Bambu Lab H3C reviewed: top marks for speed and TPU, criticism of height, purge tower and manual spool changes

The first reviews came out at the same time as the H3C reveal. Some reviewers had the printer for weeks. The consensus: Bambu Lab’s most versatile multicolour and multi-material printer yet, but large, expensive and only worthwhile for people who often print with many colours or materials.

Scores

Outlet	Score	Key point
Tom’s Hardware	4.5 out of 5, Editor’s Choice	printed everything the testers threw at it
TechRadar	5 out of 5	strong at multi-material and mixed nozzles, but complex
How-To Geek	9 out of 10	best printer for frequent multicolour printing
CNC Kitchen	no score	Bambu’s most versatile printer, probably the best choice for very soft TPU
China-Gadgets	no score	best printer the team has tested so far

What the reviewers measured

• Swap time: CNC Kitchen measured 6 to 7 seconds, just over 10 seconds when the tool also prints the purge tower outline (around 40 seconds on the H2C). China-Gadgets measured 8.8 seconds.
• Waste: about 50 mg per swap according to CNC Kitchen; one print with over 4,000 swaps produced almost 200 g of purge tower. How-To Geek printed a 7-colour model with 3,595 swaps in 28 hours with a 225 g tower and estimated 62 hours on the H2C.
• TPU: CNC Kitchen even printed Shore 60A TPU cleanly with the 2.85 mm tool.
• Chamber and power: 65 °C after about 10 minutes, around 175 W printing PLA and around 350 W for ABS (CNC Kitchen).
• Speed: according to CNC Kitchen, only about 10 percent faster than the H2C and H2D in real prints. The big gain comes from faster swaps.

Criticism

• Size: with the AMS 3H on top, the printer is very tall (How-To Geek: about 1.25 m with the lid open) and weighs around 36 kg.
• Spool changes: filament is not rewound automatically; you have to unload at the printer before each spool change.
• Drying: only two of the nine slots dry filament, without active dehumidification.
• Purge tower: much smaller than on single-nozzle printers, but still significant.
• Review units: Tom’s Hardware tested with beta firmware and had a clicking component and a tool that caught on the tubes. China-Gadgets mentions a slicer error and uneven bed temperature.

Who it is for

The reviewers agree: anyone who only occasionally prints in multiple colours or with two materials is better served by cheaper printers such as the H2D, X2D or P2S. For many colours, many materials and soft TPU, the reviews rate the H3C as the strongest machine in this class right now.

Bambu Studio 2.9.1

Bambu Studio 2.9.1 was released alongside the launch. It supports the H3C and allows slicing with different nozzle diameters in one model, each region at its own layer height, initially for the H3C only. Also new are a TPU 75A profile, “Color Matching” for mixing colours from loaded filaments, support for the E1 air purifier and several security fixes.

Update 4 November 2026: more reviews

• FauxHammer (miniatures and tabletop site): 4.5 out of 5, “the best FDM printer I’ve ever used”. Criticism: only two drying slots, no Ethernet, rear spools hard to reach, the ninth slot is the special 2.85 mm tool rather than a standard one, hotend swaps need three screws, parked tools get hot. On the early review unit a sensor failed, which Bambu’s instructions fixed. For single-colour miniatures, the tool changer brings little according to the reviewer.
• VoxelMatters: no score, verdict “the system is rock solid”. A shoe made of several TPU types ran for almost 80 hours without interruption; on one small TPU 75A part the filament got stuck in the extruder once.
• Overclocking.com: verdict “by far the best 3D printer on the market”. In five comparison prints the H3C was 15 to 48% faster than the H2D, most clearly with multicolour Minions in PLA (1:47 instead of 3:26 hours). TPU 75A printed quickly and without clogging. Criticism: fitting the BirdsEye camera and PrintTools is fiddly, and only 2 of the 9 AMS slots dry at the same time.