Short answer: No.
This ultimately comes down to what you value most:
- Freedom to use the slicer and components you prefer
- Or, Bambu’s polished but closed ecosystem
If you chose #1, upgrading is a hard NO. Bambu Labs is actively closing off third-party support, despite their public denials. They once endorsed Orca Slicer - now they’ve burned that bridge. This is Apple-level gatekeeping.
If you chose #2, and you’re comfortable staying inside their walled garden, then upgrade. Just know what you’re buying into.
Bambu Connect is central to this shift - designed to lock users into their auth system, forcing all slicing and print management through their tools.
Given Bambu’s behavior, I see a likely scenario progressing moving forward.
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It’s likely only a matter of time before Bambu Studio introduces technical hurdles that discourage use of third-party filaments - whether through whitelist enforcement, performance degradation, or user nags. As one EU judge described in a recent Apple ruling, this is “transactional friction” - in plain terms: making it harder for customers to choose freely.
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I predict Bambu will eventually introduce advertising into their slicer interface. Orca allows users to disable automatic redirection to the Bambu Makerworld page - so why doesn’t Bambu offer the same option?
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The technical nitty gritty behind the firmware upgrade and Bambu Connect
Linka below for those who are interested.
You don’t need to read all 1,200 posts in this thread, but the first few pages here show how deep the backlash runs(posted here in January of this year):
Orca Slicer, who supported Bambu since the start, has now officially walked away:
Here is link #1: https://www.3printr.com/orca-slicer-rejects-bambu-connect-dispute-over-third-party-integration-4177010/
Here is links #2: Bambu Lab controversy continues: Orca Slicer rejects new Bambu Connect - 3D Printing Industry
Here’s a more detailed interaction between The Verge and a Bambu spokesperson outlining what will and won’t be supported. In my view, their response is pure sugar-coating - and a textbook example of why the community has accused Bambu of gaslighting us and insisting that we “just misunderstand them.”
This exchange is worth reading, and then you be the judge. To me, the outright falsehoods and misrepresentations from their spokesperson are outrageous. The community has rightly called them out on this conduct - and Bambu’s response? Deafening silence.
The 3D Printer community- who supported Bambu in the early days - is not confused. We’re not misinformed. We see exactly what’s happening - and we’re not buying it.
As a wise man once said: “All the people cannot be wrong.”