More often than now, and especially around this time of year, people are looking for deals on premium items. Sometimes its because you dont have enough cash to cover a premium price tag, and other times its just to make every dollar stretch that much further. No matter the reason, these people provide the perfect opportunity for bootleggers to make some money. As long as there are people out there designing and making new vaporizers, there will be people who piggyback off of their ideas to make knock-offs. That brings us to the subject of todays review: The Fake Pax Vaporizer. Theres no telling who released this unit, but it sure wasnt Ploom, so we wanted to take a closer look to see if this wannabe could even meet the mark of the real one.
Review: Fake Pax Vaporizer
How It Works
The fake operates just like the real one in that the unit is activated by bringing out the mouth piece and turned off by clicking it back in. To change the temperature that the unit is set at, all you have to do it pull out the mouth piece and press the button inside it to change between the 3 pre-set temperatures. The unit even comes in packaging that looks pretty much exactly like the real one and even comes with a charging station that looks pretty much identical to the real one. True to form, all you need to do to charge it is plug in the docking station and then put the fake Pax on it. The oven on the bottom of the unit also works identically to the real one and magnetically attaches to the bottom and it pulled off by tilting the oven cover and pulling it off.
Temperature Flexibility
The fake Pax has 3 temperature settings that are meant to mimic the settings on the real unit. The first setting is meant to be 188 Celsius, the medium setting is supposed to be about 200 Celsius and the highest setting is supposedly 210. Are these temperatures accurate? We wouldnt say so. Our unit was very flawed in terms of its performance which made it next to impossible to compare the heat settings. Even if the oven was reaching the temperatures, we had no way of knowing that while testing it.
Vapor Quality
The reason we couldnt accurately tell what effect the temperatures were having on our botanical was because the unit didnt deliver much, if any vapor. The lowest setting gave no return, which prompted us to turn up the heat and see what it could do at medium. At medium, even the most careful and precisely slow and long draw yielded next to no vapor at all and cranking it up to max didnt change much. Opening the oven showed us that the now golden brown botanical was being subjected to heat, but whatever vapor it was producing simply never made it out of the mouth piece for some reason. This kind of inefficiency is the kind of thing that breaks the experience with a unit, but there was more to dislike about this unit than the vapor quality.
Manufacturing Quality
This fake is also missing many of the finer details that make the original as strong as it is. The outer shell on the original is made of anodized aluminum like the Zeus Bolt Grinder and you can see it in the stripped pattern on the metal. This shell is likely still aluminum, but not of the same quality as the original. The striping youd see on the outside of the original is replaced by a sort of bumpy look if you look closely at it. The metal on the inside of the oven cover isnt as well machined and formed to contours of the cover and the screen consistently falls out of the heating chamber. To cap it all off, the screw at the back even looks like a lower quality replacement for the original. All of this stacked on top of some of their other faults, like the font on the lettering on the back and inside the mouth piece and the LEDs not being as clear as they are on the original made for a really poor score in this category.
Battery Life
This unit is supposed to last about an hour in terms of battery life, but youll be lucky to get more than about 35 minutes of operating time from this unit. We say operating time and not use because youre not really going to get any vapor from it so you arent exactly using it for its intended purpose, but not for lack of trying.
Portability
Piggybacking off of the original design does yield some advantages when the design is as unique and useful as the original Paxs is as we mentioned in our Pax vaporizer review. The fake has all the same advantages in portability as the original because its built exactly like the original in terms of shape and operation. Its still slim and easy to fit into your pocket and the profile of the unit doesnt get in the way when carrying it from one place to another.
Ease of Use
Normally, because of how much it resembles the original Pax in terms of how it works, wed say that the unit is very easy to use. Unfortunately for the fake, because it doesnt actually deliver when it comes to vapor arguably the most important part of a units function the unit is very difficult to use. Its on the verge of impossible because of the lost vapor. No matter what temperature its set at, no matter how you choose to take draws from the unit, getting a significant amount of vapor is practically impossible. This makes using the fake a next to impossible chore rather than the relaxing treat it should be.
Discreetness
Once again, being like the original has earned the unit some points in this category. On one hand, the unit has an elegant and unassuming look that doesnt attract much attention courtesy of the originals design. On the other hand, the unit has odor leakage from the poorly made oven cover and still manages not to deliver any vapor. Some might consider that a zero-sum game, but we just consider it a loss.
Overall Experience
In the end, the extra cash in your pocket you get from paying less for a knock-off really isnt worth it. What youll likely end up with is a cheap, sub-par, under performing piece of hardware that has no warranty to speak of that youre now stuck with as a result. This is one case where you should make sure you dont get caught up in the savings. Purchase an original from an authorized retailer and youll be much better off, believe us!
So what do you think, fellow connoisseurs? Do you think the risks associated with a knock-off are worth the savings?
Answer in the comment section below, in order to qualify for this weeks giveaway! (announced on facebook) Thanks for reading and as always, keep vapin! ð
Alex is a cannabis enthusiast, long time vaporizer lover, writer and filmmaker. He is also a board and video game nerd with a penchant for hosting a weekly board game night. Partygoers have been heard saying things like “is anyone else going to show up?” and “I don’t think I can make it next week”. He strives to make people laugh at every opportunity and sees cannabis as a helpful tool in doing so.
The reviews and ratings are based on personal and decade-plus of industry experience. Such content is based on the opinion of the Editor/Author. They are solely provided as a basis for research and should be used only as guidance. We encourage thorough research by all visitors to attain the most objective viewpoint before purchasing.