Pax Vaporizer by Ploom

The Pax is with no doubt one of the most anticipated portable vaporizers of 2012. With a review unit finally in our hands, we were very excited to find out whether it is worth all the hype.

Aesthetics

The makers of the Pax vaporizer have taken extra special care with the design and appearance of the Pax. The unit looks beautiful, with a brushed, anodised aluminium shell on the outside, and a bright multi-colored coloured LED. It is quite minimalist, but not boring.

The packaging is also very well presented, with a lot of attention to detail. The box is mostly white with a large photo of the Pax on the front, and logos on the sides. Once opened, the Pax is presented in a shaped cardboard tray, on top of the accessories, instruction manual and charger.

The Pax is small enough to be held in a closed fist, so visually it is quite stealthy. It can easily fit into a pocket without being seen. The black model in particular is very inconspicuous, kind of looking like an mp3-player.

It also heats up quickly (less than 1 minute), so would be useful for sneaky hits in public. The only thing I noticed is that the Pax can smell quite strongly of herb while in use, so that is something to be aware of.

Ease of use

The Pax is one of the easiest portable vaporizers I've used. There isn't much to learn to get a good hit - just hold it to your mouth and inhale. Unlike most other portables, there are no special instructions needed, such as holding a battery/switch for a set amount of time, remembering to release it etc. The Pax is a 'smart' vaporizer. It contains a motion sensor, which automatically puts the unit on standby when it is not being moved (e.g. sitting on a table). As soon as you pick up the Pax or move it in any way, it comes back to life. If you are continually using the Pax, passing it around etc, it will stay switched on, as long as it is in motion.

There are no unnecessary switches or dials on the Pax, everything has been minimised and simplified as much as possible. The LED light is used to indicate the status of the unit. For example, a purple LED means the Pax is heating up, green means it is ready to use. Blue means the Pax is on standby mode. There are various other colors to indicate different things such as battery level and temperature. They are pretty easy to learn, and self explanatory. I think ease-of-use was one of the main objectives with the Pax, and it is a big success in this regard.

The only thing that requires some learning curve is the hitting technique. It works best with the 'cigar technique', which is basically just taking a bunch of smaller hits rather than one long, continuous hit. I think this method works better because it allows the heater a little time to warm up in-between each puff. The long, continuous hit brings the temperature down too much, so the vapor isn't as strong.

Vapor Quality and Taste

The vapor produced by the Pax is very flavorful. There is absolutely no unwanted flavours of plastic, metal etc. The makers have used the highest quality materials throughout the design.

The first few hits are always the most potent, usually giving thick visible vapor and intense flavors. After the first 2 or 3 inhales, the amount of vapor/flavor per hit starts to drop off quite fast. But those initial hits are probably the most intense and flavourful vapor I have experienced from a portable unit.

The Pax has three temperature settings (low, medium, high). On the low setting, the vapor is very light, almost undetectable after the first hit. The medium setting gives more reliable vapor, and is usually where I begin a session with the Pax. The high temperature setting makes the first hits very thick indeed, maybe too strong for some users.

Efficiency

The herb is loaded into the Pax via a bowl underneath the unit, called the 'oven'. When loading the unit, it is recommended to compress the herb to the bottom of the chamber, to get the best vapor possible.

When the herb is spent, it comes out a dark brown colour. There is usually a couple of greenish bits around the edges, so the vaporisation is not 100% even. But the Pax does do a surprisingly good job of evenly vaporising the bowl, without necessarily needing mixing. Even on the hottest setting, the herb doesn't combust, it always comes out dark brown and crispy, but not burned.

Durability

The Pax seems very durable and feels good in the hand. It has a feeling of high quality, and is very solid. The outer shell is anodised aluminium, and has no protruding parts when the mouthpiece is closed. While closed, its fair to say the Pax could survive a small drop, and is tough enough to be carried loose in a handbag. It also has a 10 year warranty, so I think Ploom is confident in the durability of the Pax. But I would also say that the Pax is a high-end, precision device, and is not meant to be thrown around or dropped regularly. All plastic parts on the Pax are made from medical-grade materials, and are as strong as can be expected from plastic.

