EVO LE arrived Monday. Here's a review after several sessions. Tried to post this last evening but gave up after having been
obliterated by only 3 EVO hits. First, some pics . . .
The new additions to the family, EVO LE and Custom Swagger Double-Chamber Circ Turbine . . .
A closer look . . . graphite finish (still waiting for the VXL wrist bands) . . .
Swagger kicks ass . . .
The Cloud family . . .
The review should start with . . .
. . . a hit from the EVO is like a THC punch to the face.
Exactly! I set my EVO on 10 and I get dense vapor which just hammers me, and I'm not even pulling hard. Not doing anything different except using the EVO. The extraction is goddam phenomenal. My ABV is a thoroughly cooked dark brown.
About 2 minutes to green, I wait another couple, and its ready. (Or for even faster, set the dial high until green, turn down to desired setting, ready.) With that start-up, IMO no need to switch toggle or WeMo. If you have owned a Cloud, you may notice a tad more restriction in the EVO. It still is an effortless pull though. I find a steady draw produces milk in a 3-5 seconds. Or you can pull hard and hope you have the lungs for all that vapor, or you don't mind going into a coughing fit.
Others are using a higher setting and still reporting no harshness. (E.g., one Fanatic cached a 3/4 ELB in 2 hits, set at 1:00). At about 2 and above you're in concentrate territory. I don't have any oils but I did try pressed kief with the 2-cap mod, still set at 10, and it worked wonderfully although probably next time I'll take the dial up to 11-12 for that. On my OG when I 2-cap, I get additional air due to the ELB body not being used; with the EVO's different bamboo that doesn't happen and so again more dense vapor compared to my OG (hard to believe, isn't it?).
The incredible extraction results in a shorter session. I can totally vape a half-filled ELB in a few hits, and I have oldie lungs. Along with the fast heat up time, it takes no longer to vape than to grind and load: Turn it on, grind, load, hit, destroyed in 10 minutes.
The unit's fit and finish is overall very good. I found a very minor flaw in the seam at the base underside; the unit has to be turned upside down with switch on to see it. The polymer is a nice looking and feeling material, and the LE's graphite finish is sweet.
EVO is surprisingly light at only 11 oz. The heavier detachable power cord can easily move it, so arranging where to set it took a little thought. Same with how to grip the unit. The top half
can get blistering hot, so the user needs to grip the lower half. The shell heat varies significantly with the setting and increases with the time on. But again, my sessions are fairly quick. There is a mark on the shell which shows where to keep your hand below. Because my hands are kinda small, so far I like using the wrist bands and placing my hand above the plug (and above the mark).
I occasionally get a low soft whistling sound, which appears to vary with the material and load. Haven't used it enough to pin point exactly. It's actually kinda fun.
So far I've used it with my HydraLine, a Mobius Ion Matrix, and the Custom Swagger above. The HL sat and balanced nicely even though tilted; standard size HT's and especially the bent necks are very comfortable. This Swagger is 16" tall and heavy, and while it adds a little drag it's much less than I expected; looks awesome milked. I've not been into large pieces though so I need to work with it more. But omigod, the EVO is perfect inverted and with the Ion is a match made in heaven; I still used the CloudBuddy but only for the carb, the unit is so easy to handle it easily lifts from the joint. (I think the EVO may also make it easier to handle the larger volume in the big Mobius bubblers.) I used the 2-cap with all the pieces and that was a helluva lot of fun, too - intense vapor.
My dings on the EVO are very minor. I did find that little flaw at the base. The shell heat can be intense, and there is now a plug off the back; took me a little while to find a comfortable grip. The light weight allows it to move around easily, so that requires some thought (an EVO "station" would be a good accessory addition).
On the plus side, yes, the EVO looks good, is easy to handle, heats up very fast, etc. But IMO it's the performance that really stands out and is a vaping breakthrough . . . the EVO is a dream.