The State Of The Vaporizer Industry
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Let's chit chat about the current state of the vape industry. First, I just want to say that it feels good to be back and I really, really appreciate the support that you guys show me. For anybody who's not familiar, I've been doing this vape stuff since 2011. I did take a few years off away from the scene and started back up again with the streaming and stuff last year. And since I started back up, I've had the opportunity, thanks to you guys, to test out a lot of the newer portables that I never tried, as well as getting into ball vapes.
New Portable Vaporizers To Me
Now for the portable vapes that have been new to me since I started again, they fall into two main categories. The battery-powered ones and the torch-powered or induction heater analog vapes. Some of the more recent battery powered portables I've been testing out include the Veazy, the Firewood 11, the Tafee Bowl 2, and the Frolic. And then some of the more recent torch vapes include the Simrell, the Dani Fusion 2.0, the Anvil, the Tornado, the HyperDyn, and the VapHit QoQ. I tested out the Tempest 2 also, I just don't have it in my possession right now.
I'm just going to free ball here and shoot from the hip, I guess. In a not so structured way, I'm just going to share my thoughts about all this. Months ago, last year, I posted a best portable vaporizer video, and those are still pretty much all the ones I like and recommend.
The Over-Abundance Of On-Demand Portables
Now there's something we need to talk about, and that is the abundance of on-demand portable vaporizers on the market. There's a lot. There are not so many session style battery powered portables. I think a lot of these on-demand vapes are good, and I recommend a lot of them, if that's what you're looking for. I actually don't find myself using my battery powered portables that are on demand very often. There's two things I'm getting at here. One of them is that I'm more of a session-style vaper with portables, specifically. As in, I'm looking to replace the experience of smoking a J, and not necessarily replacing the experience of hitting a bowl.
Torch Vapes Provide Superior Vapor
The other reason is, once I started getting into these torch vapes, if you can get over using the torch, or if you can get an induction heater, you're going to get better hits. As far as on-demand, single hits, if that's what you're going for, I think that the good torch vapes provide better vapor. Stronger, smoother, tastes better. And this is really just a me issue. I'm just speaking my mind, because I noticed something when I look at my collection of stuff. The vast majority of them are on-demand portables, and they kind of just sit on the shelf a lot.
However, some of these torch vapes I'm using all the time. All the time. This would be my first recommendation for on-demand portable hits, if you want the best quality hits, best quality vapor, most potent, smoothest, all that shit. I also think that a lot of the battery-powered devices are not what I would consider portable. They are cordless vapes for use around the home. Most of them are not the type of vape you would throw in your pocket and leave your house with. So, it gets a little confusing when they're all considered portable, because to me, a portable vaporizer, a battery-powered one, is something like the Crafty.
Still Using My Crafty (Seriously?)
Now, I'm going to go on another little side rant here. I still prefer and use my Crafty as my go-to portable battery-powered device when I leave home. And I have been using my Crafty for that purpose since 2014. Eleven years, folks. I take the same vape with me. Nothing else has come out, and I've tested almost all of them. Nothing else has come out to dethrone the Crafty from that position. Now, don't get it twisted. I think the Crafty needs improvement. It is not the perfect vape. And that's why my mind is kind of blown that they don't have more competition and that some of these battery-powered portables that have been coming out... like, why can't they be session vapes to compete with the Crafty? Why does it seem like every new vape that comes out is an on-demand, usually convection portable?
I'm not trying to throw shade at anybody. I have no specific issues with any companies. Well, I do. We'll get to that. But especially these small makers. I really appreciate everything that you guys are doing. I would love it if somebody could put some focus on something like the Crafty. Session-style battery-powered portable that you load once, take back-to-back hits over the course of 10 to 15 minutes, and then you shut it off. It has to be easy to load and unload on the go. So I recommend coming up with some kind of filling tool for your device, because that's the other thing that bugs me a little bit, is that loading and unloading almost seems like an afterthought with a lot of these products, because it's not exactly super smooth to do it, and especially when you're outside of your house on the go.
Step It Up Storz & Bickel - Please
Now, the reason I'm extra pissed is Storz and Bickel, specifically, has dropped the ball. When the Crafty first came out in 2014, I was using my original Pax as my daily portable. That was still the best that was out. And then the jump from the Pax 1 to the Crafty was nuts. Blew my mind. And I figured, holy shit, Storz & Bickel came out with something this cool and well thought out, and it works this well. Damn, the future's looking bright.
Not so much. Over the course of 10 years, they came out with the Venty years ago, which is a different type of portable. It's good. It leans more towards the cordless home vape, not so much a pocket portable, but whatever. It's still a session style vape that works well. I do have some issues with it though, and if I actually had to pick just one battery-powered portable session vape, I think I would still pick the Crafty, personally.
Over time the I think the Venty gets boring. The vapor it produces has very little throat hit, so on one hand, it's smooth and easy to draw from, and you get a lot of vapor, but on the other hand, after a while, you're like... you feel like you're just sucking a Volcano bag. Like you're not even vaping, really. And for whatever reason, even though the Crafty and the Mighty technically have weaker heaters and all that, they give you better hits. They give you more satisfying hits. You get that throat hit. Yeah, maybe the vapor is not quite as super smooth. I still prefer the Crafty. And not only that, I prefer my original Crafty over the Crafty+. Meaning over the course of 10 years, they managed to make my favorite vape that I use every day a little worse. And then most recently, they came out with this thing, the Veazy, which is worse than the Crafty+.
