Last May, I told you how 3D printers still aren’t easy enough for the mass market, but Bambu Lab had built the easiest yet. Now, instead of making it easier, Bambu is building its biggest and most sophisticated model to date — a Swiss Army knife of 3D printers that can also cut, draw, and etch.
The new Bambu H2D, which starts at $1,899, has two 3D printing nozzles and a much bigger bed, but it also comes with a modular attachment system. Plug in a blade, and it dices through paper and vinyl. Plug in a pen, and it’ll draw logos or schematics in a flash. You can even engrave and burn laser images into all sorts of materials.
With 10-watt and 40-watt lasers, I carved out a wooden Pokémon stencil for my daughter, then turned one of her other drawings into a custom cork drink coaster. (See my embedded video!) First, Bambu’s laser gently etched the surface, then it cut out a coaster, all with one operation. I even managed to engrave a set of Apple AirTags, though I did burn one of their plastic shells trying to dial in the right settings.
Sure, you can already do these things with individual tools, and there are a handful of machines on the market that combine 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC routing into one device. But now, Bambu is about to muscle in on Cricut, GlowForge and iDraw’s turf with one machine to rule the prosumer hobbyist market. Or at least that’s the idea.
Fundamentally, the H2D works the same way as Bambu’s original printers: it has a robot gantry that moves left, right, forward and back at high speed, while a bed slowly lowers to let your print get taller as you go. (Specifically, it’s a CoreXY system.) But now, that robot gantry houses two alternating nozzles, a quick-release mount and dedicated power connector for other tools.
It makes sense: kind of like how a KitchenAid stand mixer also lets you use its rotary power to optionally spin a pasta maker or vegetable slicer attachment, why not use a 3D printer’s precise 3D motions to move pens, blades and lasers, too?
But those are optional, so let’s talk 3D printing first. You can print things fully twice as large as Bambu’s original X1 and P1 series printers (by volume) inside its 350 x 320 x 325mm build area, and the twin nozzles mean you can print in two different materials without constantly changing between those filaments and wasting some every time you do. One of Bambu’s go-to examples is an entire bicycle helmet including its padding, that you can print at once, with a strong carbon-fiber laced PETG outer shell mated to a soft TPU cushion.
Like last year’s Bambu A1 and A1 Mini, the H2D inherits easy toolless nozzle swaps, only now with nozzles designed to go up to 350 degrees Celsius and optional high-flow ones. Only the right nozzle supports TPU, but each can be connected to its own optional AMS to automatically retract and load different kinds of filament, and Bambu’s desktop app can now even tell you which rolls should go with which nozzles to minimize waste.
Speaking of AMS, the optional new four-color AMS 2 Pro, or single-color AMS HT, now have built-in heaters and electromagnetically opening and closing vents so they can dry filament too (important because many 3D printing materials absorb troublesome moisture). The AMS HT goes up to 85 degrees Celsius, the AMS 2 Pro up to 65 degrees.
The printer has autonomous vents, too, so you don’t need to open the door or remove the lid to ensure soft plastics don’t warp. And it has its own 65-degree chamber heater to keep things toasty for filaments. Everywhere I look, there are potential improvements, from a new, seemingly community-inspired dual wiper system for the nozzles, to the way its tubing is easier to connect and feeds slightly more reliably than before.
And that’s before you opt for the laser specific parts, including a set of green-tinted laser safety windows, additional cameras and flame sensors, and a big red button you can slam to quickly turn the whole thing off. I was apprehensive about heating flammable materials inside a 3D printer, especially once the printer’s touchscreen had me walk through its “Laser Terms and Conditions,” but I’ve yet to see any flame. After seeing how the printer’s own jet of air, fans, and optional fume extractor handled the heat during my first few laser operations, I feel reasonably confident.
I just don’t know how often I’d want to use a laser inside my 3D printer, and the laser left a burning smell in my garage for days even with the fume extractor at max. Plus, you (understandably) can’t start a laser or slicing operation remotely: as a precaution, Bambu makes you press a physical button on the printer and advises you to stick around. Thankfully, laser operations are much quicker than 3D printing, measured in seconds and minutes instead of hours and days.
Bambu Suite is the new desktop app for laser, blade, and pen operations, and it’s a little barebones today. While you should be able to load and print community designs starting in April, the version I tried was limited to basic preset shapes, text, curved lines, QR codes, and images. You can adjust speed, laser strength or blade/pen pressure, have the printer take a photo of your materials on the bed, then overlay your project atop that photo before pressing print.
Even though I’ve had an H2D for about a month, I won’t be reviewing it anytime soon. That’s partly because there’s just so very many functions to test, but also partly because I want to give it some more time in the oven: like most 3D printers, it seems Bambu sent this one to reviewers before its functions are fully dialed in.
While Bambu’s touchscreen and software does a wonderful job easing newcomers into printing, cutting, and etching, and it’s got more cameras and algorithms than ever before (including LIDAR, timelapse, a new nozzle camera and a bird’s eye camera too), I’m actually finding its basic 3D printing modes aren’t as reliable yet as other printers I’ve used.
Bambu actually sent me a whole new printer after the first one failed tests that cheaper 3D printers easily passed; my second printer is doing far better, but I’m still getting better quality out of my old P1P. Plus, the H2D’s dual-nozzle feature isn’t working reliably for me. I did finish Bambu’s bicycle helmet after a nearly three-day print, but I won’t be able to wear it, given all the unsightly bits of carbon-fiber laced PETG sticking out and the conspicuous gaps in its TPU padding.
Here’s hoping that’s just growing pains. At the least, I’d go watch reviews from other, more experienced 3D printing enthusiasts before buying this machine.
The Bambu H2D starts at $1,899 with preorders starting in June. A $2,799 H2D combo with a 10W laser is available for pre-order today and ships at the end of April. An H2D AMS combo, meanwhile, includes the AMS 2 Pro, build plate, spool holder and accessory box. That’s in stock and available to order now. Finally, there’s a $3,499 H2D Laser Full Combo package with a 40-watt laser, cutting module, laser platform, cutting platform and emergency stop button. Pre-orders for that begin today and it ships at the end of April.
