Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Vandy vape Pulse BF 80w Squonk mod. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links.
Introduction:
If you haven’t heard of the pulse BF 80w mod, you’ve probably been living under a rock. It’s the much hyped and much awaited regulated 80 watt BF squonk mod, that seemed to take forever to release due to issues sourcing the gene chip, now it’s finally released with the vandyvape chip as the regulated version of the original pulse mod. It’s designed like all the pulse products in conjunction with vape reviewer tony b and i don’t think vandy vape need any introduction as they blew pretty fast from a new company to a very popular one. It’s available in 6 colors, all with a 3d printed black frame like the original pulse and the color options being the panels. Those colors are Lava Red, Fantastic Blue, Seaweed Green, Aurora Rainbow, Carbon Fiber Full black, and Carbon Fiber Silver Black. You can also purchase the panels separate.
Manufacturer's Specs:
album
Initial Impressions and features
Note, before i start off, I used the newest firmware for this review (0.0.6). When I first got this Mod, I was expecting it to be metal. I didn’t follow the hype much so IDK why i expected that but i did. Anyway it isn’t. It’s the same type of material as the pulse mech mod for the body. It’s literally the pulse mech body but with a chip in. So it’s pretty lightweight as well. It takes a 20700 or 18650 battery (with included adapter) but i felt a 21700 would have been nice too at this point. Other then that it felt like a regulated pulse similar in size to an VTinbox with a nice bottle and the 20700 battery option. The screen and menu system reminded me of the voopoo chip, it’s clear this chip was inspired by that one. Overall though I liked it from the start.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used ijoy 5 leg 20700 batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .11 , .15, .2, and .6 ohms. wattage points were max (80), 60, 40 and 20. At .11 ohms it maxed out at 85 watts and 28 amps. For the rest of the testing it hit high 6-8 watts. At .15 it maxed out at 85 watts. The rest of the tests it hit high 6-7 watts. For the .2 test it maxed out at 84 watts. For the rest of the testing it hit high 3-4 watts. For the .6 testing it maxed out at 93 watts and 7.469 volts. The rest of the testing it hit high 4-11 watts. The volts shows there is a boost circuit like most single battery regulated mods
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was pretty good. It does hit on the high side so be aware of that when setting your wattage. You’ll want to go a little lower than normal. I’d say start 10 watts lower than normal. I’m impressed i was able to get 80+ watts from a .11 to .6 ohm range as well. In short you really aren’t limited for your watts by the amp and volt limits. It’s also pretty accurately rated at 80 watts since i got 84-93 with my tests. The 7.469 volt limit shows there is a boost circuit. They list the max volts at 8.5V which is plausible had i used a higher ohm coil. They don’t list an amp limit but it was never an issue in my testing. I got 28+ but was limited by the watts with a .11 ohm coil.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is good. Hits higher then it should all the time. Anywhere from 3-11 watts so start low. Accurate rating for watts (93), Yes boost circuit, amp limit 28+ which is good. Volts tested at 7.469 but limited by the watts. In my testing.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire with the SS mode (there is no TCR mode but you can adjust the TCR in SS mode and it uses the voopoo system with a default of 1300) I had mixed results with this mod. I used some fancy duals, fancy cingles, and some round duals and round singles. The mod hits pretty weak and never feels like it reaches temp. Adjusting the mod didn’t do much as well. Even going to 500F and dropping the TCR to 1100 and raising it to 1500 didn’t seem to make much of a difference for me. It still always hit weak. Even going as high as 500F didn’t really produce a good vape as it was still weak and cool. It does have really good dry hit protection but outside of that not much good going on. I’m going to give it a fail for TC mode.
