The Hydrology9 NX is a portable water-filtered modular vaporizer that improves on the original Hydrology9 by offering concentrate vaping in addition to herb vaping. It comes with improved temperature controls and bundled with new accessories, including a switchable concentrate atomizer kit and an optional hybrid convection flower heating chamber kit.
Design
The design of the Hydrology9 NX is nearly identical to the original Hydrology 9. Its metal and glass tubular design gives off a science fiction vibe, especially when it’s lit up, and it certainly leaves a lasting impression. Specifically, when changing the temperature, the water filtration chamber gets lit up with fun color-changing lights, so between the LEDs and the herb, you’ll be tripping the light fantastic in no time.
Size-wise, the Hydrology9 NX is not at all pocketable but it’s still portable enough to take with you. We’re quite disappointed that a carrying case wasn’t included, since the device absolutely needs to be carefully protected during transport.
Fortunately, the device is pretty comfortable to grip and hold while vaping, especially when using the included silicon molding that wraps around the bottom of the vaporizer and the oven. The temperature dial is located at the bottom, by the base. This can lead to accidentally changing temperatures, but the silicone sleeve helps avoid those issues. However, even with the silicone molding in use, you’ll still need to be careful not to burn yourself on the heating chamber. The Hydrology9 NX is, unfortunately, a bit wobbly, and can easily tip over, so you need to be a little careful with it.
The Hydology9 NX is able to accommodate both herb and concentrate, and to achieve this duality, Cloudious9 has made the device modular. The concentrate atomizer kit comes with both a quartz and ceramic bucket, while the flower kit comes with a dual-layer convection and conduction hybrid ceramic heating chamber. We are concerned that due to its modular design, the initial setup may be daunting to newbs.
Features
We tested the Hydrology9 NX using both herb and concentrate and found that its performance is superb for herb. As a matter of fact, it’s able to produce stronger and more powerful clouds of vapor than even the popular Pax 3. On the other hand, when it comes to vaping concentrate, its vaping performance is solid, but nothing to write home about. So think of its concentrate chamber as a nice option to have available, but ultimately if you’re looking for the best vaping experience for dabbing, you should consider options like the Puffco Peak Pro or Dabber Evo.
Unfortunately, our unit has been operating somewhat finicky. For instance, the device has to be resting on a flat surface for it to power on. Also, sometimes it does not detect the heating chamber and it takes a few tries for the chamber to make contact with the plates on the device.
Battery and charging
When it comes to its battery, the Hydrology9 NX is powered by a rechargeable and replaceable 1900 mAh battery. The magnetic charger is kinda neat in the way that it magnetically attaches to the device. However it’s based on Micro-USB, and it’s proprietary, which are both aspects we’re not very fond of. That said, the magnetic charger does conveniently double as a tool holder. However, if you’re using the charging plate as a tool holder, you can’t use it as a tool holder while you’re simultaneously using the silicone holder.
Hydrology9 NX review verdict
Hydrology9 NX Flower and Concentrate Vaporizer is a great herb vaporizer that can also vape concentrate. It manages to beat out the likes of the popular Pax 3 when it comes to herb vaping performance. Unfortunately, its modular design will likely overwhelm newbs.
The Hydrology9 NX Flower and Concentrate Vaporizer retails for $300 for the kit that includes both the concentrate and flower chamber. A kit that includes just a single chamber, retails for $270.
There is also the NX Ultra9 Bundle available which comes with the Hydrology9 NX with Flower and Concentrate heating chambers ($299), an official Hydrology9 NX Leather Case ($50), an Atomic9 herb vaporizer ($60 Retail), and the Tectonic9 grinder with automatic dispensing ($60) – all for $379.