Ego 14500 VV E-Cigarette from Free-Cigs.com-Review

[niczgreat]

Hello All,
I was very intrigued by the 14500 VV Ego Style E-cig from Free-Cigs.com http://www.free-cigs.com/Ego-Variable-Volt-V2-Stainless-Steel_p_127.html so I decided to pick one up and do a review. This is the initial Part 1 over the next few days I'll be running this unit through the paces. To those that have seen my reviews on the Smokbox Varicool 6amp Beast, when I'm done you will know far more about this E-Cig than you want to know. What intrigued me about this E-Cig is that it is Ego Style, VV, and accepts a 14500 battery. I'm partial to controlling my batteries. Free-Cigs didn't live up to their name and charged me for the E-Cig but they were nice enough to provide me with a small discount. Whether Free or with discount my reviews aren't for sale.

As a Caveat, I also bought an Authentic Joyetech Ego VV Twist and am going to do a comparison of the two E-Cigs.

I've been vaping for 3 years. I'm not a professional tester. One of the things that really gripes me though, is reviews that go " It vapes like a champ " "It lasts a day" Etc... by the time I'm done this thread I'll have tested this scientifically with different Clearos and Cartos and taken it through the paces.

The Ego Twist VV E-Cig is a PWM and according to what I've gleaned from the Forums, I can't test it with the Smoktek Led Tester. I have that situation remedied, I've ordered a ECD Meter from Stoney in Australia. VapeBrain . He is the only source I found for reasonable device to test PWM Devices. Stoney has been great to deal with and from what I'm reading on the Australian Vapers Forum Stoney voltage/power/resistance/current/pwm meter - Page 58 this tester is going to kick Derriere.

The Ego 14500 on the other hand is either not a PWM or has great filtering. The Smoktek Led Tester picked it up right away. So I won't have any problems running it through the paces.

In about an hour I'll be posting a You Tube Video Review of the Ego VV 14500 E-Cig so stay tuned.

I'm too lazy to do video editing so if the video isn't perfect, take into account that it was done all in one sitting. It's hard to be perfect for a 11minute review.

 

[niczgreat]

There are some things that I forgot to mention in my Video Review.

The Ego 14500 VV was shipped very quickly by Free-Cig. It came with a 14500 Generic 900ah Battery.

The Ego 14500 VV is rated from 3V to 6V and can be adjusted in .1V increments as contrasted with the Joyetech which goes from 3.0V to 4.8V. My suspicion is that even though it will go to 6V the battery is just not enough for sustained HV vaping so the two E-Cigs will end up being used at around the same voltages. I'll do the tests and we'll see what the results are, I could be surprised. It won't be the first time.
Below is my first Video Review.

 

[niczgreat]

Video Review of the Ego VV 14500 from http://www.free-cigs.com/

 

[niczgreat]

New information:
I Emailed Free-Cigs and they confirmed that the manufacturer claims that this is not a PWM E-Cig.

In addition the 1/2 second that the voltage continues after the button is released is universal and built intentionally into the Ego VV 14500.
In my opinion the benefit of this 1/2 second overun is that it allows you to circumvent the interruption imposed by the 10 second cutoff. When you depress and than press the button during a long vape their is no detectable interruption in the current. My Digital Tester also didn't register a gap. I consider this stability of voltage over a long vape a really good selling feature.

After I arrived home from the office the Battery on the E-Cig finally gave out. I inserted a new battery and checked the Voltage, sure enough the Voltage not under load was 4.24 and the voltage under load was 4.19. The Voltage booster/regulator is doing it's job well at 4.2V, this E-Cig is superior to the cheaper quality E-Cigs that start at a higher voltage and than as the battery is used up starts producing a weak vape (Lowered Voltage). Performance with an that with an almost empty battery was equal to that of a fresh battery(at 4.2V).

 

[niczgreat]

Update
This is a subjective Update, over the weekend I'll do more scientific testing.

