Battle Of The Vapes
I decided to do an experiment, where I take every kind of cannabis cartridge on the legal market and put them to the test to see which is the best way to consume in a cartridge format. This ended up taking a little longer than I was expecting it to. Every time I would start to actually work on this, I would be told of a new system that was coming to the market. We started with 3 different types and have now worked up to 5 different varieties of cartridges. We are going to break this up a bit to make it a bit easier. The reviews of the carts themselves are going to be posted separately but will be linked below.
The batteries and cartridges we are going to be testing are:
Tribal Ark Yocan Uni-Pro - Tribal Cuban Linx Live Resin 510 Cartridge 1 Gram
Pax Era - Pax Jack Herer Live Rosin Pax Pod 1 Gram
Airgraft 2 - Natural History Fruit CK Airgraft Pod 1 Gram
General Admission Blinker - General Admission Peach Rizz Blinker Pod 0.95 Grams
Rizzlers - Rizzlers Blud Orange Rizzler Pod 0.95 Grams
Now, let's get to the fun part.
Tribal Ark Uni-Pro
Tribal - Cuban Linx Live Resin 510 Cartridge
Included in Box:
Battery
3x 510 magnetic Adapter
USB-C Charging Cord
Instruction Manuel
The battery itself is actually really nice. It's made from Zinc alloy, so the outside is a nice metal casing. It keeps the cartridges inside of it down a slot and connects with a magnetic adaptor attached to the end of the cartridge. I love having the cart protected in case you accidentally drop it, you don't have to worry too much about the cartridge being damaged.
It also has a nice display that allows you to adjust temperature settings to a more precise temperature for your personal experience.
Now, I will admit, I did find some issues with this device. I've had it happen before where it doesn't register that a cartridge is actually inside of it and you have to play with a bit to get it to work. Other than that I haven't had that many issues with this battery. The cartridge itself was kind of a whole different issue, but I believe that was either my fault or the cartridge itself.
Pax Era
Pax Era - Jack Herer Live Rosin Pax Pod
Included in box:
Battery
Micro USB Charging Cord
Pax sticker
Instruction Manuel
A very nice and slim battery, really not a whole lot to the look of this. Just a slim black battery with the Pax logo on the one side. The nice thing about the use of their logo is that they used it to be able to control your Pax Era, without having to use the app all the time. You can connect the battery to their app (Google Store only) to be able to adjust the temperature your pod is at. They also allow you to shake the device a few times and when the lights start flashing you can remove the pod and it will cycle through the temperatures. There are also a bunch of other features that it has, like games but I haven't been able to figure it fully out yet.
My only real issue with the Pax is also going to be the same for everything else as well. They do not have as large a selection as the 510 cartridges and they are also fairly expensive. Most of what I have seen are live rosin pods, so it does make sense but I don't want to go out and drop that much, every time my pod runs out.
Airgraft 2
Natural History - Fruit Ck Airgraft Pod
Included in Box:
Battery
Micro USB Charging Cord
Airgraft Sticker
Instruction Manuel
One of the smallest batteries in this. It's very short and fairly skinny as well. It's about the same size as my pinky finger. There's nothing special about it on the appearance. Just a light at the bottom to tell you the battery life, and when it's in use. They also have the Airgraft logo across the other side, it's black on black so it is a little difficult to notice. Each pod has a QR code and a code on the back. You can scan the QR code, and enter the code on the site and it will keep track and “activate” the pod. I feel like I tried using it before activating it and it still worked, but that is what the site says.
Now, the technology comes out a little more when you are consuming. Each pod is a “smart pod”, which means that once the pod is set inside of the battery, it will automatically adjust to the temperature needed for that pod. When consuming from the vape, you will get a vibration every second. This was a feature I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it at first, but I grew to really like it. The purpose is so that you can get a similar dosing every time. I found that a 5-second haul for me was perfect and if I wanted to stay at the same level, I could just take another 5-second puff when needed.
The biggest issue I have with this battery is its battery. The site says that it should last 3 weeks and well, it does, without using it. The battery does not last long at all. With consistently using it, the battery would die in a couple of days. Don't get me wrong, it still works great but every other battery can go a long time without needing a charge. Another issue I have with it is that the pods are not very popular and there are only a few options to choose from if you can find them.
General Admission Blinker
General Admission - Peach Rizz Blinker Pod
Included in Box:
Battery
USB-C Charging Cord
Instruction Manual
Very thin, but extra long battery. The pods are also very long and slide into the top of the battery. The battery has a window so you can see the pod and how much is left inside. It has a nice design etched into it and they also put the General Admission logo on it as well, just below the graphic in the corner of the battery, the other side is completely blank. These pods also contain a “smart” feature to help optimize flavour and potency. These batteries are fairly new, so there are not a lot of options out there for them, but I do believe they have some in the works and I have heard they are going to be doing Live Resin pods as well, but don't quote me on that.
I honestly haven't found that many issues with the battery yet but it is just a battery with a little bit of technology tucked inside.
Rizzler
Included in Box:
Battery
Micro USB Charger
The coolest-looking battery out of the bunch. It's small but a little bit wider. It's basically a surfboard as a battery. It's made with green plastic that's clear enough that it lets you see the actual insides of the battery. It also has some slime design dripping from the top and the Rizzlers logo slapped on the side. Other than that, it really is just a basic battery. Just plug the pod In the top and away you go.
This is also another newer line of batteries with only a few options out at the moment. I was told by a rep that they will be coming out with more brands and Live Resin pods as well.
Overview:
Now that the overview of all of the batteries is done, I'm not really sure which one is better. They all seem to have their perks in some way.
I personally feel like the worst option would come down to the Airgraft. Nothing really against it but with the facts of the pods not being easily available and that the battery does not last nearly as long as the rest of them.
The best may come down to the reviews of the pods themselves. It's hard to compare a device that really at the end of the day, just powers the pod inside. I will say that with the amount of availability of 510 cartridges compared to the rest of them may make it the winner. I know some of them can have some issues but I feel with the right battery you could be set for a long time.
This is just my opinion on how I found these devices functioned. I'm aware there are many different 510 batteries I could have used but that was what I had at the time of starting this experiment.
At the end of the full experiment with the cartridges and pods, it seems like they are all fairly much the same. They do have some of their own benefits, but at the same time, they all have their own issues. With issues being taste, availability, clogging or effectiveness. Really at the end of the day, it's up to you and what you prefer