xTool has been a staple of the laser engraving industry for many years, but, until now, they’ve only focused on the hobby space. 2025 marked the year that xTool decided to step into the industrial space, starting with the xTool P3—and it’s their most powerful, yet easiest to use laser the company has ever released.
9/10
Brand
xTool
Laser Power
80W
Working Area
18×36 inch
Screen
Yes
The xTool P3 80W CO2 laser engraver is the perfect beginner laser for any small business or hobbyist. It features a quad-camera system that makes material and graphic alignment super simple, runs on the easy-to-use xTool Studio software, and handles both cutting and engraving jobs with ease.
Pros & Cons
- Easy to use and set up
- Quad camera system offers unparalleled alignment accuracy
- More powerful than most 80W lasers
- Handles both cutting and engraving jobs
- Have to remove nozzle for engraving
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Price and availability
The xTool P3 Laser Engraver/Cutter starts at $6,999, but there are bundles that can bring it up to $10,459 if you go all-out with the air purifier, rotary, conveyor system, and mobile work stand. The xTool P3 is available directly from xTool.
The xTool P3 has an 18 x 36 inch bed to work with, but the optional (and recommended) conveyor kit allows you to do 24 inches wide by however long your material is.
9/10
Brand
xTool
Laser Power
80W
Working Area
18×36 inch
Screen
Yes
Software
xTool Studio
Connectivity
USB, Wi-Fi
Unboxing to laser engraving in under an hour
I’ve never had a CO2 laser this easy to set up before
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
I’ve owned three CO2 lasers so far, and I’ve worked on several others—the xTool P3 is by far the easiest to unbox, set up, and get started with. It’s a heavy machine that’s delivered by freight on a pallet, so you definitely need to have space prepared for drop off (and a friend close by to help get it moved around).
The xTool P3 comes mostly set up out of the box, only a few things need to be configured to get it up and running. Once you have all of the packaging out of the inside and unscrew the bolts holding the gantry in place, you’ll need to walk through the setup within xTool Studio.
xTool Studio is one of the only first-party pieces of software that I actually enjoy. The xTool team has done a great job here. Once you connect the P3 to xTool Studio (wired at first, but you can set up wireless later), it’ll show you everything that you need to do—including mirror alignments.
Aligning mirrors is something that I absolutely hate to do on CO2 lasers. It’s the bane of my existence and normally takes me a few hours, even with reverse alignment tools. The xTool P3, however, made alignment so simple that I fully believe someone who has never used a laser before could easily do it. The software goes step-by-step, and the red dot laser makes alignments a breeze.
Once the laser is aligned, it’s ready to go—no more setup or configuration is necessary. I was able to go from the box arriving to using the laser within about an hour or two, and that included shooting an unboxing video and setting up the mobile work stand too. Compare that to the several hours it took me to get my other 80W CO2 laser set up and aligned, and the xTool P3 is an absolute breeze.
The camera system is so accurate it’s unreal
But it’s completely real, and that’s the best part
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
I’ve used cameras on lasers before, and I was never all that impressed. The Lightburn Camera I had on my last 80W CO2 laser was good enough to get things in the ballpark, but I never would have trusted it for accuracy. My xTool F1 Ultra, xTool’s first fiber laser, also has a camera… and I rarely use it because it’s also not accurate.
In the picture above, you can see blue text with an outline where the laser cut the ornament. What if I told you that under the text—perfectly aligned—is the engrave? Because that’s where it is. This is a screenshot of xTool Studio after the engrave when I had the P3 go take an up-close shot of the ornament after I cut and engraved it. If you look really close, you can see little areas where the engrave is peeking out, but it’s basically perfectly aligned.
The quad camera system in the xTool P3, however, is so accurate it’s all I use for alignment now. When you open the lid and place a piece of material inside, it’ll snap a picture automatically and load that into xTool Studio if you’re on auto mode (I recommend running on auto mode at almost all times). This picture is somewhat low resolution, but good if you’re just working on ballpark placement.
However, there’s a button within xTool Studio that allows you to get a close-up picture. You can either have it snap a single picture or stitch a grid of photos together. The way this works is the head of the laser has a high-resolution camera built in as well as extra lighting, and it comes over the material wherever you select and takes the pictures to display or stitch.
With the high-res pictures, I have such perfect alignment that after a job is complete, I can re-take the pictures and I can’t tell where the graphic ends and my engraving starts. It just overlays it perfectly.
The cameras allow me to engrave with confidence—something I’ve never had on other lasers, and I really like about the P3. If I place a cutting board or a hammer in the laser to engrave, I know it’ll land exactly where I tell it and not a millimeter off.
And it’s constantly getting better
I’ve already talked about how the setup process was made easier with xTool Studio, but that’s not where it ends. xTool Studio is just an easy-to-use piece of software. It reminds me of Cricut Design Space, but for lasers. The other laser software that I’ve used is definitely not simple or easy to pick up.
