Boundless TERA Review: The Top Portable Convection Vape?

Introduction

The TERA utilizes a 3-button interface that becomes easy after a few sessions. It features a nice and bright LED screen, comes with three mouthpiece options out of the box including a universal water pipe adapter compatible with the more frequently used bong joint sizes.

When I first got it, I never thought I’d be using it this often. It quickly grew on me after only a few sessions. I’ve been using the TERA on a daily basis for over three months straight, not only at my desk but also on the go. This review will help you decide if the TERA is right for you.

Price: $199.99 (at Boundless)

What’s in the box?

The TERA kit comes fully loaded with just about everything but the bud itself. This includes batteries, USB cable, a glass mouthpiece, extra screens, a concentrate pad, stir tool, cleaning brush, user manual and a water pipe adapter for 10, 14 and 18 mm male and female joints.

Of course, you also get the device itself in the box. Lastly, the included batteries are listed at 2200 mAh each give you around 4400 mAh to start out with—not bad. The box holds everything nicely, so I’ve been using it to keep all of the smaller spare parts together.

Despite the long list of goodies, I still wish they would have thought to include a spare O-ring for the water pipe attachment because they tend to wear down over time, especially when exposed to hot temperatures for extended periods of time.

You could always just purchase another WPA from Boundless, because it only goes for $19.99.

Finally, the TERA comes with a 3-year warranty from Boundless and a 90-day warranty on the batteries, which is another big plus. Three years in vape years is actually a pretty long time.

Product features

The TERA weighs just over 10 oz, though it is listed at 14 oz, or just under a pound. Either way, it isn’t even pretending to be lightweight or compact—it is what it is. The TERA stands at 107 mm tall, 44.5 mm wide and 59 mm in depth. If you’ve been using mods over the years, it won’t even phase you. The extra heft for extended battery life is a fair trade-off for heavy vapers.

The build quality feels durable and might even be capable of handling a few drops. Fortunately for me, I haven’t had the chance of personally finding out. The TERA is made of steel but has a black rubber coating that has kept it from slipping out of my hand. The coating on the battery door started chipping after a while, so eventually I just peeled the rest of it off to reveal the steel. The battery door and device itself have contours that feel just right when holding it in your hand.

The airpath is made of medical grade stainless steel. The chamber has an interesting microphone style grill design that I really like. They give you little steel screens to place at the bottom of the chamber. It keeps the vapor temp down a little bit and makes the chamber easy to clean. They give you spares but if you happen to lose them, it still vapes just fine without them. The herb chamber holds up to 0.6 grams, but it works pretty well with smaller packs too.

Some vapers might not be thrilled about the plastic mouthpiece. But according to Boundless, it’s made of medical and food grade materials. And At least there are other options out of the box. The swivel mouthpiece tucks in conveniently, delivers good flavor and fairly cool vapor temps, so I tend to use it a lot. It’s great for traveling and group sessions. It can be disassembled with ease, which allows you to rinse it off and sanitize it between sessions or for thorough cleaning.

The wide bore glass mouthpiece can’t be removed from the base. It looks nice, but I feel like it’s too wide. It just doesn’t give me enough draw resistance to get those denser fluffy clouds.

Last but not least, the water pipe adapter is actually a 6-in-1 universal attachment for vaping on a bong. It can accommodate some of the more common joint sizes including 10, 14 and 18 mm. It’s reversible so you can actually use it with both female and the less common male sizes. All you have to do is unscrew the base, turn it upside down and screw it on from the other side.

Other notable features include haptic feedback, a ceramic heating system and an easy to read OLED interface. It also offers relatively quick heat up times for a portable convection vaporizer. It doesn’t do on-demand heating but it won’t toast your herb unless you’re actively puffing on it. So you can start and stop in the middle of sessions without destroying those precious terps.

How to use the TERA

Like most new vapes, the TERA did take a bit of getting used to but it’s not rocket science. There’s a big clicky fire button and two adjustment buttons on the sides. The OLED screen is super bright and the numbers are huge and easy to read. Here are some tips on how to use it.

How does it perform?

For flower

Using the water pipe adapter

This is where the TERA really stands out. It performs just as well with my bong as my Extreme Q desktop vape. Since I started using it, I haven’t had the need to fire up my desktop as often. That says a lot about its performance with the water pipe adapter. I found that it works best with 18 mm female bong joints because the adapter sits deeper which provides more support.

