We’ve talked to more vaporizer experts, read more editorial and buyer reviews, and tried more models firsthand than most regular vaporizer shoppers ever get the chance to.

The experts we’ve consulted over seven years of research and testing include Bud, the reviewer at The Vape Critic, and Buzz, the man behind the curtain at VaporizerWizard.com. (Both sites include affiliate links for some products they recommend, as explained in The Vape Critic’s disclosure page and VaporizerWizard.com’s disclosure page.) We also spoke with staff members at 11 cannabis dispensaries around the country, to learn about top-selling items at their shops and what they’d buy for family and friends.

Writer Beca Grimm has covered cannabis for Rolling Stone and Vox, among others. She co-founded—and from 2016 to 2021 operated—the feminist cannabis culture zine and brand Graze Club (formerly known as Dope Girls), raising funds for nonprofits such as the Last Prisoner Project (which promotes clemency for people serving time for cannabis-related offenses).

A note of disclosure: Vaporizer manufacturer Grenco Science co-sponsored a Dope Girls print issue and release party in October 2019.

If you’re completely new to cannabis, or you’ve been a casual pot smoker in the past, you should know that using a vaporizer is a great way to avoid the by-products of combustion, as well as to skip the sticky, icky ash mess that’s an inevitable part of smoking joints, pipes, and bongs. A dry-herb vaporizer (like all of those we reviewed for this guide) heats dried cannabis (or cannabis concentrate) that you pack into the device’s oven, and it produces inhalable vapors. Dressed in a sleek and discreet housing, a portable vaporizer feels like something you can bring to a dinner party, along with a bottle of wine.

If you’re a patient looking to use medical cannabis for symptom relief, portable vaporizers offer additional benefits. A quality vaporizer for ground cannabis flowers can reliably hit a consistent dosage with precision temperature controls, allowing you to better control the effects. That’s not as easy to accomplish with edibles or smoking.

Note: Portable vaporizers are legal—unless you use them with a substance that federal and/or local law says is illegal. Cannabis is illegal in some places.

Over six years of research, we’ve considered more than 50 portable vaporizers, mostly selected based on input from experts at sites including The Vape Critic and VaporizerWizard.com, as well as from owners in enthusiast forums, including FuckCombustion and the r/vaporents subreddit. We also called 11 dispensaries across the country to see what budtenders have bought for themselves. We’ve panel-tested nearly two-dozen models over the years to get an idea of how people with differing levels of cannabis familiarity think about the experience of using different vaporizers.

For this guide, we didn’t consider vaporizers for oils, extracts, wax, cartridges, or other concentrates. We also didn’t consider e-cigarettes or other products specifically for tobacco or nicotine use. The devices that use these substances are broadly called vaporizers, which is confusing. Our coverage here is limited to flower vaporizers for old-fashioned buds. We concluded that this product category is the best entry point for most people because it provides a lot of options in terms of flavors, effects, and potency.

We also focused only on portable models—no offense to fans of tabletop favorites like the Storz & Bickel Volcano Hybrid. We evaluated models for on-the-go use, as well as for longer vaporizing sessions, such as when you’re hiking, snuggling on the couch, or relaxing around a backyard fire.

As we tested and retested portable cannabis vaporizers, we considered several important features:

