IMO a fair speculation would be that if the Q's design had changed substantially, Arizer would treat it as a product version update (i.e., "5"). It would only make sense to get marketing leverage from that, if possible, to stimulate new demand and to recover the cost of the improvements. That Arizer is being so low-key about it would seem to indicate that this is a quality tweak with a new feature thrown in, more like a modest "refresh". Switching out components to higher quality doesn't change functionality, mostly it reduces Arizer warranty cost. The additional sensor/change in placement with the associated switch to the heat setting in 1 degree increments is the only feature (I'm not counting the cosmetic change) that affects the user experience. Ostensibly this results in greater accuracy, although in this thread at least I don't recall a lot of complaints about a lack of that. I think it's generally understood that vape temps are not exactly precise as far as actual vaporization in the bowl. So I don't get the 1 degree increments; what's the value? IMO it's rather meaningless, and maybe even an annoyance. Is is just a marketing gimmick?
That said, I remain a big fan of the Q. While this product refresh isn't enough to really affect market dynamics much, it is nice to see that Arizer is still investing in the product, albeit modestly. At it's price point it's still a great dual-purpose machine - and no doubt a nice cash-cow for Arizer.
Well first of all, in all reality, there is no such thing as the Q3.0, 4.0, 5.0, etc. According to the response I received from Arizer, these version designations are simply what people on the internet refer to them as. To be honest, I had no clue about this, until they told me this in an email recently. So no matter how major any redesign is, they are not going to start calling this the Q5.0.
As far as your speculation that the "refresh" is simply to reduce Arizer warranty cost, I would have to disagree with that a bit as well (at least until we actually know what the specific changes to the device are). I've sold literally hundreds and hundreds of Extreme Qs and I've only had like two or three returned to me for warranty issues. The device is
extremely reliable, so I'm not sure it would even be worth Arizer's time or money to bother with trying to change individual components out merely for the purpose of trying to reduce their costs of warranty service/replacement. Typically the only failures you will see from an Arizer product, are related to the power cord/adapter. Keep in mind that the warranty is three years, so any improvement in reliability beyond that point would be much appreciated by customers in my opinion.
I personally don't see any potential benefit out of having the 1 degree increments, instead of the 5 degree increments. However if sensors were changed inside the unit (for the better), I do see this being a benefit to customers. Perhaps more accurate temperature read-outs and regulation could be expected form the newer units... If so, I do consider this to be a worthwhile improvement to the device.
If you have an Extreme Q already, would I think it's worth upgrading to this unit? Absolutely not... However I do appreciate that they are still trying to make the product better, despite how long it's been on the market. I don't expect this to boost sales for Arizer, but innovation over time will be required for them to maintain their market share. I just really wish they would try to make some sort of improvement on their design of the balloon system. However I know for a fact that they make
great money selling replacement glass parts, so I'm afraid their motivation to do so is minimal. Even if they introduced some kind of valve system as an upgrade accessory, I think it would be a great addition to the Extreme Q, and make it more competitive to the almighty Volcano.
Taylor
haha
material is held inside just like that twobit vape the cloud
