Alright so I've been vaping for a couple years now. I've always used mech mods simply because I like the small size for convenience, but I've decided it's time to make the switch to a box mod. However, there's so many choices and I don't really know enough about them to understand why I would want one over the other. What do I look for in a box mod? Is 200W the standard, and would I even need higher wattage? I've used my friend's Fuchai and I liked it a lot. I'm definitely looking for something like that (mainly just dual 18650, not too expensive). Do you guys have any suggestions?
Help Picking a Box Mod
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No 200W is not standard though I can understand why you might think so. You could give the iStick 100 a go, dual batteries 100 watts, can be picked up for about $35. I'm sure others will be along in a bit with other suggestions.
what is your budget?
Mods with evolve dna200 / 75 boards have enough functionality / customizability to last you a long long time. Next best thing would probably be the Yihi SX450 / SX350j V2. Kinda like iOS vs Android.
Mods with evolve dna200 / 75 boards have enough functionality / customizability to last you a long long time. Next best thing would probably be the Yihi SX450 / SX350j V2. Kinda like iOS vs Android.
As far as price/function they don't go hand in hand. While there are a few smaller players the "big" players offer something with a specific chipset:
The current 'top of the line' DNA chip is the DNA200 which can be found packaged with 2-3 18650's or multicell LiPo packs.
Dicodes offers regulated tube mods as well as 18650 or 26650 box mods.
Seemingly,just about every small vendor offers a 2x18650 mod in all sorts of shapes, sizes and price points.
Last but not least, the Joyteck/Wismec/eLeaf group offers popular single, dual and triple 18650 mods, all of which are fairly inexpensive.
Depending on your budget you can spend as little as $30-40 or as much as +$200 or more.
- Joytech/Wismec/eLeaf
- Other
- Dicodes
- DNA
- YiHi
The current 'top of the line' DNA chip is the DNA200 which can be found packaged with 2-3 18650's or multicell LiPo packs.
Dicodes offers regulated tube mods as well as 18650 or 26650 box mods.
Seemingly,just about every small vendor offers a 2x18650 mod in all sorts of shapes, sizes and price points.
Last but not least, the Joyteck/Wismec/eLeaf group offers popular single, dual and triple 18650 mods, all of which are fairly inexpensive.
Depending on your budget you can spend as little as $30-40 or as much as +$200 or more.
Instead of dual married batts and the suggested attention to orientation, I opted for the Vapor flask Stout. It uses a single 26650. 100W is enough for anything I build. This mod is ergonomic in the hand and offers vw/tc/bypass (mech).
It would seem to me there are just too many variables, options, and unknowns to give a definitive answer to your question. We can all tell you what we like, but that doesn't mean you will. I have a few regulated mods and will use different mods depending on what I am doing. They all have their strong points and some negatives. My best guess is that whatever you decide on first, at some point you will say "this is nice, but......". You tried the Fuchai and "liked it a lot", so why not go with that? Then when you hit that "I wish it had/would" moment, it's not a loss......it's time to get a back-up. Then you know what you are wanting and looking for in a mod.
I can tell you I am very happy with what I have but to recommend as @OlderNDirt says we need to know what you are looking for, if you want a regulated that hits like a mech but comes with two 18650s then get something with bypass mode
Sorry, but have to ask....how do you do the "I'm just going to recommend what I have and used and enjoyed.
All the Ginger Vaper boxer mods have been a treat. Hotcig DX200, Hero and Mbox have been great. Lavabox is nice. Vaporshark DNA200 is ok. RX200 & Cuboid have been performing their tasks relatively well. Sigelei is not a company I would ever purchase from again but their 213 mods have a great form factor.
All the Ginger Vaper boxer mods have been a treat. Hotcig DX200, Hero and Mbox have been great. Lavabox is nice. Vaporshark DNA200 is ok. RX200 & Cuboid have been performing their tasks relatively well. Sigelei is not a company I would ever purchase from again but their 213 mods have a great form factor.
Too many recommendations on here with insufficient information, as above.
OP - you say that you've been using regulated mods up until now. What atomiser and coil have you been using? Single/parallel batteries or multiple in series? This will guide us in making a recommendation based on your preferred vaping style at least.
OP - you say that you've been using regulated mods up until now. What atomiser and coil have you been using? Single/parallel batteries or multiple in series? This will guide us in making a recommendation based on your preferred vaping style at least.
That's actually exactly what I was thinking. I do appreciate recommendations, but I'm looking more for the information I need to pick a mod on my own. Like, for example, what makes the DNA200 top of the line? What advantages does it have over other chipsets, like the one in the Fuchai? When you go up in price, are you mainly just paying for build quality/reliability/trusted name or are there extra features? I'm getting the feeling that the chipset is the main way to get a basic idea of the quality and features of a mod. Is this a safe assumption to make? Oh, and as for my setup, I don't have any regulated devices (I'm assuming that was just a typo). I've just been running a 5 wrap 24 gauge dual coil in a Freakshow atty on a single Sony VTC4. Also, I'm not too worried about getting something that "hits like a mech", considering that most dual 18650 boxes should top out at a higher wattage than my current mech. And since one of you asked for a budget, I don't really have a strict one. For what vaping is worth to me though, I'd prefer not to spend over 75 bucks.
