We wouldn’t blame you if at first glance you thought DaVinci’s MIQRO was just a smaller IQ. At two-thirds the size of the IQ, it certainly looks the part, with an identical shape and feel, a replaceable battery and great vapor quality. As it turns out, they’re different animals made for different users, which leaves us pondering the question: DaVinci MIQRO vs IQ, which is for you?
Buy the DaVinci MIQRO if...
You’re a light user that values size and price over battery life and huge clouds. It has a smaller bowl and less power than the IQ, so it’s just right for lighter sessions, microdosing, or the occasional puff here and there. Starting at CAD$159, the MIQRO is also more accessible than the IQ.
Buy the DaVinci IQ if...
You’re a medium to heavy user that needs a bigger experience than the MIQRO can offer. The IQ is larger, stronger, and packs a heftier punch, but is still pocketable and a great travel companion. It also has excellent vapor quality, and comes with a bigger bowl and a battery that can get you through the day. The IQ has a few more features than its little brother, but it’s pricier at CAD$258.
Vapor quality
The IQ and MIQRO excel here. Both have ceramic ovens and zirconia ceramic parts for tasty flavor, and extended vapor paths and mouthpieces that cool the vapor better than most of the competition. The main difference is potency. With an oven twice the size, the IQ’s hits are noticeably thicker and stronger.
The MIQRO keeps up in the taste and feel department, but the IQ pulls away on the clouds.
Overall size
The IQ is small and portable, measuring three and a half inches tall, but the MIQRO is one of the smallest vaporizers on the market at two-thirds the overall size of the IQ. We can almost entirely conceal the IQ in an average sized fist, and it can share a pocket with keys and other items. The MIQRO, however, disappears in any adult-sized hand, and can get lost in a purse or bag.
Both vaporizers are easily pocketable, but the MIQRO is one of the smallest we’ve come across.
Different sized adjustable ovens
The IQ introduced a spherical oven spacer, called the pearl, that twists to reduce the oven size by thirty percent. It’s a unique feature that’s flexible enough to vaporize loads from one-third to one-half a gram, but it still needs help for anything smaller. The IQ is flexible and satisfying for the medium to heavy user but can be too much for lighter appetites.
The MIQRO’s oven is half the size of the IQ, and the redesigned oblong pearl gives the oven a range from one tenth to one quarter of a gram, so it’s better suited for microdosing and lighter, or occasional use. You’ll enjoy strong sessions with a fully packed oven, but if that’s not enough, you’ll quickly have to reach for a second battery.
While both the IQ and MIQRO have adjustable ovens, the IQ is geared more towards the medium to heavy user and the MIQRO is more for microdosing and personal use.
Battery life and charging
One of the reasons the MIQRO is considered a personal vaporizer for light use is the short battery life. Where the IQ can power through as much as four grams over 80 minutes of battery life, the MIQRO maxes out at a quarter of that, or one gram over 20 minutes. The MIQRO is perfect for a few solo sessions or the occasional hit, but the IQ can go a full day on one battery. Charge times for the IQ, four hours in the vaporizer or two hours in an external charger, are twice that of the MIQRO, which takes two hours to charge internally or 45 minutes in a charger.
If long battery life is important to you, the choice is easy. The IQ can vaporize four times as much as the MIQRO on a single charge.
Air flow and the flavor chamber
Both vaporizers have about the same draw restriction that varies based on how tightly the oven is packed, but the MIQRO feels like the air flow is opened up slightly with bigger holes in the mouthpieces and bottom of the oven. The IQ introduced the flavor chamber, a zirconia ceramic airpath that’s wide enough to hold some extra dry herbs to add flavor to your sessions. The MIQRO ditches the flavor chamber in favor of a slimmer zirconia ceramic tube that still cools the vapor and is easier to clean, but won’t hold any extra herbs.
Both vaporizers have an extended vapor path that cools and smoothes the vapor, but very few people pack the Flavor Chamber with herbs and we don’t expect it to be missed in the MIQRO.
Related: DaVinci MIQRO Review
Similar, intuitive controls
The IQ and MIQRO have identical on-board controls for smart paths, precision tuning and boost mode. However, the MIQRO’s smaller display can only show one number at a time instead of three, which creates two noticeable differences. First, while the IQ can show its temperature at a glance, the MIQRO has to scroll the numbers one at a time, taking three seconds to show the full temperature. Second, changing temperatures in precision mode takes a lot longer on the MIQRO. You can hold the ‘up’ button on the IQ to change the temperature from 300° F up to 430° F in just over three seconds, but it takes the MIQRO 31 seconds to do the same thing -- ouch.
The controls for both vaporizers are almost identical, but the limitations of the MIQRO’s smaller display make precision tuning a little cumbersome.
The IQ has a smartphone app
Only the DaVinci IQ has a Bluetooth-connected smartphone app, offering customization that gets out of the way when you’re done. You can toggle the vibration alerts, stealth mode and temperature scales, and check in for some help and instructional videos, but our favorite feature is customizing the smart paths any way we want. Out of the box there are four smart paths that each increase the temperature by 20⁰ F, but you’ll quickly reach for the app if you like to tinker with your sessions. For example, we like to spend the first five minutes of a session in the lower temperatures for flavor, and the last five minutes at the higher temperatures to finish strong. With the MIQRO you’re limited to four smart paths that only range 20 degrees.
While both vaporizers have smart technology built into them, the IQ offers a bit more flexibility to users that want to dial in their own custom smart paths, but the MIQRO is smart and offers all the control that you need.
Price
The IQ sits near the upper end of the portable vaporizer range with a price tag of $275, and the MIQRO’s basic package is almost budget priced at CAD$195. The MIQRO Explorer’s Package is positioned between the two at CAD$258 and comes with some cases and an extra battery to extend your on-the-go time.
The IQ costs almost twice as much as the MIQRO’s Basic Package, and price will definitely be the deciding factor for some.
Because we’re obsessed
We like to know everything about a vaporizer, even the trivial. Here’s a quick list of differences that don’t matter, but since we noticed, why not list them?
- The USB charge port is on the back of the IQ, but on the side of the MIQRO.
- The MIQRO’s loading dock is black, while the IQ’s is a mirrored finish.
- The IQ has more rounded corners on the end caps.
- The stir tool for the IQ is slightly wider than the MIQRO’s, and it has a slight lip on the point.
If you read this section give yourself a pat on the back. You can now hang at our nerdiest vaporizer parties!
Our take
The MIQRO looks like a smaller IQ, but it’s meant for a different crowd. The IQ vaporizer packs a large bowl and strong battery in a small package for all day portable use that can satisfy a medium to heavy user. But the MIQRO goes for the light user, or the growing market of people trying dry herb vaporizers for the first time that don’t need a heavy hitter. Both vapes bring high quality components to the table for fantastic vapor, and the DaVinci MIQRO’s friendly pricing will attract first-timers who want to start out with something better than an introductory product.