Anix Pluto Review (UK): The Best Dry Herb Vaporizer Under £30?

We added the Anix range in September because the question we get most often after "what's the best under £100" is "what's the cheapest thing that actually works". Under £30 that used to mean a plastic pen with a coil that tasted of burnt herb by the third session. The Pluto is the first device at this price we've been comfortable listing, and it sold on its first day on the site. Here's what it does, what it doesn't, and who should buy it instead of spending three times as much on an XMax V3 Pro.

Anix Pluto specs at a glance

• Price: £26.99, in Black Leather and Grey Leather
• Heating: conduction, 304 stainless steel chamber with a wrapped film element
• Temperature: three presets, 200°C (blue), 220°C (purple) and 240°C (red)
• Heat-up: around 30 seconds
• Controls: one button with a colour LED ring, no screen
• Mouthpiece: detachable glass with a magnetic cap and mesh screen
• Battery: 1100 mAh built in, around 5 to 6 sessions, USB-C charging
• Size and weight: 130 mm long, 25 mm across, 60 g
• Body: faux leather wrap over the tube
• In the box: vaporizer, glass mouthpiece, stirring tool, cleaning brush, manual

Design and build

The Pluto is a tube 130 mm long and 25 mm across, wrapped in faux leather with a metal cap at each end, and at 60 g it's lighter than most phones. Sitting on a desk it reads as a chunky pen, and that's the whole design brief. There's no screen, no logo shouting at you and no light until you press the button. The leather isn't only cosmetic either. It insulates the body so it stays comfortable to hold through a session at 240°C, and it gives you grip that a bare aluminium tube doesn't.

The top cap is magnetic and pulls off to reveal the glass mouthpiece, which is a removable straw with a mesh screen in the cap. Glass at this price is unusual, and it's the reason the Pluto tastes cleaner than the plastic-mouthpiece pens it competes with. Below that is the chamber, a 304 stainless steel cup that holds a small bowl. Everything that touches vapour is glass or steel.

Vapour quality and the three presets

The Pluto is a conduction vaporizer, which means the chamber walls heat the herb directly rather than hot air being drawn through it. Conduction is why a device this small and cheap works at all, and it comes with known habits. The herb nearest the walls cooks first, so a stir halfway through makes a real difference, and the vapour is thicker and warmer than a convection device gives at the same temperature. Our conduction vs convection explainer goes through why the £90 XMax V4 Pro tastes different, and why that difference costs £60.

The three presets are pitched sensibly. Blue at 200°C is the flavour setting and the one to start on. Purple at 220°C is the everyday setting, with noticeably thicker vapour. Red at 240°C is for finishing a bowl or for anyone who wants the most from a small load, and it runs hot enough that you'll want short draws. On a conduction device with a chamber this size, a bowl at 220°C is done in six to eight draws, and the glass straw keeps the flavour honest through all of them, which is more than we can say for most pens under £50.

How to use the Anix Pluto

The instructions fit in four lines, which is the point of the device.

1. Load. Twist off the magnetic cap, fill the chamber with medium-ground herb and pack it lightly. Conduction likes a little contact with the walls, so a gentle press is fine; don't ram it.
2. Power on by clicking the button five times.
3. Pick a temperature by clicking three times to cycle blue (200°C), purple (220°C) and red (240°C).
4. Heat. Hold the button for three seconds. The LED ring breathes while it heats and goes steady when it's ready, around thirty seconds later. Draw slowly and steadily, stir with the tool halfway through, and click five times to power off when you're done.

Battery and charging

The 1100 mAh battery is sized for the body rather than for all-day use, and you should expect five or six sessions per charge. That's fine for the device's actual job, which is a session or two out of the house, and it charges over USB-C from any phone charger. It isn't removable, so unlike the XMax V4 Pro there's no spare-cell trick; when it's flat, it's flat until you find a cable. Keep it topped up and it's a non-issue.

Cleaning and maintenance

Brush the chamber out after each session while it's still slightly warm, and use the stirring tool on anything stuck. Every few sessions, pull the glass mouthpiece and the mesh screen and soak them in isopropyl alcohol, rinse in warm water and dry properly before refitting. Keep alcohol and water off the leather wrap. Steel holds no old flavour, so a clean chamber and a clean straw put the Pluto back to how it tasted on day one, and the whole job takes a couple of minutes.

Anix Pluto vs Pathfinder vs Gemini Pro vs XMax V3 Pro

The Pluto is one of four Anix devices we stock, and the right one depends on whether you want simplicity or control. The Anix Pathfinder (£24.99) is £2 cheaper and goes the other way entirely: an LCD screen, full temperature control from 93°C to 220°C, a roughly 1 g chamber for sharing and an 1800 mAh battery, in a body that looks like a vaporizer. The Anix Gemini Pro (£39.99) is the pick if you want single-degree control and an isolated air path in a device that still fits a jacket pocket. The Anix Uranus (£39.99) is the flat, palm-sized one with a honeycomb cooling mouthpiece and vibration feedback. All four are in our Anix collection.

Against the XMax V3 Pro at £78.99, the Pluto loses on almost every line of the spec sheet: no convection, no screen, no 1°C control, no removable battery. What it has is a third of the price, a little over half the weight and the ability to sit on a desk unnoticed. If you're testing whether dry herb vaporizing suits you before spending more, or you want a small second device for out and about, the Pluto is the sensible buy. If it's going to be your only vaporizer, the V3 Pro is worth the extra £52.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 at the price

Judged against the £250 devices on this site the Pluto is a three, and judged against what £26.99 has bought until now it's a five, so we've settled on four. It does the one job it's designed for, being a discreet, no-thought dry herb pen that tastes clean, and it does it with glass and steel where cheaper pens use plastic. The compromises are exactly where you'd expect: a small chamber, a battery that needs charging every few days, and three fixed temperatures instead of a dial. If any of those bother you, the Pathfinder fixes two of them for £2 less and the V3 Pro fixes all of them for £52 more. It leads our dry herb vaporizers under £50 collection and it's the device we'd hand to someone who wants to try vaporizing before deciding whether to spend properly.

Pros: £26.99, 60 g and pen-shaped, glass mouthpiece, stainless steel chamber, one-button operation, three well-chosen presets, USB-C charging, insulated leather body.

Cons: conduction only, no fine temperature control or screen, small chamber, built-in 1100 mAh battery, around 30 seconds to heat.

FAQs

Is the Anix Pluto any good?

For £26.99, yes. It's a conduction pen with a glass mouthpiece and a stainless steel chamber, which puts it ahead of the plastic pens at this price on flavour and cleaning. It won't match a convection device like the XMax V4 Pro, and it isn't trying to.

How do you use the Anix Pluto?

Five clicks to turn it on, three clicks to cycle through the blue, purple and red presets, then hold the button for three seconds to start heating. Draw once the LED ring stops pulsing. The how to use section above has the full steps.

What temperatures does the Anix Pluto have?

Three presets: 200°C (blue) for flavour, 220°C (purple) for everyday use and 240°C (red) for finishing a bowl. There's no fine control; the Anix Pathfinder and Gemini Pro have that.

How long does the Anix Pluto battery last?

Around five to six sessions from the 1100 mAh built-in battery. It charges over USB-C and isn't removable.

Is the Anix Pluto conduction or convection?

Conduction. The stainless steel chamber is heated by a wrapped element and cooks the herb by contact, which is why it's small, cheap and ready in about thirty seconds. Our conduction vs convection guide explains the difference.

Prices and stock were checked on 29 September 2026 and are updated whenever this review is refreshed. Ready to buy? The Anix Pluto is in stock now, or browse the full Anix collection.