Design
- What is the overall feeling of quality?
- What type of materials are used? (In general, vaporizers built with metal and glass feel more premium)
- What’s the quality of the materials used (food-safe, heat resistant etc.)?
- How’s the attention to detail?
Safety
- What materials are used in the heating element?
- What materials are used in the air path (especially vapor path)?
- Is the air path separated from the electronics?
- Does it have any official (medical) certifications?
- Is there risk of combustion?
Vapor potency
- The brutality of the hit (how do you feel after taking a big hit);
- The size of the clouds;
- The density of the clouds;
- Consistency in vapor production throughout session.
Vapor flavor
- How pure does it taste?
- What materials are used in the vapor path?
- How consistent is the quality of the flavor throughout the session?
- Does the vapor taste harsh in the higher temperature ranges?
Efficiency
- What’s the minimum amount to produce a satisfying hit (not whispy)?
- What’s the advertised convection /conduction ratio?
- Does it heat herb even when you’re not drawing, waisting herb?
- How far is the heating element separated from the bowl (to prevent the occurrence of any conduction or radiant heating?)
- Does it have at least an interval based temp control system?
Ease of use
- How easy is it to control the core functions?
- How easy is to maximize its performance?
- Do I need to care of draw pattern (how hard, how long)?
- Is there draw resistance?
- Do I need to stir?
- Is it easily customizable? Attachable to a bong, etc.
- How often do I clean?
- How long does cleaning take?
Temperature control
- Precise, interval or fixed?
- Consistency of temperature when drawing;
- Accuracy of temperature.
Reputation & reliability
- How long has the company been around?
- How is their customer service?
- Were there any previous vapes and how were they in terms of quality and reliability?
- What is the defect rate?
- How long is the warranty?
- What does the warranty cover?
- Turnaround on repairs?
Portability (captain obvious: only for portable vaporizers)
- Size;
- Design (shape, first impression for an outsider);
- Odor;
- Battery (swappable, how many sessions);
- Weight;
- Sturdiness (can it take some beating).