I raised the voltage to 4.7V on a 2.8 Ohm Vivi Nova with a Trustfire 14500 900 mah flame. I vaped for approximately an hour or two and it was down to 2 bars and the unit shut off. Than I lowered the voltage to 4.2 and it went for around 5-6 hours. Cut off same way and I moved it down to 3.7 and am vaping away.

The positive way of looking at it is that the Ego 14500 delivers what it's set to and when the battery won't boost anymore cuts off. This is much better than a slow tapering of the Voltage.

The negative is that many consider the 3ohm Clearomizer at 5V to be a sweet spot. The 2.8 at 4.7 is an equivalent sweet spot. This Ecig won't deliver the 5V sweet spot for a long time using a 2.8 or 3ohm Clearomizer.

The average Ego user is accustomed to vaping at a low voltage. I'm leaning towards the best performance for this unit to be on a 1.8Ohm or 2.4Ohm clearomizer in the 3.7 to 4.2 range. With the ability to raise the bar for a little while when you feel like it.

I'll be doing tests on the Ego 14500 with Clearomizers over the weekend, but the intitial Judgement is that the sweet spot for using this E-Cig is going to be with a LR Atty at between 3.7 to 4.2

 

[niczgreat]

Aesthtetics-Totally Subjective
Since I'm a Man, I felt that I'd like to get the opinion of the Gals on the appearances of the different E-Cigs.

I asked my assistant and just as I predicted she liked the looks of the Ego Twist the best. She liked the smallness and thinness. Coming in 2nd was the Ego 14500 and 3rd the Provari with the Varicool as last.

I asked a Co-Worker and she amazed me because she liked the Box Mod the most. Said the others all looked the like tubes.

I'll go with my assistants view that the average female view will be for aesthtetics the Ego Twist is the nicest but that the Ego 14500 is still acceptable.

 

[niczgreat]

Afternote:
I had all three units standing straight up with a Vivi Nova clearomizer. The Ego Twist fell over twice. It is not very stable with a tank on it.

Good news is that it's survived 3 falls on to carpet and still works.

 

[niczgreat]

I just ran the Ego Twist through the same testing that I did last night on the Ego 14500 VV and the results were surprising.

 

[dirfm]

Interesting...keep up the review

 

[niczgreat]

Update:
I really have to run some deeper tests, as I try different things it becomes complex.

Last Night I tried a Rated 1.8Ohm Vivi Nova Clearomizer vaping at 4.0 V on my Trustfire Flame 14500 Battery 900 MAH
That translates to 8.88 Watts and 2.25 Amps
My Provari showed the Clearomizer at 2.0 Ohm
which translates to 8 Watts and 2.0 Amps

I vaped around 1/2 hour than went to sleep.

I woke up this morning and the Ego 14500 worked around 5-10 minutes. The Clearomizer was warm and the top metal part of the Ego 14500 was warm also. It cut off. When the unit cut off it just stops and everything goes dead. I unscrewed and put the battery back in and it cut off again. I was sloppy because I should have tested the Trustfire with my Multimeter to see the voltage but being it was the morning and I was groggy, I put it back in the charger.

Then I put the Generic 900Mah Battery into the unit. It also cut off almost immediately.
I tested the Generic and it was full at around 4.14V. So I said hmm, this unit may be drawing more Amperage than the Lithium Ion Batteries can handle. So I popped a AW IMR 14500 600mah battery in.

The E-Cig works like a champ with the IMR Batteries.

It sounds like I have a lot of tests to do so that I can really understand this E-Cig.

 

[VapDrak]

Great info!!! I'm not even interested to buy one of these but i really enjoy your reviews (this is not the first tomzgreat thread I follow) keep it coming...

 

[niczgreat]

Great info!!! I'm not even interested to buy one of these but i really enjoy your reviews (this is not the first tomzgreat thread I follow) keep it coming...

VapDrak you made my day, it's a great feeling that the intensive work that goes into my reviews is appreciated.

I'm trying to fill a void in reviews.

About a month back my Provari became defective, it was a Version 1 and it couldn't take the Vivi Nova 1.8Ohm Clearomizer. I went looking for a backup E-Cig. I noticed something, I had to go through tons and tons of reviews to make a decision on the backup. At the end I chose a VV Mini-Lava Tube and it turned out to be junk.

Than I went through a ton more reviews and stumbled on a Smoktek Smokbox Varicool. The reason why I bought it was that their were many positive reviews and almost no negatives. But there was no definitive review that I could refer to, and at the end I couldn't say. "I understand this E-Cig and am making an informed choice."

What it's all about is to scientifically test a E-Cig and possibly compare it with other E-Cigs as a reference point. Try different combinations of Batteries (IMR Vs Lion), different Ohm Cartos/Clearos and produce a comprehensive review. No e-cig is going to be the best at everything and there is a great variation in the way that the Vaper likes to vape. I'm trying to take into account the X-Factors and produce reviews that will tell the reader/listener if the e-cig is a fit for them.

Also my intention is to be very scientific and objective. I may enter into the testing with preconceived notions, we all have them, but the tests that I do are objective and the reader can see the results and make their own interpretations or agree with mine. The importance is that the data is there.

My biggest gripe in the reviewing process has been that Battery Life is glossed over. I just keep hearing so many subjective " It vapes for a day" I vaped 1/2 a day. Me, I want to know how long I can expect on my battery before I buy an E-Cig. Everyone vapes at different intervals and takes different length drags.
In addition different types of Batteries and different Carto/Clearo Ohms further complicate the process.

So I sit and do the boring press the button for 1 minute or 4-6 times a minute depending on the cutoff and come up with a battery life.

Yes there are battery testers that might give information but will they tell the whole story, how a battery is going to react in real life situations with variations in Amps Volts Watts etc that are drawn. ?

The Ego 14500 and the Twist are even more complex because I've found that in the Ego 14500 the regular protected batteries can't supply the amperage for what many consider the sweet spot
1.8Ohm 4v or (9 Watt Vaping at 2.25 Amps) on the other hand 1.8Ohm at 3.7V (7.6 Watts at 2Amps) works just fine. (On the surface). So I'll have to do a comparison with IMR verse L-IonBatteries to find out if this unit is adequate for an individuals needs. Very complex a challenge but is should be fun.

With the Ego 14500 I'm adding a new dimension to my reviews. This is a combination of Video and written. The reason being no one would have the time or inclination to listen to a 3 hour review. On the other hand they say " A picture is worth 1,000 words" many like visual reviews and don't have the patience to read the intensive review. So I'm trying to strike a balance between Audio/Visual and written.

The First Video Review was pretty rough. Too many umms, Oks but I feel I was smoother with the second. Also the first one I was feeling a little wiped out after an especially hectic Business Day.

Everyone is free to PM me and give constructive criticism, or to post it on the thread, as I'm new to doing reviews and your input will help me to do better.

Thanks again for the thumbs up!!

 

[niczgreat]

Battery Test 1

Ecig and Battery:
Ego 14500 VV Ecig from Free-cigs.com
Battery Aw IMR 600Mah Battery
Charger:
Xtar Wp2 LiIon Charger
Voltages:
Starting Voltage Battery 4.18V
Ending Voltage Battery 3.42V

Vivi Nova 1.8Ohm Clearomizer
Voltage without load 3.72
Voltage with Clearomizer Attached 3.65 (Fluctuated up to 3.68)

Vaping Time
I depressed the button for 10 1/2 seconds until the cutoff came
The Ego 14500 provided 10 minutes and 30 seconds non interrupted.

Ecig Began to get a little warm than shutoff.
Let cool another 1 minute than shutoff 1 more minute than the final shutoff and simply would not work anymore
Total was 12 minutes of runtime.

Translation if you consider a puff to be around 10 seconds than this E-Cig will provide 70 10 second Drags

Let's say that the average person will leave the house at for 10 hours this would be a 9 hour day and 1/2 hour each way commute
That person could have 7 10 second drags an hour or 3 20 second drag sessions per hour. This sounds fairly normal to me. My prediction is that with one IMR battery you probably could go the whole day at 3.7V on a 1.8ohm Cartomizer but depending on your vaping habits you might need an extra battery.

