Couldn't wait....so I gave the Hydrology 9 a try. To date the vapes I owned were a Solo 1, Volcano classic, pax 1, pax 2, volcano digital, Cloud Evo, Herbalizer, Mighty, Solo 2, and Hydrology 9. So here are my impressions....
Opening up the box and seeing it, even though it is a "portable" it isn't really. I heard the same thing when it comes to the Mighty, but I was able to throw the Mighty in my back pack and use it around midtown Manhattan never drawing attention to myself. This vape would get plenty of looks. Moreso because of the build quality than the size, but when you combine them both it is an eye opener. Even though it is not as big as I thought it would be. It's beautiful. It is the prettiest vape I've owned haha. The closest thing I can relate to this is when I saw the Pax 1 the first time and the Herbalizer. But this blows them both away. It is REALLY nice.
The first time I used it, I put it on the orange color. Which is heat setting 3/5, After about 10 hits and turning the stir stick (knob?), it turned off. I think it has an auto shut off of 2 minutes. Anyway after clearing the oven, the material looked a dark brown. I think it could be finished on the 4th level, the 5th might be a little too much. For comparison, if you used a mighty, pax, etc. The bud looked like it was on pax level 4 or 410 degrees on the mighty after a couple of hits. For comparison, I loaded new bud and set it on heat level blue or 1/5, and was able to produce some nice tasty clouds, and after about 7,8 hits; I took a look at the material and it was as if I used it on the Mighty at 360 degrees, or the pax at heat setting 2.
The draw resistance I think is very good. It's similar to the Mighty with ease, and much better than any of the other portables I tried.
The vapor quality is extremely good too, you can absolutely taste the flavors. Also I had no issue with any water leaking, I made sure to screw everything tight.
The magnetic mouthpiece is awesome.
One of the air openings are close to wear you would grip it to hold, and you may end up covering it which is annoying. Also both times I filled the oven half way. Also, I personally would only use this on the fourth setting max. I just took about 8 hits on that level and looked at the material and it was all dark brown, even using the stirring tool. I think at level 5 it would be too high
Would you like this vape?
Not sure who this is for to be honest. If you want a bong type vape why not get a cloud evo? The Hydrology 9 isn't really portable. Also if you want something for stealth, this is too big. Personally this works for me, sometimes with kids in the house, I can't hook up my Evo. But I can easily take this outside and use.
Is it worth it?
IT is absolutely worth the $250 according to me, I'm happy with my purchase.
Just FYI, I don't have my scale handy right now, but I just used this bud in the hydro 9 oven. This is unpressed, just thrown in. If your familar with an arizer glass stem, it fills it up about half way, which is a small amount of bud. I was able to get about 17-20 hits out of this, most of them were good and cloudy.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
I am very OCD, so yes, that totally contributes to the maintenance factor. I would be very interested to know if the company has already made improvements to the version released to the public in May! =)