Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Vandy vape Simple EX Squonk. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is a sample version
Introduction:
The Vandy Vape Simple EX Kit is a kit that contains a tiny internal battery semi adjustable squonk mod and a small MTL rda with the mod being named the simple ex squonk mod and the rda being named the simple ex RDA. Vandy vape probably doesn't need any introduction at this point and while I like to compare to similar products I can't think of a single kit like this one so that makes it very unique to me. The Simple EX is an internal battery regulated mod and the RDA is a single coil MTL RDA. Looking around i don’t see the kit for around 35-60 USD cheapest in china but 43 USD at elementvape which is the cheapest in the USA. It’s available in 5 colors Black, Pink, Green, Amber, and Blue.
Manufacturer's Specs: Mod
album
Initial Impressions
When I first got this Kit, i didn’t really know what to expect since it’s so unique. Nothing i’ve seen before as a kit but a nice idea to make a tiny portable squonker for MTL vaping. Either way it seems like a cool idea for the MTL vapers however the top cap of the RDA is held on by the will of a thousand gods and to even get it off to start to use it I had to put it in an old meter, vice grip it to a workbench, then use some pliers wrapped in a shop rag and rip it off. It was pretty ridiculous even after lubing it up due to the slickness of the colored top cap and the grip of the o-rings it’s hard as hell to remove. I also didn’t read the specs as i never do and built a .5 ohm MTL build only to find out it’s a minimum .8 ohm resistance so didn’t get off to a good start at all but sometimes things happen that way.
Performance
There isn’t a whole lot to test performance wise with this mod. For anyone familiar with my reviews they know all my testing is done around .65 ohms or lower. The simple EX however has a .8 ohm minimum resistance. So my original Idea was to test around that and a little higher and at each of the settings. So i started with a .84 ohm build to test and the performance was very poor. All it did was hunt voltage and couldn’t put out a smooth consistent power to power up the coil. I understand when mods have issues with really low resistances but when your minimum is as high as .8 ohms and it can’t do that correctly that has to be a fail for me.
Other Usage Notes
The Simple EX mod is a very basic and easy to use mod. There isn’t much to it at all. It only has 1 mode which is a VV mode and no menu system. It uses a 5 clicks to turn on and off and an up and down button to adjust voltage. I consider it semi adjustable because there are 5 output options ranging from 3.3V to 4.5V in steps of .3V. It also has a minimum resistance of .8 ohms so make sure you build above that which many MTL vapers do but not all. I wish the resistance range was lower. Even Phil B the mig MTL Youtube reviewer says his ideal MTL build is around .5 ohms. I think going to a minimum of around .5 ohms would have been a better choice.
The mod itself is built solid but the fire button does rattle. It’s extremely small and weighs almost nothing. The paint looks nice and doesn't scratch off, and i have no visible wear on mine even on the bottom. All the color options are mostly black the colors themselves are just for the squonk bottle door and the RDA top cap and the drip tip for the metal RDA top cap. I love the coloring on the green one i have, I think the green and black looks great and is one of my favorite color combos. The fire button is nice and clicky and a good size. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be. The 510 pin gave me no issues but i only used this as a kit with the included RDA. The mod handles 22mm atomizer flush. Anything bigger will overhang. Not a big deal based on its size and intended use. The screen is a good size i’m estimating at .96 inch black and white screen but it’s a bit on the dull side for sure but it’s not used too much. Also for branding the mod itself is pretty small. Just an engraved simple EX logo on the top.
The internal battery is listed at 850 mah and the battery meter on the screen is a simple 5 bars when full and less bars as it drains so you do have a good enough battery meter. They list the charging rate at 800mah which i tested as being correct and it’s good enough for such a small battery that it charges fast. 1A would have been nice though but not a big deal. The squonk system is similar to that of the ijoy capo squonk. It has the squonk door which is held on by a magnet and clip system and works well. You remove that to access the bottle and it’s a simple tube sticking out going into the 510 pin. It’s a standard system which is nice but due to it’s size may be hard to find replacement. A spare bottle would have been nice. It’s a 4ml silicon bottle with nice threading on the cap. Basically a mini version of the one that comes with the pulse 80 kit. I really like the vandy vape squonk bottles.
Simple EX RDA
The Simple EX RDA included in the kit is a 21mm, single coil RDA made for MTL vaping. It comes with 2 top caps a translucent color PC matching one and a metal black one. They also include 2 510 drip tips to use in the metal cap. One is a black delrin and the other is a matching translucent colored PC tip. It has a 2 post deck where you install the coils with leads facing the opposite direction. The post screws come top down and are good quality flat head screws so good for flat wires like the fused claptons included. The posts however feel at the wrong angle and the leads tend to slide out. It wasn’t too bad with the fused claptons however with simple round wire it’s a real pain to get the leads locked into place as the screws just push them out. It got to the point where i said screw it and went old school and wrapped my lead around the screw itself.