• Easy to use: We looked for models with clear, intuitive controls to start up the device, see when it’s ready, adjust the temperature, and check battery life. We wanted the device’s oven to be easy to load, quick to heat up, and unlikely to burn material if you forget it’s on. Vaporizers transfer heat to packed material via conduction (direct contact), convection (air circulation), or some combination of the two.
• Pleasing vapor: We wanted vapor that was good enough to never warrant smoking instead. As a result, we dismissed vaporizers that produced unpleasant flavors (like burnt popcorn) or harsh or uncomfortably hot vapor, as well as any that tended to clog or caused us unusual difficulty in inhaling. Truly great models produce vapors that taste good, don’t burn, and feel like you’re drinking from a straw.
• Easy to clean: Cleaning is an important factor with vaporizers because all devices require it. The best models can reliably be returned to near-mint condition with minimal effort. And the worst models have parts that need to be replaced frequently, areas you can’t fully clean, or a cumbersome disassembly process. We avoided models with long, skinny airways that you have to ream out with pipe cleaners—they’re too hard to get truly clean.
• Good battery life, simple charger: It’s most convenient when a vaporizer uses a common charging port (such as Micro-USB or USB-C) that works with cables you probably already have. A proprietary charger (like a dock or a unique cable) is not as convenient, but we didn’t dismiss models for that alone. We’ve found that on most good vaporizers, battery life lasts for about four bowls, without a ton of differentiation among models. We appreciate vaporizers that have user-replaceable rechargeable batteries, but that feature isn’t crucial.
• Attractive and functional design: A great vaporizer looks nice and feels good in the hand, and it has a body durable enough to survive a drop (which is inevitable). It also has a simple and effective mouthpiece that feels natural on your lips—and doesn’t burn them. Subtle additions, such as concealed cleaning tools or aligned magnetic oven closures, also contribute to a satisfying experience. Many vaporizers put all of the necessary info and controls on the body of the unit, while others rely on an app. For simplicity, we prefer a vaporizer to be controllable without a smartphone app—but we didn’t dismiss any models based on that factor.

For a reliably excellent experience, we regularly reach for the Pax Plus, which packs easily, heats up quickly (without overheating), and is a cinch to keep clean. Our test panelists rated it their favorite vaporizer by far in every respect except vapor flavor (the Storz & Bickel Venty won that one). With its intuitive on-device controls, this conduction vaporizer nails ease of use, yet it also allows for precision tinkering via an app. Simply put, this model is comfortable to use, and it delivers consistently smooth hits.

It’s easy to load. You simply tap the magnetically sealed oven lid to access the bowl for easy loading. The oven itself is pretty big, so you can pack a good amount of dried flowers in there (almost half a gram).

It’s easy to set up. With the Pax 3, the company moved away from largely leaning on its app, instead providing intuitive, tap-based temperature controls right on the device. Depending on the intensity of the flavor and the effects you select, this vaporizer’s four-light system illuminates when you click. More illumination means higher temperatures. When the device reaches the desired settings, it gently vibrates, and it’s good to go for tiny sips and bigger rips alike.

The clandestine silicone mouthpiece lies flush with the device. The Pax Plus also comes with a more traditional, raised mouthpiece, which you can easily snap into place.

It produces tasty vapors. In our tests, the Pax Plus’s vapor flavor was solid and consistent—unlike the more staccato experience we noticed with some competitors. We found it to be smooth and grassy or gassy, depending on our strain of choice.

It’s easy (enough) to clean. The Pax Plus comes with cleaning tools—a snappy wire brush and pipe cleaners root up charred nugs. And an easy, quick isopropyl bath restores the submersible components back to squeaky clean. Cleaning is a quick, simple routine that doesn’t require a clear mind or a spare toothbrush.

The Pax Plus comes in four colors—more than most other vaporizers we’ve considered, but not quite as many as the Firefly 2+ model.

If you plan to use only flower (never cannabis concentrates), and you’re okay with a smaller-capacity oven, consider the pared-down Pax Mini.

Warranty: 10-year limited
Replaceable battery: no (contact Pax for options)

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The lithium-ion batteries in all of our vaporizer picks degrade over time. But unlike batteries in our other picks, the Pax Plus’s battery is irreplaceable. (A company spokesperson said battery issues beyond “normal performance degradation” may be covered under warranty.)

Like other vaporizer apps, the Pax app (Android, desktop) is no longer available for iOS. To control the Pax Plus with an iPhone, you need to use the web app.

Although the Pax Plus’s flush silicone mouthpiece is great for sipping, it can be a lip-balm thief, so it’s a less-than-ideal option (especially for sharing).

