Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Smoant Battlestar Squonker Kit. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is marked as a sample.
Introduction:
The Smoant Battlestar Squonker Kit is the latest kit from community popular vape manufacturer Smoant. They became pretty popular a few years ago with their battlestar mod as an affordable well built good performing mod and have followed up with lots of good mods since then like the charon, charon mini, battlestar mini, and most recently the naboo. They are one of the best affordable mod manufacturers on the market. The Battlestar Squonker is a dual 18650 battery squonk mod rated at 200 watts. It’s available in 4 colors Black, Gunmetal, Yellow, and Gradient Blue. It comes in a kit with the Battlestar Squonker rda only not sold seperate, but i’ll only touch a little on the rda mostly focusing on the mod. Looking around online i see the kit for around 45-50USD out of china and 55USD at elementvape in the US so really great pricing for a dual battery squonk mod with a rda in a kit.
Manufacturer's Specs: Mod
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got to see this mod it was actually like 8 months ago at ECC. it wasn’t even a working model just a design concept. Either way though i did really like the simple design and how small and compact it was. When i got my review sample and got to use it, they kept the same design. It does use a pump system which some people may not be used to. Personally i’ve reviewed a few pump system squonkers like the delta and the pumper 18 and the spruzza and personally i really like the pump system for squonking. It’s a pretty basic looking mod like the original battlestar mod and has the screen like the battlestar mini. Overall i really liked the design of the mod 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 .12, .15, .2, and .63 ohms. wattage points were max (200), 150, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .12 ohms it maxed out at 212 watts and 42 amps. For the rest of the testing it performed really well and didn’t struggle like a lot of mods. Not only did it not struggle it hit a bit on the high side at a resistance where many hit low. At 100+ it was 5-12 watts high and under 100 2-8 watts high, so good job there. At .15 it maxed out at 215 watts. The rest of the testing here again very good but a bit on the high side, at over 100 watts it was 6-15 high and under 100 5-8 watts high so good performance there. For the .2 test it maxed out at 213 watts. For the rest of the tests again good but a little high, at 100 or more watts 7-13 watts high, under 100 watts 2-5 high. For the .63 testing it maxed out at 91 watts and 7.574 volts. For the rest of the testing it was a little high 2-9 watts. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod like most dual battery mods which isn’t a big deal as it’s not needed, but nice when they have one.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was good. It didn’t struggle with the .12 ohm build like many mods i’ve tested and mostly hits a little high side. I’d suggest starting about 5-10 watts lower than normal. I was able to get 215 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 200 watts if not slightly underrated. I was able to get 200+ in all tests between .12-.2 ohms which is nice. The 7.574 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit but not needed here. Their manual does not list a voltage limit or amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. They only list an input voltage which claims soft cell cut off is 3V. On this mod and the most amps i got was 42 with a .12 ohm coil which is slightly above average for a dual 18650 mod. The most volts i got is 7.574 which is again pretty average for a non boost dual battery mod. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 215 watts, 7.5V and 42A. So overall good performer and close enough ratings for the 1 they list. It also has a watt curve mode that works well with 5 set points each point you can set between .5-2 seconds and each point whatever wattage you want 1-200 watts.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is pretty good overall. Accurately rated for watts (215), No boost circuit but not required, great amp limit of 42. Pretty accurate but hits slightly high mostly. also has a good watt curve mode.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode and TCR mode, I tested 6 builds. 1 simple round single coil, 1 simple round dual Coil, 2 large fancy single coil, and 2 large fancy dual coil. power is adjustable as well up to the full amounts you can do this with up and fire being held which will swap you to the power adjust when in TC mode. When in TCR mode down and fire allows you to adjust the TCR. TCR works off the standard system which is nice. Now historically smoant has had good TC on their mods for an affordable mod. Their older mods tended to hit a little on the high side while their newer mods tend to hit a little on the low side (for example the naboo i found best with a TCR around 110) but they were always smooth and consistent. For the battlestar squonk though in SS mode it hits way too high and doesn’t offer any dry burn protection really. Even when temp is set in the low 300s. So i went to TCR mode to adjust it down and even as low as 60 and with the temp set under 400 i still get no dry burn protection. There were random times when i did get a good vape but overall i found it to be inconsistent and pretty inaccurate. I found the TCR setting to be best around 50 for SS316 wire which makes it feel accurate at the cut off, but it doesn't always cut off. The vape is smooth though but it just doesn’t work well. Overall a disappointment from smoant but no worse off then the other dual battery non DNA squonk mods i’ve used. Not something i’d recommend for TC personally
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a standard 5 click of the fire button to turn on and off. The mod doesn’t have a “true” menu system. Instead you click fire 3 times to enter menu mode which makes the mode flash on the screen. From there you can use up and down to cycle the modes which are VW (watts), VV (volts), DVW (watt curve), TC for Ni200, Ti, SS, and TCR. Up and down locks the adjustment buttons but you can still fire. Up and fire or down and fire allows you to adjust settings inside the modes like the watt curve or the power/tcr settings in TC mode. Overall it’s not that bad to use but i always prefer a true menu system.