Also as stated above the top cap is way too tight and hard to get off. It also makes adjusting the air near impossible since you have to spin the top cap to adjust. It’s easier to pry it off and reseat it on the airflow you want. The air options are nice. It’s a side airflow RDA with air coming in from 1 side only. There are 5 air hole sizes ranging from .6mm to 2.5mm meaning you can get a tight MTL draw all the way to a loose MTL/very restrictive DTL vape on it. It does make some kinda quiet but odd sound on the lower 3 airflow settings.
Performance wise I used 3 builds in this RDA, however the first 1 was not usable due to being under the .8 ohm minimum resistance limit so I only vaped 2 builds in it. One was the included superfine fused clapton coil which they clearly labeled which is great. You get 2 of them and they are ni80 32G x 2 + 38G fused claptons with a 2.6mm ID and 1.24 ohms so well done there. My other build was a simple round wire 26g ni80 build 3mm ID. Overall performance wise it does give good flavor for a MTL RDA. I haven’t had a ton of them and it’s not as good as the galaxies MTL RDA which i consider the best one i’ve tried so far, but more than usable for sure so no complaints there.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this kit or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no and i have to grade this one a curve as there isn’t much to compare it to. Even on a curve however with the mod not performing well and the RDA having it’s issues and only being ok, there is no way i can personally recommend this kit. It doesn't do what it promises so I won’t 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 Vandy Vape
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
Spreadhseet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 so far list here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Vandy Vape Simple EX Kit is a kit that contains a tiny internal battery semi adjustable squonk mod and a small MTL rda with the mod being named the simple ex squonk mod and the rda being named the simple ex RDA. Vandy vape probably doesn't need any introduction at this point and while I like to compare to similar products I can't think of a single kit like this one so that makes it very unique to me. The Simple EX is an internal battery regulated mod and the RDA is a single coil MTL RDA. Looking around i don’t see the kit for around 35-60 USD cheapest in china but 43 USD at elementvape which is the cheapest in the USA. It’s available in 5 colors Black, Pink, Green, Amber, and Blue.
Manufacturer's Specs: Mod
- Dimensions - 58.5mm by 41mm by 23.6mm
- Integrated Battery Design
- Bottom-Feeding Squonk Design - 4mL Squeeze Bottle
- Vandy Vape's Advanced Chipset
- Variable Voltage Range: 3.3-4.5V
- Voltage Changes in Increments of 0.3V
- Lightweight Nylon & ABS Construction
- Intuitive OLED Screen - Battery & Voltage Display
- LED Battery Light Indicator
- Tactile Firing Button
- Dual Adjustment Buttons
- Overtime Protection
- No Atomizer Alert
- Low Power Protection
- Short Circuit Protection
- Over Temperature Protection
- Squonk-Ready 510 Connection
- Available in Pink, Blue, Green, ULTEM
- 21mm Diameter
- Clear Acrylic Top Cap Construction
- Optional Delrin Top Cap
- Two-Post, Single Terminal Design
- Large Terminal Shelf Opening
- Top-Secured via Flathead Slotted Screws
- Restricted Airflow Design
- Adjustable Single Side Airslot - Multi-Sized Airflow Size
- Gold-Plated Squonk BF 510 Pin
- Gold-Plated 510 Connection
- 1 Simple EX Squonk Box Mod
- 1 Simple EX RDA
- 2 1.24ohm Superfine MTL Fused Clapton Coils
- 1 Screwdriver
- 1 Allen Key
- 1 Regular 510 Pin
- 1 Spare Parts Bag
- 1 Micro USB Cable
- 1 Warranty Card
- 1 User Manual
album
Initial Impressions
When I first got this Kit, i didn’t really know what to expect since it’s so unique. Nothing i’ve seen before as a kit but a nice idea to make a tiny portable squonker for MTL vaping. Either way it seems like a cool idea for the MTL vapers however the top cap of the RDA is held on by the will of a thousand gods and to even get it off to start to use it I had to put it in an old meter, vice grip it to a workbench, then use some pliers wrapped in a shop rag and rip it off. It was pretty ridiculous even after lubing it up due to the slickness of the colored top cap and the grip of the o-rings it’s hard as hell to remove. I also didn’t read the specs as i never do and built a .5 ohm MTL build only to find out it’s a minimum .8 ohm resistance so didn’t get off to a good start at all but sometimes things happen that way.
Performance
There isn’t a whole lot to test performance wise with this mod. For anyone familiar with my reviews they know all my testing is done around .65 ohms or lower. The simple EX however has a .8 ohm minimum resistance. So my original Idea was to test around that and a little higher and at each of the settings. So i started with a .84 ohm build to test and the performance was very poor. All it did was hunt voltage and couldn’t put out a smooth consistent power to power up the coil. I understand when mods have issues with really low resistances but when your minimum is as high as .8 ohms and it can’t do that correctly that has to be a fail for me.
