The IQ’s predecessor, the Ascent

My first DaVinci vaporizer was the Ascent. It was, and is, a solid top-tier portable vaporizer. The all-glass airpath and ceramic oven pretty much guarantee tasty full-flavoured hits every time. Unfortunately the combo of glass and portable (for me, at least) is a no-no. Over the two years that I used it (5-10 seshes a week) I had to replace the glass about 3 or 4 times, at a cost of almost $100.

Great for a vape on the go!

When DaVinci brought out the IQ, I was intrigued. The (mostly) ceramic air path made sense, and looked more portable-friendly to me than the glass in the Ascent. The fact that the unit was beautiful to look at helped too. It was about a year before I managed to snag one at a good price (TVape’s 420 sale). I was thrilled when I was able to get my hands on the limited edition green finish. It cost me a little over $250 shipped which, coincidentally, is about what I paid for the Ascent (which I purchased from vaporizers.ca, another great Canadian vape source).

Chilling at Jodie’s Joint

So now that I’ve had my IQ for three months, I’m between about sesh 75 and 100. I’d say the unit has been broken in at this point. I’m noticing there are a lot of positives with this unit, but unfortunately there are negatives as well.

The LEDs are very bright, but can be dimmed in Stealth Mode.

The biggest positive with this unit is the stealth. The unit is tiny, so you can very quickly palm it and make it disappear. The LED display can be dimmed (or covered with your hand, and you can either rely on haptic feedback (the unit vibrates when it reaches the target temp) or you can connect it to your phone via Bluetooth, and control it from there. Loading and stirring are quick and convenient with the included canister and stirring tool. Though that may not seem like much, it’s amazing how the mirrored surface of the loading area combined with those two items makes difficult sesh situations like loading in dark or crowded areas, or loading in a moving vehicle a breeze.

It fit perfectly in the RYOT capsule case!

The next biggest positive is the vapor production. I’ve used this unit w the 10mm mouthpiece attachment and a small rig, and damn, it hits like a champ. The clouds I can get with a well-packed load and a higher temp are unreal (BTW I’ve never once had issues with combustion). One of the reasons I love the Ascent is the clouds I can get from that unit. The IQ is another step up from that, which is pretty impressive.

Save a hit for Snoop!

The app, the LED display and the haptic feedback are all neat features, but they are not as impressive or essential as DaVinci makes them seem in the promotional materials. I admit, however, that they all add to the overall “futurevape” aesthetic of the device.

The first negative I would say is cleaning. While most of the device is easy to clean, there is one small area between the oven and the zirconia ceramic “flavour chamber” that is a pain in the ass to get clean. The manual and YouTube videos say nothing about it. The worst part is if you don’t clean this area, the tiny holes in the oven will clog up constantly, requiring you to use a pin or similar implement to clear the holes after every single session. Once you figure out how to carefully Q-tip that area out, however, it’s not an issue.

The only other negative I would say is the ruggedness of the unit. It feels rugged and solid in your hands, and all of the materials are solid, high-quality materials. Don’t drop it though. The magnetic closures fly open, the doors get knocked around and then the hinges get bent, or worse, break. If you are lucky (as I was) it’ll just bend a bit and you can bend it back as best you can. With mine the magnetic closure has never been the same since (I can’t pack the loads too big now). I know you aren’t supposed to drop your vape, but I figured a word of warning might make others a bit more careful than I was.

Great for a sunny summer patio vape!

Overall, the IQ is a solid unit. The drawbacks are easy to avoid if you are careful with it and clean it regularly. If I lost it, I’d definitely buy another one, however I wouldn’t pay more than $250 for it. There are many equally solid units out there for about $200, but I figure $50 for the aesthetics and “futurevape” aspects is reasonable. This unit is highly recommended.