Hi guys - this is a mini review I posted on the Aussie forum, thought it could be of some assistance to those looking at one of these mods.
I was going to do a couple of mini reviews on the new toys, so I might as well procrastinate some more this am before I start doing any work. Pics with a Reo 1000mah + XL dual coil for size comparison. I've got to do this in parts as the forum doesnt like too many photos all in one ><
Phidias
Had this for a couple of days now. The maker of the Phidias, is a bit of a math nerd and designed the dimensions of the box around something called the "golden ratio" - Golden ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I have NFI what all of that means other than it feels "just right" in the hand. It really is a joy to hold and fire - these things deserve their cult following (the official ECF thread runs to about 1500 pages).
The feed system is a bit different in that while it is a tilt and shoot kind of style, the button (the little flush mounted disk on the back and as depicted on the inside cover) doesnt really serve to force the liquid up, but merely creates a negative pressure on the bottle. You basically push the button in, tip the mod past the horizontal, and count to about 7 or 8 (although this does depend on pressure). This will then give you about 3-5 draws.
The thing I love most about this mod is the vape. It is my instantly favourite vape out of the 510/Ego/Reo/Prov/Alpha/GG (although I have only just started using this). It is a very warm vape on the 510 LR atty and you can taste the flavour like nothing else I have experimented with so far - it lingers in your mouth and if you have a flavour you love, its The ..... Priced at about $165 (IRC) new, (I bought mine of classified from ECF but if it isnt new its still a virgin), it would be money well spent. It runs a 18650 batt. It isnt VV, but quite frankly I couldnt care less such is how good this little box is. I currently rate it for a daily a few spots above the Reo mini.
SSGGTS+UFS
**Ive only been using this for one night**. Engineering wise, this thing is an absolute work of art. Imeo, who makes this all on his own, is a bloody genius. I was concerned about the complexity of the whole thing when I was looking at them, in particular the UFS (I mean look at the thing disassembled above), but it only took a once through on Imeo's video walkthrough and I understand it well.
The battery side of things is telescopic which means you can shove in a whole assortment of batteries - you either lengthen or close the thread as per the length of the battery. Pictured above is with an 18650 installed. With an 18490 the middle tube disappears completely. It is a HEAVY piece of bronze and stainless steel but the thing feels bulletproof in hand.
The AVS has 2 adjustments you can do on the fly - juiceflow and airflow. These are easy to adjust but I havent got the hang of it yet. I suspect it is a mod that you have to learn and really try different atty's to see what does it for you. A couple of things I have discovered through trial and error overnight - you cant vape it lying down - I mean proper past the horizontal (unless you like to drink your juice) but that's a bit of a no brainer once you understand how the tank works. Also, I think you need to keep it stood upright unless you close the juice and air ring, otherwise it will flood the atty - will experiment a bit with this. Having said that - it is a breeze to fix a flooded atty : open the air ring all the way, close the juice ring, and blow the excess juice out of the mouthpiece. Took me about 20 seconds to get it back up and running.
So far I find the vape very cool (perhaps too cool for me - will reserve judgement on that), and it is definitely the smoothest of the vapes Ive had to date. I find you need to draw on this a fair bit longer to get your fill but variety is the spice of life yeah? So far, loving it.
Alpha Ultra
I like this mod, it is small, the switch is very cool, and it is very well engineered. It is hard to compare it with anything as it is just **different**. The Alpha Ultra has a unique tank called a RES, although describing it as a tank isnt really right - it is like a big ceramic cart which holds about 2ml of juice, although somewhere here (sorry I cant remember who and cbf looking atm), reported that you need to top it up around the 1ml mark.
I havent used this enough to pass judgement on the usability of it yet but when I did fire it up it vaped real nice. Runs a 14500 battery. I doubt I would use it as a night on the town mod due to the the limited capacity of the RES, however I would use it in place of an Ego any day of the week. The good thing about this little guy is that it is a breeze to fill - simply pop off your drip tip and squirt down the atty. Leave for a couple of mins and youre gtg. I made a bit of a half arsed go at running a carto through it (which works), but I didnt use it enough to work out if I was vaping through the RES system or simply only through the carto (as I filled the carto as well). If the RES system doesnt grow on me, I think I will use it as a stealthy out and about battery mod only with the standard carto adaptor. Nice little mod.
