The Tempest 2 is the best ball vape we've tested, and it tops both our best ball vaporizers and best butane vaporizers rankings. Mad Heaters packs ball vape extraction into a 46 g titanium body, and one heat cycle cleared a full 0.15 g bowl for us. The flavor beats every other battery-free portable we've tested.
We scored it 9.0 overall, with 9.6 for vapor quality and 9.8 for build quality, after weeks of daily sessions. Ease of use (7.8) is its weakest score: you need a torch or induction heater, a few sessions of practice and some patience while the cap cools between bowls.
What sets the Tempest 2 apart from most manual vapes is its visual heat gauge. Instead of relying only on audible clicks (which tell you "ready" but not "how hot"), the Tempest 2 adds a three-line indicator that climbs as the head heats up. It shows you roughly how hot the cap is getting, so you can stop at the same point every session. That takes most of the guesswork out of battery-free vaping.
At $225 US list price, its closest rival is the Vestratto Tornado 8.4 ($208). The Tempest 2 tastes cleaner and weighs 39 g less.
Essentials included, heat source sold separately
The Tempest 2 ships with everything you need to vape except a heat source. Our review box held the assembled vaporizer with 3 mm zirconia balls pre-installed, a medium spiral cooling unit and spare O-rings (6x1 and 8x1). It also had 3 chamber screens, 2 ball screens, a C-tool for adjusting screen depth, a replacement click disc and extra zirconia balls. Current boxes swap a few of the spares: Mad Heaters now lists two spare bowl screens, two ball screens, a setting tube, a bowl-screen tool and a 2 mm screwdriver bit.
The standalone vape comes with no torch, no induction heater and no carrying case, so budget for a heat source separately (Mad Heaters also sells accessory bundles). The optional Reload storage system (with debowler and magnet) and the fitted Tempest 2 case are sold through Mad Heaters and worth adding if they're in stock.
What's in the box: spare screens, O-rings, zirconia balls, a C-tool and a setting tube. No torch or heater.
Grade 5 titanium and a replaceable heat shield
The Tempest 2's main parts are machined from Grade 5 titanium, the same alloy used in aerospace and medical implants. The heater and indicator parts and the screens are stainless steel, and the seals are FKM. At 122 mm long and 18.5 mm in diameter, it has a cigar-like profile that sits comfortably between two fingers.
The aluminum heat shield (standard) wraps the inner condenser without direct contact, keeping the exterior manageable during sessions. Mad Heaters also offers wood and full-titanium heat shield options. The wood version drops total weight to 43 g.
The mouthpiece screws on, the heating cap threads in, and the chamber screen locks into 3 depth settings. After weeks of daily heat cycles, nothing on our unit has loosened or rattled. Build quality is the best we've handled in any battery-free portable, and there are only a handful of parts to keep track of.
Taken apart: heating cap, zirconia balls and ball screen, titanium stem, heat shield, mouthpiece and spiral cooling insert.
Convection flavor that rivals desktop ball vapes
The Tempest 2 uses convection-heavy heating powered by a thermal matrix of 3 mm zirconia balls inside the cap. These balls absorb heat from your torch or induction heating source, then release it as superheated air passes through on each draw. If you're unfamiliar with how this compares to other heating methods, the short version: hot air flows through the cannabis rather than a hot surface touching it. In our sessions, that gave noticeably cleaner flavor than conduction vapes.
Heat-up took as little as 15 seconds with an aggressive torch in our sessions.
The visual heat gauge is the Tempest 2's defining feature. A bright green pointer moves across three etched lines on the cap as heat builds. Stopping at the same line each time gave us very similar draws from session to session, and the heat settings below show what each line delivers. Never point the flame at the indicators themselves.
The green pointer climbs across the etched lines as the cap heats.
The adjustable chamber holds 0.1 g, 0.15 g, or 0.2 g depending on screen position. At the default 0.15 g setting, we achieved complete single-cycle extraction. Packing loosely is critical since hot air needs to flow freely through the cannabis for proper convection extraction.
