3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Bambu Lab P1P vs Original Prusa MK4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Bambu Lab P1P comparisonsMore Original Prusa MK4 comparisons
| Property | Bambu Lab P1PCOREXY | Original Prusa MK4BEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Bambu Lab | Prusa Research |
| Class | COREXY | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Bambu Lab P1P. Bambu documents it alongside the P1S in a single two-column parameters table[1] | Original Prusa MK4[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Announced 29 March 2023 with assembled printers shipping immediately from stock; kits opened for ordering about two weeks later[2] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | 1099 USD assembled, 799 USD as a kit, VAT included, at launch[2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | P1P is the open-frame version; the P1S is the same motion platform in an enclosure with plastic and glass panels. Bambu's own comparison table shows what the P1P lacks: control-board fan, chamber temperature regulator fan, auxiliary part-cooling fan and air filter are all listed "Optional" on the P1P and "Closed Loop Control"/"Activated Carbon Filter" on the P1S. The P1P is also lighter, 9.65 kg vs 12.95 kg, and 386 mm deep vs 389 mm. A P1P Enclosure Kit is sold as a spare part. Filament support differs accordingly: ABS/ASA are "Capable" on the P1P but "Ideal" on the P1S[1] | Superseded by the MK4S, which is the same machine plus a 360-degree turbine part-cooling fan, a high-flow CHT nozzle and firmware/profile work; Prusa sold a 99 USD MK4-to-MK4S upgrade kit and automatically converted unshipped MK4 orders to the S version. The MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades convert an MK3S+ to part of the MK4 electronics stack but are not an MK4[3][2] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Superseded. No longer listed in the Bambu Lab US store 3D-printer collection in Aug 2026 (the collection carries A1, A1 mini, A2L, P1S, P2S, X2D, H2S, H2D, H2C); /products/p1p redirects to the collection page and only P1P spare parts remain in the store sitemap. No live first-party price could therefore be recorded[4][1] | Discontinued. No MK4 appears in Prusa's Aug 2026 3D-printer listing, and the MK4 product-page slugs redirect to the MK4S page, so no live first-party price could be recorded[5][3] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 256 x 256 x 256 mm advertised. Bambu's own footnote limits the default printable height in Bambu Studio to 250 mm to avoid heatbed collisions, and warns that the collapsible filament-cutter stopper takes part of the printing area when popped out[1] | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 386 x 389 x 458 mm (P1P). Bambu prints P1P and P1S dimensions in the same cell - the P1S is 389 x 389 x 458 mm[1] | Not documented |
| Net weight (kg) | 9.65 kg net, 14.30 kg gross[1] | Not documented |
| Frame construction & material | Open frame; Bambu offers printable mod-plates for the side panels[1] | Die-cast aluminium frame - Prusa replaced the MK3S+'s cut-aluminium frame for the MK4, keeping only the Y-axis profiles, some bearings, the heatbed and the power supply[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame. An official P1P Enclosure Kit exists as a spare part, and the enclosed version of the same platform is sold as the P1S[1][4] | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional add-on[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXY driven by two stepper motors, each with its own belt to the printhead. Bambu's wiki states the P1P and P1S share the same motion system[6] | Cartesian bed-slinger of the Prusa i3 family - Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were carried over[2] |
| Z-axis: leadscrew count & type, sync mechanism, anti-backlash | Three leadscrews driven from a single stepper motor through a belt; the whole bed drops in Z. There is no motorised Z-tilt - bed tramming is by three manual knobs under the bed[6] | Not documented |
| Belts (type, width, e.g. Gates?) | Adjustable belt tensioners at the rear; a Belt Tension Monitor reports when tension drifts out of range[6] | Not documented |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 400-step (0.9 degree) stepper motors, stated by Prusa to prevent vertical fine artefacts[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | Trinamic TMC2130-LA silent stepper drivers on the xBuddy board[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 500 mm/s max toolhead speed (manufacturer claim); no independent measurement found[1] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20 m/s2 = 20000 mm/s2 max toolhead acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive; Bambu sells a "Stainless Steel Extruder Unit (P1 series)" as the service part[6] | Nextruder direct drive with a planetary gear system, 1:10 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink, all-metal hotend, no PTFE tube in the filament path[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 1:10 planetary gearbox[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | All-metal all-in-one hotend: the nozzle is integrated into the heatblock and joined to the heatsink by