The Pax Plus also has a proprietary charger, which currently costs $25 to replace. And unlike the Storz & Bickel Venty, this device can’t be used while it’s charging.

The Apollo AirVape Legacy Pro, which our test panel deemed a close second to the Pax Plus overall, is a weighty piece that feels good in your pocket. Its oven uses both convection and conduction heating, and it fully powers up a touch faster than the Pax Plus. The onboard temperature controls are easy to use, and the device is simple to clean. Its adjustable microdosing disc helps pack your bowl economically while allowing easy airflow. The Legacy Pro’s digital display is a cinch to read in any light. In our tests, its vapor tasted clean and great, and our panelists preferred this device’s mouthpiece to that of the Pax Plus.

The case snaps open, providing easy bowl access. (Our panelists found this process simple, even while very stoned, especially when compared with accessing the bowl on the Storz & Bickel Venty.) Another chamber contains an easily removable glass straw that you pull from (it’s a breeze to clean). You can remove the mouthpiece so it doesn’t chip or get smashed while in transit, and you can charge the Legacy Pro via USB-C or wirelessly. This model comes in two colors.

Warranty: limited lifetime with device registration
Replaceable battery: yes, for $15 (and you can do it yourself)

A superlative portable vaporizer in almost every aspect, the Storz & Bickel Venty heats quickly, and it produces exceptionally tasty vapor—unanimously ranked the best by our testers.

The Venty offers adjustable airflow (unlike the Pax Plus, which offers smaller, albeit reliable, sips only). And when that airflow is combined with the Venty’s temperature toggling, you get a fully customizable experience without having to use an app. (There is an Android-compatible app, for those who want to use it.) Although the Venty is the smallest Storz & Bickel vape, it’s larger than our other picks; it’s arguably the least discrete, but it’s plenty portable.

Compared with our other picks, the Venty pulls the widest hits, with unrivaled airflow. With the Pax Plus, it’s easy to overpack the loading chamber with flower, restricting airflow, but that isn’t the case with the Venty. The device feels supremely solid in the hand, and it easily withstood our test tumbles. Plus, as you can with the DaVinci Miqro-C, you can still toke on the Venty even when the battery is totally drained, as long as it’s plugged in to charge. (Note, however, that if you use the Venty while it’s plugged in, charging slows significantly.)

As with other vaping apps, Storz & Bickel’s app is unavailable on the Apple App Store. If you want to fine-tune the Venty controls on an iOS device, you have to use the web app. Alternatively, you can use Bluetooth to toggle the device vibrations on and off, and you can activate an optimization feature that slows battery aging (but it makes the device charge more slowly).

The Venty comes in only one color: matte black.

Warranty: three years with device registration
Replaceable battery: yes (as part of a Storz & Bickel service package, for a fee)

The convection Firefly 2+ heats up very quickly—four times as fast as our next-fastest-heating pick—and it’s fun to use. Unlike our other picks, the Firefly 2+ has an exposed bowl, so you can easily see when it’s time to repack. Although this is not the device we think most people will reach for regularly, its unique design provides a pleasant shared experience. This vaporizer is a worthwhile addition to an existing vape lineup.

But setting the temperature on the device itself can be tricky. To activate the oven, you hold down the right-side sensor while tapping the one on the left three times. Then the Firefly 2+ is ready to hit almost instantly—the bowl glows orange for extra indication and excitement. You can then tap up to six additional times to raise the (preset) temperature. Our testers found this process somewhat finicky, and we believe that most people would prefer to control the temperature using the Firefly app (desktop).

The Firefly 2+ is arguably the easiest of our picks to clean, since you can effortlessly open the device to expose the oven. Then you simply use some of the included alcohol wipes to give it a quick wipe-down.

The mouthpiece, though comfortable to use, seems like it could snap off if you lazily toss the Firefly 2+ into a tote bag. Learning to pull a reliable, consistent hit with this device can be tricky, too, since you have to hold both the right and left sensors while inhaling. One-handed use is possible, but our panelists were divided on this kind of drag; some found it overly cumbersome when compared with pulling on our other picks.

