Bambu Lab P1S 3D Printer
History
Don’t get me wrong, life with two Bambu Lab A1 3D printers was absolutely awesome! That said, I faced two caveats. The first was that I didn’t have room enough for both printers on the same bench, so one went in the workshop, while the other ended up in the den, using up the space for my Raspberry Pi development station. The other caveat was the high humidity in the den, which is also where most of the filament and parts for the printers was stored.
So, obviously I’ve been happy with both A1 printers, but I was also thinking about how when I was printing PET-G, I couldn’t be in the same room. The fumes were really bad for me. And I also thought about some upcoming projects that will require ABS, which is something you don’t really want to print inside with an open-frame printer. So I got looking at options for an enclosed unit. Since I really enjoy the ability to use the app to remotely control my printer, I looked to Bambu Labs.
The Bambu Lab P1S
Looking on the Bambu Lab store, I saw the P1S was on sale for $699 as a Combo on 7/10/2025 and I realized if I could unload one of the A1 printers, it would be worth the upgrade. I found a buyer for the newer A1 Combo and went ahead and ordered the P1S. These photos from the store page give you an overview of what this printer looks like.
Setting Up the P1S
As with the A1, I went to the official Bambu Lab YouTube channel to watch the unboxing / setup video. As with the A1, there were a few small hang-ups I had compared to what the video showed. The first was at time index 1:00 of the video. When they remove the plastic cover from the front door, it slides right off perfectly. When I copied what they did, the sticky glue scraped off the the flap passed between the door and enclosure and got all over the edge of the door. It took me ~20 minutes to get it all off.
At time index 3:05 of the video, I did not install the external spool holder, since I knew I would not be using it. Another disparity was at time index 4:00, where you plug the unit in and turn the power on. It indicates to manually raise the print bed using the keypad so you can remove the foam inserts underneath. Mine did not do that, and so I could not remove the foam at that point. Instead, it tried to go into calibration mode immediately and I could not prevent it. I did manage to cancel after it started though. Once I got filament loaded, I then went back and ran the calibration cycles.
The final thing that I figured out by watching an independent review of the P1S on YouTube was, while setting up the AMS there were stickers that indicated to remove the desiccant packs from two compartments. What it didn’t indicate (and what needed to be done) was to remove the internal packets from the plastic wrap and put them back into those compartments. Based on the literal text on the stickers, I had at first, thrown those packets out. But there are two compartments for storing desiccant to help keep the filament dry. This is a great feature. There are also several models on MakerWorld for making additional desiccant pack enclosures.
A Few Issues
I’m pretty sure the Quick Start guide and / or unboxing and setup video for the A1 had me print a Benchy (3-color) after calibration, but this video ended with loading filament. Since the display on the P1S is much simpler than the color touch display on the A1, I tried to use Bambu Studio to access the models on the microSD card and was not able to. While I could do it from the display panel, Bambu Studio was unable to read the memory card, despite being connected to it.
So I had no choice but to select a Benchy from the display for my initial print. It came out pretty good, though did have a few hair strands, as you can see in the photo. I did not have these issues on the A1.
Here’s a short clip showing the print of the Benchy, along with some views of the A1 printing along side it.
Waste Bin
As with the A1, the very next print for me was a waste bin (Poop Bucket). There were many different designs available, but I wanted something simple.
I printed this screw-less / magnet-less waste bin for the P1S, in PLA matte charcoal. The alignment was pretty good and as you can see, it seems to be working. I had a chuckle about how uniform the waste pellets are. On the A1 they’re just random blobs and not as neat and tidy as these P1S waste pellets.
Printing Examples
Since the sample filament that came with the printer comes in orange and green, I was trying to figure out just what to print that would use either of these colors. Even though we’re not really near Halloween, in anticipation of it, I printed several Halloween Candy Boxes.
These are the Halloween Candy Boxes, shown here staged for the photos on the A1 printing bed. I did not print these individually, but rather the lids in sets of two in the color orange, and then the box in sets of two in the color charcoal.
Weird / Bad Printing Issue
I want to preface this by saying that this is the first time I had something this weird / bad happen while 3D printing. Easily the worst issue I ever had. But, I can’t say that it is the fault of the P1S itself, or even why it happened for that matter. I don’t really know, but it didn’t happen during my first several prints, so I am sharing that experience.
After printing two sets of orange lids, I then printed a set of the boxes. When I got home from work, I quickly cleaned the plate with some alcohol and got the printer ready to print the second set of boxes while I was eating dinner. The print was in the “bed heating up” stage when I went downstairs to eat. During dinner I got a notification that there was an issue. The Toolhead Front Cover fell off! I was like, WTF?!? So I went upstairs to see what happened and when I opened the door, it was clear that something really bad had happened!
As you can see in the photos, there was a hug mess both above and below the print bed. It took me 15 minutes to clear all the filament and vacuum the inside of the printer out. Once everything was cleaned up, I wiped the plate down with alcohol again and re-started the print. This time I printed just fine. So, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t know what happened, but I hope that never happens again. Again, the boxes printed fine afterward. But I haven’t yet printed anything new since those two boxes. If anything comes up that warrants it, I will update this review. For now I am happy to have both printers residing in my workshop, side-by-side.
This clip shows the boxes being printed after the issue was cleaned up. These boxes completed without issue.
Assessment
While there are a few inconsistencies during setup with regards to the video, and a few issues experienced, these were really mentioned in comparison to my experience with the both A1 printers. I’ve had several successful prints with no issues, and I still recommend the Bambu Lab printers for both beginners and veteran 3D printer fans. While I have not yet printed anything in ABS, that was one of the reasons for choosing this printer. Also, the open-frame / open-AMS design on the A1 / AMD lite means your filament is more prone to humidity. However, the closed design of the AMS on the P1S and the availability of additional desiccant boxes means your filament can mitigate more humidity, preventing some issues related to wet filament.
Resources
Bambu Lab P1S 3D Printer Store Page – External Link
