Hello folks! Today we'll be taking a look at Vandy Vape's latest mod release created in tandem with El Mono Vapeador. The Requiem mod is the 4th product release in the Requiem line following the Requiem BF Squonk mech mod, Requiem RDA, Requiem RTA, and now a solo 21700/18650 mod. I did a review on the Requiem RTA not long ago if you'd like to take a look at the unique features in that rebuildable atomizer.
This Requiem mod has quite a bit going for it. While there's nothing super innovative in the design itself, I often find myself recommending devices to others that are thoroughly assembled for long-time use (used with care), perform to their stated specs, and are not going to break your bank account in the process. After all, how can you legitimately rely on a brand if they're not being truthful about their product specs? In this review, I'll cover what I do and don't like about this product, give you a run down in performance numbers, and then give the mod a functionality rating at the end factoring in cost.
I want to give a huge shoutout to Joyi over at SourceMore for always being a pleasure to work with, and for setting me up with the Requiem mod for the purpose of this review. As a reviewer, this critique will be conducted in a fair, honest, and unbiased manner.
The first portion of the review will be a broad site overview of what you'll find over at SourceMore, and will end with my critique and rating. All photos can be clicked on for easier viewing.
- BROAD SITE OVERVIEW -
Color options:
> Clear Black Gold
> Clear Red
> Clear Black
> Clear Blue
> Ultem
Key Features:
> Ergonomic Design
> High Strength Transparent Material (PSU)
> Super Lightweight
> 21700/18650 (with included adapter) External Battery Compatible
> USB Type-C Port
Specs & Package:
Specs:
> Dimensions: 43.93 * 30 * 95mm
> Power Range: 5-95W
> Output Voltage: 0.5-6.0V (Very important!)
> Maximum Output Current: 34A
> Charging Input Voltage: 5V
> Working Modes: VW (Variable Wattage), Bypass, VV (Variable Voltage), TC (Temperature Controlled)
> Vape Timeout: 10s
> Charging Current: 800-1000mA
Package Includes:
> Requiem Mod
> USB Type-C Cable
> 18650 Battery Adapter
> Instruction Manual
- TEST RESULTS & OBSERVATIONS -
Intro:
The packaging offers a cushiony pad to safely keep everything in place during transport and storage. The 18650 battery adapter comes pre-installed inside the mod, so don't worry if you don't see that right away. The Type-C USB cable is on the shorter side, but it will meet your immediate needs if you do not have a Type-C cable already available. Being that Apple is now converting over to USB Type-C, everyone should have a better cable that they're able to use. The mod is able to detect and charge using a 3.0+ QC cable, but will still only charge at its advertised 0.8-1.0A (0.7-0.8A actual). It is not advised to use a cable to charge an external battery, internally, but you can certainly go this route in a pinch. I've recharged a number of mods while on the road using a USB cable, just try not to make this a habit for the sake of mod longevity. The Requiem mod does support pass-through vaping, which will enable you to continue vaping while it's plugged in and charging. Again, not advised, but definitely capable.
Closer Look:
I received the Clear Blue colorway for this review. You may notice right away that it doesn't particularly match the Clear Blue colorway shown on SourceMore's site page, but I think it's fair to say that the accuracy of the colors on any site sort of has to be taken with a grain of salt. In natural lighting, it's surely lighter than what's shown on Sourcemore.
The clear material that covers most of the exterior of the mod is made of PSU (Polysulfone) which is a food-grade thermoplastic with ideal thermal and mechanical properties and resistances needed for a mod. The plastic itself is quite a fingerprint magnet however, it's difficult to see any fingerprints unless it's reflecting at the perfect angle in light.
The metallic portions of the mod include the battery housing, 510 plate, UI faceplate, fire/directional buttons, and the battery cap, most of which appear to be made with aluminum (aluminium). The battery housing, battery cap, and I believe the 510 are a sandblasted finish, while the faceplate has a brushed finish, and the fire/directional buttons have a smooth, polished finish. In entirety, they all look very good together. Upon further research, I wasn't able to find out if the 510 plate is made of aluminum or steel; it would make more sense if it were made of steel, but I cannot be certain one way or the other.
