Hi all, I'm looking to get a new vape in this price point. I have the Solo 2 & Grasshopper. I want something that's small & somewhat easy to clean. I'll be using it while out and about outdoors in the city. How long does the battery last on the Miqro? Anyone also have a Grasshopper? How do they compare with battery & smell? Thanks!
I'm going to cut to the chase: You're a Grasshopper owner, so surely you're aware of the issues. Like many, I currently have not one, but two units in repair, one for more than a year. I could go on, but if you're interested in hopper horror stories, you know where to look.
That said, I ADORED the GH. To my way of thinking, for a certain narrow range of use, of the type you describe above, I couldn't imagine a better design, and it was pleasurable enough (when it worked) for extended use as well.
But when I sent in my second hopper for the second time I realized that I had to find something else. The Da Vinci MIQRO was that, and I'll say it clearly: I now feel as positively about it as I did about the GH, in many ways more so - and in "one and done" use as well as extended. In terms of stealthiness, in almost every way the MIQRO actually outdoes the GH, mainly due to the fact that one can't completely enclose a Hopper within one's palm. (For the record, the GH beats the MIQRO w/regard to heat-up time, which contributes greatly to that device's stealthiness. But it's close.)
Cleaning is a breeze, and I'll leave it at that. I'm sure others will attest. Mine remains always spotless, after a half-year's use.
There is one area in which the MIQRO simply SOARS past the Grasshopper - as unreliable, fickle, and fragile as the GH is well-known to be, the Da Vinci product is 180 degrees in the other direction. This is a well-engineered and very solid device that the maker rightly takes pride in.
The battery does give out in roughly half the time of the larger 18650s, but in practical terms, it works. Da Vinci built in "Smart Path" heating patterns (I think you can see lots of videos on this). It takes me a while to trust that anything's not bogus, so at first I didn't give this use strategy any thought. But you'll come to realize that it's the way to maximize the use of the smaller battery most efficiently. When you learn the language of this device, batteries aren't a worry. You get about 7-10 5-min. sessions, I believe, on a full 18350, and that's likely enough to take you through a day. Extra batteries are inexpensive, and they're easily replaceable on the fly.
Side note on that: you ask about the smell, and the "Smart Path" idea is to work incrementally up in temperature with best efficiency. Therefore, it doesn't produce hugely visible clouds, but it definitely does work as promised, and the better efficiency has the side benefit of making it virtually odor-free.
The temperature strategies - Smart Paths - could be thought of as a "learning curve" I suppose, but it's not much of a curve, it's completely intuitive.
I'll leave it at that. The TL/DR is I looked for something when the Grasshopper broke my heart, and the MIQRO is it. Hope this helps.
