Relaxotech Zolo

[Shit Snacks]

Hey y'all, Relaxotech (makers of the Imag line) reached out to me to test and review their latest portable vaporizer, the Zolo:

I'll be getting a sample some time soon, figured I'd start a thread to let everybody know what I know. Seems to be your typical session conduction vape from China but with a new square quartz oven instead of the standard ceramic tube seen in the Imag and countless others. It's also got a rubberized body in more of a compact Pax shape vs the long pens.

I did tell them off the bat 385 is way too high for a starting temperature, just like the Imag3 (what good is a digital display with such limitations?), I told them at least start at 345 or really why not 300 with a digital display, it seems silly not to imo. We'll see if they take it to heart, the version I get may be this 385-430 one, so preface my feedback with the fact that I much prefer low temps (385 is almost a good closing temp itself even)... Not to mention the fact I am strictly pure convection on demand these days as well, so we'll see how this little guy measures up, definitely curious about the quartz, plus the body and mouthpiece at the very least

 

[TheWhisper]

Based on the design specs, it seems like it could potentially be good for medical users with limited range of motion (and other ailments).

 

[Justpassedu]

Hey y'all, Relaxotech (makers of the Imag line) reached out to me to test and review their latest portable vaporizer, the Zolo:

I'll be getting a sample some time soon, figured I'd start a thread to let everybody know what I know. Seems to be your typical session conduction vape from China but with a new square quartz oven instead of the standard ceramic tube seen in the Imag and countless others. It's also got a rubberized body in more of a compact Pax shape vs the long pens.

I did tell them off the bat 385 is way too high for a starting temperature, just like the Imag3 (what good is a digital display with such limitations?), I told them at least start at 345 or really why not 300 with a digital display, it seems silly not to imo. We'll see if they take it to heart, the version I get may be this 385-430 one, so preface my feedback with the fact that I much prefer low temps (385 is almost a good closing temp itself even)... Not to mention the fact I am strictly pure convection on demand these days as well, so we'll see how this little guy measures up, definitely curious about the quartz, plus the body and mouthpiece at the very least

Did you ever receive your's by any chance. I should have 1 in my hands shortly for testing also. Looking forward to trying it out.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Did you ever receive your's by any chance. I should have 1 in my hands shortly for testing also. Looking forward to trying it out.

Nope, they did just ask me if I received it, though they never told me when they sent it, no tracking, but they had asked for my info a month ago. So presumably soon I guess? Maybe it's at home by my door now

 

[Justpassedu]

Nope, they did just ask me if I received it, though they never told me when they sent it, no tracking, but they had asked for my info a month ago. So presumably soon I guess? Maybe it's at home by my door now

They said they would be shipping me one out in 2 weeks so i guess i'll see also.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Zolo is finally here and charging now. If manual is correct seems they didn't change the temp, which is disappointing if so. Here is the box:

Shitty photo but it came with a bunch of narrow qtips for cleaning, a really nice dabber tool (though this is for herbs only), brush, and very nice short usb cord. graphics on the box represent the design of the grip on the Zolo.

The Zolo itself is well built with metal bottom and metal mouthpiece, good size, definitely Pax esque. The oven is pretty large, interesting rectangular shape, and quartz. However it seems to be placed slightly unevenly in the unit (makes me think of the Indica QC issues, but if this airpath is isolated hopefully it is all good here) and the four holes at the bottom of the oven are uneven (one is chipped, one is far away from the others, like three in a row then one, should be four in a row I presume like the mouthpiece holes). Not sure if there is a way to remove the mouthpiece screen, seems built in and it's got two rows of the four holes. The magnets are very strong, fits nice and secure.

