Comparing the Herbalizer to the Digital Volcano Vaporizer

*** Both the Digital Volcano and Herbalizer are out of production, but can be purchased refurbished from To the Cloud Vapor Store ***

We’ve have had alot of customers ask us about the best desktop vaporizer for their vapor therapy needs – Of course they are torn between the Digital Volcano Vaporizer and the Herbalizer as to which would suit  their needs best.  Both are the priciest desktop vaporizers on the market at the moment, with the Herbalizer and Digital Volcano Vaporizer both at $599 – and rightfully so, both are great vaporizers.

Comparing the Herbalizer to the Digital Volcano we are going to look at of Ease of Use, Durability and Vapor Quality while throwing in various and sundry snippets of information on features of the both.

Using the Herbalizer

One of the biggest selling points on the Herbalizer is the Halogen light heating element and it’s almost instantaneous heat up time. When you take the Herbie out of the box and open the lid , the LED display greets you. You are given two options: Aromatherapy or Vapor therapy. Whichever you select the Herbalizer is going to be ready for use  in only a matter of seconds.

Now while the aromatherapy function is a great added feature, most customers are not buying it for this reason. There are a lot of aromatherapy diffusers which run well under $599.

The fan assist is another button which can add a slight level of  complication when using right out the box. You need the fan to fill up a bag, but you don’t need it for the whip / direct draw function.

To prep your Herbie all you need to do is hit the Vapor therapy button and choose your temp. You are ready to rock in under 5 seconds.

Magnetic bowl

The Herbalizer comes with a well constructed, albeit small, magnetic bowl (filling chamber). It draws on the design of the Volcano vaporizer easy valve filling chamber and makes for easy use. You open it up, put your ground herb inside and close it –  about as simple as can get. The magnetic feature is really nice as it guarantees a perfect seal.

What is great about the smaller bowl on the Herbalizer is it allows for smaller sessions (with the max capacity at .3 grams, you can easily fill only 1/2 the chamber for a great session).  Also as mentioned in one of our vape hack articles you can use the Storz & Bickel Dosing capsules in your Herbalizer, keeping the bowl clean as a whistle.

Dual use

The Herbalizer can deliver your vapor in two ways – filling one of the prefabricated squeeze balloons or inhaling your vapor through the whip. One is not better for vapor quality than the other, but the whip certainly makes for easier on demand and personal sessions.

To fill the prefabricated bag, place it over your filling chamber and hit the fan assist. The bag will fill in about 30 – 40 seconds. If you want to go for the whip delivery, just place your whip into the top of the filling chamber and begin to draw. If you are someone with limited lung capacity the fan is a great feature which assists with vapor delivery. Press the fan button and you will get alot more vapor coming out of the whip.

Using the Digital Volcano

The Volcano Vaporizer keeps with the highest standards of German engineering. Taking it out of the box you will notice it’s durable design and build. However on first impression, it may appear a bit more involved  and not as sleek as the Herbalizer.

Pressing the red button the left side will turn your heating element on. Using the green (+/-) buttons to the side of the LED readout you can adjust your desired temperature. When the two temperatures on the readout match the Digital Volcano is ready for use. One of the biggest downfalls of the Volcano vaporizer is the heat up time at around 4 minutes.

Easy Valve Filling Chamber

As mentioned –  the Herbalizer’s filling chamber design is based off the Volcano easy valve filling chamber. The ease of twisting off the top, putting your ground herb in and closing it up, make this design the standard for desktop vaporizers.

The Easy valve filling chamber can hold up to  .5 grams of ground herb. That is almost twice as much than the Herbalizer filling chamber can do. However this can be a burden if you are looking for small personal sessions as I recommend at least .2 grams in the easy valve filling chamber to get good results from a session. A simple hack to use less herb is to place your liquid pad on top of your herb. You can also pick up the Easy valve chamber reducer which will allow you to session with .1 to .15 grams of herb at a time.