To set the adjustable airflow, loosen the mouthpiece and rotate the heat shield to open or close the air intake. Then tighten the mouthpiece again. The cap has its own airflow setting, which you change while everything is cool: loosen the top screw, turn the induction sleeve and retighten. Wide open, the Tempest 2 has startlingly low draw resistance for a torch vape. Even fully closed, it draws easier than most battery portables. This openness makes it a true on-demand vape that works just as well on its own or through a water piece with a 10 mm, 14 mm or 18 mm adapter.
You can swap the stock zirconia balls for ruby or stainless steel, and each one changes how much heat the cap holds. Stainless steel is the heaviest fill and holds heat the longest. Ruby is the lightest and holds the least. Swapping is easy: the twist-to-lock ball screen comes out with the included bit or a 2 mm flathead screwdriver.
The stock 3 mm zirconia balls sit behind a twist-to-lock ball screen.
Best Tempest 2 heat settings
The gauge shows relative heat, not degrees, so these are the lines we stop at.
| Gauge line | What we got |
|---|---|
| First line | Light, terpene-forward draws |
| Second line | Dense, full-flavored clouds and a thorough extraction, our sweet spot |
| Third line | Maximum output and coffee-dark AVB |
| Reheating a warm cap | Stop about one line earlier, since the pointer keeps creeping after you pull the heat |
On induction, Mad Heaters' starting point for stock zirconia on the YLL 3.0 is 80 watts for 35 to 40 seconds, with the chamber stop about 3 mm from the bottom. On our YLL 3.0 at 100 watts, we rarely needed a full 60-second timer to reach the second gauge line.
Going into a YLL 3.0 induction heater, set here to 100 watts on a 60-second timer.
No battery means no charging downtime
The Tempest 2 has no battery, no electronics and no firmware. There's no cell to wear out, and the parts that do wear, like seals and screens, are simple to replace. Mad Heaters backs it with a one-year warranty against material and workmanship defects. For cannabis users tired of degrading lithium cells and planned obsolescence, this is the core appeal of going battery-free.
You'll need an external heat source. Mad Heaters' manual allows a dual, triple or medium single-flame torch. An induction heater (YLL 3.0 or Ispire Wand) adds consistency and one-handed convenience at an additional cost worth budgeting for.
The trade-off is cooldown time. After a session, the zirconia balls retain heat for several minutes. The click mechanism won't re-engage until the cap cools. Rapid reloading takes patience or the magnetic Reload 3 accessory, which lets you handle the hot cap safely between loads. Its storage pots keep your ground cannabis ready for the next bowl.
At 46 g, the Tempest 2 is easy to carry, and Mad Heaters' slim purpose-built case keeps it protected on the go. Your torch or induction heater travels separately.
Loading takes 10 seconds but dialing in takes a few sessions
Loading the Tempest 2 is simple: scoop cannabis into the titanium chamber, thread the cap on, apply heat, and draw when the gauge reaches your preferred line. Our ball vape usage guide covers general technique, but the Tempest 2's visual gauge makes it more forgiving than most in its class.
Scooping ground cannabis straight into the open titanium bowl.
Cleaning is equally easy. The stem, spiral cooling insert and chamber come apart in seconds without tools. For a deep clean, soak the metal parts in 99% isopropyl alcohol for at least 30 minutes, keeping any wooden shield out of it. Unlike a DynaVap cap, the Tempest 2's assembled head, indicators and all, can go in the soak. Rinse well, shake out any trapped liquid, then follow the manual's empty-bowl drying step before your next session. The FKM O-rings handle alcohol fine, and the simpler build means fewer parts to track than the original Tempest.
The learning curve sits around 3-5 sessions for most users. You'll need to experiment with heat placement (torch) or timing (induction heater) to find your extraction sweet spot. The visual gauge shortens this process compared to click-only vapes.
