Vision Kamado Review

In this post you can read our reviews and watch our YouTube videos of the following Vision Grills ceramic kamado models:

Vision Grills XD702 Maxis Kamado

Vision Grills has a lifetime warranty on all ceramic parts, 5 years for metal parts, 3 years for the side shelves and the handle, 1 year for the cover, temperature gauge and gasket, and 90 days for the lava stone, starter and the exhaust tab.

Vision Grills XD702 Maxis Kamado Specifications

Grilling Space& Cooking Grates

The total cooking space of this Vision Grills ceramic kamado is 724.5 square inches on two levels. The bottom level is a cast iron grate and the upper level is made of stainless steel.

The Vision grills Maxis has dimensions of 33.5″ D x 54″ W x 47.28″ H when fully assembled with the cart. The weight on the unit is a little over 264 pounds including the cart and all.

The temperature range can go up to 700° Fahrenheit (371° C).

Exterior Construction

The Vision Grills XD702 Maxis is available in two colors, Gunmetal Grey or in White. The gunmetal grey is a metallic finish, and I haven’t seen anything else on the market that’s anything like it. 

The top exhaust vent has a cool touch control tab so you can control your temps without having to put on heavy heat-proof gloves every time you need to work with your temperature. The top vent has a smoker knob in addition to the main vent control for when you’re wanting to cook low and slow, making it easier to dial in lower temperatures.

The lid is a locking lid, so it keeps a tight seal as you cook and helps keep the kids (or nosy neighbors) from meddling with the grill.

Fuel Type

Kamados are charcoal grills, and these do best with lump charcoal as the fuel. It can also be converted to propane or natural gas with the optional quick-change insert.

Included Accessories

One of the things that Vision corners the market on is how many accessories come in the box. With most other kamado manufacturers, any accessories are sold separately.

With the Maxis series, you get a flexible Grill Light so you can see what you’re doing out in the dark, an electric starter to use with the electric starter port that’s built into the removable ash drawer for easy use. There’s even a stainless steel receiver that the starter rests in under the coals so it’s easy in and easy out for quick lighting your charcoal. 

My favorite accessory is the included heat deflector, which makes low and slow cooking possible. It enables indirect cooking and also serves as a pizza stone.

The included storage cart is made of stainless steel, and there’s space for the electric lighter, heat deflector, and the upper cooking grate. The cart comes with 3” caster wheels with 2 locking wheels, to make sure your kamado doesn’t succumb to the wind.

The cart shelves are made of thermoplastic, and they’re formed to look like wood. Each shelf drops down for storage and has accessory hooks for grilling tools.

There’s also a cover that goes the full length of the grill when installed on the cart.

Vision Grills Assembly

We assemble between 20-30 grills a year here at The Barbecue Lab, and one of the things that I appreciate about Vision is that their assembly is rather quick.

It just takes about 20 minutes to take the pieces of the grill out of the packaging, assemble the stand and bolt on the side shelves. 

One of the things that I love about Vision Grills is how they include everything you need inside the box for assembly. There’s no running out to the garage multiple times for additional tools, and the labeling on the parts inside the box is better than any manufacturer we’ve encountered so far here at The Lab.

We get asked quite often how to season different grills when they’re newly purchased by those who watch our channel. With a kamado grill, there’s really no need to season a kamado grill.

The ceramic that the grill is made out of is baked at over 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit, so you don’t need to burn off impurities and manufacturing oils with ceramic kamados since there aren’t any. When your new kamado grill arrives, you can cook on it right out of the box.

How to light the Vision Grills XD702 Maxis Kamado

The Maxis comes with an electric lighter in the box to use with the starter port that you’ll only find in Vision Grills. Simply plug the igniter into power and slide it into the starter port to get things started. It only takes 5-10 minutes for the electronic lighter to have your charcoal ready to go. 

We also light our Maxis with Tumbleweed fire starters and the Looftlighter depending on our mood, and all three methods get the job done.

Grilling

Ceramic kamado grills are incredible grilling machines. You have the ability to cook directly over a charcoal fire, allowing the juices that fall off during the grilling process to hit the coals, evaporate and rise back up to season the meat. 

This grill can also get screaming hot, with 700 degrees as a top-end temperature. I don’t know if you’ve ever grilled directly over a 700°Sm charcoal fire, but it’s incredibly hot. You can get a great sear on steak or chicken that locks in the moisture to keep your meat juicy.

Smoking

When it comes to smoking on the Vision Grills XD702 Maxis, everything you need comes in the box. This is a departure from how many other manufacturers handle this, as additional accessories need to be purchased to give their grills the ability to cook low and slow.

There is a lava stone and bracket included in the box from Vision that creates an indirect barrier between the fire and your food, making sure you can smoke and not sear for long cooks at low temperatures. 

Vision Diamond Cut B-Series Ceramic Kamado

Vision Classic B-Series Kamado

This Vision Grills B-Series Kamado Grill Review covers our experience over a 12 month period with this particular grill.

Which Kamado Is Best?

The “best” kamado really comes down to your unique outdoor cooking needs. If you need a kamado that can cook over 30 hamburgers at once, you’ll want two tier cooking with easy access to both levels. If you search for how to smoke food low and slow, you’ll find that you need a heat deflector that allows for indirect grilling. The stone comes standard on the Pit Boss and the Vision Grills units, but is extra on the Kamado Joe and the Big Green Egg.

Some people prefer to get a kamado that has a manufacturer's warranty in the event that something goes wrong with the grill. Most grills, Vision grills included, will have some type of warranty. Every warranty is different though, so if you want a kamado grill that has one, make sure you know what exactly the warranty covers.

No matter what food you're grilling, there’s a kamado style grill to fit what you’re on the search for.

Now it’s your turn. Which kamado do you use and what’s your favorite thing to cook on it? Leave us a comment below and let us know what you do with your kamado grill.