PAX 3, Mighty & Crafty in Comparison

At the outset, it should be said that both the Mighty and the Crafty originate from the traditional German forge Storz and Bickel from the medical world city of Tuttlingen. Therefore, the two vaporizers share the same design principle, materials and build quality.

Size, handling and price.

First, the three models differ up to 30% in price. The Crafty is the cheapest vaporizer in the comparison field, while the Mighty is the most expensive. The Pax is slightly more expensive than the Crafty. The Pax is with 10 cm the shortest vaporizer between the three, the Mighty measures 13.5 cm. If you look at the weight differences of the trio, there are significantly larger differences between the models: The Pax 3 weighs 95g, the Crafty 135g and the Mighty 235g. These significant differences suggest that the Pax and Crafty fit perfectly in your pocket, but the Mighty is more for your jacket pocket.

Vaporizer Technology: Pax vs. Storz and Bickel

For vaporizers, a distinction is made between two vaporization technologies. First, there is conduction heating, in which the plant material in the vaporizer's blooming chamber is heated using one or more metal plates, thus vaporizing the material's essential oils and active ingredients. This technology is very direct and produces dense vapor by heating very quickly. The Pax 3 relies entirely on this technology, which is very easy for the user to use, heats up quickly and has a very steep learning curve when using it.

On the other hand, there is the convection technology, where hot air is generated in a special place inside the vaporizer and in a second step it is directed into the flowering chamber. As a result, the plant material is vaporized extremely gently and the flowers are not "roasted", as is sometimes the case with conduction technology. Users then speak of the so-called "popcorn taste".

To get the best of both worlds, Storz and Bickel uses a mix of both technologies in Crafty and Mighty. Thus, the iconic black vaporizers produce a pleasantly dense smoke right from the start, but without the undesirable popcorn roast flavor. A very elegant solution.

Don't worry, though: just because the Pax 3 relies on conduction technology doesn't mean it tastes bad. Many users are satisfied with the taste of the vapor from the Pax 3 and appreciate the fast heat-up time and easy handling of the super slim device. So when deciding between the Pax or one of the vaporizers from Storz and Bickel, the main consideration should be whether you prefer dense vapor or unroasted flavor.

Temperature setting: clear plus for the Mighty!

Pax 3: 182 °C to 215 °C.

Mighty and Crafty: 40 to 210 °C

The Pax 3 starts well above the vaporization temperatures of THC, CBD and numerous terpenes. Thus, one cannot individually and selectively spare the substances from vaporization, for example, one cannot vaporize THC without CBD, which would be possible at 157 °C with the devices from Storz and Bickel. Because: CBD vaporizes only at 160-180 °C, THC already at 157 °C.

In all three vaporizers, the temperature can be adjusted continuously or gradually. However, only the Mighty has physical push buttons and a display for precise temperature adjustment. The Crafty and Pax have two (Crafty) or four (Pax) different temperature presets due to their design. These can be switched through with a long press on the only button of the respective devices. For the exact temperature setting, you need a smartphone or web app.

A few months ago, this was still a relaxed option. But then Apple decided to take an inglorious step: All vaporizer apps were banned from the App Store. Android users are fortunately not affected by this problem, and for Apple users, both Pax and Storz and Bickel provide so-called "web apps" that allow you to set temperature changes via Chrome browser.

Wireless communication.

The Pax 3 and the Crafty both have Bluetooth to communicate with their associated apps. Since the Mighty shows both battery life and temperature via built-in display, there is no wireless communication for the Crafty's big brother.

How dense is the smoke?

Since all three units rely either entirely (Pax) or partially (Storz and Bickel) on conduction heating, they also all have comparatively dense smoke. However, it should be noted that the Pax 3, which relies exclusively on conduction, surprisingly produces the least steam, especially below 200 °C.

Vibration: All three vaporizers provide feedback via vibration when the target temperature is reached.

Size of the bloom chamber.

