There’s a good amount of articles out there on the best portable vaporizers under a certain amount of money, but what if you want to say “screw the money” and just want the best of the best? If that’s you, then get your material, grind it up, and put it in your current sub-par vape; because after reading this article, you will be enjoying that vaporizer for the last time.
The portable vaporizers in this list are, in our opinion, currently the best ones on the market. This is not only based on our own personal experiences with them, but also on reviews and feedback from the vaporizer community as a whole. Yes it’s subjective, and we realize you may have a favorite that isn’t on this list, but we feel strongly that the majority of the vape community would agree with these. I also want to mention that this article deals with more traditional portables meant for dry herb; not pen vapes. Yes pens are technically portable as well, but we feel they have their own category and deserve a separate article of their own.
In the meantime, if you’re more interested in a pen for your concentrates, we highly recommend checking out SOURCE Vapes. Their new Orb V3 is amazing. Anyway, let’s get into the portables!
1. The Crafty Vaporizer by Storz & Bickel
Everyone knows who Storz & Bickel is. They are the company behind the Volcano, arguably one of the most popular desktop vaporizers still to this day. Well, they recently decided to get into the portable vaporizer market, and the same quality and workmanship that they put into the Volcano went into their new portable called ‘The Crafty’.
The Crafty produces some of the best vapor out of any portable currently on the market; it even rivals some desktop units, which are known for their punch. The build quality is excellent, and it feels really sturdy in your hands, so you don’t have to worry about it breaking unless you’re super clumsy with it. Even if something does break, the Crafty comes with a 2-year warranty, so you’re covered.
Now one of the coolest things about the Crafty is that you can control the temperature and other features of the device right from your phone with their mobile app. You don’t need the app to control the temperature; it does come with 2 preset temps, but the app gives you more fine-tuning, allows you to change your preset temps, and access other cool features. The temperature on the Crafty ranges from 104 – 410 degrees Fahrenheit. As far as battery life goes, you will get about 45 minutes of total battery life with the Crafty, and it fully recharges in about 2 hours. Overall, we feel the Crafty is the best portable you can buy right now if you are looking for a portable that can be taken out of the house. Awesome vapor quality, a solid warranty, and just a well-built unit all around.
The current price is $339, but if you have the cash, it’s worth every penny. However, this leads me to #2 on this list, which is the Mighty, or the big brother to the Crafty.
2. The Mighty by Storz & Bickel
Notice how at the end of the Crafty section above I said that the Crafty is the best if you want a portable that you can take with you when you leave the house? Well the Mighty is the best portable you can buy if you want something that packs the same punch as most desktop units, but that you can carry around your house without being tied to a cord like you are with desktops.
You could travel with it, no doubt, but it’s slightly bigger than the Crafty is, making it a little less portable and harder to just stick in your pocket. For comparison, check out the image below so you can see how they both look in the hand:
The Mighty is made with the same quality as the Crafty, being that they are both made by Storz & Bickel. The main difference is the Mighty is bigger and has a little more power than the Crafty does. You will also get longer battery life, since the Mighty comes with 2 lithium-ion batteries, and the Crafty comes with just 1. There’s also no phone app to control the Mighty – everything is done right on the front of the unit. Some people prefer this over having to mess around with a phone app just to change the temperature, and I can totally see that point.
The downside is you will pay a little more for the Mighty, but hey, this article is all about buying the best of the best, right? The Mighty currently retails for $399 from most merchants.
3. The Arizer Air
Arizer, like Storz & Bickel, is another very reputable name in the vaporizer industry. They are the same company behind the Solo, arguably the most popular portable since it came out, and the Extreme Q, the equally popular desktop unit. While the Solo was and still is a phenomenal portable vaporizer, Arizer stepped their game up and released the Air not too long ago. As great as the Solo is, the one knock on it was the fact that it could have been more portable. It’s slightly big for a portable unit, and when you add the stem, it increases the overall size even more.
The Arizer Air takes everything that was great about the Solo, but made it much more portable, solving the one issue people had. Here’s a really good image (I believe from the Vape Critic), where you can see the two units side by side. You can also see the Air being held in his hand, and on the left is a top view of it:
For reference, the Air is about as thick as a pill bottle, just to give you an idea of how easy it is to hold. The vapor quality on the Air is amazing, it has 5 different temperature settings, and the battery life is very good as well. Not only that, but it has replaceable batteries, so you can always have backups on you just in case the ones you’re using die.
The price on the Air is very reasonable too. Normally it retails for $269.99, but I’ve seen it on sale for $169 from PuffItUp.com, which is a fantastic deal. At the time of this writing, the promo is still going on, but I don’t know how long it will last. If you want the Air, right now is the time to buy it.
4. The Pax 2
If having a high tech, stealthy unit is what you’re looking for, there’s nothing better than the Pax 2. Most vapers are familiar with the original Pax, which was a very popular unit. However, it did have some drawbacks that irritated a lot of people. For one, it was a pain to clean due to the mouthpiece design. The original Pax also didn’t have that great of a capacity, and the battery life could have been a little
better.
Pax took all of this into consideration and fixed these issues with their new Pax 2. The Pax 2 has a 20% deeper oven, giving you more capacity. It’s also even smaller and lighter than the original, making it more portable. They completely changed the mouthpiece design, so cleaning it is no longer a problem. Lastly, they made the battery life better, and now you can get around 7-8 sessions on one charge instead of ~5 like in the original.
Overall, they fixed everything they needed to and produced a very solid unit. At $279.99 the Pax 2 is up there in price, but again, we feel the money is well spent. If portability, stealthiness, and having a high tech looking vaporizer sound like your style, grab the Pax 2. You won’t be disappointed. We hope you found this guide useful and that it helped you decide on which unit is perfect for you, or at least helped you narrow down your choices.
Just to sum up:
If you want the absolute best portable vaporizer for carrying around with you out of the house, go with the Crafty. If you want something that packs the punch of a desktop unit, but without being tied to a cord, and you don’t mind it being slightly less portable, the Mighty is the vape you want.
Looking for great vapor quality, a very portable unit, awesome battery life, but don’t quite want to splurge $339 for the Crafty? The Arizer Air is a very close second place, and you will not be disappointed. Lastly, if maximum portability and stealthiness, while still producing solid vapor quality are what you’re looking for, grab the Pax 2. We have reviewed all of these units individually on our website, Paint the Moon, and even have video demonstrations of a few of them, so feel free to stop by and check them out. Questions, comments, concerns? Hit us up in the comments below.
