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I’ve been using the Pax 3 as my primary on-the-go vaporizer for over a year now and have introduced countless friends and family to vaporizing dry herb with it. In this Pax 3 review I share my consolidated opinions and experiences with the Pax 3. Thanks for stopping by to read my review, if you have any questions that this review doesn’t answer, feel free to ask them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them as fast as I can.

The Pax 3 is a portable vaporizer for dry herbs and oils. It’s PAX Labs most feature packed vaporizer while still discreet enough to blend in with the contents of your purse or pocket, but powerful enough to produce satisfying vapor in under 30 seconds.

The first new addition to the Pax 3 adds a large collection of features through Bluetooth connectivity — You can finally tune your Pax to a precise temperature, eliminating one of the biggest limitations of previous Pax vaporizer generations.

The Pax 3 has an upgraded battery compared to previous generations. It has about 16% more capacity than the previous generation battery, and in my testing, resulted in about 20% improved battery life compared to my Pax 2.

Pax 3 is one of the fastest heating portable vapes on the market, it can be ready to vape from a cold start in as little as 15 seconds.

For newcomers to vaporizing, the Pax 3 offers a simple experience with few moving parts. You have a selection of four temperature presets right out of the box. For those who want a more customized experience, the Pax smartphone app unlocks a more precise temperature control, as well as a few more customizable settings I’ll cover below.

Size & Portability

Pax 3 is small. It measures in at 3.9” tall and 1.2” wide and < 1” deep, in the hand it feels like holding an oversized bic lighter. Thanks to it’s small size and durability the Pax 3 is very portable. The body is metal and can take a beating from being carried around with other pocket dwellers such as coins and keys. I’ve also sat on and dropped my Pax 3 many times with no consequences. I can’t say the same for my Arizer Air.

Design Updates

The Pax 3 is the same dimensions as the Pax 2 and could easily be confused for one at first glance. You can confirm the model of the Pax you’re looking at the name etched into the back of the vaporizer. The Pax 3 also comes in an assortment of polished and matte colors that the Pax 2 doesn’t offer. Otherwise, cosmetically it looks the same, and any cases or accessories used with the Pax 2 will continue to work for the Pax 3.

Performance

Heatup Time

The Pax3 is quick to heat up from a cold start. The longest I’ve waited for the Pax 3 to heat up was around 40 seconds, I was using it outdoors on a freezing winter day. On average it takes about 20 seconds to be ready to vape from a cold start. In my testing it takes the Pax 2 at least twice as long to heat up as the newer Pax 3.

Ergonomics

It’s a small vape as far as portable vapes go. The body is tube shaped with one button located under the mouthpiece on the top and an oven on the bottom. The front has a small four petal indicator and there are two charging contacts on the back.

It fits comfortably in my hands and in my pockets

Preset Temperatures

The Pax 3 has four preset temperature settings and a custom fifth setting for picking your own preferred temp using the Pax app.

The four presets are:

360F – Nice and low, this is all flavortown with very light and airy effects.

380F – Cruising altitude, this temperature is my personal go-to when I want to use the Pax 3 while out and about.

400F – Heavier vapor, the flavor of the herb starts to to become less pronounced as the vapor thickens.

420F – How hard can this thing hit? I like to end my sessions on this temperature when I’m introducing the Pax 3 to someone who previously smoked and is looking for a lot of vapor on their exhale. After one or two hits, most buds will taste the same at this temperature, toasty.

Oven

A fully packed oven can hold a little bit under 1/2 a gram of dry herb. The oven lid magnetically snaps into place over the oven.

Heating Profiles: Standard, Boost, Efficiency, Stealth, Flavor

Heating profiles determine how fast the Pax heats up and how long it holds that temperature. During a draw the heating profile will control how hard the Pax overdrives the oven in order to keep your herb from cooling down too much. These profiles are both fun to play with, and nice for customizing the Pax to your usage and needs.

STANDARD heats up to the set temperature and gives the temperature a little bit of a boost only while you’re drawing.

BOOST is all about using all the power the Pax 3 has to offer. When heating up and while drawing, the Pax 3 runs at full power, after you’re done drawing, it gradually ramps the heat down to standby temps instead of cooling right away.

EFFICIENCY is the most dynamic temperature profile. While in Efficiency mode the Pax will start at your selected temperature, and then slowly ramp up the temperature slowly over the course of your session. The Pax 3 can detect when you’re drawing, and raise the temperature only if you’ve been using it. How is this different from Standard? Standard only boosts the temperature from the set temp while you’re drawing, Efficiency raises the set temp while you’re drawing and boosts from there. The longer your session the hotter the oven gets. I typically start at 370 and end around 395 when I’m using Efficiency.

STEALTH keeps the oven as cool as it can while idling and ramps up to full temps only while you’re drawing. This means that overall you’re spending some time during every hit waiting for the oven to warm up. The upside of this is that there is much less smell leaking from an idling Pax 3 that is running in Stealth mode. The LED indicator on the front of the Pax 3 is automatically dimmed while in Stealth mode.

FLAVOR is a mix of Standard, Stealth, and Boost. It cools down quickly after draws to preserve the flavor of the herb for the next draw, during a draw the Pax 3 will boost quickly for maximum vapor extraction.

Vapor Quality

The vapor from the Pax 3 is medium density and flavorful at the start. There are settings to capture the taste and flavor experience, or the thick cloudy exhaled vapor experience that a lot of smokers prefer.

In terms of ease of use, especially for newcomers to vaporizing, the Pax 3 is one of the best in the portable category. It’s intuitive to use and simple to maintain the Pax 3. General maintenance doesn’t require much more than a pipe cleaner and some alcohol swabs.

