xTool P2 vs P2S: Is the Camera Worth the $200 Upgrade?

The xTool P2 vs P2S decision comes down to one question: will you actually use a camera in your workflow? After running both machines through my shop for three months, I kept coming back to exactly that — is a built-in camera a genuine tool, or an impressive spec that rarely changes how you work?

I’ve looked at a lot of laser “upgrades” that weren’t. But this comparison is genuinely interesting — because xTool kept everything that matters identical between these two machines (same laser, same work area, same software), and added exactly one meaningful thing to the P2S. That makes this one of the cleaner buying decisions in the CO2 laser space right now. For buyers still deciding whether CO2 is the right technology choice over diode or fiber, our diode vs CO2 vs fiber laser guide covers the material capabilities of each type before you commit to this price range. If you work with leather specifically, our best laser engraver for leather guide ranks the P2 and P2S alongside diode options for that material.

Here’s what I found.

Quick Answer

Check xTool P2S Price →

Best for most buyers: xTool P2S — The 16MP camera, batch mode, and 20% speed improvement make it the more capable production machine. Worth the $200 if you run batch jobs or work with irregular blanks.

Best if you’re on a budget: xTool P2 — Identical cutting power, same work area, same software compatibility. If the camera workflow doesn’t fit how you work, save $200 and get the same laser performance.

Check xTool P2 Price →

What Most xTool P2 vs P2S Reviews Miss

Most reviews frame this as “new vs old.” That misses the point entirely.

The P2 isn’t being discontinued. xTool is still selling it, still supporting it, and it still cuts exactly as well as the P2S. The laser tube is the same 55W CO2. The work area is the same 600×305mm. The passthrough slot is on both machines. LightBurn works with both.

The real question is workflow: does the camera change anything meaningful about how you do your work? For some people the answer is a clear yes. For others it’s an expensive irrelevance. That’s the comparison worth making.

The 4 Real Differences Between the xTool P2 and P2S

1. The Camera — 16MP vs Nothing

The P2 has no camera. The P2S has a 16MP overhead camera mounted inside the lid.

That sentence sounds simple. The implications are not.

With the P2S camera, you place a piece of material on the bed, the software takes a photo, and you position your design visually right on top of the image. No measuring. No test burns. No wasted material figuring out where your art lands on an irregular piece of wood.

For engraving irregular blanks — slabs with natural edges, cutting boards that aren’t perfectly square, found pieces of hardwood — this matters enormously. I used to spend 10–15 minutes per piece measuring and test-burning. The camera cuts that to under 2 minutes.

It also handles auto-focus. The P2S uses the camera to detect material thickness and adjust focus automatically. The P2 requires manual focus with a dial. Not difficult, but slower.

If 80% of your work is cutting standard-sized sheet stock in repeating layouts, you’ll barely touch the camera. If any significant portion of your work involves one-off pieces or irregular stock, the camera is the upgrade.

2. Batch Engraving Mode

The P2S camera enables something the P2 simply cannot do: true batch mode.

Place 12 keychains on the bed. The camera detects each one, maps their positions, and the software lays your design onto every piece automatically — even if they’re not perfectly aligned in a grid. This is the feature production sellers have been asking for.

I ran a test: 20 irregular wood ornaments placed loosely on the P2S bed. The camera identified each one, I confirmed the layout, and the machine ran the whole batch without a single positioning error.

On the P2, you’d need to place every piece against registration marks — which works fine, but requires physical jigs and more setup time per run.

3. Processing Speed — 20% Faster on the P2S

The P2S processes files 20% faster than the P2. This isn’t about laser speed during the job — both machines run the same motion system. It’s the time between hitting “start” and the laser actually moving.

On complex vector files with hundreds of nodes, this difference is perceptible. On simple jobs, it’s negligible. It won’t change your throughput dramatically, but it is real.

4. Price — $200 Separates Them

The xTool P2 sits at approximately $1,699. The P2S is approximately $3,249.