Pretty unfortunate, because they're one of the companies with the most money and the most resources to make it happen, and they're not making it happen. They went in this direction instead. Don't get me wrong, if you don't have a lot of vapes to compare it to, and you're sort of new to this stuff, the Veazy will seem like a pretty good vape. But let me tell you from this side of the table, it's not a very good vape. So if anybody associated with Storz & Bickel happens to see this, please. I'm actually begging at this point. Make a better Crafty. Please. Just do it. And I know that you know what I mean. You know what I mean by make a better Crafty. I'm not talking about the Venty. Make a better Crafty.
I'm Not Feeling The Frolic
Now, as far as something like the Frolic, there's been a lot of chatter about this one. And honestly, I've received pretty positive feedback from people who have it. People seem to like it. Strong hits. This is a on-demand battery powered portable. It has a session mode, but it's... not. It's not a session vape. And, you know, there's a small chance that maybe something is off with this unit, the one that I've been testing. I've tested it a lot. I can't get satisfying vapor from it guys, the vapor is hot. It's hot. The heater is strong, I guess. But the vapor is hot. So again, something might be up with this. I did have it checked out. I did have it adjusted. The little settings and stuff. Maybe there's still something off. This one's not for me, unfortunately.
Torch Vapes Have Been My Jam
On a more positive note, I have been thoroughly enjoying my torch vapes. They do require a little technique. You got to dial it in. You have to be OK with using the torch. But like I was saying before, the vapor quality is going to be better than a battery powered portable. This has become my preference for on demand vaping.
What About Ball Vapes?
I posted a video a couple of weeks ago, Ball Vape Breakdown, kind of like a high level overview of all the ball vapes I've tested. 17 of them. So the general summary of my ball vape video is that they're all good. They all perform well. You'll get good hits, good results from any of them. So pick the one you like. You like the way it looks. It's the price you want. Pay attention to the bowl size for whatever your preference is as far as how much you load for each hit. They have different size bowls. So pay attention to that. Some of them are made of certain materials. Some of them have different features, different PIDs, different stands. If you were blindfolded and had your ears plugged, which I've done, and you had them lined up and were testing them back to back, I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference. I couldn't.
Hot Vapor Is A Plague Among Portable Vapes
Oh yeah. There's one thing I forgot to talk about with the portable vapes. And this doesn't really go for the ball vapes because you're using them through a glass rig and that takes care of the cooling. There is a plague among portable vaporizers. And that plague is hot vapor. I get so surprised when I test out something new and right away the vapor feels hot because in my mind that should be the number one priority. Not cloud size, not battery life... vapor quality. Many of the units I've tested, many of them, produce hot vapor. So step it up, please. Please. Make comfortable vapor a priority in 2026. Please. I don't want to have to test out any more devices or do any more reviews and talk about the vapor feeling hot. I'm sure you're sick of hearing it. I'm sick of saying it. Smooth vapor. That's all I'm asking for. Smooth vapor.
Dab Rig Technology Has Actually Improved
So the other cool thing that I've gotten into in the last year are like e-rigs and stuff for concentrates. This is the Switch 2. This is the Pockety. This is the Puffco Pivot. And this is the latest one that I just tested out, the Dr Dabber Ghost 2. So I'm not like a humongous concentrate guy. I like them. I just can't do a lot of them. It's super strong. So I do it in small doses testing this stuff out. And it's fun. It's enjoyable. Now, what I find kind of interesting is if I look back over the last 10 years and focus on dab technology or the types of vapes that are out there for wax, they have improved. There's been significant improvement on the wax side of things over the years. Wax pens from 2014? Nothing like these. Way worse. But like I was talking about before, the Crafty from 2014 for flower is still the one I'm using... in 2026.
Log Vapes Are Still A Solid Choice
Oh, and just to throw it out there, the E-nano log vapes. Still great. Still fantastic. I think they're a very good value. They're not super expensive. Like 200 bucks, roughly. Give or take. This is an E-nano XL. Excellent vapor quality. Excellent performance. Same technology, though, from 10 years ago.
Dynavap Is Slippin
I'd like to mention Dynavap quickly. Ever since I got the newer torch vapes mentioned earlier, they're all like a significant bump in performance. So if you have a Dynavap or you like them, cool. They do the job. They work pretty well. If you want maximum vapor quality, maximum strength, you got to step it up a little bit. Dynavap does have the HyperDyn, which is a bigger one that's somewhat comparable to the others I like. I don't know how they did it, but I actually can't get it to work very well. I don't really like it. So that's unfortunate. I also do not like my UniDyn that I bought, and that's unfortunate as well. I don't really like the G3 either, but I do kind of think that the Finley is pretty cool.
PAX Is A Lost Cause
Oh yeah, just realized I forgot to talk about PAX. Uh, I think PAX is a lost cause. They came out with the Flow recently, and it's very different from the previous generations. The PAX has basically been the same since 2015, once again, 10 year run of the same thing. And then they finally switched it up to something new, and it's not great. So the two companies that have the most money and resources, Storz & Bickel and PAX, both completely dropped the ball in 2025. If you guys need some help, I'm only an email away.
The Holy Trinity Of Vaporizers
So let's end on a positive note, if you're not completely demoralized by now. There's a lot of good vapes on the market. So if you're into this stuff, you have a lot of things to choose from. Most of them are good. Most of them give you good quality vapor. You get the effects you want.
If you want the absolute best experience with vaping, I think that there are three main types of vapes you should have. And if you have these three, I think that you're good.
- You need a session-style portable vape, aka the Crafty or the Venty. The Mighty is fine too.
- You need a torch vape. My current recommendations would be the Simrell, the Tornado, the Dani Fusion, and the Vaphit QoQ.
- You need a ball vape. Any ball vape. The Universal Baller, the Hornet, whatever you like.
Then you're good. Unless you just like this as a hobby, and you just like picking up new devices to try, if you have those three things, I really don't think you're missing out on anything.
Have any questions? Ask me when I'm live on Youtube or Twitch.
Stay up!
-Bud