The Storz & Bickel Crafty is the little brother of the Mighty (which we love). It’s about half the size and produces marvellous clouds just like his big sister. It’s about the size of most of the other portable vapes on the market but just as good as the Mighty in terms of performance.

It has the expected Storz & Bickel level of quality, and dare I say, price (they are not what you could call cheap). I loved the Mighty so have been keen to give the Crafty a spin. I can’t help but compare it to the Mighty so will mention some of the ways it is better and some ways it falls short throughout the review.

Crafty: your pocket wonder

Crafty Performance

Heating time is slower than the Mighty but given the size of the Crafty it’s respectable. The latest iteration has a 20% more powerful battery than the first version so it’s fast enough for most people. The heating chamber is exactly the same as the bigger Mighty. I found that the performance (in terms of clouds produced) is also the same, which is very good news. There is little resistance on a draw and tasty convection vape clouds are produced. In terms of performance you can’t fault it.

Crafty: red LED indicates it is heating

Crafty Value For Money 

The convection portable vape market has become more crowded recently. Products such as the DaVinci IQ, Fog and Linx Gaia offer convection vaping for less money than the Storz & Bickel Crafty. But the Crafty vape quality is better than all these devices. You decide if that’s worth the extra money to you – personal I think it is.

There are a few things that the others offer that might persuade you to take a second look; such as swappable batteries and direct control of the temperature via the device. However, I would very much doubt that Storz & Bickel skimped on the battery installed in the Crafty and despite having to fire up an app to adjust the temperature I see many use cases where this is not necessary.

In the box you have everything you need to vape including a grinder and a mains to USB adapter (which I’ve never had packaged with any other vape). Storz and Bickel definitely don’t cut any corners.

Crafty: what’s in the box?

Crafty Build quality

Crafty is rugged and durable. It’s made from a sturdy plastic – which I presume is to keep the weight down and insulate the heating element so not to burn yourself in use. Basically, it’s a Mighty with one battery. All the components are the same excellent quality and in many cases the same, period. I doubted I would find any build quality issues in the Crafty and was right. It’s perfect.

Crafty: mouthpiece is reminiscent of the Mighty

Crafty User friendliness

The main difference from the Crafty to the Mighty is that there is no temperature indicator. Temperature is controlled via an app on your phone. I was concerned how this would affect the user friendliness. The answer would be it depends how you use it, I’ll explain below.

– Loading

The Crafty uses exactly the same system as the Mighty. I loved this approach so am happy about that. In the box you get a superb “herb mill” (grinder). Once your favourite herb is ground you transfer it to a loading device that is the same size as the grinder and slots into the top of your Crafty. You push the herb into the centre and pat it down with the centre section. It’s a lot trickier to describe than it is to do in practise. Do it once and you’ll find it is simple.

Crafty: load easily with the “filling aid”

The great big flat base of the unit gives you a steady platform to do this. This is an improvement over the Mighty – the rounded base of the Mighty drives me a bit nuts.

Crafty: flat base aids loading

When you add the mouthpiece into place it compacts your herb into a pellet in the heating chamber. To clean – you just tap this out. If needed there is a poker built into the base. It hides the USB port which is neat.

Crafty: USB socket is hidden behind poker

Loading on the go is just as easy – you can preload the loading device to top up your Crafty when you need to replenish it. Storz & Bickel have a great system for loading their vapes which is one of their appeals.

– Setting Temperature

You can’t change the temperature directly on the Crafty. This must be done via the free app you install on your smart device. I don’t like having to use my phone to control the temperature of my vape. That said, Storz and Bickel have implemented their app impeccably. Pairing is easy and the readout on the app is just like the temperature display on the Mighty. You can also define a boost temperature so in theory you have two temperatures once loaded. Say, for example, you set the temperature to 185℃ you can also set the boost to 15℃. When you feel you have depleted all the good stuff at 185 you can apply the boost (double tap button) and finish the contents off at 200℃. That’ll do me for vaping on the go.

– Ease of Use

Once you’ve loaded your Crafty, which is easy. And set the temperature via the app, which is also easy – actual use could not be simpler. Just press the one button that the Crafty has and wait for the haptic feedback to let you know it is ready to go. The LED also changes from red to green. As per everything else in life green means go. I have moderate red/green colour blindness but had no problem distinguishing between the different colours. Double tap the same button to boost the temperature to your predefined level when needed – the green light will blink to give you visual feedback.

If you want to use the Crafty without changing the temperature then it’s a simple button press. How can pressing one button get any easier? You cannot fault the Crafty for ease of use.

Crafty: one button to turn on/off

– App

The app is great. To connect you just have to enter the serial number found on the base of your device once. After that it seems to connect instantly.

It’s easy to control the temperature and it also does a few other things. You can turn off the haptic feedback and also adjust the brightness of the LEDs. You can access all the documentation which I appreciated. You can even contact support.

It’s a bold move from Storz & Bickel to rely solely on an app to control the temperature.

Normally, I would have an issue with this, but that could be just me. When I want to get high I tend to keep my phone as far away from me as possible. Else wise I get sucked in and distracted with other apps or mindless surfing. Relying on an app to use a vape poses too much of a temptation for me. However, the Crafty is just so damn good it wouldn’t stop me from having and using it. With the temperature boost it is unlikely you will need to alter the temperature on a day to day basis. You would probably only need to use the app if you are switching from flowers to concentrates or visa versa.

Crafty: App is perfect – 16:19, just in time for 4:20!

– Charging

The Crafty charges via USB. This is more or less industry standard and my preferred charging solution. You can also use it whilst it is charging, which is a plus. It comes with a mains to USB adapter which is useful in case you come from 1985 and don’t have one.

One thing worth pointing out is that the poker tool hides the USB socket. This is clean but maybe if you remove it to charge your device you could mislay it, which would be a shame. I tended to take it out to reveal the port then insert it back in the other way round so it stayed on the device at all times, otherwise I’m sure it’d go walkabouts.

Crafty: charge via USB but don’t lose your poker

Crafty Maintenance and Cleaning

There is no maintenance to the Crafty aside emptying the heating chamber and brushing it down to remove crumbs. Any residue could be removed with a cotton bud soaked in ISO alcohol. The battery is sealed. In case you lose or break (unlikely) the mouthpiece or poker tool you can buy spares.

The Crafty suffers from the same niggle I have with the Mighty. There is a trough that goes around the heating chamber. Occasional crumbs of herb can get stuck in there and can be a bit fiddly to get out. It’s for that reason I dock one point from a perfect score for maintenance and cleaning. It’s not a deal breaker but then again it’s not perfect.

Crafty: twist the mouthpiece to reveal the heating chamber, that groove can be a herb crumb magnet

Who Is It Good For?

As the name suggests this is the ideal portable vape to sneak a crafty stealth draw whilst out and about. This could apply to many people. Office workers who want a quick draw before getting their commuting train home, snowboarders taking a hit on the ski lift, dog walkers and concert goers. I’m sure you can think of other people who could benefit and most probably how you could too.

Pros

• Excellent convection vapour
• Compact size
• One button operation
• Easy to load
• Easy to clean
• Storz & Bickel quality

Cons

• Need smartphone to adjust temperature