Solo 3 - Arizer

The Solo 3 is the new high end offering from Arizer and we think they've done a great job here! It's a highly effective and well thought out vaporizer which provides fast heating, great battery life (with pass through charging), good quality vapor, huge clouds, a bunch of useful parts included and a handy interface with customization options. While it doesn't have completely free flowing airflow, it's not super restricted making for comfortable inhales and the ability to produce huge clouds of thick vapor, uncommon to most portable setups. We also appreciate the thorough info sheet/manual that comes with it which even goes as far as suggesting grind sizes, which is a level of detail rarely seen. 

Designed with both sessions or on demand use in mind, the Solo 3 is a very versatile bit of kit which excels at both. With a heat time of between 5-20 seconds you never have to wait around for long. It has a stated 3 hour battery life... and though we haven't found it lasts this long in practice when running it at regular vaping temperatures, the battery life is impressive and provides enough juice to get most people through a day of vaping with no issues. The ability to charge it while vaping (pass through charging) means this is a vape that you can use 24/7 with no down time, assuming you have somewhere to plug it in! Just don't run it flat then try to use pass through as the device runs from the battery so does need a little charge to function even in pass through. 

The Solo 3 also comes with two different size herb chambers for larger (0.2g) or smaller doses (0.1g), so micro or macro dosing is a breeze (although we just stick the xl chamber versions and put less in for smaller doses). It also comes with 14.4mm water pipe adapter (WPA) aroma tubes (stems) which allow easy attachment to a bubbler, the device screen even flips upside down when the device is placed upside down in a bubbler so you don't have to try and read it upside down or reverse your button inputs if adjusting settings while vaping. Four mesh screens are provided, one for each included stem, these are great if you have some smaller bits in your ground herb as they can be installed in the herb chambers of the aroma tubes to provide better filtration, stopping particles ending up in your mouth while vaping!

Each stem comes with it's own resealable tube that includes silicone plugs for each end of the stem, the main body of the Solo 3 also has an attached plug for the herb chamber. These allow you to transport your device and aroma tubes around without stinking out your bag or pocket, the silicone plugs for the stems also allow you to pre-load your aroma tubes and take them with you. Since there are no dosing capsules available for the Solo 3 this provides the option of taking sessions with you ready to vape. 

The required temperature setting will vary depending on material humidity, grind size and if you're using whole or ground material. If using whole flower we suggest breaking it up a little to get better performance and more complete extractions. A medium grind is recommended to avoid compaction and allow airflow to pass through when using the mesh screens inside the chambers, if using without the mesh screens a coarse grind is actually better as it stops herb feedback. 

Session Mode

This is well set up for sitting around and vaping your way through a bowl at a leisurely pace and provides three pre-set temperatures which can be adjusted in the menu, allowing for 1 degree adjustments this give you the ability to customize the three presets exactly to your liking. When you finish a session and switch the device off your previous setting will remain so you don't have to select it again when you turn the device back on and enter session mode. Session mode temperatures can also be adjusted on the fly, so if you find that the temperature you've set up as a preset is a little high or low it can be adjusted up or down without overwriting your saved preset. Once again when you come back to the device later it will start up at this newly adjusted temperature once you select session mode in the menu. While this is a convection vape by design, in session mode the glass herb chamber will heat up a fair bit turning it into a hybrid, this causes the temperatures to run a little higher than they otherwise would. With that in mind, on session mode, we run this between 195-200c where we'd usually select higher temperatures. Please note that when running sessions the glass stem will heat up, so it's best not to grab it down low when removing or reloading it straight after a session. The session time is also adjustable in the menu, allowing you to set it for shorter or longer periods depending on your preference.

