Welcome to High Tech, iDigitalTimes’ cannabis-focused gadget review column. Click here to see some of our other reviews or scroll down to get our thoughts on the Haze Dual vaporizer from Haze Technologies.
With no shortage of competition on the market, Haze Technologies is hoping a dual-chamber oven and a refreshingly unique design will help the Haze Dual stand out from a growing list of competitors. But the loose-leaf and concentrate-ready device doesn’t deliver the service we’d expect from a $250 portable vaporizer. And the flexibility of its dual-chamber design isn’t enough to make up the difference.
The Haze Dual, however, isn’t a complete waste of money. For starters, the third iteration of Haze Technologies’ portable vaporizer is almost miraculously efficient. I’ve had bowls that were still usable after 12-14 hits, albeit with a significant decline in taste, despite seeing the same strains left useless (for anything other than cooking) after fewer than 10 pulls from other devices. But the Haze Dual seems to accomplish this feat by heavily limiting the amount of vapor you can pull in a single hit. Perhaps it was just poor airflow. Either way, it's a deal-breaker for me. But those with lower tolerances and/or limited access to cannabis might not mind as much.
Haze Technologies also came up with a rather ingenious solution for letting users decide which of the Haze Dual’s two oven chambers should be heated during use. A small silver tab on top of the vaporizer obscures the Haze Dual’s mouthpiece, which can be store inside the vaporizer when not in use, and the direction it’s flipped (either left or right) determines which of the two ovens gets heated. You can even swap back and forth from the loose-leaf and concentrate chambers if you so desire.
If there’s one area where the Haze absolutely manages to distinguish itself from the competition, it’s the device’s appearance. Rather than stick to the pen-style vaporizers that have become the bread and butter of the portable vaporizer industry, instead creating a squircle-ish device that looks a bit like a stylized flask. The oven is covered by a metal frame with octagonal designs cut into it. About one-third of the frame, seemingly intended as a handle, is wrapped in dark gray aluminum. Silver is used to finish the top and bottom, including the battery and mouthpiece covers. Those who'd prefer a different paint job will be happy to know the Haze Dual is also available in three other colors, Absinthe, Midnight and Orchid, along with an all-black "Stealth" version.
It’s not an especially hefty device but the Haze Dual feels sturdy in your hand. I’m also pleased to report the vaporizer hasn’t stopped working after a couple of tumbles from my standing desk. Granted, it was still landing on a carpeted surface. But I’ve seen friends lose vaporizers to such accidents on more than one occasion. So a sturdy build is always appreciated. I’m not a huge fan of the two-chamber oven, for reasons we’ll explore momentarily, but the Haze Dual is built well and I appreciate the unique design. The extra ventilation offered by the etched oven cover doesn’t hurt its case, either.
However, the Haze Dual’s unwieldy design makes it less than stellar for road trips, hikes and/or any other scenario in which you might enjoy using a vaporizer outside of your home. Both the loose-leaf and concentrate ovens rely on small metal baskets, that look like miniaturized restaurant bins, which can be difficult (if not impossible) to remove, refill and replace while heated. As you might imagine, this means waiting several minutes between bowls while the device finishes cooling. Some might scoff at such a complaint. But I’ll take a quick moment to remind you the Haze Dual is $250 when purchased directly from its manufacturer. Even discounted prices tend to remain in the $200 range. That’s too much to be running into these sorts of design issues.
While certainly unique, the size and shape of the Haze don’t do anything to make the vaporizer less obvious in situations where vaping might be frowned upon. At best, curious onlookers might mistake the Haze Dual for a heavily-stylized flask. But I can’t think of many situations when “Oh, I’m just drinking from my flask” would go over better than “Oh, it’s just a cannabis vaporizer.” This is probably why pen-style vaporizers have risen to such prominence in recent months. It’s a bit easier to get nosy parties to leave you alone if/when they just think you’re consuming nicotine.
Most importantly, while its concentrate cartridge is supposed to be usable with both liquid and wax concentrates, my own attempts at using the Haze Dual to consume concentrates left me ready to throw the device out in the middle of a busy intersection. After four attempts, each loading just a dab’s worth of wax into the chamber (per the included instructions), I found myself unable to take a hit that was visible when exhaling. I tried taking hits continuously throughout the heating process, waiting until the Haze Dual had reached its ideal temperature, a few seconds past that temperature and even a few of the lower temperature settings. All I had to show for iit, at the end of my testing, was four wasted dabs and the sort of irritation I typically consume cannabis to alleviate.
Another big issue with the Haze Dual has to do with its power usage. Like many modern gadgets, the Haze Dual draws power from a battery designed specifically for the device. At first glance, the cell doesn’t look like much more than an oversized AA or AAA battery; however, usage quickly reveals the custom battery to be one of the device’s biggest shortcomings. I’ve yet to have the Haze’s battery last longer than a couple of sessions, even from a full charge, and taking the Haze Dual on an extended hike seems like a laughable proposition at this point. I’ve managed to drain both cells in a matter of hours, on multiple occasions, and that was just when using the device on my own. I can’t imagine trying to make the Haze Dual’s batteries last for the kinds of group sessions pictured on Haze Technologies’ website. And they don’t recharge nearly fast enough to justify their incredibly short life.
In its defense, the charger for the Haze Dual’s custom batteries also performs a bit of double-duty. In addition to recharging the Haze Dual’s batteries, the charger can also be used to charge USB devices. Just put one (or both) of the charged batteries into the charger, plug in your smartphone (or other device) via the USB port on the side of the charger and wait for it to finish charging. That would’ve been more impressive if the batteries lasted longer inside the device they were actually designed for. No one in their right mind wants to spend $250 on a vaporizer just to have a backup power supply for their phone.
Like so many of its competitors, the Haze Dual falls woefully short of what I’ve come to expect from a $200-plus portable vaporizer. While many of the device’s shortcomings are manageable in my own daily life, thanks to the fact that I work from home, issues with battery life and the inconvenience of trying to carry/pack/swap its removal cartridges -- without a stable surface and/or while the device is still cooling -- would prevent me from ever viewing the Haze Dual as a reliable means of vaping on-the-go. There are some great ideas here. But I’d suggest holding out to see if the Haze Dual v4 turns out to be any better.
Full Disclosure: The Haze Dual vaporizer used for this review was provided by a representative of VapeWorld; however, neither the distributor nor manufacturer (Haze Technologies) was given any sort of editorial oversight/privileges.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more cannabis-related gadget reviews throughout the remainder of 2015 and for however long the industry continues to churn out new/interesting gadgets in the years to come.
