I received an IQ2 today and am quite impressed with the amount of thought put into this device. I've been an on demand convection snob for a while now, but this does seem to be a luxurious way to experience session conduction...
Only did one full bowl of Bruce Banner riding smart path 1, then 2, then 3 a but to finish. With that much loaded you can get nice clouds even in path 1 and the taste is great (I cleaned all the parts with iso and even the silicone seems to be breaking in nicely already, nice high-quality materials throughout). I did a second bowl with only a quarter or third full, packed down into a tight puck, and kept the IQ2 upside down (discovered after this was not so necessary after the first few hits especially). This time I began at 340F manually temp stepping 10-14 degrees all the way up to 430 effectively, even without a spacer thanks to shape of the oven.
The air dial is a very nice touch, I experimented with different levels during each bowl, settling in the middle, but fun to restrict or open it up for the different experiences. Having it more restrictive can help boost clouds, while having it more open can help smooth out the vapor. I'll probably mostly keep it in the middle, but we'll have to see! It is a precision cut dial that turns very smooth and clicks into place nicely secure.
I used the wpa mouthpiece, but I like that even the small one has a little bend in the vapor path. Both of them feel very high quality with the shiny black zirconia, strong and pure. The flavor chamber seems to be easy made of the same material, a nice idea for a pathway. The glass-lined ceramic oven is white, which helps to keep it clean, but it would be nice if it was also fully removable though I'm not sure that would be possible... I really like not having to use any steel mesh screens, the holes in the ceramic seem to work well for this medium grind in my BCG fine plate at least.
The body feels super premium, love the look of this Cobalt, but I bet all the colors are stunning. As I said build quality is really high, magnetic doors are strong and secure, battery access works well (the stock cell seems good though I need more time with it). Nice touch to have the little metal tool store in the device, always really dug that feature from the Ascent too. It feels really nice in the hand, not too small not too big not too heavy or too warm in use. The LEDs are super cool and unique too!
Anyway that's it for now, I of course have much more testing to do, before I can post a proper review, but will continue to pop in here as I go. This is not really the time to be going out unfortunately, which is where I think the IQ2 could really shine with a full bowl, especially if sharing but also alone honestly, so I will not be able to test that aspect for the foreseeable future... Nice to sit at home on the couch and just chill puffing on it at least, good opportunity to test more generally!
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