I'll update with photos of the actual unit later, along with some performance notes when I test it out. Initial superficial impressions are it is all in all a pretty nice portable package for a conduction session vape. We'll see how the quartz oven differs in use I guess, hoping it doesn't need to be packed full though

Edit:
Well charged and running burn offs now, stinks like you'd expect, we'll see how it neutralizes, but it is fuming a lot too, hopefully it's all clean though and the uneven oven is not resulting in defective performance (for me the Imag+ and Imag3 needed a few charges worth of burn in sessions so time will tell, short sessions)

Looks like it does 185-230 Celsius in the end, so that's 365-446 Fahrenheit, still not quite as low as I would like to start but hey I'll take it! (edit again: if you change it to Fahrenheit it actually says 380-430, but 185c is 365f and 230 is 446, so that doesn't make any sense lol)

Vibrates when turning on, turning off, begins heating, and heated up to temp. Kind of annoying and pointless imo, don't know if it can be turned off, manual didn't say

Sessions are only 3min, then it goes back to standby. You hold down power to turn on, then tap 3 times to heat up, so in stand by you can get it to heat again or turn it off. It shuts down completely after 5min in standby (kinda weird standby is longer than the sessions)

 

[Justpassedu]

I received mine yesterday as well and been having the same exact results as you with the oven being crooked and holes . My screen in the oven fell right out. I like the size and design so far , mine came fully charged , I swabbed the oven and parts with iso and did a few burn offs , to me the oven seems very small. I started my session at around 380 and ended at max temp , light vapor on all draws and a very short 3 minute session. Turned it back on for a few more hits. The magnets are very strong , so strong that is hard to clean the oven with any type of metal poker as the magnets will suck it right in. I also noticed the magnets seemed glued in , i hope the glue does not get in the vapor path but it seems somewhat isolated. Taste to me was pleasantly nice through the session i had.. I still need some more time with it to give some proper thoughts but these are my initial impressions .

 

[Shit Snacks]

I received mine yesterday as well and been having the same exact results as you with the oven being crooked and holes . My screen in the oven fell right out. I like the size and design so far , mine came fully charged , I swabbed the oven and parts with iso and did a few burn offs , to me the oven seems very small. I started my session at around 380 and ended at max temp , light vapor on all draws and a very short 3 minute session. Turned it back on for a few more hits. The magnets are very strong , so strong that is hard to clean the oven with any type of metal poker as the magnets will suck it right in. I also noticed the magnets seemed glued in , i hope the glue does not get in the vapor path but it seems somewhat isolated. Taste to me was pleasantly nice through the session i had.. I still need some more time with it to give some proper thoughts but these are my initial impressions .

Ah but yours wasn't stinking/fuming though? Mine didn't have an oven screen at all, which I would prefer, just the uneven holes at the bottom. So did that 380 feel like it or is it really 365? I'm keeping mine in Celsius this time

 

[Justpassedu]

Ah but yours wasn't stinking/fuming though? Mine didn't have an oven screen at all, which I would prefer, just the uneven holes at the bottom. So did that 380 feel like it or is it really 365? I'm keeping mine in Celsius this time

It had some smell but it was not so bad , maybe bc i swabbed the entire thing really well with iso 1st. I def did smell some plastic though. Maybe your oven screen fell out as mine did when i 1st opened it , it is small rectangle that goes right above those uneven holes , you can cut 1 yourself , mine does not fit properly or seat correctly in the oven so i'll have to cut another. The 380 did feel more like 365 and the max temp did not feel so hot to me either. I am wondering if i pack really tight if it will help vapor production. The unit heats up pretty quickly , i'd say around 40 seconds or so. It makes me a bit nervous to see the oven is completely crooked and holes are not cut evenly. Also i'd like to figure out how to remove the top screen as it got clogged up after 1 session. , maybe i can put the top screen at the bottom of the oven and cut my own for the top.

 

[Shit Snacks]

It had some smell but it was not so bad , maybe bc i swabbed the entire thing really well with iso 1st. I def did smell some plastic though. Maybe your oven screen fell out as mine did when i 1st opened it , it is small rectangle that goes right above those uneven holes , you can cut 1 yourself , mine does not fit properly or seat correctly in the oven so i'll have to cut another. The 380 did feel more like 365 and the max temp did not feel so hot to me either. I am wondering if i pack really tight if it will help vapor production. The unit heats up pretty quickly , i'd say around 40 seconds or so. It makes me a bit nervous to see the oven is completely crooked and holes are not cut evenly. Also i'd like to figure out how to remove the top screen as it got clogged up after 1 session. , maybe i can put the top screen at the bottom of the oven and cut my own for the top.

