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Zeus Arc GTS Hub vs Pax 3 Comparison
By
Alex Karakatsanis
Zeus Arc GTS Hub vs Pax 3 Comparison
October 6, 2023
on
Portable Showdown, Showdowns
Updated: October 6, 2023
The Pax lineup of dry herb vaporizers have been a mainstay in the industry for what seems like forever now. Due to its sheer ubiquity, we thought it would only be apt to compare such a popular release to the relatively new Zeus Arc GTS Hub.
While the Pax 3 does sport a few incremental upgrades over the Pax 2, but overall not much has changed. This holds especially true when looking at how either vaporizer functions. They’ve garnered a great reputation for being reliable and straightforward. It’s major caveat has always been it’s performance. We consider it to be a bit dull when compared to more exciting options such as the Mighty+ and the Zeus Arc GTS Hub.
Zeus Arc GTS Hub vs Pax 3
Table of contents
How it Works
The Pax 3 is one of the most no-frills devices we’ve ever tried, which can come off as a bit of a surprise given it’s premium price tag. Thankfully, it’s barebones feature set also means its very straightforward when it comes to actual usage. The magnetic lid located at the bottom of the vaporizer conceals the heating chamber and easily pops off when loading your dry herb.
The Zeus Arc GTS Hub on the other hand uses a top loading chamber. It also features a scoop towards the edge of the chamber letting you easily load the device directly. Alternatively, the highlight of the Zeus Arc GTS Hub is when using the included Zeus Xtruder and Arcpod combo. These two make grinding dry herb and loading it straight into the Arcpods a quick and painless affair.
Vapor Quality
While the Pax 3 does deliver smooth and consistent vapor, the flavor department is a bit lacking. The Pax 3 still manages to do the job regardless. Still, the overall performance pales in comparison to even lower priced vaporizers such as the Utillian 722. It’s not all bad however as the Pax 3 has a quick heat up time of just around 20 seconds depending on your target temperature setting.
The Zeus Arc GTS Hub is about par to the Pax 3 when considering the airflow and vapor production. It manages to rise above however as it absolutely blows the Pax 3 away in overall flavor quality. Not only does this result in a much more enjoyable session, but the Zeus Arc GTS Hub makes us feel that we’re truly getting the most out of our dry herb. Another advantage the Zeus Arc GTS has is that the included water pipe adapter will allow you to attach a bubbler for water filtration, adding smoother and cooler hits to the Arc GTS.
While the Zeus Arc GTS Hub has a longer heat up time compared to the Pax 3, it’s not something we can fuss over given the superior results we’ve been getting out of the Zeus.
Manufacturing Quality
The first thing that stood out to us most about the aesthetics of the Pax 3 is its glossy finish. We can’t say that we’re big fans of it as it means the Pax 3 is a giant fingerprint magnet that also showcases hairline scratches over time.
As for reliability, the Pax 3 hasn’t given us any problems so far which is pretty impressive considering how old the test unit is. (we’ve had this thing since it was first released). While it doesn’t get much use here at TVape, we’re frankly surprised that it still functions after all these years.
In contrast, the Zeus Arc GTS Hub offers a black hard anodized exterior shell which feels great to the touch. Unlike the Pax 3, fingerprints don’t show up on the Arc GTS and is also heavily scratch resistant. The included Zeus Xtruder features a primarily plastic build. It’s not the most premium feeling herb mill we’ve laid our hands on, but it does its job well.
Battery Life
Surprisingly enough, the Pax 3 uses a 2600mAh battery which is impressive given its small size. This still pales in comparison to the 3500mAh battery used by the Zeus Arc GTS Hub though. The Pax 3 might or might not get you through an entire day’s worth of use. That totally depends on your usage. One big nitpick we have with the Pax 3 though is its proprietary charging dock. This feels like a total miss considering the other end of the cable uses a standard USB-A plug.
The Zeus Arc GTS Hub uses a micro USB charging port. While it’s still miles ahead of the charging dock used by the Pax 3, USB-C would’ve been nice.
Temperature Flexibility
Precision temperature control aren’t what these vaporizers are about. The Pax 3 has 4 temp presets baked into the device: 182C, 193C, 204C, and 215C. A 5th preset is available which can be set anywhere from 182C to 215.
The Zeus Arc GTS Hub gets a bit more toasty with it’s max temperature of 225C. By no means does this mean it cooks the herb though. After the end of each session, the dry herb is fully extracted.
Neither of these two vaporizers feature a full digital display for temperatures. It isn’t a requirement in both cases as the LED indicators do a good enough job at the relaying the information to the user.
Ease of Use
The Pax 3 is pretty easy to use, nothing fancy or outlandish here. Using the device with dry herb doesn’t require much extensive cleaning. For those eyeing the Pax 3 because of the concentrate insert that comes included with the complete kit, stay away. The insert feels more of an afterthought as the device doesn’t get hot enough to vaporize wax properly. Let’s not even mention the mess that gets left behind in the chamber after each session.
For those that find pre-session preparation to be a chore, the Zeus Arc Hub GTS is the perfect vaporizer. The Zeus Xtruder and Arcpods make grinding and loading dry herb the easiest thing ever. Preparing multiple Arcpods in advance for consecutive sessions can be accomplished in less than 5 minutes. The best thing about this setup is how the Zeus Arc GTS Hub doesn’t require any fancy technique at all. It’s designed to work exactly the same way and delivers the same consistent results every time.
Final Thoughts
While the Pax 3 vaporizer does a decent job as a dry herb vaporizer, we don’t think it’s performance matches its asking price. We could probably recommend the Pax 3 if it was priced somewhere along the $80-120 price range. With an asking price of over double, it gets a hard pass from us.
The Zeus Arc Hub GTS might not be the perfect vaporizer, but it does have a lot of strong points. We’re huge fans of the minimalist yet attractive design and it’s robust finish. The added value of the included Zeus Arcpods, Xtruder, and Zeus Hub carrying case are what push this vaporizer into the realm of the greats.
At the end of the day, we think both vaporizers are enough to satisfy most connoisseurs needs. Bit given their similar pricing and better overall performance and value offered by the Arc GTS, our vote definitely goes to Zeus this round. Nevertheless, if you decide to purchase a Pax 3 why not get an extra Pax 3 Screen for the long run.
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