The DaVinci vaporizer is a portable (pocket) vaporizer designed and produced by Las Vegas based manufacturer Karma Classic. Some of its features drew our attention before the official release, so you’ll understand we were happy to obtain a review unit at the ExpoCannabis trade show in Malaga, Spain.

Features of the Da Vinci include a heat up time of only 1.5 minutes, rechargeable built-in lithium batteries for power supply, digital temperature control and the option to vaporize concentrates and oils (using the ‘oil can’ accessory). Plenty of reasons to put this compact vape to the test!

Aesthetics

The DaVinci Vaporizer comes packed in a neat tin with a paper wrap around it. Not surprisingly, the artwork is inspired by all-round genius Leonardo da Vinci. It makes for nice packaging and a welcome change to the minimalist Apple-styled packaging that is seen so often nowadays. The vaporizer itself is tucked in between an inlay of sturdy foam to protect it during transport. Underneath the vape itself are the accessories. Besides the vaporizer itself, the DaVinci comes with the following accessories:

• Charger
• 3 flexible straws
• 3 spare screens
• Illustrated user manual

The oil cans are available seperately, so don’t forget to add a bunch of these to your cart if you plan on using this vape with oils and concentrates.

The DaVinci is currently available in three colors: black, white and gray. It is not unlikely that additional colorways are released at a later time.

Measuring 9 x 1,5 x 5 cm this vaporizer should easily fit into your pocket. For the untrained eye the DaVinci is easily mistaken for a walkie talkie – which I’m sure won’t be a problem for many users. For those who require extra stealth the Snorkel (extended) straw can be recommended; this’ll allow you to simply keep the vape in your inside pocket (or bag) while you’re vaporizing.

On the side of the unit there is a slider button that acts as main on/off button. However, for the vaporizer to heat up, one must also press the smaller button button. This should prevent accidental heating when the vaporizer is in your pocket or bag. Clever. At both sides there are vents that disperse hot air. After using it for some time, the air coming from these vents sure does get hot!

Ease of Use

As mentioned before, the main on/off button needs to be switched on before one is able to set the desired temperature. After that, simply press the power button and the DaVinci will start to heat up.
Temperatures can be set anywhere between 40°C and 221°C (100°-430°F). A small LCD display (which lights up blue when the power is on) displays the current and set temperature, as well as the battery status.

By moving a small button at the top of the unit, near the mouthpiece, the filling chamber is revealed. The DaVinci actually has two bowls; one that is positioned closer to the base of the unit and another chamber is attached to the (moving) lid. To use the latter, a screen (attached to a threaded o-ring) needs to be unscrewed. Using the other herb chamber is therefore easier, as it is more easily accessible.

A nifty feature is the inclusion of a small brush (which doubles as poke tool) that can be attached to the inside of the herb compartment. I always thought such a feature would prove extremely useful, but this is the first vaporizer where it is actually implemented. What’s more, in the very same space that becomes visible when opening the lid sits a tiny stash compartment. It takes some fiddling to reach (it is covered by a rubber lid) and only provides room for about .5 gram of herb, but it is a cool feature nonetheless.

The flexible straw/mouthpiece is attached to the upper part of the herb compartment lid, and can easily be unscrewed, making the DaVinci even more compact to carry.

One of the downsides of the herb compartment is that the angle of the lid it opens at is somewhat limited, making it difficult to look straight into the (lower) bowl. This also makes it harder to clean the bowl or to remove used herb.

Worth mentioning is that the DaVinci can be used while it is charging; no additional adapter is required.

Vapor and Taste

Then there’s the taste of the vapor. As much as I love many of the DaVinci’s unique features, I can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed regarding the taste of the vapor using some of my finest vapeables (is that even a word?) From the beginning, a taste of plastic/rubber appears to be present. During the first few hits after loading a fresh bowl this isn’t too bad (it’s there though), but as soon as a (slight) ABV taste becomes apparent, so is that of plastic. At first I thought this could be residue from packaging or production, but even after letting it heat up to the highest temperature setting for some time the taste didn’t go away. This issue is reported by multiple other users on the FC Forums, although not every unit seems to suffer from it. I wonder whether this is some kind of production error that varies per batch.

We’ll contact the manufacturer and will adjust our review accordingly if it turns out that we’ve been using a faulty unit. I certainly hope this is the case, because I personally find flavor one of the most important aspects of vaporizing.

We’ve briefly tried the Da Vinci with oil (BHO), but it appears this’ll take some more finetuning – perhaps both on our end and that of manufacturer. We dropped a tiny amount of oil on one of the cotton plugs and inserted in into one of the oil cans. At a temperature somewhat higher than normally, there was vapor production, but it wasn’t as thick as I think it should have been. We hope to test this device with other concentrates, such as (ice) hash.

Efficiency

The DaVinci proved its efficiency when we loaded a bowl with a small amount of non-ground bud. At a temperature of 190°C (374° F) we took a few good hits, and reopened the chamber to take the herb out. It turned out the bud was thoroughly brownish in color, even on the inside. While grinding up your weed before using it is probably a good idea to release more flavor, it’s not necessary as the heating element of the Da Vinci seems to transmit the heat evenly.

Durability

While we’ve only been using it for some weeks, it doesn’t take a genius to notice that the DaVinci Vaporizer has a very solid feel to it. This is due to both the rubberized plastic and the lack of any moving parts. We (accidentally) dropped the DaVinci several times, and it kept functioning just fine.

Despite the fact that this vape is produced in China, the materials seem of high quality. With the proper care and maintenance I can see this vaporizer lasting for years.