Snapmaker U1 vs Bambu P2S: Which to Buy

Short answer: The Snapmaker U1 is the better buy than the Bambu Lab P2S Combo for multicolour printing. The U1 is a four-toolhead CoreXY toolchanger that costs $749 on Snapmaker's US store, while the P2S Combo is a single-nozzle printer fed by an AMS 2 Pro at $649 on Bambu Lab's US store. The U1 wastes far less filament on colour changes and can mix materials such as PLA and TPU in one part. Buy the P2S without AMS (from $449) instead if you mostly print in one colour or need an enclosed printer for ABS and ASA out of the box.

Updated 29 October 2026. Prices are from the makers' US stores on that date and change often. Disclosure: some links below are Amazon affiliate links (tag tinkeratlas0c-20). If you buy through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Snapmaker U1 vs Bambu Lab P2S at a glance

Spec	Snapmaker U1	Bambu Lab P2S / P2S Combo
Price (US store, 29 Oct 2026)	$749 (regularly $999)	from $449 without AMS; $649 Combo
Multicolour method	4 independent toolheads (toolchanger)	1 nozzle fed by the AMS 2 Pro (Combo)
Colour/material change	Toolhead swap in about 5 s (Snapmaker lab figure)	Filament is cut, retracted and purged through the same nozzle
Build volume	270 × 270 × 270 mm	256 × 256 × 256 mm
Max toolhead speed	up to 500 mm/s	600 mm/s
Max nozzle / bed temperature	300 °C / 100 °C	300 °C / 110 °C
Enclosure	Open top; optional Top Cover for ABS/ASA	Enclosed with activated-carbon filter
Slicer	Snapmaker Orca (based on OrcaSlicer)	Bambu Studio

Specs are from Snapmaker's U1 page and Bambu Lab's P2S specifications.

My first look at the Snapmaker U1

I have a Snapmaker U1 on my own bench. Snapmaker sent it to me for testing, and they have no say over what I write. I covered the unboxing and first prints in my Snapmaker U1 first look on TinkerAtlas, so here is the short version. It arrived well packaged and organised. Assembly went with no issues, helped by a good user manual. The calibrations after assembly took a while, but that is not something you do often. The touchscreen UI is nice and functional, and the phone app works well. On the first prints, a dragon and my own Spike the Alien Lizard model, the prints looked really good and the tool swaps were quicker than I expected. Noise is medium: not quiet, but not the loudest printer I have heard. The full long-term review, including multi-material tests and waste, is still to come.

Snapmaker U1 toolchanger 3D printer assembled on MakerViking's workbench, front view with the touchscreen and four toolheads — My Snapmaker U1, assembled and on the bench.

Snapmaker U1 toolheads packed in foam inserts inside the shipping box during unboxing — Unboxing: the toolheads ship in their own foam inserts.

Snapmaker U1 accessory tray with PTFE filament tubes, tools and spare parts in the box — The accessory tray with filament tubes and the toolkit.

Photos: MakerViking, from my U1 first-look post.

What is the difference between a toolchanger and an AMS?

A toolchanger is a 3D printer that parks several complete toolheads and picks up the one it needs, so every colour or material keeps its own hot nozzle. The Snapmaker U1 has four. An AMS (Automatic Material System) is Bambu Lab's filament changer: it feeds up to four spools into one shared nozzle, so at every colour change the printer cuts the filament, loads the next one and purges the old colour out of the hotend. Purging costs both time and plastic. On busy multicolour models the purged filament can weigh more than the model. For a longer explanation of every method, including Prusa's MMU3 and Creality's CFS, see my multicolour 3D printing guide.

Filament waste and print time

Filament waste is the biggest practical difference. Data from Snapmaker's own lab tests, published on the U1 product page, compares the U1 with a shared-nozzle printer on the same models. A four-colour dragon figure produced 80.68 g of total waste on the U1 against 309.75 g on the shared-nozzle printer, and a hexagon vase produced 241.96 g against 1,452.26 g. Snapmaker summarises this as "up to 85% less waste". These are the manufacturer's figures, not independent tests, and Snapmaker notes that results vary with model size, colour layout and settings. The direction is still easy to understand: a toolchanger does not need to flush a nozzle at every colour change, so the more colour changes a print has, the bigger the U1's advantage.

Materials: rigid, flexible and soluble in one print

The U1 can put different materials in each toolhead, so you can combine PETG with TPU for rigid-flex parts or print PLA with PVA soluble supports. Snapmaker lists PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA and PCTG as standard materials, and ABS, ASA, PA and PC with the optional Top Cover. The P2S is enclosed from the start, and Bambu Lab lists a long range of supported filaments including ABS, ASA, PA, PC and carbon-fibre blends, with a hardened-steel nozzle and extruder gear. If your main reason to upgrade is printing ABS or ASA parts, the P2S needs no extra purchase.

Which should you buy?

Buy the Snapmaker U1 if you want multicolour or multi-material prints often: figures, signs, Gridfinity labels, rigid-flex parts, or soluble supports. It is my pick as the best affordable toolchanger and the mid-range multicolour printer in my recommended 3D printers list.
Buy the Bambu Lab P2S without AMS if you mostly print one colour and want a fast, enclosed printer for PLA, PETG, ABS and ASA. It is my single-colour mid-range pick.
Skip the P2S Combo for multicolour work unless you already own Bambu printers and filament: at $100 less than the U1, you give up independent toolheads and accept purge waste on every colour change.

Check the Snapmaker U1 price on Amazon · Snapmaker store

Check the Bambu Lab P2S price on Amazon · Bambu Lab store

Designing multicolour models for the U1

SindriCAD is my free, open-source parametric CAD tool, and it exports multi-colour 3MF projects mapped to the U1's four toolheads. You can read how it works in the SindriCAD guide or download it free at tinkeratlas.com/sindricad. If you would rather build your own CoreXY machine than buy one, my open-source Fenrir CoreXY printer and Ymir CrossXY printer are documented in the wiki.

FAQ

Is the Snapmaker U1 better than the Bambu Lab P2S?

For multicolour and multi-material printing, yes. The U1 has four independent toolheads, so it wastes much less filament at colour changes. For single-colour printing of ABS or ASA, the enclosed P2S is the simpler choice.

How much does the Snapmaker U1 cost?

The Snapmaker U1 was $749 (regularly $999) on Snapmaker's US store on 29 October 2026. The Bambu Lab P2S started at $449 without AMS, and the P2S Combo was $649.

Can the Snapmaker U1 print ABS?

Yes, with the optional Top Cover. Snapmaker lists ABS, ASA, PA and PC as materials that need the Top Cover, while PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA and PCTG print without it.

Does the Snapmaker U1 waste less filament than an AMS?

Yes. In Snapmaker's lab tests the U1 used up to 85% less filament waste than a shared-nozzle printer on the same multicolour models, because it swaps toolheads instead of purging one nozzle.

Which slicer does the Snapmaker U1 use?

Snapmaker Orca, which is built on the open-source OrcaSlicer. See my OrcaSlicer vs PrusaSlicer vs Cura comparison for how OrcaSlicer compares.