Mysterious Device N8 in Bambu Studio and H3C Release Date | Domechy

The Bambu Lab H3C and X2D Pro were granted FCC approval on 11 September 2026, and the P3C followed on 15 September. As of 21 October 2026, Bambu Lab has not announced any of the three, so the H3C and X2D Pro have gone 40 days and the P3C 36 days without an announcement. In the meantime, Bambu Studio’s public source code has gained a hidden definition for an unreleased device with the internal code N8, which no Bambu Lab printer on sale uses.

As a short disclaimer, Bambu Lab has not given a release date for any of these printers at the time this article is written, so this article is based on public FCC records, Bambu Studio’s public source code and the dates of Bambu Lab’s past launches, not on anything the company has said about the H3C, P3C, X2D Pro or N8.

Where the three printers stand

The FCC IDs are 2A6J8-PF008P for the H3C, 2A6J8-PF004E for the X2D Pro and 2A6J8-PF006P for the P3C. The H3C and P3C are the two printers we covered last month, when the filings appeared alongside Bambu Lab patents describing a hotend changer with up to ten nozzles. The X2D Pro carries the model code PF004E against PF004P for the X2D on sale today, and since the H2D and H2D Pro follow the same pattern with PF003D and PF003E, the X2D Pro is most likely a business-oriented version of the X2D.

An unreleased device codenamed N8 appears in Bambu Studio

Bambu Studio is open source, and each Bambu Lab printer it supports has a small definition file in the code with an internal code and a display name. A commit in the public repository adds a new file for a device with the code N8, with the display name “Bambu Lab N8”. The commit is titled “FIX: skip non-fdm printers in public discovery” and carries the note “JIRA: none reason: other unreleased printer”.

The same commit adds a rule that hides any device from public builds unless its file lists “fdm” as a mode, and the N8 file lists only “laser”, so a public build would not show it to users. The N8 file is present in the source for the 2.8.4 Public Beta and the later 02.08.04.61 build, but not in the 2.8.3 Public Beta from 8 September or in 2.8.2.61, the current stable release, so most Bambu Studio users do not have the file yet. We confirmed this on an installed copy as well. The latest stable Bambu Studio has the A2L’s N9 file but no N8, while an installed copy of the 2.8.4 Public Beta has N8.json in its printers folder, dated 22 September, alongside the files for every Bambu Lab printer on sale.

What N8 actually is remains open. The developer’s note calls it an unreleased printer, but the “laser” setting could describe the real product, could be a placeholder used to keep it hidden, or could belong to a device that never reaches the market. Most of the file reuses existing assets, including the H2D’s thumbnail and connection images and the multi-extruder calibration image used by the H2 series, so it does not reveal any hardware. The code number also proves little on its own, since N8 sitting between the P2S (N7) and the A2L (N9) does not establish its product family or launch order.

The way it appeared is different from earlier printers. When we traced the first public commit for recent printer codes, each one landed in Bambu Studio’s public code within a few days of the printer’s announcement.

N8 has remained in Bambu Studio’s public code for 29 days without an announcement, excluded from normal discovery by a rule that filters non-FDM devices. That does not tell us when a launch will happen or which product N8 is, but it does show that Bambu Lab has an unreleased device far enough along to be defined in the public code of its next Bambu Studio version.

How long Bambu Lab usually waits after an FCC grant

The table below covers nine Bambu Lab launches since 2023 where we could match the announcement to the product’s own FCC grant. The launch date is the day the product was publicly announced or revealed, which is not always the day it started shipping.

The X1 and X1 Carbon are left out because the X1 was announced through its crowdfunding campaign before its FCC grant, and the 2026 filings for the A1 and P1 series are left out because they are later filings for printers already on sale.

In this set, Bambu Lab announced each product between six days before and 14 days after its FCC grant, and at 40 days the H3C and X2D Pro have waited almost three times as long as the slowest of them. The R1, granted on 21 September, was announced the next day, and the S1 scanner was teased for November about three weeks after its grant, while the AMS 3H and AMS 3P, granted on 21 September, are also still unannounced.

Possible reasons for the wait

These are possibilities based on dates, not information from Bambu Lab. The first is a combined launch, since the AMS 3H, AMS 3P and S1 were all filed within ten days of the printers and the S1 is now teased for November, so Bambu Lab may be holding the printers until the whole family is ready. The second is a trade show reveal, since Bambu Lab revealed the H2C at Formnext last year and Formnext 2026 runs from 17 to 20 November, although that is only a date on the calendar and not evidence of a plan. The third is that the printers are not ready for production, because an FCC grant only confirms that the radio hardware passed testing and does not set any launch deadline.

Bambu Lab’s teasers may also look different this time. The H2S was teased four days before its reveal and the H2C livestream was posted the day before Formnext, but the S1 was announced on 12 October with only a month, “November 2026”, so the first sign of the H3C or P3C could be either a short-notice teaser or a month-ahead one like the S1.

The confidential exhibits set an outer limit of a different kind. The H3C and X2D Pro photos and user manuals become public on 10 March 2027, and the P3C’s on 14 March 2027, whether or not Bambu Lab has announced the printers by then.

If you are deciding whether to wait

For anyone in Malaysia choosing between buying a Bambu Lab multi-material printer now or waiting for the H3C, nobody outside Bambu Lab knows the H3C’s specifications or price yet, and there is no announced date, so waiting has a cost if you need the printer for work now. Local availability also tends to follow the global launch, and since these printers have Wi-Fi, official Malaysian sales are subject to MCMC equipment approval.

The H2C, with its Vortek hotend changing system, is the hotend-changing printer Bambu Lab already sells, so it is the closest current alternative for anyone who needs that capability now. If your need is not urgent, the H3C announcement will settle its price and specifications, and both will affect how the H2C compares.

What to watch for next

The first thing to watch is a teaser from Bambu Lab, either short-notice or month-ahead like the S1. The second is Formnext from 17 to 20 November. The third is Bambu Studio itself, since a real display name replacing “Bambu Lab N8”, or a change to its “laser” mode, would be the clearest sign of what the device is. We will update this article as soon as any of these happen.

Sources

• Shenzhen Tuozhu Technology FCC applications list (grantee code 2A6J8)
• FCC ID 2A6J8-PF008P, H3C
• FCC ID 2A6J8-PF006P, P3C
• FCC ID 2A6J8-PF004E, X2D Pro
• FIX: skip non-fdm printers in public discovery, Bambu Studio on GitHub
• Bambu Studio printer definition files, GitHub
• Bambu Lab S1 3D scanner, coming November, Bambu Lab Community Forum
• Bambu Lab launches the H2D Pro, 3D Printing Industry
• BIG reveal is coming soon (H2S teaser), Bambu Lab Community Forum
• Bambu Lab launches the new H2C, 3D Printing Industry
• Going live from Formnext: join Bambu Lab for the H2C reveal, Bambu Lab Community Forum
• Bambu Lab teases new 3D printer A2L ahead of June 1 reveal, 3D Printing Industry
• Bambu Lab launches the A2L, 3Dnatives
• Bambu Lab launches H2D, Bambu Lab Blog
• Formnext 2026 dates, 3Dnatives
• Bambu Lab S1 3D Scanner Teased for November 2026, Domechy
• Bambu Lab H3C and P3C Are Coming? FCC Filings Found, Patents Show a 10-Nozzle Hotend Changer, Domechy