xTool S1 vs xTool P2S: Enclosed Diode vs Desktop CO2 — Which Should You Buy?

Published October 27, 2026 · Comparison

These two machines sit in the same catalog, wear the same brand, and are both fully enclosed — which is exactly why buyers cross-shop them and get stuck. The xTool S1 is an enclosed diode laser with swappable heads. The xTool P2S is a desktop CO2 laser. That one difference in laser type decides what each machine can cut, what it costs to run, and how long it will fit your product list. Everything else — cameras, software, accessories — is secondary to a simple question: do your products need CO2?

The one-sentence difference

A diode laser and a CO2 laser use different wavelengths of light, so materials absorb them differently. The S1's blue diode is absorbed well by wood, leather, and dark or opaque acrylic, and poorly by clear and light-colored acrylic and glass. The P2S's CO2 beam is absorbed by all of those, including clear acrylic and glass. No setting, upgrade, or technique changes that physics — it is the whole decision in one paragraph.

Specifications, side by side

On price, check the module before you compare numbers: in xTool's own store in October 2026 the S1 basic bundle was listed at $1,299 for the 20W version and $1,699 for the 40W version, with deluxe and safety bundles running higher. The P2S standalone has commonly sold in that $2,900–$3,400 range in our earlier guides, well below its higher list price when it is on sale.

Cutting: where CO2 pulls away

For wood, both machines do real work. xTool rates the 40W S1 to cut thick wood in a single pass — manufacturer and retailer listings cite up to 18 mm cherry and 15 mm dark acrylic for the 40W module — and owners report the S1 is a proven cutting machine for wood products, with one seller in a recent roundup saying most of a catalog comes off an S1. The 20W module cuts the same materials more slowly and in more passes.

The P2S cuts wood too — listings cite up to 18 mm basswood and 20 mm acrylic in one pass — and then keeps going into the materials the S1 cannot do at all: clear, white, and light-colored acrylic, and glass engraving without workarounds. If your product ideas include clear acrylic signs, earrings, keychains, cake toppers, or light-up bases, that is not a small gap. It is the product line. Owners who bought a diode first and later added CO2 most often name clear acrylic as the reason.

Rule from owner communities: list the five products you most want to sell. If any of them is clear or light acrylic, buy the P2S. If all five are wood, leather, slate, or dark acrylic, the S1 covers them for roughly half the money.

Engraving and metal: where the S1 answers back

The S1 has one trick the P2S does not: its laser head swaps. Alongside the 20W and 40W diode modules, xTool offers a 2W infrared module that marks bare metal and plastic directly — the kind of marking the P2S's CO2 tube cannot do on bare metal without a marking spray or coating. Swap in the infrared head and the same enclosed machine that cut a wooden sign in the morning can mark metal tags and tools in the afternoon.

That flexibility cuts both ways. Each extra module is a separate purchase, and swapping heads is a workflow step, not magic. The P2S, meanwhile, engraves wood, leather, glass, and coated or anodized metal with a finer production workflow — dual cameras and batch layout — but bare metal stays off its list. Neither machine is a true fiber laser; if deep metal engraving is the business, read a fiber-specific guide before spending on either.

Cameras, positioning, and batch work

Here the P2S is clearly ahead. Its dual 16MP cameras — one wide view, one close-up — show your artwork laid over the actual material, support batch placement of small items, and are the feature production owners cite most. The S1 has no built-in camera. It uses a pin-point positioning system that owners report is accurate, but it is a measure-and-align workflow rather than a live preview, and reviewers list the missing camera among the S1's annoyances, alongside a lid that scratches easily.

For repeat products cut from fresh sheets with a jig or fixture, the S1's positioning is mostly a non-issue. For one-off personalization — a name on a customer's board, a logo centered on an odd-shaped blank — the P2S camera workflow saves real time and ruined blanks.

Software

Both machines run xTool's free Creative Space software (now transitioning to xTool Studio), which works locally and offline and is beginner-friendly on both. Both also offer some LightBurn support, with an honest caveat on each side: xTool notes that LightBurn on the S1 supports basic operations but not every feature, such as position acquisition and curved-surface modes, and recent P2S firmware and LightBurn versions have changed what is supported, including camera features. If LightBurn is central to your workflow, check the current support notes for the exact machine and firmware before you buy — do not assume a feature you saw in an older video still works the same way.

Size, cooling, and true cost of ownership

• Footprint and moving: the S1 is less than half the P2S's weight and meaningfully smaller. It is a one-person bench machine. The P2S is a 99 lb, two-person lift that wants a permanent spot near ventilation.
• Cooling and consumables: the S1's diode module is air-cooled and has no tube to replace. The P2S is water-cooled and its glass CO2 tube is a consumable that wears with use over years — budget for distilled water, pump upkeep, and an eventual tube replacement.
• Ventilation: both are enclosed and both still need fumes exhausted outside or through a proper purifier. Enclosed does not mean filter-optional.
• Accessories are the real budget: both support xTool's RA2 Pro rotary, riser bases, and conveyor feeders for longer stock, and both ecosystems make it easy to spend several hundred dollars more after the machine arrives. Price the bundle you actually need, not the standalone headline.
• The gap: typically $1,300–$1,700 versus $2,900–$3,400 as of October 2026 is a difference of roughly $1,500 or more — a ventilation setup, a rotary, and a first stock of materials on the S1 side of the ledger.

Official product pages / resources

Check specs and current pricing straight from the manufacturers (prices change constantly):

• xTool S1 — enclosed diode cutter, module options and current bundles
• xTool — P2S and the full laser lineup; check the P2S product page from the store for current standalone and bundle pricing
• LightBurn — control/design software; check current xTool support notes before relying on a specific feature

Already have a machine and need something worth cutting? Our own design files live in TheUnrulyMaker shop on Etsy — that's our shop, not an affiliate link.