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a 5 click to turn on and off of the fire button. The Fire button can be clicked 3 times to go into mode switch mode where the mode flashes and you use up and down to cycle the modes. When in a mode use 4 clicks to change the power in TC mode or to program the power curves or temp curves. They have 5 memory slots for both power curve and temp mode. The mod is loaded with modes. Temp control for Ni200, SS, and Ti with programmable TCR values. Power mode, hard preheat, power curve mode, temp curve mode, VV mode and bypass mode. Hold the up and down to enter the sub menu for each mode where you can set TCR, change your preheat from normal to hard. You can also remove modes off the mod form the submenu. Sadly it doesn't differentiate temp control modes so if you wanted to remove just the Ti and Ni200 you can’t. It’s either all TC modes or none. The menu is pretty much the same as the voopoo menu and clearly was designed as such but you do have full wattage settings of 80 watts in TC mode.
The mod can be used with a 20700 battery or an 18650 with the included adapter. The mod itself is build solid with no rattle on the buttons, but is also pretty light due to being a 3d printed material and not metal. The Battery door is a magnetic plate made of the same material or resin depending on your color option. I have the full black carbon fiber one and it looks nice and simple. The fire button is a decent size and nice and clicky. It has the ribbed feel like the vaporesso switcher fire button. The 510 gave me no issues with any atomizer and there was no gaps either. The screen is small but very bright and clear. Easy to see in all lights. It’s the same screen you find on voopoo mods. The mod can handle a 24mm atomizer without overhang. 25mm looks fine as well but slightly overhangs the rounded edges on top. They don't’ list a charge rate on the mod. The mod also adjusts by full watt increments which makes me happy. Price point wise i see it for 49.95 on element vape which is a good price range for this mod. For an extra 10 bucks you can buy the “high end edition” with 30ml squonk refill bottle. Mine didn’t include that to judge it.
As far as the squonking goes, it worked great with no issues. I love the included silicon bottle. It comes with a tinted black bottle but you can still see your juice level in it and it’s just the right amount of firmness. Sadly they only include the 1, I felt they should have included a spare. They make 8 colors though and element vape has them for 3.95 each so super cheap for a spare or different color. It’s also not proporitary so you can use whatever bottle you want in it really and the included one has a good 8ml capacity. All the threading on it is nice and it’s easy to get in and out of the mod and unscrew the top cap to fill. The replacement panels i see on sale for 7-15 dollars each depending on color. Accessories should be easy to find for this
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do the hard yes or no, but for this i have to lean towards the yes for a power mode regulated squonker. For temp control i’m giving it a no. It seems DNA mods are the only good temp control squonkers still sadly. Still if you want an affordable regulated squonk mod, this does the job. It’s comparable to the RSQ which is similar in price but performs a little better than it in power mode and a little worse in temp mode. After all the nonsense, VV still made a good affordable regulated squonker. They just need to improve the temp control and it would have been a killer mod. I’ll be adding it to my list as a regulated squonk mod for power mode.
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 vandyvape
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 200 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
Spreadhseet of Recommendations here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
If you haven’t heard of the pulse BF 80w mod, you’ve probably been living under a rock. It’s the much hyped and much awaited regulated 80 watt BF squonk mod, that seemed to take forever to release due to issues sourcing the gene chip, now it’s finally released with the vandyvape chip as the regulated version of the original pulse mod. It’s designed like all the pulse products in conjunction with vape reviewer tony b and i don’t think vandy vape need any introduction as they blew pretty fast from a new company to a very popular one. It’s available in 6 colors, all with a 3d printed black frame like the original pulse and the color options being the panels. Those colors are Lava Red, Fantastic Blue, Seaweed Green, Aurora Rainbow, Carbon Fiber Full black, and Carbon Fiber Silver Black. You can also purchase the panels separate.
Manufacturer's Specs:
- Made in Collaboration with Tony B.