Filling your Easy Valve Bag

Once your volcano is ready for use, place your filling chamber on top of the heating element , put your easy valve bag over the filling chamber and hit the green button. Your bag will begin to fill with vapor immediately. Once your bag is filled hit the green button again to turn the fan off.

The whip option for the Volcano has been something vapor enthusiasts have been asking about for some time. However we are yet to see one in the mix from Storz & Bickel and the vapor bags have been getting it done all these years.

Ease of Use

When I am sitting and watching a movie by myself  it is much easier to use the Herbalizer.  The modern design makes it look like it belongs on my coffee table, I  can pack a small amount in the bowl and the fan assisted whip option frees up my hands.

The Volcano is not the greatest for single sessions when lounging. Besides the larger chamber size, the fan can be very loud and so can the expansion and crumpling of the vapor bags when being filled and inhaled.

The Volcano is going to provide a better session when you have company or when you’re 100% committed to your vapor session. The fan on the Volcano fills  bags much faster than the Herbalizer and the volcano bags are of a superior quality and much easier to customize for fun activities like the 10 foot volcano bag.

Both are based on a simple concept of filling your chamber putting it atop the heating element and extracting your vapor. On that level conceptually they are about the same for ease of use, but for first time users the Herbalizer wins  for intuition and the fact it allows for on demand sessions with a whip draw.

Durability & Build

When you spend $599 on a vaporizer it better last. Now while the Herbalizer has only been around since 2013 the Volcano has pioneered high end desktop vaporization with U.S commercial distribution beginning in 2005 (with R&D from Markus Storz starting long before in 1996).  It keeps with the highest standard of German engineering and we have seen Volcanoes from 2005 still in use today.

When the Herbalizer was released it sought to capitalize on a few of the shortcomings of the Volcano. For example a more responsive user interface and halogen light bulb heating element.  These design upgrades, albeit beneficial, make the Herbalizer much more fragile than the Volcano. More things go wrong with it’s advanced components and even a minor drop can spell bad news for your Herbie. We strongly recommend against dropping any of these 😉 .

From a personal perspective I have seen technical issues disproportionately from the Herbalizer compared to the Volcano. While a majority of these defects are caused by user error they still occur at a much greater rate than the Volcano.

While we are a veteran owned business and we love that the Herbalizer is made in America,  the German made Volcano Vaporizer earns the edge for durability and build.

Vapor Quality

Now on to what the people really want to know. How does the vapor stack up on the Herbalizer and the Volcano ? For both the vapor ranks high in all facets. We compared the two side by side using the bags as there is no whip option for the Volcano.

At 400 degrees (F) the Herbalizer appeared to produce a thicker more robust vapor over the Volcano. This gave it an extra level of flavor but it was also a bit more harsh. What I like about vapor is that I can take rather large draws without coughing. With the Herbie at 400 degrees it is a bit harder to take these long draws.

The Volcano delivered clean and crisp vapor without agitating my senses. The flavor was there but I did not get the same depth of flavor as I did from the Herbalizer.

For this comparison the same type of herb was used, The Herbalizer’s filling chamber was packed full and then thrown into the Volcano Easy Valve. The Herbalizer filling chamber was then re-packed full again. This ensured the same amount of herb was being compared for other analysis. In regards to the vapor texture and flavor, the temperatures can always be adjusted. In my experience one thing I have always loved about the Volcano is that it provides smooth vapor at rather high temperatures. For this  I would say the Volcano eeked out a slight edge over the Herbalizer for vapor quality.

Here is some other information comparing the Herbalizer to the Digital Volcano not mentioned above:

To the Cloud Vapor Store is happy to offer a 60 day trial period on either the Herbalizer or the Volcano to ensure you picked the right one for you. We as well sell used vaporizers at a lower price point so you can do your own at home  “Comparing the Herbalizer to the Digital Volcano”.  Which ever you decide it is hard to go wrong with the two best desktop vaporizers currently on the market.

• Volcano vs. Herbalizer