Arizer Go (ArGo) Vaporizer Review

August 1, 2023

Check out Randy's ArGo video review on Vimeo!

Portability & Form

The Arizer Go is one of the smallest portable vaporizers out there, measuring in at only 3.5" x 2" x 1". The first thing we noticed about the ArGo is the rectangular form and unique push top that set it apart from Arizer's Solo 2 and Air 2 portables. The slim rectangular form is perfect for daily pocket carrying without any extra bulge and the spring loaded push top protects the borosilicate glass mouthpiece when it's not in use. The ArGo is made from anodized aluminum and rubberized plastic to maintain durability at less than 5oz of total weight. The body feels solid and sturdy and the spring loaded push top is still popping as quick and clean as our first use a couple months ago.

Heating Style & Chamber

The ArGo is a convection / conduction hybrid vaporizer - heating is nearly entirely convection at first, the longer the mouthpiece is in the unit the more conduction builds. Hybrid vapes are our personal favorite style as they get the powerful flavor and extraction efficiency of convection paired with the powerful vapor production and battery efficiency of conduction. The Arizer Go heats anywhere from 122-428F with single digit precision and hits its temperature in about a minute so you're never waiting long. The Go's heating chamber is stainless steel but dry herb is packed directly inside the borosilicate mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is a different size than all previous Arizer portables and can hold about 0.15g of coarsely ground material; great for personal use but may require reloads if sharing.

Vapor Quality & Draw Resistance

The ArGo's borosilicate loading chamber provides an all glass vapor path plus it protects your herbs from directly touching the hot metal chamber, resulting in pure, intense flavor without the harshness you might find using other vapes at the same temperature. Preferred temp settings will vary based on the person but I find 350F to be the best starting point for flavor and 370F the best starting point for heavy clouds. Some people like to slowly work their way up the temperature range to maximize smoothness, I typically just make one big jump from 350-370F up to 400-420F to keep the clouds rolling. The Arizer Go's stainless steel heating chamber has four jets to diffuse streams of heated air evenly through the material loaded in the glass mouthpiece. Diffused airflow jets are slightly restrictive by design to get the most effect from a small amount of heated air; think about partially obstructing the flow of a garden hose with your thumb - one weak stream turns into multiple streams shooting twice as far. The ArGo is obviously not open flow but it's still very easy to draw from, roughly average airflow compared to all other portable vaporizers.

Battery & Charging

The Arizer Go includes a removable Panasonic NCR18650B Li-ion battery. Panasonic is one of the most trusted names for Li-ion batteries and is the same company Tesla uses for their cells. This particular flat top 18650 is of the NCR chemistry, one of the safest styles available. The ArGo's battery lasts about an hour and a half with a capacity ranging between 3200-3400mAh, nearly the current ceiling for 18650s. The Go charges via standard micro-USB and takes about 2 and a half hours from empty to full. The Arizer Go also has passthrough charging so if you don't have a spare battery on hand you can use the unit plugged in, a lifesaving a feature.

Airpath & Internals

We recently did an Arizer ArGo Teardown on our Blog where we fully disassembled the Arizer Go down to its core components. We got an up-close look at the ArGo's internal build, motherboard, heating element and all the other intimate details. The electronics and circuitry all appear to be high quality and the connections are all clean and precise, a good sign for longevity.

Here's what Arizer had to say about the ArGo's airpath: “For all intended purposes the air-path is isolated - Air flows through the air intake holes on the bottom of the device into the heating system. Please note that forcing air into the device through openings which are not intended for such use can compromise air-path isolation, and doing so is not recommended.”

Ease of Use & Maintenance

The ArGo is controlled with three buttons (+, -, menu) and an OLED screen that displays your temperature and battery gauge. You can activate the ArGo by holding + and M or deactivate it by holding - and M. Temperature is adjusted with the up and down buttons and heating begins as soon as your temp is set. The Arizer Go beeps to let you know when the unit is activated, when the set temperature is reached and when the unit enters sleep mode; a great feature for times when your attention span may be lacking. Pressing the menu button while activated enters the setting menu to adjust volume, sleep timer, start-up timer, Celsius / Fahrenheit display and screen brightness. The control scheme is simple to use and the settings are useful without any gimmicks - after the first use I raised the sleep timer to 15 minutes and lowered the beep volume, neither of which were options with the original Arizer Solo or Air.

Cleaning the ArGo is a rare occurrence and only takes a minute or two using 80%+ isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs. Most of the buildup is within the glass mouthpiece which can be swabbed out or soaked in iso overnight. I take the lazy route and let my Arizer mouthpieces fill with reclaim before cleaning which is typically once a month or less. After a preemptive cycle at max temp any residue built up on the stainless steel chamber can be swabbed off while holding the unit upside down to prevent any alcohol from entering the heat jets.

Accessories

The Arizer Go packaging includes the ArGo unit, a single Panasonic 18650 battery, wall charger with North American style plug, 2 glass mouthpieces, 2 silicone caps, a belt-clip carrying case, stirring tool, screens and a manual. All of the included accessories are useful and pair well with the unit - the carrying case even has two little pockets for spare batteries. There aren't any aftermarket accessories yet but we're taking care of that as we speak. ;)

Warranty

The Arizer Go includes a limited 2 year warranty when purchased from an authorized seller... like PuffItUp for example! The warranty protects functionality other than the battery and glass but user incurred damage isn't covered. The heating element itself is covered for a lifetime so if your unit activates but won't heat Arizer has your back.

Comparable Options

The Arizer Go is an ultra compact pocket portable vaporizer with a removable 18650 and hybrid convection / conduction heating at $269 USD. Other options to consider within the same criteria are the Arizer Air 2 and the XMAX Fog. The Air 2's form is vastly different than the ArGo but it draws nearly the same and features the same removable 18650 battery. The XMAX Fog is a convection heavy hybrid with a similar size and form to the ArGo though it is limited to 5 set temperatures. The Healthy Rips Fury 2 also warrants mention for a very similar form to the ArGo at an even smaller size if you don't mind that the battery isn't removable.

Final Thoughts

Like all Arizer portable vaporizers the ArGo is a powerful vape with fantastic flavor and impressive extraction efficiency. We're glad to see Arizer trying out new things but we have mixed feelings about the Arizer Go's push top. Moving parts always have the potential to wear down or get stuck over time; we haven't encountered that yet but we wish Arizer would have opted to make the body a little taller to protect the mouthpiece without an additional mechanism. At a price higher than the Air II and Solo II we would have preferred an all aluminum body for maximum durability rather than a mix of aluminum and rubberized plastic. Arizer states the ArGo's airpath is isolated during normal use though it doesn't appear to be fully closed off from the other internals which would have been ideal. Hypothetical design changes aside, the Arizer Go works like a beast plus the size, shape and weight allow it to nearly disappear in your pocket so there's not much room to criticize.