Best Portable Weed Vaporizers for 2020 Reviewed -The Pax 3 Review

The Pax 3 is the latest version of ultra-popular series by Pax Labs. Although in the past the Pax Series had never been my personal go-to picks for everyday use, I have enjoyed using each one and the Pax 3 is now among my top 3 personal favorites.

There is a very good reason they are so popular; they hit pretty hard and are quite attractively and stealthily designed. The Pax 3 is certainly no exception and, I must say, rises head and shoulders above it’s predecessors featuring some very nice upgrades.

Let’s take a quick overview before we delve into the review itself, shall we?

Overview

Pros

Stealthy, modern, attractive design

Ultra discreet & pocketable

Oven heats up very quickly (15 seconds)

Very warm, plentiful vapor production

Stainless steel heating chamber and vapor path

Blue tooth and smartphone app enabled

Easy to load & use

2 mouthpiece style options

Works with dry herb and concentrates

Comes with 2 oven door sizes allowing for full or half sessions

3500 mAh battery, lasts up to 2 hours per charge

10 year warranty

Cons

Vapor can be on the hotter side

Price

Flavor not quite as pure as ceramic / glass

Needs to be cleaned often for best performance

Cleaning can be time consuming

The Review

I have been excited to get my hands on the Pax 3 since the day I heard it was coming out. I was actually a little behind on a few reviews when I first heard the Pax 3 was being released.

I must admit, although I was looking forward to getting my hands on it, I was a bit disappointed with myself for not having the Pax 2 review done!

Since things with Pax Labs have moved so quickly, I’m doing things in reverse order now with the Pax 3 review first.

At this point, I’m not even sure if I’ll add a review for the Pax 2 although I will use this space for a slight comparison along with the review and I’ll include some links to both at the bottom.

The main upgrades with the latest Pax are the ability to vape concentrates (hash, wax, shatter), as well as an improved heat-up time and larger battery capacity. The Pax 3’s oven now heats up in to vaping temperature in a mere 15 seconds and allows for up to 2 hours of use per charge!

I must say, the Pax 3 is a nice addition to the Pax family and is quite a nice step up from both the adored original Pax by Ploom and the highly anticipated Pax 2.

Like it’s predecessors, The Pax 3 features the same stainless steel heating chamber and vapor path, but now offers the ability to tailor the size of your vaping sessions by alternating between two oven door sizes (one for full sessions, one for single, or half sessions).

The first that struck me when I opened it up and took it out of the box, was the difference in gloss on the Pax 3 compared with both the original Pax by Ploom and the newer Pax 2.

Although I really like the new sheen, I find the Pax 3 scratches a little more easily in a pocket than the original or the Pax 2 does, and it tends to pick up a lot more fingerprints. Not a huge deals, but the difference is quite noticeable between them.

After I cleaned it off with a few dry burns to get any manufacturing residue off the device itself, I loaded it up with a full session using about a 0.3 to 0.4 of ground herb.

I was pretty impressed once I turned it on how quickly it got up to temperature! It felt almost instantaneous compared to some of my other portable vaporizers. It was quite a bit faster than the Pax 2 which was already rather quick at just 45 seconds.

I’ve personally always preferred ceramic for the heating chamber as it tends to retain the heat more evenly throughout the chamber, but the stainless steel of the Pax is really not bad at all. The one big benefit of the steel though, is the greatly reduced heat-up time.

The other benefit to the stainless is a slightly hotter vapor especially around and above 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are someone who likes hotter, more intense vapor, almost approaching smoke in intensity, the Pax 3 might be a good vaporizer for you.

Once again, the Pax 3 features four preset temperature settings however with the Pax 3, they are now fully adjustable to your exact specifications using the app!

The Pax 3 now features haptic feedback, such as vibrating when the selected temperature is reached, as well as the same intuitive functions as the first two, including shaking it to check on remaining battery level, etc.

For myself, the Pax 3 is great when time is constrained. As long as I have the chamber already packed, I’m puffing nice big tokes of thick, intense vapor within 15-20 seconds of turning it on. If I have to dash away for a few minutes from my office to medicate, I can easily be back to work satisfied in 4-5 minutes.

