PAX Flow Review: The Take That Comeback of Vaporisers

The Hook: The Patience Era

Take That's comeback shouldn't have worked.

They were a 90s boyband. The one that wasn't the Spice Girls. Robbie Williams left and became actually cool while the rest of them... didn't. When they announced a reunion in 2006 — without Robbie — the reaction was brutal. "Desperate," people said. "Embarrassing. Just accept your time has passed."

Then Patience dropped.

And it was good. Genuinely good. Not ironically good, not "good for a nostalgia act." The kind of good that made Q Magazine call it a masterstroke and the critics who'd sharpened their knives quietly put them away. They sold out Wembley. They won a Brit Award. They made people who'd written them off admit they'd been wrong.

The PAX Flow is walking into the same arena.

After the PAX Plus landed with a thud — incremental upgrades, same restrictions, price that didn't match performance — the brand felt finished. The vaporiser community had moved on. The Mighty+ was still the benchmark. The Venty raised the bar. And PAX? PAX became a punchline. "Premium marketing, budget engineering," people said. "All style, no substance."

I said it too. Publicly. In recommendations. "PAX has lost the plot."

So when the Flow arrived, I expected nothing. Opened the box with my arms crossed. Loaded a bowl. Took a draw.

Then I sat there for a minute, recalibrating.

Because this — this actually works.

We stock the PAX Flow at HerbVape.co.uk — details and pricing below.

Vapour Quality 8.5/10

The redesigned chamber is the difference. PAX finally figured out what everyone's been telling them for years: the original oven design choked the airflow. It was like trying to breathe through a blocked straw. The Flow opens things up — like removing the restrictive exhaust from a motorcycle and suddenly discovering the power was always there. Same engine. Now it can actually breathe.

PAX claims six times more airflow than previous models. For once, the marketing isn't lying.

The vapour is good. Not "good for a PAX." Not "better than expected." Actually good. The kind of vapour that makes you check the device in your hand because you're not sure this is the same brand that made the Plus.

The hybrid heating — conduction plus convection assist — means the Flow extracts more evenly than the purely conductive Plus. You get better flavour expression in the opening draws, denser clouds at mid-temps, and more thorough extraction at the top end. It's not Mighty+ territory — let's not get carried away — but it's comfortably in the same conversation as the Veazy and Crafty+.

The airflow still isn't Venty-open or TinyMight 2-effortless, but it's not trying to be. This is a session sipper — controlled draws, extended sessions, you use like a cigar. The pull is smooth enough that you stop thinking about technique and start thinking about the herb.

The flavour reality check: Those first 2-3 draws are spectacular. Proper terp expression, sweet and complex. By draw 5-6, it's fading. By draw 10, you're in roasty territory. Standard for conduction-heavy hybrids, but worth mentioning for flavour chasers expecting Solo 3-level glass-path purity.

The Strain Test

A comeback tour only counts for anything if the band plays the old material, so the Flow gets handed the same setlist as everything else on this site: identical jars, identical grinder, the strain held still so the machine has nowhere to hide. The comeback single sounded convincing; the question is whether the Flow holds up across a whole album, or whether it's got one good track and a lot of filler.

Jack Herer — Sativa

The Flower: Same jar as every other device on this site. Haze × (Northern Lights #5 × Shiva Skunk), around 20% THC, terpinolene-led with caryophyllene and pinene behind it. Pale, spindly, hairy stuff that looks less impressive than it smokes — crack the jar and it's pine needles and lemon peel first, dry green herbs underneath, black pepper right at the back. Old-school in the way that means "aromatic", not "weak". It's the strain that shows you up: the top notes are fragile, and if a vaporiser can't hold them you find out in the first three seconds.

The Pack: 0.4g, medium grind, filled level to the lip of the side-loading oven and tamped just enough to sit flat. The Flow wants a full chamber, not a compressed one — press it down the way you had to with the Plus and you choke the airflow the entire redesign exists to open up.

Low Temp (180°C): Discreet mode, which is the cold end of the mode set and the only place Jack's top notes get a fair hearing. Draw one is pine needles and lemon peel, clean, with a proper citrus lift on the exhale — brighter than any PAX has ever given me from this jar. Draw two holds it. By draw four the lift has thinned to green herb with pine sitting behind it, and draw five is dry herbs and not much else. Five draws, two of them genuinely good.

