Desktop Vaporizer vs. Portable: Choosing between Vaporizers

You’re looking at our desktop and portable vaporizer options here in BigDaddySmoke, and you’re scratching your head thinking: these are all awesome choices. Which one should I get? Desktop vaporizers are known for their vaporizing efficiency, while portable vaporizers are famous for their convenience. Let’s sit down and talk about the difference between desktop vaporizer vs. portable so that you can set your expectations and avoid the dreaded buyer’s remorse.

Highly portable and discreet, the Grasshopper Vape Pen

Portability: moving or chilling?

Are you constantly traveling? Do you want to vape on demand? Or do you prefer to vape in the comforts of your home or apartment where it’s okay to vape without anyone disturbing you?

Desktop vaporizers are big and bulky. Even the small Arizer Extreme Q desktop vaporizer can occupy almost 10 inches of space on your table and can weigh approximately 4lbs. Although you can travel with it with careful packing, you cannot use the Arizer outdoors or take it with you as you move. You need to plug it to an outlet in order to use it.

Portable vaporizers are relatively smaller and can fit in your hand. The Storz & Bickel Crafty Handheld Dry Herb Vaporizer is about 4 inches in length and weighs around 134 gms or 4.7 oz. Charge it, and it’s ready to go. You can hold it in your hand and place it in your pocket for convenient vaping while you’re out with friends, on a business trip, or simply enjoying a walk.

Vapor: thin wisps or cloud chasing?

The size and amount of vapor you get from desktop and portable vaporizers differ due to:

• The size of the herb chamber


• Temperature control


• The amount of vapour you put in the chamber


• How you pack the chamber

Desktop vaporizers have bigger chambers, hands down. You can pack as much as 0.5gms of herbs in for a single session with a Volcano Digital Desktop Vaporizer and vape away.

Portable vaporizers, on the other hand, have limited capacity as well as temperature range. The Magic Flight Launch Box is the smallest portable vaporizer, and you can only put a small amount of herbs in the chamber. You need to load it several times in order to get the effect that you need for your session.

If you want big clouds, go for desktop vaporizers. If you want thin wisps that are not so obvious and disturbing, the portable vaporizer is your best option.

Versatility: standard or personal?

When it comes to personalizing your vaping experience, the desktop vaporizer and portable vaporizer is almost equal. Modern portable vaporizers now come with variable temperature controls that let you dictate how much you want to get medicated. You can adjust the temperature at 1°-increments to help get that sweet spot for your hits.
However, there are still some portable vaporizers like the G Pen Pro dry herb vaporizer that has three temperature settings only. You can cycle through the temperature settings by holding down the power button of your G Pen Pro.

The Storz & Bickel Plenty

Vapor quality: light or deep?

Desktop vaporizers still deliver the best vapor quality. The heating chambers are big, and the temperature controls are accurate to the T. Because of the stable heating chamber, desktop vaporizers let you vaporize almost any type of botanicals that you need, and still get that rich, flavorful vapor.

Portable vaporizers still have a long way to go in terms of performance. Their stability depends on the size and type of battery, as well as how much juice the battery has for your session. If you want dependability and precision, be prepared to invest in a high-end portable vaporizer like the Da Vinci IQ Dry Herb Vaporizer. It has a 3,500 mAh battery that is capable of 1.5 hrs of usage time. It also has a wide temperature range of 250°F-450°F for both low-temp to high-temp vaping.

Cost: affordable or investment?

Of course, we cannot talk about purchasing a vaporizer without touching the issue of how much the vaporizer can go.
Desktop vaporizers are expensive compared to even the priciest portable vaporizer. They are built to last for years, and each unit is carefully engineered for precise vapor delivery. Owners who bought their Storz & Bickel Volcano Classic vaporizers 20 years ago are still enjoying their unit to this day.

There are many pros and cons if we talk about desktop vaporizers vs portable vaporizers. It all boils down on what you want with your vaporizer and how much you’re willing to spend to enjoy your herbs.

Which one do you prefer? What makes your choice stand out? Please share your preference in our comment section!