I do find that in terms of vapor production there is quite a bit more of it with the Pax 3 than with the 2 prior models, not sure how they accomplished that but I definitely seem to get thicker, denser clouds with the Pax 3 over even the Pax 2. As far as flavor, I would say they are all pretty equally comparable.

As shown in the comparison chart below, Pax Labs also improved upon the battery increasing the holding capacity to a full 3500 mAh, up from 3000 mAh on the Pax 2. I find I’m getting almost 2 hours of use per charge, and it usually charges up within about an hour and a half.

I do like the magnetic charging port but I would have loved to have the ability to swap out the battery like the Arizer Air or DaVinci IQ. Maybe next time…

The concentrate chamber works quite well with hash, shatter or wax although if you mainly vape concentrates, this wouldn’t necessarily be the vaporizer I’d most recommend. You can get results pretty much as good with hash and wax using the APX Wax which is just $60.

If you are mainly into dry bud and occasionally use more concentrated medicine, you’ll definitely get good use out of it and be more than pleased especially if you enjoy hot, hard hitting vapor.

I do find that to get the best result out of a session, it’s a good idea to stir up the bowl about half way through just to get the last of the vapor out of the herb sitting on the oven door. As long as I stir the bowl once, it vapes through my herb quite thoroughly. It does get a little hot to hold after extended use but not so much that it’s uncomfortable to hold or draw on.

I like the included multi-tool key-chain for both packing the oven and stirring the bowl and I keep it on my key-chain so I always have it with me. It comes in very handy even with other vaporizers.

As seen below, they include all three oven doors right in the box, the 2 different sized regular oven doors, the smaller one is for full sessions, the other thicker one is for single sessions and the metal one is for concentrates. They also include a spare mouthpiece, some cleaning materials and 3 spare screens.

The pipe-cleaners actually do a great job cleaning the vapor path as long as you remember to wet them first with some rubbing alcohol, otherwise I find they just stick right to it.

The functions are the same regardless of which material you’re using, if you have ever used a Pax, you’ll be quite familiar with it’s operations and interface.

One tap on the top of the device powers it up and the oven begins heating instantly. The LED glows purple while heating, green when ready to vape. Hold it down for 2 seconds to change temperature between the 4 preset temperature settings which you can now tailor to your exact preferences.

For someone with a passion for weed who is on the go and always in a hurry, this is a great option because not only does it have the fastest heating oven, but it’s also one of the most discreet of any vaporizer on the market. It’s small enough to virtually disappear in the hand.

If you like hot intense vapor, and are a fan of the Pax series, the Pax 3 is definitely one for you to check out as it is Pax Labs’ greatest expression yet.

Although it may not be my personal main go to vaporizer as I do prefer the purity of ceramic even though it does take a little longer to heat, I can assure you that this device will not disappoint even the most savvy vapers.

Many seasoned vapers, including some of my friends, consider it the best portable vaporizer currently on the market. For me, it’s unquestionably in the top 3.

The Verdict

Don’t get me wrong, the Pax 3 is a fantastic portable vaporizer. If I wasn’t so spoiled by my IQ these past weeks I would be a little more over the top about it.

I love how quickly it heats up and it really is a pleasure to use with all my strains but I find the flavor slightly lacking overall compared to the IQ, Ascent, G-Pen Elite etc.

I know I am a purist especially in terms of flavor so I am slightly biased in that regard. In terms of overall vapor production and hit strength, it’s as good if not better than any other vaporizer on the market right now.

I love the design and the pocketability and I love how discreet it is to puff on. Particularly with the flat mouthpiece it disappears in the hand while in use almost completely.

If you are more of a flavor purist life myself, you may prefer a vaporizer with a ceramic oven like the IQ, Ascent or G-Pen Elite, but if you are someone who prefers more intense, hotter vapor in a hurry, the Pax 3 may be more your thing.

Considering the versatility, ease of use, the volume and strength of vapor along with a full 10 year warranty, I’d say it’s a very worthy option and certainly worth the extra dollars over the Pax 2. Take a look for yourself!

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Click here for the full DaVinci IQ review

Read the new Firefly 2 review here

Check out the new G-Pen Elite review here

Read the DaVinci Ascent review here

Click here to check out the VaporFi Atom Review

Go back to the full list of portable weed vaporizers reviewed here

Or…

For the full APX Wax review click here

For the complete Volcano Vaporizer review, click here