Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Desire Cut 220 mod. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is not marked as a sample.
Introduction:
The Desire Cut 220 Kit is the latest kit from somewhat known manufacturer Desire Designs. They have been around a long time mostly known for their RDAs like the yuri, mad dog, rabies, etc but they made a few good mods in 2018 as well with the mad mod, the rage squonk, and the cut squonk mod. The Desire Cut 220 kit is a kit is a kit that includes a dual 18650 Cut 220 mod rated at 220 watts and includes the Bulldog Mesh tank as well. I’ve already reviewed the tank so won’t be touching on that in this review. It’s available in 5 colors Black, Blue, Purple, White, and Red. Looking around online i see the kit only and priced around 55-80 USD and elementvape has them for 60 USD all colors in sock in the US
Manufacturer's Specs:
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got to see this mod I have to say i really liked the design. It’s not really new to me as it’s their cut squonk mod basically but as a non squonk dual battery mod instead but same shape and such and i really do like the design of it like I did for their cut squonk. This one has some more LED options though, a newer chip and is rated for 220 watts and takes 2 18650 batteries. They also updated the screen to feature some color now as well. Overall i really liked the design and upgrades from the start.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .13, .15, .2, and .64 ohms. wattage points were max (220), 200, 150, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .13 ohms it maxed out at 188 watts and 38 amps. For the rest of the testing it struggled quite a bit. At 100+ it was 13-28 watts low but under 100 3-8 watts low. many mods struggle at that resistance so not a major deal. At .15 it maxed out at 215 watts. The rest of the testing it was mostly on point or 1 watt off except the 25 where it was 2 watts high and th 100 where it was 4 low. For the .2 test it maxed out at 206 watts. For the rest of the tests again really accurate it was 6 high at 200 but at 150 or less on point or 1 watt off pretty much. For the .64 testing it maxed out at 90 watts and 7.574 volts. For the rest of the testing it was on point 50 or less but 3 watts high at 75. The volts shows there is no boost circuit like Most dual battery mods.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was pretty average. It did struggle with the .13 ohm build which many mods do. But at .15 or more performed well. It mostly always within a couple of watts. I was able to get 215 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 220 watts. The 7.574 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit. Their manual does not list a voltage limit or amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. On this mod and the most amps i got was 38 with a .13 ohm and .15 ohm coil which is a little below average for a dual battery mod (average is around 40 these days) and the most volts i got is 7.574 which is pretty standard for a non boost circuit mod. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 215 watts, 8V and 38A. So overall good performer and accurately rated for watts. They also have a watt curve mode which works great.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is pretty average these days. Accurately rated for watts (215), No boost circuit, lower side of average amp limit of 38. Volts tested at 7.574. Watt curve mode works well.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode and TCR mode set to 92, I tested 8 builds. 2 simple round single coil, 2 simple round dual Coil, 2 large fancy single coils builds, and 2 large fancy dual coil builds. Personally I found it Great with a TCR of 92 and in SS mode as well so no need to adjust TCR and you can just use it in SS mode. I also tested the crown 4 and it’s SS904 coils in TCR mode with the TCR set to 85. It felt pretty accurate to me with a warm vape in the 450ish range as it should be which allows plenty of room for adjustment if you want a cooler or hotter vape. You can also adjust your wattage for ramp as well to the full amount of watts. Very well done there. Overall it’s a great performer from desire who has improved this greatly since the rage and the cut squonk mods. This one and the mad mod both performed well in TC so glad to see the improvement there. The throttle is smooth and not pulsey. It’s consistent, no dry hits. The ramp is good no complaints there and overall just a really nice vape in TC mode so well done there.
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a standard 5 click of the fire button to turn on and off. The menu system is pretty good overall but i do have a few complaints. You click fire 3 times to enter the menu. It has color to change the screen color, LED set for the LED settings, Device for version info, factory reset, and puf reset and then novice and advanced. Novice seems to be some auto watts mods that is non adjustable which i’m not a fan of mods having. Advanced is where you can actually select your modes. I wish the novice mode wasn’t there and they don’t even explain it in the manual. My best guess is an auto watt setting based on resistance which doesn't make any sense. IN advanced mode though you have watts, bypass, TC for SS, Ni, and Ti and 2 TCR memory modes as well as PMG mode which is watt curve.Selecting one that has other settings available like TCR mode allows you to adjust those settings after selecting the mode. The PMG mode is nice as it works off a percentage so you adjust the percentage in half second increments for the 1st 3 seconds between 50% and 200%. Then you can simple adjust the wattage like you would in watt mode so that’s really nicely done there. So yeah my 1 complaint is the novice mode outside of that really good easy to use menu. Up and down locks the adjustment buttons but you can still fire. LED has options of always on, always off or on when firing with 5 colors to choose from. The screen also has 5 color settings.
