THE ELITE 808
Introduction – When I first started out vaping it was on a white standard analog style 2 piece KR808D-1 that I picked up from a local vendor in my hometown that offered prefilled cartomizers. It was easy to use and I did not have to fiddle around with dripping into an atomizer so life was good! At the time I could not even imagine the idea of using any e-cig that did not have a little orange light on the end as I just wanted to totally duplicate the smoking process with something that looked just like an analog.
The battery was considered a mini and boasted 180mAh of power. I ended up purchasing two more of them as it seemed they would last me maybe a little more than an hour of vaping at best and I needed backups while my depleted battery was recharging. My next purchase was another KR808D-1 Kit that I picked up from a vendor online. The 808 kit came with two black batteries with a blue LED on the end and it boasted a 280mAh battery which lasted longer in between charges than my original mini -808.
Then, I took the plunge and decided to try a manual 808 battery because, I had heard that they actually put out more bang for the buck! Wow, what a big difference! At least I was now getting some better TH and not having to work for it with several primer puffs that I had been accustomed to with the auto 808’s
At this point the next step up would have been the Extra long KR808D-1 battery that to me seemed a little too Katherine Hepburn “Breakfast at Tiffany’s look for a guy like me to be sporting around town with my colleagues on a night out …or any other public event for that matter. The longer battery life was tempting though I just could not bring myself to holding such long E-cig in my hand and be taken seriously amongst my peers.
"DonDaBoomVape" inspired me to dive right into the wonderful world of “fat batt’s” a term that he actually coined himself and has now become the best description of an e-cig battery that is not quite an analog (cigarette looking) device and not really a mod?
Props to Don's brilliant E-cig guide seen here - http://vapingguides.com/blog/
It was his review of The Elegant Easy 750mAh 808 fat batt that solidified that I must have one of these things! After all it was to me more manly looking, and I wanted to be out and look like a manly man when I was out vaping in public with something that somewhat resembled a mini cigar.
It was no longer important for me to have to have a little light on the end of the e-cig or for it to even look like a real cigarette anymore…..I just wanted the power, the long battery life and damned if I was going to hold a skinny long electronic cigarette in my hand regardless of how much mAh it boasted!
The Elegant Easy 750mAh was the first KR808D-1 on the market it was soon followed by the Defender and then the Vgo’s with 901 and 808 threading all sporting longer battery life and was bigger! I graduated to the XXL Elegant Easy at 1300mAh and thought it just can’t get better than this….or can it?
Oh yeah! Soon, I had the big bat 510 Ego systems, mods of all shapes and sizes, 5volt passthrough’s and then The Go-go!!!
I became the Go-go’s biggest fan! To this day I still love the Go-go and have a huge collection of them that I worship!
The problem was and still is…not everyone loves my enthusiasm for the Go-go as much as I do. Particularly, anyone that just does not feel comfortable with a huge fat batt in the hands all the time. It is proprietary so that turns a lot of people off especially any diehard 510 or 808 users that have a surplus of carts that won’t fit the Go-go unless they buy an adapter?
I also love the Boge Leo and their amazing 4ml large capacity cartomizers almost as much as I love the Go-go! I just love all kinds of PV’s!!!
I get to test out all the cool stuff either before it hits the market or even if it never makes it to prime time. I now have the great privilege of being a beta tester and consultant for the newest gear that much of the time is still in the developmental stages.
I have a pretty impressive collection of prototypes that I shall forever treasure that I have got to be the first to test out and in some cases nowhere near to being mass produced anytime soon.
Yeah, I love my work. Wait a minute…work?
This is not my chosen occupation…actually this is like playtime because; I do this stuff during my downtime from my real job.Ok, back to the topic of discussion……
The KR808D-1 has definitely evolved!
The Elite appears to have set a new standard in the world of KR808D-1 batteries that is not at all a fat batt and not quite the cookie cutter analog style 808 batteries.
When Frank first told me about his vision for what might have been the Elegant II or 2.0? I was envisioning something bigger….because bigger is better right?
Not so true in the big picture of e-cig the majority of e-cig users do not think quite like me.
Frank was sent a few prototypes of what would ultimately become the “Elite 808” I had the opportunity to play with one of the first ones made. I was not all that impressed. It had a 350mAh battery and it just looked kind of dainty to me. Why would anyone want anything that does not have a battery life that lasts for days I argued? What’s the point? How about something with variable voltage and sports a 5ml mega duel horizontal coil atomizer inside a cart and has 808 threading? Now that would be cool! I’m not ever going to want to go backwards to a shorter battery life just because it looks really cool.
Finally, we agree on one thing…if we can just have a few things tweaked from the engineer’s original design and it works the way we would like then "yeah, I think that I would definitely dig taking this thing out in public and showing it off as well considering talking about it online".
If, I do not think a product is worth talking about I am not going to waste my time going to any great lengths to write a review about it.
Three months later from basic design prototype to actual finished product I must say that I am more than enthused about this 808!
I wanted to really put the Elite to the test for at least two weeks of heavy usage before I could really put my thoughts in writing.
As with anything new and cool looking…I wanted to make sure that I got past the initial (I got a new PV) excitement phase just to see if my thoughts might change over time? They still might though after two weeks I am still really digging this thing!
So what makes it so Elite?
This looks like an e-cig that you can take anywhere and it will not ever be confused with something you might buy at a head shop, hardware store or anything like you might pick up at your local convenience store selling those cheaply manufactured overpriced disposable e-cigs.
