Puffco Pivot Review – The Most Portable 3D Chamber Dabs

Puffco’s on a tear this year after releasing the new Peak and updating the Peak Pro to come stock with the 3DXL, then a limited edition Storm drop, Puffcon just wrapped up…. You’d think we would be chilling for a minute on the next new thing. But nope, in true Puffco fashion,  Puffco is already releasing yet another new drop and it’s not an upgrade, accessory or a new limited edition but a totally new vaporizer.

We got our Puffco Pivot Vaporizer in last week and had the chance to try it out for ourselves. Our Puffco Pivot review, like the device, is short but sweet.

The Pivot is Puffco’s latest [October 2024] vaporizer release. A small and discreet pocket portable vaporizer for fresh extracts. It’s not the most exciting vape drop in the world but the Pivot certainly has a place in Puffco’s ever evolving eco – system which we will explain later. 

The last completely new vaporizer Puffco released was the Proxy back in Summer 2022. However  to be pumping something totally new out 2 and a half years later is pretty impressive. For reference Storz & Bickel (manufacturers of the highest rated herb vaporizers) didn’t give us a new vaporizer in the Venty for ten years after the Mighty and Crafty were released. 

Puffco’s Pivot is designed to make portable and discrete dabs in a device you can throw in your pocket. The first thing you will notice about the Pivot is just how lightweight and intuitive it is. While Focus V released something similar earlier this year with the Aeris, the Pivot executes on the concept of portability and discretion much better. It could best be described as a dab pen with a 3D chamber. 

Typically in our vaporizer reviews we write about the packaging and the unboxing.  In the case of the Pivot it is not on par with say the Puffco Peak Pro. Puffco does offer a really slick travel case which is what is pictured above. This does not come with the Pivot and personally I think the appeal of something I can pocket is to not need a case in the first place. 

The Pivot is offered at $130. This is more than reasonable for a Puffco grade vaporizer that offers the 3D chamber technology. This will get your foot in the door with consuming hash the best way possible. If you cannot afford the new Peak or Proxy, the price on the Pivot is very appealing.  In the past we had seen high end dab pens in the $100 range that were trying to execute this very concept but failed. You need a chamber of this caliber and at the time of writing this review $130 is the best price for this technology.

• Puffco Pivot
• Dab Tool
• Cotton Swabs
• USB – C Cable
• User Guide

The Pivot does not come with much nor does it need to. You have your essentials but the vaporizer is ready to roll out of the box.

The battery component (main body) is made up of a lightweight alloy with the standard polished ceramic 3D chamber we are now seeing across Puffco’s line up. The 3D Chamber technology has the heating elements embedded in the bottom and on the sides of the chamber. This is even more beneficial for the Pivot since its chamber is small and portable meaning you will get material on the sides.

The Pivot feels superlight in the hand. I was expecting this to be much heavier from appearance. Even the Dr. Dabber Stella battery is heavier than the Pivot. The Pivot mouthpiece is 100% Silicone and streamlines down to protect and encompass the 3D chamber.

The vaporizer is controlled with a single button and could not be more intuitive about how to put together and take apart. The quick release makes the Pivot the easiest Puffco vaporizer to remove the chamber to pack on a new one with ease. On the bottom you will find the USB – C charging port.

Puffco likes their customers to be able to customize their devices. Just like the Proxy had a component of open sourcing for glass blowers to build accommodating rigs for the base, the Pivot has the mouthpiece. We are going to see a slew of 3rd party and potentially even Puffco Pivot mouthpieces which enhance the experience.

The Puffco Pivot is easy to use but as I have touched on in other vaporizer reviews, a single button for all controls on a device that has multiple features such as adjustable heat settings can provide a learning curve. The Puffco Pivot quick start guide (pictured above) for this is great. I like how they went with the IKEA like quick start guide.

To turn on the Puffco Pivot hold the control button down for 3 seconds. You will see the side LED light move upwards along with the vibration. You are now in standby mode. From here pressing the button once cycles through the temperature settings. Once you have your preferred temperature click the button twice. The Pivot will begin heating up and vibrate twice once ready. It takes about 20 seconds to heat depending on temperature and will stay heated for 45 seconds before entering standby mode.

Going back to my point about the single button posing issues. Just like the Puffco Peak, the Pivot will remain in standby mode after the session. You will then need to hold the control button to power the device off completely – which will be accompanied by the LED light descending and a similar powering down vibration noise. Then there are the other features such as pressing twice mid session to prolong or three presses (not during session) to check battery life. The Pivot remains the easiest Puffco vaporizer to use and learning these extra steps takes a few sessions.

Funny how we call this section “session” and the Pivot is not really a vaporizer you would “session” with in terms of  prolonged use in the company of friends at a set location. The Pivot is going to be best suited for someone who wants dabs on the go but also does not like the idea of all the potential toxins which are found in manufactured vape carts. The at home connoisseur who wants a quick discreet hit around the house or even someone trying to get their feet wet with dabs would also find the Pivot a very great device.

The Puffco Pivot will reach temperature in 14 seconds for the lowest temperature and 20 for the highest. Once at temperature it will stay on for 45 seconds, but can be turned off or prolonged before this time.

I did enjoy turning this thing on and taking a quick rip before a run. Then for the sake of the Puffco Pivot review, I decided to take it with me on the run and and try using it as I jogged. It is not as easy as pulling out a pen and ripping it but again that is a $20 battery with a prefilled cart on it. It is not the same and if you want fresh hash the Pivot is leaps and bounds better but still not as easy as pressing a button.

I felt the Pivot really shined if I wanted to just take down small little sippers on the lowest temperature. Here I could get multiple tasty hits from a small dab. When packing really full and going from point A to point B my Rosin would drip into the mouthpiece. This was never a huge deal as the next session would heat it up.

Another annoying nuance which I touched on in the Focus V Aeris review is you have something that gives you true dabs in a pocketable device. Yet you don’t want to take a jar of wax with you, a loading tool and Q tips.  taking all that extra stuff defeats the point of having something you can toss in your pocket in the first place. So you must load a large dab to hit a few times throughout the night or to share with a friend. Then when finished I don’t have any more dabs but I also need to wait to get home to clean the 3D chamber.

The Pivot does not NEED to be a pocket only portable device though and I probably shouldn’t be such an elitist snob. You can get some pretty good sessions with your at home rig using the Pivot Glass Adapter (does not come included with Pivot). This is where you could have sessions on par with something more alike the Puffco Peak. I am glad Puffco thought of this as we mentioned earlier in the Pivot review many who don’t want to spring for something like the Peak Pro at $420 can have something comparable to get the job done at a much lower price.

Adding a bit to our Puffco Pivot review post use are special modes which Puffco programmed into the Pivot. They have similar features with the Puffco Proxy and love how they do these secret little features for your session much like special levels in a video game or hidden tracks on a CD (for those of you young enough to remember CDs)

Easter Egg Mode  –  Comes in two variations which are designed to give you a  bump up in temperature. This helps to clear out your hash puddles and offer larger clouds. The Easter egg modes as well offer some cool little visuals with the lights. Low temperature Easter egg mode can be accessed on the blue heat setting and high temperature Easter egg mode on the highest white heat setting by pressing the home button 5 times during your session.

Rainbow Visual – If you want the cool visuals without any adjustment in your session press the home button 3 times. This is just a fun little feature that adds some visual excitement to your session.

Despite its size the Puffco Pivot has range. If you saw the little spec (photo above) I usually pack, that can be good for 1-2 lung busting at the highest temperatures or 4-5 little sips. The Proxy being my favorite vaporizer for those small tasty sips, I found the lower settings with less dense vapor more fitting for me.

The Silicone mouthpiece does not exactly lend itself to cooling the vapor and felt the vapor to be a little too hot and harsh for me at higher temperatures. Even when slowing my draw down as you should for the best results it was choking me up. You obviously will get much cleaner texture when running through the rig. This is just my assessment of the Pivot’s vapor quality as is.

The small chamber and proximity to the mouthpiece lends itself to the Pivot getting pretty dirty pretty quick. Even when hitting the chamber with a Q- tip the build up in the mouthpiece over multiple uses made it sticky and clogged. This was exacerbated by me carrying it in my pocket and it being upside down with the chamber dripping into the mouthpiece.

If this were a hard to clean vaporizer, this alone would make me reconsider buying it. Thankfully it could not be easier to clean as you can toss both the mouthpiece and chamber in 91% (or higher) Isopropyl Alcohol and in 30 minutes, it is as good as new. The 3D chamber will also maintain its pearly white appearance with frequent cleaning post session. So while it can get dirty fast , it is also the easiest Puffco Vaporizer to clean.

The Puffco Pivot comes with a 2 year warranty which is pretty impressive for a $130 device. It should be noted that this does not include the chamber (which carries a 30 day warranty) however nonetheless a great peace of mind offered by one of the most reputable brands in the space.

All in all the Pivot serves its function in the Puffco ecosystem.  I have said the Proxy remains my favorite but the best seller and clear winner for those who love taking down dabs everyday is without a doubt the Puffco Peak Pro. The Pivot rounds out the line up for Puffco from having a pen in the Puffco Plus, a  pocket portable 3D Chamber in the Pivot, a modular portable vaporizer in the Proxy and 2 rigs – one the more standard Puffco Peak and the other a premium E-rig with all the bells & whistles in the Puffco Peak Pro.

If you are making the switch from dry herb to dabs, are dab curious or are just looking for the most budget friendly entry point on a Puffco Vaporizer , the Pivot is one to check out.