The Desire Cut 220 adjusts by .1 watt increments under 30 watts and full watt increments 30 or more. If you hold the adjustment button it does full watts as well and scrolls pretty fast. Overall well done there and fast and easy to adjust. The mod itself is built solid with no rattle at all, and has a nice weight to it where it’s not heavy but not light. Feels really good in the hand. The Battery door is a standard magnetic back plate and It’s easy to get batteries in and out without damaging wraps and takes (2)18650 batteries. The backplate fits really well with no play and the batteries come out and in easy without a ribbon like the polar mod but since the door on this wraps around the sides it’s even easier to access the batteries then that mod. It’s a thick metal door but no coating or warning sticker.
I do have some odd gripes with this mod though, There paint on the mod is not very nice. I mean it looks nice but i have a lot of chips in mine already. I did drop it once so i understand a chip or 2 but there are quite a few and in different spots here already. They should have done a better job with the paint. The TCR Memory setting also resets when swapping batteries back to the default 500 which well just sucks. It should actually hold the memory and makes the memory portion of it pretty useless. Also the battery meter doesn't work correctly at all. It has individual battery monitors however the left battery on the screen never drains only the right battery does. Made even funnier by the fact that in their manual all the screenshots of the mod shows this as well. The left battery is always 100% and only the right drains. It doesn't drain them unevenly though it just reads wrong. I pulled out a set when the batteries read at 100% and 78% and checked the voltage on both batteries and they both read 4.03V so it’s just the meter that’s broken. Not a fan of all these issues at all.
The fire button is nice large and clicky fire button shaped like the desire logo on the slanted side of the mod I like to use right handed with a pointer finger fire and screen facing out. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be and is really comfy to use and quite large. The 510 pin gave me no issues and every atomizer i used on it worked great with no gaps. The mod handles a 26mm atomizer flush so good enough there to accommodate most atomizers these days. The screen is a nice 1.3” color text screen that looks great. It’s bright and easy to see. Also for branding the mod itself there is desire design engraved into 1 side in matching color and nothing else unless you count the LED and fire button being shaped like their logo. Nicely branded overall. They don’t list a charging rate but i don’t recommend charging internally in your mods like these so I don’t test charge rates of devices like this due to that.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this kit or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no but this one i have to lean a bit towards the no. it’s a shame as it’ performs fine in power mode and it’s a good performer in TC which is not super rare these days but also not very common. It was nice to have good TC on an affordable mod. Personally though I can’t overlook all the issues i had with this mod but some may not mind them as much as i do. The battery meter reading, the TCR resetting, the paint chipping, when it comes to dual battery mods there are so many good ones without these issues and the competition is stiff so it’s hard to recommend this one personally. It’s not a bad mod and if they fixed the paint up and did a firmware update for the battery meter and TCR memory I would recommend it but as it stands, I’ll won’t be adding the mod to my spreadsheet of recs linked down below.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Desire Designs
Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadsheet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 so far list here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Desire Cut 220 Kit is the latest kit from somewhat known manufacturer Desire Designs. They have been around a long time mostly known for their RDAs like the yuri, mad dog, rabies, etc but they made a few good mods in 2018 as well with the mad mod, the rage squonk, and the cut squonk mod. The Desire Cut 220 kit is a kit is a kit that includes a dual 18650 Cut 220 mod rated at 220 watts and includes the Bulldog Mesh tank as well. I’ve already reviewed the tank so won’t be touching on that in this review. It’s available in 5 colors Black, Blue, Purple, White, and Red. Looking around online i see the kit only and priced around 55-80 USD and elementvape has them for 60 USD all colors in sock in the US
Manufacturer's Specs:
- Dimensions - 88mm by 46mm by 35mm
- Weight - 161g
- Proprietary Chipset
- Dual High-Amp 18650 Batteries - Not Included
- Wattage Output Range: 5-220W
- Resistance Range: 0.08-3.0ohms
- VW Mode
- TC Mode
- PMG Mode
- BYPASS Mode
- Novice Mode - Auto Detects and Locks Best Wattage
- Superior Zinc-Alloy Chassis Construction
- 1.3" TFT Color Screen
- 5-Colors Thematic User Interface
- Iconic Breathing Light LED Design
- Short Circuit Protection
- Over Vaping Protection
- Lom Auto Lock Protection
- Over Charging Protection
- Low Voltage Protection
- USB Charging Protection
- Micro USB Charging Port
- Spring-Loaded 510 Connection
- Available in Red, White, Purple, Blue, Black
- 1 Cut Premium 220W Box Mod
- 1 Bulldog 24.5mm Sub-Ohm Tank
- 1 Replacement Glass
- 1 0.2ohm BCC Triple Coil - rated for 100-120W
- 1 0.18ohm BCC Mesh Single Coil - rated for 60-80W
- 1 User Manual
- 1 Warranty Card
- 1 Micro USB Cable
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got to see this mod I have to say i really liked the design. It’s not really new to me as it’s their cut squonk mod basically but as a non squonk dual battery mod instead but same shape and such and i really do like the design of it like I did for their cut squonk. This one has some more LED options though, a newer chip and is rated for 220 watts and takes 2 18650 batteries. They also updated the screen to feature some color now as well. Overall i really liked the design and upgrades from the start.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .13, .15, .2, and .64 ohms. wattage points were max (220), 200, 150, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .13 ohms it maxed out at 188 watts and 38 amps. For the rest of the testing it struggled quite a bit. At 100+ it was 13-28 watts low but under 100 3-8 watts low. many mods struggle at that resistance so not a major deal. At .15 it maxed out at 215 watts. The rest of the testing it was mostly on point or 1 watt off except the 25 where it was 2 watts high and th 100 where it was 4 low. For the .2 test it maxed out at 206 watts. For the rest of the tests again really accurate it was 6 high at 200 but at 150 or less on point or 1 watt off pretty much. For the .64 testing it maxed out at 90 watts and 7.574 volts. For the rest of the testing it was on point 50 or less but 3 watts high at 75. The volts shows there is no boost circuit like Most dual battery mods.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was pretty average. It did struggle with the .13 ohm build which many mods do. But at .15 or more performed well. It mostly always within a couple of watts. I was able to get 215 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 220 watts. The 7.574 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit. Their manual does not list a voltage limit or amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. On this mod and the most amps i got was 38 with a .13 ohm and .15 ohm coil which is a little below average for a dual battery mod (average is around 40 these days) and the most volts i got is 7.574 which is pretty standard for a non boost circuit mod. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 215 watts, 8V and 38A. So overall good performer and accurately rated for watts. They also have a watt curve mode which works great.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is pretty average these days. Accurately rated for watts (215), No boost circuit, lower side of average amp limit of 38. Volts tested at 7.574. Watt curve mode works well.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode and TCR mode set to 92, I tested 8 builds. 2 simple round single coil, 2 simple round dual Coil, 2 large fancy single coils builds, and 2 large fancy dual coil builds. Personally I found it Great with a TCR of 92 and in SS mode as well so no need to adjust TCR and you can just use it in SS mode. I also tested the crown 4 and it’s SS904 coils in TCR mode with the TCR set to 85. It felt pretty accurate to me with a warm vape in the 450ish range as it should be which allows plenty of room for adjustment if you want a cooler or hotter vape. You can also adjust your wattage for ramp as well to the full amount of watts. Very well done there. Overall it’s a great performer from desire who has improved this greatly since the rage and the cut squonk mods. This one and the mad mod both performed well in TC so glad to see the improvement there. The throttle is smooth and not pulsey. It’s consistent, no dry hits. The ramp is good no complaints there and overall just a really nice vape in TC mode so well done there.
