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Smart, sleek and sexy. The IQ is the newest dry herb vaporizer manufactured by DaVinci, and is once again a completely new design. Filled with smarts and highly customizable, we love it already in so many ways. With its unique LED interface and innovative features, the IQ one of the best high-end dry herb vaporizers on the market right now.
The IQ’s Pedigree
The original DaVinci launched in 2012 around the same time as the first Pax, and narrowly edged ‘Vape of the Year’ in the Vaporizerblog.com.
Its rubberized aluminium shell was rugged as hell and although the flexible draw-tube ultimately failed, while it worked it was great. I personally loved the little canisters of herbal oil mixes that slotted into the oven – an innovation never repeated by DaVinci or any other manufacturer.
Pax makers Ploom subsequently chose to stick with its iconic shell, and focus innovation on the internal functionality of the Pax 2 and Pax 3, with great success.
The DaVinci, by contrast, was re-built from the ground up for its second iteration, the Ascent. With its rounded edges and retractable glass mouthpiece, it proved to be a popular (if still flawed) all-new vape.
The highest DaVinci to-date
The DaVinci IQ vaporizer arrives in a small, elegant box, and its luxurious packaging is certainly representative of the quality vape it holds within. When unboxing this baby, you feel that you’re unpacking something precious
Its contents include the vaporizer itself; two zirconia mouthpieces – flat and extended; a small bud storage container, and a box of accessories.
Powering Up DaVinci IQ vaporizer
Juice comes via the micro-USB cable, which charges a replaceable 18650 battery. Cleaning tools, an instruction manual and a carry-on keychain with extra scraping tool complete the kit.
The device itself is impressively small, with a compact design. It can easily be disguised in the palm of your hand, making it competitive with the PAX 3 in terms of stealth. It weighs more than it looks like it should for its size (145 grams) and as a result feels very solid and durable in the hand. The matte finish is appealing, with the black zirconia elements completing a futuristic look & feel.
Swappable Battery!
On the left side of the IQ , you will find the (standard 3500mAh) 18650 battery, which can be replaced or charged outside of the device. On the rear of the device, you will find the micro USB charging port.
A unique mouthpiece that elevates the purity and richness of the flavor of dry herb, in particular. Thanks to a 100% ceramic zirconia air path and the highest quality materials, the user is able to easily pull out thick, rich, high-quality vapor with minimal draw resistance.
The IQ’s Zirconia Mouthpieces
The IQ comes with a choice of flat or “extended” mouthpiece (both made from Zirconia). The flat mouthpiece requires the user to purse their lips against the device and neither I nor the few friends who tried it liked it. The extended one however is great; a glass-like ‘mouthfeel’ that keeps the vapor cooler (and can be modified with a water bubbler attachment)
Zirconia is a very dense material sometimes referred to as ‘ceramic steel’ as it has the properties of ceramic and the toughness of steel. So more durable than glass (the Ascent did have a tendency to break), with the same purity of flavour, high-temperature capability (up to 2400º C), and low thermal conductivity.
‘Bicameral’ or two chambered
The DaVinci IQ vaporizer features two separate internal chambers – the newly designed flavor chamber, and the glass lined ceramic oven (a feature first trialled in the Ascent). Both are revealed by hinged, flip-open lids; the base flips open to reveal the oven, complete with a zirconia “pearl” that seals the oven from the bottom and becomes hot – facilitating an even heat distribution throughout the herb in the oven chamber.
Easy Loading
One of our biggest gripes with the original 2012 DaVinci was the difficulty of filling and cleaning the oven. The DaVinci IQ vaporizer is the ultimate riposte to this criticism; a silvered, contoured ledge practically sucks the ground herb into the oven with zero mess or fuss. Hands down, the easiest oven to fill, ever!
Open the lid at the bottom of the DaVinci IQ vaporizer to expose the chamber, and fill it up with herb. You can use the supplied oven tool to help you pack it. You can either grind your herb coarsely for not as much vapor, but with less draw resistance, or very finely, which will result in denser vapor but greater resistance.
Newly launched DaVinci IQ glass spacers will allow you to shrink the chamber, and to use less herb for the same amazing results.
