That’s a fair question. The Calibration feature in Bambu Studio is limited and, at best, a blunt instrument. When the P1 product line launched in 2023, it worked reasonably well for beginners using Bambu’s filament, but its effectiveness quickly diminishes with third-party materials. The X1, despite having LIDAR, has a reputation for inconsistent calibration. I don’t own an X1 myself, but my sons do, and they tell me calibration is hit-or-miss.
A major issue with Bambu’s filament ecosystem is that when they changed the formulation of their Basic PLA, they never properly tested or updated the factory profiles. This has led to unpredictable results, even for users who stick to Bambu’s own filaments. Instead of refining their profiles, they left users to figure it out, which defeats the entire point of a “plug-and-play” system.
When I first got my P1, Bambu’s PLA Basic filaments—especially Black and White—were constantly out of stock. It was frustrating, like buying a razor and realizing the company couldn’t keep blades in stock. But in hindsight, that frustration was a blessing in disguise. It forced me to explore third-party filaments, and what I discovered was eye-opening: many brands source from the same factories. Once you master filament tuning, every spool—regardless of branding—can produce perfect prints.
I previously posted on this topic, detailing how to identify filaments from the same manufacturer. Some users in that thread speculated that Elegoo was Bambu’s original supplier, with the only differences being the plastic spool and RFID tag. Here’s that discussion: So you think your high priced fancy-schmancy filament is the the best? There were many useful responses on that thread.
These days, I pay around $10–$13 per spool for PLA on Amazon, with free 1–2-day shipping. Here’s the kicker: if a filament doesn’t perform after calibration, I return the unused portion for a full refund—Amazon’s policy, not mine. I’ve even sent back 1kg spools after using 500g. Those go on my blacklist spreadsheet. It’s rare, but in my early days of testing, about 1 in 10 brands didn’t make the cut.
I still keep a small stock of Bambu filaments, but only for troubleshooting or comparison. For daily printing, I’ve moved on—and I haven’t looked back. If Bambu can’t even bother to test and update their own filament profiles after reformulating, why should I pay a premium for them?
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For a better understanding of “how,” I recommend these videos, which cover the use of the Orca Slicer Calibration suite. This suite is built into Orca Slicer and includes features not available in Bambu Studio. While there are many videos on this topic, I find this creator particularly thorough, and these are the ones I revisit most often.
This is the missing tab that is not included in Bambu Studio.
Here is the Github wiki tutorial page for Orca.