Tempest 2 vs Tornado, Anvil, HyperDyn and M7
| Vaporizer | Our score | Heat feedback | Bowl | Weight | US list price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tempest 2 | 9.0 | Visual gauge and clicks | 0.1 to 0.2 g | 46 g | $225 |
| Anvil | 8.7 | Clicks | 0.1 g | 65 g | $229 |
| DynaVap HyperDyn | 8.5 | Click | 0.25 g | 55 g | $229 |
| Vestratto Tornado | 8.4 | Temperature-sensing chamber | About 0.3 g | 85 g | $208 |
| DynaVap M7 | 8.4 | Click | 0.1 g | 33 g | $89 |
| DynaVap UniDyn | 7.8 | Click | 0.1 g | 30 g | $119 |
Tempest 2 vs DynaVap HyperDyn
The DynaVap HyperDyn 8.5 costs $229 and scores 8.5 to the Tempest 2's 9.0. It holds more (0.25 g) and has 10 mm and 14 mm water pipe tapers built into the mouthpiece. The Tempest 2 tastes cleaner, draws far easier and took us 3 to 5 sessions to dial in, against 5 to 10 for the HyperDyn. Our Tempest 2 vs HyperDyn comparison has the full verdict.
The Tempest 2 beside the DynaVap HyperDyn, two takes on the torch vape.
Tempest 2 vs Vestratto Tornado
The Vestratto Tornado is the other heavy hitter in battery-free vaping, and it scores 8.4 to the Tempest 2's 9.0. It stores heat in a CopperCore oven and pushes vapor through a secondary atomizer, which gave us the thickest clouds of any battery-free portable, especially through water. The Tempest 2 answers with cleaner flavor, a gauge that's quicker to learn and about half the weight (46 g against 85 g). Pick the Tornado for density through glass and the Tempest 2 for taste. Our Tempest 2 vs Tornado comparison has the full verdict.
Tempest 2 and Vestratto Tornado to scale: 46 g against 85 g.
Tempest 2 vs Anvil
The Anvil 8.7 from Vestratto weighs 65 g and uses a conduction-convection hybrid approach, with a CopperCore thermal battery that holds heat for a long draw window. The Tempest 2 extracts in fewer draws with noticeably better flavor clarity. We also found its visual gauge made our favorite heat level easier to hit again than the Anvil's clicks. The Anvil also lacks swappable ball media, limiting long-term customization. Our Tempest 2 vs Anvil comparison has the full breakdown.
Anvil and Tempest 2 to scale: 65 g against 46 g.
Tempest 2 vs DynaVap M7
The DynaVap M7 8.4 costs a fraction of the Tempest 2's price and weighs just 33 g. Its 0.1 g stainless steel chamber heats in about 5-7 seconds, making it the better choice for pure efficiency and tight budgets.
The Tempest 2 outclasses it in vapor density, flavor complexity, and extraction thoroughness. Where the M7 needs 2-3 heat cycles to fully extract, the Tempest 2 does it in one. The visual gauge, adjustable chamber, and swappable ball media provide a depth of customization the M7 cannot offer. If you're stepping up from any DynaVap, you'll notice an immediate leap in vapor quality.
Beside the stainless DynaVap M7, which weighs 33 g.
Who should buy the Tempest 2
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Flavor-first enthusiasts who want the best-tasting vapor from a battery-free portable. Its convection-dominant zirconia matrix gave us the cleanest flavor of any battery-free portable we've tested.
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DynaVap upgraders ready for ball vape extraction without committing to a full desktop. The Tempest 2 uses the same torch and IH heating you already know but delivers a class above in density and flavor.
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Customization tinkerers who enjoy dialing in their experience. Three chamber sizes, swappable ball media, adjustable airflow, and the choice between torch and induction heating give the Tempest 2 more ways to tune your session than most portables.
At 46 g, it sits in the hand like a slim cigar.
Skip it if:
- You want bowl after bowl. The cap stays hot for several minutes, and the click won't reset until it cools.
- You don't want to buy a torch or an induction heater. Neither comes in the box.
- You want to dial in an exact temperature. The gauge shows relative heat, not degrees.
- You're new to torch vapes and on a budget. The DynaVap M7 costs $89 and is the easiest to learn in our best butane vaporizers ranking.
Final verdict
The Tempest 2 earns the top spot on both our best butane vaporizers and best ball vaporizers rankings. You get desktop-caliber flavor from a 46 g titanium body, paired with a visual heat gauge that makes good sessions easy to repeat. The learning curve and cooldown period are real trade-offs. But if you're willing to invest the time, nothing in this form factor tastes better.