My first impression after seeing the final product was that this thing is like the happy medium. Nice balance in the hand, aesthetically pleasing to the eye and it vapes like a champ!
It has a glossy coated smooth black finish that is like scratch resistant and yet it does not show my fingerprint marks when I am handling it!
It has three little LED lights near the bottom that illuminate in blue indicating your level of battery charge. A full charge and all three little LED’s light up when you hit the button to vape which also illuminates a soothing blue hue of color all on a sleek black and silver finish.
The engineer's (finally) perfected the 3 click on and off button switch that seemed to be hit or miss originally with the 3rd edition Go-go.
(IMO, what a joke that was!)You can click the Elite 808 button 3x fast to shut off to put in your pocket or purse and not have to worry about it accidently activating by touching something else.
The Elite 808 – Out of the box
First impressions – The packaging is something you do not want to toss out. It comes in a nice sturdy black and gold box with the Cig Easy logo in midnight blue and Elite font in white. Inside there are two Elite 808 batteries. One already has an empty cartomizer attached with a whistle tip and the other without. Underneath that are two boxes both in black with the same logo design containing a USB Charger /AC wall adapter and the other box with 2ml atomized cartridges (carts) complete with removable whistle tips?
Very Nice Users’ manual included as well.
I’m not a big whistle tip fan with the exception of the Boge Leo 4ml cartomizer whistle tip which in my opinion is the best that I have ever used on any e-cig device! So, I was thinking that I would not really vape on this thing with the whistle tip included? Now, I have since changed my mind.
(The only other whistle tip that I had only really liked in the past was the Boge Leo's 4ml tip)
Observations – The Elite 2ml cartomizers are the same diameter as the Go-go cartomizers and also exactly the same diameter of the actual Elite 808 E-cig. The difference I have noticed after repeated use and testing out around 6 different Elite carts as of current is that the vape is warmer than the Go-carts. I really hate to keep making comparisons with this device and the Go-go because they are entirely two different animals!
I must point out though that the Elite 808 carts are not as airy as a G0-cart yet internally they look almost identical. The center air tubing is well constructed and has the same integrity as with the Go-carts although the diameter is slightly smaller. This plays into why these carts have in my opinion almost the perfect warmer draw. I am torn between the draw on the Boge Leo 4ml cartomizer , The lower resistance Clear and Easy tanks for flavor delivery, The 808 Mini Go-carts with the horizontal atomizer, The duel coil LR 510 cartomizer and of course the Go-carts.
The Elite 808 cartomizer gives me a little of all the things I like in all the above mentioned carts all in one. The draw is not as tight as what I experienced with the Echo and various 2ml Vgo carts I have tested in the past.
Frank had the resistance set right at the sweet spot for this particular device. They still work fine on all my other 808 gear. Another thing that makes these carts unique is that they are not powder coated or have the standard 808 adhesive sticker. They have the same exact smooth coated black glossy finish as on the battery!
I used a calibrated syringe to fill my first cart to see just how much these Elite carts will hold before anything drips out the battery end. I was able to successfully get 1.7ml the first time before I noticed a drop on my paper towel. I waited about 15 minutes and was able to add another 3/10 of a ml with no leakage. I still blew through the cart to ensure that nothing would leak out before I attached it to the Elite battery.
I could go into a whole other thread getting into the details of the Elite cartomizers themselves. I really want to put them to the test and be 100% certain that they vape consistently in addition possibly write up some tips and tricks on how to get optimal usage out of these carts!
For now…In my opinion I think these Elite carts rock! I am really loving them!
The Elite 808 battery – My deal was that a 380mAh battery just would not cut it for me or really for anyone else that has been spoiled with using a high 1300mAh battery that lasts for days.
I even .....ed about the Leo (at first) only having one 800 Mah battery in the kit …that was until I got one and realized so what…The Leo rocks and now I have two of them!!!
Same deal with The Elite 808….I thought at first that I am going to be charging a batt every two hours with the way that I vape which I consider myself to be a heavy vaper. Not the case here! I am really surprised at just how long I can go before I need to put one of these batts back on the charger!
Since you get two Elite batteries with the kit sweetens the pot even more!
I have been using the ElIte 808 now for over two weeks and have not yet been in a situation where I am waiting for a back up. I always have one on the go and the other on the charger so I have not gone one entire day where I have been without fully charged Elite in my hand.
If this was just sold as only a single battery kit then I would not feel as secure unless I always had a back up?
From a fully depleted battery will recharge in about 2hrs and I am getting at least 4-5hrs in between full charge and indicator lights flickering (requiring a recharge). Of course mileage will vary on each individual’s vaping routine. I tried to really wear these things down as many times as possible in the last two weeks to establish an average as well to determine an approx point at which I noticed vapor reduction with constant use.
I measured 4.24volts off the charger and noted that I get an average of 3.21volts towards end of cycle (aprrox. 4.5hrs into vaping)
I tested various standard KR808D-1 Boge and Kanger made vertical coil cartomizers, (both prefilled and ones I filled), Vgo style long 808 1.5ml horizontal coil carts, Mini Go-carts and the new Clear and Easy 808 tanks which all vape exceptionally well on this batt. The Clear and Easy tanks actually look really more natural on the Elite than they do on any of my fatter longer Vgo or short stubby Elegant batteries.
More later………..
The all new Elite 808 is now available at a special roll out price here.
http://www.cigeasy.com/product_p/elite.htm
http://www.cigeasy.com/product_p/elite.htm
SSV2
Last edited:
