Bambu Lab filament, AMS and drying: what the maker says

Short answer. You do not need an AMS for your first prints. The wiki has a first-print page for the A1 with an external spool, and the P2S page says its buffer switches between an AMS and external spools. Add an AMS later for colour, and pick the unit by printer: the AMS lite for the A1 series, the AMS 2 Pro or AMS HT for the P, X and H2 lines. Only the AMS 2 Pro and AMS HT dry filament. We have not tested any of this.

Which AMS goes with which printer

Unit	Printers, per the maker	Drying	Other notes from its pages
AMS lite	A1 and A2 series, one unit per printer. The store says it is "not compatible with X, P and H2 series printers"	None listed on the page we read	Feeds filament straight to the toolhead, so no filament buffer. The wiki FAQ says the A1 series prints up to 4 colours with it
AMS 2 Pro	P2S, X2D and H2 lines. The wiki also lists it with the X1, P1 and A2L	Up to 65 °C. The store says it cannot dry some filaments completely	On the P2S, one unit can take its drying power from the printer. More units, or drying while printing, need the official power adapter
AMS HT	Listed in the wiki connection guide with the P2S and H2 lines	Up to 85 °C. The wiki says PVA, PPS-CF and PPA-CF may still not dry fully	Must be powered on its own cable; the printer cannot power its drying. The store says it cannot auto-feed TPU but works as a drying box

For any AMS that is not the AMS lite, the wiki says "A filament buffer is required when connecting an AMS to a printer." The P2S Combo includes one. For the A1 mini the store FAQ says an AMS Hub accessory is needed to use the AMS, AMS 2 Pro or AMS HT. We did not read the H2 and X2D buffer pages and do not know what ships in each box beyond the lists in our box table.

Horizontal bar chart of the most colours the maker states: A1 series with AMS lite 4, P2S 20, H2S 24, H2D and H2C 25. — The maker's stated maximums for filled AMS setups. Sources: wiki.bambulab.com FAQ, P2S FAQ and AMS connection guide, read 2026-11-01. You will not need these numbers on week one.

What multi-colour printing costs you besides the unit

Mixing materials. The wiki FAQ says ABS and PLA do not support mixed printing because of the large temperature difference between them.
Waste. Colour changes use filament. We found no waste figure on the pages we read, so we give none. Your slicer will show an estimate for each model.
Your own cost per print. Spool price × grams used ÷ 1,000. As an example with made-up inputs, not Bambu's price: a 1 kg spool that cost $20 and a 85 g part gives $20 × 85 ÷ 1,000 = $1.70 of filament. Our filament cost tool does this with your own numbers.

Drying and storage, from the wiki

The wiki says filament absorbs moisture, and that during printing the water turns to steam in the nozzle. It lists stringing, oozing, holes, a rough surface and reduced strength as results. Its rule is simple: if you are unsure how the filament was stored, it is "recommended to dry it first", and for daily storage "always keep it sealed and protected against moisture."

Static drying. The wiki says static drying (leaving the filament in the AMS inlet) is not suitable for PLA, PVA, support for PLA or PETG, and TPU, because they soften at low temperature. It describes a rotating mode instead.
Shared AMS. To dry ABS or PETG, take PLA and TPU out first. Drying PLA lets the other filaments stay.
Drying while printing. The wiki says the temperature is lowered automatically after a print starts: 45 °C for PLA, 55 °C for PETG.
No AMS drying unit. The wiki has a separate section on drying on the printer's heated bed. Read its cautions before trying it.

Decision table: filament needing 65 C or lower can be dried in an AMS 2 Pro; higher heat needs an AMS HT though PVA, PPS-CF and PPA-CF may not dry fully; remove PLA and TPU before drying ABS or PETG; without an AMS the wiki documents drying on the heated bed; filament stored sealed and used soon only needs drying if storage is uncertain. — A summary of the maker's text, not a test. Source: wiki.bambulab.com filament drying and AMS drying guides, read 2026-11-01.

What the sources do not say

How long a spool lasts open before it needs drying. The wiki gives no number for that that we would repeat.
Whether third-party filament works as well. The store says the AMS 2 Pro uses RFID to match drying settings for Bambu's own filaments, and it does not say what happens with other brands.
What an AMS adds to your first month. We found no measure of that on either.

The simpler option

Skip the AMS at first. Print single-colour PLA from the spool holder, which the wiki documents (it has a first-print page for the A1 with an external spool). Keep spools sealed, and pick a plastic from our filament types guide. A separate dry box is another way to store spools; search eBay for a filament dry box. Buy the AMS when you are sure you want colour.

If you want to look at the units

Our reason to click: each page states the unit's drying temperature, the printers it works with and the notes in its FAQ, so you can check the table above against the maker.

We earn a small commission on qualifying sales, and 90% of it goes to charity (you can pick which); your price is unchanged. Full disclosure.

AMS 2 ProThe unit with drying up to 65 C.View at Bambu Lab →AMS liteThe A1 and A2 series unit.View at Bambu Lab →Bambu Lab filamentThe store's filament category.View at Bambu Lab →

Sources

Bambu Lab wiki: Filament Drying Recommendations; AMS 2 Pro and AMS HT Media Drying Guide; Connection Guide for Multiple AMS Units with Different Printer Models; FAQ. wiki.bambulab.com, read 2026-11-01.
Bambu Lab US store pages for AMS 2 Pro, AMS HT, AMS lite, A1 mini and P2S: us.store.bambulab.com/en/products/..., read 2026-11-01.

The Bambu Lab links and the eBay link on this page are affiliate links. We earn a small commission on qualifying sales, and 90% of it goes to charity (you can pick which); your price is unchanged. Full disclosure.

Keep reading

Filament types decoded: when to use PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPUFilament cost per gramBambu Lab printer lineup side by side