I am always looking for products that 1. are so easy a squirrel can do it, and 2. make getting high easier on the ol' lungs. I had been hearing good things about the DaVinci IQ2 so picked one up at my local smoke shop. This unit retails for $295.00, but there is always some sort of special going on, reducing the price by 10-20% on the company's website.
Pros
Cons
Unboxing: You apparently need to be Leonardo himself to completely unbox this unit. I was utterly frustrated by the lack of detailed instructions or charging cable. That frustration was quickly replaced by sheer horror when I found the hidden compartment behind the vaporizer, not the drawer under the unit.
Ease of Use: I like products that are so easy even a Squirrel can do it. This is not one of them, well not at first. Even after finding the detailed instruction manual I was extremely confused. Thank gawd for Youtube! However this only partially alleviated my fevered brain as my frustration grew. Many videos later several of my questions still went unanswered. How do you know when to hit it? How do you know when to stop hitting it? How often do you hit it or does that even matter? Let me give you a mental picture of the first time I used this device. Visualize: At the bottom of a milkshake is a thick layer of hot fudge oreo crumble. Now imagine really, and I mean really, wanting to get to the bottom of that milkshake right now, brain-freeze be damned! Needless to say, I got blasted as a result!
The Vape: This unit produces mind blowing flavor! Even though the company makes a HydroTube *which was out of stock when I ordered my unit and still is as of 5-14-21* the smoke was pretty darn cool and easy on the throat and lungs. The strain I tried in it usually sends me on coughing fits. It's usually really rough on the throat as well. Well not with the IQ2! No coughing at all. No sore throat following smoking either. It was just flavor and vape.
The App: The app does bring this device closer to being "so easy even a Squirrel can do it" but it has a lot of pesky bugs running about it's software. But rest easy there are "easish" workarounds.
Bluetooth Glitch: I always disconnect my IQ2 from the Bluetooth after use to conserve battery of phone and IQ2. If you don't do a "hard close" of the app after use, it will have a brain fart and refuse to connect to your device when you try to use it again. However after about every 4th or 5th session, the app fails to connect to the device period. It's a real PITA when this happens but the fix is "simplish". Pop the battery door open and close it again. Now I hate this battery door because it isn't easy to close and keep closed. So once you finally get it closed you dread popping it open to reset the units brain. *With use, the battery door over time does seem to close easier.*
Heat Paths: I LOVE the app because you can set heat paths. This allows you to start at a lower heat to really appreciate the flavor of the flower and slowly build to a higher temp during the 8 minute session. These paths are all completely customizable too. Just make sure you preselect which heat path you wish to use before hitting "setup". To access this, hit dashboard then in the right hand corner is a lightbulb. This is where your heat paths are located. I would appreciate it if the saved strain data would record and save the heat paths you use. Sadly you have to select your desired heat path before hitting "set up" otherwise it will use an "auto path".
Setup: After selecting your heat path click "setup". Here you add strain name, type, THC and CBD %, target amount of both THC and CBD *this can be left blank*, amount loaded and whether it's a new bowl.
Target THC: Setting a target THC dose you can consume a more precise *estimated* dose per session. Sadly this feature currently works with a new bowl. So if you don't use the dosage pod or spacers and need 2 other sessions to consume your flower, you will not have this THC dosage tracking available. The manual claims this should work with each session but it doesn't. A work around for a second session is to stir your flower *this is what I do* and repack it. Then you have to trick the app by slightly changing the THC percentage. I usually just add a .1 or .2 to the app data for THC amount. For example if I have GMO Cookies loaded and the app has 28% as saved THC amount, I will change it to 28.1% and select new bowl.
Estimated THC Dose Glitch: While I love the estimated THC dosing *different than "Target THC/CBD dose"*, there is a bug with this too. To calculate the THC amount you enter in the name of the strain, what kind it is, THC and CBD percentage and how much you are putting in the oven. This information gets saved for you but the third time you select that same strain, even as a new bowl, it cannot/will not, record your THC dose. Your only work around it, is to create a new entry like "Pound Cake 2" or change the THC % which of course will throw off your estimated dosage a tad. Yep, I love the app that much. I am willing to deal with its erratic, frustrating nature. See why it was on both my pros and cons list? Hopefully the developers will whip out some Raid and get those damn bugs out soon.
Packaging: Packaging while cool looking still has me a little pissy. I wish companies would box their products in cool branded reusable cases instead of useless cardboard boxes, no matter how cool and confusing those boxes are. Products like the IQ2 come with a lot of extras so having a nice hemp case/holster to carry everything would be really nice. I would also suggest package deals for the IQ2 like offered with the Miqro. I hate nickel and dime shit. Have package deals and à la carte too. I would also suggest buying spacers when you order your unit. The spacers packaging was extremely bad. It took off half my thumb nail *I do not jest either* trying to open the damn thing. I had to even cancel dinner because we were going to have crab legs that night. Crab legs with Old Bay and a new flesh wound aka container battle-scar, would not have been pleasant!
Tip: Is Your Load Spent? When I first started using this vape I did notice that while the app would think my THC load was spent, when dumping it out it didn't look like it was. So I emailed customer service asking how do you know when a load is spent? Their tech support staff have been wonderfully fast and knowledgeable, as this was not the first time I contacted them. Their reply:"when it starts to taste like burnt popcorn." Honestly, I found during the last three weeks this is a great and accurate way to tell. This unit fails every so slightly from earning the WR Seal Of Approval. Only because it does have a bit of a learning curve and the app is buggy.
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