Grenco Science has been putting a lot of different devices out over the past few years.

Grenco’s last herbal vaporizer, the “G Pro”, was not worth the money in my opinion. Every G Pro I had the displeasure of using tasted pretty subpar, wasted my material compared to other vaporizers, and in general had shoddy internals and build design.

Personally, I have not been a fan of their vaporizers so far. However, I have now I found a product in their lineup that I actually like a fair bit. The G Pen Elite is a very small and discreet portable vaporizer released by Grenco Science.

The unit performs well, but how good and is it worth the money? Let’s find out.

This G Pen Elite review will be broken down into the following sections:

• Oven Capacity and Efficiency
• Vapor Path
• Vapor Quality
• Temperature Control and Unit Operation
• Portability and Build Quality
• Battery Life and Charging
• Accessories
• Warranty
• Pros/Cons Breakdown
• Final Subjective Assessment

Oven Capacity and Efficiency of the G Pen Elite

The oven capacity and efficiency section is going to break down how much material you can comfortably load into the oven, and once it is loaded how efficiently the device will vaporize your material.

The particular model I have only does dry herbs.

The G Pen Elite is advertised as convection heating, but I would definitely disagree with that statement. The unit produces vapor via conduction heating, which can be seen if you let the unit heat up with the mouthpiece off.

There isn’t anything wrong with a conduction heating vaporizer, but I would like to see the unit advertised truthfully in that regard.

With that said, the G Pen Elite’s oven capacity is in my opinion one of its biggest pros. Its ceramic oven is huge, and I mean huge. You can pack around a half gram of ground material more or less depending how fine you grind.

The oven also works pretty well with smaller loads as well. In general, I found it best to grind your material very finely as your material will have the most surface area in contact with the oven. Also packing down the material also helps to keep all the herb in contact with the heater.

With that said, the oven is relatively efficient. During the session I like to stir the load and repack it down periodically no more than twice a session. The Included stir tool works well for this on the go.

The unit will extract most of the active chemicals in your material and works well with small or large amounts.

However, there are more efficient models in the same price bracket that will stretch your herb further like the Arizer Air.

If efficiency is your main concern, the G Pen Elite is good, but there’s other models I would be leaning towards in that respect if that is your primary concern.

Vapor Path

The G Pen Elite is sporting a really short vapor path. The oven and mouthpiece are really close together not giving the vapor much time to cool down.

The vapor path thankfully doesn’t have anything foul like electronics, smelly and foul tasting gaskets, or anything of that nature. It’s just simply the ceramic oven and the mouthpiece, as seen in the picture below.

My G Pen Elite did come with a “factory” type taste out of the box, but a few burn off sessions remedied this quickly. Best practice for any vaporizer is to give a few burn off cycles to stay on the side of caution.

The device is really small and it is understandable why the vapor path is short, but it can be pretty uncomfortable as the session goes on. The vapor is pretty much going directly into your mouth without any time to cool down, which produces hot vapor.

Vapor Quality on the G Pen Elite

Ultimately, this is my biggest gripe with the G Pen Elite. The short vapor path creates super hot vapor.

I like to keep the temperature under 380F, anything higher and the mouthpiece gets substantially hot and can burn your lips. The mouthpiece will get hot with lower temperatures as well, but not as bad as if you went straight to 410F or anything in that range.

The vapor is pretty smooth and good considering it’s a conduction vaporizer and in its small form factor. Like I said before, the vapor will get a bit harsher as the session goes on especially as the mouthpiece heats up.

6-8 minutes was my typical session time as the mouthpiece gets really hot to the lips if the unit is on for a while without any intermission to cool down.

Flavor is okay, not bad but it’s okay. It’s a conduction vaporizer, so the herb will taste spent and woody very quickly. The first few hits are nice though, but that’s par for the course with pretty much any conduction vaporizer.

Temperature Control and Unit Operation

To power on the G Pen Elite, simply tap the power button 5 times (similar to most wax vaporizers on the market).

I love the LED display on the unit. It clearly displays the temperature and battery life and is clearly visible indoor and outdoors. Sometimes outdoors I need to hold my hand over it as the sun’s glare can obstruct the display as seen below.

I really like the LED interface, and is it is overall cleanly executed. The temperature can be adjusted by the two tactile buttons on the right side of the G Pen Elite. The top one will raise the temperature and the bottom will lower it.

Once you have selected your desired temperature, hold the power button to begin heating the oven.

The oven also gets to temperature really fast! I can reach my desired temperature of 380F in about 25 seconds. Much faster than pretty much any of my current vaporizers.

The G Pen Elite offers a full temperature spectrum with a maximum temperature of 428F. The fact that this unit in its form factor provides adjustable temperature like this gives it a big thumbs up for temperature control.

Personally, I found myself parked in the 350-380 range. I didn’t find myself going higher than that as I found the vapor unpleasant for me.

