Quick Answer: The xTool P3 is an 80W desktop CO2 laser with a massive 915×458mm (36×18in) bed — about 2.4x the xTool P2’s cutting area — that slices up to 20mm solid wood and 25mm acrylic in a single pass, with LiDAR autofocus and a dual 16MP camera system that automate placement across the full sheet. It starts at $6,399 for the base unit and climbs to roughly $9,259 with the conveyor feeder and IR module. This is a production machine, not a hobby upgrade: xTool and independent reviewers both peg the payoff point around 15-20+ jobs a day. Buy it if machine capacity is bottlenecking a sign shop or fabrication business; if you run under 10 jobs daily, the xTool P2 delivers most of the capability for about half the price.
The xTool P3 is xTool’s flagship desktop CO2 machine for 2026, sitting above the P2 at the top of our best CO2 laser engraver and best laser cutter rankings. It won a CES 2026 Innovation Award for its automation, and this review covers what the 80W tube and the huge bed actually change in daily use, how it compares to the P2 and to OMTech’s CO2 machines, and who should — and shouldn’t — spend $6,399 on it.
xTool P3 at a glance
| Spec | xTool P3 |
|---|---|
| Laser type | 80W CO2 (10,600nm infrared, glass tube, ~10,000hr rated life) |
| Work area | 36"×18" (915×458mm) |
| Max cut (acrylic) | Up to ~25mm (1in), single pass |
| Max cut (wood) | Up to ~20mm (0.8in) solid wood, single pass |
| Max speed | 1,200mm/s |
| Autofocus | LiDAR-based, fully automatic |
| Cameras | Dual 16MP + LiDAR depth sensing |
| Vertical clearance | 220mm via motorized AutoLift Base |
| Fire safety | Built-in active fire-suppression system (standard) |
| Enclosure | Fully enclosed Class-1 |
| Software | xTool Studio (automation) + full LightBurn support |
| Price | $6,399 base; up to ~$9,259 with conveyor feeder + IR module |
| Best for | Sign shops, custom fabrication, batch production (15-20+ jobs/day) |
Running an engraving business? A free Amazon Business account unlocks quantity discounts and tax-exempt purchasing — worth setting up before a machine at this price point, since consumables and sheet stock add up fast.
xTool P3 by the numbers
- The 80W CO2 tube cuts up to 20mm solid wood and 25mm acrylic in a single pass (per xTool’s product specs, cross-verified against laserengraverexpert.com) — a real step up from the P2’s 18mm acrylic/20mm wood, and enough to single-pass material that would need 2-3 passes on a 55W tube.
- The bed is 915×458mm — about 2.4x the surface area of the P2’s 600×308mm bed — which is why xTool markets it as “2x the workspace, speed, and efficiency” of its predecessor, per Tom’s Hardware’s review.
- On a 30-job production run, the automation (LiDAR autofocus, camera placement, conveyor) can eliminate an estimated 4-6 hours of manual setup daily (per laserengraverexpert.com) — that’s the actual business case for the price gap over the P2, not raw cutting power.
- A CO2 laser emits infrared at 10,600nm, which acrylic and glass absorb (per Wikipedia’s CO2 laser entry) — the same physics that lets the P2 cut clear acrylic applies here at higher power, while a ~450nm blue diode still can’t touch it.
What the xTool P3 does well
It cuts thicker, faster, and across a bigger sheet. The 80W tube pushes single-pass depth to 20mm wood and 25mm acrylic, and the 915×458mm bed means a full sheet of plywood or a batch of large signage panels fits without repositioning. That combination is what puts the P3 at the top of our best laser cutter list over the P2.
LiDAR autofocus removes a manual step entirely. Where the P2 relies on its dual cameras for placement, the P3 adds LiDAR depth sensing that focuses automatically across uneven or thick material — useful when you’re running mixed stock thicknesses through the same job queue without re-zeroing the laser head each time.
Fire suppression comes standard, not bolted on. Instead of expecting the shop to add its own extinguisher-adjacent setup, xTool built an active CO2 fire-suppression system into the machine — a meaningful safety upgrade once you’re running longer unattended batch jobs at higher power, which is exactly the use case the P3 targets.
It scales toward real batch production. With the optional conveyor feeder, the P3 can process material longer than its already-large bed automatically — the same pass-through concept as the P2’s Automatic Conveyor Feeder, just built around a bigger, more automated machine.
xTool P3 vs xTool P2
| xTool P3 | xTool P2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Laser power | 80W CO2 | 55W CO2 |
| Work area | 915×458mm | 600×308mm |
| Max wood cut | ~20mm, single pass | ~20mm, single pass |
| Max acrylic cut | ~25mm, single pass | ~18mm, single pass |
| Autofocus | LiDAR-based | Camera-based |
| Fire suppression | Built-in active system | Not standard |
| Vertical clearance | 220mm (motorized AutoLift) | Riser Base (optional) |
| Price | $6,399+ | ~$3,399 |
The gap between these two isn’t about capability so much as scale and automation. The P2 already cuts thick acrylic and wood and handles most small-business jobs at half the price. The P3 earns its ~$3,000 premium through the 2.4x larger bed, LiDAR autofocus, built-in fire suppression, and faster throughput on batch runs — features that only pay for themselves once you’re running enough daily volume to feel the labor savings. If you’re not sure which side of that line you’re on, our best laser engraver for small business guide breaks down the volume thresholds in more detail, and the underlying laser-type trade-offs are covered in our diode vs CO2 laser comparison.
Where the xTool P3 falls short
- The price only makes sense at volume. laserengraverexpert.com frames the payoff point at 15-20+ jobs a day — below that, the xTool P2 or even a capable diode machine gets most shops most of the value for a fraction of the cost.
- It needs real space and a stable bench. At roughly 105kg with a 2×1.5 meter footprint requirement, this isn’t a machine you tuck into a spare corner — plan the workspace before you buy.
- Automation is xTool Studio-first. LightBurn is fully supported for cutting and engraving, but the ACS automation, LiDAR autofocus, and batch-placement tools run through xTool Studio, so LightBurn-primary shops end up switching between the two.
- It can’t mark most metal. Like every CO2 machine, the P3’s 10,600nm beam reflects off bare metal. For metal marking you still want a diode or a fiber laser engraver.
Who should buy the xTool P3
The xTool P3 is the right machine for production businesses — sign shops, custom fabricators, and batch-engraving operations — where machine capacity is actively bottlenecking daily output and per-job setup time is costing real money. It is not built for hobbyists, occasional makers, or shops running fewer than 10 jobs a day; those users get better value from the xTool P2 or a diode machine from our best laser engraver for small business guide. For a shop that’s genuinely outgrown its current laser’s bed size and setup time, the P3 is one of the strongest desktop CO2 options available in 2026 — see also our overall best laser engraver and best CO2 laser engraver rankings, and our OMTech vs xTool comparison if you’re cross-shopping CO2 brands at this tier.
Ready to buy? Compare the base P3, the conveyor feeder, and the IR module and check today’s price: