Cloudious 9 Hydrology 9 Vaporizer Review – iCloudious

How it Works

To load the Hydrology 9, turn the unit upside down and unscrew the lid on the bottom of the vaporizer to expose the heating chamber.  Load the chamber with your desired herbs and re-attach the bottom lid.

Now you will need to fill the Hydrology 9 with water, to do this remove the glass mouthpiece at the top of the device to expose the vapor pathway and fill it with water. However the company recommends not filling it more than halfway. Myself, I recommend filling it just over where the percolator (holes) are.

To turn on the Hydrology 9 press the power button on the front of the 3 times quickly, the lights in the chamber will flash to let you know it’s on.

A single press will cycle through the 5 available temperature settings. Once you select the temperature the device will automatically begin to heat. Remove the cap on the top of the glass mouthpiece and begin to take slow smooth draws.

Temperature Flexibility

The Hydrology 9 features 5 different temperatures which is indicated by the glowing LED in the vapor path:

Blue – Lowest
Yellow
Orange
Purple
Red – Highest

One of our biggest complaints is that while the Hydrology 9 does offer 5 pre-set temperatures, they actually do not let you know what those temperatures actually are.

If you have ever used vaporizers before, this can be very frustrating because you know what your preferred temperature range is and without knowing what the range is on the Hydrology 9, finding the right setting for you is trial and error. If you are looking for a simple device with some temperature flexibility, check out the Linx Blaze Wax Pen which features four temperature settings.

Vapor Quality

From a unit that takes its design features from water pipes we were expecting to see some pretty serious vapor production.

While the Hydrology 9 does produce some visible vapor, it really did not blow us away and in fact was quite average.

For $250 USD, it puts it right between units like the Arizer Solo 2 and the Crafty+, both which put out some of the best vapor quality in a portable vaporizer.

So when compared to units within the same price range, the Hydrology 9 is a bit underwhelming in the vapor production department.

The water filtration does help lessen irritation from draws, but don’t expect to be blowing big clouds. If you are looking for something with much more versatility, you could also have a look at the Source Orb 4 Signature.

Manufacturing Quality

The Cloudious 9 Hydrology 9 is a beautifully designed vaporizer, it looks classy and we could easily see ourselves displaying it proudly.

The biggest disappointment we found when I came to this units manufacturing quality is the heating element itself. Cloudious 9 spent so much time and effort to make a unique looking vaporizer but decided to use a very common ceramic heating element.

While there is nothing really wrong with this style of heating chamber, we feel like it is a bit of a missed opportunity for Cloudious 9 to innovate and create something of their own.  The rest of the device is innovative, so why stop at the heating element, which is arguably the most important. For many more variant coil options,  the Source Orb 4 Premium Kit is also something to consider.

The other thing with this type of heating element is that it is strictly conduction based, which offers less flavor during your overall session.

So while the overall design of the Cloudious 9 Hydrology 9 is aesthetically pleasing, the basic heating element which powers the entire device is a bit underwhelming which is a shame. We hope in future iterations they look into convection heating technology or at least a hybrid.

Battery Life

Unfortunately, the battery is not user-replaceable unlike the Focus V Tourist with its removable battery. The Hydrology 9 features 2000mAh internal battery and should last around 15 sessions or roughly an hour to an hour and a half.

We consider this just okay for a unit this size and charging usually takes 2 -  3 hours from completely dead, which is a bit excessive in our opinion and wish the charge was a bit faster for how long it lasts.

Portability

I really don’t see the Hydrology 9 as a true “portable vaporizer”, in fact, it is probably one of the largest portable vaporizers available, making a unit like the Solo 2 seem extremely portable in comparison.

The cylindrical shape makes it awkward to put in your pocket and because of the glass, you won’t want to toss it unprotected into a bag.

Cloudious 9 does offer its own leather carrying pouch which you can purchase separately but we really don’t see this unit being taken out for a day very often. For maximum portability check out the Yocan Evolve Plus that features a silicone wax container, it won’t leave you disappointed.

Ease of Use

The Hydrology 9 is fairly easy to actually use, it is more the setup and teardown that can be a bit of a nuisance, having to fill and empty water for each session can get old quick and I would not just let the water sit in the device for long amounts of time.

As much as the unit is designed to work with water, water and electronics don’t play nice and the paranoia in me just won’t let the water sit in there with the possibility of it ever leaking. Much better ease of use can also be found with Linx Hypnos Zero especially because it comes with its own carrying kit.

Discreetness

The Cloudious 9 Hydrology 9 is not the most discreet vaporizer design ever, but we really don’t think it was designed with this in mind.

From afar and while not in use, the Hydrology 9 could probably pass as a fancy water bottle, but the minute you use the Hydrology 9 people will pretty much have an idea of what you are doing.

The fact that you draw from this unit like a water pipe and it features bubbling water which can be seen through the glass means it will that many people may actually think you are smoking, which is the opposite of the conclusion we want them to draw.

Also, if you are in a bind, concealing the Hydrology 9 will require a magician’s precision to make it disappear from sight. The Linx Ember with it’s sleeker, slimmer body could be a great choice for you if you’re looking for something with great battery life and stainless steel body that can add to a lot of discreteness.

 

Overall Experience

While the Cloudious 9 Hydrology 9 is a gorgeous looking vaporizer and the water filtration is an obvious allure, we feel that fashion was put before function for the Hydrology 9.

Our main area of disappointment is with the heating chamber itself, which features a run of the mill ceramic conduction heating element. If the same amount of engineering that went into the device went into the actual heating chamber, which is responsible for producing vapor, perhaps results would have been more than just average.

Water filtration is certainly an interesting idea, but they are not the first to incorporate it in a vaporizer. In fact for close to the same price, you can get the Focusvape Tourist, which not only features a water filter attachment and a similar herb heating element, it also comes with a separate attachment which turns it into a portable e-rig.

So while the Cloudious 9 Hydrology 9 looks like a really cool device from the outside, it just did not perform as well as we had hoped.

Warning: Not Compatible with ZEUS Iceborn
This vaporizer is not compatible with the ZEUS Iceborn, a revolutionary new vapor cooling system designed to produce cooler draws and bigger clouds when connected to your vaporizer. The ZEUS Iceborn adds an additional 2 points to the vapor quality score of compatible units, so we highly recommend considering a whip-compatible vaporizer to take advantage of this stellar ZEUS accessory item. All compatible vaporizers will have a compatibility notice.

If you have questions about our review or just want to let us know what you think, feel free to drop us a comment below!  Thanks for reading and as always, keep vapin’!