The Pax has been a big name in the weed vaping scene for a long time now, I bought my first back in 2015, and full disclosure I am using it while I write this article. At the time it really felt like the Pax was a brilliant device, not the most efficient one but stylish, discreet, and easy to use albeit having a pretty heft price On it. Since then the market has exploded with a variety of inspired and different vapes from the Dynavap to the Tinymight, and the Pax did get an upgrade in the form of the Pax 3 eventually.
What about in 2023 though, with no sign of the Pax 4 we’re starting to ask if the Pax 3 is still a good option if you’re looking to invest in a good portable vaporiser. In this article we’ll look at exactly that.
Should You Buy a Pax 3 in 2023?
At it’s core the Pax 3 is a premium conduction vape, meaning it heats the flower in it’s chamber by heating the walls of it’s container. A convection vape for comparison would blast heated air through the bud. Because convection generally doesn’t lead to uneven heating or burned outer material like the conduction does it is seen as superior but I’ve never had that kind of issue with the Pax in all honesty.
The Pax turns on with a click on the mouthpiece and you get some nice haptic feedback and lights to announce the device is powered on (I really like the Pax’s haptic buzzes and trying a Pax 2 which doesn’t have that after years of using the Pax 3 can be a bit strange!) . After that you get 4 temperatures to choose from which will provide different effects and away you go.
The Pax 3 also comes with Bluetooth and an app which lets you customise how the Pax heats up opting for flavour or raw heat for example, and the ability to set any temperature you choose. These are great features that you’re probably never going to use. At least I don’t, if anybody can tell me about how they do make use of those features that would be great.
| What’s in the box |
|---|
| PAX 3 |
| Charging Dock |
| Flat Mouthpiece |
| Raised Mouthpiece |
| 10 Year Warranty |
| Cleaning Kit |
| Standard Oven Lid |
| Half-Pack Oven Lid |
| Concentrate Insert |
| Extra Screens |
| Multi-Tool |
| Soft Pouch |
Why you should buy a Pax 3
Aesthetic – When it comes to aesthetics, the Pax 3 really is best in class. It’s sleek and super sexy and that after all is it’s biggest selling point really . As we moved towards legalisation a lot of people are going to want to casually try a bit of weed and a heavy hitting vape can be a bit intimidating but between the lights and general feel of the device it seems to put people at ease a bit.
Aftercare – With a new Pax device you get a 10 year warranty which is pretty excellent compared to other devices on the market. Not only that but the customer support is excellent. When my Pax 3 malfunctioned last year, something which may have been my fault, I had a replacement within a week or two.
Easy to use – It doesn’t get much easier than this, but most vapes are made to be simple. Click once and it turns on. Hold the button again to select the temperature 1, 2, 3, 4 which is indicated by the petals lit up on the front. Shake it to confirm your choice. Hold it again to turn off after you’re done.
Discrete – Visually this thing is subtle, and isn’t going to have people on the street taking second glance at you. It’s short enough too that it’s fairly easy to conceal in the palm of your hand and then packs away securely.
Battery life – The PAX 3 has a 3500 mAh battery that I generally to get 8-10 sessions out of per charge. You could go 2 or 3 evenings before needing to top it up.
Why you shouldn’t buy a Pax 3
The Stank of Dank – Visually the Pax 3 is easy to hide but the smell, not so much. It’s not as bad as smoking a joint but the downside of convection vapes is that the heat in the chamber takes a while to dissipate and whilst that happens you’re bud is still vaping away. This doesn’t need to be a problem though check our article here and the tips at the bottom of this page.
No reclaim – As you vape residue is left on the inside of the tube, that residue if collected can be used again, you can even use vape stems like on the Magic Flight Launch Box as a THC infused straw with some hot milk. The Pax is one solid piece and as such you’re not getting much out of it that can be reused.
High maintenance – Despite having no reclaim you do have to clean the Pax more often than other similar devices. There’s nothing worse than going to enjoy a session and finding that taking a drag on that think is harder than sucking spaghetti through the eye of a needle. A weird analogy but it works.
Proprietary charger – 99% of the time this isn’t a problem, and having it’s own magnetic charger is what allows it to be one super compact closed device, But that 1% of the time when you forget the charger and wish you could just use USB, that really sucks.
The Verdict – Should you buy a Pax 3 in 2023?
Ultimately the decision for you is whether you want style and convenience or efficiency, control, and value for money. The Pax 3 is a device I would happily recommend any day of the week, especially for people who just want a really great vape that works and aren’t that bothered about the price. Think of this as the iPhone of the cannabis world.
If you venture on to Pax review threads on reddit you’ll start to see that for users that have a lot of experience and specific wants when vaping flower then more often than not they will be unimpressed with the Pax, the usual argument being how inefficient it is in comparison to other portable vapes at that price range. If you’re more in that category then I’d recommend looking for something else.
And finally for anyone looking for a device that offers good value for money then you may be better looking elsewhere, my Xmax V3 Pro is just as good as the Pax and cost me around £80 brand new, though we have also seen the Pax 2 going second hand for a similar price. If price is on your mind it may also be helpful to check out our post here on the average price of different types of weed in the UK.
Where to buy the Pax 3
We recommend using Amazon, mostly because that you can have it next day but also because it’s ran by the actual company you then get the official Pax support but also the quick support of Amazon on top of that. If you use our link it supports our blog, thank you!
The Official Pax website is where we would go next as it’s a premium product and our experience with them has always been brilliant, the only downside is you can find yourself waiting a bit longer for shipping.
Tips for getting the most out of your Pax 3
- To reduce the smell keep taking drags until the chamber has cooled fully
- Don’t tip the device upside down (chamber in the air mouthpiece down) or the resin clogs the pipe more quickly
- Clean once a week for best efficiency, once a fortnight will do though
- In-between sessions mix the bud in the chamber to get more out of it
- Use a finishing grinder to break the flower down more than normal grinding (more efficient as there’s more surface area)
If you’re still not sure about the best way to enjoy cannabis then check out our intro here where we go over a few of the different favourite methods and what to consider. Any questions you can always ask us anything from our contact page here and we’ll get back to you