The battery life of the Pax is very good, especially compared to other battery-powered vaporisers. I get between 2 and 4 bowls per charge, depending on a few factors (like the type of herb, the temperature chosen and user technique). One fully charged battery is enough for a good mini-session between a couple of people. For an extended session with a group of people, a fully charged battery won't be enough. I don't seem to quite get the 2 hours stated by the manufacturer, but this could also be related to technique. The battery also charges reasonably quickly, around 1 hour is enough.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the Pax is a generation ahead of other portable vaporisers. The simplicity of use, the high quality design with so much attention to detail, the long battery life, are all vastly improved compared to the Pax's competitors.

The Pax looks innocent, but it has the potential to produce very strong vapor. I really like the way you can load the fully-charged Pax before you go out, and it is self contained - it's not necessary to take extras like spare batteries. Later, you can just take out the Pax, extend the mouthpiece, wait 30 seconds and you're good to go. The build quality is also the best of any portable vaporiser I've tested, it just feels good to use.

The price (the Pax retails at $249,99) is about the only negative thing I can say about the Pax. It is the best portable vaporizer I've ever used, but it is also the most expensive. Saying this, I don't think the price is too unreasonable for what you get, but it would scare off most casual or first time users.

The Pax is more for the high-end user who uses a portable every day, and doesn't mind paying a bit more for the extra convenience, simplicity and usability of the Pax.

Amazing portable unit. The Pax has pretty much everything I'm looking for in a portable vape: stealthiness, fast heating, great taste, temperature selection. Highly (!) recommended!

this is the best portable I've used so far. compared to many other portables (ie the arizer solo) its super easy to use while giving great ,thick hits of vapor. it gets me medicated just the way i like it. 5 stars!

This thing is the best! I love it if i could i would marry it its perfect for every occasion easy to use the best thing to ever happen ever i want one in ever color!!!!!!!

I am not happy at all with this product. Apparently all the people here have never used a real vaporizer because this is not a high quality vaporizer, it is actually a Chinese made P.O.S. It is garbage just like the atmos Raw. I am selling mine and going back to the far superior Arizer Solo!

Cool product. But as an avid mary j burner the performance is weak. I'm still gonna use it tho, fuckin expensive.

Well let me say absolutely stoked to get this for xmas...sleek design super cool...BUT looks only got me so far..overall very inconsistent vapes have to figure out a style that works best for you on each setting for example on high my preference is to tip the oven door like a carbe inhale deep close slow inhale pause carb big breath...u get the picture..not to say on medium and low you get a great taste but the vape quality itself is not to par..quick lil puffs on lower settings regular inhale slow or fast does not accomplish much..unfortunately my awesome xmas gift was a total fail I would definately love to try a different brand...maybe for a hundred dollars wouldn't be so bad but 250 ohh my gosh...I would love to try the davinci or whispr..but unfortunately with 4 children a mortgage 2 cats and a dog won't be in to near of the future but until then...Peace N Love.
P.s. if I do ever run across another I definately will give a review since so many of them are false

Well let me say absolutely stoked to get this for xmas...sleek design super cool...BUT looks only got me so far..overall very inconsistent vapes have to figure out a style that works best for you on each setting for example on high my preference is to tip the oven door like a carbe inhale deep close slow inhale pause carb big breath...u get the picture..not to say on medium and low you get a great taste but the vape quality itself is not to par..quick lil puffs on lower settings regular inhale slow or fast does not accomplish much..unfortunately my awesome xmas gift was a total fail I would definately love to try a different brand...maybe for a hundred dollars wouldn't be so bad but 250 ohh my gosh...I would love to try the davinci or whispr..but unfortunately with 4 children a mortgage 2 cats and a dog won't be in to near of the future but until then...Peace N Love.
P.s. if I do ever run across another I definately will give a review since so many of them are false