The front of the mod has a standard layout. A big square firing button at the top that rounds out and tapers back toward the 510 plate. This plays a big part in the "ergonomic" feel the mod advertises, giving your thumb a bit of a more relaxed position as opposed to a completely vertical position. This design favors a thumb-firing hand-feel, but also doesn't make it all that awkward for an index-firer, either. Below the fire button sits the 0.96" TFT LCD display that vibrantly displays (seen below). Below you UI you have both directional buttons and then the USB Type-C port.
On the back of the mod you get a good look at the sandblasted aluminum with "REQUIEM" in small font written vertically. To the right of that (left of the display), there's a small metallic Requiem logo engraved into the mod which is subtle, and a nice touch in my opinion.
The top of the mod has the trademark Requiem pentagram engraved into the 510 plate. The gold/brass-plated spring-loaded 510 pin has quite a bit of travel and is solid, but not too resistant when screwing in an atomizer. There are no screws fastening in the 510 plate from the top, so I was not able to disassemble it to see how well it's sealed or connected. Based on what I can see through the side of the mod, the 510 is fastened from under the top of the aluminum battery housing, through the PSU, and into the 510. This doesn't seem to be a terrible way to assemble the 510 and it's clean looking, but if it were to come loose eventually or tear out, there isn't much that can be done to repair it for the everyday-user.
At the bottom of the battery housing you can see a big red + sign designating the proper orientation when inserting a battery. The battery cap itself doesn't have an indicator on the underside, but one might consider the big dash on the outside of the cap to be the placeholder. Regardless, in a regulated mod (a mod with a chip), if you happen to put the battery in the wrong way, it simply won't work. In a mech mod, battery orientation is very important. Do NOT get these confused.
Many people find the screw-in battery caps to be a bit of a hassle. Admittedly, aluminum doesn't leave the smoothest feel when inserting or taking out a battery, and it's certainly not proven to be the best long-term solution. Geek Vape had an issue where they used aluminum screw-in battery caps in their M100, S100, and Max100 and the threading stripped out after a year or so of constant use. However, they had rubber O-rings mounted at the base of their caps to ensure their IP68-rating which turned out to be the main culprit behind the threads giving way. I cannot give a timeline on how long the threading on this cap may last (likely at least a few years), so that's just something to be aware of. This goes for any mod that uses an aluminum screw-in battery cap.
The Display:
Vandy Vape has one unique feature that I have yet to see in any other chip, and that's the ability to turn on and off the features which you will or won't be using. To access this, go into the main menu by holding down both the left and right directional buttons at the same time for about 1-2 seconds. The first icon you will see is a cog; this is the "Setting" submenu. In the top right photo above, there's a list of 5 things in this submenu: TC, VOLT, BP, FIR, ARR, & ESC. Most people predominantly use Wattage Mode which is also known as VW or Variable Wattage mode. You adjust the wattage to what you prefer and vape away. Wattage Mode is always enabled and cannot be found in the Setting submenu to turn on or off. However, more advanced modes such as TC (Temperature Control), VOLT (Variable Voltage), and BP (ByPass) modes can be turned on and off in the Settings submenu, based on what you use. That way if you simply want access to only VW and VV modes (like myself), you're not forced to scroll through 6 different modes to access the other mode; only VW and VV modes will show up.
Basic UI Operation:
Wattage adjustments are made in full watt increments from 5 to 95W, it does not round-robin from 5 to 95 and vice versa. To access the modes which you have enabled (as described above), quickly hit the fire button 3 times. Two arrows should show up on the UI indicating the option to scroll left or right using the directional keys. If the directional keys do not change the firing mode, then you do not have any other firing modes enabled via the Setting submenu.
Quick Hotkey Combos:
> Turn device on or off: Hit the fire button 5 times quickly.
> Lock directional keys: Hold right directional button and fire button for 1-2 seconds.
> Flip the display upside down: Hold left directional button and fire button for 1-2 seconds.
> Access enabled firing modes: Hit the fire button 3 times quickly.
> Access the main menu: Hold the left and right directional buttons for 1-2 seconds.
> Adjust wattage in TC modes only: Hit the fire button 4 times quickly.
> Stealth mode (turns the display completely off): Hit both directional buttons and the fire button together.
The display can be changed to 1 of 7 different color schemes in the main menu labeled "UI".
UI Changes:
The top 3 photos above show the progression of the Vandy Vape chip. From left to right, is the Pulse V2 Squonk mod, Gaur-21 mod, and the Pulse V3 Squonk mod. They all display the same information, just changed around a bit. The bottom 2 photos show the change in the UI for the Requiem mod. One of the main differences in the new UI is that the battery indicator also shows a percentage value. This is a nice addition however, the indicated battery levels still show differently from when the batteries are charging which has been something I've noticed in Vandy Vape's chips for a long time.