Mid Temp (190°C): Efficiency mode, and the oven has taken over. Black pepper turns up immediately — it's the durable part of Jack and the Flow has no trouble with it — laid over a woody haze and a dry-earth body that thickens the vapour noticeably. What's gone is any separation: the pine doesn't hand over to the pepper the way it does on a glass stem, it just stops being there. Four draws, all satisfying, none of them diagnostic.

High Temp (200°C): Flavour mode by name, savoury roast by nature. Toasted herb, a bit of old-school funk, earth underneath. Three draws to finish the bowl, ABV evenly browned, nothing scorched — which is more than the Plus managed.

The Verdict: Twelve draws, about six minutes. This is the bit of the comeback that doesn't quite convince. The improved airflow buys the Flow two properly bright draws where earlier PAX ovens gave you half of one, and that is a real, measurable improvement — but it's still a hot-walled box, and a hot-walled box blends flavours instead of layering them. Jack gets a respectable cover version here, not the original recording. If terpinolene is what you're buying a vaporiser for, this isn't the vaporiser.

Wedding Cake — Indica-Leaning Hybrid

The Flower: Same jar as every other device on this site. Triangle Kush × Animal Mints, via Triangle Mints #23 — around 24% THC, caryophyllene first, then limonene and myrcene. Dense, squat, greasy nuggets that leave your fingers tacky and your grinder needing a wash. Nose is vanilla and cream over sweet raw dough, with a peppery earth underneath and a cherry-berry edge that turns up on the exhale more than the sniff. Modern dessert genetics doing exactly what it says on the tin. Where Jack exposes a device, this one flatters it.

The Pack: 0.4g again, medium grind, same light tamp, oven brushed out and the mouthpiece wiped through first — house rule, and with this strain's greasiness it isn't optional.

Low Temp (180°C): Vanilla and sweet cream arrive on the first draw and they arrive thick, which is not a word I get to use about a pocket device very often. Sweet raw dough sits under it, and there's a cherry edge on the exhale that the low mode keeps distinct rather than folding into the cream. Five draws before it starts moving on. Sarah walked through the front room on draw three and asked whether I was baking, which has never once happened with the Plus.

Mid Temp (190°C): The sweet spot, and the reason this device exists. Butter separates cleanly from the dough — two different things, not one blurred sweetness — and black pepper starts emerging underneath around draw two, warm rather than sharp. The cherry deepens towards jam. Four draws, dense, even, with the grip getting noticeably warm by the end of them.

High Temp (200°C): Caramelised sugar tipping towards a burnt edge, nutty and toasted, peppery pungency taking over from the dessert. Three draws and the bowl's spent. The sweetness doesn't survive up here and shouldn't.

The Verdict: Twelve draws again, and a completely different result. Dessert genetics were built for hot walls, and the Flow's oven renders them better than any conduction device I've put this jar through — the vanilla-from-butter-from-dough separation at 190°C is the single most impressive thing this machine does. Which tells you what the comeback actually is. Take That didn't come back and out-write Radiohead; they came back and did the thing they were always good at, properly, with better production. The Flow is a dessert-strain machine that has learned to breathe. By 200°C both jars have converged into the same brown roast, so it's a delivery device with a flavour window rather than a flavour device — but for the first third of a Wedding Cake bowl it's genuinely excellent, and I did not expect to write that about a PAX.

Design & Build 9/10

Sarah's reaction when she saw the Flow: "Is that the one you said was rubbish before?"

"Different model," I said.

"It looks the same."

She's not entirely wrong. PAX's design language hasn't changed — it's still that minimalist, polished-pebble aesthetic that made them famous. Anodised aluminium. Smooth curves. No visible screws or seams. The kind of object that sits nicely on a desk and doesn't scream "VAPORISER" to houseguests.

The build quality is genuinely excellent. Solid in the hand, weighted properly, machined with precision. The matte finish resists fingerprints. It feels like a £259.99 device because it's engineered like one.

The side-loading oven is the real evolution. Pop off a magnetic door on the side to access the chamber — no more bottom-loading. Sounds small. Loading transforms from fumbling disaster into something elegant. One-handed loading while walking is now natural.

The heat management problem: The relocated oven sits where your hand naturally grips. During longer sessions, the Flow gets noticeably warm. In Bong Mode at 225°C it gets uncomfortable after five or six minutes. PAX sells a grip sleeve separately — at £259.99, requiring an accessory for comfortable high-temp use feels like an oversight.

Interior concerns: More plastic inside than expected for the price. The stainless steel vapour path improves over the Plus's aluminium, but this is design-forward, not durability-forward. Know what you're buying.

Battery & Charging 8/10

The Flow finally has USB-C — the proprietary magnetic charger is gone. You can charge with the same cable as your phone, laptop, and Switch. Like normal people do. Welcome to 2026, PAX.

Real-world battery performance: 4-6 sessions per charge, or about 35 minutes of continuous running, depending on temperature and session length. For an all-day-out scenario, you'll want to top up before leaving — this isn't "morning to midnight without thinking" territory. But it's solid for its class.

Spec	Detail
Charging	USB-C
Pass-through	Yes
Replaceable Battery	No (sealed, 2000mAh)
Charge Time	50% in 20 mins, full in under 40 mins
Real-world Sessions	4-6 per charge (up to 35 mins continuous)

The fast charging is genuinely impressive. Twenty minutes plugged in while you're having dinner gives you enough juice for an evening session. This partly compensates for the modest capacity and makes the sealed battery more forgivable — you can't swap cells, but you can get functional charge in the time it takes to eat a starter.

The sealed battery means degradation in 18-24 months with no swappable cells like the Air MAX or V3 Pro. That's the trade-off for seamless design.

Ease of Use 8.5/10

One button. Haptic feedback. Optional app for fine control. That's the Flow interface.

Long press to turn on. Wait 25–35 seconds. Haptics buzz when ready. Inhale. Short press to cycle modes. Long press to turn off. If you've used any PAX device, you know this already. If you haven't, you'll figure it out in one session.

The five heat modes:

1. Discreet Mode (180°C) — Minimal visible vapour, maximum discretion
2. Efficiency Mode (190°C) — Steady, economical extraction for longer sessions; my default for evening
3. Flavour Mode (200°C) — Front-loads the terpenes for spectacular opening draws
4. Maximum Vapor Mode (215°C) — Dense clouds; where most sessions end up
5. Bong Mode (225°C) — Hidden mode for water pipe use; access by cycling through the four visible modes three times

The 25–35-second heat-up is a genuine improvement over the Plus's 40-50 seconds. Ready before you've finished thinking about what you're doing.

Loading is straightforward. Medium grind, loose pack, gentle tamp. One-handed loading while walking is now possible. The Flow works best when not overpacked — too tight chokes the improved airflow.

Real-world Discreet Mode moment: At a Manchester gig, I slipped into the bar during the support act, loaded a bowl, and spent four minutes on Discreet Mode at 180°C. Zero visible vapour. The matte finish read as a phone. When I pocketed it, nobody clocked what I'd done. That's Discreet Mode — not just less vapour, it's actually usable in semi-public spaces.

One quirk: You can't blow the ABV out through the mouthpiece. The redesigned airpath means you scrape it out with the included multi-tool. Minor annoyance for anyone coming from the Plus or PAX 3.

Cleaning & Maintenance 8.5/10

PAX finally made cleaning less annoying.

The side-loading oven gives full access to the chamber and vapour path — no more navigating narrow channels with pipe cleaners. Pop off the magnetic door and everything's right there. The stainless steel vapour path stays cleaner than the Plus's aluminium equivalent, and the improved airflow means less residue accumulating in corners.

Cleaning Timeline:

• After 10 bowls: Light residue, still performing well
• After 20 bowls: Flavour starting to muddy, quick brush-out helps
• After 30+ bowls: Proper ISO soak for mouthpiece and airpath

The Process: Remove mouthpiece, pop open oven door, brush out chamber, ISO soak the mouthpiece and screen, wipe airpath with dampened cotton swab, dry completely, reassemble. About 10 minutes for a proper clean.

Daily maintenance: Empty while warm, brush the chamber, wipe the door seal. Thirty seconds after each session prevents major build-up. The included maintenance kit is actually useful — PAX has always been decent about providing the right tools.

For someone coming from the Plus, the cleaning improvement is noticeable. For someone coming from a Crafty+ cooling unit, this is refreshingly simple. For someone coming from a glass-stem Arizer, it's still more faff than you're used to.

Portability 9.5/10

This is where PAX has always delivered, and the Flow continues the tradition.

The thing disappears. Jeans pocket, jacket pocket, palm of your hand — wherever you put it, it vanishes. At 135g and a slim profile, it's lighter than the Veazy, more compact than the Crafty+, less conspicuous than anything Storz & Bickel makes. The flat sides sit flush against your leg. No brick-bulge. No obvious outline.

I took the Flow to a gig. Slipped it in my front pocket, used it at the bar during the interval, back in the pocket. Nobody noticed. The matte finish reads as generic tech — not obviously a vaporiser. Discreet Mode at 180°C produces minimal visible vapour.

Compared to the Plus, the Flow is marginally larger (107mm vs 98mm) and heavier (135g vs 93g). You notice the difference in tight jeans but it still disappears into normal life.

How I Actually Use This

My Default Setup: Efficiency Mode (190°C) for most sessions, stepping to Maximum Vapor (215°C) to finish bowls. Medium grind, gentle tamp, full chamber.

When I Reach For It: Heading out where I want both stealth and decent vapour. The Flow fills the gap between the PAX Plus (stealthier but weaker) and the Crafty+ (better vapour but less discreet). Friday nights, weekends away — situations where stealth and performance matter.

When I Don't: Home sessions. The Mighty+ and Solo 3 outperform it when portability doesn't matter. Also not for heavy pain days — I want extraction power, not a pocket sipper.

The Honest Cleaning Reality: Every 15-20 bowls for a proper clean, with a quick brush-out after every 3-4 sessions. The Flow rewards discipline with consistent airflow.

Session Frequency: Four or five bowls a week through the Flow — it's the device under test, and it's been muscling in on the going-out slot the Crafty+ normally owns. Sarah watched me pack it for the third weekend in a row and said, "You're actually using that one." She sounded surprised. So was I.

Medical Use Notes

For Pain Management: The Flow's improved extraction means effects build faster from the same flower. The session style suits sustained pain relief — gradual onset over 6-8 minutes, peak effects around 15-20 minutes after finishing. For portable daytime pain management where stealth matters, the Flow is my recommendation over the Plus. For acute pain, a TinyMight 2 on-demand or Mighty+ session still gets there faster.

For ADHD/Focus: Better than the Plus for careful dosing thanks to the lower Efficiency Mode (190°C), but limited by preset temperatures. Discreet Mode helps with portion control. Not my first choice, but workable.

Session Timing: First draw to noticeable effect: 2-3 minutes. Full effects build over the session. The improved extraction means slightly faster onset than the Plus. Duration is strain-dependent but typically 1.5-2.5 hours from a full bowl on Efficiency Mode.

The Medical User's Concern: The sealed battery and 18-24 month degradation timeline. Devices with swappable batteries (Air MAX, V3 Pro) offer more long-term reliability. The Flow's 20-minute half-charge is practical insurance for daily dependence.

Value for Money 6.5/10

Here's where the comeback analogy has its limits. Because seeing Take That at Wembley wasn't cheap.

The Flow costs £259.99 — premium territory where every competitor is throwing punches.

At this price, you're alongside the Mighty+ (£255.99), above the Veazy (£207.99), below the Venty (£304.99) and TinyMight 2 (£299.99). Competitive company.

What you're paying for: Design. Stealth. USB-C charging that should have existed three generations ago. A side-loading oven that actually improves daily use. And vapour quality that finally matches the premium positioning.

What you're not paying for: Reference-tier extraction. The Mighty+ at £4 less delivers more thorough bowls. Class-leading value. The Veazy at £52 less matches or approaches the Flow's vapour quality with less design polish. The device is beaten on vapour by the £255.99 Mighty+, making the value proposition harder to justify at this tier.