*******************READ THIS B4 YOU BUY**MY BAD XMAS**************
Well pax by ploom. Hugh what can I say. Well as far as
Beuty elegence sleekness all out cool look and envy of others....as long as they don't try it you got em in love..if you are looking for a high quality vape... this is by far not a wise choice. First let me state I have tried all three levels to me medium tastes the best but high works best. I tried moist herbs dried herbs packing not packing all soets of various amounts in oven..unfortunately the unit is very inconsistent as far as heat, heat up times, vape consistency. Unit feels a lil cheap [personal opinion]. Yes the other reviews are correct unit does get hot on soft tissue on lips. Have to clean constantly to get a good bad vape lol.. haven't ran across mouthpeice sticking as I keep it clean like recomended but I think the metal slider inside gets stuck and doesn't let the oven turn on.6 Well live and learn I did a lot of research and thought it was a no brainer but most of these reviws I find must be by sonsors and profit shares because for me my xmas was a flop my wife out 250 bucks and it just kinda sucks with 4 kids a mortgage two cats and a dogit looks like another vape will be a very long time in the coming.this was the first year in many my wife and I exchanged because of our dedication to the kids n it sucks too that I have to lie and tell her I like it so she doesn't bug on me...she be real mad if she sees me pullin a bowl or papers like I am back to doing... anywho don't make the same mistake I did
Thank you all for listening hopefully I just saved you 250 dollars

Hi! I just read the 3 reviews left by someone and SO I figured I'd leave a positive review to counter his. I like my Pax so much that I felt compelled to disagree with this person, this thing works great. It is insanely easy to use, pop the mouth up, and your hitting in less than a minute. Cleaning is necessary to maintain a happy Pax, run a pipe cleaner down the stem every once in a while and you'll be fine. Theres a little lip inside the Pax that also needs to be cleaned, it houses the closing latch and sensor for the mouthpiece.

These both take less than a minute each if cleaned regularly (once a week if used multiple times daily, once a month if used more seldom) if this bothers you, you are an incredibly lazy person.
The design is great, its small enough to fit in my coin pocket on my jeans, most camera or sun glass cases work great for these. The retractable mouth piece is cool, the temp settings are easy to change and the switch is illuminated for easy changing in low light. The oven is a sinch to open, the lid is magnetic and easy to remove. A motion sensor cools the oven if you leave it resting, it'll activate very fast, great for conservation. A secret "party mode" will deactivate this sensor. Not much more to it than that. The materials are all very nice, the annodized finish is beautiful.

For the price, I think it is very appropriate based off what competitors offer, but overall I'd have liked it more for maybe 170-200, although I should add that I feel most vaporizers are over priced.
The hits are strong and constant, the temperatures are great, I believe the Pax has the highest possible temp of all portable vaporizers. If you do a fine grind and pack it semi-tight, it'll produce massive clouds! Just look at the videos people are posting online!

I get bigger hits with this than smoking with glass and a lighter. On yellow it gives light, full flavored hits, orange is slightly harsher but gives ideal hits. On red it produces bigger hits than I can even handle, still maintains flavor but vaporizes the product rapidly, ideal especially if you are converting from smoking. Yellow may be deceivingly weak at first, but give a full oven a shot on yellow, it picks up in hits after about 2 minutes once the product dries a bit and results in incredible flavor. I feel as if many don't give yellow a shot which is a shame, its wonderful once you get the hang of it, I hit it very slow and give it a rest several times a hit, much like stoking a cigar. It lets the vapor build a bit, giving rich hits.

The only downside of this is the finicky nature of the mouthpiece, there is a sensor that becomes unreliable once the Pax gets exceedingly dirty. You can virtually eliminate this problem 100% by cleaning regularly, which you should be doing regardless of which vaporizer you own. I clean my stem once a week, and my sensor/lock every other cleaning. I use them (yes I own two) multiple times a day. Like I said, both take very little time to do if you maintain regular cleaning. I'd like to add that these have a 10 year warranty, and I can tell you they are amazingly fast! The customer support is extremely polite and easy to contact, no phone line but their in-site support it great. They paid my shipping both ways, and provided me with 2 day shipping, getting me my Pax back in 5 days total. They had me clean my Pax first, and told me if it was not cleaned they would simply return it to me. How can you ask for more?!

I feel like the ten year warranty more than justifies the price, they also gave me a few extras for the trouble, they definitely want you to feel good about having to use their support. One more thing I'd like to ad, I was a smoker for 11 years, I am so happy with my Pax that I now have hundreds of dollars in glass collecting dust, I only smoke when friends pass me something.

do not let the price throw you off. its a lot but worth every penny .. its smooth , no harshness on the throat or lungs. The taste is really enjoyable. I get a kick out of watching people use the PAX they suck on it like there is no tomorrow and if they don't see heavy smoke coming out they want to do it again... say good night Irene. smooth drag hold it and you are good to go.