The two bottom photos above show what the device says when not charging (55%), but when plugged in, immediately shows a lower battery status (40ish%). Admittedly, these values are much closer than in the previous chip used in the Pulse V3, which can be shown in this review. Now, this discrepancy is only something to note, as it doesn't necessarily make or break the mod, but personally, I like to accurately know how much batter I have left when I leave the house. When not plugged in, this chip will always show you having more battery than when the battery is charging whether it's internally or externally.
Performance Numbers:
Without getting too unnecessarily deep into the numbers, there are 3 main things to point out from my testing. At the bottom of column 3 is the voltage readout when firing the mod. With a 0.77Ω Innokin Z Coil, it topped out at 5.99V which confirms the presence of a step-up converter a.k.a. "boost" in the chip, and that it reaches the advertised 6V output. This is very important and something I think every single coil mod should have.
In column 4, this is the calculated amp draw given the voltage output and coil resistance. Unfortunately the lowest coil I could find to test out the max amp draw was a 0.14Ω dual coil OXVA Arbiter RTA, and it went up to 26.5A. Based on my calculations, this mod will likely reach about 31A of the 34A advertised, but for a mod that only goes up to 95W, 31A should be more than plenty to remain on the safe side of operation while still getting great performance. You might see a slight dip in wattage output with a 0.1Ω coil, but I don't think wattage is what you're going to have to be concerned with using a coil that low in resistance (watch the heat!)
In column 5, you can see that the wattage output of 98.3W and 97.3W both exceed the max advertised wattage of 95W, so this is a solid performer for low, mid, and mid-high resistances below 1.0Ω. Any coil above 1.5Ω and you might be better off finding a mod with a higher voltage output cap.
You can find the list of single and dual 21700 mods here that I've tested. Find what suits you best! (The Vandy Vape Requiem mod has not been added to that list yet)
- CONCLUSION -
Overall, the Vandy Vape Requiem mod has been a pleasure to test out. The mod reaches all of its advertised specs while remaining stable which is of huge importance to me, and hopefully also for you the reader. When it comes to build quality, that more or less falls on the buyer's preference. Do you mind plastic designs? Do you favor a hinged battery door or a screw-in cap?
The combination of aluminum and plastic comes together well for a solid assembly and great look. Although I haven't dropped the Requiem mod onto anything hard, the PSU seems to be a decent choice for a hardy exterior. I enjoy the look of transparency that mods have come out with recently. Also, this is one of the lightest mods I've seen to date. 96g without a battery in it.
The hand-feel is something new and takes a little bit of getting used to. If you notice in the "Closer Look" photos, the mod exterior bows in toward the middle, and then bows back out toward the bottom. This helps the mod be more stable when it's set down, but those bottom corners can sort of jab into your hand at first. I've resorted to cupping the mod more than holding it like a pistol grip, and this seems to have resolved that issue.
++ PROS ++
> Ultra-lightweight
> Easy to use
> Enable/disable firing modes
> Unique look
> Great performer
> Nicely fits 28mm atomizers and below
> Nice clicky fire/directional buttons
> Meets/surpasses almost all advertised specs
> Pass-through vaping
> USB Type-C
- - CONS - -
> Battery cap is a bit grindy
+- CONSIDERATIONS -+
> Made mostly of PSU and Aluminum
> Slightly bigger than many other single 21700 mods
> TC modes are strictly Ti, Ni, and SS
Overall Rating:
9
There really isn't too much to knock about the Vandy Vape Requiem Mod. It does what it says it will, and offers a unique feature in the menu that sort of sets Vandy Vape apart. Only time will tell how long the choice of plastic (PSU) and aluminum will withstand over extended use, but from what I can tell in the two weeks I've tested it, it seems it should last you a good while; long enough to make good use of the product for what its currently priced at. If you use the code "VVRM" at SourceMore checkout, you can drop the price to $33.89 as of this post. If you're a bronze member, the price should be even lower. Remember to sign in to see the lowest prices.
Again, I want thank Joyi at SourceMore for facilitating this review, and I hope you join me on the next review of the Hellvape Dead Rabbit Pro RDA - it's a banger!
Thanks for reading and happy vape hoarding!
