The Puffco Pivot wins, 8.3 to 7.8, and costs well under the Proxy. It's the easier, more pocketable way to get Puffco's 3D chamber flavor. The Puffco Proxy makes sense if you want app control and a base that moves between glass pieces.
Key differences
- Price: $150 US list price for the Pivot, $280 for the Proxy.
- Form: the Pivot is an 85 g pen. The Proxy is a 140 g base that sits inside Proxy-compatible glass.
- Proxy kits: the Pipe Kit adds a Sherlock-style glass pipe, and the Core Kit swaps it for an aluminum cup, silicone mouthpiece and three terp pearls. The base is the same in both.
- Control: four presets on one button on both, plus Bluetooth app control on the New Proxy.
- Charging: the Proxy keeps working while plugged in, as long as some charge remains. The Pivot doesn't.
- Chamber warranty: six months on the Proxy, one month on the Pivot. Both bases get two years.
Flavor and vapor
Both use Puffco's 3D ceramic chamber, which heats your concentrate by conduction. The Proxy scored slightly higher on vapor, 7.8 to 7.5, and its glass helps. The Sherlock pipe gives vapor a longer path to cool, and a water-filtered Proxy piece smooths it further.
The Pivot's silicone mouthpiece sits right on the chamber, with no water to cool the vapor. Flavor is clean and terp-forward on the lower presets, and green gave us the best balance. Push it to white, or run dab after dab, and the vapor turns hot. Puffco's manual caps the Pivot at four heat cycles in a row. Live resin and rosin tasted best to us on the low settings.
Heat settings and the app
The Pivot's presets run from 260°C on blue to 307°C on white. The Proxy's four factory presets sit lower and closer together, from 254°C to 285°C.
Both have Boost Mode, triggered with a double-click once the chamber is ready. On the Pivot it adds 15 seconds and a 10°C bump. On the New Proxy you can tune it in the app.
The New Proxy adds the Puffco Connect app for custom temperatures, session lengths and light colors. Settings save to the base, and the connection held reliably in our testing, so your phone can stay in your pocket. The Pivot skips the app and Bluetooth entirely, which keeps it simple.
Portability and daily use
The Pivot scored 9.5 on portability against 8.0, and 9.0 on ease of use against 8.0. It slips into a pants pocket without a case, and one button does everything. Flip the mouthpiece open, load a small dab, double-click and draw.
The Proxy takes more care, since its Sherlock glass is fragile and there's no carry case in the box. Puffco's Proxy Core swaps the glass for an aluminum cup and silicone mouthpiece if you want it fully pocketable. The Core only fits the New Proxy base, not the original. Build quality ties at 8.5, with solid aluminum on both.
Battery and charging
Puffco rates both for about 15 heat cycles per charge. On the Pivot that figure applies to the blue preset, and each Boost counts as an extra cycle. The Pivot recharges in about 60 minutes over USB-C. The Proxy takes about 2 hours, but you can keep dabbing while it charges. Neither battery is user-replaceable, so plan your charging around your routine.
Which should you buy?
- Dabbing on the go: the Pivot, an 85 g pen that vanishes in a pocket.
- Glass collectors: the Proxy, which drops into bubblers, pipes and artist pieces.
- Custom temperatures: the Proxy, through the Puffco Connect app.
- Tighter budgets: the Pivot, Puffco's cheapest way into the 3D chamber.
- Cooler hits: the Proxy in water-filtered glass, or the Pivot on Puffco's Glass Adapter.
The Pivot is the top pick in our best concentrate vaporizers ranking. Our eRig cleaning guide covers upkeep for both.