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a standard 5 click of the fire button to turn on and off. The menu system is pretty good overall but i do have a few complaints. You click fire 3 times to enter the menu. It has color to change the screen color, LED set for the LED settings, Device for version info, factory reset, and puf reset and then novice and advanced. Novice seems to be some auto watts mods that is non adjustable which i’m not a fan of mods having. Advanced is where you can actually select your modes. I wish the novice mode wasn’t there and they don’t even explain it in the manual. My best guess is an auto watt setting based on resistance which doesn't make any sense. IN advanced mode though you have watts, bypass, TC for SS, Ni, and Ti and 2 TCR memory modes as well as PMG mode which is watt curve.Selecting one that has other settings available like TCR mode allows you to adjust those settings after selecting the mode. The PMG mode is nice as it works off a percentage so you adjust the percentage in half second increments for the 1st 3 seconds between 50% and 200%. Then you can simple adjust the wattage like you would in watt mode so that’s really nicely done there. So yeah my 1 complaint is the novice mode outside of that really good easy to use menu. Up and down locks the adjustment buttons but you can still fire. LED has options of always on, always off or on when firing with 5 colors to choose from. The screen also has 5 color settings.
The Desire Cut 220 adjusts by .1 watt increments under 30 watts and full watt increments 30 or more. If you hold the adjustment button it does full watts as well and scrolls pretty fast. Overall well done there and fast and easy to adjust. The mod itself is built solid with no rattle at all, and has a nice weight to it where it’s not heavy but not light. Feels really good in the hand. The Battery door is a standard magnetic back plate and It’s easy to get batteries in and out without damaging wraps and takes (2)18650 batteries. The backplate fits really well with no play and the batteries come out and in easy without a ribbon like the polar mod but since the door on this wraps around the sides it’s even easier to access the batteries then that mod. It’s a thick metal door but no coating or warning sticker.
I do have some odd gripes with this mod though, There paint on the mod is not very nice. I mean it looks nice but i have a lot of chips in mine already. I did drop it once so i understand a chip or 2 but there are quite a few and in different spots here already. They should have done a better job with the paint. The TCR Memory setting also resets when swapping batteries back to the default 500 which well just sucks. It should actually hold the memory and makes the memory portion of it pretty useless. Also the battery meter doesn't work correctly at all. It has individual battery monitors however the left battery on the screen never drains only the right battery does. Made even funnier by the fact that in their manual all the screenshots of the mod shows this as well. The left battery is always 100% and only the right drains. It doesn't drain them unevenly though it just reads wrong. I pulled out a set when the batteries read at 100% and 78% and checked the voltage on both batteries and they both read 4.03V so it’s just the meter that’s broken. Not a fan of all these issues at all.
The fire button is nice large and clicky fire button shaped like the desire logo on the slanted side of the mod I like to use right handed with a pointer finger fire and screen facing out. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be and is really comfy to use and quite large. The 510 pin gave me no issues and every atomizer i used on it worked great with no gaps. The mod handles a 26mm atomizer flush so good enough there to accommodate most atomizers these days. The screen is a nice 1.3” color text screen that looks great. It’s bright and easy to see. Also for branding the mod itself there is desire design engraved into 1 side in matching color and nothing else unless you count the LED and fire button being shaped like their logo. Nicely branded overall. They don’t list a charging rate but i don’t recommend charging internally in your mods like these so I don’t test charge rates of devices like this due to that.
Pros:
- Power mode performance is good
- Accurately rated for watts (215)
- average amp limit (38)
- batteries are easy to get in and out without damaging wraps
- handles 26mm atomizers without overhang
- easy to adjust wattage quickly
- color options (5)
- Easy to use Menu
- TCR mode
- Full watt adjustments in TC
- Large color screen
- nice fire button
- good TC performance
- Nice build quality mostly
- watt curve mode (PMG)
- Paint Chipping
- TCR resets on battery change
- battery meter doesn't read correctly
- novice mode is unexplained and seems pointless
So with all that said, do I recommend this kit or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no but this one i have to lean a bit towards the no. it’s a shame as it’ performs fine in power mode and it’s a good performer in TC which is not super rare these days but also not very common. It was nice to have good TC on an affordable mod. Personally though I can’t overlook all the issues i had with this mod but some may not mind them as much as i do. The battery meter reading, the TCR resetting, the paint chipping, when it comes to dual battery mods there are so many good ones without these issues and the competition is stiff so it’s hard to recommend this one personally. It’s not a bad mod and if they fixed the paint up and did a firmware update for the battery meter and TCR memory I would recommend it but as it stands, I’ll won’t be adding the mod to my spreadsheet of recs linked down below.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Desire Designs
Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadsheet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 so far list here
Best of 2017 list here
