Kamry Micro - a good successor to the eRoll?

[Sludge Van Diesel]

Have you come across OK Smokey based in Birmingham UK? They have the Joecig X-TC 3 kit and stock spare atomisers and batteries: Joecig XTC3 PCC

SPECIFICATIONS:
Size: 85 x 7.7 mm
E-cig battery capacity: 90mah
PCC capacity: 1100mah
Clear atomizer volume: 0.3ml

I'm going to give that a go. Will let you know how I get on.

 

[Jin_888]

Thank you for all of the thoughtfulness and time that you have put into this review. It is exceptionally well done! I am quite looking forward to your updates on what seems like a very promising device for its category.

Thank you! I'm pleased others find this review thread useful and it's fun to write. When I was researching which cigalike to get I found that quite a few are available but little is known about them. So I hope this thread helps to shine a light on at least one cigalike and, when there's time, I might start a separate thread about the others I came across.

 

[Jin_888]

I'm going to give that a go. Will let you know how I get on.

Good luck with the XT-C 3. Looks like the XT-C 2 in a new charging case. 'Cigalike Freak' gave it a glowing review but then followed up saying that it was full of problems. It could have been just his unit though. I don't think he tried to see what was wrong and just gave up on it: Joecig X-TC-2 vapor cigarette review - Cigalike Freak

Here's a demo vid of the first version XT-C 1 in Japanese but you can see how it vapes:

​

 

[Jin_888]

So it’s been two weeks since I started using, and rotating between, three Micros and I’m pleased to say that they are still going strong. No leaks, faulty batteries or other annoyances. They do what they say on the packet!

Pros

· I haven’t felt the need to use my sub-ohm devices as back ups because the Micros are satisfying enough now that I’ve readjusted to mouth to lung vaping.

· Although I’ve jumped from 6mg to 18mg strength eliquid, my consumption has gone down to about 3 or 4ml per day compared to 10ml+ using sub ohm.

· Atomisers last a while. I’ve changed two so far and that was only because in my initial eagerness to test the Micros, I put everything in my eliquid collection through them within the first five days including thick, sweet dessert eliquids. Now that I've settled mainly on tobacco flavours (Halo Tribeca 18mg) there isn’t so much strain on the little attys so my two packs of spares should last a fair while.

· The Micros are very portable and stealthy (especially if you cover the red LED that comes on at the tip).

· No buttons, settings or rebuilding of coils to deal with, so there’s no need to ‘fiddle with my equipment’.

· I can’t believe how these micros outperform my old eRoll at such an affordable price - under $7.00 (albeit without PCC).

Cons

· I really need my PCC to arrive. It’s really inconvenient taking a portable powerbank and USB chargers with me everywhere, as well as having to screw the batteries into the connections (too fiddly while driving for example). Plus it takes about 2 hours for a battery to charge from completely flat to full. To get around this I don’t vape them flat and recharge when they are at about 50%. Still, the PCC can’t come soon enough – just pop them in after a vape and they are charging.

· If not careful when filling , It’s easy to get eliquid into the chimney hole of the small tank, even with a pointed bottle tip.

· I don’t like the vape from the typical 70PG/30VG eliquid ratio recommended for cigalikes like this. Micros can handle thicker juices but it’s difficult finding higher VG eliquids in 18mg or above.

· A bit of paint has come away from my black micro from grasping it too tightly between my teeth when handsfree. Lesson learned. Luckily I have two more black ones on order.

Even though I have my eye on other cigalikes that I’d like to try out of interest, if all goes well with the PCC arriving, Kamry Micro could be all the vaping kit I need this year.

 

[Sludge Van Diesel]

Good luck with the XT-C 3.

The jury is still out. My other half is using them in rotation with her remaining eRolls. Will report back when the verdict is in.

One thing I can say is the display on the PCC is not accurate. It varies dramatically on how much charge has gone from the PCC to take a battery from empty to full. The extremes being 6% & 23% A couple of times it's gone from 18% to dead & the battery that's charging still isn't charged. She reckons she'll need at least 3 PCCs for a day out.

From the few times I've had a go on it, I'll say it's good for it's size (around a mm or so smaller than the eRoll (that feels tiny after my pipes or Magnum Snaps)) & produces reasonable vapour (again for it's minuscule size). Flavour is marginally less than the eRoll (IMHO) & throat hit is comparable. I quite like them (what I've used of them so far) & they could be good for when I'm DJing & I don't want it obvious that I'm vaping.

