First: I have no financial relationship with the vendor (Altsmoke) whose product I'm talking about here, other than being a customer and spending money there. 
I paid full price for the product.
I've had mixed experiences with several battery mods, both metal tube types and plastic box mods. I was about to conclude I should just give up battery mods and go back to using 510 mega-batteries. But what if the megas and their chargers die in the future -- and become unavailable? So I knew I still needed an alternative. I took a look at the BB after seeing a few of the video reviews. Now somehow, almost every product reviewed is "the best I've ever tried" and has supposedly superior vapor and throat hit...not to mention reviewers' endless dramatically long cyanosis-inducing inhales followed by massive industrial-smokestack-like vapor emissions. Tedious...
A few BB video reviews I saw gave me the usual jaded reaction -- and the BB seemed kind of expensive for its size. I'd been burned on expensive e-cig products before. But clearly my beloved plastic box mods were not going to last if I kept using them heavily; their switches wear out. So I wanted a high quality metal mod with a decent button and decently cut threads. I wanted a mod that was designed around a decent battery and that wouldn't irritate the hell out of me.
I was hopeful about the BB -- and also fully prepared to be disappointed again. But so far the BB is turning out to be a case of: Satisfaction 1, Disappointment 0.
Shipping time: I paid a little (emphasis on "little") extra for faster shipping. I've never had better turnaround on an order. Fastest shipping ever. Kudos to Altsmoke for that.
Packaging: non-fancy. The BB and its passthrough adapter arrived in a couple of velvet-ish bags surrounded by bubble-wrap. I don't care about elegant packaging. I care more about packaging substantial enough to protect the merchandise during shipping. Some kind of box might be in order for BB shipments to guard against mishaps during shipping. That aside, everything arrived in good shape.
Documentation: some e-cig products ship with no documentation. Others come with semi-nicely printed -- but useless -- documentation. Altsmoke's printed material is non-fancy but informative and to the point, so kudos to them for that also.
Finish: I don't much care how these products look as long as they're matte black. This unit has a semi-gloss black finish that looks fine to me. I don't know how prone to scratching it is. If it scratches up a bit over time, I won't care.
Battery: the BB uses the 14500 battery, which in my experience really kicks .... -- doesn't take long to charge and holds a charge for quite a while. I have a bunch of them and not one has ever been defective. Whatever they did to make that battery so good, they should just keep on doing it. Excellent choice of battery for a small-ish mod.
Cut of the threads: to me this is a big deal. I've had one battery mod and one non-brand-name passthrough with poorly cut threads -- too shallow (risk of cross-threading) or with defects -- such that the parts were difficult to thread together. Those products could be serious pains in the neck if they weren't handled very carefully. The BB's body has thick enough metal to enable fairly substantial threads. The pieces go together easily and securely and I can't see any risk of cross-threading except in a moment of major carelessness. Nice job on that.
Button: I have an Indulgence, which has a very good button -- large enough not to be irritating to use and recessed deeply enough to be "pocket-friendly." The BB's button is noticeably higher in profile but the spring tension is high enough that I don't think there's much risk of accidental "firing" unless you put it into a pants pocket and then sit on the thing.. The button is good-sized, has a solid feel -- the best button I've run across yet on a battery mod.
Atomizer fitting: 510 only. The atomizer's base ends up flush with the top surface of the BB. I would have preferred that the fitting extend just slightly the way the fittings do on the Indulgence -- on that one, the atomizer comes to a nice "clean" stop when you screw it in finger-tight. With the BB, there seems to be a bit of "slop" as you tighten it down (note to self: so don't over-tighten it, already). I haven't had any problems with contact with 510s. I did have a bit of trouble with a 510-battery-to-801-atomizer adapter plus a 302 atomizer. I had to fiddle a bit with those parts to get "ignition." As I recall, Altsmoke's documentation warns against that kind of adapter + a 302 atomizer on the BB. (But I'm not sure what other adapter I could use for that purpose -- anyone know?)
Draw: no complaints. The airflow with the Indulgence seems slightly better -- this might be due to its 510 fitting protruding out beyond the end of the battery tube. But the difference in draw is very slight. And it seems to differ a bit from one atomizer to another.
Weight: The BB with the 14500 battery and the Indulgence with the much larger 18650 battery seem to weigh about the same. This must reflect the BB's heftier construction.
Passthrough: I debated quite a bit with myself about that. The BB's p/t is kind of pricey -- more than I wanted to spend. But for better or worse, I did. This p/t adapter is well made. You remove the BB's top part -- pushbutton + atomizer fitting -- and screw it into the p/t adapter (its threads are cut as well as those of the battery tube). The supplied cable is well made. I once had a non-name-brand p/t supplied with a cable so thick, stiff, and heavy that it was all but unusable. The cable's weight would pull the passthrough right off the table. Super-irritating -- I sold that thing right quick. The BB's p/t cable is sturdy, but not stiff and heavy like that.
The connector that plugs into the p/t's housing is of the kind supplied on power cables of, say, external hard drives (I don't know what that kind of connector is called). The fit is solid and secure. The other end: standard USB plug. (A possible down-side: It's the only cable I've ever seen with a USB plug at one end and that other type at the opposite end. if you lost or damaged this cable, where would you find another one like it?)
The p/t itself doesn't seem to put out so much voltage that it might risk burning out 510 atomizers prematurely -- another reason I sold the one referred to above: it ran atomizers unpleasantly hot. A p/t of the this quality is a relief after months of using Joye's stupidly flimsy 510 p/t with its easily-breakable wires...and that kinda-dumb battery box. Compared with the Indulgence's p/t? Don't know. That one is also new to me and I haven't used its p/t yet.
Overall impression: two thumbs up. Well made product that I expect to perform reliably for a long time. Do I want any changes? Yeah, a fully matte black finish and a lower price for the passthrough. Would I buy another BB? Probably.
I paid full price for the product.I've had mixed experiences with several battery mods, both metal tube types and plastic box mods. I was about to conclude I should just give up battery mods and go back to using 510 mega-batteries. But what if the megas and their chargers die in the future -- and become unavailable? So I knew I still needed an alternative. I took a look at the BB after seeing a few of the video reviews. Now somehow, almost every product reviewed is "the best I've ever tried" and has supposedly superior vapor and throat hit...not to mention reviewers' endless dramatically long cyanosis-inducing inhales followed by massive industrial-smokestack-like vapor emissions. Tedious...
A few BB video reviews I saw gave me the usual jaded reaction -- and the BB seemed kind of expensive for its size. I'd been burned on expensive e-cig products before. But clearly my beloved plastic box mods were not going to last if I kept using them heavily; their switches wear out. So I wanted a high quality metal mod with a decent button and decently cut threads. I wanted a mod that was designed around a decent battery and that wouldn't irritate the hell out of me.
I was hopeful about the BB -- and also fully prepared to be disappointed again. But so far the BB is turning out to be a case of: Satisfaction 1, Disappointment 0.
Shipping time: I paid a little (emphasis on "little") extra for faster shipping. I've never had better turnaround on an order. Fastest shipping ever. Kudos to Altsmoke for that.
Packaging: non-fancy. The BB and its passthrough adapter arrived in a couple of velvet-ish bags surrounded by bubble-wrap. I don't care about elegant packaging. I care more about packaging substantial enough to protect the merchandise during shipping. Some kind of box might be in order for BB shipments to guard against mishaps during shipping. That aside, everything arrived in good shape.
Documentation: some e-cig products ship with no documentation. Others come with semi-nicely printed -- but useless -- documentation. Altsmoke's printed material is non-fancy but informative and to the point, so kudos to them for that also.