It still worked great with some of my smaller bongs with 14 mm female joints. The only downside is that the adapter tends to slip off a bit which compromises the airtight seal. You just need to be mindful of that. I think it’s an easy fix with a fresh O-ring, possibly a slightly thicker one. Since the device is weighty, you’ll be much better off using it with larger and more sturdy glassware.

For concentrates

I was hesitant to use the TERA with concentrates at first. I was so dead set on using it for bud, that I was fearful of messing up the chamber. Eventually I just went for it, using the smallest amount of concentrate possible. The flavor was nice, but the vapor production varied greatly depending on the type of concentrate you use. I found that it works best with live resin and shatter. I tried it with a few CBD concentrates and the clouds were a bit on the weak side.

It’s still suitable for anyone who wants to vape their concentrate slowly and get very smooth hits. I didn’t use the water pipe adapter in concentrate mode much because I feel like it’s pointless. When I want to dab, I can fire up my desktop e-nail or any one of my portable devices for that. The good news is that I never experienced any kind of flooding or unnecessary sticky residue. I still think the concentrate option works better and is more convenient than one for the PAX 3.

The overall performance of the TERA is on point. I especially enjoy it in flower mode with the water pipe adapter, but I also like using it with the swivel mouthpiece. I wouldn’t recommend it to people who only vape concentrates—there are more convenient and harder hitting options out there. I’d prefer to think about it as a flower vape that also offers a concentrate option. For bud, this thing is up there with the top convection vapes out there, desktops included! It’s also very consistent. You’ll get more vapor with bigger packs, but you can still microdose with it.

Battery

The included batteries provide 4400 mAh. I wouldn’t be shocked if they were slightly overrated, but still 4000ish mAh is awesome for an herb vape. I am able to get at least 9 or 10 sessions out of it, with 5 minutes per session. Honestly, I was expecting a bit more but that’s still pretty good. That means you can do at least three sessions in the morning, afternoon and night and still have enough charge to squeeze out one last late night session before recharging again.

The battery life is indicated by a battery symbol on the OLED screen. It doesn’t give you a percentage, so sometimes you think you can get one more session and it will beg to differ. I think there should be more of a warning before it dies, rather than after it’s already too late.

Using the onboard charging system with the USB cable, it takes about 2 and a half to 3 hours. I would highly recommend investing in an external charger and a spare pair of good 18650s. The TERA doesn’t do passthrough charging either, so it’s worth the investment. If you've been vaping for a while, then you most likely have all of that stuff anyway.

How to clean the TERA

One of my favorite features is how easy the TERA has been to maintain. After each session, I just scoop the flower out. I developed a bad habit of hitting the base of the device to get it out, but I wouldn’t suggest doing that. Once the AVB comes out, the screen might fall out with it. It can be annoying at first, but less annoying than having a dirty chamber that’s impossible to clean. But when I’ve used the TERA without the screen, everything comes out relatively clean. Then I just brush the chamber and mouthpiece with the included brush, or a regular Q-tip.

For further cleaning, you can hit the chamber with some alcohol. I rarely need to do that, because the stainless steel hasn’t shown any real signs of discoloration just yet. You can also clean the mouthpieces by removing the silicon base and filter screen. Everything can be soaked in isopropyl alcohol and sea salt, then rinsed off under the sink. It doesn’t really get much easier than that. I think the convection heating and use of screens makes it a pretty low maintenance vape. Just make sure to tend to it after each session and your oven will continue to shine.

Here are some helpful tips for giving the TERA a more thorough clean:

Pros / Cons

Gallery

Verdict

At the end of the day, the TERA is a beast. It’s versatile and doesn't require much maintenance. There is still some room for improvement though. I think it would be even better if it had a low battery warning, a better rubber finish, and a stronger O-ring on the water pipe adapter. With that said, I strongly recommend it for flower, but not as your main device for concentrates.

Aside from that and the few cons I listed, you're not going to find many portable convection vaporizers that can do more out of the box. The TERA isn't cheap, but it’s still less expensive than the Crafty and Firefly 2+ and it still rivals them in terms of performance. I’ve been using the TERA as my go-to device for over 3 months now. Even my friends who still smoke have had no issue taking hits from it, especially from a bong.

What was your experience like with the Boundless TERA? Leave a comment below.