Airvape Legacy Review: Efficient Convection Heating

Design & Features

The Airvape Legacy is a portable dry herb vaporizer but it’s a bit on the hefty side. Its size and portability are definitely on the edge of what classifies a portable dry herb vaporizer as portable. It kind of resembles a beefy power bank. The Legacy can be used with dry herb or with concentrates by using the included concentrate pad.

The Airvape Legacy is a pure convection vaporizer. It can reach a maximum temperature of 464°F and it heats up in just 15 seconds. It has a traditional constant heating mode, as well as on-demand heating. It takes a removable/replaceable 18650 battery and can be charged through the Type-C charging port on the side of the device. It also supports wireless charging.

The Legacy weighs nearly 250g so it’s no lightweight and the dimensions are not small either; it measures 119mm tall, 52mm wide, and 21mm deep. This is much bigger and thicker than the ultra-slim Airvape X. So while you can still take the Legacy with you out of the house, it’s more suited for a backpack than a pocket.

Worth noting is that the Airvape Legacy features hemp-based textile and vegan leather as design elements. These give the Legacy a unique and polished look that is natural and sustainable too. You’ll find the power button, screen, adjustment buttons, and Type-C charging port on the side of the device. 

The Legacy has a gold plated chamber and an integrated stirring tool. The device flips open like a book and inside you’ll find the heating chamber and a battery/pathway compartment. Opening up this compartment reveals the removable 3000mAh 18650 battery and a glass vapor pathway which can be easily removed for cleaning and then reinserted.

The heating chamber is quite large. When you close the cover on the Legacy there’s a rubber gasket that seals the chamber for effective convection heating. This is great, but the indent around the heating chamber catches a lot of loose herb and requires frequent cleaning to keep it pristine. In any case, the heating chamber being located near the bottom of the device is great for heat dissipation and keeps the vapor from being too hot when it reaches the mouthpiece.

The mouthpiece on the Legacy is just like the mouthpiece on the Airvape X. It’s made of ceramic and it’s slim and rectangular. It tapers down near the end and it’s very comfortable to use. It doesn’t heat up at all during a session. It’s held in place on the Legacy by a rubber seal which can be removed to reveal the metal filter. This filter is replaceable and the Legacy comes with two extras in the box.

How to Use the Airvape Legacy

Using the Airvape Legacy is just as straightforward as their previous devices. There’s nothing complicated about using this device. In fact, you could probably figure out how to use it within a couple of minutes without any instructions.

The first step is to open up the cover on the front of the Legacy. Next, load up your ground herb into the chamber located near the bottom of the device. You’ll want your herb to be ground up, but not too fine. A coarse grind will work best in the device. Loosely pack the herb into the chamber. 

For micro dosing, the Legacy includes a gold plated basket that you can insert into the chamber. You can also use concentrates with the Legacy by inserting the included concentrate pad. 

Once your herb or concentrates are loaded up, close the cover. Turn the device on by clicking the power button three times and set your desired temperature by using the adjustment buttons. The Legacy will begin heating up right away and reach temperature in just about 15 seconds. 

Once it reaches your set temperature, a 3 minute session timer will begin after which the device will shut itself off. You can, of course, turn the device back on for round two. Make sure to stir your bowl in between session timers to really get the most out of your bud.

In addition to its normal heat up mode, the Legacy also has an “on-demand” heating mode. To switch to on-demand heating, press both adjustment buttons at the same time. In this mode, you have to press and hold the fire button for the Legacy to climb up to your set temperature. Once you release the button, the Legacy will cool down. 

The Legacy has a temperature range of 212°F to 464°F. This temperature range fully covers the spectrum of temperatures where different cannabinoids are released. However, keep in mind that above 428°F you’re approaching combustion and, since you’re using a vaporizer, this is something you likely want to avoid!

Battery Life

The fact that it takes a removable 18650 battery is great because with some extras on hand you never have to worry about downtime. You can have one in the device and one on a charger. I highly recommend picking up some replacements so that you never have to worry about being vapeless. 

The Legacy comes with a 3000mAh battery and I’ve been getting anywhere from 6-9 sessions out of a single charge. This is when vaping at medium temperatures so if you vape at high temps you’ll get fewer sessions. The Legacy takes around 3 hours to recharge the battery through the Type-C port.

Performance

I mentioned in the design section of this review that the size puts the Legacy on the edge of what classifies as a portable dry herb vaporizer. On a similar note, the performance of the Legacy puts it on the high end of portable dry herb vapes. It’s not quite up to the level of a good desktop vaporizer but it’s certainly close to breaking the barrier.

The 15 second heat up time is incredible. You can start vaping immediately after the vibration and begin getting vapor. However, I liked to wait an additional 30 seconds while lightly drawing to get the bowl started. 

I discovered that 380°F was the optimal temperature for vaping coarsely ground herb with the Legacy. This evenly browned my herbs with the first three minute session without having to stir. The flavor I get from my first sessions is incredible. Very aromatic and tasty, especially with terpene-rich strains. 

If the first session wasn’t enough and I wanted to go for a round two, I would stir the bowl and crank up the heat to 410°F. After the second session, my herbs were dark brown but not scorched. The flavor isn’t anywhere near as powerful as the first session but that’s no surprise as by this point all of the terpenes have been effectively extracted.

In addition to the flavor, vapor production is impressive. At times I didn’t feel like I was inhaling anything but once I exhaled and saw all the vapor I was happy. This vapor production keeps up until close to the end of a session but does taper off with the flavor at the very end.

As for concentrates, the Legacy does them very, very well. I’m used to dry herb vaporizers only being good for dry herbs, even if they’re capable of vaporizing concentrates. But the Legacy is not only capable, it’s almost as good for concentrates as it is for dry herb.

I suggest loading a very small amount of concentrates on the concentrate pad and setting the temperature to 450°F+. You can use the on-demand power mode if you want the Legacy to function similar to an e-nail, but you can also just leave it on constant power mode and draw at will. I preferred using it on constant power mode but there’s no right or wrong way to use it so do what you prefer.

Verdict

The Airvape Legacy is a full-featured, robust, and effective dry herb vaporizer. You can tell that Apollo put a lot of time into developing this device as the build quality and materials are just beautiful. The only downside to the design is that it’s quite big and heavy for a portable vaporizer so it’s best carried around in a backpack rather than a pocket.

On the performance side, the Legacy is efficient and effective. It heats up in just 15 seconds (which is insane), and it’s just as good for dry herbs as it is for concentrates. Whether you’re after flavor, vapor, effects, or all three, the Legacy will meet and exceed your expectations.

The competition is fierce but I can confidently say that the Airvape Legacy is one of the best portable dry herb vaporizers to come out this year.