I'll interrogate Angela further for a more in-depth review.

· I don’t like the vape from the typical 70PG/30VG eliquid ratio recommended for cigalikes like this. Micros can handle thicker juices but it’s difficult finding higher VG eliquids in 18mg or above.

Have a look at this thread I started, my last post may be some help. Help! Need a replacement for Ecopure. UK based VG only or High VG

 

[Jin_888]

The jury is still out. My other half is using them in rotation with her remaining eRolls. Will report back when the verdict is in.

One thing I can say is the display on the PCC is not accurate. It varies dramatically on how much charge has gone from the PCC to take a battery from empty to full. The extremes being 6% & 23% A couple of times it's gone from 18% to dead & the battery that's charging still isn't charged. She reckons she'll need at least 3 PCCs for a day out.

From the few times I've had a go on it, I'll say it's good for it's size (around a mm or so smaller than the eRoll (that feels tiny after my pipes or Magnum Snaps)) & produces reasonable vapour (again for it's minuscule size). Flavour is marginally less than the eRoll (IMHO) & throat hit is comparable. I quite like them (what I've used of them so far) & they could be good for when I'm DJing & I don't want it obvious that I'm vaping.

I'll interrogate Angela further for a more in-depth review.

Have a look at this thread I started, my last post may be some help. Help! Need a replacement for Ecopure. UK based VG only or High VG

Thanks for the thread link, will take a look when I get a chance.

That's interesting about the the PCC display. Only thing I can think of is that whatever component is reading the battery may not be correctly calibrated. That's certainly the case with my mobile phone where for example the screen may show a 3/4 full battery icon but the reading says only 50%. Your other half should just go with the knowledge that if it's an 1100 mAh PCC case then she should be able to charge both ecigs six times (or one ecig 12 times). Strange thing is OK Smokey rates the PCC at 1100 mAh but I have seen the same PCC advertised as 900 mAh on sites like Alibaba. What did it say on the box?

I'm happy so far with Kamry Micro but do have my eye on the Joecig too as it's the smallest cigalike going at the moment. And I prefer the PCC design that came with XT-C 2 over the new one (I think the actual PCC is the XT-C 3 but the actual ecigs that it houses are XT-C 2). How does the draw/airflow compare with the eRoll?

 

[Sludge Van Diesel]

And I prefer the PCC design that came with XT-C 2 over the new one (I think the actual PCC is the XT-C 3 but the actual ecigs that it houses are XT-C 2). How does the draw/airflow compare with the eRoll?

The airflow is pretty good, but they do seem to burn a bit hotter. Although this doesn't get any hotter than the eRoll.

The PCC is the most solid, well built (apart from the false readings on the display) PCC that I've seen. I've had 2 M401 PCCs (both generic & Intellicig Evo) 510 Titan & both 2 & 3 slot eRoll & it's better built than all of them. It may be small, but it feels substantial & the lid opens & closes firmly with a Zippo-like action.

It does, however, only charge about 6 times. Coupled with the short life of the minuscule batteries, you can see why she wants at least one more PCC if she sticks with them.

 

[Sludge Van Diesel]

The PCC itself is rated at 900mAh (which is smaller than my e-pipe battery) Whereas the e-cig batteries are 90mAh. The booklet states each PCC will charge 5 or 6 batteries from a full charge.

 

[Appeltaart]

Been vaping on my Kamry Micro for two days now. Wish it kept up with even higher VG, but it couldn't quite keep up at 70/30.

impressive little device though. Although not all that useful without the PCC. I'll definitely consider ordering one if they start stocking them!

Wonder if the Alchemy Z5 is of similar quality.

 

[Jin_888]

The airflow is pretty good, but they do seem to burn a bit hotter. Although this doesn't get any hotter than the eRoll.

The PCC is the most solid, well built (apart from the false readings on the display) PCC that I've seen. I've had 2 M401 PCCs (both generic & Intellicig Evo) 510 Titan & both 2 & 3 slot eRoll & it's better built than all of them. It may be small, but it feels substantial & the lid opens & closes firmly with a Zippo-like action.