a thin metal tube, so the hotend is replaced as a unit. 0.4 mm stainless-steel nozzle included; 0.2/0.6/0.8 mm optional[1][6] | Quick-swap nozzle system, 0.4 mm default, other diameters supported[2] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max hot-end temperature[1] | 300 C claimed max hotend temperature in Prusa's MK4 announcement table - note the MK4S product page publishes 290 C for the same hotend family[2][7] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 100 C max build-plate temperature[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Textured PEI plate; Cool Plate, Engineering Plate and High Temperature Plate compatible[1] | Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring-steel sheets; compatible with the MK3 sheets (smooth PEI, satin, textured PEI, PA nylon)[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Nozzle-touch probing against three ceramic force (piezo) sensors under the heatbed: Z homing works by detecting the force of the nozzle contacting the heatbed. Three manual levelling knobs are also fitted[8][6] | Load-cell sensor: fully automatic first-layer calibration with the nozzle as the probe, plus automatic mesh bed levelling over the print area[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Yes - filament run-out sensor[1] | Built-in Hall-effect filament sensor supporting automatic filament loading[2] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Compatible with AMS and the AMS hub, up to 16 colours with four AMS units[6] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Part-cooling fan fitted; the control-board fan, chamber temperature regulator fan and auxiliary part-cooling fan that the P1S has under closed-loop control are all listed as Optional on the P1P[1] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32, designed and built in-house, with a separate extruder breakout board[2] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W Delta PSU with hardware power panic[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Closed-source proprietary firmware - not a Klipper or Marlin derivative, and no printer-firmware source is published. The bambulab GitHub organisation carries 11 repositories (Bambu Studio, wxWidgets/boost/ffmpeg forks, the wiki); none is printer firmware. Updates are delivered over the air via Bambu Studio / Bambu Handy[9] | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[10][7] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 2.7-inch 192x64 monochrome screen, not a touchscreen - control is by button, app or PC application[6] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Button-driven on-device UI on a 192x64 monochrome panel; most interaction is expected to happen in Bambu Studio or Bambu Handy[6] | On-device colour UI with one-click printing and status LEDs; Prusa Link is integrated and Prusa Connect adds remote printing[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Bambu-Bus; microSD card storage; 5 V/1.5 A USB output power[6] | Ethernet built in, optional ESP Wi-Fi module delivered with the printer, USB drive; print files can also arrive over LAN or the internet via Prusa Connect[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Low-rate chamber monitoring camera, 1280x720 at 0.5 fps, timelapse supported - the 0.5 fps figure is Bambu's own and is far below video rate[1] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Ideal: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA, PET. Capable: PA, PC, ABS, ASA - the open frame is the limiting factor, and the same table upgrades ABS/ASA to Ideal for the enclosed P1S[1] | Prusa's launch table says "any thermoplastic including Nylon and Polycarbonate"; the enclosure is still needed in practice for ABS/ASA-class materials[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | xBuddy hardware overcurrent protection disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A; firmware is open-source and auditable[2][10] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | 2-year limited warranty for consumers in the US, Canada, the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year in the rest of the world. Bambu Lab's own policy records the US/Canada term as a 2026 extension from one year to two[11] | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[12][7] |
Manufacturer claims, independent measurements, packages and test conditions retain their source wording. FDM linear speed and resin vertical speed use different units and are not directly comparable. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Bambu Lab P1S store page - 'Parameters Comparison' table giving P1P and P1S in separate columns us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab US Store - 3D Printers collection listing (base prices, Aug 2026) us.store.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Wiki - Introduction to P1 series wiki.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab Wiki - Replace the Heatbed Sensor Unit / Heatbed Piezo Interface Board wiki.bambulab.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - bambulab organisation repository list (11 repos, checked Aug 2026) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Lab Warranty Policy bambulab.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc