There are different style groups of vaporizers, which means you can figure out how a vaporizer might work and if it's the right style for you, based on the group it belongs to. Questions like: which vaporizers are for oils and what other vaporizers are like the Magic Flight, are easily answered once you know about the different style groups. If you're undecided about picking a vaporizer, we recommend selecting a style group first based on your interests and needs. This post explains each of the style groups to help narrow your choices.

Buyer's Guide: Vaporizer Styles

Pen Style Vaporizers

Pen vaporizers like the G Pen are really discreet, since they look just like pens. They're super portable and have a lot of advantages, but only if you're using them to vaporize concentrates (oils). Be careful with units in this style group that claim a pen can vaporize dried botanicals - we've tested these units and we have not yet come across one that actually works without causing combustion. 

Wooden Style Vaporizers

The smallest and more affordable vaporizers you can get are made of wood.  They often work with a lighter, so they never need recharging. This is a definite plus for the outdoorsy/adventurous types who are not necessarily always around electricity outlets and/or those who are looking for convenience. Sometimes they can give vapor a bit of a wooden flavour, which some people like. The main units in this category are the Vapman and the Vapor Genie, which are operated with a lighter, and the Magic Flight Launch Box which uses batteries. One issue with these vaporizers is that the wood can absorb odors over time, and they're too small to be very complex or offer temperature flexibility. Nevertheless these units can still give you good vapour quality and value for money.

Balloon Style Stationaries

With balloon style vaporizers, you attach balloons to the heating element and the vaporizer will fill them using a built-in fan. After that, you can detach the balloon and carry it around with you. The best of these units are the Volcano and the Extreme Q. You don't have to stay near your vaporizer while you're taking draws, and if you're in a group setting you can pass the vapor around easily. This is the best option for parties, although it can also be useful for individual use. Keep in mind that it is recommended to consume the vapour within 15 minutes, as it will otherwise turn stale. This style offers high quality vapour and the added functionality of being more "portable" than most stationary vaporizers.

Whip Style Stationaries

Whip style vaporizers let you draw vapor through medical grade tubing. This option for stationary vaporizers means that you have to stay right next to your unit and if you're in a group the whip will only reach about four people at a time. But whip style vaporizing does let you control your vapour through the strength and speed of your draws. You also waste less vapor since there's less surface area for it to condense on inside the tube. The best units in this style group are the AroMed and the V-Tower. The AroMed makes the most use of this vaporizing style, since the heat is calibrated to change based on the strength of your draws, so that temperature remains constant.

Electronic Portables

Premium portable vaporizers are battery operated and have a number of preset settings and/or a digital temperature display. These vaporizers can give you the most control over your vapor and the highest vapor quality. The best units of this type are the Arizer Solo, the Da Vinci, and the Pinnacle. There's a bit more that can go wrong with these units, but they usually come with a manufacturer's guarantee of quality and at least a two year warranty. Because of their high manufacturing quality and vapor quality, they're the most expensive portable units, but also widely recognized as the best.

Knowing the different style groups will help you discover what you like in a vaporizer, ultimately helping you pick a vaporizer that best fits your needs. If you've tried a friend's Magic Flight and you want something similar but with better vapour quality, you'll know that wooden style vapes might be your thing. In that case you'd look into the wooden style group and see what other vapes are available - and you'd find the Vapman. At the end of the day knowing the styles groups allows you to have a better idea of which vaporizers fit your lifestyle.

We hope this post on picking a vaporizer style has helped narrow down your choices. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We will get back to you as soon as possible!

Take care for now and as always, keep on vapin'!
Team TorontoVaporizer

About Me


Hi, I'm David. Almost 58 years old. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia some time ago, a condition that causes "intense and chronic pain." I was prescribed a medley of pharmaceuticals to deal with it. The meds keep the pain at bay, but they've got other side effects. After a few of months, my weekly pill box is stuffed to the brim. There was a lot of meds in there, each treating something different. The pain is now no longer manageable. I decided to quit my job last summer. I've worked long and hard enough. I was at a low point last year and beginning to loose hope. But I ran into an old friend a couple of months back and was introduced to a pain management doctor that recommend a completely different course of action. He told me to scrap the pill box and get myself a vaporizer (apparently its healthier than smoking) and at this age I guess I thought....why not, I've got nothing to lose. I'm not an expert with technology, but I can get around the internet ok and my kids have been a big help. They did a lot of research for me and told me the AroMed looked like a good product for a medical user such as myself. So, I got it. And this was my experience. 


David's AroMed Experience 


First Impressions 

When I first opened the black case the AroMed vaporizer comes in, I was really excited. Felt like a kid on christmas morning. After taking it out of the box, well it looks like equipment you'd see in a hospital, which actually made me feel confident in its abilities, almost instantly. Call me old school but I like simplicity, so the retro design and clear display were right up my alley. When you unpack all the pieces it’s easy to put together, but my son and I followed the AroMed video to make sure everything was in the right place. It took a couple tries to get the light to click into place over the heating chamber, but once I heard it ‘click’ I knew the AroMed was ready to go. I set the temperature to 190 to start, waited a couple of minutes to see the vapor start to rise up from  and took a few long draws. I must say I was very impressed with the first few draws. As a person who smoked frequently back in the day, I was so surprised. I couldn't believe how effective and clean this was. There was no coughing. It just felt like I was inhaling flavored air. And now, taking my meds is not an annoying pill-popping ritual, but an enjoyable experience.

Likes

1. I couldn’t help dimming the lights to watch how the light bulb glow. If I took a long big draw, the light would glow more intensely - really quite remarkable. 
I completely admire obvious medical design of this unit. Like I said,  my main priorities were efficiency and pure vapor. The AroMed is the best at both in my opinion. With almost everything being glass I could see what was happening with my botanicals and I could see the water bubble with every draw. When you're done I also saw all the small particles left in the water that would have otherwise ended up in my lungs. 



Dislikes

1. So glass is supposed to be the best, but its also the most fragile. The heating chamber, mouthpiece and water filter are all made of glass, so risk of breaking something is higher. But I knew this risk before I bought the AroMed and I'm very careful with, well, everything I own, so it didn't seem to be a big deal. The only thing that scared me a bit was the price of each piece if any of them need to be replaced! The water filter is only strapped to the base with this plastic band, but I wish it was a bit more secure.

Tips & Tricks

I'm pretty good, but if you live with clumsy people or you've got young kids or cats running around, I'd put the AroMed in a safe spot. A corner of the room should work, like mine is, but I always pack it away when guests come just in case. The table where I keep my AroMed is on a carpet, which makes me feel better. Also, the first time my wife tried to clean the thing, the heating chamber and the water filter were stuck together. I guess it's because of the buildup, but she just used some olive oil to grease up the connection and then let the pieces sit in a basin of hot water. Half an hour later they slid apart no problem. Also, be careful to not overfill the water chamber by the way, otherwise big draws will have you gulping some water droplets (maybe that was just me). Last thing, clean it when you can. I go a while without doing anything, but the vapor tastes so much nicer the first time after the water filter and cool water is used. I have to get into the habit of cleaning it more.  


Folks that's the gist of my AroMed experience. I really like this thing and wouldn't go back to my old ways if someone paid me. When it comes to health, I spent more on prescription meds than I do now and I feel leagues better. I'm happier, pain free and I guess its all new to me, to be a part of the new technological world with all of these techy things. I can't believe the world is the way it is today, who would have guessed it 30 years ago, but the AroMed is really something. 

We at TorontoVaporizer want to thank Dave for his valuable insight and hope this AroMed Vaporizer Experience post has shed some light on the vaping experience with the AroMed. For an in depth review of the AroMed Vaporizer, follow the link. As always, thanks for reading and from one connoisseur to another, keep on vapin': 

Dave & Team TorontoVaporizer  

Stationary vaporizers are larger and often more expensive than portables, so you want to make sure that you get the best product your money can by. A stationary vaporizer can produce far better vapour than a portable unit, since it has access to a lot more power and everything doesn't have to be shrunk down to pocket size, so they've got fewer design limitations. This means that stationary vapes should all be pretty awesome, right? Wrong. We have definitely come across quite a few bad stationaries and from all the bad units, we've complied a list of the Top 5 Worst Stationary Vaporizers - to save you the headaches and/or keep the money in your wallet for a unit that will make you much happier inside :).

5 Worst Value for Money: Stationary Vaporizers

Popular Blog Posts: To read more about the best vaporizers based on vapour quality, follow the link.

5. Vapor Daddy

This is an ok box vape to have, but we definitely think you can get much better value for your money. It’s alright, but just way over priced. On the manufacturer's website it costs nearly $200 and it's made in China. You're definitely not paying for features. This is a purely whip style vaporizer and just has a basic temperature dial. So far as we can tell, you're paying for the wooden casing. Anything this basic and this simple in terms of manufacturing quality should cost half of what the Vapor Daddy's selling for.

4. Vapor Brothers Standard

This is a pretty basic whip style box vaporizer. has also The design has been the same since the beginning of man kind. But it's also far too expensive for what you get. You need to hold the whip in place by yourself. The heating element has been known to have some serious issues, and the temperature dial is unmarked, so you have no clue how hot your vapour will be.  You can pay an extra $40 for one where you don't have to hold the whip down yourself, but you can get vaporizers with way better features and manufacturing quality for less than this.

3. Vapir One

This is the oddest design for a stationary that anyone could ever come up with - without any functionality. There is no reason for the unit to look the way it does. The reliability of this unit is also low. Vapir often makes pretty good basic units, but the Vapir One really missed the mark. It's a handheld stationary, which you can use with either a whip or balloons. Unfortunately, it tends to get hot, which is an issue in something you're trying to hold on to. The fan is also very loud and must be on for the unit to work. It can also leak vapour and gives you a bit of kind of plastic taste. It's really cheap for a dual-function stationary, but there's a reason why it's cheap...

2. Vivape

The Vivape Vaporizer looks like a really cool vaporizer at first, since it has a touchscreen and is designed and packaged like an Apple product. Then you try to use the touchscreen and realize that there's no reason to put a touchscreen on a vaporizer. It's not very sensitive and it's pretty clear that the cost of the touchscreen meant they cut costs everywhere else. The accessories that come with this vape are as cheap as they get and the manufacturing quality definitely isn't what you'd expect from something that costs nearly as much as a Volcano. The rest of it isn't very well thought out either: the heating chamber is horizontal, so your botanicals will definitely not be evenly vaporized. To get an in depth review of the Vivape Vaporizer, follow the link.

1. Vapolution

First of all, this is worst name for a vaporizer we have ever heard. That's not exactly a problem with the unit itself, but it shows you that someone wasn't really paying attention when they came up with it. It's a very small stationary vaporizer and it does have a glass heating chamber, but you can't control the temperature with any precision, since the dial is unmarked and the temperature control tends to degrade over time. The heating chamber isn't screened either because it's designed to be used with larger pieces of botanical. And as you know, those won't vaporize as efficiently and can still easily fall out.

Long story short, make sure you're getting a unit that gives you the best value for your money and ideally, from a manufacturer you can trust. You can get awesome stationaries for the same price or cheaper than most of the units listed here. A little research beforehand can save you a lot of money down the road! To find out about the Top 5 Vaporizers, follow the link.

This post has brought to light the Top 5 Worst Stationary Vaporizers in the hopes of helping you make an informed decision about your next vape purchase. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We will get back to you as soon as possible!

Take care for now and as always, keep on vapin'!
TorontoV Team

The summer is almost here! So if you like to vaporize outside, a portable vape might just be your next best friend. There's quite a few portables to pick from though, so how do you decide which one to get? Most portables are really great in at least one area, but you will usually have to make sacrifices in others. So, how do you shop for a portable vaporizer that best fits your needs? Well, you have to know what your main priority is: is it vapour quality? Durability? Discreetness? Once you're certain of the area you will not sacrifice, selecting a portable becomes a much easier task. Now if you don't know what your main priority is, that's ok, because that's where this guide can help you through the maze of options. Here are in-depth descriptions of some of the areas/categories you should evaluate before purchasing a portable.

Buyer's Guide: Choosing a Portable Vaporizer

Portability and Battery Life

Portability is a measure of a couple things: how convenient the unit is to carry (in terms of size and weight) and how long it lasts before you need to recharge it. Smaller units are easier to carry, but will usually have lower battery life. So let's talk about convenience first. The smallest and lightest units around are pen-style vaporizers. However, the problem with most pen-style units is that they can only vaporize concentrates. Don't be fooled by pens that claim to vaporize dry botanicals - these are just repurposed e-cigarettes and do not vaporize, but rather burn your botanicals. Second is battery life. The unit that can last the longest on a full charge is the Arizer Solo. But, the Solo is a tad heavier, bulkier and has breakable glass parts. So, which units have the best ratings in both of these categories? Well, units that don't run on batteries have an advantage here. These vapes either work with lighters or run on butane. The Vapman for example uses a lighter, which means you never have to worry about how long your unit will last when you're out and about. Butane units like the WISPR and Iolite are also quite convenient and as long as you have a can of butane handy, you can vape away.

Discreetness

The size and design of a unit affects the level of discreetness. Really tiny units like the Magic Flight Launch Box, G Pen or the Pinnacle can be hidden in your hand. In fact, they're even small enough to be discreet when you're using them. However, well designed portables are usually small enough to fit in a pocket comfortably. For example, the Da Vinci and Iolite are really discreet because they look like normal electronic devices and could even pass as Walkie-Talkies. Pen style vaporizers like the G Pen are great too since they're designed to look like pens. 

Vapour Quality

This is always the most important thing you should consider in a vaporizer. But because portable vapes are so small, there's not always room to focus on vapor quality and all the other categories as well (hence the sacrafice). Vapour quality is best with convection heating, but most portable units are too small for real convection heat. So, the best alternative is a hybrid vaporizer, that offers a little bit of convection and conduction heat, like the Mica Vapman and the Pinnacle. To read more about Hybrid Vaporizers, follow the link.

Manufacturing Quality

Manufacturing quality is a sign of durability. It's the difference between a unit that lasts you a month before it falls apart and one that is still kicking after its warranty period. We recommend selecting North American and/or European made vaporizers if this category is your priority. The absolute best portable for both manufacturing and vapour quality combined for example is definitely the Arizer Solo, made in Canada. It is very well designed and manufactured; the aluminum casing make's it very durable, and the stainless steel and ceramic heating chamber make it very efficient. The managed airflow allows for an element of convection heat and the drawing stems are made of glass, so it has better vapour quality than you'll ever find in any other portable unit. In fact, the Solo's vapour quality has been compared to that of the Volcano. For a more in depth review of the Arizer Solo, follow the link.

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the Solo is the best portable for everyone. If you're worried about portability and battery life for example,  you'd be a lot happier with a small, battery-free unit like the Vapman. The Vapman's also much cheaper than the Solo, while offering pretty good vapour quality for it's size and price. So, it's a toss up. You just need to figure out what's most important to you. All of our portables are ranked based on these criteria on their product pages, so you can just check out the stats for each one.

We hope this post has helped outline how to pick your portable vaporizer. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We will get back to you as soon as possible!

Take care for now and as always, keep on vapin'!
TorontoV Team

If you’ve read the conduction vs. convection vaporizing blog you may be wondering why amazing vaporizers like the Arizer Solo, Vapman or Pinnacle didn’t make the lists of top convection or conduction style vaporizers. As you know, all three have manufacturing and vapor quality to boot, so why didn't they make the cut? Well, these units are a rare breed of vapes that we like to call: hybrids. Hybrid vaporizers are a third heating category of vaporizers that combine both the conduction style and convection style of heating, offering the best of both worlds for maximum heating and efficiency.  Now, if you haven’t read the conduction vs convection blog yet I recommend taking look at it first. Then you can really get a handle on the differences between conduction and convection heating to better understand how these three vapes combine the two in perfect harmony. So, let’s take a look at exactly why they are the Top 3 hybrid vaporizers!

The Best Conduction-Convection Combo Vaporizers

#1: The Solo by Arizer

It’s no secret that the Solo has the best manufacturing and vapor quality of any portable on the market right now, but it’s also the top hybrid. The Solo really wows its users regardless but it’s interesting to understand why the vapor quality is so amazing due to the combination of conduction and convection heating. If you look into the heating chamber you will notice there are 4 small holes at the bottom. Now it’s these holes that are in fact a passage way for hot air from inside the unit to transfer and move into the heating chamber, in and around your botanicals. This is the convection heat and it combines with the conduction direct transfer of heat from the ceramic chamber where your botanicals sit. The superb heating chamber design is what really kicks up the vapor quality, making it the most efficient hybrid out there, not to mention the most popular portable. To get a  more in-depth review of the Arizer Solo, follow the link or click the above Solo banner.

#2: The Vapman by Element Medical

The Vapman comes in at a close second by using a similar style to the Solo to combine conduction and convection heating. The Vapman works with a torch lighter and the beauty of its design is the control it offers. You can essentially choose whether to have a conduction and/or a convection vaporizing experience. Focusing heat only the bottom of the gold plated pan will offer vapour produced from conduction, but heating the three air nozzles will offer more of a convection style vapour. Keep in mind this convection element is only available with the Vapman Mica. The reason is because of the Mica heat protection sheet that layers the underside of the Vapman vaporizer. This will protect and insulate the heat applied from the torch lighter - a feature that is not available with the Vapman Pure. For such a small unit the Vapman really combines conduction and convection heat remarkably well, offering  awesome results compared to other vapes in its price category. To get a more in-depth review of the Vapman by Element Medical, follow the link or click the above Vapman banner.

#3: The Pinnacle by Vapor Blunt

The heating chamber design of the Pinnacle is quite convenient and unique with its removable cartridge system. The cartridges themselves are designed in such a way that the screen on the bottom creates a 3.5mm space between the bottom of the heating chamber and the botanicals. Why is this important to note? Well, it’s this space that allows hot air to move upwards through your botanicals (convection) while combining direct heat transfer from the sides of the ceramic heating chamber to your botanicals (conduction). This combination and heating chamber design is quite ingenious and creates pretty good vapor quality too. To get a more in-depth review of the VB Pinnacle, follow the link or click the above Vapman banner.

So, there you have it. The end of the debate on convection vs conduction and which is better. And if you're torn between getting a conduction or a convection heating style vaporizer, here's a way to get the best of both worlds: with a hybrid! We hope this post has helped explain a little bit more about the differences between unit heating styles. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We will get back to you as soon as possible!

Take care for now and as always, keep on vapin'!
TorontoV Team

How many portable pocket-size vaporizers do you know that can literally transform into a multi-person, crowd-pleasing, party vape? None. Until now. Introducing the Pinnacle by VaporBlunt or the “Party Pinnacle” as we here at TorontoV have nicknamed it. 

The #1 Party Portable Vaporizer

So, first off, what makes the Pinnacle a cool portable vape? Honestly, VB really got it right this time around. They've made some not so awesome vaporizers in the past, but we really think their investment has finally paid off with the Pinnacle. It's light weight, small, convenient, low maintenance and offers some pretty good vapour quality. To get a more in depth review of the Pinnacle Vaporizer, follow the link. But that's not all this PAX look-a-like vape is good at. The Pinnacle can be suped up with the ultra cool Hydro Tube accessory. VB calls it the "Micro Shower Glass Attachment." Yea, a couple of eyebrows were raised in the office when that name was dropped, so we'll just call it the Hydro Tube from here on in, but hey never mind the name, the important thing is this thing works!

The Hydro Tube

What is the Hydro Tube, you ask? The Hydro Tube is an extension accessory piece for the Pinnacle that simulates a water pipe, producing crispy cool, dense vapour. Now, how does it work? Well, seeing as the Pinnacle is a straight forward unit to operate, VB wasn't about to make the Hydro Tube a complicated add on. All you do is pop the Hydro Tube on top of the Pinnacle and vape away (attachment included in the packaging). The glass tube rests snuggly above the heating chamber, so you don't have to worry about it wobbling around, but we do recommend holding it in place with one hand for the most optimal draw. Why is the Hydro Tube good? The water filtration of course increases the vapour quality by a few notches (seeing as your vapour becomes colder and smoother) and what's more is that this tube's "coolness factor" will make it the talk of the town - perfect for entertaining a fun crowd.

And now for the good stuff. Why do we think it's the #1 Party Portable? Well it didn't get the nickname Party Pinnacle for no reason. Apart from the regular jazz of popping your tube in the freezer and then filling it with water to give you that really cold vapour draw, you can also choose to fill your Hydro Tube with another liquid of your choice. We're talking vodka, flavoured liquors, whatever tickles your fancy really (please be advised that you do so at your own risk). What would this change? Well, get ready for this twist to 1) spice up your vapour flavour and 2) most definitely enhance your vaporizing experience! The Pinnacle + Hydro Tube kit just puts a different spin on not only vaporization, but all water-filter escapades in general.

So, if you want a tiny portable vape that you can use personally while your out and about, one that you can take to a party and one that can make the party, the Pinnacle is for you. Impress your friends with something they have never tried and give this fun trick a go with the Hydro Tube to get the most out of your vaporizing experience. 

That's it for today connoisseurs. Thanks for reading the Party Pinnacle post and as always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the section below.

Take care for now and keep on vapin'!

TorontoV Team

As you may already know, there are two types of vaporizer heating styles: conduction and convection. In short, conduction heats your botanicals through direct contact (usually with your botanicals resting on a hot surface), whereas convection heats your botanicals through the movement of hot air in and around them. To read more about how convection and conduction differ, follow the link. Now, with the introduction of convection vaporizers, most conduction style units lost their "edge" in the market. However, the release of more advanced conduction units in the late 2000s really helped make a comeback for this style of vaporizing. This post focuses on the top 3 conduction vaporizers in this heating style category.

The Best Conduction Vapes

Popular Blog Posts: Be sure to check out our Top 3 Convection Vaporizers post to get a feel for the difference between these different vaporizing heating styles.

1. DaVinci

The DaVinci by Karma is a cool pocket sized vaporizer designed for portability. It also gives you great vapor quality for a conduction vaporizer because of the efficient heating chamber design. The heating chamber is long and narrow, so it has more surface area for your botanicals against the metal. This makes sure that the maximum amount of botanical is being heated at any time, so that the vapour quality is relatively even and consistent. Your botanical is held slightly above the heating element on a mesh screen, allowing hot air to flow in from the heating element. Even better, the heating chamber is sealed with a magnet tight lid, making it entirely airtight to avoid vapour leekage. This keeps all the heat right where you want it, focusing it on your botanicals.

2. WISPR

Iolite burst out onto the market in 2008 with the unique advantage of being butane powered. This means you aren't dependent on battery power. The WISPR, Iolite's latest creation, offers a compact heating chamber with a central stainless steel spike that ensures your botanicals are evenly exposed to the heat. However, the butane converter inside the unit means the temperature only has one level (and this is not 100% consistent), so you can't adjust it and it is not as easy to ensure perfect even vapour with every draw.

3. Magic Flight Launch Box (MFLB)

The MFLB by Magic Flight is really simple, but well designed. With a wide heating chamber and the ability to easily shake your batch, the MFLB's design helps to ensure more even vaporization. However, managing the heat with this unit is quite difficult. The heat is dependent on pushing the battery against the heating element. If you hold it for too long, it's really easy to accidentally burn your batch. Also, it requires a lot of shaking to get decently even vapour, since the only part of your batch that is consistantly vaporized is the part right against the bottom of the screen.

Vapor quality with conduction units depends on surface area and stirring. This gives your botanicals the most chance to be heated. The above units give you the best vapor quality a conduction vape can provide, with the least interruptions. With the DaVinci and the Iolite WISPR you only have to stir/shake your botanicals around once or twice. With the Magic Flight more stirring is necessary, but its also more convenient given the flatter heating chamber. The DaVinci is ranked number 1 because it gives you fairly consistent vapour quality at a variety of different temperature settings. This and the heating chamber design make it the most efficient conduction vaporizer.

There are a lot of choices out there when it comes to picking your conduction style vaporizer. As their designs try to increase heat contact with botanicals in the heating chamber, the better more consistent vapour quality can be expected. Conduction vapes are usually lower cost units than convection vaporizers, and if you get one of the units listed here you can be sure that you're getting good vapor quality and design for your money.

Thanks for checking out this Top 3 Conduction Vaporizers post. We hope this list has be informative and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.

Take care for now and as always, keep on vapin'!

Team TorontoVaporizer

Sleek, well designed portable vaporizers get a lot of attention, for obvious reasons. One of the ones you hear a lot about is the PAX by Ploom. Beyond the hype, though, this unit has some serious warranty issues and until those are cleared up, unfortunately the product won’t be sold up here in Canada. Now this is a huge downer for all you PAX lovers, but fret no more - a new vape has come to town. Meet PAX’s little brother from another mother: the Pinnacle. Super simple to use and very well put together, this unit is becoming more and more popular as the days pass. Here's a comparison review of the PAX vs Pinnacle. Find out exactly why PAX’s little brother might just be the better brother! 

Comparison Review of the Pax vs Pinnacle

Popular Blog Posts: To read more about these units, check out the the PAX Vaporizer Review and/or the Pinnacle Vaporizer Review, follow the link.

Vapour Quality

Pax

The Pax offers pretty good vapor quality for its size. You do get pretty dense vapour on any of the heat settings, but the temperature of the vapour was a tad too warm. This didn't make sense at first considering where you load your botanicals is a ways away from the mouthpiece. But after some more in depth analysis we discovered that the air pathway up to the mouthpiece is all stainless steel. Now this sounds awesome, but it really isn't. Stainless steel is a strong heat conductor - so this all now makes sense. 

Pinnacle

The Pinnacle produces pretty good vapor for a unit its size. Why is it so good? It’s all in the heating chamber design. Not only does it offer an element of convection vaporizing, but good airflow management makes it easier to take the perfect draw to extract the best vapor. Since the heating chamber is right under the mouthpiece the vapor can be a tad warm, but no where near the heat we’re talking with the PAX. Also, since the unit is well sealed, no vapor is lost on its way to you. For the serious connoisseurs out there the Pinnacle offers a serious vapor quality upgrade with its Hydro Tube accessory. This mini water filter kicks up the vapor quality of this unit by a couple of notches - pretty darn good to say the least. This is an excellent option for home use, which is great because you can get more out of this unit.

Winner: Pinnacle - vapor quality is good on its own and taken to the next level with the Hydro Tube. 

Manufacturing Quality

Pax

The Pax definitely boasts a beautiful design. It looks super stealthy and even the packaging is well, beautiful. Quoted the “Apple” of vaporizers, Ploom really got the visuals down with this unit. This would be awesome if the most important feature of a vaporizer was looks. But as we all know, performance is kind of important - well, really important. Let’s face it, you’re not investing $200+ in an electronic device just because it looks nice. So, where does the PAX fail on the performance front? First, the mouthpiece catches a lot of sticky residue during use, so because of the design this means that you will need to clean it after every single use to ensure that the piece doesn't get stuck and keeps working. Second, the heating element is so close to the battery that it significantly lowers the battery life due to the heat. Third, the PAX has some serious vapour leakage. About 20% of the vapor that this unit produces escapes from the poorly sealed oven lid at the bottom of the unit. So every time you take a puff think: ka-ching! And there is goes, lost precious botanical vapor - gone, just gone. Talk about waste! Connoisseurs, this is definitely not the most efficient way to vaporize your botanicals. So, the only great thing about the manufacturing quality of this unit (apart from how pretty it looks) is the warranty - they give you 10 years! This was a shocker in the vaporizing world simply because offering such a long warranty has been unheard of until now. All we can say to this is: 10 years - you'll need it!

Pinnacle

The Pinnacle has a nice, sleek design. On a snazzy, stealthy scale we have come to a consensus that it's only a point lower than the PAX and that’s only because it doesn't have the anodized aluminum exterior. But the operation is much (MUCH) easier and the unit is set up to have zero problems. It's also very durable and self-contained, and incredibly low on maintenance. 

Winner: Pinnacle - looks just as good without all of the manufacturing problems.

Temperature Flexibility

Pax

The Pax has three heat settings: 190°C, 200°C, and 210°C. Having three different heat settings is a definite plus - giving you the ability to adjust the vapour density to your liking. It can heat up in only thirty seconds and to change the temperature, you have to pull out the mouthpiece and use the little white button underneath it. A lot of people find this super cool, but we honestly find it a bit of a pain - who wants to interrupt their vape session to pump up the temperature!? 

Pinnacle

The Pinnacle has two heat settings: 190°C or 200°C. To switch between the settings, all you do is press the power button once, changing the indicator light from white to orange. That’s it. It takes ninety seconds to heat up to the first temperature setting.

Winner: Pax - three settings instead of two, but keep in mind it’s harder to change.

Portability and Battery Life

Pax

The Pax is 10.5 cm tall, 3.5 cm wide, and weighs 95g. It has the perfect shape and size for portability, there are no breakable parts, and it is 100% self-contained. Where we found it lacking on the portability front was with the battery life and the loose oven lid. Unfortunately, while it claims to offer up to two hours of battery life, but our tests have shown that it actually needs recharging after a mere 30 minutes (and that's on the low to medium heat setting). With regards to the oven lid, as it is magnetic it looses its hold after a while, so we've heard of customers having this part fall off completely, which is not cool.

Pinnacle

The Pinnacle is 14 cm high, 2.5 cm in diameter, and it weighs exactly the same as the Pax. It will give you 45 minutes of battery life on a full 3 hour charge. It is also quite self-contained and has no loose parts that could get lost in transit. 

Winner: Pinnacle - better battery life, slimmer, no loose parts.  