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Well it can go back and forth on a lot of things but a DNA board, lets just go with the 200. One is a finalized spec and device you see with a DNA inside is going to for the most part as far as interface and management is going to be exactly the same. Because of that its very very very predictable. From there they do everything right almost every aspect of it is adjustable (though through software). It power delivery is perfect and flat. It as long as the devices internal resistance is accounted for correctly (apparently an issue on one or two companies who use it) its spot on compared most other companies in finding the correct resistance of an atty. To the point of people taking a DNA devices read out of resistance as the defacto resistance of a coil. Sense it's just a chip made by just a chip supplier, there is are tons of different form factors and mods that can use the chip. Where as you might only be able to find a handful that act the same way even from the same manufacturer. The biggest and only real downside outside cost is several important settings have to made in software and uploaded to the device. Though it has 8 different memory options for storing these. It's also updatable with a strong update history.
From there you go with Yihi. Another high end chip manufacturer. They also make their own devices. It uses a pulses to module the temp control. But as quality chip the pulses are generally so quick you can't feel it in the vape. Its updatable. But there is a tendency for them to create a new chip for new use cases rather than add something to their menu. Everything is controlled on the device. It's basically on level with DNA in terms of quality but does things a little differently here and there. Also DNA is very demanding of power levels and battery compatibilities. It's why they require 3 cells (Lipo or 18650) for 200w. Yihi doesn't do that and even themselves offer a 2 18650 thats rated at 200 watts. Think of it as designer Chinese.
From there its generally downhill but gently. A Wismec/Joytech/Eleaf chip is pretty strong. But the devices themselves aren't necessarily the best built. Way to much zinc. Weighs tons for what the devices are. And have problems like cooling on the Centurian, pins that get stuck down after using long 510 pinned atty's. The power delivery is generally good on power. But can be pulsy or inconsistent in TC. They have a strong list of upgradable devices. The bonus is Wismec wants to make everything. So they partner up with anyone that is willing. Since they are generally manufacturing the device and the chip. They don't have any restrictions that most companies would on implementation. So they can be some of the most creative on device design.
A company like Sigelei seems to be as far as I can tell an over ambitious smaller company. Their best mods seem to be when they were using Yihi chips. But now they can come up with great mods. But their chips can be glitchy. The 213 for example is a great small 2 18650 device that seems to be built with great quality in mind. Its battery management and on device feedback is great. Its power delivery down to the lowest levels of the battery charge is commendable. But the chip is glitchy as all hell. They wrote the TCR (TC where it tries to figure out temp by using manual settings for the increase in resistance based on increase coil temp) to use F. Since the first DNA Temp control everyone has been using C based temp information for this function (regardless if you have F or C set for vaping). F in theory would be a better unit of measurement to base resistance change on. But they didn't tell anyone until the problems got worse and worse. They didn't tell anyone how necessary the preheat setting was for getting TC up and running. You can't press the fire button the exact same second the device goes to sleep or it won't fire. If you press the up button and fire button at the exact same time from sleep to get to the preheat menu, the screen shows the out dated main screen and the preheat screen at the same time making it all sorts of garbled. The last two are easy to avoid issues and the TCR issue is an issue in the sense that everyone else uses different settings so you have to train yourself for one single device. On top of that getting the right resistance read in temp control can be an issue. So while everything else could be perfect in terms of its temp monitoring, how it handles the limiting aspect, and it's overall power delivery could be perfect. It has so many hoops to go through that the device is really only good an extremely small and extremely powerfull dual battery VW device. Also there is an annoyance with the fact that most people thought that it was firmware updatable but it's not, or at least saying its not because they don't want to be stuck constantly trying to rewrite the firmware to fix an issue. Since they never outright said it was it's a bit easier to swallow considering the mess that went down with Smok with the Koopour.
Then you see stuff like this on other devices like a Tesla or Smok. Tons of oddities, quirks, or just completely shady practices that you have to wonder about. Luckily most of these other products are priced in wismec territory so you don't always have to feel bad about trying them out. I don't know how good a Vapepresso Tarot 200w is. But at $50 it isn't horribly priced. Chances are it isn't as good as my DNA 200 device. But for a reasonable size dual 18650, it's a third of the price of a DNA product.
Also chips aren't everything. An IPV has tons more issues than I have ever seen a Yihi Class M or ML have. Even in the DNA world there can be other issues outside just chip usage so a Lavabox vs. a Vaporshark vs. Hcigar vs. and Axis and can all have their own issues or annoyances that another one from device to another.
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