The Pax 2 is a more expensive, discrete conduction vaporizer. While the Pax 2 has the upper hand on the G Pen Elite on pretty much everything, this is something the Elite actually has the upper hand on. The full temperature spectrum and and quick heat up time is big pro for a unit of its size and price.

Portability and Build Quality

Ultimately, portability is the reason why I would recommend the G Pen Elite to someone. If you are looking for something that is super portable and discrete and won’t break the bank, this a great option.

The design is pretty ergonomic and fits big and small hands alike. Likewise, due to its small size, the unit will slide into your pocket no problem.

This combined with the quick heat up time makes this a great discrete unit. You can quickly heat up the unit, take a few puffs and put it away.

This really is a portable vape, and I really wouldn’t recommend it to someone who would be primarily using it at home. This is the out and about unit, I found the best times I’ve used this unit has been during walks in the woods, riding my longboard, etc. Essentially this unit will compliment any outdoor activity you would like to use cannabis with. The large oven, and small portable discrete form factor makes it a true portable unit.

The G Pen Elite feels pretty good for being a primarily comprised of plastic and rubbery materials on the exterior. It’s super comfortable in the hand and doesn’t feel cheap which is good. Something rattles when I shake the unit, I believe its the buttons on the side. It’s not a big deal, but it’s just something I have to inform you guys about.

Battery Life and Charging

The battery life on the G Pen Elite is fantastic for a portable unit. In general, I found myself getting about 5 sessions off of a battery.

The fact this unit performs for so long is another thing to consider if you are looking for a good portable to get you through the day. 5 sessions is more than enough to get me through a whole day if I’m away from home the entire time.

Likewise, 5 sessions is plenty of battery life if you’re just sitting around with some friends and passing it around. Obviously in that case the only thing holding you back is the hot mouthpiece and giving it time to cool down periodically.

From a dead battery you can find yourself having a fully charged unit in approximately 2 hours. It isn’t the fastest charger, but its not bad considering how much you get out of the battery.

I wish the battery was replaceable, but it isn’t that big of a deal not having replaceable batteries.

The G Pen Elite uses a simple micro USB cable, which is my favorite type of charger since it’s a pretty universal charger for most electronic devices like phones, tablets, battery packs etc. If you lose the charger, you don’t have to worry about ordering some expensive proprietary charger.

Accessories

Besides the unit itself, you will receive the following in the package:

• 1 G Card
• 1 G Pen Tool
• 1 Micro-USB Charging Cable
• 1 G Cleaning Brush

The G Card is pretty cool for grinding up some material in a pinch and the stir tool is actually pretty useful when on the go.

The included brush should be used every time to reload the unit and brush away old material in the oven and mouthpiece.

Warranty

The electronic components are covered under a 1 year warranty after you register your device. 1 year is pretty much the industry standard warranty, but obviously I like to see companies stand behind their products for a bit longer than 1 year.

Pros/Cons Breakdown

Pros

• Very small and discreet form factor.
• Huge oven capacity.
• Quick heat up time.
• Long battery life.
• Temperature spectrum and LED unit interface.

Cons

• Hot mouthpiece.
• Short vapor path.
• Factory taste out of the box.

Where to Buy the G Pen Elite?

If you want to pick this unit up, we recommend buying it from Vape World. Vape World is an awesome merchant that we have personally been working with and recommending for years now.

The shipping is free, they will throw in some bonus items, and they are regularly running sales that will help save you some money too.

Click Here to check out the G Pen Elite at VapeWorld.com

Final Subjective Assessment of the G Pen Elite

When this unit arrived at my door, I expected to hate it and trash it in this review. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

This isn’t the best vaporizer on the market or in its price bracket by far, but I feel it will appeal to a portion of the portable vaporizer market.

Anyone looking for Pax 2 type portability and discreteness without the high price tag I feel would benefit from the G Pen Elite. The Pax 2 overall has better build quality and vapor quality by far, but the G Pen Elite isn’t bad in those respects either.

It performs well for the price, and considering its small size, quick heat up time, large oven, and having a full temperature spectrum, this definitely makes this a vape worth having if you are looking for something as portable as the Pax 2 under $200.

However, if you are looking for a vape that is primarily for home use in this price range, I would like to direct you to some of my recommendations for great efficiency, and vapor quality:

The Arizer Air for $169.95

and the Boundless CFX for $169.99

Both of these vapes will blow you out of the water for home use, and they both come in at very affordable price brackets like the G Pen Elite. We’ve done full write ups on both vaporizers, be sure to check them out if you’re looking for a portable that isn’t necessarily for discrete public use.

In closing, if you’re looking for an affordable super discrete portable vaporizer, the G Pen Elite has what you want. It doesn’t have the best vapor quality, but its battery life, large oven size, and portability make it a great option for someone always on the go.

>>Click Here if You’re Looking to Buy the G Pen Elite<<