Reo Mini
A lot as been said about these guys so I wont flog the horse. I like this mod a lot. Its sturdy, vapes well, and small - see for example the size comparison to the Phidias. While I think the Phidias creams it for vaper, this will remain I suspect as my "going out in-the-pocket" mod due to its size and durability, whereas the Phidias will be my on-the-desk / take home at night mod. You really cant go wrong with one of these. Runs a 14500 battery.
Provari
With the Reo, as still a bit of a greenhorn (fark that sounds ghey), there isnt a whole lot I can add to this baby but I'll give my own personal impressions. Firstly, this is The Mod anyone looking to graduate from 510's should go to (imho). What cant you like about this mod. It is like holding a bazooka shell with a microchip in your hand. The beauty about the Provari is that you can stick pretty much any cart / carto / tank on it (except a maptank because they suck ballz and some dual coils make it chuck a spaz), dial in your voltage, and youre sweet as a nut.
Holds either a 18490/18500(?) batt or an 18650 as pictured with or without the optional extension cap. Personally, I like the Prov without the extension cap - it just takes some of the weight and bulk out of it and I prefer the way it feels in the hand. Im not sure how much longer an 18650 buys you over an 18490.
The only thing holding the Provari back for me at the moment from making it my daily is because (a I have lots of new toys), and (b) the juice capacity of the little Boge carto which is my favourite by far, although Im going to start using the G4 clearos some more to see how they go, just doesnt cut it as I am lazy and cbf filling it up all the time (when I have the other gear on hand). As some of you would know, my attempt to use a map tank ended poorly, and to be honest, I need my mods and whatever I shove on the end of them, to be able to withstand getting chucked in the gymbag at the end of the day and tossed around a bit. I do expect this to change with the soon to be released iAtty from GG though
Hope this helps - last pick - a bit of a side by side size comparison.
From left to right :
SSGGTS+AVS / Provari + Boge + cherry vape tip (<3 these btw) / 1000mah Ego + XL Duel Coil + cherry / 510 mega + XL Dual Coil / Sparkplug (I left this one out of the review as I havent used it yet) / Alpha Ultra + Boge + SuperT tip / Phidias + 510 LR atty + cherry / Reo Mini + 306LR atty
I was going to do a couple of mini reviews on the new toys, so I might as well procrastinate some more this am before I start doing any work. Pics with a Reo 1000mah + XL dual coil for size comparison. I've got to do this in parts as the forum doesnt like too many photos all in one ><
Phidias
Had this for a couple of days now. The maker of the Phidias, is a bit of a math nerd and designed the dimensions of the box around something called the "golden ratio" - Golden ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I have NFI what all of that means other than it feels "just right" in the hand. It really is a joy to hold and fire - these things deserve their cult following (the official ECF thread runs to about 1500 pages).
The feed system is a bit different in that while it is a tilt and shoot kind of style, the button (the little flush mounted disk on the back and as depicted on the inside cover) doesnt really serve to force the liquid up, but merely creates a negative pressure on the bottle. You basically push the button in, tip the mod past the horizontal, and count to about 7 or 8 (although this does depend on pressure). This will then give you about 3-5 draws.
The thing I love most about this mod is the vape. It is my instantly favourite vape out of the 510/Ego/Reo/Prov/Alpha/GG (although I have only just started using this). It is a very warm vape on the 510 LR atty and you can taste the flavour like nothing else I have experimented with so far - it lingers in your mouth and if you have a flavour you love, its The ..... Priced at about $165 (IRC) new, (I bought mine of classified from ECF but if it isnt new its still a virgin), it would be money well spent. It runs a 18650 batt. It isnt VV, but quite frankly I couldnt care less such is how good this little box is. I currently rate it for a daily a few spots above the Reo mini.
SSGGTS+UFS
**Ive only been using this for one night**. Engineering wise, this thing is an absolute work of art. Imeo, who makes this all on his own, is a bloody genius. I was concerned about the complexity of the whole thing when I was looking at them, in particular the UFS (I mean look at the thing disassembled above), but it only took a once through on Imeo's video walkthrough and I understand it well.
The battery side of things is telescopic which means you can shove in a whole assortment of batteries - you either lengthen or close the thread as per the length of the battery. Pictured above is with an 18650 installed. With an 18490 the middle tube disappears completely. It is a HEAVY piece of bronze and stainless steel but the thing feels bulletproof in hand.