Discreetness

Since discreetness is mostly a matter of size and shape, these units are tied in this category. They're both pocket sized, stealthy looking, light weight and easy to carry.

Ease of Use

Pax

The Pax comes with a lot of extra features. You can shake the unit to see the remaining battery power and it has an auto-sleep function when you put it down. It's more complicated to operate, though. The temperature button is underneath the mouthpiece, so you have to stop vaporizing and take it apart to change temperatures. It has features which seem to make it easier to use, like the retractable mouthpiece and the easily accessible heating chamber, but the way Ploom implemented them makes them liabilities. The Pax requires so much maintenance just to function that it really can't win in this category, since it requires daily cleaning and sometimes even extra work, like lubricating the mouthpiece.

Pinnacle

The Pinnacle's one button operation and simple design really make this a prized unit. It has a few less extra features than the Pax, but sometimes less is more. A few nifty features: it tells you when the battery is low and also has an auto-shutoff. A definite bonus is the separate canisters, which make the unit super easy to clean. 

Winner: Pinnacle - foolproof design and operation.

SHOWDOWN

So who's the winner? We're going to go with the Pinnacle. PAX is beautiful, we won't deny Ploom that, but we’ve seen that the unit just doesn't deliver on a number of fronts. The Pinnacle looks a bit more basic, but it actually works much better, without the maintenance and complications. It's amazingly simple and super efficient. So Canadians, don't be upset that the PAX still isn’t available in Canada, because a newer, better vape has come to town.  

Thank you for reading today's Top Convection Vaporizers post. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the section below.

Take care for now and keep on vapin'!

Team TorontoVaporizer

Why is convection vaporizing better than conduction? The shorty story is: because convection uses hot air to heat your botanicals, giving you better tasting vapour, more even vaporization and 100% efficiency. This why convection vaporizers have such a great reputation (and usually cost more). But the following top ranked vaporizers aren't just the best in the convection heating category, they're also top performing units in the vapour quality category. To read more about the best vaporizers based on vapour quality, follow the link.

3 Best Convection Vapes

Popular Blog Posts: To read more about conduction vs convection vaporizing, follow the link.

1. The AroMed

The AroMed by Research and Experience uses an truly unique, UV-free halogen light heating system. The tip of the light bulb is held above your botanicals, so there is no direct contact with the material being heated. The temperature is kept continuously consistent, even when you take draws. This is because the light responds to your draws to compensate for the airflow. This means that when you take a draw, pulling the warm air over your botanicals, the light will brighten and emit more heat, so it isn't all lost at once. This is the most precise and healthy heating mechanism we've ever seen in a vaporizer. The AroMed also has a built in water filtration system to make your vapour crisper, smoother and just flat out better. The combination of halogen light and water filtration makes the AroMed's vapor quality the best in the world. To get a more detailed AroMed Vaporizer Review, follow the link.

2. The Volcano

You've probably heard of this one before. The Volcano by Storz & Bickel is well known for being one of the best vaporizers around and one of the reasons it has earned this title is due to its perfect convection heating style. The fan in the base of the unit takes air in through the bottom, filters it, and sends it through the heating element. If you wait to place the heating chamber on top of the unit, until it has heated up, then you're getting 100% pure convection heat. The heated air then vaporizes your botanicals and pushes the vapor into the balloons. The fan helps with convection heating because it ensures steady airflow, so all of the air is heated equally by the heating element. The Volcano also has the widest heating chamber on the market, providing more space for the air to reach all of your botanicals evenly, for thicker, denser vapour. To get a more detailed Volcano Vaporizer Review, follow the link. Keep in mind that the Volcano is available in two different models: Classic and Digital, and you can choose between two different valve systems: Solid and Easy Valve.

3. The Extreme Q

Since convection heating is based on hot air flowing through the heating chamber, the amount of time the air spends there affects the vapor quality. Faster air gives you lower vapour quality and less dense vapour; slower airflow gives your vaporizer time to thoroughly vaporize your botanicals. The nice thing about the Extreme Q by Arizer is that it has multiple fan speeds to blow up balloons, which lets you choose whether you want speed or vapour quality. The unit also uses glass on glass vaporization, which combined with the convection heat from the unit gives you superb vapour quality. It's also one of the cheaper convection vaporizers you can get, without forgoing manufacturing quality. To get a more detailed Extreme Q Review, follow the link.

So, the 3 best convection vapes, as you can see, are all stationary units. But why? Well, put simply, convection heating requires some space for airflow in order to get optimal results and this is best achieved in a stationary unit. The use of convection heat is a sign of great design and technical consideration. Because of the huge improvements in vapor quality, it is also important to note that these vaporizers are also great for medical use. The AroMed, Volcano and Extreme Q are at the top of the list for vapour quality, so for all you connoisseurs out there looking for the best of the best, we'd highly recommend picking amongst these three units. 

Thank you for reading today's Top Convection Vaporizers post. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the section below.

