one elegoo ,but buddy after my Bambu carbon x1 99% are spot on the 1% is my fault not watching and learning new stuff, now myself and family have 2 but will have 4 more by 2025 mine has 1200 hours printing best printer PERIOD ☆☆☆++++ and just a foot note im 63 years young and have 30 years to get really good.thanks all and go TRUMP 2024.
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I’ve had 2 nozzle clogs - both my fault(left door closed when printing PLA on a bed ant 60c - got heat creep annd premelting in the cool side of the extruder, easy to sort and just have to leave the door open /lid off if printing the same. great guide on the WIKI.
Only other problems I’ve had
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I’ve had a Bambu Labs X1 Carbon for about 3 months. I find it be good. In the first few weeks I did have a blocked 0.4 nozzle and another blockage in the AMS, but these were caused by my leaving my fibre exposed to dampness. I now have a humidity controlled chamber and a storage box and I have printed two pierced containers for my AMS and filled them with granular orange indicating desiccant. Also done the same for my air tight storage box. These measures ensure that the filament is stored at between 10 and 15% relative humidity. Haven’t had any problems since then. Compared with my previous 3D Leapfrog printer, which was a pain in the butt to level it’s platform, I find the Bambu Lab product to be excellent. I think that many of the complaints are from people who don’t use common sense, neglect routine servicing and neglect care of th filament and the platform
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I have been 3D printing since I bought my first Ender 3 in 2018. I loved my Ender but I wanted to be able to print multi-colour prints easily without the hassle of changing filaments. I looked at the Bambu Lab P1S with the AMS, watched a few YouTube reviews and decided to go for it. I now have 316 hours of print time on the P1S and I have had not a single issue. I removed the P1S from the box, set it up in about 20 minutes, ran the configuration and began printing … it just worked. Like another poster mentioned, I’ve never emptied so many spools of filament in such a short time. haha I’m having a blast printing and not spending time tweaking to get a good print. I’m definitely a fan.
Cheers,
Steve
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Agree, Creality also solved a lot of things back; then is fallen into hibernation. The last ender flew out of the house a few weeks ago…
If I just look at the current print on the X1 plate. A walk to the display, start printing - it’s been on the plate for 2 days and I haven’t looked at it for 30 seconds, incl. when it starts the print. Now seen that for 12 hours the filament ran out and a new roll was thrown in. Not even an app opened so the complete peace of mind above all. Creality can do whatever they want, they’ll never come back no matter what they do. And let’s hope that Bambulab doesn’t stay standing for so long that the same thing happens to them 
Sorry for the late add., but the video is just too good not to be added:
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Well you made the decision for me guys. I just ordered the X1C with the AMS. Hoping this thing works as well as you lot say. Just got to figure out how to design my own models now. I already use SketchUp and gave their studio version but sounds like I should use something better to modify stl’s. Also ordered the moose scanner so hoping these 2 play well together.
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When I was shopping for a 3D printer, several factors played into my selecting and purchasing the Bambu X1C: first was affordability, second was the ability to have up to 16 different colors available - of course it takes 4 AMS units for this - but in any case the “package” came with an AMS and immediately gives me 4 different color options (as long they are the same type of filament). I bought the X1C 7 months ago, and have had very little frustrations with the machine itself. Most of my issues are with my own CAD abilities. I am currently working on a strainer basket lid (for an in-ground pool cleaner system). the guy told me that he had ‘scoured the internet’ looking for a replacement, and found that “that model isn’t made any more”. He refused to replace his entire system just for a “lid”. As I have been learning constantly about 3D printing and CAD, I have printed this lid about 12 times now! most issues were with my CAD design(s). There are a LOT of changeable options in the Bambu program, and it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones should be changed for a better or perfect print, such as what type of supports to use, their angles, XY distances, top Z and bottom Z distances, etc. as far as the printer itself goes, I have had to change the nozzle several times, but just for the print itself - going from a 0.4 nozzle to a 0.2 and back again; replaced the High Heat plate film once, and had to do a hard reset of the machine 3-4 times. In my opinion, these are very minor issues. I also work full time and sometimes (as I am a very early riser), will get a print ready before work, start the print, and I can check its progress during my breaks at work! - LOVE that! One last note: this lid I am working on had to be transparent. I got the Bambu transparent PETG and used 2 full spools, before I found a cheaper transparent PETG made by Sunlu. When I ran out of the Bambu PETG (exactly halfway thru the print), I was able to use the Sunlu filament and finish the project. The difference was remarkable! The bambu looked “white” compared to the Sunlu which was a lot more transparent! I hope this helps you and others!
99% of problems are New users who have no idea what they are doing and its USER ERROR. I’ve been 3d printing since 2015 and have been through the race to the bottom era. People soon forget what Bambu brought to the table and moved the 3D industry forward by miles. Now people are copying them and its all is the Creality K1 the best thing since sliced bread NO, Creality are still blagging their way through and relying on the 3D community to bail them out. They don’t ever provide lots of profiles for their own machines. The X1C is still one of the best 3D printers on the market. Its not perfect but what is. Don’t listen to all the negative ■■■■ just buy one and you wont look back. I’ve had my X1C and P1P upgraded to P1S just over a year and run an online business with them. I still find myself looking mesmerised watching them flying through the prints.
I got one about 9 months ago, I haven’t had any problems. Not even a failed print, and I have printed a huge amount (PLA and ASA). To me, this printer is a huge leap forward in every way. I had two Lulzbots (Taz and Mini), and this is not even in the same universe in terms of reliability, performance, maintenance, print quality, print speed, features…basically everything. I can’t think of any product I have that was so far above what was otherwise available in the market (at least at the time it came out).
This is just my experience, can’t speak for others. But there is no doubt that in general Bambu set a new bar for FDM printers, and 3D printing is hugely changed because of it. That is obvious just from the fact that all the incumbents have since announced X1C-inspired quasi-clones.
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You sure did a lot of research into not getting one. Next time try doing proper research on the printer you’re looking at.
That’s what I did and all I was seeing were people complaining about customer service problems. On a $150 printer might expect that but not on a $1600 printer. That’s why I asked in here as I was curious if this was a running problem but clearly after posting there’s a lot of active happy users. If you would have read the thread you would have noticed I already re ordered the printer.
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