Wax Pen Vaporizers & Dab Pens for Concentrate & Oil | VaporNation

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Wax Pen Vaporizers

What is a Wax Pen?

A wax pen is a handheld vaporizer designed for for function, convenience, and discretion. These pocket-friendly devices are the best vape pens for enjoying herbal extracts. Small and stealthy, these convenient devices enable hassle-free vaporization on-the-go with simple controls, rapid heating, and preset temperatures.

Unlike portable vaporizers and desktop vapes, the wax pen generally features a single-button control, making it easy to operate. Users simply click the control button to power on or off, or toggle through the heat settings. Commands will vary from unit to unit, but a simple one-button control is common in wax pens.

These vape pens are compatible with a number of aromatherapeutic extracts, making them a popular choice for those who prefer concentrates over dry material.

Visit our "What is Vaping?" page for more information about what vaporizers offer.

A lovely young woman exhales a cloud of vapor after taking a hit from her wax pen.

Storing And Loading Extracts

Since extracts are stickier than dry materials, it can be more challenging to store and load them into your vaporizer. Concentrate tools and containers solve this problem.

Non-stick silicone jars reduce waste, minimize cleanup, and preserve materials. The silicone surface makes it easier to scrape off every bit of concentrate. These containers also enable you to travel around with your materials so you can vape them anywhere.

For filling your wax pen, there are loading tools--usually metal picks with gripped handles and curved ends for scooping concentrates. These tools make it easy to load concentrates into heating chambers, as well as stir the contents around in-between hits to ensure even vaporization.

Another upside to vaping extracts is that they pack more potency than herbal materials. You don’t need to carry as much material on your person as you would dry material.

Cleaning vaporizer pens is usually limited to wiping down the threading between the battery and the atomizer or mouthpiece, as most of the extracts contained in the heating chamber are vaporized, leaving no mess. Wax pens sometimes leak concentrates from the oven down to the battery connection, which can impede your ability to assemble the vape pen. A vape pen can be cleaned using isopropyl alcohol, cleaning brushes, alcohol wipes, and other cleaning solutions.

Two NoGoo silicone wax concentrate containers in green and blue seen with a dab tool for loading wax concentrates.

What Does a Wax Vape Pen Offer?

Pen vaporizers are ideal for those looking to enjoy concentrates on-the-go. These devices are known for their portability and reliability. Aside from being discreet, they work quickly and efficiently, vaporizing herbal extracts in seconds. Since concentrate pens are able to reach their optimal temperature rapidly, there’s no waiting around for these units to warm up. With a wax vape pen, concentrates are heated by the press of a button.

Wax pens are also generally more affordable than portable vaporizers and desktop units. Wax pens are simply smaller and cost less to manufacture than larger vaporizers. Certain high-end wax pens are pricier thanks to their high-quality materials and advanced heating systems.

Did you know your wax pen can save you money on vaping materials too? While vaping herbal extracts with a butane torch wastefully incinerates much of your concentrates, wax pens are much more efficient. A vaporizer heats wax to a temperature below the point of combustion, sparing you from inhaling harmful smoke and making sure every bit of precious extract is vaporized instead of wasted. Concentrates can also contain more effects, flavors, and aromas than dry materials.

Wax pens are designed for concentrate enthusiasts. If that doesn't sound like you, check out our Best Vaporizers for more options.

How Do Wax Pen Vaporizers Work?

Most wax vape pens utilize an atomizer as the heating source. An atomizer is a heating chamber, usually with a coil that heats up to vaporize materials. A wax pen atomizer typically heats up within just a few seconds and allows the user to place their material directly onto the coil.

Once loaded, the wax pen vaporizes concentrates when the user presses the power button and inhales. This method of heating is known as conduction, in which the concentrate comes into direct contact with the heating coil of the wax pen.

Convection vaporizers create minimal combustion when vaporizing herbal extracts, making their vapor safer, cleaner tasting, and smoother. Conduction vaporizers heat materials directly on hot surfaces, which can create more combustion as well as smoky flavors and odors. It should be noted, however, that even conduction vaporizers create much less combustion than smoking methods like.

A disassembled wax pen consisting of four threaded pieces, including the wax atomizer where concentrates are vaporized.

Wax pens can boast a variety of special functions. As the popularity of herbal extracts continues to grow, some manufacturers have integrated more power into their wax pens. The Source Orb 4 Signature Kit is technically a vaporizer pen, but to imitate the effect of blasting extracts with a butane torch, this unique wax pen utilizes a powerful sub-ohm mod battery that can reach an infernal 700F. While this temperature is still lower than that of an actual flame, the high heat produces large clouds of intensely flavored vapor akin to a desktop rig.

The size of vape pens may vary depending on the unit's purpose, whether it's meant for high-quality vapor production or discreet vaporization. The larger the wax pen, the more advanced the heating system. Bigger wax pens simply have more room for technology. But some users value discretion most.

Types of Wax Pen Atomizers

The wax pen breaks vaping herbal extracts down to a science with the atomizer. Many different types of wax atomizers are available, each offering a different experience. Atomizers are usually removable, so you can easily swap out one type for another as you please. Atomizers can differ in the material they’re made of, as well as the heating element (usually a rod wrapped in titanium coils) that vaporizes concentrates. Thus each type of wax pen atomizer vaporizes materials differently. Some wax atomizers create larger vapor clouds while others make smaller, more flavorful hits. Other atomizers are made from inert materials such as quartz and ceramic, enabling the wax pen to deliver unadulterated vapor with a flavor and aroma that hasn’t been affected by the atomizer.

Types of wax pen atomizers include:

A single rod atomizer with one heating rod inside a chamber.

Single Rod - For small and flavor-rich hits. The single heating element ensures a smaller surface area, so your wax pen produces less heat and vapor. Expect your wax vape pen to deliver tastier draws that are easier to inhale.

A triple rod atomizer with three heating rods inside a chamber.

Triple Rod - For insanely huge, flavor-rich hits. Triple rod atomizers burn hot with a very wide surface area. You’re not going to see an atomizer of this caliber in many wax pens. Get ready for big clouds with intense flavors!

Three transparent quartz rod atomizers sit inside a wax atomizer.

Quartz - Quartz rod atomizers deliver vapor of unadulterated flavor and aroma. “True vapor” enthusiasts often prefer quartz atomizers in their wax pens. Quartz is inert, meaning it doesn’t react chemically to heat, so your wax pen produces untouched flavor notes and scents.

A double rod atomizer with two heating rods, around which heating coils are wrapped.

Double Rod - For larger, more intense vapor. The wider surface area can heat more extracts, making for bigger vapor clouds from your wax pen.

The bucket-shaped design of a coilless atomizer.

Coilless - For smooth, flavorful low temperature hits. Coilless atomizers have bucket designs for extracts to be loaded into. This makes them easier to clean than rod atomizers. This also keeps extracts from being exposed to too much heat, making for hits that are pure-tasting and easy to inhale.

Two ceramic rods lie inside a wax atomizer.

Ceramic - Similar to quartz, ceramic is inert and doesn’t adulterate flavor, though it gets hotter and takes longer to cool than quartz does. Ceramic rod atomizers offer slow and low vaporization to deliver smooth and tasty vapor from wax pens, though not quite as much as quartz atomizers. Ceramic atomizers are, however, easier to clean, since they vaporize most of the contents of your wax pen heating chamber.

Finding the Right Wax Pen

While all wax pens function similarly, things like size, atomizer type and battery life/quality vary from unit to unit. When choosing a wax pen, consider the following:

1. Is the Wax Pen Compact?

If you live a busy lifestyle, vaping on-the-go is a must. This requires a more compact and portable wax pen. A smaller build not only makes wax pens easier to pocket, but makes them easy to conceal in the palm of your hand while vaping. This kind of wax vape pen comes in handy when vaping in areas where such discretion is necessary, such as outside of the office or when you’re out about town.

2. Will the Vape Battery Last?

If you’re vaping while traveling--and you vape often--you want a wax pen with a battery that can last through the day without being charged. Higher end vape pens feature batteries with such power, while more affordable units need to be charged at some point during the day. Many vaporizer pens feature USB chargers--like a smartphone--with passthrough charging so you can vaporize extracts while the unit is plugged in.

3. Is the Wax Pen Protected by Warranty?

The longer the warranty of a vape pen, the more confidence you can have that the unit will perform well and enjoy a long lifespan. Make sure that the wax pen is warranty-protected before making your final decision. The longer the warranty a manufacturer promises, the better the chances the wax pen will last a long time.

4. Affordability

Wax pens are priced anywhere from $15 to $200. It all depends on what you want in your wax pen. With vape pens, you generally get what you pay for. The more expensive a wax pen is, the more features, build quality, and performance you can expect. Bear in mind that some mid-ranged wax pens can perform nearly as well as expensive units. Doing some comparative research on vaporizer pens--their features, usability, design, and more--can give you a better idea of what’s available in each price range.

Other Wax Pen Tips

Don’t buy a wax pen if you want to vape other materials such as dry materials. There are hybrid vape pens that vaporize both concentrates and herbal materials. Multifunction vape pens generally require no more than a quick atomizer switch, which takes seconds.
When loading a pen vaporizer, be sure not to touch the heating coil with your tool! They’re the most delicate and vital part of your wax pen, and they’re fragile.
Wax pens with deep atomizers give you more vaping sessions with fewer reloads, but they are a little harder to load small amounts of concentrates into. Only buy deep dish atomizers if infrequent loading and extended vape sessions are appealing to you. Go for a shallower wax pen atomizer if you vape moderately.
Prime the wick of your pen vaporizer by melting a little material onto and around the coil. This lubricates the heating coils of vape pens so the rest of your extracts don’t vaporize too quickly when they come into contact with the coil.
Invest a little in a better wax vape pen if possible. The more you spend on a device, the more features, vapor quality, and build quality you get. This type of pen vaporizer doesn't get too expensive, so you can own the best wax pen on the market for about $200.