Not unlike a traditional bowl, the Firefly 2+ does get warm (though not aggressively so). It comes with a handy charging dock, or you can use a standard Micro-USB charging cord. The Firefly 2+ comes in six colors.

Warranty: two-year limited

Replaceable battery: yes, for $30 (and you can do it yourself)

If you can’t (or don’t want to) spend more than $200, we recommend the DaVinci Miqro-C or the Pax Mini. The Miqro-C is less expensive, has an easy-to-replace battery, and is covered by a longer warranty. And the Mini delivers the same reliably great experience as our top pick, but in a smaller package.

DaVinci Miqro-C

The DaVinci Miqro-C is a portable, mostly conduction-heated vaporizer that our test panelists enjoyed using (though not as much as they liked using our picks). Load it up just below the mouthpiece, tap the control button five times to turn it on, and use the intuitive up and down arrows to adjust the preset temperature controls. (If you forget any of this, instructions are printed underneath the device.) This model is fairly intuitive to use, and it charges via USB-C, but its deep chamber is more difficult to load. Like the Storz & Bickel Venty, the Miqro-C can be used while it’s charging. The Miqro-C’s components are a bit harder to clean than those of our picks; this is especially true of its mouthpiece, which consists of a slightly concave opening lined with ridges that can collect lip balm. This model comes in five colors.

Warranty: five-year limited
Replaceable battery: yes, for $11 (you can do it yourself; video)

Pax Mini

The Pax Mini is a smaller-capacity, more-portable version of the Pax Plus. Unlike the Pax Plus, which can also be used with cannabis concentrates, the Mini can be packed with flower only. Otherwise, for much less than our top pick costs, the Mini offers a very similar experience—with the same stated heat-up times and battery life. It’s just as easy to operate and enjoyable to use.

Warranty: two years
Replaceable battery: no (contact Pax for options)

With regular cleaning, portable vaporizers can work better and longer, but not all parts of every vaporizer need to be (or can be) cleaned. Always refer to a model’s manual or instructional videos for care and maintenance instructions specific to the device. (Check out the videos for the Pax Plus, AirVape Legacy Pro, Storz & Bickel Mighty, and Firefly 2+.) Still, a few general cleaning tips apply to virtually every vape.

Frequent cleaning—including emptying spent material from the heating chamber each time you use a vaporizer—helps prevent the sort of residue buildup that often necessitates a deeper clean. For a quick spot-cleaning of the chamber between uses, consider keeping alcohol wipes or isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs with your vaporizer.

To do a thorough cleaning, you need to access the chamber, vapor path (or air path), and mouthpiece per the manufacturer’s instructions. Note that moisture can cause substantial damage to a vaporizer’s heating element and other electronics. None of our picks should ever be fully submerged in liquid while assembled. You can easily clean most glass, steel, and silicone components with isopropyl alcohol; for stubborn residue, consider soaking the individual components in alcohol. You can clean most vapor paths using pipe-cleaner brushes, such as those included with some of our picks. Be sure to wipe each piece clean, and let each piece dry fully before reassembling your device.

Over time, lithium-ion batteries—like those in all of our picks—degrade. They’ll eventually hold less charge overall.

The Pax Plus’s battery is irreplaceable (unless you’re okay with potentially damaging the vape and voiding its warranty), and the company doesn’t cover degradation. Storz & Bickel recommends storing the Venty at a battery capacity of between 20% (one bar) and 80% (four), and occasionally fully draining the battery before recharging it, to “adjust the battery capacity and keep the battery gauge correct.” For a fee, the company will replace the Venty’s battery as part of a service package. You can buy and install your own replacement batteries for the AirVape Legacy Pro (about $15) and Firefly 2+ (PDF; about $30).

We previously recommended the AirVape X. But we’ve found the newer AirVape Legacy Pro—with its improved design and easier charging—to be a better choice overall.