But the Flow does something none of those competitors can. It disappears into skinny jeans while delivering 8.5/10 vapour. The Mighty+ looks like a medical pager. The Veazy is compact but not invisible. The TinyMight 2 has that wooden artisan energy. Only the Flow combines genuine stealth with genuinely good vapour — and for the people who need both, the price premium makes sense.

The PAX Plus at £130.00 still serves the stealth-only crowd. But if you can stretch another £129.99, the Flow is the version of PAX that actually justifies the brand's premium positioning.

The Verdict (The Bookend)

Six weeks in, the Flow has earned a place in my rotation.

Not the top spot — that's still Mighty+ territory for home sessions and Solo 3 for glass-path flavour. But a genuine, regular place — the vape I reach for when stealth matters and I want vapour that doesn't require an apology.

I publicly said PAX had lost the plot. I was wrong.

Not completely wrong — the Plus deserved the criticism, the price premium was always questionable, the "lifestyle brand" energy wore thin when the product didn't deliver. But the Flow? The Flow actually works. The redesigned chamber breathes. The vapour satisfies. The USB-C means I never have to pack a proprietary dock again.

Sarah watched me pack the Flow for the third weekend in a row.

"You're actually using that one," she said. "I thought you said PAX was finished."

"Comeback tour," I said.

"Like Take That?"

"Exactly like Take That."

She rolled her eyes. But she understood.

This is the Patience era. PAX came back older, wiser, and released something the critics had to respect. Not chart-topping dominance. Not the cool flagship everyone wants. Just a mature, respectable device that does what it promises — and for the first time in years, that's enough.

Score Breakdown

Category	Score	One-Line Summary
Vapour Quality	8.5/10	The comeback is real — hybrid heating and redesigned airflow deliver proper sessions
Design & Build	9/10	Premium aluminium, side-loading oven, gorgeous design, some interior plastic concerns
Battery & Charging	8/10	USB-C finally, fast charging, modest capacity, sealed battery
Ease of Use	8.5/10	Dead simple with five modes, 25–35-second heat-up, elegant side-loading
Cleaning & Maintenance	8.5/10	Best PAX cleaning experience yet — accessible oven, stainless steel path
Portability	9.5/10	Still best-in-class stealth — marginally larger than Plus, still disappears
Value for Money	6.5/10	Premium price less justified — Mighty+ beats it on vapour at £4 less
Overall	8.3/10	The PAX that finally backs up the design with the performance to match — but value is harder to justify

Category average is 8.4. The overall sits below it because the Value score carries more weight at this price than the portability and cleaning wins can offset.

An 8.3 means the comeback worked — but the value question lingers. Not chart-topping dominance — the Mighty+ and Venty still hold those spots, and the Mighty+ at £255.99 beats it on vapour for four quid less. But a mature, respectable device that earns its place in the rotation for stealth-focused users. The Patience album, not the Greatest Hits — and like all comebacks, better on style than substance.

Vs the Competition

The Flow is what the Plus should have been — better airflow (six times more open), faster heat-up (25–35s vs 40s), USB-C charging, meaningfully improved vapour. If your Plus frustrated you, the Flow addresses every major complaint. At £129.99 more, it needs to justify itself for casual stealth-only users, but for serious users it does.

Full PAX Plus review → | PAX Plus vs PAX Flow →

The Mighty+ extracts better with proven long-term reliability; the Flow is dramatically more portable and discreet. If you vape at home, get the Mighty+. If you need something that disappears into your life, the Flow wins. At £4 apart, it's a lifestyle choice, not a performance one.

Full Mighty+ review → | PAX Flow vs Mighty+ →

The Veazy delivers comparable vapour at £52 less with proven S&B reliability. The Flow is stealthier and faster to heat. For pure value, the Veazy wins; for stealth combined with design, the Flow justifies its premium.

Full Veazy review → | PAX Flow vs Veazy →

The Crafty+ produces better vapour and costs £73 less, but has poor battery life and less stealth. For extraction without charging concerns, the Crafty+ is better value. For stealth with respectable performance, the Flow fills a gap the Crafty+ can't.

Full Crafty+ review →