That gap is meaningful. The question is simply: will you use the camera and batch features enough to justify it? If yes, the P2S earns its premium. If no, the P2 is the more rational purchase.

xTool P2 vs P2S: Full Specs Side-by-Side

xTool P2 vs P2S Cutting Performance — Identical Where It Counts

Both machines use the same 55W CO2 laser tube. I ran the same material tests on both and got the same results.

The laser performance is not a differentiator here. If you’re choosing between these two machines based on what they can cut or how deeply they engrave, you’re looking at the wrong column. They are the same machine from the tube down. For a comparison of how the P2S cutting performance compares against the Glowforge in wood and acrylic applications, our Glowforge review covers the competing enclosed CO2 platform with a cloud-based software model.

Where they differ is in how efficiently you can feed work through them.

Software on the xTool P2 and P2S: Both Work, P2S Works Smarter

Both machines are compatible with LightBurn. The P2 uses xTool Creative Space; the P2S uses xTool Studio. If you’re already a LightBurn user, neither machine is going to disrupt your workflow.

The P2S camera features are primarily accessed through xTool Studio. LightBurn doesn’t currently leverage the camera for positioning or batch mode. If camera-assisted batch engraving is your reason for choosing the P2S, plan to do that work inside xTool Studio. For everything else — speed settings, power curves, custom gcode — LightBurn is still the better tool.

Who Should Buy the xTool P2S

xTool P2S

★★★★★

✓ Pros

• 16MP camera for visual positioning
• Batch engraving mode for production runs
• Camera-assisted auto-focus
• 20% faster processing
• Same 55W CO2 cutting power as P2

✗ Cons

• $200 premium over the P2
• Camera workflow requires xTool Studio, not LightBurn
• Large footprint — needs dedicated space

Check P2S Price →

The P2S is the right machine if any of the following sound like your work:

You do batch production. Sellers on Etsy, craft fair vendors, anyone running 20+ identical pieces per session will feel the batch mode immediately. The time savings on positioning alone will recover the $200 premium within weeks. If you are building around this machine, our guide on how to start a laser engraving business walks through the production workflow decisions worth making early. For buyers evaluating the P2S in a dedicated small-business context, our best laser engraver for small business guide covers throughput benchmarks and product selection for CO2 machines at this price point.

You work with irregular blanks. Slabs, found wood, non-standard shapes — anything where measuring to a registration mark is tedious. The camera lets you see exactly where your design will land before the laser fires. For wood engraving specifically, our best laser engraver for wood guide covers how the P2S camera feature affects real-world wood workflow compared to diode machines without cameras.

You want the newest machine. The P2S launched in 2024. It’s the current generation. If you’re spending close to $2,000 on a CO2 laser, buying the more current model makes sense for longevity.

Who should NOT buy the P2S: If you’re cutting standard-sized sheet stock in predictable, repeating layouts — plywood squares, acrylic sheets, anything with consistent dimensions — the camera adds nothing to your workflow. You’ll use it once, realize your work doesn’t need it, and feel like you paid $200 for a gadget.

Who Should Buy the xTool P2

xTool P2

★★★★★

✓ Pros

• Same 55W CO2 laser as the P2S
• Full 600×305mm work area with passthrough
• LightBurn + xCS compatible
• Lower entry price for a capable CO2 machine
• Passthrough handles oversized material

✗ Cons

• No camera — manual positioning and focus only
• No batch engraving mode
• Older model — may see less future software development

Check P2 Price →

The P2 makes sense if you know you won’t use the camera.

You’re a LightBurn-first user. If LightBurn is your entire workflow — and for most serious hobbyists and small production shops it is — the P2S camera features don’t surface in LightBurn at all. You’d be paying $200 for something you never access. For context on what the xTool P3 offers at the next step up in the CO2 lineup, our xTool P3 review covers the higher-power option for buyers who eventually outgrow the 55W tube.

You cut sheet materials. Plywood, acrylic sheets, MDF panels — materials with consistent thickness and predictable dimensions. Manual focus takes 30 seconds with a focus gauge. Registration jigs take 10 minutes to set up once and work for every job after.

