In short, yes it really is. My Venty arrived the day I got back from hospital the day after brain surgery. Needless to say I didn’t want to risk coughing…

So I opened the airflow to 100% and proceeded. Immediately the experience was much more like using a whip with my Volcano hybrid than my Mighty, which at times can feel like a bit of effort. What I will say, is that because it was so smooth it caught me off guard with how much vapour I hit, so ended up coughing anyway. Though that was easy to adjust to straight away. Though this isn’t a fair comparison with a 3 year old device vs a brand new one, but the flavour from the vapour does seem a leap ahead of what I remember the Mighty being like new.

The one downside for me was that I could easily take much larger amounts of vapour without realising before being too late and having to cough. Something that generally would be seen as a plus, just be careful so it doesn’t catch you off guard like it did with me! Initially I was impressed by the vapour and how much smoother it was followed by the speed of going through a dose. However when I emptied my first few dosing capsules it became clear that there was still a lot left in the material. It would typically be a lot darker when I’m finished in the Mighty. So this is where dialling in the air flow during your dose really gets every last bit out. If you want a quick effective dose on the go without hanging around for too long, then keep the airflow all the way open and accept a slightly lighter AVB. If you want every last drop so to speak, enjoy the start of your session with it open and for the last 20% you can then proceed to close it all the way down to just above 1 out of 3. I find this tightens things up enough that it enables extraction of the remaining AVB effectively.

If you are here because you’e got a Venty and had the E04 error then I feel your pain. For me as with anything like this, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time and I’m sure that’s the case for you. As mentioned before I’m in recovery from a very complex operation that is going to take a while to recover from, and as such I’m relying on this as my go to day to day. I sat down having loaded my device, heated it up and had three pulls before suddenly I noticed it had dropped temp. When I looked down there it was, the E04. I hadn’t just dropped it, it had been used with no issues the night before and been fully charged since. I was just a little in shock.

I had seen the issues others had had online, but figured that since updates had been issued and as mine could have been an older production model, that I may have got away with it. Alas that wasn’t the case. I turned it off and let it relax and have some alone time by itself before trying again an hour later. It would heat up for a few seconds and then would E04 on me and that was that.

The first steps to take once you have an E04 error are to reset your device which you can do by holding the power button for 10 seconds, or by connecting it to the app. In some cases this has fixed the E04 error, but for me personally would leave me feeling uneasy that another one was around the corner.

The second step for your Venty E04 error is to carry out a software update, which can be done easily via bluetooth or connected via USB C to the app. Again once doing this, some devices drop the E04 error and return to normal operation.

Sadly for me, neither of these things worked. So the next step was to send it back to Storz and Bickel! To return your E04 Error Venty to Storz and Bickel you have to make sure you have an account registered with them on their website, and to add your Venty as a device to your account. For this you will need your devices serial number, the price you paid and proof of purchase (I supplied a screen shot of the confirmation email from MagicVaporizers). Once you’ve submitted these it will need to be manually verified which can take a few working days. So I would advise doing this as soon as you receive your Venty to avoid any delay should you need a repair. Once your device is confirmed, you can then submit for repair/ RMA where you will be sent a delivery label and instructions for customs forms you have to fill out etc. This was simple enough and was only required to send the device without the cooling unit, nothing else.

This was easy to drop off at a locker in a local Homebase. From there you could track it with their tracking info and within your account to see once it was received. Within a day of them confirming they had received the device they had confirmed dispatch of a replacement. Which despite coming from abroad arrived within two days back to the UK.

So is the E04 error ridiculous and infuriating?
Yes.

Did they do a great job at efficiently handling it and sorting a replacement? Yes.

Take what you will from that, this is my experience and they may well change their processes so always worth checking for any of their latest announcements. I know there had been another firmware update rumour that could supposedly prevent this error, however i’m yet to see anything specific confirmed.

As this is primarily a medical device here in the UK, accessibility is relevant to many. Whether it’s like I mentioned at the start relating to ease of use outside when it’s cold/ wet, or ease of loading with arthritis or other related issues, little design choices can make a huge difference to us. So I’ll do my best to consider the device from this aspect and reflect on the benefits I’ve personally found.

