Bambu Lab just announced its brand-new 55 watt R1 CO2 laser cutter, which is the first product to ever exist outside of its 3D printing ecosystem. The company has been the top dog in the maker space for almost 5 years now, manufacturing the best 3D printers on the market, so it’s interesting to see Bambu Lab branching out into xTool territory with a standalone laser product.
I’ve been beta testing this beastly machine for around 2 weeks now, and I’m thoroughly impressed by its auto-alignment technology, premium design, and how it cuts acrylic like butter.
It’s pretty chonky compared with some of the best laser cutters and engravers out there, but it packs serious power and works with a wide range of materials, including wood, clear acrylic, leather, paper, and fabric, and it can engrave glass, stone, and coated metals too.
This isn’t a completely new direction from the company, considering that Bambu Lab has been blending modular laser cutting and engraving into its latest H series of 3D printers for a year now. The Bambu Lab H2S that I currently own has the option to laser cut, but also use a blade, a lot like one of the best Cricut machines.
Let’s dive into my first impressions of the brand-new Bambu Lab R1, or you can check out the video I put together below for a more visual rundown.
To start with the highlights: In terms of price, the R1 sits at exactly what I’d expect for a laser of this size and power, priced at $2,499.00 / £2,249.00 / €2,499.00 / AU$3,849.00 for the laser alone (no add-ons included). In comparison to entry-level desktop laser units like the xTool P2S, which launched with an MSRP of around $4,299, this is actually pretty competitive.
The R1’s best party trick is that it can automatically align its own optical path, thanks to the TriSense System. This means it can automatically detect where a material is placed, calculate how high the surface is, and map the tool head path in just one click. On other Co2 lasers, this is a painstaking manual process that involves taping thermal paper over a mirror mount, testing different burn marks, and turning each mirror by hand until the course is correct.
Bambu Lab also sent me a Vision Encoder (sold separately) to test with the R1, which is a handy calibration board that measures and corrects any mechanical drift that may occur after prolonged use. This ensures that the laser will last the test of time if maintained correctly.
Makers already familiar with Bambu Lab’s ecosystem will get stuck in with this laser cutter quickly, as the R1 does not require you to learn a new method of working and fits into the ecosystem and interface you already know. The touch pad and UI feel almost identical to those of Bambu Lab 3D printers, and you can connect the R1 to Bambu Handy in a matter of minutes for easy app control.
The BirdsEye camera sits in the top of the laser lid and makes it easy to place your designs accurately, although there’s no way to record or monitor the laser activity via the camera or app, so you’ll need to be in close proximity to it at all times, as you should with any laser engraver in a home setting.
The machine utilises Bambu Suite software as opposed to Bambu Studio, which is 100% free with no hidden costs or AI credits needed. I believe it’s only available as a desktop download, so keep this in mind if you only have access to a tablet or smartphone. It’s easy to use, with basic tools to help you create, with background removal and tracing tools for turning images into SVGs in seconds.
(Image credit: Future)
There are some materials that the machine isn’t compatible with at the time of testing, but this may change once Bambu rolls out a software update. I attempted to engrave on PLA anyway for the sake of testing, and it all worked fine. A word of caution: don’t go against any of the product guidelines and safety measures.
The machine is Class 1 certified, which means you don’t need goggles to operate it, and it’s perfectly safe around children and pets. There’s a big red safety button to shut down operation, an auto-stop feature when the lid is open, and it has flame detection too, which the Auto Fire Extinguishing System (sold separately) can put out on its own.
I won’t lie, the Bambu Lab R1 is a super heavy and bulky machine (the unboxing and setup process is definitely a 2-person job). But according to the company, the R1 delivers the same working area as a typical CO2 laser while taking up about a third less space. Personally, I’m used to my slimmer xTool F2 Ultra laser, and this one certainly takes up more space in comparison.
The good thing is you can comfortably fit 2 sheets of Bambu Lab’s basswood plywood in there side by side, with a working area of 600 × 300 mm. There’s always the conveyor attachment (sold separately), which you can buy if you need to expand the working area for furniture-scale work up to 3,000 mm long.
(Image credit: Future)
I think for Bambu Lab’s first-ever standalone laser, and non-3D printing product, this is a huge success. I haven’t run into any hiccups or negative incidents yet but I’m still testing and looking for flaws each day.
Stay tuned for my full review of the Bambu Lab R1 coming soon. Pre-orders are live right now through the official Bambu Lab store, with shipping expected to roll out in October.
Estudio EA