Argo vs Starry 2 (or 3), vs...???

[-dab8-]

So I’m looking at portable vapes. I have a few DynaVaps which I adore, but I’m curious about checking out a portable battery powered version. I DO have a splinter V1 on the way, but I plan to use that more for at home, and am looking more for an all in one unit.

-My research thus far has led me to think that I would prefer a removable battery.

-Something that can handle concentrates as well as flower would be a big plus.

-I love the idea of something that can take pre-filled capsules, but it’s not at all a requirement.

The Argo and the Starry both seem to cover some of these points (I don’t think the Argo does concentrated though?), but I’m sure there are others that I’m not remembering.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
-dab8-

 

[Vaporware]

If you think you can handle unregulated (I’d guess you could handle it since you like VapCaps and they’re manually heated), the Nomad is a great option.

I don’t have mine yet since I’m in the upcoming batch, but from the reviews I’ve seen it’s got great performance, and in my opinion it’s the best looking vaporizer around. It’s not in the same class as the ones you’re looking at, but if you can save a bit more for it (the waiting list would give you time), I think it’s worth considering.

There isn’t a concentrate specific heater for it yet, but the heaters are interchangeable so if/when @Dan Morrison makes one we should be able to swap it in (they just slide in and out so you can change between the low/medium and medium/high heaters as easy as changing the battery).

There also isn’t an official capsule system yet, but Dan has posted ideas and might make one. As it is you could just load multiple stems and swap them out if you find a good way to carry them, or kee reloading the same stem.

Other than that, it’s both a handmade piece of art and a small unregulated convection vaporizer with easily swappable batteries (and heaters) that should work for as long as we can get 18650 batteries (or suitable replacements).

The electrical part is simple and user serviceable (if the contacts ever got dirty or something along those lines you could easily get it back to full efficiency), so unlike most options with fragile electronics and little plastic bits, the Nomad should last a long time.

Even if you don’t end up buying one, you should read the Nomad thread and see the process Dan’s gone through with the community here to produce something great. He’s posted a lot of information and pictures showing the process of building them down to about the smallest detail. It might be the best thread on the site!

 

[Dan Morrison]

@VaporWare

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

Starry is a conduction vape and i bet it sux compared to the ARGO.Checkout the XVAPE Fog if you are looking for a decent vape from China.

 

[bossman]

While the Nomad is a gorgeous, handcrafted portable it's also gonna cost more than any portable out there and you'll be waiting six months or more to get one as it's a one man show and Dan is refining a process that has proven to be slow to this point.

You should share more about how you vape and what you wanna do with your new electric portable. The general concensus is that it's messy and less effective to use concentrate pads with session vapes. The Sai Top Airflow from Humboldt is affordable enough that most folks can justify that and a Pico box mod for a dedicated concentrates device.

For electric portables the best value is probably still the Fury 2 ($130) provided your usage isn't too heavy for the poor battery life, which is an understandable tradeoff for its small, pocketable size.

The Fierce ($220 and also from Healthy Rips) has a bigger bowl, removable battery, USB C charging, and convenient glass accessories for added versatility. The Fury 2 has similar glass accessories but they only hold .1g or less, which is great for microdosing but inconvenient for heavier use or sharing.

If you don't mind vapes that cost too much for what they do, the Mighty ($300-350) is a well-respected if somewhat chunky portable that pumps out a lot of vapor at surprisingly low temps. The proprietary charger isn't convenient and the plastic airpath of the top piece (called the Cooling Unit) is unfortunate.

Of the Arizer offerings the Argo is admittedly the most portable but reviews tend to concede that it's not great at vapor production and the plastic build is less impressive than the Solo II or Air II, which have long glass stems that make them fragile for vaping out.

The Fierce, Fury 2, and Mighty all have effective dosing capsules available that make it quick and easy to reload while you're out.

Oh and well done on the Splinter V1 purchase. Mine hasn't arrived yet but my Splinter and Splinter Z are amazing.

