Bambu Lab Retires the X1 Series of FFF 3D Printers — But Promises Spares Out to 2031
The product that put Bambu Lab on the map, the X1 FFF printer range has entered retirement — with buyers pushed towards the P2S instead.
Bambu Lab has announced that the whole X1 series of fused filament fabrication (FFF, also known as FDM) 3D printers — including the Bambu Lab X1, X1 Carbon, and X1E — have "entered a well-earned retirement," with manufacturing to cease with immediate effect.
"The EOL [End-Of-Life] of the X1, X1 Carbon and X1E marks the end of a chapter — but not the story," Bambu Lab claims in its announcement. "Machines already in users' hands will keep working, supported until March 31, 2031 — spare parts, security updates, technical support included. During the 5-year service period, related spare parts will remain available through our Online Store and in authorized service centers. However, some parts may sell out earlier, so we recommend purchasing replacements in a timely manner."
Bambu Lab launched the X1 via crowdfunding platform Kickstarter back in May 2022, as a self-admittedly "unknown company from china" — promising specifications including 20,000mm/s² acceleration and 500mm/s maximum speed, integrated camera, and a multi-material feed system expandable to 16 colors. "Hardly anyone took it seriously," the company recalls. "Kickstarter had already seen dozens of campaigns promising to turn the market upside down, only to end in failure and embarrassment.
"Except this wasn't that. Bambu Lab delivered exactly what it promised. And for the first time in the history of 3D printing, everything truly was turned upside down. The campaign ended with over $7 million raised from 5,575 supporters — the third most successful 3D printing hardware campaign in Kickstarter history."
All good things must come to an end, though, and X1 family is now retired. Its replacement: the P family, with the $399 P1S at the bottom end and the $599 P2S as the company's "all-round best value workhorse." Even the P series has seen a cut, though: back in February Bambu Lab announced it was discontinuing the earlier P1P, "an icon of productivity" launched in 2022 as a cut-price alternative to the X1.
More information is available on the Bambu Lab blog; the company has confirmed software and firmware bug-fixes will be available out to the end of May next year, with security patches continuing to 2029 and spare parts available under best-effort terms clear through to March 2031.