DaVinci Ascent Portable Vaporizer Review

davinci-ascent-reviewThe Ascent by DaVinci is a portable vape that handles both loose leaf plant material and oils or concentrates. It boasts a 4 hour battery life, and stealthy size and construction. The kind folks at DaVinci sent one for review, and I’ve had some time to play with it.

The Vapor
Excellent. Zero learning curve. Set the temperature, wait for indicator to show that bowl is warm and just pull slow and steady. Very impressive dense vapor clouds are possible with minimal effort. The unit heats up in about 30 seconds and reliably maintains the chamber temp throughout your session. You can set the heat as desired which is a real plus for folks who prefer specific temperatures.

The Unit / Build Quality
Solid construction, about the size of a pack of long cigarettes, all one piece. The chamber swivels out at the bottom for easy access. A two part glass stem pulls out as needed from the top.

Two part glass stem

Two part glass stem

Base of glass stem that rests above chamber

Base of glass stem that rests above chamber

Using the Thing
The chamber swivels right out from the base of the unit. You may quickly realize to your despair that there is no way to stand this thing up for easy access.

Chamber swivels out for access

Chamber swivels out for access

You fill to the top of the chamber with a fluffy grind and stir occasionally with the included poker. The chamber is fairly deep and constructed of glass lined ceramic material with 4 small holes at the bottom. When you’re done with your session you can just swivel the chamber out, turn it over and tap it out.

Inside of chamber

Inside of chamber

Two oil canisters are included for oils and concentrates. I can’t speak to the effectiveness of this as I’m a strictly loose leaf vaper.

Canisters for Oil

Canisters for Oil

Battery Life
Amazing, I think this is where this unit shines. I was able to get 6 sessions out of a 5 hour charge. Plus, you can use it plugged in while charging. Wish the Firefly did that. However, the battery on the Ascent is not replaceable. This makes me wonder what happens over time if the battery loses it’s life.

The top of the unit has the power switch, and a small poker you can pull out to stir the chamber

The top of the unit has the power switch, and a small poker you can pull out to stir the chamber

Customer Service
My interactions with DaVinci’s team have been excellent, and they genuinely seem to stand behind their product.

Bottom Line
If you need a pocketable vaporizer that handles both leaf and oil – I think this is the one for you.

Hint
Be sure to do an initial burn-in with your unit. Set it at max temperature and let it cook for 10 minutes. This will burn off any residual manufacturing odors. I also cleaned mine top to bottom before using, as there was a plastic smell from the packaging that lingered a bit.

Starts at $199.99 – Click Here for Best Price

3 Comments

  1. Ben berman on December 4, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    The battery is in fact replaceable you have to send it in to the company to have it replaced but they assured me it can be done.



  2. Jacques on October 3, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    The only problem I had with the Davinci Ascent is with the oil cannister it got stock in the chamber the first time I use-it I had to break it to get it-out ???? And you say to pack loses but it work better if it pack full or just a bit with the glass container over the leaf !!



  3. Vapor City on March 11, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    Oil is really nice off the stuff I get so I think this could be a good fit for me 🙂