Take care for now and keep on vapin'!
TorontoV Team

There is a lot of demand for small, well designed portable vaporizers, yet we've found that many end up disappointing us, and everyone else, in other areas like vapor quality and/or battery life. Take the PAX - this unit was beautifully designed and incredibly well marketed, but at the end of the day packaging and looks can only take you so far. PAX has had numerous maintenance, battery and efficiency problems that make it a sub-optimal vaporizer purchase. But what if there was a unit just a sleek and beautiful as the PAX, without all the problems? Introducing: the Pinnacle by VaporBlunt (VB) - we see it as “the problem free PAX.” Here's an in-depth review of this new PAX look-a-like vape and the reasons why you should definitely consider adding it to your collection.

Pinnacle Vaporizer 

Popular Blog Posts: If you would like to check out the PAX Vaporizer Review, follow the link. 

How to Use

With only one button to turn the unit on and off, and turn the temperature up or down, the Pinnacle is extremely simple to use.  After loading the 9mm removable canister and dropping it into the heating chamber, you simply press the power button once to turn on the Pinnacle. A blue light will begin to flash, indicating that the unit is heating. Once the unit has reached approximately 190 °C, the blue light will appear solid. To vaporize at a higher temperature setting (approximately 200°C), press the button again. An orange light will now flash indicating that the unit is heating and it will glow solid once the temperature has been reached. Conveniently, this vape also comes with a ten minute auto shutoff.

Temperature Settings

There are two temperature settings on this vaporizer. It gives you more flexibility than really small basic portables, but not a huge amount of control. However, a couple of temperature settings are much less of a hassle to manage and luckily the Pinnacle offers the best of both worlds: thin flavorful vapor on the blue (low) temperature setting and thicker more robust vapor on the orange (high) temperature setting.

Vapor Quality

The Pinnacle's vapor quality is actually quite good for the small portable that it is. The reason for that relates to the convection style heating that this unit offers. To read about the differences between conduction vs convection vaporizing, follow the link. Though we wouldn't call this vaporizer a convection vape equivalent to say the Volcano, the design of the ceramic heating chamber certainly offers a nice convection element that results in even, full-bodied vapor. However, being so small, the heating chamber is right below the mouthpiece, so the vapor is fairly warm. The mouthpiece and chamber cap are also made of plastic, which we weren't huge fans of at the start, but because of durability and maintenance reasons, we've reconsidered and now deem it acceptable.



But that's not all. For those of you serious connoisseurs, there is a serious upgrade accessory for the Pinnacle. We call it the Hydro Tube. The Hydro Tube is a super cool all-glass water pipe attachment that pumps the vapor quality of this unit up by a couple notches. Now because it is made of glass, it can't be secured onto the unit, so we wouldn't recommend it for on-the-go use, but you should definitely snatch the Hydro Tube to treat yourself at home. 

Manufacturing Quality

We were pleasantly surprised by the manufacturing quality of this unit. VB's previous units were somewhat of a disappointment, but I think it's more than safe to say they got it right this time. The design is probably the best sign of this: it's small, sleek, durable and simple to use. The exterior casing and mouthpiece are heat and impact resistant, which is a definite plus when compared to some of the other portables on the market that are a tad hot to handle when in use. This vaporizer also comes with a one-year manufacturer's warranty.

Portability

The Pinnacle shines in this category. At only 5.5" tall (including the mouthpiece) and 1" in diameter it is truly pocket size. It's also super light, weighing less than 100g, making it ultra portable. 

Battery Life

Adding to the portability of this unit is the battery life. The Pinnacle offers 45 minutes of continuous vaporization on a full 3-hour charge. Not bad at all for a unit this size. It comes with an auto-shutoff feature that kicks in after ten minutes of use to save your battery. The light flashes blue when the battery is getting low, so you will always have an indication of when to plug it in. This is really convenient. Unfortunately though, the Pinnacle can't be used while charging.

Discreetness

This is an extremely discreet unit. As previously mentioned, the size means that you can easily drop it into your pocket without it being noticeable. It's also quite slim, so you won't need to worry about it being uncomfortable to drag around. 

Ease of Use 

This is definitely one of the easiest units to use. The single button makes vaporizing foolproof and the light indicator lets you know exactly what's happening at all times. It also only takes about 90 seconds to heat up, which is fantastic to vape on the fly. Bonus feature: the Pinnacle is super easy to clean thanks to the removable canister system. All you do is slide the canister out of the heating chamber, submerge it in a non-abrasive cleaning solution until the residue is removed and wash it clean. We recommend using an organic cleaning solution that is alcohol-free. The inside of the heating chamber can be occasionally wiped down, but as it is never directly in contact with your botanicals, it will hardly need much cleaning.

Overall Experience

The Pinnacle is a really great unit. It's got much better vapour and manufacturing quality than competing products like the PAX, making it great for beginners and connoisseurs alike. We also highly, highly recommend the Hydro Tube for a crisper, smoother vaping experience, but of course on its own the Pinnacle is just as impressive and definitely worth your money.

Thank you for reading our Pinnacle Vaporizer Review. We hope this review has shed some light on the pros and cons of this PAX look-a-like. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the section below.


Team TorontoVaporizer