Why the 7-Tool Bambu Lab P3C Could Be the Bigger Deal than H3C

Photos of the Bambu Lab P3C and H3C have been circulating for a few days now, and they come from Japan’s radio certification database, Giteki, where Bambu Lab’s filings include external photos of both printers. The H3C photos show nine tool holders, which matches Bambu Lab’s own teaser ahead of the 3 November reveal, while the P3C photos show seven tool docks on a printer that Bambu Lab has not announced at all.

As a short disclaimer, Bambu Lab has not published the price or specifications of either printer at the time this article is written, so this article is based on the certification photos and on Bambu Lab’s current prices, not on any official P3C information.

What the certification photos show

The P3C photos also show a single carriage on round rods and a textured build plate, and the US label on the back lists a 100 to 120 V, 8 A input. The photos do not show whether each dock holds a complete toolhead or only a hotend, and they do not show how the filament is fed.

Bambu Lab has been catching up on full toolchangers

Toolchangers have been the multi-colour method most of the community has been waiting for, because each tool keeps its own filament loaded and a colour change does not need the long purge that a single nozzle with an AMS does. Several brands moved in that direction over the past year, with the Snapmaker U1, the Flashforge Creator 5 and Prusa’s INDX for the CORE One already shipping in 2026, and Creality’s K3 with its KliTek nozzle-changing system starting US deliveries from 2 November.

Bambu Lab’s own launches this year went in a different direction. The X2D in April was a dual-nozzle printer and the A2L in June was a large-format printer, and from what I saw in the community, a lot of the reaction each time was disappointment that neither of them was a toolchanger. The H2C from last year already prints up to seven filaments with very little purge, using six swappable Vortek hotends and one fixed nozzle, but unlike a full toolchanger, the Vortek system swaps hotends rather than complete extrusion assemblies, so the filament is unloaded and reloaded whenever it changes Vortek hotends. So the area where Bambu Lab has been behind is full toolchanging, and the H3C and P3C are Bambu Lab catching up there, although they arrive with more tools than most of the machines that got there first.

Why the P3C could matter more than the H3C

The H3C will be the more advanced machine, but it belongs to the H series, where prices are well above what most hobbyists in Malaysia spend. The P series has always been Bambu Lab’s mid-range line, and when Bambu Lab introduced the P2S as its next-generation P-series printer in October 2025, it launched at US$549, or US$799 with the AMS 2 Pro, which was no more than the P1S had cost. If the P3C follows the same pattern, it could land somewhat above the P2S, although Bambu Lab has not given any price.

The rivals in the sub-US$1,000 range all have four tools, so a P3C with seven would have nearly twice as many in the same price class. The exception is Prusa’s INDX, which goes up to eight tools, but the eight-tool kit is US$999 on its own and needs a CORE One+, either bought separately or as a complete INDX printer, which puts it at H-series money. If the P3C is priced like a P-series printer, it would put a lot of pressure on the four-tool machines, and that is the part of this leak that is more interesting than the H3C.

What is still unknown

Bambu Lab has not confirmed the P3C’s price, build volume, whether its seven docks hold full toolheads or hotends, how it is fed with filament, or when it will be announced. The H3C reveal on 3 November may include the P3C, or Bambu Lab may keep it for later. 

What to watch for next

The H3C reveal is on 3 November at 10 PM Malaysia time, and the first thing to watch is whether the P3C appears alongside it. The second is the P3C’s price, since the argument in this article only holds if it stays close to P-series pricing. We will update this article once Bambu Lab announces either printer.

Sources

• Giteki 211-260730, PF006-P (P3C), fccid.io
• Giteki 211-260728, PF008-P (H3C), fccid.io
• Bambu Lab P3C Leak: 7-Tool Changer Photos, Price, Release, Makers101
• Bambu Lab P3C 3D Printer Revealed in Certification Photos, All3DP
• Bambu Lab H3C: Tool Changer. Game Changer., Bambu Lab
• Bambu Lab Throws a Bone to the Mid-Range with the P2S, All3DP
• Flashforge’s Creator 5 Toolchanger Takes Aim at the Snapmaker U1, All3DP
• Prusa INDX Orders Are Open, All3DP
• Creality K3 3D Printer Price and Release Date, Domechy
• Multi-Colour 3D Printers Explained, Domechy