Ah yeah mine definitely did not have an oven screen, no spares in the box either, don't see why it should need one at all, keeping the oven all quartz is better anyway. Sucks the top screen clogged so quick though, not surprised, and it can't be removed right?

I also did iso swabbing, didn't seem to do anything since smell comes from below the oven and around it, polyamide tape is visible through the clear quartz I think. Plus visible fumes for me, we'll see how more and more burn offs go, but the short sessions are pretty annoying, doesn't seem like 40sec is very fast heating at all to me, is that still the standard for these type of vapes? Only Boundless is faster?

Yeah tight pack is also typical for session conduction like this, was hoping it would surprise but seems not, that oven seems like it could easily hold a half gram, pretty huge in my book. The shape should lend itself to a nice quartz spacer though, if there was one available, it could be like a screen too.

But yeah unevenly placed oven, uneven oven holes, loud vibration that can't turn off, fixed short sessions, slow (at least not fast) heat up, large weak conduction oven, inaccurate inconsistent temp settings, and stinky fumes. So far I am not very impressed honestly...

I will say the form factor is very nice though, and the etched grip on the body does work pretty well as a heat sink. With the metal mouthpiece and bottom it also feels very durable, though the side buttons feel kinda cheap they do seem to work well.

 

[Justpassedu]

Ah yeah mine definitely did not have an oven screen, no spares in the box either, don't see why it should need one at all, keeping the oven all quartz is better anyway. Sucks the top screen clogged so quick though, not surprised, and it can't be removed right?

I also did iso swabbing, didn't seem to do anything since smell comes from below the oven and around it, polyamide tape is visible through the clear quartz I think. Plus visible fumes for me, we'll see how more and more burn offs go, but the short sessions are pretty annoying, doesn't seem like 40sec is very fast heating at all to me, is that still the standard for these type of vapes? Only Boundless is faster?

Yeah tight pack is also typical for session conduction like this, was hoping it would surprise but seems not, that oven seems like it could easily hold a half gram, pretty huge in my book. The shape should lend itself to a nice quartz spacer though, if there was one available, it could be like a screen too.

But yeah unevenly placed oven, uneven oven holes, loud vibration that can't turn off, fixed short sessions, slow (at least not fast) heat up, large weak conduction oven, inaccurate inconsistent temp settings, and stinky fumes. So far I am not very impressed honestly...

I will say the form factor is very nice though, and the etched grip on the body does work pretty well as a heat sink. With the metal mouthpiece and bottom it also feels very durable, though the side buttons feel kinda cheap they do seem to work well.

It needs that bottom screen bc those uneven holes at the bottom of the oven will cause your material to fall down into them , than it will always smell & possibly break or clog up the air path , i think that is why they put the screen at the bottom of mine. I do see a screw at the bottom of the unit but i really don't want to open it up. I emailed the company to see if the top screen can be removed. If not definitely a big design flaw. Hmm the oven is def smaller than all my portables i own except for my arizer air , i feel they come close in size. You can only pack it up to where the oven ends or atleast where i see that uneven quartz thing in there , i went to the top of that. I was not able to fit much in there at all and it was spent pretty quick and not that dark but no more vapor was forming for me. I do agree with everything you stated though , this vape needs a good revision. I feel like the oven is not even connected to the vape lol . 40 second heat up is reasonable , not the best but not the worst out there. I like the size and feel of it in my hand , vibration is to strong and happens whenever you change temp , this contributes to poor battery life. I am guessing it does not use a 18650 cell bc it does not seem thick enough although i could be wrong ?

