xTool F2 Ultra Fiber Laser review: Fast metal engraving in color

The xTool F2 Ultra is a large, premium, and superfast galvo laser that can cut and engrave anything from metal and wood to acrylic. It has a 60-watt MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) fiber laser for metal and a 40-watt blue diode laser for everything else. It is powerful enough to deeply engrave metal, cut through thin metal, and even “color” engrave stainless steel. This makes it the perfect laser for professional jewelry makers and small businesses who offer custom engraving on nearly any object.

The machine has an incredibly accurate positioning camera that you can access from the design software. This is critical for use in engraving jewelry or accurately placing personalization on one-of-a-kind items.

The F2 Ultra should not be confused with the F2, which is a portable machine. Clocking in at 47 pounds and requiring a massive air filter for safer operation, the F2 Ultra is far from portable. Its 220 x 220 mm work surface makes it comparable in size to a CORE One 3D printer.

Galvo lasers make the F2 Ultra extremely fast. It has a fixed laser, with the beam aimed by galvanometer mirrors that move at an insane 15,000 mm/s. However, this means the work area is somewhat cone-shaped, and on lesser machines, it often does not reach the corners of the work area. I didn’t have any issues with the laser being inconsistent when engraving out to the edges.

This machine is a Class 4 laser, which can burn skin and damage vision. It requires the respect of those around it. When the laser’s enclosure cover is down, it is safe for everyone to be around. But when using accessories like the conveyor or a rotary tool, the machine must be operated with the safety overridden and the enclosure open. You will need to get a pair of laser safety glasses for these times, as xTool inexplicably does not provide them.

xTool updated its software to AI-assisted “xTool Studio”, which, at launch, lacked the thousands of tutorials from the maker community that made the old xTool Creative Space a joy to use. It took a while to sort out, but xTool Studio turned out to be a great design tool and operating system for the laser. I’m not a fan of having to pay for tools to use a machine I own, but thankfully, you only need exchange tokens for art tools. This reduces it to a minor annoyance if you have your own source of art.

The retail price for the F2 Ultra starts at $4,999 for a MOPA-only laser (and no extras), making even the “budget” version of this machine rather expensive. However, this is the best experience we’ve had with metal engraving, and one of the best lasers we’ve seen for a small business.

Specifications: xTool F2 Ultra

xTool F2 Ultra: Included in the Box

The xTool F2 Ultra arrives fully assembled, with a nice corded touch screen, exhaust hose, power cable, slatted panel for cutting, and even includes a USB cable for initial setup with a PC. The included material pack has a few samples of wood, acrylic, metal, and more. We were also provided with a wax seal project kit, the xTool Safety Pro AP2, and the Auto Streamline Conveyor, which are optional.

Design of the xTool F2 Ultra

The xTool F2 Ultra has an integrated cover that slides down to safely enclose the chamber. When using the conveyor or laser items larger than the bottom plate, the F2 Ultra can operate with the lid up after the safety shut-off is disabled in xTool Studio. The lid is counterbalanced nicely and will stay securely at whatever level you leave it.

For safety, there is a USB equipment key that can be removed to prevent the machine from unauthorized use, and a red emergency stop button on the right side you can slap if you need to quickly power down. Below the power button is a USB-C port to hook the laser to a computer and a USB-A slot to move files directly to the machine.

The machine has a very nice touch screen which enables manual red and blue dot focusing of the laser, starting and stopping prints and framing, controlling the machine when using files from a USB drive, and restarting the machine after fire detection or other alerts.

The xTool F2 Ultra is a dual 60-watt MOPA and 40-watt blue diode galvo laser. Unlike a flatbed laser, where an X and Y axis motion system moves the laser around the work surface, a galvo laser is fixed, and the laser beam is aimed with galvanometer mirrors. Since the mirrors weigh very little, they can be moved extremely fast at an advertised 15,000 mm/s.

The xTool F2 Ultra has all the features you’d expect on a premium machine. The autofocus and camera positioning are perfectly accurate down to .2 mm with dual 48 mp AI cameras, although I did need to go through the camera calibration routine.

The instructions say not to place anything on top of the unit because the top can pop up to adjust the laser focus point on tall, up to 150 mm, or curved objects. The laser has led lighting in the chamber, which is great when working with everything but the most reflective materials.

The integrated bottom plate of the laser is anodized aluminum with threaded holes to attach brackets or jigs to quickly reset objects when batch printing. xTool also includes a slatted panel for cutting that allows airflow under materials while cutting.

For fume extraction, xTool sent us the Safety Pro AP2 air purifier. While the laser itself has a powerful dust/fume extractor, the output hose has to be routed through a window or door to the outside. When that is not practical, a purifier is needed. The Safety Pro AP2 is a beast with a 5-stage filter that connects to the F2 Ultra via Bluetooth, and it does a remarkable job. There is literally no hint of that campfire smell associated with laser cutting. The individual filters are replaceable separately, and range in cost from $20 to $50. The service life ranges between 100 hours for the least expensive filter to 600 hours for the most expensive one. This filter system is expensive, but seeing as the F2 Ultra can produce fine metal powders, it’s better safe than sorry.

Assembling the xTool F2 Ultra

The xTool F2 Ultra is fully assembled, you only need to attach the exhaust to the back, plug in the cord for the touch screen, and pop in the equipment key and plug it in.

Safety Precautions for the xTool F2 Ultra

The F2 Ultra is a Class 4 laser, which can cause severe damage to the eyes, burn skin, ignite combustible materials, and produce toxic fumes. The machine does have an enclosure that will protect your eyes when it is completely closed. There is a safety shutoff if the cover is opened while the laser is in use. This needs to be turned off in the device settings of the software when using material larger than the machine’s base or when using the conveyor. It needs to be turned back on manually.

The machine has a flame sensor, which is very sensitive and can be turned off to prevent nuisance stoppages when closely monitoring the laser. Since the laser is literally burning material, it’s a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy as well. There is also a tilt/movement shutoff.

Like many industrial machines, the F2 Ultra has an equipment key that needs to be inserted into the rear of the machine for it to work. This can be removed to prevent the machine from unauthorized use. The F2 also has a red emergency quick stop button.

An exhaust fan on the rear of the unit removes smoke from the laser area to an exhaust hose, which can be vented to the outside or to a purifier. Some materials should not be burned with a laser due to their chemical makeup – they could melt, catch fire, or produce toxic fumes. Dallas Maker Space has published a list of safe and hazardous materials to use with their laser. The list of no-nos includes some plastics like PVC, fiberglass, and certain foams. The laser lens can get dirty from smoke and fumes. You will need to wipe it clean – while unplugged – before each laser session. If it’s allowed to become dirty, the laser will lose some of its capability.

No safety glasses are provided with the machine. You will need to buy a pair if you are going to use the laser with the cover-up. xTool has them available for purchase separately.

Software for xTool F2 Ultra

xTool has replaced its free software with xTool Studio, a powerful and intuitive platform that is just different enough from the old system to be a little frustrating. At the time of this review, all the color laser tutorials on xTool’s website were done in the old xTool Creative Space and were not helpful. The tutorials have since been updated, so if you’re looking at buying this machine today, you won’t suffer as I did. The software is still missing a few material presets, which hopefully will be added soon.

xTool Studio has the best and worst of AI. Personally, I’m a little leery of AI assistants and tend to avoid them. But xTool’s assistant is actually full of helpful knowledge on operating the machine. If you run into trouble, a quick query to the AI is much faster than digging through the forums for help.

I abhor microtransactions, especially inside the software needed to operate tools that are quite pricey. The addition of AI design tools that cost credits to use is annoying. Sure, the credits aren’t super expensive and can be earned for uploading projects or answering questions, but given the marketing of xTool machines for business, the social media aspects of this credit rewards system are jarring.

Engraving / Cutting with the xTool F2 Ultra

The xTool F2 Ultra is a powerhouse with the ability to cut through 2mm stainless steel, brass, and titanium with the 60-watt MOPA laser and up to 23 mm in wood and 20 mm in acrylic, with the 40-watt diode laser. For most materials, the xTool settings are very good. Many of the materials provided by xTool have a QR code, which will automatically load settings when read by the camera.

The first test I ran was cutting a Standing Reindeer from user Comp 56 on xTool Studio, using the 3mm basswood provided. It took just 2 minutes using the diode laser with 70% power at 40 mm/s in 4 passes. The deer came out of the sheet with just a little coaxing and shows minimal charring.

Next, using the same settings and only 55 seconds of processing time, I cut a much more delicate design using the free earring generator app from xTool Studio. The result is very nice with a bit more charring, but nothing a tiny bit of sanding wouldn’t cure completely.

The diode laser cuts through black acrylic like butter. This took only 20 seconds for 2 passes to create the hole at 90% power. The engraved Canva clip art and a line from Shakespeare’s King Lear were etched at 40% power, with a 60 dot duration and 250 DPI. This has excellent detail while being scary fast.

Again, using clip art from Canva, I was able to make an excellent rubber stamp using the diode laser. However, there was some trial by fire, literally. I ultimately found the right settings to avoid scorching the stamp material by using 4 passes with 40 % power at 600 DPI with a dot duration of 300. Running slowly and safely, the engraving took 1 hour and 33 minutes to complete. The recommended settings were the same, but 1 pass at 85% power, which led to a pretty impressive fire in the chamber. The flame sensor cut the laser off, which killed the flames. This was a good reminder to keep an extinguisher nearby when working with combustible materials.

The xTool F2 Ultra has the ability to engrave on curved surfaces. After lining up the framing light on the surface of the material, the laser will take measurements on a grid, much like a 3D printer doing an auto bed level. This feature worked perfectly when engraving a curve stainless steel hip flask.

I used the diode laser at 70% power and 1500 mm/s sec for the text, and 60% power with a dot duration of 120 at 380 dpi for the art. The engraving was finished in under 2 minutes and looks fantastic. The image was an AI-generated line drawing of the late, great actor, Robert Shaw, to go along with one of my husband’s favorite lines from the movie, “The Deep.”

The 60-watt MOPA laser has some intriguing color capabilities, and I was able to run a fairly impressive test array on the stainless steel sheet xTool provided. The engraving took 2 hours and 58 minutes to run. It did warp the thin metal, so some extra testing might be needed, but I ran out of stainless steel.

The MOPA laser has impressive embossing power, but the material presets left me guessing. I ran the embossing for 256 layers at 100% power at a speed of 1500 mm/s and 300 lines per cm. The design is the ship’s patch from my dad’s Navy boat. My depth map could’ve used a little less contrast, but the result was still pretty good and took 1 hour 51 minutes to complete. I would have liked to test more settings, but I only had one sample coin for the review. If you’re getting this laser, be sure to stock up on test materials to perfect your settings.

Using the same settings and only 30 layers, I was able to emboss my logo surrounded by a wreath from xTools’ clip art onto a brass seal in a little over 25 minutes. The stamp is cleanly engraved and makes a crisp impression. The seal is melted bronze wax, highlighted with a silver marker.

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The MOPA laser has the power to engrave jewelry in just a few seconds, and the camera positioning is amazingly precise. These tags are crisp and clean, and even using small items, I had no problem getting the designs exactly where I wanted them.

Bottom Line

Overall, the xTool F2 Ultra delivers exactly what it promises: speed, precision, and serious capability. The combination of a 60W MOPA fiber laser and a 40W blue diode laser gives it an unusually broad material range, allowing one machine to handle work that would normally require multiple specialized tools. From deep metal engraving and stainless steel color marking, to wood, acrylic, and coated items, the F2 Ultra feels purpose-built for production work rather than hobby experimentation.

Its galvo system is impressively consistent across the full work area, and the positioning camera adds a level of confidence that is essential when working with high-value, one-of-a-kind pieces.

This is not a casual desktop laser. It requires respect for safety and a good external air filter. The updated xTool Studio software ultimately supports that professional workflow well, even if the AI features and token system may frustrate users who prefer fully offline or self-contained tools.

Starting at $4999 for a single laser unit, and going up to $8099 for a fully loaded system with an air purifier, the F2 Ultra is a hefty investment. But it earns its keep by delivering outstanding metal engravings with exceptional speed. For jewelry makers and entrepreneurs looking into personalization businesses, the xTool F2 Ultra stands out as one of the most capable and refined desktop galvo lasers currently available.

If you’re not ready to make such a sizable investment, the portable xTool F1 laser is $1099 and great for taking to festivals for personalizing merch on the go. If you want to laser large things safely tucked inside an enclosure – including clear acrylic – check out the xTool P2 CO2 laser, which is on sale for $3,399.