Enter the flavor chamber
The flavor chamber is found at the opposite end of the DaVinci IQ, and also revealed by a flip-open lid that houses the mouthpiece. This chamber is like a hollow bullet made of zirconia with a hole at each end that sits directly in the post-oven air path.
A slim tool is hidden alongside it. Pull it out and you use the tool to extract the chamber and open its lid. The idea is you can fill this with a second herb – yes, I said SECOND HERB!
So hot air is drawn through the oven, where it loads up on terpenes and cannabinoids, and is then drawn through the flavor chamber when it is still warm enough to pick up a second payload of herbal goodies. I tried a light load of dry lavender and indeed, the end result is a delicious, cool, lavender-flavoured vapor.
Excellent Draw
The draw with the flavor chamber in is pretty good, on par with most compact vapes. Without the second chamber it is a spectacularly easy draw. Cloud chasers, take note.
But the slight dip in draw performance is more than compensated by the novelty of flavoured vapor. I also tried rosemary and dried, ground lemon peel with success, and this feature is really only limited by the herbs you have at hand.
The 100% zirconia air path also contributes to the excellence of the vapor quality, and if you want to rise to even greater levels of vapor pleasure, water filtration accessories are available from DaVinci (not included in our review package).
DaVinci IQ vaporizer Interface
The device comes with 3 pre-defined heat modes – Smart Path mode, Precision mode, and Boost mode. A 51-dot LED Light Grid displays temperature and battery settings. It looks really cool and the dots of light are animated and quite mesmerizing.
To turn the IQ on, click the main control button five times rapidly. The IQ will turn on in Smart Path mode and start heating up. You can use the up or down buttons to select one of four smart heating paths
The Smart Paths are preset, but can be changed and configured via the smartphone app. Using the smart paths, you can set the IQ to start at a certain temperature, then heat up to another temperature over the course of selected time.
The other temperature modes
Precision mode: allows you to pick a precise temperature which will be maintained for the entire session. Again, you can completely change it at any time. To turn the precision mode on, tap the top button once and then press the Up or Down buttons to set your optimal temperature.
Boost mode: if you hold down the top button, boost mode will be activated. The heater will be engaged fully, and will now slowly work towards 430ºF as long as you continue holding the button. The boost mode can help you experience that extra draw at the device’s maximum temp.
You can also use the smartphone app to activate “Stealth Mode”, which will dim the LEDs within the app.
The IQ’s temperature range (250ºF – 430ºF) is broad enough to enable the use of a variety of secondary herbs, and is changeable in single degree increments (as all DaVinci vapes have been).
App Not Mandatory, but Recommended
The onboard interface allows full control of the device, making the app completely optional. We recommend using it, as it adds some cool features such as the total usage time, average session length, and average temperature.
The IQ allows the user to have full control over a session, by allowing you to track your Smart Path usage and see other important information about your vaporizer. Session progress is tracked via a graph in the app that shows the timeline vs. the temperature level.
On emptying out the oven to check the material to see if the IQ did a good job extracting all the active ingredients, the material was completely brown and dry. It seems that the Pearl does as it intended to: create a more consistent, even distribution of heat throughout the entire session.
After a few weeks’ use, the IQ is noticeably durable as well as easy to clean and maintain. It really feels like you’re using a luxurious gadget to vape with.
DaVinci IQ Conclusion – exceptional vapor quality
The DaVinci IQ vaporizer is an outstanding success, and vaping with the IQ is a real pleasure. The vapor quality is exceptional, and the amount and density of the vapor the IQ produced is surprising.
The second chamber, hidden tool, easy-fill oven, swappable mouthpieces and quality app make the IQ a fun piece of kit to play around with. I love the ability to combine other herbs for their health benefits or just for the added flavor.
No matter which setting we used, the IQ delivers. The vapor is rich, tasty and flavorful, and we are truly impressed with the DaVinci IQ vaporizer in every aspect.
Pros:
- Feels good in hand; very portable
- Great temp control with Smart Path & Boost Mode
- Easy to load and use
- Excellent vapor quality and flavor
Cons:
- On the expensive side
- Slow battery charge
- Hard to clean once residue built up