The Airzer Solo II produced tasty vapors, and our test panelists appreciated the lighting feature, which shows the device’s progress while heating up. Otherwise, our testers found that the overall experience with this model felt “kind of clumsy.” Its body is similar to that of the Pax Plus, but this one is far more weighty. And then you have to use a glass stem. We found that the included stems (of varying lengths) didn’t always seal with the device adequately, so it felt like a lot of vapor escaped.

The Tinymight 2 features a cooling unit and offers robust flavor, plus two modes (on-demand and session). Its glass mouthpiece gives us serious pause—you have to be very careful to keep this unit intact. Compared with other cannabis vaporizers we’ve considered, this one looks more like a tobacco-style vaporizer. Plus, we’ve found it confusing to use and difficult to clean.

The original Grenco Science G Pen Elite (no longer available) was a fine vaporizer overall, with simple controls, vapor that our testers enjoyed, convenient charging, decent battery life, and a sleek design that’s portable and functional. The lower price was appropriate, since the G Pen Elite couldn’t match our picks, including in vapor quality and ease of cleaning. The G Pen Elite II offers additional precision controls that enthusiasts may enjoy toying with.

The Grenco Science G Pen Pro is a variation on the same device that’s also marketed as the X Pen Pro. It’s the epitome of a generic vaporizer, with none of the nice touches the Grenco G Pen Elite and G Pen Elite II offer. Shaped like a small flashlight, the G Pen Pro’s plastic body matches its plastic mouthpiece. It also matches the taste: The vapor was thin and plasticky on every setting in our tests. You control the whole device with a single button, and it gives you feedback with just a single light.

In a battle for great vapor flavor, the Storz & Bickel Crafty+, the Arizer ArGo, and the DaVinci IQC would rank close to one another. In our testing, all three produced richly flavored vapor that made our taste buds sing. The ArGo created particularly smooth vapor, though the IQC and Crafty+ weren’t far behind in that respect. But each device has its disadvantages: cleaning issues with the Crafty+, durability concerns during travel with the ArGo, and a combination of cleaning and interface flaws with the IQC. (We haven’t tested the DaVinci IQ2.)

We previously recommended the Storz & Bickel Mighty, which remains a solid choice. Compared with the Venty we now recommend, the Mighty is bulkier and takes longer to heat up (90 seconds versus the Venty’s 20).

The Magic Flight Launch Box heats up ridiculously fast—not quite as quickly as the Firefly 2+, but it’s still impressive. And it features a unique, retro design. Its analogue positives begin and end in that it looks organic and cool. You heat the flower by pushing an external battery into the vape body; this can be challenging. Additionally, the Launch Box offers just one setting, and if you hold the battery in too long, you can easily scorch your cannabis accidentally. It isn’t exactly intuitive to use, even as its clear closure flap helps you gauge how much vapor you’re about to pull before doing so.

We wanted to test the beloved Firewood (the latest version is the 8), but it is sold out more often than it is available.

The XMax Starry is easy to load and offers intuitive onboard temperature controls, but the DaVinci Miqro-C is a better overall choice for a similar price. The similarly priced XMax V3 Pro produces great flavor, and its vapors are cooled by a ceramic disc in the mouthpiece. But it feels a bit awkward to use (this model easily earned the nickname “penny whistle” from our panel testers). It’s also less portable than the Miqro-C because it’s so long.

The Linx Gaia requires a cap to protect its glass stem, and the vapor quality in our tests was just so-so.

Although the now-discontinued Arizer Air produced tasty vapors, we disliked the digital display and DC-input charger. Our testers found its design, with its conspicuous glass stem, polarizing, and they noted that it wasn’t something most people would want to tote around. We chose not to test the Air II (also discontinued) or the Air Max (which has a design similar to that of previous models but charges via USB-C).

Mark Smirniotis and Jordan McMahon contributed reporting. This article was edited by Tracy Vence and Kalee Thompson.