The CFX and CF from Boundless Vape Technologies burst onto the market in February of 2016.
The Boundless CFX is a hybrid convection/conduction heated unit that offers some pretty damned cool features. It heats up crazy fast and does a great job at accurately holding those temps.
The CFX is easily modified, making the vaporizer customizable and tweakable to maximize performance.
Puffitup has it in stock for $169. It’s a hot-selling item right now, so you may have to check frequently.
Build Quality
Pretty much everything here is plastic, but it’s solid and doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy. The body of the unit is rubberized. It’s soft and smooth, but also grippy. I really like the feel of the surface, and the textured pattern is oddly pleasing. The Mouthpiece and cooling unit are a softer, medical grade plastic. The screen and buttons feel great. They’re well placed and ergonomic. Everything feels durable and dependable.
Interface – Click the power button 5 times to turn off/on. Tap the up/down arrows to set your temp. It’s simple and easy to use. Hold the button for 3 seconds restart the heat after it sleeps. I love the temperature display on the screen. It’s bright without being obnoxious. The count UP session timer is also awesome, very useful for fine tuning the entire session experience.
Heat Up Time & Temperature Tolerance
The CFX heats up fast. Very fast. 18 seconds to 360. The first minute or so of usage will be mostly convection. The interior of the bowl isn’t hot at the session start, but by session end the bowl temp is typically within 10 degrees of the set temperature. I’ve noticed the chamber also dissipates heat quickly, which is nice if you like to unload and reload immediately after a session.
Vapor Quality
ABV after a 5 minute session at 365F. Ten draws at 8 seconds each, and 3 more draws at 6 seconds each. Vapor at the end of the session still tasted very good, could have easily ran another two minutes.
This is where the CFX really shines. The vapor from the CFX tastes great. I’ve been running 5-minute sessions at 360F. The first minute will be more convection than conduction. The flavor is GREAT here, this is the temp range where you can really taste the strain. As the chamber heats up, the flavors deepen and become bolder as the clouds become denser. Towards the end of the session the vapor is pretty hot, but it still has flavor. I usually let it cool down for 10 minutes and hit it for round 2. If I’m using an Indica, I’ll bump up the round two temp to 385 or even 400 (depending on the strain and how dry the cannabis is.) Even at higher temps, it vapes evenly and produces a great tasting vapor. At 410 the CFX will produce dense, hard hitting clouds. While using the WPA, this will really milk up a water pipe.
The draw resistance is higher than I prefer, but it’s not the worst. If you try to force your draws too hard, you’ll clog the screens and just make it worse. Just pull nice and easy, right at the resistance level and the vapor is perfect. Do the screen mods – it lowers the draw resistance, improves vapor quality, captures CLEAN reclaim (free dabs), and makes regular maintenance easier.
Cleaning & Maintenance
This thing stays relatively clean – even without the full bucket mod. The plastic/silicon ring above the ceramic heating chamber tends to pick up the most crud, but brushing it or blowing in it will quickly clear it up. I wipe the oven and screens down with an ISO Q-tip once every week. Even with heavy usage so far, there is no discoloration or residue that I cannot remove. The cooling unit pops apart for easy cleaning. The medical grade plastic ISO safe, but soaking for long periods isn’t recommended. So far routine cleaning hasn’t been an issue. Unloading a cooked bowl is simple. If it doesn’t tap out, a poke or two with a stirrer usually loosens everything.
Stoner Loading Test – We got a bunch of people together and hit the CFX pretty hard. I picked the highest people in the circle and made them unload and reload the CFX. Even without any of the screen mods, stoners who had never loaded the CFX had absolutely no issues doing so. Stoner loading test, passed.
Final Thoughts
This is a great budget vape. At $180 shipped from Puffitup, it has more features and produces better vapor, and a better vaping experience than anything in its price range.
If you’re looking for the best portable vape without crossing the $200 mark, this is definitely the one to get. Make sure you pick up the water pipe adapter too, because this thing on a bong is a BLAST!