On Demand Mode

The Solo 3 really excels with it's on demand mode which comes with five pre-set modes (non adjustable), heating from cold to high temperatures in 15 seconds makes for a very usable way to vape. In on demand mode the heater only heats up for shorter periods instead of staying on like in session mode, this is for taking an inhale then forgetting about it until later without the contents of the herb chamber becoming fully vaped when you're not using it. The inhale timer is adjustable in on demand mode which provides the option to have a short inhale and let it cool or to set it a little longer so that you can take multiple inhales before the heater shuts off. While session mode ends up with more of a hybrid function, due to the shorter time the heater is active for in on demand mode, it functions effectively as a convection setup using only the hot air to vaporizer your material. In on demand mode there will still be residual heat when the inhale timer has finished, especially on higher settings, so when the heat has been cut at the end of the draw/inhale (time of inhale can be adjusted in settings) you can still get an extra inhale or two after. This is advisable to get the most from your herb. 

Loading

There are a few different ways to load the aroma tubes for the Solo 3. The manual suggests grinding your herb then pushing the chamber end into the ground herb while twisting. This is effective but prefer to straw load the stems by dipping the stem into the ground herb then inhaling to suck it into place. You can also load it with a scoop if you prefer however this really isn't needed here unless you want a very measured dose. In all cases ensure that you lightly tamp the herb into the chamber, leaving a small air gap so that the herb doesn't make contact with the inside of the device causing it to overheat. A light tamp is also important to keep the herb contained inside the chamber without it dropping down during use or come flying out when you remove the aroma tube after a session! Don't compress the herb too much though as you'll reduce the airflow significantly. Please note that as suggested in the manual, if the aroma tube is hard to install into the body of the Solo 3 as we have found with one of the included stems, heat the device up first to make it easier, don't force it. 

To unload stem the stem use the cleaning tool or a PortAVB to scrape the material out when using mesh screen... as if you blow to unload, straw style, the mesh screen will blow out into your AVB port. If you're using it with only the glass screen (no mesh screen installed) then you can blow through the aroma tube to unload it. 

Cleaning

Pretty much the only cleaning required here is to soak the aroma tubes in iso when they start to get dirty or the holes block up. The main body of the device is almost maintenance free, you will occasionally need to pick out rogue bits of herb which have fallen into the the heater area (cleaning tool included) and brush this area out if that happens too regularly. 

Random notes

• Charge the device before use. It comes with an included USB-C cable and 3amp charging block, this provides the fastest way to charge the device. 
• If you're not using the provided charging block make sure you use a 5v charging block, other chargers such as PD/20W USB-C to USB-C chargers do not work with this device
• The battery indicator isn't the most accurate, it will show 1 bar left when the device hits around 40% charge, so you still have a few sessions left at this point, then show no bars at around 20% charge
• When it hits lower battery percentages the battery will drain faster so it's best to plug it in as soon as it hits no bars, or ideally before
• To extend the lifespan of your battery don't run the Solo 3 flat, this shortens the life of Lithium Ion batteries
• If using pass through charging while vaping ensure there is some charge left in the device, it can't be vaped on a flat battery even with pass through
• The only way we've found to view the battery percentage is to plug it in to charge

Specifications

Information Sourced from the Manufacturer. For reference use only

Included

• 1 x Solo III
• 1 x Solo III instruction manual
• 1 x USB-C charger (5V, 3A)
• 1 x XL Glass Aroma Tube (90 mm)
• 1 x XL Frosted glass aroma tube (14 mm)
• 1 x Air / Solo glass aroma tube (90 mm)
• 1 x Air / Solo Frosted glass aroma tube (14 mm)
• 4 x Air / Solo silicone stem caps
• 2 x PVC riser tube with cap (size 90 mm)
• 2 x PVC frosting tube with lid (size 70 mm)
• 1 x stainless steel stirring tool
• 4 x Air / Solo stainless steel filter nets

Cool shit

• We've had some Xl Chamber Cooling Aroma Tubes made for the Solo 3 along with some Water Pipe Adapters with mesh screens to improve airflow and reduce clogging. These make a fair old difference over the originals. We also have alternative mesh screens available which stay in place in all the aroma tubes (stock and cooling) unlike the originals which regularly fall out. 
• Our SQP Mini is the perfect size to tamp your Aroma Tubes with, a proper tamping tool like this allows you to use the XL Aroma Tubes with smaller amounts... or larger amounts!