Hydrology9 NX Review- Next generation 2-in-1?

How to use

The Hydrology9 NX has a bit of a learning curve, especially if you’re new to dry herb vaporizers. You have two different chambers to choose from – one for dry herb and one for concentrates.

Dry herb mode – Fill up the chamber with herb and slide it into the device. Use the dial to choose temperature and let it warm up. A fluffy slightly tamped down pack works best.

Concentrates mode – Warm up the atomizer with a couple of quick pulses before applying your wax. That’ll help it melt into the atomizer. From there just choose the temperature using the same dial and wait for it to warm up.

Simple enough, no? Of course, you’ll want to have some water in it, and to do that you’ll remove unscrew the mouthpiece and fill it a little less than halfway with water.

The rest of the device’s operation is controlled with the main button, which turns it on/off with 5 clicks. To extend a session you’ll want to double click that button or adjust the dial to prevent auto-shutoff mode.

Temperature Flexibility

They’ve done well with the temperature range on the Hydrology9 NX. For dry herb, you have a range of 180-235°C (356-455°F), while for concentrates you get a 290-410°C (554-770°F) range. Both are separated into 6 steps which is more than enough versatility. Of course, complete temperature control reigns king, though in our experience it’s not a necessity.

You have both quartz and ceramic bucket which is heated by a titanium plate for the concentrates mode. This is nice to see and while the buckets are proprietary, it’s good to have both included.

We’re also very fond of the dial at the bottom which is the way to adjust the temperature. While it’s not essential and can be classified as ‘bling’, it’s very intuitive and well-designed.

Vapor Quality

This is what we were interested in. Can the Hydrology9 NX perform better than the original Hydrology9?

Yes, yes it does.

In dry herb mode, they’ve gone for a convection/conduction hybrid heating element for dry herb. This significantly improves the vapor quality over the original which was a pure conduction device.

The flavor and hit size are improved over the original and while we definitely wouldn’t say it’s better than dedicated dry herb vaporizers in the same price bracket, it’s satisfying and works very well.

Of course, the flavor is muted from the bubbler and the hit size isn’t anything special, however, it performs just fine. We still prefer something like the Utillian 722 in a head-to-head battle though.

In concentrates mode, you get a nice wide range of temperatures to change between from and this leads to lots of versatility with your hit type. The quartz and ceramic buckets do offer different experiences too and overall it works great.

We wouldn’t say it’s the absolute greatest out there by any means, but it’s a versatile 2-in-1 with satisfying vapor on both fronts. For a dedicated on a budget check out The Core.

Manufacturing Quality

Space-age is the best way to describe it. These things are seriously well designed and we tilt our hat to the engineering team behind the scenes. The original Hydrology9 was impressive, and the new NX really brings it up a notch.

With the integrated carb cap, sliding herb chamber design, a temperature dial, built-in bubbler, etc – any designer would be really impressed by this thing.

With that in mind, we’re not entirely sure about longevity yet so and we feel like routine maintenance is required to keep it working in tip-top shape.

Battery Life

1900mAh of battery life was a bit disappointing to see at first, especially when device as small as the Zeus Arc GTS Hub has 3500mah.

They’ve done an alright job in that regard, and we’ve averaged about 6-7 dry herb sessions per charge, while in the concentrates mode we got around 12-15 sessions per charge.

The charger is proprietary but quite neat. It has a slot for the dab tool to rest in which is appreciated and the battery itself is removable. All in all, we’re pretty satisfied with the battery life, even if it’s not USB-C with a 18650 cell.

Portability

You won’t have fun putting it in your pocket. Too, you won’t be so excited to leave it in your bag unprotected.

It is a little clunky and fragile because you really don’t want to scuff up this attractive piece of kit. Therefore, it’s semi-portable.

Great for around the house and bring to the park for a picnic or a buddy’s house, but not for taking to a bar or movie.

Ease of Use

You won’t have fun putting it in your pocket. Too, you won’t be so excited to leave it in your bag unprotected.

It is a little clunky and fragile because you really don’t want to scuff up this attractive piece of kit. Therefore, it’s semi-portable. Great for around the house and bring to the park for a picnic or a buddy’s house, but not for taking to a bar or movie.

Discreetness

You’re not hiding this from anyone. It’s like a water-cooled lightsabre, and when the lights are going it’s not going to fool a single person. It doesn’t try to do that at all anyways, so we can’t really judge it based on that.

Still, expect a few stares and glances from people if you’re using it – it does appear rather unusual when in use.