Charging the Pax 3

Charging the Pax 3 is similar to the previous generation and the Pax 3 is backwards compatible with all the Pax 2 charging accessories. Updated with the Pax 3 the hefty charging cradle is replaced with a lightweight USB charger that magnetically snaps onto the back of the Pax 3. The new charger is much lighter and more secure, I prefer it to the cradle.

The Pax 3 charges pretty quick, getting up to an 80% charge in about an hour and a half.

Battery Life

Battery life on the Pax 3 ranges from about 90 minutes total run time to a full two hours of run time depending on the temperature and how many times you let Pax warm up and cool down. For example, many shorter sessions on a hot temperature will get you closer to 90 minutes of total runtime per charge. This includes heat-up time, which is fairly quick on the Pax 3, quicker than most portable vaporizers.

Having longer sessions with the Pax 3 on a medium temperature will get you closer to the two hour runtime. If you’re sharing the Pax with multiple people, you can do a “hot reload” while the oven is hot and turn one long session into two, while still getting the best battery life. That’s how I prefer to use it when sharing.

Accessories

Mouthpiece

You get two mouthpieces with the Pax 3. Raised and Flat.

RAISED: This mouthpiece is more standard looking than the flat one. It’s less discreet and the Pax stands out as a vaporizer with the raised mouthpiece.

FLAT: Much more discreet, the flat mouthpiece uses grooves to direct the vapor towards a lip by the edge of the Pax 3. It takes some getting used to, and usually ends up getting some sticky lip marks on the outside of the vape over time.

Half Pack Lid

I really like the half pack lid (on the right) it lets you load less than a full load into the Pax 3 oven. Underloading the oven without using the half pack lid leads to an uneven bake. You can load about 1/4 of a gram, or even a little bit less, and still get a good thorough cook using the half pack lid.

Concentrate Can

The concentrate can lets you enjoy concentrate in your Pax 3 at relatively low concentrate temperatures. It’s far from a wax pen vaporizer, but it does work.

Multi-Tool

The Pax Multi-Tool is a two-piece in one loading and stirring accessory. The silicone can be used to tamp down the contents of the oven, and the metal pick tool can be used to stir or empty the oven.

Pax Bluetooth App

The bluetooth app is well made and easy to use once you figure out where everything is.

Using the app you can customize:

Brightness and color of the LED lights – Turn down the lights if you’re using the Pax during a movie or in a dark room, turn them up to see them in broad daylight.

Intensity of the vibration feedback – Need to be extra stealthy? Turn off the haptic buzz, or just turn it down.

Heating profiles – Something for everyone, try ’em all.

Temperature – Like the heating profiles, there is a temperature for everyone.

You can also use the app to set the Pax 3 into one of three different game modes:

There are also four different color profiles to choose from for the LEDs: Original (green), Blue, Prismatic, and Red. Without the app, you’re limited to using the Standard heating profile. Using the app I can change to a variety of different heating profiles.

Finish

The Pax 3 comes in two finishes, matte and glossy. The glossy units will scuff over time, it takes longer if you’re careful, but they’ll scuff eventually. The scratches are purely cosmetic and don’t affect performance in any way but they still suck. The glossy finish is also a fingerprint magnet, it gets covered in fingerprints and smudges fast, especially after loading and reloading the pax.

The matte finish is more forgiving and overall my favorite. It’s not quite as posh, but it’s a better overall look.

Pax 3 Warranty

Keeping with their regular tradition Pax Labs offers a 10 year warranty on the Pax 3 vaporizer. I’ve found their warranty process to be straightforward and no hassle. The warranty terms do state that you may be asked to send in pictures or video of your malfunctioning vaporizer, and I have been asked to do that in the past, but have never been hassled or jerked around when it comes to getting a valid warranty claim resolved. If I had to grade them I’d give Pax Labs a solid A for warranty service.

Compared

Compared to other popular portable vapes, the Pax 3 shines in its ease of use and low maintenance. It heats up faster than most current generation portables, but it isn’t the fastest. The overall quality of the vapor is good, but I wouldn’t rate it to be ahead of the pack. There’s no question that the Pax 3 deserves its place as a top tier vaporizer, with an exceptional design and user experience, and overall good vapor production and quality. Most importantly, the Pax 3 is one of the most reliable portable vaporizers that I’ve reviewed to date.

Pax 3 on-the-go

The Pax 3 shines as the pocket friendly vape to bring on-the-go. It’s been a staple of my dog walks for over a year and when I thought I lost my Pax 3 I bought another one, which is why I now have two. It fits the bill for all weather conditions and is super durable for how precious it is. Yep, precious.

A post shared by King (@vaporreviewblog) on Jan 15, 2018 at 3:48pm PST

I’ve taken the Pax 3 skiing and snowshoeing, hiking and even once, biking. I dropped this vape quite a bit. But nevertheless, the Pax 3 run and it runs great every time I pull it out.

Recommendations

The Pax 3 is for users who want a simple one-and-done solution to vaping dry herbs. It packs enough power to serve up back to back sessions when used at home or in a social setting, and it’s small and discreet enough to ensure that it can come with your almost anywhere. If you’re looking for a no-hassle vaporizer that “just works” and don’t mind the $200+ price tag, the Pax 3 is an instant buy recommendation from me.

Currently the Pax 3 sells for $200, an optional “full kit” is available that includes a few accessories for $250. Both are available from VapeWorld using the links below.

Pax 3 Full Kit

Pax 3 Basic Kit