“As we look ahead, tastes are really starting to emerge,” Steven Jung—CEO at the leading weed vaporizer brand Pax—says. “Consumers are moving away from demanding only high potency and big clouds. They increasingly see vape as a better-for-you category, without the harmful byproducts of combustion.”
“Appetite for ‘clean weed’ is accelerating quickly, as discerning consumers bring the same expectations to cannabis that they have for other products in their lives,” Jung says. “They want better quality, higher levels of purity, and hardware that’s made with better materials and temperature control.” The current consensus among the medical community is that vaping is healthier than smoking for the simple reason that many of the harmful elements in whatever is being heated up don’t end up in your lungs.
So whether you’re looking for a desktop unit to rip high-THC concentrates from while binge-watching Yellowstone, or a small and discreet portable unit to fill with low-test CBD flower for your walk to the dog park, there’s something out there for you. We tested a variety of options to, ahem, pull together this list of the absolute best weed vapes that you can puff to high heaven (any of which would make great gifts for the stoner in your life this holiday season).
The Best Weed Vape Overall: Pax Plus
Start talking vapes with any user and the name Pax is almost certain to crop up. Each of Pax’s herb vaporizers is small, uncomplicated, blessedly discreet, and—more than anything—a thing of beauty, like a gleaming alien tube. Not to sound high, but it also just feels nice to hold.
New as of this fall, the Pax Plus replaces the Pax 3 as the brand’s top-shelf device, adding “Experience Modes”—like stealth, efficiency, and boost—which kick the vape into pre-programmed settings like drive modes on a car. Only four temperature settings means you might not have the perfect option for your favorite Wu Dank strain, but that’s in keeping with Pax’s Apple-esque belief that less complication is better.
It’s a best-of-both worlds flower- and concentrate-compatible vape, and on the design front the Plus looks somehow even sleeker than its predecessors thanks to its brushed matte finish. Still, it carries on some of the best features of the Pax line, like a button-free interface that activates and adjusts itself simply by pressing the mouthpiece. Other perks: the re-designed oven that’s compatible with the company’s new pre-packaged infused flower, the two-plus hour battery life, and the unimpeachable 10-year limited warranty that ensures you’re guaranteed at least a decade’s worth of premium pulls. It’s maybe not as efficient as the lightning-fast Firefly below, but it more than makes up for it in aesthetics, size, and simplicity in getting you high.
The Best Splurge Weed Vape: AirVape Legacy Pro
Right out of the packaging, AirVape’s Legacy Pro feels like a high-end product. Then you realize it’s actually built with a lot of luxe materials like hemp-based textiles, vegan leather, and 24-karat gold plating. Looks and feel aside, the Legacy Pro offers some more premium features than the Pax Plus, albeit with a slightly higher price point. For one, the Legacy Pro heats up faster than the Plus, and is, overall, one of the faster weed vapes to get up to temp so you can start vaping away ASAP. You control the temperature—between 212 and 464 degrees Fahrenheit—directly on the vape itself, so no there’s no need to get adjusted to a companion app. Loading the Legacy Pro is a breeze, and the mouthpiece, which is straw-like, is much more pleasurable to use than the Pax Plus’, which feels more like a sippy cup (not a knock; just an observation). The only downside to the Legacy Pro is that it has a much shorter battery life than our top pick, so you won’t get as much time hitting the vape before you need to rejuice.
The Best Weed Vape for Heavy Hitters: Mighty+
Storz and Bickel has been at the forefront of the cannabis vape industry for decades thanks to its flagship product and head shop legend, the Volcano, but the German brand also makes one of the best portable vapes out there. An upgrade from the tried-and-true Mighty, which was the brand’s first battery operated device released in 2014, the Mighty+ uses conduction and convection to vaporize product (flower or concentrate). It juices up via USB to nearly a full charge in about the span of a 45-minute TV episode, and offers at least an hour of non-stop tokes per charge—which is considerably more than its predecessor.
