Arizer Air MAX Review

The Air MAX has a shiny brushed finish in a beautiful dark grey colour. I think compared to the plastic body of the Air 2 it has a much more mature look and it’s a marked improvement. On the top of the device is a swing out plastic cover that fits over the bowl to keep it clean and free of debris when not in use. Inside the stainless steel bowl there are four air intake ports, as well as the o-rings which secure the glass stem where the flower is held. It has an upper black plastic section around the heater similar to the Air 2, but with this new grey finish it blends in much nicer and fits better on the seam of the device as well.

Rather than having the buttons and screen all in a vertical row on the front like on previous models, they are now distributed around the device. The screen is still on the front, the power/menu button has moved to the left side, the plus and minus buttons are on the right side, and the USB-C charging port is on the back. I was concerned that splitting everything up would make it awkward to use, but I find the new configuration is actually much more natural to use.

The Air MAX body is round and is a nicely pocketable size, it measures in at 5” tall without the glass stem, with a diameter of about 1.25”, and it weighs about 160g. You will need a glass stem inserted to use the device, which adds about 10.5 g and 2 inches of total height. It’s very similar in size to the Air 2, standing only about half a centimetre taller, and happily you can use any of your Air 2 glass accessories with the Air MAX.

The Air MAX comes in a significantly smaller box which is always nice to see, although this time Arizer doesn't include a travel pouch like they did with previous models, but personally I’m not upset that it’s gone. Inside you’ll find a nice manual that gives you all the information you’ll need, the Air MAX itself, the battery, and a USB-C charger with a wall adapter.

In terms of glass, you get a 70 mm stem, a 14 mm water pipe adapter (which I absolutely love to see included), and a glass aroma dish with some botanicals in case you are into that sort of thing.

They also include a stainless steel stirring tool and four stainless steel screens, which are optional to use, and silicone travel tube containers for all of the glass, so you can travel with your stems preloaded if you want, with the glass remaining protected.

One cool thing about the Air MAX, and this is probably my favourite new feature, is the automatic display inversion. This makes the display change orientation when you invert the device, so when you turn it upside-down to use the included water pipe adapter, you still see the display up the correct way. I think this is such a clever change and shows great attention to detail by Arizer, I bet we’ll see this on other vaporizers in the future.

Another great new feature is dark mode, this is designed to be stealthy, both in terms of the beep volume and the display brightness. This will be excellent for anyone looking to hit a session as discreetly as possible. To turn the device on straight into dark mode, hold the power and the minus buttons, instead of the plus button, and it will be in dark mode after power-on delay. In dark mode, rather than having words or numbers on the screen, it displays an icon in the corner to communicate things like heating up and being ready for use. It also gives you a more limited menu of options to choose from, for example it doesn’t give you a high-volume alert option since that’s not very stealthy.

You can switch back-and-forth between normal mode and dark mode at any time by holding the power and minus buttons simultaneously. Even if you don’t think the dark mode would be beneficial to you, a neat and super useful detail is that you can use it as a second preset temperature slot. For example, if you like to use your device dry at 370°, you can use normal mode to store that temperature, then use dark mode to store a higher temperature like 420° for when you use it through a water pipe. This will save you a lot of temperature adjustment time if you regularly switch between dry and wet use.

The amount of flower that you load into a stem isn’t huge, but it can give you a few solid sessions, especially when you ramp the temperature up between sessions. At higher temperatures the ABV will become a nice crispy brown, but not overdone.

It’s a very convenient device to operate, and the glass stems are easy to use. The included travel tubes are very handy because you don’t want to travel with a stem in the device, it’s a risk for breakage. I also really like that the new dark mode lets you set a second temperature, it makes switching between wet and dry use a breeze.

The stems are simple to clean, a quick soak in isopropyl alcohol is all they need. You don’t really need to maintain the device itself, the oven will of course get a little dirty over time, but that is normal and to be expected.

Arizer has built up their reputation over a long period with their quality devices that just keep going. They focus on keeping things simple and highly functional, and the new Air MAX fits well into that mould. The all-glass stems give you a nice pure vapour-path with fantastic flavour, they’re also easy to preload when you utilise the travel tubes, and super easy to maintain. The controls remain straightforward, while giving you more customisation options than most devices offer, and dark mode is a cool feature that’s going to be super handy for some users. The auto screen inversion is a brilliant little addition that I would like to see on more vaporizers.

I would be happier if the package included a long stem and the draw resistance was lower, but overall I think this is a fantastic evolution of an already great device. Anyone looking for a high-quality and very portable device, with excellent battery life and pure vapour is going to be very happy with his new model.