POTV Lobo Review – Meet Planet of the Vape’s Newest Vaporizer

The Lobo Vaporizer is Planet of the Vapes newest portable herb vaporizer released September 2023. The Lobo is similar in design and build to the POTV One Vaporizer, which is about 30% smaller. However the Lobo was not intended to be an upgrade or second edition of the One Vaporizer;  it was designed for greater vapor production. 

The POTV Lobo is primarily an herb vaporizer, but does come with a liquid pad and a dosing pod. So it can be used for concentrates, however it is more ideal for flower and we will get into why further on in our Lobo Vaporizer review.

The POTV Lobo comes in at $159.95. This puts it in a competitive range for a heavy hitting vaporizer that is easy to use and versatile. It should be noted with the pre-order (and hopefully beyond) you are getting a free glass mouthpiece accessory. Would be nice to see this vaporizer come in under $150 though.

One thing working against the Lobo is the falling vaporizer prices on other legacy brands which produce much better vaporizers. The Boundless CFX, Arizer SOLO 2 and Firefly 2+ can all be had in the $150 range now and are overall better vaporizers than the Lobo.

The POTV Lobo comes in a nice quality branded box. Nothing fancy but not budget either. It is cool to witness a retailer be able to pivot to  producing and branding – and doing it with quality in mind. POTV did spend the extra money to make the unboxing experience not so drab.

With the decline of  the vape market we have seen a lot of corners cut when it comes to packaging. Even once high flying PAX who had an Apple like unboxing experience with their previous devices have opted for an economy unboxing experience with their latest releases in the PAX Mini and PAX Plus. From a business stand point it does make sense as more consumers likely care about the vaporizer itself over the packaging it came in. Then there is the pesky inflation which has seen materials cost increase, so the fancy packaging has been the first thing to go. The POTV Lobo does also come with a nice assortment of accessories. 

• 2 x Glass adapter screens 
• 1 x Spare O-Ring 
• 1 x Liquid Pad 
• 1 x Dosing Capsule 
• Cleaning Brush 
• Dab Tool 
• USB-C Cable 

Would have been nice to see a brush brush. The coarse brush included is great for cleaning glass but if you load the LOBO without a dosing capsule particles get stuck on the outskirts of the herb chamber, this is a similar problem with the POTV One. Oddly enough the Davinci Dosage Grinder comes with a brush, so it is not only a great accessory to fill your dosing pods but also comes with a brush. Or you can pick up a Storz & Bickel Brush. Any small paint brush will do. 

The Lobo is sturdy in the hand. The body is constructed out of an Anodized Aluminum shell with a magnetic glass adapter, titanium herb chamber chamber and glass mouthpiece. It is of a very much similar design and build to it’s smaller counterpart, the POTV One.

The Lobo has an ROHS certification,  proof that a product complies with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive. So with certainty if the Samsung battery that says ” not for vaporizer” was an issue, this certification could not be obtained.

To get started with the Lobo, load your ground flowers or herbs into the herb chamber, and place the glass adapter back on the unit. It comes off with ease given it has both tracks and a locking magnet. Press the power button three times. The unit will begin to automatically heat up and you can adjust your temperature using the two lower buttons – the lower of the two for lowering the temp and the higher for raising the temp. 

The design on the power button is pretty cool. It would have been cool to see this extended across the controls with the “Lobo” the the middle and the corresponding temperature controls, each on one side of the middle power button. It still remains intuitive especially if you have experience with any entry level portable herb vaporizer. 

Temperature Range

320 °F – 430 °F

Heat up time 

The Lobo takes about 49 seconds to reach 390 °F. 

This is from the exact moment you turn the unit on. It takes a few seconds for the screen to boot up. One thing I did find a tad weird was the different heat up times. Granted only a few seconds difference here and there but booting it up after not using it for a couple days it was 49 seconds. Then session, turn it off and come back 15 minutes later and the unit got to 390 °F in 42 seconds. When reviewing vaporizers like the Mighty+ , things like the heat up time were very much more succinct and consistent. 

Another thing we noticed with our Lobo vaporizer was that it makes quick jumps to the desired temperature in the final 1-2 seconds. The heat up pattern doesn’t follow a linear trajectory, meaning the time from 340 °F – 360 °F was alot longer than the nearly instantaneous jump from 360 °F – 390 °F. 

Chamber Capacity 

You can comfortably fit .2 grams with possibly a .25 g pack. Being a hybrid heating (conduction / convection) herb vape with good airflow packing too tight can really impede the hot airflow of the convection component. 

Settings 

With the unit on, pressing the power button and the temperature up button you can enter the settings mode. 

• Change the LED display to invert – kind of pointless 
• Change the temperature between Fahrenheit and Celsius. 
• Set the auto shut off between 3:00 and 6:00 minutes. 

Another odd thing I found here with my POTV Lobo was that the countdown timer begins when the vaporizer is powered on and not when it hits temperature. So the true session time is not as long as would otherwise be indicated.

The Lobo functions best as a solo session vaporizer. Since it takes a while to “vapor up” between hits, it’s not a great one to pass back and forth. For some reason you want a bigger portable session vaporizer like the  Mighty+ for passing around or sharing. 

I am finding the Lobo to be alot like the Arizer Argo in the regards to pulling on a glass draw and getting solid volume. Also alot like the Argo in the fact you can add a small amount but still get solid vapor production. 

I was able to get 10-12 hits on a full pack. For best results wait at least 10 seconds between draws. You can inhale fast or slow, the key I personally found being a 4 second plus draw to get good vapor volume. 

Can I do dabs out of the LOBO ?

POTV does include a liquid pad for extracts with the Lobo Vaporizer. For our Lobo Vaporizer review we did not use any extracts. Oils & extracts should be used sparingly as concentrates in herb vapes 1.) Do not give you the same results you get with a high end e-rig like the new Puffco Peak Pro or even something cheap like the Boundless Terp Pen  and 2.) Will really dirty up the vaporizer making it a pain to clean and degrade the performance over time. We have said countless times, get a concentrate vaporizer if you mainly are looking for dabs and get an herb vaporizer for flowers. 

Liquid and concentrate pads used to be par for the course with herb vapes, but have largely been worked out of the mix with the rising popularity of concentrate vaporizers. Storz & Bickel stopped manufacturing liquid pads altogether over a year ago. 

The vapor quality overall is good. As with most vaporizers the best flavor is out the gate with your first few hits. The Lobo’s vapor quality really goes south around hit 6. However you still get some very voluminous draws despite the flavor not being on par with your earlier hits. This is why we recommend picking up a water adapter. 

I’m kind of surprised at the vapor production. It is more voluminous than the POTV One. It also feels like the vapor is a smish hotter. 

Alot of this is going to depend on the mouthpiece used as well. While I do not like buying aftermarket upsells for my vaporizers, the longer and water pipe adapter mouthpieces will make the vapor smoother. This smoother & cooler vapor comes at the expense of flavor. However with a vaporizer like the LOBO you are not getting Firefly 2+ or Storz & Bickel flavor anyways

The Lobo comes with an 18650 removable Samsung battery which oddly enough has “not for vaporizer” inscribed on the side of the battery. Planet of the Vapes has addressed this issue previously and stated it is intended for e-cigarette vaporizers & coiled dab pens which get to temperatures upwards of 650°F  in 1-2 seconds. This energy transfer does not occur in the battery of a portable herb vaporizer making it safe. 

The LOBO uses a USB-C charging cable but being powered by a removable 18650 battery, externally charging is still the better option as you are looking at 2.5 hours to fully charge the Lobo. 

On a full charge you are looking at about 10 4-5 minute sessions which will vary based on your temperature. The higher temperature the more tax on the battery.

If you have read any of my other vaporizer reviews you know my days of taking portable herb vaporizers out on the town are behind me given the ability to throw a vape pen in my pocket. 

The POTV Lobo is portable, but not something I am throwing in my pocket before I head out to the ball game. It’s all glass mouthpiece and lack of travel case make it a bad idea to try and pocket it for a train ride, but in terms of vaping on the patio or porch it is more than suitable. Again why I would put it in a similar category as the Arizer Argo. 

Now previously I would have recommended the PAX 2 or PAX 3 (Basic Kit) for those looking for the ultimate in portable herb vaporizers. With PAX discontinuing production of the PAX 2 & PAX 3 to make the PAX Mini & Plus, I would now choose the Lobo over the Mini but not the PAX Plus. For some reason the PAX Mini is just not an upgrade. It offers limited vapor. While you can still score a deal on a refurbished PAX 3  at To the Cloud Vapor Store, the PAX Plus is now the only good dry herb vaporizer made by PAX but sadly at $100 more than the Lobo. So value is a huge factor to be considered.

The Lobo shines in usability. It is even more intuitive than the gold standard portable PAX Plus. The Lobo is one you can start using out the box after reading our POTV Lobo review. One of the things I always try and do is figure out a vaporizer without reading the directions, and the Lobo has been the easiest by far of all of them to get going. 

The three presses to turn on and off is going to be the most challenging of the directions but with intuitive design, controls and LED screen this is a vaporizer even your grandpa can use with ease. 

The fact you can use standard glass adapters and run the Lobo through water filtration do add to the vaporizer’s appeal. In 2023 this isn’t as revolutionary as 2016. Today nearly all herb vaporizers have OEM or 3rd party water pipe adapter add ons.

The ease of use on the unit and the way it is designed lend itself to being easy to clean. Again harkening back to Arizer Vaporizers, You have a single and simple stainless steel (titanium for the Lobo)  heating element which feeds into a glass draw. A light clean is going to be the same as a deep clean and you can knock it out in 5 minutes with a brush and some 91% isopropyl alcohol.

If you would have asked me 4 years ago, I would have said the Lobo is a good portable herb vaporizer made even more appealing by the price. Oddly enough in the vaporizer industry, vaporizer prices have fallen where prices on literally every other good have increased. At $150 there are some other options and considerable compeition for the Lobo. The Boundless CFX is going to give you better vapor  production and the Arizer SOLO 2 is going to provide slightly better quality in my opinion for a few dollars more.

The Lobo is still good but ranks in the entry level to mid range vaporizer category. It does help that it is produced by Planet of the Vapes, who is a highly regarded retailer, and they are offering the Lobo with a 100 Day Return Policy for all customers in the US and Canada.  They have stated they are going to pay all shipping on top of that. It’s zero dollars out of pocket if you want to return it so – c’est la vie. You mine as well buy the Lobo and send it back if it’s not your jam.

The Lobo is a solid straightforward vaporizer. Ideal for someone who is just looking to vape easily and periodically without any frills. The glass editions will enhance your sessions if you want to dial in specifics like a longer glass stem for more flavor or a mini bubbler for smoother hits.