The flowering chambers of all three vaporizers are about the same size. Mighty and Crafty even have an identically sized bloom chamber. So despite the significant price and weight differences, there are no differences in the maximum amount of weed or concentrates that can be vaporized at one time.

Use of concentrates.

All three devices come with well thought-out additional parts for vaporizing concentrates. Thus, nothing more stands in the way of dabbing pleasure with Pax, Mighty or Crafty!

Battery Life

Besides the display and the knobs for setting the temperature, the Mighty's battery capacity is the biggest difference from its little brother, the Crafty. That's because the Mighty has two of the batteries from the Mighty, making it an enduring vaporizer for longer trips and sessions.

Thus, the Mighty lasts up to 2 hours depending on the temperature selected, while the Crafty lasts up to an hour, as does the PAX 3.

One more difference is in how long it takes to heat up. The Mighty is about twice as fast at the desired temperature as the Crafty, while the PAX 3 falls in between the two devices and thus has a moderate heat-up time. Note: The Crafty should only be charged with USB power adapters up to 1 amp. Most smartphone power supplies have more than 1 amp.

Charge using a power bank.

The Crafty is the only vaporizer in the comparison field that charges using micro usb. The PAX 3 charges using a magnetic connector and the Mighty charges using a proprietary round connector (plug-in power bank). Although there is a USB port at the other end of the magnetic charging port on the PAX 3, the vaporizer unfortunately cannot be charged while in use. The same goes for the Mighty, which comes with a plug-in power supply.

Only the Crafty can be charged during use via micro USB on a power bank. For this, it only needs 20% charging capacity and can thus be used and charged at any time. Thus, the slim vaporizer from the house of Storz and Bickel compensates the disadvantage of the significantly smaller battery compared to the Mighty again a little.

Cleaning.

According to experience, the vaporizers from Storz and Bickel can be cleaned more thoroughly than the PAX 3. Due to the conduction technology of the PAX 3, the flowering chamber is partially irreversibly soiled with flower or concentrate residues, which can be seen in a slightly gray precipitate. However, the consequences are rather cosmetic and usually do not affect the functioning.

Differences that only experienced users notice.

While the two vaporizers from Storz and Bickel let you know when using them that these are two vaporizers from the oldest vaporizer forge in the world, the Pax 3 does not come away completely without weaknesses: despite already being the third version of the aluminum lightweight, the material used remains the biggest shortcoming of the slim vaporizer from the USA. Because on the front side, where the mouthpiece is located on the Pax 3, the aluminum housing runs around the mouthpiece, which is enclosed in rubber, in such a way that it can get quite hot on the lip.

Conclusion.

For us, there is definitely no winner or loser between the three vaporizers. Rather, it comes down to personal preference whether you're more likely to go with the Mighty, Crafty, or PAX 3. The Pax is the lightest vaporizer, has a great app (at least for Android), and comes with a full four temperature settings even without an app, which should be absolutely sufficient for most sessions. However, the Pax isn't quite as technically sophisticated as Mighty and Crafty and thus doesn't necessarily deliver the best flavor. What is outstanding about the Pax 3, however, is the highest temperature, which is 215 °C, five degrees higher than the portable competition from Storz and Bickel.

The Storz and Bickel Mighty and Crafty models are somewhat more technically advanced than the PAX 3. The Mighty is also the only portable vaporizer in the world whose cost is reimbursed by certain health insurance companies, for example, in Germany. The workmanship speaks for itself and the construction of both devices looks absolutely well thought-out, the black plastic housing by no means cheap. Industrial design is rather the defining keyword here.

Whether it should be Crafty or Mighty can be determined by four factors: Price, weight, temperature setting on the device and the ability to charge the device via powerbank. The Crafty is cheaper, lighter, and can be charged via powerbank, but does not offer the ability to adjust the vaporization temperature on the device.

The king in the comparison field, the Mighty, is in contrast significantly heavier and larger, can not be charged via powerbank and has the outstanding display for degree-accurate temperature setting directly on the device and to read the remaining battery life, which is about twice the runtime of the Crafty.