I personally haven’t found another that’s as all around convenient, reliable, effective, consistent heating with the vapor coming out at a pleasant temperature. I really like the minimalist industrial design and the fact that it’s pretty inconspicuous. The one thing that needs work on it is the maintenance cycle. I think just because it’s so small, the screen seems to need to be cleaned off more often or you end up having to work too hard for the draw. For me, who only uses it a few times a week, that translates to cleaning off the screen once a week when I clean the other stuff in my everyday carry like my pocket knife, so it’s not a big hindrance. If you’re using it a few times a day, you’ll want to brush out the screen daily or keep a couple extra (fortunately they’re cheap) around. Battery life is quite respectable for the size (I get about an hour to an hour and a half depending on whether I turn it off in between uses (and therefore make it have to reheat). It takes a few hours to charge, but the magnetic charging dock is really easy and I just “plug” it in next to my phone when I go to bed.
That said, the draw resistance is still much less encumbering than the original Pax, but not as easy as the Fez. Mainly I think this is down to airflow. It’s just smaller, needs to be tamped tighter and doesn’t hold as much. I find myself using a very fine grind in it to maximize surface area contact with the steam.
The Fez also has a significantly more ergonomic mouthpiece. The main mouthpiece my Pax 2 came with wasn’t very comfortable to use, but it also came with a second one (which I think comes standard, but you’ll want to double check that). The second mouthpiece is better and more like the Fez, but not as long. I’m normally taking pretty brief draws from it, but if you want a bigger hit, it’s stumpy shape means you’ll need to take a slightly longer draw to get the same amount of vapor as you’d get from the Fez in a shorter draw. I personally don’t think it’s a coincidence that Pax abandoned the stupid little retractable straw in the original for a mouthpiece more like the Fez.
While I think the Pax 2 is the best pocket vape I’ve used, it isn’t perfect and it’s a bit overpriced IMO. If they were selling it at the same price they sold the original Pax, I’d consider it a bargain, but at $250 to $280 it’s a bit pricey even for what it is.
ETA: I don’t know what their warranty service process is like, since mine hasn’t broken in the year and half I’ve had it, but it comes with a 10 year warranty. Given what it cost, if it does die, I’ll be testing that warranty.