Finish: I don't much care how these products look as long as they're matte black
. This unit has a semi-gloss black finish that looks fine to me. I don't know how prone to scratching it is. If it scratches up a bit over time, I won't care.Battery: the BB uses the 14500 battery, which in my experience really kicks .... -- doesn't take long to charge and holds a charge for quite a while. I have a bunch of them and not one has ever been defective. Whatever they did to make that battery so good, they should just keep on doing it. Excellent choice of battery for a small-ish mod.
Cut of the threads: to me this is a big deal. I've had one battery mod and one non-brand-name passthrough with poorly cut threads -- too shallow (risk of cross-threading) or with defects -- such that the parts were difficult to thread together. Those products could be serious pains in the neck if they weren't handled very carefully. The BB's body has thick enough metal to enable fairly substantial threads. The pieces go together easily and securely and I can't see any risk of cross-threading except in a moment of major carelessness. Nice job on that.
Button: I have an Indulgence, which has a very good button -- large enough not to be irritating to use and recessed deeply enough to be "pocket-friendly." The BB's button is noticeably higher in profile but the spring tension is high enough that I don't think there's much risk of accidental "firing" unless you put it into a pants pocket and then sit on the thing.
. The button is good-sized, has a solid feel -- the best button I've run across yet on a battery mod.Atomizer fitting: 510 only. The atomizer's base ends up flush with the top surface of the BB. I would have preferred that the fitting extend just slightly the way the fittings do on the Indulgence -- on that one, the atomizer comes to a nice "clean" stop when you screw it in finger-tight. With the BB, there seems to be a bit of "slop" as you tighten it down (note to self: so don't over-tighten it, already). I haven't had any problems with contact with 510s. I did have a bit of trouble with a 510-battery-to-801-atomizer adapter plus a 302 atomizer. I had to fiddle a bit with those parts to get "ignition." As I recall, Altsmoke's documentation warns against that kind of adapter + a 302 atomizer on the BB. (But I'm not sure what other adapter I could use for that purpose -- anyone know?)
Draw: no complaints. The airflow with the Indulgence seems slightly better -- this might be due to its 510 fitting protruding out beyond the end of the battery tube. But the difference in draw is very slight. And it seems to differ a bit from one atomizer to another.
Weight: The BB with the 14500 battery and the Indulgence with the much larger 18650 battery seem to weigh about the same. This must reflect the BB's heftier construction.
Passthrough: I debated quite a bit with myself about that. The BB's p/t is kind of pricey -- more than I wanted to spend. But for better or worse, I did. This p/t adapter is well made. You remove the BB's top part -- pushbutton + atomizer fitting -- and screw it into the p/t adapter (its threads are cut as well as those of the battery tube). The supplied cable is well made. I once had a non-name-brand p/t supplied with a cable so thick, stiff, and heavy that it was all but unusable. The cable's weight would pull the passthrough right off the table. Super-irritating -- I sold that thing right quick. The BB's p/t cable is sturdy, but not stiff and heavy like that.
The connector that plugs into the p/t's housing is of the kind supplied on power cables of, say, external hard drives (I don't know what that kind of connector is called). The fit is solid and secure. The other end: standard USB plug. (A possible down-side: It's the only cable I've ever seen with a USB plug at one end and that other type at the opposite end. if you lost or damaged this cable, where would you find another one like it?)
The p/t itself doesn't seem to put out so much voltage that it might risk burning out 510 atomizers prematurely -- another reason I sold the one referred to above: it ran atomizers unpleasantly hot. A p/t of the this quality is a relief after months of using Joye's stupidly flimsy 510 p/t with its easily-breakable wires...and that kinda-dumb battery box. Compared with the Indulgence's p/t? Don't know. That one is also new to me and I haven't used its p/t yet.
Overall impression: two thumbs up. Well made product that I expect to perform reliably for a long time. Do I want any changes? Yeah, a fully matte black finish and a lower price for the passthrough.
Would I buy another BB? Probably.