- Dimensions - 82mm by 54mm by 25.9mm
- Vandy Vape's Advanced Chipset
- Single High-Amp 20700 Batteries - Not Included
- Optional Single 18650 Platform - Adapter Included
- Bottom-Feeding Squonk Design - 8mL Squeeze Bottle
- Wattage Output Range: 5-80W
- Voltage Output Range: 0-8.5V
- Min Atomizer Resistance: 0.05ohm
- Temperature Control Range: 200-600F
- Supports Ni200 Nickel, Titanium, and Stainless Steel Heating Elements
- Comprehensive TCR Adjustments
- User Defined Temperature Control Mode
- User Defined TC Curve Set Mode
- Lightweight Nylon & ABS Construction
- Intuitive 0.91 Inch OLED Display
- Interchangeable Dual Magnetic Battery Panels
- Tactile Firing Button
- Dual Adjustment Buttons
- Short Circuit Protection
- Over-Heating Protection
- Over-Current Protection
- Overtime Protection
- Open Circuit Protection
- Low Battery Warning
- MicroUSB Port - 1.5A Max Charge Current
- Firmware Upgradeable
- Squonk-Ready 510 Connection - Anti-Leaking Securement
- Carbon Fiber - Full Black, Black / Silver
- Resin - Lava Red, Fantastic Blue, Seaweed Green, Aurora Rainbow
- 1 Pulse BF 80W Box Mod
- 1 8mL Silicone Squonk Bottle
- 1 18650 battery adapter
- 1 Micro USB Cable
- Instructional Manual
- 1 30ml squonk refill bottle (only in high end edition)
album
Initial Impressions and features
Note, before i start off, I used the newest firmware for this review (0.0.6). When I first got this Mod, I was expecting it to be metal. I didn’t follow the hype much so IDK why i expected that but i did. Anyway it isn’t. It’s the same type of material as the pulse mech mod for the body. It’s literally the pulse mech body but with a chip in. So it’s pretty lightweight as well. It takes a 20700 or 18650 battery (with included adapter) but i felt a 21700 would have been nice too at this point. Other then that it felt like a regulated pulse similar in size to an VTinbox with a nice bottle and the 20700 battery option. The screen and menu system reminded me of the voopoo chip, it’s clear this chip was inspired by that one. Overall though I liked it from the start.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used ijoy 5 leg 20700 batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .11 , .15, .2, and .6 ohms. wattage points were max (80), 60, 40 and 20. At .11 ohms it maxed out at 85 watts and 28 amps. For the rest of the testing it hit high 6-8 watts. At .15 it maxed out at 85 watts. The rest of the tests it hit high 6-7 watts. For the .2 test it maxed out at 84 watts. For the rest of the testing it hit high 3-4 watts. For the .6 testing it maxed out at 93 watts and 7.469 volts. The rest of the testing it hit high 4-11 watts. The volts shows there is a boost circuit like most single battery regulated mods
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was pretty good. It does hit on the high side so be aware of that when setting your wattage. You’ll want to go a little lower than normal. I’d say start 10 watts lower than normal. I’m impressed i was able to get 80+ watts from a .11 to .6 ohm range as well. In short you really aren’t limited for your watts by the amp and volt limits. It’s also pretty accurately rated at 80 watts since i got 84-93 with my tests. The 7.469 volt limit shows there is a boost circuit. They list the max volts at 8.5V which is plausible had i used a higher ohm coil. They don’t list an amp limit but it was never an issue in my testing. I got 28+ but was limited by the watts with a .11 ohm coil.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is good. Hits higher then it should all the time. Anywhere from 3-11 watts so start low. Accurate rating for watts (93), Yes boost circuit, amp limit 28+ which is good. Volts tested at 7.469 but limited by the watts. In my testing.
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire with the SS mode (there is no TCR mode but you can adjust the TCR in SS mode and it uses the voopoo system with a default of 1300) I had mixed results with this mod. I used some fancy duals, fancy cingles, and some round duals and round singles. The mod hits pretty weak and never feels like it reaches temp. Adjusting the mod didn’t do much as well. Even going to 500F and dropping the TCR to 1100 and raising it to 1500 didn’t seem to make much of a difference for me. It still always hit weak. Even going as high as 500F didn’t really produce a good vape as it was still weak and cool. It does have really good dry hit protection but outside of that not much good going on. I’m going to give it a fail for TC mode.
Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a 5 click to turn on and off of the fire button. The Fire button can be clicked 3 times to go into mode switch mode where the mode flashes and you use up and down to cycle the modes. When in a mode use 4 clicks to change the power in TC mode or to program the power curves or temp curves. They have 5 memory slots for both power curve and temp mode. The mod is loaded with modes. Temp control for Ni200, SS, and Ti with programmable TCR values. Power mode, hard preheat, power curve mode, temp curve mode, VV mode and bypass mode. Hold the up and down to enter the sub menu for each mode where you can set TCR, change your preheat from normal to hard. You can also remove modes off the mod form the submenu. Sadly it doesn't differentiate temp control modes so if you wanted to remove just the Ti and Ni200 you can’t. It’s either all TC modes or none. The menu is pretty much the same as the voopoo menu and clearly was designed as such but you do have full wattage settings of 80 watts in TC mode.
The mod can be used with a 20700 battery or an 18650 with the included adapter. The mod itself is build solid with no rattle on the buttons, but is also pretty light due to being a 3d printed material and not metal. The Battery door is a magnetic plate made of the same material or resin depending on your color option. I have the full black carbon fiber one and it looks nice and simple. The fire button is a decent size and nice and clicky. It has the ribbed feel like the vaporesso switcher fire button. The 510 gave me no issues with any atomizer and there was no gaps either. The screen is small but very bright and clear. Easy to see in all lights. It’s the same screen you find on voopoo mods. The mod can handle a 24mm atomizer without overhang. 25mm looks fine as well but slightly overhangs the rounded edges on top. They don't’ list a charge rate on the mod. The mod also adjusts by full watt increments which makes me happy. Price point wise i see it for 49.95 on element vape which is a good price range for this mod. For an extra 10 bucks you can buy the “high end edition” with 30ml squonk refill bottle. Mine didn’t include that to judge it.
As far as the squonking goes, it worked great with no issues. I love the included silicon bottle. It comes with a tinted black bottle but you can still see your juice level in it and it’s just the right amount of firmness. Sadly they only include the 1, I felt they should have included a spare. They make 8 colors though and element vape has them for 3.95 each so super cheap for a spare or different color. It’s also not proporitary so you can use whatever bottle you want in it really and the included one has a good 8ml capacity. All the threading on it is nice and it’s easy to get in and out of the mod and unscrew the top cap to fill. The replacement panels i see on sale for 7-15 dollars each depending on color. Accessories should be easy to find for this
Pros:
- Build Quality
- Nice simple looks and form factor
- good size for portability
- color options
- no button rattle
- bright screen with plenty of info
- nice fire button
- Battery compatibility (20700 or 18650)
- good 510 pin
- power mode performance (has normal and hard preheat)
- VV mode
- Power curve mode
- firmware upgradable and they released new firmware already
- inexpensive and easy to find accessories
- Price point (around 50 bucks USD)
- Screen is kinda small compared to most mods now
- temp control performance
- menu could be better
- no included spare bottle
- Refill bottle is only included for 10 dollars more
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do the hard yes or no, but for this i have to lean towards the yes for a power mode regulated squonker. For temp control i’m giving it a no. It seems DNA mods are the only good temp control squonkers still sadly. Still if you want an affordable regulated squonk mod, this does the job. It’s comparable to the RSQ which is similar in price but performs a little better than it in power mode and a little worse in temp mode. After all the nonsense, VV still made a good affordable regulated squonker. They just need to improve the temp control and it would have been a killer mod. I’ll be adding it to my list as a regulated squonk mod for power mode.
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 vandyvape
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 200 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
Spreadhseet of Recommendations here
Best of 2017 list here