Firstly the screen is a massive step up in terms of brightness and font size. Those of you with visual impairments should find this much easier to read, however you may need to use the app to adjust the screen brightness as it is very bright in dark rooms and could create glare. Even without visual impairments it can be a bit much in a darker room. Another benefit of the screen compared to the Mighty is the colour change when reaching temperature. The temp is shown in orange whilst heating and turns green when temperature is reaching. This makes it easy to register when the device is ready at a glance. Heat up time - This is a huge one for me, not just for initial heat up but also between temperature steps. This thing heats up far faster than the mighty meaning much less time spent outside or generally less time taking your dosage. I find it difficult to squeeze in a 10-15 minute dosage at times, so being able to shave minutes off of that makes a huge difference to me when managing my day to day symptoms.

Ergonomics - I’m used to the Mighty which is a relatively large device, so although the Venty is also quite large, the new form factor is a pleasant upgrade that makes it much nigh in the hand as well as in the pocket. I thought it would be harder to get used to, but honestly the thinner profile is a great improvement on the Mighty which is quite wide. Cleaning - It is easier to maintain than the mighty due to the design of the cooling unit, as well as the area around the chamber itself. If you don’t use dosing capsules, it can be easy for flower to fall into the gaps where the cooling unit screws into place. Then when you put it on, it compresses these and you end up with a build up that can be a pain to get rid of. Though this issue is still present due to the way the cooling unit locks into place, there’s a lot more space around it meaning it’s easier to get a brush in and clear it out. Further more, the way that the cooling unit comes apart itself is much easier and doesn’t take as much effort as the mighty when you have a lot of build up.

Pros:

Quick heat up time means less time standing around outside sometimes, plus the temperature step up changes are so fast. So over all a much more efficient experience.

Airflow - Customisable airflow is brilliant, and having had to temporarily go back to the Mighty whilst waiting for my Venty replacement, it really highlighted how much of a difference there is with the Venty, something I had clearly already got used to and was taken for granted.

Device profile. It’s not a small device but the fact it can still fit in my old mighty hard case has been brilliant, especially as I can now also safely secure my flower in the same case where as before the mighty took up the whole thing.

Flavour/ Vapour quality. There has been an improvement in the quality of the vapour and flavour production with this device. Easier to clean out and disassemble vs the Mighty,

Cons:

Though I love the variable airflow, the dial itself gets easily coated in reclaim making it seize into place, or it means you get it over your thumb when adjusting mid session. If you are like me and will close the airflow down a lot near the end of a dose, and then forget will find it very hard if not impossible to open it back up during their next session once the reclaim has solidified. So you’ll be stuck on the tighter airflow off the bat which may be a bit much for you depending on preferences.

Top heavy easy to knock over. Storz and Bickel love making devices that are easy to knock over out the box (Looking at you Mighty with the little orange tool trick). Seeing as it makes it much easier to load the device by placing it on a table upright, this could be a bit tricky for those with difficulties with motor control. Having said that it would be easy to fix with a base.

E04 Error. This is a pretty big con and I’ve addressed it above if you want more details on my experience and the return process. But long story short, since launch the Venty has had an E04 error that is essentially the ‘Red ring of death’ of the device, meaning it’s game over once this happens. It’s unclear what causes this, though Storz and Bickel were swift to offer replacements. As they are renowned for the quality of their aftercare service, you do have the peace of mind that if you should be unlucky enough to experience this error, that you will get it resolved. It may just take a couple weeks.

Price. It’s a costly device, so when you are faced with the risk of E04 errors meaning you could have to go without your medical device, it can be daunting, and if I didn’t have my Mighty as a backup I’d have had serious problems.

Logo wear. I’ve seen this mentioned elsewhere, so I know I’m not alone though this doesn’t actually impact the usage of the device in anyway so it’s really not that much of a problem, Where the ‘Venty’ logo is written also happens to be where my thumb naturally sits on the device. As a result it’s worn the colour off the middle of the logo. Not a problem at all really but just something I noticed.