The Smoant Battlestar Squonker adjusts by .1 watt increments under 100 and full watt increments at 100 or more, if you hold the button it adjusts by 1 watts at any wattage and scrolls pretty fast and also round robins. Very quickly and easily to adjust wattage so well done there but i do prefer full watt increments over 20. The mod itself is built solid with almost no rattle at all, the only rattle i get is from the bottle which has some side to side play on it, and has a nice weight to it where it’s not heavy but not light. Feels really good in the hand and is very compact for a dual battery squonker with nice ergonomics. The Battery door is a standard bottom latch system. It’s easy to get batteries in and out and won’t damage wraps but the door itself is a bit floppy when open and has a small minor gap when closed. Not a big deal but worth the mention.
The paint on the mod is very nice. There are 4 colors which is black, gradient blue, yellow, and gunmetal. I have the gunmetal so i’ll be speaking on that one. It has a nice brushed finish to it and isn’t showing any signs of wearing and the sides have the nice battlestar like cutouts like the original battlestar mod. The fire button is nice good size and clicky square. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be and is really comfy to use. Nothing special but gets the job done. The 510 pin is great and gave me no issues with any atomizer. The mod handles a 25mm atomizer flush with the front of the mod. No complaints there, they really can’t center the 510 on this mod due to the pump being on the top for the squonk system. They also include an o-ring around the 510 pin to help prevent juice from getting in, but they don’t fit well and fall out pretty easily. I actually lost mine but they do include 2 spares at least. The screen is a nice .96” black and white screen rectangle shape that looks good. Similar to their battlestar mini mod but without the spelling errors so no complaints there but a color screen would have been nice and only 2 others have that though (Drone 250c and delta) and both are much more expensive and 1 is a single battery squonker so i can't complain. It’s reasonably bright and easy to see in most lighting. Also for branding the mod itself there is 0 visible branding only on the bottom so very good job there giving the mod a nice clean look. They list a charging rate of 2A 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.
Squonk System
The Smoant Battlestar Squonker comes with a 7 ml capacity bottle which is a nice size. It’s a unique squonking system though which i’m sure we’ll see more of soon as in you don’t actually squonk the bottle. The bottle is a hard plastic one and it features a pump system where you push down the pump at the top of the mod to make the juice go into the RDA it won’t suck back your excess juice but pump systems offer metered pumps so just know your RDA and how deep the well is. For most RDAs 3-5 pumps was perfect for me I’ve used other pump systems like the pumper 18 and spurzza and personally i like them alot. It works very well all the way until it’s pretty much empty. Filling the bottle is pretty easy. You do need to remove the batteries to fill it though. You open the battery door and remove the batteries. Then slide the bottle down to remove it. On the bottom of the bottle there is a rubber plug you open and t exposes a large fill hole that’s easy to fill with any bottle type but i wouldn’t just pour in from a glass bottle. It’s like filling a pod system that has a really large fill hole. I really like it personally and it’s easier and cleaner than a standard bottle, my only complaint is having to remove the batteries to fill it. They also include a spare which is awesome and the spares come with a rubber cap for the pump so you can easily carry a spare with you and swap out the bottles to change flavors or when 1 is empty. Very well done there and i also see the bottles already for sale for about 3 USD and even in packs of 5 for around 12 USD so that’s pretty awesome. Overall though really nice squonk system that works great and that we will likely see more on other mods in the future.