 

[Shit Snacks]

It needs that bottom screen bc those uneven holes at the bottom of the oven will cause your material to fall down into them , than it will always smell & possibly break or clog up the air path , i think that is why they put the screen at the bottom of mine. I do see a screw at the bottom of the unit but i really don't want to open it up. I emailed the company to see if the top screen can be removed. If not definitely a big design flaw. Hmm the oven is def smaller than all my portables i own except for my arizer air , i feel they come close in size. You can only pack it up to where the oven ends or atleast where i see that uneven quartz thing in there , i went to the top of that. I was not able to fit much in there at all and it was spent pretty quick and not that dark but no more vapor was forming for me. I do agree with everything you stated though , this vape needs a good revision. I feel like the oven is not even connected to the vape lol . 40 second heat up is reasonable , not the best but not the worst out there. I like the size and feel of it in my hand , vibration is to strong and happens whenever you change temp , this contributes to poor battery life. I am guessing it does not use a 18650 cell bc it does not seem thick enough although i could be wrong ?

Well compared to the standard Chinese ceramic tube it seems bigger to me being rectangular, similar depth, I dont know maybe not as big as the Ascent, I don't really use these session conduction vapes anymore though (yeah Arizer always had the smallest bowl for em, and Indica was huge but could use any amount with the spacers)

Yeah I was thinking same thing about 18650, we'll see if I ever get to try mine with herb anyway, but yeah I guess with a fine grind bits will get in under the oven. Whatever in this case lol we'll see if they take our feedback and try again with some revisions I suppose

 

[Justpassedu]

Well compared to the standard Chinese ceramic tube it seems bigger to me being rectangular, similar depth, I dont know maybe not as big as the Ascent, I don't really use these session conduction vapes anymore though (yeah Arizer always had the smallest bowl for em, and Indica was huge but could use any amount with the spacers)

Yeah I was thinking same thing about 18650, we'll see if I ever get to try mine with herb anyway, but yeah I guess with a fine grind bits will get in under the oven. Whatever in this case lol we'll see if they take our feedback and try again with some revisions I suppose

Its def on the small side , at least for me . Pax 2 oven is way bigger , I can also fit more in my mighty. This oven feels similar to the grasshoppers in size but rectangle vs round , conduction vs convection. I hope they do improve upon it or it will just be another Hebe titan type of vape . I got a similar feeling about it upon opening it when i had a titan hebe way back , the packing even feels a bit similar. Maybe they are made by the same company bc it had that same smell also. Well i sent them a email addressing a few things. I'll do some more testing when i have a chance and post more results. I was hoping it to be like my pax 2 which it kinda reminded me of a bit before i had received it. I guess we are the only 2 on Fc with this vape , maybe even the only 2 in the U.S. as i cant find anymore info doing a search.

 

[KeroZen]

I'm tempted to say "Hey! What did you expect?!" but I'll refrain...

@Shit Snacks: some aspects reminds me the Herbstick Deluxe beta-test round we did together. In the end we made them remove (or rather make optional) the absurdly loud buzzer... It also had a large square oven. Oh, well... whatever!

 

[Shit Snacks]

I'm tempted to say "Hey! What did you expect?!" but I'll refrain...

@Shit Snacks: some aspects reminds me the Herbstick Deluxe beta-test round we did together. In the end we made them remove (or rather make optional) the absurdly loud buzzer... It also had a large square oven. Oh, well... whatever!

Haha yeah Kero, this oven is more rectangular though and at the top vs bottom (also the quartz obv, the only thing that makes the Zolo special it seems) I never got to try the updated HD but had no interest in it really (later learned some very negative things about that manufacturing company too) But I do wish you were in on this one with us buddy!

 

[PPN]

Mine will be here today..... I'll let you know my thoughts...