It does, however, only charge about 6 times. Coupled with the short life of the minuscule batteries, you can see why she wants at least one more PCC if she sticks with them.

Not sure why Joecig saw it as a good move to downgrade the rating on the new PCC to 900 mAh. Series 1 is rated at 1100 mAh and Series 2 is rated 1200 Mah. You would think it would increase with Series 3.

I reckon if you can get hold of the 1200 mAh PCC it would still charge your XT-C 3 ecigs as I cannot see any difference between XT-C 2 and XT-C 3 apart from the case.

Out of the three PCCs, I prefer the design of the XT-C 1 case as it has that minimal zippo-like design going on.

XT-C 1 - 1100 mAh

XT-C 2 - 1200 mAh

XT-C 3 - 900 mAh

 

[Jin_888]

Been vaping on my Kamry Micro for two days now. Wish it kept up with even higher VG, but it couldn't quite keep up at 70/30.

impressive little device though. Although not all that useful without the PCC. I'll definitely consider ordering one if they start stocking them!

Wonder if the Alchemy Z5 is of similar quality.

When I got my Micros I put all of my high VG liquids that I was using on a sub ohm tank through them okay. It handled The Milkman which is Max VG, along with others. Of course, it's a more casual vape like this, not sure you could chain vape that well. The best ratio for me in the Micro is somewhere between 60-70 VG. What I'm vaping in it now is 70PG/30PG Halo Tribeca mixed with a higher VG nutty juice to round off the flavour and vapour quality.

It can be a bit of a chore charging Micros without the PCC but it's a good way to try them cheaply before making the steeper price commitment. For the last week, the tracking status of the PCC I ordered from Aliexpress has been 'pre-advised' - which in shipping terms means that it's all packaged, labeled and ready to be shipped but the seller hasn't passed it on to the shipping company yet. I fear I have fallen victim to the Chinese New Year holidays where everyone goes away for two weeks leaving desperate buyers to wonder what's happening to their orders.

Have you seen this pretty unfavourable review of Alchemy Z5 by Cigalike Freak?
Alchemy Z5 e-cigarette review - Cigalike Freak

To be honest it sounds like he managed to get e-liquid into the centre tube while filling which diminished its performance and gave him a mouth full of liquid. It's really easy to do and happened to me the first time with the Micro, prompting a similar negative reaction. The thing is with these tiny vapourisers is to stick with it and try to iron out user mistakes. Having said that, I haven't actually tried an Alchemy Z5 so they might actually not be very good, however, Fastech buyers have left mostly positive reviews:
9 reviews of Alchemy Z5 100mAh Rechargeable E-Cigarette Starter Kit: FastTech

The dealbreaker for me is not the fiddliness but the fact that it uses a lightning cable rather than micro USB. Maybe Alchemy Z5 is for iPhone users.

 

[Jin_888]

Thinking about the coils in my Kamry Micro set up, I wondered if it's possible to prolong their usage through cleaning - especially since new coils have to be shipped all the way from China. Turns out it's possible in a similar way to how the original eGo Tank coils and eRoll coils were cleaned. Here's how:

New atomiser on the left compared to used atomiser on the right. Right atomiser has been used for 7-9 days and tasting a bit gunked up. Let's clean it!

Take the chimney part off the top of the atomiser to open it up. Do not remove the white rubber grommet (round white thing on the main body) unless you are confident that you can replace it with the wiring intact - which is very fiddly for an atomiser of this tiny size. There's a piece of wire visible on the inside wall of the grommet but also another hidden wire that rests between the outer wall of the grommet and the inner wall of the atomiser. I know this as this is my second more successful attempt at cleaning. The first time around, I removed the grommet but couldn't refit it properly and mashed up the wires in the process.

Place the opened-up atomiser in a cup of hot filtered water for a while (how long is up to you). I added some white spirit vinegar to increase acidity and help dissolve gunk. I didn't have much time during a work break so left it for just five minutes. Swirl the liquid in the cup around now and then to help dislodge things. After soaking the atomiser, remove it and, from the open end, blow out any excess water that is left inside. Change the hot water in the cup and soak the atomiser once more to get rid of the vinegar, then repeat the process of taking the atomiser out and blowing out excess water. Dry it on the outside with a tissue.