Other Usage Notes
The Simple EX mod is a very basic and easy to use mod. There isn’t much to it at all. It only has 1 mode which is a VV mode and no menu system. It uses a 5 clicks to turn on and off and an up and down button to adjust voltage. I consider it semi adjustable because there are 5 output options ranging from 3.3V to 4.5V in steps of .3V. It also has a minimum resistance of .8 ohms so make sure you build above that which many MTL vapers do but not all. I wish the resistance range was lower. Even Phil B the mig MTL Youtube reviewer says his ideal MTL build is around .5 ohms. I think going to a minimum of around .5 ohms would have been a better choice.
The mod itself is built solid but the fire button does rattle. It’s extremely small and weighs almost nothing. The paint looks nice and doesn't scratch off, and i have no visible wear on mine even on the bottom. All the color options are mostly black the colors themselves are just for the squonk bottle door and the RDA top cap and the drip tip for the metal RDA top cap. I love the coloring on the green one i have, I think the green and black looks great and is one of my favorite color combos. The fire button is nice and clicky and a good size. It works well and It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be. The 510 pin gave me no issues but i only used this as a kit with the included RDA. The mod handles 22mm atomizer flush. Anything bigger will overhang. Not a big deal based on its size and intended use. The screen is a good size i’m estimating at .96 inch black and white screen but it’s a bit on the dull side for sure but it’s not used too much. Also for branding the mod itself is pretty small. Just an engraved simple EX logo on the top.
The internal battery is listed at 850 mah and the battery meter on the screen is a simple 5 bars when full and less bars as it drains so you do have a good enough battery meter. They list the charging rate at 800mah which i tested as being correct and it’s good enough for such a small battery that it charges fast. 1A would have been nice though but not a big deal. The squonk system is similar to that of the ijoy capo squonk. It has the squonk door which is held on by a magnet and clip system and works well. You remove that to access the bottle and it’s a simple tube sticking out going into the 510 pin. It’s a standard system which is nice but due to it’s size may be hard to find replacement. A spare bottle would have been nice. It’s a 4ml silicon bottle with nice threading on the cap. Basically a mini version of the one that comes with the pulse 80 kit. I really like the vandy vape squonk bottles.
Simple EX RDA
The Simple EX RDA included in the kit is a 21mm, single coil RDA made for MTL vaping. It comes with 2 top caps a translucent color PC matching one and a metal black one. They also include 2 510 drip tips to use in the metal cap. One is a black delrin and the other is a matching translucent colored PC tip. It has a 2 post deck where you install the coils with leads facing the opposite direction. The post screws come top down and are good quality flat head screws so good for flat wires like the fused claptons included. The posts however feel at the wrong angle and the leads tend to slide out. It wasn’t too bad with the fused claptons however with simple round wire it’s a real pain to get the leads locked into place as the screws just push them out. It got to the point where i said screw it and went old school and wrapped my lead around the screw itself.
Also as stated above the top cap is way too tight and hard to get off. It also makes adjusting the air near impossible since you have to spin the top cap to adjust. It’s easier to pry it off and reseat it on the airflow you want. The air options are nice. It’s a side airflow RDA with air coming in from 1 side only. There are 5 air hole sizes ranging from .6mm to 2.5mm meaning you can get a tight MTL draw all the way to a loose MTL/very restrictive DTL vape on it. It does make some kinda quiet but odd sound on the lower 3 airflow settings.
Performance wise I used 3 builds in this RDA, however the first 1 was not usable due to being under the .8 ohm minimum resistance limit so I only vaped 2 builds in it. One was the included superfine fused clapton coil which they clearly labeled which is great. You get 2 of them and they are ni80 32G x 2 + 38G fused claptons with a 2.6mm ID and 1.24 ohms so well done there. My other build was a simple round wire 26g ni80 build 3mm ID. Overall performance wise it does give good flavor for a MTL RDA. I haven’t had a ton of them and it’s not as good as the galaxies MTL RDA which i consider the best one i’ve tried so far, but more than usable for sure so no complaints there.
Pros:
- Build Quality of mod
- nice simple looks
- accurately rated charging
- good battery size for the size of the device
- 5 color options
- good size screen
- nice fire button
- unique kit
- good squonk system
- nice squonk bottle
- mod is semi adjustable
- tiny size for portability
- RDA performs well
- 2 included coil that work well and clearly labeled
- 2 standard 510 tips included (translucent colored PC tip and delrin black tip)
- 2 top cap options (black metal and translucent PC)
- screen is dim
- fire button rattle
- .8 ohm minimum resistance is too high
- RDA deck is harder to build on then it should be (round wire slips out easily)
- RDA top cap is too tight
- AFC is hard to adjust
- Mod performance
So with all that said, do I recommend this kit or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no and i have to grade this one a curve as there isn’t much to compare it to. Even on a curve however with the mod not performing well and the RDA having it’s issues and only being ok, there is no way i can personally recommend this kit. It doesn't do what it promises so I won’t 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 Vandy Vape
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
Spreadhseet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 so far list here
Best of 2017 list here
