The Pax, a unique and iconic vaporizer developed by Pax Labs which first hit the market in 2012. The device has undergone many revisions. Nonetheless, it fundamentally remains the same. It relies on conduction-based vapor production.

Overview and Operation

The Pax Mini 2 is one of the few pure conduction vapes left on the market. It surprised me as a bright spot in an endangered category. The device loads from the bottom via a little magnetic hatch. You’re then greeted with a deep well, on the bottom of which sits a small oven screen. The default configuration of this screen is in a convex position. If installed in a concave position, the dome creates a little air gap. This improves the draw. It also enhances the vapor production of the device.

To turn the device on, you simply long press in the middle of the mouthpiece until it vibrates. One click will check the temperature, another will cycle through the four temperatures. A simple shake confirms your choice, or it will select it after no other presses are detected. Another shake will confirm the battery level of the device.

The temp ranges from 360 F (182 C) to 420 F (216 C). Heat up will take around 22 seconds. Make sure you pack your material as densely as possible. They do include a handy tool to help tamp your oven down, and de-bowl it after. It is a hungry little hippo though, and will take anywhere from .25 to .5 g in its oven. They include 2 different oven lids depending on how much you’ve packed.

Vapor Production and Experience

The Pax gets a TON of hate on Reddit, but it’s one of the few devices you’ll see consistently in the smoke shops in the wild. I used to be a hater as well, but it turns out, I think it’s simply misunderstood.

A fellow Redditor offered to send me the New Pax Mini to give my honest feedback. After I sent the device back to them, I purchased my own.

Conduction Vapes are unique. Pure convection or hybrid style vapes rely on the air you are drawing to impact the vaporization process. In a conduction vape, the vapor production is nearly self contained to the oven itself. This is why tightly packing your material works best to evenly distribute the heat. This leads to a very ‘sip’ friendly experience.

I will typically start a bowl on the first petal and just lazily sip. The flavor is pleasant, the vapor is not harsh or hot. Once I notice it getting a bit more wispy, I’ll bump it up a notch and continue this pattern until the bowl is spent. A bowl will can be stretched 20 minutes or more, or hit multiple times through the day.

Conduction based vapes tend to be more ‘stony’ in effects, feeling more body focused or ‘heavy’. When a Dynavap extracts everything in one hit, the experience is more front and center. The Pax slow ramps this. Extending the session for up to 20 minutes allows the effects to gradually increase during that session. This is where the misunderstanding / Reddit hate comes from in my opinion.

Coming from combustion, it’s a different experience entirely. Conversion from combustion is a hill that many switching to Dry Herb Vaping need to overcome. There are other vapes that will give these individuals the ‘instant’ gratifications they are looking for. A Ball Vape will certainly open their eyes. A Pax might underwhelm if expectations are not set.

The Pax sits in the slow sipper space for me. Many devices seem to be geared toward one hit / heat extractions. Even the latest butane powered stick vapes. The Pax is a nice alternative on the other end of the experience spectrum.

There is an available WPA and it does work. However, because of how the vapor is produced, you tend to hit it and clear it. Then, you wait for the vapor to catch back up.

Cleaning

Cleaning is relatively simple. Between bowls, you can simply brush out any ABV left behind. Deep cleaning every 5 or 10 bowls isn’t much more complicated. The oven screens can be a bit of a pain to pop out, but they can be cleaned up with a bit of 91% ISO. Under the silicone mouthpiece lies the air path. I soak the included brush in ISO, clean out the air path and in the process pop out the oven screen.

From there it’s just ISO, brush, rinse and reassemble.

Wrap Up

At $150 MSRP, the New Pax Mini takes the best features of its predecessors and wraps them in an affordable package. It can be found below $100 and the retail box includes both the flat mouthpiece and the raised mouthpiece. Also included are multiple Oven Screens, the Debowler / Packer multitool, a cleaning brush, USB C charger and 2 Oven lids.

I will say the smell / odor is one draw back as it is more pronounced and prevalent than other methods of Dry Herb Vaping. It’s not the fault of the device, but rather the nature of conduction vaporization, especially electric ones.

The other negative I would have to point out would be the charger. It’s a proprietary magnetic connection, but it isn’t too strong so it will shift easily. They do sell a charging tray accessory and there are 3rd party and 3D print solutions as well.