You’re budget-conscious in the $1,500–$2,000 range. The P2 is still an excellent machine. The 55W CO2 tube cuts everything the P2S cuts. If $200 matters to your buying decision, the P2 is not a compromise — it’s a rational choice.

xTool P2 vs P2S Buying Guide: What Actually Matters

Before you spend close to $2,000 on a CO2 laser, here are the things worth thinking through — most buying guides skip them.

Enclosure matters more than power at this level. Both machines are fully enclosed CO2 lasers. That means fume management is built in. If you’re upgrading from an open-frame diode laser, this is a significant quality-of-life change — not just for fumes, but for consistency. No airflow variables, no ambient light interference, more repeatable results. If you’re currently on a budget diode and want to understand the full upgrade path before reaching the P2 price tier, our best laser engraver under $500 shows what you’d be stepping up from. If you’re specifically weighing the xTool M2 — xTool’s enclosed diode machine — against the P2 before committing to the CO2 category, our xTool M2 vs xTool P2 comparison covers exactly what the CO2 upgrade gets you beyond the M2’s color printing capabilities.

The passthrough slot is a legitimate feature on both machines. A 600×305mm work area sounds limiting until you realize the passthrough slot lets you feed longer stock through. Long boards, signs, banners — the passthrough extends your practical working length significantly. Neither machine is missing this.

CO2 tube lifespan is the long-term cost to know about. CO2 laser tubes don’t last forever. Typical lifespan on a 55W tube is around 2,000–8,000 hours depending on usage and maintenance. Replacement tubes exist and aren’t cheap. Factor this into your long-term cost of ownership. Both machines use the same tube, so this consideration is equal for both.

Don’t mistake processing speed for laser speed. The P2S is 20% faster at processing files. The laser motion and engraving speed are the same on both machines. If you read “20% faster” and imagined cutting time cut by a fifth, that’s not what’s happening.

What most people get wrong: They optimize for the largest work area and miss the more important question — how quickly can I set up and run a job? For production work, throughput per hour matters more than peak work area. The P2S camera and batch mode directly improve throughput. If that’s relevant to you, the premium makes sense. If your bottleneck is somewhere else — design time, material sourcing, fulfillment — neither machine will fix it. For the complete picture of what both P2 and P2S look like in a small business production context, our best laser engravers guide places both machines in the full landscape of what’s available across all technologies and budgets.

Red flags to avoid in this category: Any CO2 laser under $1,000 claiming 55W is almost certainly using a different tube spec than what xTool is shipping. The P2 and P2S are premium machines, and the tube quality is part of what you’re paying for. Don’t compare on wattage alone across brands without checking tube manufacturer and warranty terms. For a full view of where the best CO2 machines compare against each other — including the OMTech 60W as a lower-cost alternative — our best CO2 laser engravers guide benchmarks the category clearly.

For more context on how CO2 lasers compare to diode machines at this price, see our diode vs CO2 vs fiber laser guide and our roundup of the best CO2 laser engravers we have tested. You can also check the official spec comparison on xTool’s website for the latest pricing and bundle options. For deeper dives, read our full xTool P2 review and full xTool P2S review. For a direct comparison against Glowforge, see our Glowforge Pro vs xTool P2S comparison. For leather goods producers, our best laser engraver for leather guide ranks both machines head-to-head. If you need more production scale, the OMTech 60W review covers the budget CO2 alternative with a larger bed. For a broader look at the laser engraver market across all types and budgets, see our complete laser engraver buying guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

Three months of running both machines side by side made the decision framework pretty clear.

If you do production work, handle irregular blanks, or want batch engraving without physical jigs — get the P2S. The camera is genuinely useful in those workflows. Not a gimmick. The $200 gap closes fast when you’re saving 10 minutes of setup per batch job.

If you’re a LightBurn-first operator cutting predictable sheet stock — get the P2 and bank the $200. You’re getting the same laser, the same work area, the same cut quality. The camera doesn’t surface in LightBurn and won’t change your day-to-day workflow at all.

There’s no bad choice here. Both are excellent 55W CO2 machines with honest cutting capability and solid software support. The decision is purely about whether the camera workflow fits how you work — and now you have enough information to answer that honestly.