Ball Vape Selection Fundamentals

This is not a ball vape comparison guide, there are plenty of them floating around the internet already. This has been written to provide the reader with a better general understanding of the differences in how ball vapes function due to their design and setup. 

Which is best? - We get asked this a lot. There is no best ball vape or vaporizer in general, different setups have different aims and accommodate for different preferences and vaping styles. Some people prefer super open airflow, fast extractions and freight train style hits, whereas others prefer a more laid back style where a bowl can be spread out over a longer period. Some people prefer huge amounts of flavour and to be able to taste every terpene, whereas others can find very high terpene levels irritating or even a little overwhelming on the taste buds. There is no right or wrong answer, just personal preference. Generally speaking (you'll read that phrase a lot in this article) ball vapes tend to provide a much higher level of performance, extraction speed and flavour than other desktop vapes. 

Wired vs wireless - With wired setups you're connected to the controller the whole time, wireless housing setups allow for a little more freedom of movement since the housing is not tethered to the controller. Wired setups are better for lots of back to back inhales as the temperature of the housing is always stable, wireless setups are generally set up to lean more towards faster extractions because the housing starts to cool as soon as you remove it from the heater so needs to be reheated in between sessions or in between inhales if you take your time. 

Diffuser vs Injector - Diffuser style setups are where the housing sits over the top of the bowl, whereas injector setups are where the housing sits inside the bowl. Diffuser setups tend to provide slightly faster extractions and often provide the ability to more easily heat soak the housing. Whereas (in general) injector setups have a little more space between the heater and the bowl contents, so provide slightly slower extractions (see heat soaking bowls section for additional information). 

Material - The material the housing and bowl are made from tends to have a small, albeit noticeable effect, on the vapor profile. Setups which makes use of glass/quartz etc. materials tend to have a slightly more pronounced flavour profile than other setups. Titanium tends to provide a bright flavour profile but some find the vapor slightly harsher (this tends to be a little subjective and there's still debate going on regarding this topic). Stainless Steel tends to provide the smoothest vapor and slightly more rounded flavour, which tends to make it the preferred material for huge hits due to the slightly smoother vapor. There's a fair bit of variation in all of this since how the individual vape is designed can make a big difference to how it produces vapor and how the flavour comes out, so this is just a general guide. 

Airflow - Ball vapes with heater coils of 20mm and larger tend to have quite a lot of airflow when compared to other styles of vapes. Setups with less airflow tend to provide slightly slower vapor production, however there's variation in this too based on other factors. Generally speaking, housings with a larger diameter tend to provide more airflow and slightly faster vapor production - I will caveat this by adding that this is not a hard rule since the contents and design of the housing also make a difference. For example, a 20mm setup filled with 3mm balls can provide as much airflow as a 25mm setup filled with 2mm balls. This is assuming both have a similar housing design without a lid or bottom screen inside the housing, which limit the airflow. 

To Tamp or not to Tamp - That is the question. And there is no solid answer on this. With some setups where the housing and herb are very close together, a little tamp, while restricting the airflow, can actually increase initial vapor production as it evens out the herb. With other setups where there's more distance, tamping can decrease the vapor production. Generally speaking however tamping too hard will shut down the airflow and mess with the performance of the setup. So if you are tamping it's generally best to only gently tamp to arrange the herb in the bowl and remove any large air channels the hot air might pass through, instead of evenly passing through the herb. There are very few vapes out there where tamping is entirely pointless, the Ruby Twist pro when run as an injector style setup is one of these, since the airflow spins and re-arranges the herb in the bowl for you. That is, assuming you have attached it to a bubbler with enough airflow to allow the air to move freely through the housing... and that you're not inhaling at the speed of an asthmatic snail. If that's you, no judgement here, some people like to sip and inhale very gently. I would only say that if that is how you prefer to vape and you like more restriction, it's best to stick to smaller bowls and diffuser style setup... such as the Ruby Twist Pro with the glass Microdose Diffuser Bowl (or the included micro matrix bowl with the screen set high up and a little tamp)… and maybe use a little heat soak of the bowl if you still want some decent clouds! Generally speaking ball vapes are not setup up for the sippers. 

Heat soaking bowls - Convection (hot air only) Vs Hybrid (hot air and hot surface). Heat soaking a bowl is very simple, the housing is left on the bowl for a period of time (varies between vapes and bowls) causing the bowl to heat up. 
Heat soaking bowls tends to provide faster initial vapor production since you have both the hot air coming from the housing, along with the hot surface touching the herb (hybrid heating). This is a two fold effect as with a hybrid setup there is less heat loss from the air which is passing through the herb as it cools a little on the way to the herb (think hot air hitting the side of a glass or metal bowl, it will cool as this happens). Then you also have the faster vapor production from the hot bowl surface being in contact with the herb, which also pre-heats the herb slightly. Convection (non heat soaked bowl) based setups make use of hot air only, these usually take slightly longer to start kicking out vapor but provide a little more flavour in part due to the lower starting temperature (the cooling of the hot air before it reaches the herb) and partly because the terpenes are better preserved since they're not vaporizing away due to contact with a hot bowl and hot air already surrounding the herb. "Usually", because there are some diffuser style setups which have loads of airflow and the herb is very close to the heater, so they will output vapor faster than a smaller setup which has had a little heat soak but has more distance between the heater and herb, along with less airflow. When comparing an identical setup however, where the only difference is a heat soak, the hyrbid heat soaked setup will provide faster vapor production. I can't think of any exceptions to this, because physics.