Battlestar Squonker RDA
Ok so i’m not going to get into detail with the RDA. This RDA actually already existed twice over for years now. It’s the same RDA as the original battlestar RDA pretty much just with a redesigned top cap so it doesn't have the “robot face” looking design and is more plain. The design itself from the original to this one is the same RDA pretty much as the original desire mad dog RDA. If you want more info on that you could check out my old mad dog RDA review. So what does that mean? Well it means that it’s a good performer but also has quite a few outdated design quirks to it, quirks that desire fixed in the mad dog V2. Would have made more sense to just copy the V2 with this updated RDA. either way you can’t buy the mod separate and it should still be a good performer and really a better RDA then most kits would include. Not to mention at the price point for the kit 45-60 USD it’s much cheaper than most dual battery squonk mods on the market these days like the mach 3, rage, drone 250c, and topside dual which run around 60-150 USD so it’s basically a free RDA that should perform well so no complaints there.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do the yes or no, but for this i’m going to have to lean towards the yes for sure. There aren't many affordable dual 18650 battery squonkers on the market and well the TC isn’t good and i wouldn’t recommend it for that, none of the other options, save for the Drone which is more than double the price, do a good TC anyway but what we have is a small compact affordable dual 18650 squonker that is well built with a good squonk system and a nice watt curve mode as well making it a great option if you don’t use TC mode. If you do use TC then it’s the drone or something custom. I’ll be adding this to my sheet 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 Smoant
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 list here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Smoant Battlestar Squonker Kit is the latest kit from community popular vape manufacturer Smoant. They became pretty popular a few years ago with their battlestar mod as an affordable well built good performing mod and have followed up with lots of good mods since then like the charon, charon mini, battlestar mini, and most recently the naboo. They are one of the best affordable mod manufacturers on the market. The Battlestar Squonker is a dual 18650 battery squonk mod rated at 200 watts. It’s available in 4 colors Black, Gunmetal, Yellow, and Gradient Blue. It comes in a kit with the Battlestar Squonker rda only not sold seperate, but i’ll only touch a little on the rda mostly focusing on the mod. Looking around online i see the kit for around 45-50USD out of china and 55USD at elementvape in the US so really great pricing for a dual battery squonk mod with a rda in a kit.
Manufacturer's Specs: Mod
- Dimensions - 87.5mm by 44.5mm by 40.5mm
- Dual High-Amp 18650 Batteries - Not Included
- Wattage Output Range: 1-200W
- Voltage Output Range: 6.0-8.4V
- Resistance Range: 0.05-3.0ohm
- Temperature Range: 100° - 300°C / 200° - 600°F
- VW Mode
- TC Mode
- 0.96" OLED Display Screen
- Intuitive Firing Button
- Two Adjustment Buttons
- Integrated 7.0mL Squonk Bottle
- Bottom Filled Squonk Bottle - Hinged Rotating Door
- Hinged Bottom Battery Door
- Top Mounted Squonk Button
- Reverse Protection
- Over-Current Protection
- Overheating Protection
- Over-time Protection
- Low Voltage Protection
- Over Charge Protection
- Micro USB Port
- 510 Connection
- Available in Black, Yellow, Gunmetal, and Gradient Blue
- 24mm Diameter
- Deep Juice Wells
- Brass and Stainless Steel Chassis Construction
- Expansive Dual Post Build Deck - 4 Open Terminals
- Top Secured via Flathead Screws
- Positive Pin PEEK Insulation
- Single or Dual Coil Configuration
- Detachable Structure
- Dual Slotted Angle Side Airflow System
- Vents Directly To Coil Structure
- BF Squonk Pin
- 810 Resin Drip Tip
- Available in Black, Yellow, Gunmetal, and Gradient Blue
- 1 Smoant Battlestar Squonker Box Mod
- 1 Smoant Battlestar Squonker RDA
- 1 Spare E-Liquid Bottle
- 1 Solid Pin
- 1 Micro USB Cable
- 1 Warranty Card
- 1 User Manuals
- 2 Spare Parts Pack
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got to see this mod it was actually like 8 months ago at ECC. it wasn’t even a working model just a design concept. Either way though i did really like the simple design and how small and compact it was. When i got my review sample and got to use it, they kept the same design. It does use a pump system which some people may not be used to. Personally i’ve reviewed a few pump system squonkers like the delta and the pumper 18 and the spruzza and personally i really like the pump system for squonking. It’s a pretty basic looking mod like the original battlestar mod and has the screen like the battlestar mini. Overall i really liked the design of the mod 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 .12, .15, .2, and .63 ohms. wattage points were max (200), 150, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .12 ohms it maxed out at 212 watts and 42 amps. For the rest of the testing it performed really well and didn’t struggle like a lot of mods. Not only did it not struggle it hit a bit on the high side at a resistance where many hit low. At 100+ it was 5-12 watts high and under 100 2-8 watts high, so good job there. At .15 it maxed out at 215 watts. The rest of the testing here again very good but a bit on the high side, at over 100 watts it was 6-15 high and under 100 5-8 watts high so good performance there. For the .2 test it maxed out at 213 watts. For the rest of the tests again good but a little high, at 100 or more watts 7-13 watts high, under 100 watts 2-5 high. For the .63 testing it maxed out at 91 watts and 7.574 volts. For the rest of the testing it was a little high 2-9 watts. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod like most dual battery mods which isn’t a big deal as it’s not needed, but nice when they have one.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was good. It didn’t struggle with the .12 ohm build like many mods i’ve tested and mostly hits a little high side. I’d suggest starting about 5-10 watts lower than normal. I was able to get 215 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 200 watts if not slightly underrated. I was able to get 200+ in all tests between .12-.2 ohms which is nice. The 7.574 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit but not needed here. Their manual does not list a voltage limit or amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. They only list an input voltage which claims soft cell cut off is 3V. On this mod and the most amps i got was 42 with a .12 ohm coil which is slightly above average for a dual 18650 mod. The most volts i got is 7.574 which is again pretty average for a non boost dual battery mod. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 215 watts, 7.5V and 42A. So overall good performer and close enough ratings for the 1 they list. It also has a watt curve mode that works well with 5 set points each point you can set between .5-2 seconds and each point whatever wattage you want 1-200 watts.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is pretty good overall. Accurately rated for watts (215), No boost circuit but not required, great amp limit of 42. Pretty accurate but hits slightly high mostly. also has a good watt curve mode.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode and TCR mode, I tested 6 builds. 1 simple round single coil, 1 simple round dual Coil, 2 large fancy single coil, and 2 large fancy dual coil. power is adjustable as well up to the full amounts you can do this with up and fire being held which will swap you to the power adjust when in TC mode. When in TCR mode down and fire allows you to adjust the TCR. TCR works off the standard system which is nice. Now historically smoant has had good TC on their mods for an affordable mod. Their older mods tended to hit a little on the high side while their newer mods tend to hit a little on the low side (for example the naboo i found best with a TCR around 110) but they were always smooth and consistent. For the battlestar squonk though in SS mode it hits way too high and doesn’t offer any dry burn protection really. Even when temp is set in the low 300s. So i went to TCR mode to adjust it down and even as low as 60 and with the temp set under 400 i still get no dry burn protection. There were random times when i did get a good vape but overall i found it to be inconsistent and pretty inaccurate. I found the TCR setting to be best around 50 for SS316 wire which makes it feel accurate at the cut off, but it doesn't always cut off. The vape is smooth though but it just doesn’t work well. Overall a disappointment from smoant but no worse off then the other dual battery non DNA squonk mods i’ve used. Not something i’d recommend for TC personally
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a standard 5 click of the fire button to turn on and off. The mod doesn’t have a “true” menu system. Instead you click fire 3 times to enter menu mode which makes the mode flash on the screen. From there you can use up and down to cycle the modes which are VW (watts), VV (volts), DVW (watt curve), TC for Ni200, Ti, SS, and TCR. Up and down locks the adjustment buttons but you can still fire. Up and fire or down and fire allows you to adjust settings inside the modes like the watt curve or the power/tcr settings in TC mode. Overall it’s not that bad to use but i always prefer a true menu system.
The Smoant Battlestar Squonker adjusts by .1 watt increments under 100 and full watt increments at 100 or more, if you hold the button it adjusts by 1 watts at any wattage and scrolls pretty fast and also round robins. Very quickly and easily to adjust wattage so well done there but i do prefer full watt increments over 20. The mod itself is built solid with almost no rattle at all, the only rattle i get is from the bottle which has some side to side play on it, and has a nice weight to it where it’s not heavy but not light. Feels really good in the hand and is very compact for a dual battery squonker with nice ergonomics. The Battery door is a standard bottom latch system. It’s easy to get batteries in and out and won’t damage wraps but the door itself is a bit floppy when open and has a small minor gap when closed. Not a big deal but worth the mention.