Once excess water has been blown out of the atomiser and it's been dried with tissue, replace the chimney part so that the atty is intact again (taking care not to push down the wire piece on the grommet). Then attach it to the e-cig battery as shown in the photo. We're now going to take advantage of a little quirk that's prevalent in some of these automatic cigalike batteries.

Some of you will know that if you draw or blow on an automatic cigalike at the wrong end, the battery will fire the atomiser constantly until the cut off time is reached. This is what we are going to do with just the atomiser attached. As you can see in the above photo the coil heats up, and this burns off any remaining coil residue. You might notice little wisps of vapour produced during this process - that's okay and what we want - it's the coil residue burning off. Repeat this a few times until no wisps are produced and the coil glows clean.

Voila! If all went well you should be left with a much cleaner coil than when you started. It took me 10 minutes to clean one coil so it doesn't have to be a lengthy chore. I think these coils can be cleaned at least a couple of times before they wear out, so if I clean them once a week I can probably get three weeks usage out of a single coil ​

 

[Jin_888]

Been vaping on my Kamry Micro for two days now. Wish it kept up with even higher VG, but it couldn't quite keep up at 70/30.

Today I received some Hangsen 70VG 30PG juices at 18mg strength, specifically for use in the micros. Tried one flavour (RY4) so far. It seems to wick and vape just fine with 70VG without the need to pull harder on the ecig (thank you airholes). None of the flavours I received are overly sweet though. Maybe if I put a high VG dessert vape in the micros they would slow down. Having said that, when I first got them and did a quick test with one of my sub ohm dessert eliquids, Milkman Crumbleberry, they handled that okay too. Maybe coil life will reduce with higher VG but that's a small price to pay (and I can always coil clean).

Now I need to get used to vaping 18mg high VG stuff on the micros. Before today's order arrived, I was mixing 70PG/30VG 18mg Halo Tribeca with a 6mg high VG eliquid to increase viscosity. This resulted in mixes that were between 12-15mg that could be chain vaped if I wanted but, having chain vaped on 18mg high VG for the last 30 minutes, I now have a vapeache. This is good in a way, because I now know that I can get by with a few hits every now and then instead of having to vape constantly.

Another bonus with the high VG eliquids I received is that bottles come with the perfect needle tip for filling the micros.

So I've got dinky but dependable micros and I've got a source for 18mg High VG juice. Now all I need is the PCC and I should be set for the year...or until someone produces a sub-ohm cigalike.

 

[Sludge Van Diesel]

...or until someone produces a sub-ohm cigalike.

I think the battery life would be something like 2 puffs as they stand at the moment.

 

[Jin_888]

I think the battery life would be something like 2 puffs as they stand at the moment.

Perhaps we can accommodate for that shortfall with 72mg nic. Two puffs a day and you're done - maybe literally

 

[Jin_888]

Hmm. It seems vaping 70VG on the micro can leave a drop of eliquid on the battery connection when I remove the tank to recharge. Why is that? Doesn't happen with higher PG. Luckily the drop of liquid just sits there rather than going into the battery hole and can be wiped off. If it gets into the hole that's trouble. Something to be careful about. Will keep monitoring...

 

[Sludge Van Diesel]

Hmm. It seems vaping 70VG on the micro can leave a drop of eliquid on the battery connection when I remove the tank to recharge. Why is that? Doesn't happen with higher PG. Luckily the drop of liquid just sits there rather than going into the battery hole and can be wiped off. If it gets into the hole that's trouble. Something to be careful about. Will keep monitoring...

Has it done that every time or just the once?

 

[djsvapour]

I like the look of the Kamry Micro. I can find entire 'units/kits' from various sources but little or no evidence of atomizer coils being on sale.

 

[Jin_888]

Has it done that every time or just the once?

It's happened on two different micros earlier today when I was testing them with 70VG. Maybe something to do with chain vaping them. Since then I've been vaping more moderately and it hasn't happened again. I'm actually more intrigued than concerned as I can't work out why high vg would do that when thinner 70pg liquids don't. Hmm.

 

[Jin_888]

I like the look of the Kamry Micro. I can find entire 'units/kits' from various sources but little or no evidence of atomizer coils being on sale.

You can definitely buy the atomisers on Aliexpress which is where I ordered mine along with the micros themselves. Both the attys and micros took just 8 days to reach me from a seller called Ree Store. Was pleasantly surprised by that.