Whether you’re looking for a fine grind for vaping, a coarse grind for smoking, or something in-between, this guide breaks down the top options available in 2024. A good grinder will instantly enhance your herb preparation process, overall experience, vapor production, and potency of the effects. Read more ↓
How we test vaporizers
Our team of expert testers has been evaluating vaporizers since 2010, spanning over 2,000 devices, from portable to battery-free vaporizers and everything in between. Each vaporizer undergoes a comprehensive process, with testing to assess performance, vapor quality, battery life, and durability. We use specialized equipment like thermal cameras for heat distribution analysis and conduct full teardowns to inspect air paths and internal components, ensuring safety and build quality. By testing each device with the same herb or concentrate and at constant temperatures, we maintain consistent benchmarks across all reviews.
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Our reviews are fully independent, backed by affiliate revenue rather than brand sponsorships, allowing us to remain unbiased. With deep roots in the vaporizer community, we integrated user feedback and expert insights to reflect real-world usage in our evaluations. We share transparent, long-term testing results, including follow-ups on our YouTube channel, where you can see each device in action and in-depth reviews.
SLX V2.5 Grinder
The SLX was already the best grinder around, and the V2.5 (Released early 2020) makes it even better. It retains all the positives of the original while improving the build quality. It has a smooth grinding action that does not require any effort, it grinds the herbs to a perfectly fluffy consistency, and it never needs to be cleaned. So, regardless of which kind of vaporizer you have, the SLX will be the perfect companion for it.Read full review
Tectonic9
The Tectonic9 is a manual grinder with an electronic dispensing action that makes it easy to use while keeping it portable-friendly. The grind consistency was good, and you can drop the herbs directly into your vaporizer. However, the additional complications involved with operating this grinder, plus the fact that it needs to be charged, means that it is not for everyone.Read full review
Aerospaced Grinder
The Aerospaced Grinder’s only job is to make sure your herb is ground perfectly – and it does the job way better than expected. Made with 6061 aerospace aluminum, it’s definitely built to last. While it does require cleaning after a few uses, the Aerospaced grinder’s magnetic seal and kief catcher ensure that no herb is wasted in the grinding process.Read full review
Kozo Herb Grinder
The Kozo Grinder is one of Amazon’s best-selling herb grinders and for a good reason. At only $20, this 4 piece portable grinder sports a heavy-duty aluminum body, a non stick grinding chamber, and trapezoidal teeth that shred your herb to a medium grind.Read full review
Comparison
SLX V2.5 Grinder
|
Tectonic9
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Aerospaced Grinder
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Kozo Herb Grinder
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score (1-5) |
- Current Review |
4.9 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
3.9 |
| Retail Price |
$59.00 |
$59.00 |
$40.00 |
$20.00 |
|
| Release Date | December 2019 | August 2019 | June 2021 | June 2021 | |
| Compatible With | - | Dry Herb | Dry Herb | Dry Herb | Dry Herb |
| Body Material | - | Aluminum | Aluminum | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Battery Type | - | Internal | |||
| Battery Capacity | - | 320mAh | mAh | mAh | |
| Charge Time | - | 1-2 Hours | |||
| Charger Type | - | Micro-USB | |||
| Warranty | - | 1 Year |
What are Herb/Weed Grinders?
Herb grinders, aka weed grinders, do exactly as they say, they grind up the herb into a vaporizer-friendly consistency. This is necessary since large nugs won’t fit into most vaporizers and even if they could, they won’t get vaporized completely. Grinders can be either manual or electric, each of which has their pros and cons that we’ll get into later. However, I can tell you now that the grinder is the most important accessory to any vaporizer because you can’t use the vaporizer without it. So, now that you know that, let’s take a closer look at herb grinders.
Why Is It Important To Use a Good Grinder?
A grinder will break down the herb and give it a greater surface area so that it better fills the oven of the vaporizer. This allows the oven to evenly heat the herb, which improves the flavor and vapor production of the herb. Thoroughly ground herb also provides a better high because the terpenes and cannabinoids present in the herb are released more efficiently. Well ground herb also improves the airflow of the vaporizer and makes it easier to access the vapor because the heated air can pass through the ground-up herb more easily.
Manual VS Electric Grinders
Manual or electric is the main concern here since they are the two types of weed grinders from which to choose . Manual grinders require some elbow grease of course, but they are pretty easy to use and they have a few advantages:
- You never have to worry if they are charged or not
- They include their own receptacle to catch and distribute the ground herb
- The good ones rarely, if ever, need cleaning
- Most of them include kief catchers to collect some of the most potent parts of the herb
- They are more portable-friendly than electric grinders
Electric grinders are not as popular as manual grinders since they don’t perform as many of the same functions as manual grinders do. Plus they are more high-maintenance since they need to be cleaned and charged regularly. Still, they do have a few advantages over manual grinders:
- Can be easily used by anyone
- It’s a little easier to calibrate the consistency of the grind
Overall, manual grinders are the way to go, even for newbie vapers. Electric grinders should only be used by people who have trouble using manual grinders.
Glossary
- Dry herb vaporizer – A device that heats up—but does not burn—weed to create a vapor that is inhaled by the user.
- Draw resistance – The amount of effort required to inhale from the mouthpiece of a vaporizer. Low draw resistance requires very little effort on the part of the user while high draw resistance means the user has to inhale harder.
- Teeth – In manual grinders, the teeth are what do the grinding. They can be diamond or trapezoid-shaped and they come in numbers that range between twenty and thirty.
- Chambers – These are the number of pieces that constitute a manual grinder. The minimum number of chambers is two and the maximum is four.
- Kief – Very fine particulates on the surface of the cannabis plant. They have a higher concentration of THC than the rest of the plant.