 

[Justpassedu]

So i got a email back from Relaxotech , i addressed some issues and asked a few questions , they did not answer my questions but wrote me : "Thanks for your comments. They are very important. We will also check those points to see if we can correct it.And if you have more opinions, please let us know." So that was that . I packed the Zolo last night very tightly , it happened to work allot better until i upped the temp to 400F and got a real foul combustion/plastic taste. I turned it off , noticed some charred flower but did not empty it yet to inspect for anything melting. Best of luck @PPN , looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[nondarb]

This unit was/is listed on DHgate under a different name and has been for quite some time. When I get back home ill try and find it.

 

[KeroZen]

"Vape Wars: the Return of the Clones"

 

[PPN]

My Zolo experience is close to be the same than related by others testers here.

First there was a light offgassing while doing the first burnoff at +200°C but there was a terrible smell I never experienced before, very different than a classic factory or plastic taste although it disappears after 3 burnoffs cycles of 3mn.

I agree about the not accurate t°, I think it's at least 10°C hotter than the selected t°. And i noticed a slightly uneven abv (darker on the side and lighter in the center), maybe it need some stirs. Taste is not famous at all but I expect it will improve with time ( I was thinking the same with both Focus vapes and now they taste very nice) probably cause the silicone is not cured properly. Clouds are here.

Design is nice and convenient but i agree about the loud and long vibrating feature, a short buzz could be enough. Battery indication doesn't seems very accurate since the battery dead on me while showing a bit less than 50%.

The mouthpiece is great and can support an iso bath since it is 100% metal, I don't get any issue about mp holes clogging but I use a coarse grind (scissor grind) or full nugs.

I'm thinking about to test some moroccan hash, I hope it will vape that very well since the high temperature and conductivity!

Finally i agree it needs some improvements before to be released, I hope Relaxotech will do that and the unit could be a nice on the go option, the 3mn option doesn't bother me but the battery life seems rather short.

 

[PPN]

Did you noticed a very loose load offer a better taste and overall experience?

That's nice cause since the pretty small form factor, the relatively fast heating time and the powerfull heater you can get pretty baked with a very short session and a small load....if you don't care too much about taste!

As noticed before the looser the load the better the taste and efficiency (as well a more uniform abv, tight pack give you a green&black abv), all in all that's not a so bad vape if you are not expecting too much. IDK the retail price but it might be low enough.

 

[Justpassedu]

I use mine once in awhile & get better results with a semi tight pack as apposed to a loose packing. I have experimented with both but usually pack it full when using it. I find the taste starts to get really bad towards the end of a session at a high heat level compared to my other portables , to the point that i cannot finish the session. 400 F & under has usually been fine. I do like the quick heat up time & vapor at lower temps but did not get great clouds when packing loosely. Usually conduction vapes work best with tight packing like the Pax and i find this very similar in that way.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Yeah mine never stopped fuming, smells terrible, not gonna inhale from it or ruin herbs in it. I did let them know a while ago but got no reply, I guess I could follow up, but eh

 

[wm762]

Yeah mine never stopped fuming, smells terrible, not gonna inhale from it or ruin herbs in it. I did let them know a while ago but got no reply, I guess I could follow up, but eh

this has always been issue especially with the other products they have introduced to the market.

 

[PPN]

Initially my Zolo (what's a bad name) was fuming a lot and was smelling awful (a smell I never experienced with any vapes before) but after 4 or 5 burn-offs there was not any trail of smoke and the smell was very thin but still present. I put a load of abv at 200 and let it to cook for a cycle. After that I tested it but 2-3 first sessions was not tasting as expected....

Although now it doesn't taste bad anymore and fit a special niche for me. As mentionned before by me a very small (0.05-0.1) and loose pack of coarse grind, set the temp at 195 and you are good for a short 4mn session including heating time, effects are nice, decent taste, visible clouds (nothing crazy) and fully spent abv.
When i pack it àla Pax I get very early in the session a burning taste cause it seems to create a hot spot in the bowl, loosly pack avoid this hot spot&burn taste and help for the airflow which is very restricted on this unit.
During this cold season the cold metal mp make the vapor very, very smooth (similar to a cold ESV). Far to be my favourite but a special niche job for it!