The AVS has 2 adjustments you can do on the fly - juiceflow and airflow. These are easy to adjust but I havent got the hang of it yet. I suspect it is a mod that you have to learn and really try different atty's to see what does it for you. A couple of things I have discovered through trial and error overnight - you cant vape it lying down - I mean proper past the horizontal (unless you like to drink your juice) but that's a bit of a no brainer once you understand how the tank works. Also, I think you need to keep it stood upright unless you close the juice and air ring, otherwise it will flood the atty - will experiment a bit with this. Having said that - it is a breeze to fix a flooded atty : open the air ring all the way, close the juice ring, and blow the excess juice out of the mouthpiece. Took me about 20 seconds to get it back up and running.
So far I find the vape very cool (perhaps too cool for me - will reserve judgement on that), and it is definitely the smoothest of the vapes Ive had to date. I find you need to draw on this a fair bit longer to get your fill but variety is the spice of life yeah? So far, loving it.
Alpha Ultra
I like this mod, it is small, the switch is very cool, and it is very well engineered. It is hard to compare it with anything as it is just **different**. The Alpha Ultra has a unique tank called a RES, although describing it as a tank isnt really right - it is like a big ceramic cart which holds about 2ml of juice, although somewhere here (sorry I cant remember who and cbf looking atm), reported that you need to top it up around the 1ml mark.
I havent used this enough to pass judgement on the usability of it yet but when I did fire it up it vaped real nice. Runs a 14500 battery. I doubt I would use it as a night on the town mod due to the the limited capacity of the RES, however I would use it in place of an Ego any day of the week. The good thing about this little guy is that it is a breeze to fill - simply pop off your drip tip and squirt down the atty. Leave for a couple of mins and youre gtg. I made a bit of a half arsed go at running a carto through it (which works), but I didnt use it enough to work out if I was vaping through the RES system or simply only through the carto (as I filled the carto as well). If the RES system doesnt grow on me, I think I will use it as a stealthy out and about battery mod only with the standard carto adaptor. Nice little mod.
Reo Mini
A lot as been said about these guys so I wont flog the horse. I like this mod a lot. Its sturdy, vapes well, and small - see for example the size comparison to the Phidias. While I think the Phidias creams it for vaper, this will remain I suspect as my "going out in-the-pocket" mod due to its size and durability, whereas the Phidias will be my on-the-desk / take home at night mod. You really cant go wrong with one of these. Runs a 14500 battery.
Provari
With the Reo, as still a bit of a greenhorn (fark that sounds ghey), there isnt a whole lot I can add to this baby but I'll give my own personal impressions. Firstly, this is The Mod anyone looking to graduate from 510's should go to (imho). What cant you like about this mod. It is like holding a bazooka shell with a microchip in your hand. The beauty about the Provari is that you can stick pretty much any cart / carto / tank on it (except a maptank because they suck ballz and some dual coils make it chuck a spaz), dial in your voltage, and youre sweet as a nut.
Holds either a 18490/18500(?) batt or an 18650 as pictured with or without the optional extension cap. Personally, I like the Prov without the extension cap - it just takes some of the weight and bulk out of it and I prefer the way it feels in the hand. Im not sure how much longer an 18650 buys you over an 18490.
The only thing holding the Provari back for me at the moment from making it my daily is because (a I have lots of new toys), and (b) the juice capacity of the little Boge carto which is my favourite by far, although Im going to start using the G4 clearos some more to see how they go, just doesnt cut it as I am lazy and cbf filling it up all the time (when I have the other gear on hand). As some of you would know, my attempt to use a map tank ended poorly, and to be honest, I need my mods and whatever I shove on the end of them, to be able to withstand getting chucked in the gymbag at the end of the day and tossed around a bit. I do expect this to change with the soon to be released iAtty from GG though
Hope this helps - last pick - a bit of a side by side size comparison.
From left to right :
SSGGTS+AVS / Provari + Boge + cherry vape tip (<3 these btw) / 1000mah Ego + XL Duel Coil + cherry / 510 mega + XL Dual Coil / Sparkplug (I left this one out of the review as I havent used it yet) / Alpha Ultra + Boge + SuperT tip / Phidias + 510 LR atty + cherry / Reo Mini + 306LR atty
