What’s up with the follow-up?

Promised improvements from Storz & Bickel

Storz & Bickel describes the Crafty+ as “your new best friend”. Furthermore, Storz & Bickel claims the Crafty+ is “without a doubt, the perfect companion on the go”. We’re sure some dogs would probably disagree, but with all you dedicated vapers out there, who knows. The + promises a 30% faster heat-up, a new, slick design for optimized grip and feel, improved housing material, improved electronics and an optimized circuit board. The Crafty+ also introduces the Super-Boost function; pressing the power button three times gets you to the maximum temperature of 210°C (410°F). 

A quick revisit of the original Crafty

In order to properly assess the Crafty+, let us first revisit its predecessor. VapoShop previously featured the original Crafty in our 10 best portable vaporizers for 2021. It’s safe to say we thought pretty highly of the original. Nonetheless, there was room for improvement. Most users seemed to agree on the following points of critique:

1. The original Crafty didn’t come cheap. To be fair, Storz & Bickel only uses grade A materials for their devices. But, that doesn’t mean that several users felt like the original Crafty was (too) pricey.
2. What’s more, consumers felt some type of way about the long heat-up time. Although at VapoShop we do believe patience is a virtue, it is undeniable that several users weren’t too pleased about the time spent waiting on the original Crafty to get ready-for-use.
3. And then there was the battery life. Better yet, the lack of battery life. Many users felt like their battery would run out of juice way too soon. Definitely not ideal for a primary portable vaporizer.

Comparing heat-up time and build material of the Crafty’s

When we look at the main points of critique and Storz & Bickel’s promised improvements, right of the bat you’ll notice there is absolutely no change in the price. Like we mentioned before, Storz & Bickel do make use of only the finest materials. And with the Crafty+, they even promise us upgrades such as improved electronics and housing material, as well as an optimized circuit board, so that would (kinda) justify the no-price-change. 

The heat-up time is something Storz & Bickel did address, and with a promised 30% improvement, it seems they have listened to the feedback. They also promise several other upgrades, but oddly enough, there’s no mention of improved battery performance. On initial review, it seems the battery does, in fact, perform a lot better. We honestly don’t know why they don’t mention this. 

If we’re being generous, we could say that Storz & Bickel has addressed 2 out of the 3 main points of criticism. It does seem a little weird that wouldn’t mention 1 out of the 2 improvements, but, once again, we honestly wouldn’t know why not. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see that they know what is being said about the original Crafty. With all of this in mind, let’s see how well the Crafty+ actually performs.

Performance of the Crafty+

It is important to stress the issue that the Crafty+ is indeed just that: an extension of the original Crafty. This is not a Crafty 2 review. Think of it more as a Crafty 1.5.

The Crafty+, very much like its predecessor, is extremely easy-to-use. It has one button on the device, which does it all. Besides that, the Crafty+ is compatible with the Storz & Bickel mobile app, which is a perfect add-on and makes for an extremely convenient vaporizer experience. We definitely recommend getting the app. if you already have the Storz & Bickel mobile app, it’s good to know that switching between your devices is a breeze.

Crafty+ Mobile App

While the mobile app is probably gonna be used most for temperature settings, it offers quite a few other interesting features. For one, you can get a nice device overview. It tells you, amongst other things, how many hours you’ve made use of your device. One feature in the app deserves a special mention, as we’d love to see this being implemented by more manufacturers. The app can help you “find your Crafty”. Being the botanists we are, we think this may come in handy for several Crafty users…

Promises delivered?

The Crafty+ heats up much faster indeed. This was a much needed requirement for the Crafty+ to hang with the big dogs in the vape industry. The + has very little draw resistance and produces thick vapour. If you’re super big on taste experience, there are devices out there that might be better suited to your wishes, but the Crafty + produces quite the decent flavour as well.

The battery - as mentioned before - lasts longer. Once again, a much needed improvement. A small point of critique related to the battery, is that the Crafty+ comes with fewer accessories than its predecessor. One thing they have left out is the power adapter, as you now just get the USB cable to charge your battery. Thankfully, charging your battery also seems to go a lot faster in comparison to the original Crafty.

The Crafty+ with concentrates

If concentrates are your thing, we can imagine the maximum temperature on the Crafty+ isn’t quite high enough for you at 210°C (410°F). However, most concentrate lovers probably wouldn’t gravitate towards the Crafty+ in the first place, as there are devices on the market better suited to your needs.

Get your Crafty+