The Ghost MV1 is here with a price point and vapor quality that beg for a Mighty vs Ghost MV1 comparison, which is quite a compliment. While these two vapes have a lot in common, they go about vaporizing very differently. The Mighty’s session style is easy and consistent, while the MV1’s more complicated one-hitter approach is liberating for solo vaping, but there’s more to it than that.
Buy the Mighty if...
You want fantastic vapor and usually vape an entire bowl in one sitting, or you want something easy to use and share. The Mighty is one of the most consistently excellent portable vaporizers you can find, and it’s still our first choice if we want a vape that’s easy to pass around a group of friends. If you don’t need a one-hitter, or don’t want a learning curve, the Mighty makes top-shelf vapor easy.
Buy the Ghost MV1 if...
You want fantastic vapor and like to take the occasional hit here and there, and don’t mind a little bit of a learning curve. People who like to tinker to find their sweet spot will love the MV1, but that also makes it harder to pass off to a friend without instruction. Removable batteries are a big selling point for some, including us.
Session vs On-Demand Explained
What’s a session vaporizer?
Session vaporizers are great if you like to take a few minutes and vape through an entire bowl in one sitting. Once heated up they’re as simple as sipping on a straw, and the vapor is predictable and consistent. However, if you only want one or two draws, session vaporizers are not the best choice. They have longer heat up and cool down times and are not as efficient or flavorful when only vaping a hit or two at a time. Session vapes really excel when you want to sit down and have a leisurely session.
What’s an on-demand vaporizer?
On-demand vaporizers heat up and cool down quickly so you can take single hits here and there, like a one-hitter vaporizer. You’re in complete control and can go through a single bowl at your own pace, whether it takes days or just five minutes. The downsides are inconsistent hits and the learning curve they come with. On-demand vaporizers have an instruction set for every hit, and the MV1’s includes holding a button in for several seconds, waiting for a buzz and then drawing until it shuts down.
Related: On-demand convection portables: worth the extra work?
Loading
The Mighty is easy and straightforward to load - take off the mouthpiece to reveal the oven, fill it and replace the mouthpiece. It even has dosing capsules and accessories to carry them so you can preload for the day and swap them out easily while you’re on the road. Ghost offers a similar crucible dispenser to make travel and loading easier, but the core of the loading system is more difficult. The MV1’s crucible and lid have to be held together while loading, and it’s usually a two-handed process.
You get used to loading the Ghost, but it’s still harder than most other vaporizers and makes picking the Mighty look easy.
Controls
The Mighty’s on-board controls are simple, complete and intuitive - you barely need instructions, while the Ghost MV1 baffles people who’ve never used it. We quickly got used to the MV1’s controls, but it took a couple of runs with the instructions to get there. We like the MV1’s set-it-and-forget-it app that isn’t required unless you want to customize, but it doesn’t offer much beyond what the Mighty vaporizer can do with its onboard controls.
Overall, the Mighty has a better control scheme with three buttons and a digital display that instinctively do it all.
Vapor quality
Both units excel here. The Mighty set the bar years ago for portables with tasty, cool, thick vapor that packs a punch. But the Ghost MV1 uses full convection heating to step it up and manages to stretch that great taste through more hits than the Mighty, and its heatsink cools the vapor better than any portable we’ve tried.
We have nothing but love for the Mighty, but vapor quality is one of the big reasons to get the MV1.
Learning curve
In addition to easy controls, the Mighty is a breeze to hit. Just draw on the mouthpiece without any thought at any speed you want for potent vapor. When we go to a party the Mighty is the vape of choice, since it’s easy to pass around without explanation. The Ghost MV1 is the opposite, with an adjustable mouthpiece, a sensitivity to draw speed and on-demand heating that can result in different hits for each person you pass it to. These variables allow you to dial it in just the way you want, but it takes a little time finding the sweet spot and it’s harder to share.
The Mighty is one of the easiest vapes to the use while the Ghost has a learning curve that will reward those that spend a few sessions mastering it.
Consistency
The Ghost MV1 is one of the more consistent on-demand vaporizers available, but we still get the occasional hiccup. The Mighty is perfect every time and wins this one easily.
Charging
The Mighty and Ghost MV1 vaporizer both use two 18650 (lithium) batteries to get the job done and tear through about the same number of bowls before needing a recharge, and they can be used while plugged in to charge (although Ghost discourages this since it can degrade batteries quicker). However, the MV1 uses a removable battery pack and can charge anywhere via USB instead of the Mighty’s internal batteries and required charger.
They’re not cheap, but Ghost gives you the option to purchase extra battery packs and an external fast-charger, and has the advantage here.
Efficiency
Both vaporizers are efficient, but in different ways. The MV1’s convection heating preserves taste longer and lets you come back to the same herbs much later if you want a break. It doesn’t cook between hits, but sometimes we feel like there is a little more to get out of the MV1 leftovers. The Mighty’s hybrid heating fully extracts over a session and herbs come out fully cooked all the way through, but the Mighty is at its most efficient when you vape an entire bowl in one session.
Both the Ghost and Mighty are some of the most efficient vapes on the market and the winner here depends on how you look at it.
Cleaning
Full convection vaporizers like the MV1 need to be wiped down more frequently than the Mighty because they can easily misfire when herbs stick to the screens or mouthpiece. Both vaporizers are easy to take apart for deep cleanings, and both have parts that shouldn’t be soaked in alcohol, but the Mighty’s bowl is limited to scrubbing while the MV1’s entire vapor path can be removed and soaked.
The Mighty is better if you hate cleaning (see our Mighty cleaning & maintenance guide for more on that), but the MV1 will appeal to people who like to keep their vapes spotless since the bowl can be removed and soaked.
Price
The Mighty (CAD$549.99) is about CAD$15 more than the MV1 (CAD$384.99), not much difference in this price range. Each vaporizer has reasonably priced reloading accessories, but only the MV1 offers extra batteries and an external charger, even if they are a bit pricey at CAD$77.99 each.
Our take
It’s nice to have choices, especially at the high-end where there are so few, and there’s no loser here with the Mighty and Ghost MV1. Both vapes really excel at delivering smooth, flavorful vapor. When making a choice between the Ghost and the Mighty vaporizers, we think the most important factors are your vaping style and ease of use. If you like to sit down for a session and vape for five to ten minutes, the Mighty vape delivers excellent vapor with ease and efficiency, and has been a POTV favorite for years. The Ghost MV1’s on-demand style offers more flexibility, while having a learning curve to get consistent results. It delivers excellent vapor on-demand and allows you to vape how you want, when you want, whether that’s one or two hits at a time or a session, at whichever pace you like.
