Gear
Atmos Thermo W portable vaporizer pen review - Weedist, Source: Prospero

Atmos Thermo W

Regular readers will know that I am a big fan of portable vaporizer pens and the freedom to medicate anywhere that they provide. I’ve reviewed many different pens in the last year, including some that I love and a few that I could definitely have done without.

The Atmos Thermo W is a vape pen that I can’t recommend purchasing. I’m not sure what Atmos as a company is thinking; they have some great marketing and some really good ideas for portable vaporizer pen designs. However, their execution is so generally poor that I just don’t know what to think.

I really enjoyed the Atmos Bullet and continue to use it as my go-to pen for earwax and full melt concentrates. My review last fall of the Atmos Raw, one of their flagship products, discussed the problems that diminished the Raw’s ability to really be the best product possible. While the problems with the Raw still make it usable (even if you have to be careful), the major design flaw with the Atmos Thermo W is just insane if you really want something that you can use for on-the-go dabs.

The overall design of the Atmos Thermo W is great, even if it is very similar to The Cloud and other models currently available. It’s a small and discreet pen that you can hit anywhere without suspicion. It’s easy to charge and load, though the chamber is quite small and only really can hold a few hits of concentrate. It’s not going to work for raw flower, but could totally be a great option for an easy dab.

Problem is that none of that really matters, since the main heating element is so unbelievably flimsy. It heats wax using a thin metal wire that died on me within the first few uses. I have seen several patients say they had the same problem with their unit. It doesn’t take a degree in electrical engineering to see this coming; wax is going to be sticky and oily once vaped no matter what, and a single thread of wire is not going to withstand very many uses.

After just a few uses with wax, the coil is going to die. No real way around it, it's just a terrible design flaw that makes an otherwise cool pen useless.

Here’s the main problem: the heating element is just a single, flimsy coil.

Considering how hard they market to medical marijuana dispensaries, it’s astounding to think that someone at Atmos wouldn’t go ahead and test it themselves before mass producing a product that is destined to fail. While other pens are clearly made for e-cigarette liquid and could also be used for oil or wax, this is definitely not a product that could reasonably be used for anything other than wax.

So why wouldn’t Atmos make a pen with a thicker wire, or with a heating element that is more like a skillet that won’t burn out so quickly? I’ve heard of several patients who have tried to contact Atmos about this and other problems with their other pens, but they haven’t been too helpful in addressing what is obviously a huge design flaw.

To be fair to Atmos, I know other medical marijuana patients who have a Thermo W and haven’t had any problems with it, so it’s not like every single unit dies within the first few uses. However, with so many other Thermo W units dying so quickly, I can’t recommend the Atmos Thermo W, especially given that there are so many other, much better options for portable vaporizer pens.