If you’re a crafty person, I feel you’ll have no problems picking up xTool Studio. There are numerous videos online that go over how to use it, and you can typically find your way around just by clicking around in the software. At first, I wasn’t a fan of xTool’s software and only used it when necessary—but now it’s the only software I use with my laser business.
xTool is constantly releasing updates to xTool Studio, which does mean things occasionally break. For example, shortly after the P3 was released, there was a period of time when I couldn’t get my P3 to work wirelessly. It was frustrating, and a lot of people were complaining online, but within a week or so, xTool had it patched and it was working well again.
This is the story of all software, though. Most things work, sometimes some stuff breaks, but xTool is great about fixing issues, and they also listen to the community. A lot of the functions of xTool Studio are community requests, which is a great sign for a company.
This is the most powerful 80W laser I’ve ever used
Not all lasers are created equal
I’ve had two 80W CO2 lasers personally, and I’ve used multiple others. Out of all the 80W CO2 lasers I’ve used, the xTool P3 is by far the most powerful. I’m not the only one who thinks this, either. I’ve talked with other makers and small business owners in the laser space, and they all agree. The way that xTool designed the mirror alignment system, the way it handles air assist, and the laser tube they chose all play a part in how powerful the system is.
I’m able to cut material almost twice as fast as I could with my other 80W laser. Engraving happens faster at lower powers with a cleaner result. Overall, this laser is just impressive.
There is one area that I wasn’t happy with xTool’s design choices, however. You have to remove the air nozzle to run an engrave pass. This means that engraving and cutting now have to happen on two separate jobs, instead of just one. I was pretty upset about this, as is most of the community.
I tried a handful of times to just engrave with the nozzle on. Normally, this is fine, and you just get more soot buildup. The problem with the xTool P3, however, is that the soot builds up on the nozzle, and then it gets in the way of the laser beam—or worse, it moves the material. I’ve had both happen during longer engraves of sooty material.
On the flip side, when engraving without the nozzle on, there’s almost zero cleanup left to do, which I’ve never had on a laser. I’m impressed with just how clean the engraving results are with the xTool P3 when there’s no nozzle on it. I just really wish there was an option to leave the nozzle on and not have soot buildup ruin an engraving job if I needed to do an engrave and cut in one job.
Zero smell even with the really smelly stuff
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
I’ve used a number of air purifiers with my various laser engravers over the years, but I’ve never used one quite as good as the AP2 Max from xTool. Released alongside the xTool P3, this impressive purifier offers seven layers of filtration, including filters specifically targeting formaldehyde, which is used in many laserable materials.
The AP2 Max is not a small filter, and is definitely not something you could bring with you when operating off-site—but it’s not meant for that. It’s designed to go alongside the P3 in whatever space you put it in and purify the air coming out of the laser.
I have always vented my lasers outside—and I plan to do that with the P3—but the AP2 Max makes that almost not even necessary. For the past few months, I’ve tested the xTool P3 in two ways: using the included SafetyPro IF2 2.0 Hyper Flow inline duct fan venting outside my garage, and using the AP2 Max venting inside my garage.
With the IF2 2.0, the P3 was like any other laser I’ve owned. Inside, you couldn’t really smell the laser running, but outside you definitely could. I put the AP2 Max to the ultimate test by not hooking it up to my hose that goes outside the house, instead venting it directly inside my garage. I smelled nothing. I had no headaches. My wife (who has a super nose when it comes to the fumes of the laser) smelled nothing.
Even when working with typically stinky materials, like acrylics, leather, or leatherette, there were zero smells in the garage. The only time I ever got a whiff of something was if I opened the lid immediately after the machine finished a job. However, if I let the fan run for the 45 seconds I programmed it to, then I smelled nothing still, even after opening the lid.
The xTool P3 is not a cheap laser, by any means. There are other companies out there with 80W CO2 lasers for half the cost. There are even some 90W lasers for half the cost. Having used those half-priced lasers, the xTool P3 is in a completely different class.
At nearly $7,000, the xTool P3 is really geared toward existing small businesses that want to add a laser to their personalization setup and have the capital for it—and it is the perfect machine for that. I definitely would recommend any small business wanting to add laser engraving or cutting to their lineup of services to check out the xTool P3.
I truly feel there’s no better or easier laser on the market to use than the P3—baring the annoying nozzle issue. If you can get past that small annoyance (I have), then the xTool P3 will be the perfect laser for your small business or hobby setup, no questions.
9/10
Brand
xTool
Laser Power
80W
Working Area
18×36 inch
Screen
Yes
The xTool P3 80W CO2 laser engraver is the perfect beginner laser for any small business or hobbyist. It features a quad-camera system that makes material and graphic alignment super simple, runs on the easy-to-use xTool Studio software, and handles both cutting and engraving jobs with ease.
