Pax Flow Review: The Best Portable Vape Yet, or Just Full of Hot Air?

Pax styles itself as the Apple of vaporizers, and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment. Blending a clean look with precision engineering, user friendliness and an attention to detail that’s impossible to miss, they really do raise the bar.

Most weed vapers will undoubtedly be familiar with the Pax 3 and Pax Plus, and the new Pax Flow aims to take lessons from these while forging a new path for the brand.

You’ll see the most obvious change right away: the oven has been moved to the side of the device for easier access than on earlier models. But the differences go way beyond the surface-level, with a completely redesigned and now hybrid heating system, vastly improved airflow, and more heat modes than ever before.

But is it really worth upgrading, or is it all hype and marketing? We’ve taken an in-depth look to find out. 

Getting into the Flow

The biggest change from older Pax models is also the one that has the most impact on your vaping experience.

Moving the oven from the bottom of the device to the side makes it much easier to access for cleaning and general use. If you used an older Pax model, you’ll know the pain of removing the mouthpiece and trying to balance it upside down for filling and cleaning.

With the Flow, you just lay it on its side and it’s all right there. It’s like they finally designed it with real users in mind.

But the biggest improvement is to the airflow. With a much bigger air channel, you feel the difference immediately, with a much better flow from the Flow compared to older devices (hence the name). It’s open and smooth, more in line with what you’d expect from a desktop vaporizer.

Hybrid Heating; Even Vaporization

The new hybrid heating system builds on this to push your vaping experience to the next level.

Making use of both conduction and convection-based heating, it still heats quickly and efficiently – something around 35 seconds from cold to ready-to-go – but the flavor and performance is vastly improved.

Convection heating is generally lauded for more even vaporization and improved flavor, but convection devices tend to cost more and are heavier on the battery.

Hybrid heating aims to offer the best of both worlds. The simpler, conduction heating kick-starts the process and takes some strain off the battery, but the hot-air convection heating is still there to smooth out the vape and improve flavor.

The problem with older Pax models – your bud ending up half-baked in the middle, but roasted on the outside – has finally been fixed.

But you do feel the impact on battery life. It’s much lower than on older devices – about 35 minutes per charge vs. 150 for the Pax Plus – but it’s kind of expected on smaller convection devices. The only silver lining is the quick charging via USB-C: it’ll be ready to go again in about 40 minutes.

Intuitive Design and Interface

Pax’s reputation as the Apple of vaporizers is best understood through the design. Like on old devices, there’s a single control button on top of the device, with a “X” made of four LEDs to show crucial information like your heat setting and remaining battery life.

Boosting the power with each press, it goes from one purple light (180 °C/356 °F), to two green ones (190 °C/374 °F), three yellow ones (205 °C/401 °F) and finally four red ones (215 °C/419 °F).

The Flow also adds “bong mode” (225 °C / 437 °F) – cycle through the power options twice so the lights turn multi-color – which uses an optional water-pipe adapter to turn the Flow into the centerpiece of your glass rig.

Admittedly, having an electronic downpipe sticking out of your glass looks a little odd – like you’re getting high in some sci-fi universe – but the performance is solid. It’s especially good for people like me who find the “slow sip” vaporizer inhalations a little tiresome: you just wait for the glass to fill and rip away.

Too Hot To Handle?

For all of these great aspects when it comes to the design and capabilities of the Pax Flow, it has made one issue a little worse: excessive heat.

With the Pax 3 and Plus, the oven was on the bottom of the device, and while the outside could get warm with extended use, you could easily hold the upper section to avoid the worst of it.

Shifting the oven to the side makes it easier to fill and supports the vastly improved airflow, but it also makes the heat harder to avoid. The oven is exactly where your hand would naturally fall, and it can get a little uncomfortable.

Pax has made a grip sleeve for just this reason, but it will run you an extra $15. But at $350 retail, you have to wonder why you’d need to pay more just to be able to operate the device comfortably.

How Does It Compare?

The Pax Flow stacks up well compared to older models of Pax vaporizer, but things get a little shakier when you consider other manufacturers.

Compared to other Pax devices, the improvements in heating method, airflow and general design are hard to miss. While it might have reduced battery life, charging goes much quicker (40 minutes vs. several hours) and the USB-C charger is much more convenient than the older docking systems. The only area the Flow is clearly inferior is for vaping concentrates – older devices have inserts for concentrates, but the Flow doesn’t.

Beyond the Pax line-up, competition gets fiercer. For example, the TinyMight 2 is about the same price, offers full convection heating, a replaceable battery, quicker heating and a glass stem as standard. The Venty is a little more expensive but has about double the battery life, similar hybrid heating, adjustable airflow, app support and precise temperature control down to the degree.

The Pax Flow stacks up well overall, but the high price-point encourages some comparisons it arguably falls short on. The simple addition of precise temperature control via a linked app would have made a huge difference.

Is the Pax Flow Worth It?

If you’re just getting into vaping or you’re already a fan of Pax vaporizers, it’s hard to fault the Flow. You’ll be right at home operating it after just a few minutes of exploring and button-pushing, and you’ll be more than happy with the performance, vapor and flavor.

It’s one of the smoothest vapes I’ve ever had thanks to the improved airflow and even heating, and improves on all previous iterations.

That said, the price is quite high and this makes value for money a sticking point. If you want to use all of the features and not feel like your hand is burning, you’ll need to drop the $350 plus $15 each for the sleeve and water pipe adapter.

Like a new iPhone, there are definite improvements with the new version, but the gains feel like they’re diminishing and the price can make it hard to justify the upgrade.

Pax really is the Apple of vaporizers, and that cuts both ways. It’s awesome – genuinely – but if you’re on a budget there are ultimately better options out there.