The paint on the mod is very nice. There are 4 colors which is black, gradient blue, yellow, and gunmetal. I have the gunmetal so i’ll be speaking on that one. It has a nice brushed finish to it and isn’t showing any signs of wearing and the sides have the nice battlestar like cutouts like the original battlestar mod. The fire button is nice good size and clicky square. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be and is really comfy to use. Nothing special but gets the job done. The 510 pin is great and gave me no issues with any atomizer. The mod handles a 25mm atomizer flush with the front of the mod. No complaints there, they really can’t center the 510 on this mod due to the pump being on the top for the squonk system. They also include an o-ring around the 510 pin to help prevent juice from getting in, but they don’t fit well and fall out pretty easily. I actually lost mine but they do include 2 spares at least. The screen is a nice .96” black and white screen rectangle shape that looks good. Similar to their battlestar mini mod but without the spelling errors so no complaints there but a color screen would have been nice and only 2 others have that though (Drone 250c and delta) and both are much more expensive and 1 is a single battery squonker so i can't complain. It’s reasonably bright and easy to see in most lighting. Also for branding the mod itself there is 0 visible branding only on the bottom so very good job there giving the mod a nice clean look. They list a charging rate of 2A 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.
Squonk System
The Smoant Battlestar Squonker comes with a 7 ml capacity bottle which is a nice size. It’s a unique squonking system though which i’m sure we’ll see more of soon as in you don’t actually squonk the bottle. The bottle is a hard plastic one and it features a pump system where you push down the pump at the top of the mod to make the juice go into the RDA it won’t suck back your excess juice but pump systems offer metered pumps so just know your RDA and how deep the well is. For most RDAs 3-5 pumps was perfect for me I’ve used other pump systems like the pumper 18 and spurzza and personally i like them alot. It works very well all the way until it’s pretty much empty. Filling the bottle is pretty easy. You do need to remove the batteries to fill it though. You open the battery door and remove the batteries. Then slide the bottle down to remove it. On the bottom of the bottle there is a rubber plug you open and t exposes a large fill hole that’s easy to fill with any bottle type but i wouldn’t just pour in from a glass bottle. It’s like filling a pod system that has a really large fill hole. I really like it personally and it’s easier and cleaner than a standard bottle, my only complaint is having to remove the batteries to fill it. They also include a spare which is awesome and the spares come with a rubber cap for the pump so you can easily carry a spare with you and swap out the bottles to change flavors or when 1 is empty. Very well done there and i also see the bottles already for sale for about 3 USD and even in packs of 5 for around 12 USD so that’s pretty awesome. Overall though really nice squonk system that works great and that we will likely see more on other mods in the future.
Battlestar Squonker RDA
Ok so i’m not going to get into detail with the RDA. This RDA actually already existed twice over for years now. It’s the same RDA as the original battlestar RDA pretty much just with a redesigned top cap so it doesn't have the “robot face” looking design and is more plain. The design itself from the original to this one is the same RDA pretty much as the original desire mad dog RDA. If you want more info on that you could check out my old mad dog RDA review. So what does that mean? Well it means that it’s a good performer but also has quite a few outdated design quirks to it, quirks that desire fixed in the mad dog V2. Would have made more sense to just copy the V2 with this updated RDA. either way you can’t buy the mod separate and it should still be a good performer and really a better RDA then most kits would include. Not to mention at the price point for the kit 45-60 USD it’s much cheaper than most dual battery squonk mods on the market these days like the mach 3, rage, drone 250c, and topside dual which run around 60-150 USD so it’s basically a free RDA that should perform well so no complaints there.
Pros:
- Build Quality
- color options (4)
- nice paint job
- nice unique design
- very ergonomic and comfy to hold
- really compact for a dual 18650 squonk mod
- no button rattle
- Power mode performance
- nice fire button
- Accurately rated for watts
- Good Volt Limit for non boost mod
- great amp limit
- batteries are easy to get in and out
- nice 510 pin
- nice sized .96” bright color screen
- good unique squonk system that works well
- rare affordable dual 18650 squonk mod
- included RDA is good for being in a kit
- spare bottle included
- squonk bottle is easy to fill
- watt curve mode
- price point (45-60USD for the kit)
- pump system works great
- spare bottles are available and affordable
- no true menu system
- Temp control performance was poor
- bottle has slight rattle
- battery door is a little wobbly when open and has a small gap when closed
- need to remove batteries to change or fill bottle
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do the yes or no, but for this i’m going to have to lean towards the yes for sure. There aren't many affordable dual 18650 battery squonkers on the market and well the TC isn’t good and i wouldn’t recommend it for that, none of the other options, save for the Drone which is more than double the price, do a good TC anyway but what we have is a small compact affordable dual 18650 squonker that is well built with a good squonk system and a nice watt curve mode as well making it a great option if you don’t use TC mode. If you do use TC then it’s the drone or something custom. I’ll be adding this to my sheet 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 Smoant
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 list here
Best of 2017 list here