Without knowing your usage or habits, my recommendation would be to get a Fury 2 because it's small, affordable, and effective. It's a great baseline for a portable session vape and will set a high standard for any future purchases.

 

[Vaporware]

Those are all reasonable options @bossman , and you’re right that unless you can get one of the few owners to part with one it takes some time to get a Nomad. I did mention the waiting list, but maybe I should have emphasized it more. I guess I didn’t think too much about it because we’ve seen wait times of a year or more with other devices and while there have been delays, I see no reason to worry too much about the wait if you have other options in your hands already.

I really think that a $300 Nomad will last far longer than anything else mentioned above - even the $300 Mighty - and I like the design far more, so I think it’s more worth buying. In fact, when you look at the amount of work involved the Nomad’s the one that’s a good deal!

Plus I don’t think the OP is in urgent need here and the wait and design process may even help to stave off the shakes longer if he’s a serial-VASer.

Personally I’d rather have one pocketable portable I love than a series of cheap plasticy devices with fragile electronics that often break and have to be sent off for repair or end up in the trash, or that have poorly made/fitted parts or other quirks that keep them from consistently working the way they’re supposed to.

That’s why I’ve been more selective about what I buy and one of the reasons I’ve read so much about dozens of different vaporizers here after finding that my first $200+ plasticy vaporizer was (while decent and completely usable) fragile, not all that well designed, and a bit out of spec out of the box.

That said, despite my problems with the Mighty’s size, look, internal battery, plastic-ness and some other issues, I have some interest in it and some of the better small portables because of their different functionality. I might pick up one or more someday, but personally I would not trade a Nomad for 2 or 3 of them, or for one of everything else recommended in this thread (unless I was going to sell some and buy another Nomad) for all of the reasons I listed above and more.

Usually I recommend a few different things, including stuff I don’t personally want, I just thought this seemed like a good fit for the OP. I’m always happy to see other recommendations though, especially when I focus on one, and what you guys recommend influences my future recommendations, so thanks for posting!

 

[-dab8-]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. So I thought I had provided a good amount of info but I see I left some gaps.

Looking for:

-regulated
-portability (small size)
-replaceable batteries
-ability to microdose
-flavor (don’t care as much about clouds
-would be neat if it could do concentrates
-would be neat if it could take pre-filled capsules





@VaporWare The nomad looks AMAZING and is on my radar. For this purchase I’m thinking regulated though. Thanks for the recommendation!

@Abysmal Vapor Ahhh didn’t realize the starry was conduction. That’s out. I already have a million vapcaps. Looking for convection. Thank you!

@bossman The fury 2 doesn’t have replaceable batteries, so that’s out. You’ve really intrigued me with the fierce though. That could be a winner. Brief aside: My splinter v1 landed last night and I think I’m in love. (My first of the RBT products)

 

[almost there]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. So I thought I had provided a good amount of info but I see I left some gaps.

Looking for:

-regulated
-portability (small size)
-replaceable batteries
-ability to microdose
-flavor (don’t care as much about clouds
-would be neat if it could do concentrates
-would be neat if it could take pre-filled capsules





@VaporWare The nomad looks AMAZING and is on my radar. For this purchase I’m thinking regulated though. Thanks for the recommendation!

@Abysmal Vapor Ahhh didn’t realize the starry was conduction. That’s out. I already have a million vapcaps. Looking for convection. Thank you!

@bossman The fury 2 doesn’t have replaceable batteries, so that’s out. You’ve really intrigued me with the fierce though. That could be a winner. Brief aside: My splinter v1 landed last night and I think I’m in love. (My first of the RBT products)

take a peek at the firewood 5, checks off most items on your list besides the ability to do concentates

 

[Vaporware]

Yeah, the Fierce seems like a good option this time.

The Firewood 5 would be a good option too, but isn’t it unregulated @almost there ?

 

[almost there]

@VaporWare FW5 is regulated, there's a couple of heat levels to choose from and there's haptic feedback even

 

[Vaporware]

Cool, thanks for letting me know! Was the 4 regulated too? The original doesn’t seem like it was.