Positive: The Ecig regulator is rock solid the voltage remains the same throughout the testing. At the end it simply ceases to work. You do not get the slideoff in voltage with this e-cig that I've seen in the non VV E-Cigs.
Negative: I would have like it to last longer on one battery. A light vaper could use just 1 battery in a day at 3.7V on the 1.8 Vivi Nova. But a Heavy Vaper will need an extra battery.

 

[niczgreat]

Battery Test 2
Ecig and Battery:
Ego 14500 VV Ecig from Free-cigs.com
Battery Aw Trustfire Flame 900Mah Battery
Charger:
Xtar Wp2 LiIon Charger
Voltages:
Starting Voltage Battery 4.17V
Ending Voltage Battery 3.80V

Vivi Nova 1.8Ohm Clearomizer
Voltage without load 3.72
Voltage with Clearomizer Attached 3.65 (Fluctuated up to 3.67)

Vaping Time
I depressed the button for 10 1/2 seconds until the cutoff came
The Ego 14500 provided 5 minutes and 15 seconds non interrupted. The body became hot and had to rest it at times. It went dead and than I let it rest awhile than tried again and got an additional 3 minutes or so out of it and it was extremely unstable. I had to take the battery out and in a few times and finally it went dead. So Maybe 8 minutes or so.

Postive: None.
Negative: I didn't feel that the Non IMR batteries were up to the job. The ending voltage of the battery was 3.8 but that didn't matter. I suspect that the battery just couldn't push enough amps out once it was off of a full charge, either that or the discharge rate was too high. Either way I cant' recommend a Non IMR battery with the 14500 when vaping at 3.7V 1.8Ohm

 

[Rader2146]

I'd assume that the Trustfire was dropping below the cutoff voltage and te regulator was shutting down due to low input volts. I've measured a .4v dropout on a couple different ICR battrries. Also, at 3.2v (under load) the regulator would be trying to pull around 2.8a from the battery.

 

[niczgreat]

Radar2146 thanks for the explanation. I really appreciate your incisive technical comments. What you write is very valuable. I'm waiting for better equipment that will let me see more into the inner workings of what is going on.

I'd assume that the Trustfire was dropping below the cutoff voltage and te regulator was shutting down due to low input volts. I've measured a .4v dropout on a couple different ICR battrries. Also, at 3.2v (under load) the regulator would be trying to pull around 2.8a from the battery.

 

[niczgreat]

The testing of this E-Cig at 3.7v 1.8Oohm really demonstrates the accuracy of some comments I've heard on the forums
"AW IMR are way better, I've had them last twice as long as a Lion Battery with much higher Mah".

In this situation the Lion just isn't up for the job and even though the Mah is way higher, it doesn't matter because it can't mantain the Volts or Amperage in this configuration.

What we have to be careful of is not to make blanket statements. There are other configurations where a Lion with higher mah is better than an IMR.

 

[niczgreat]

Hmm what Ohm and Voltage should I test next. Unlike other e-cigs, I'm not looking to torture test this e-cig.

Does anyone have a suggestion of what Voltage and Ohm that they would like to see next. We have 3 choices
1.8ohm at lower Voltage, 2.4ohm and 2.8Ohm. Or we could go into the dual cart world but I think the dual carts just aren't going to
be a good fit for this unit and don't reflect what the average purchaser will use with it.

 

[niczgreat]

Sneak Peak,
I've been testing the Joyetech Ego Twist in this configuration and it is lasting an extremely long time.
The only problem is that the voltage is all over the place.

 

[Scott_Simpson]

Sneak Peak,
I've been testing the Joyetech Ego Twist in this configuration and it is lasting an extremely long time.
The only problem is that the voltage is all over the place.

Are you saying that the voltage readings on your inline meter fluctuate, or that your vape fluctuates (weak, strong, a little weaker, a lot stronger) during the drag?