Introduction and Overview
Hey all, long time member, though I've been posting on reddit a bit more lately (sorry, I still love you guys and gals!), this is the first in a new series of reviews I'll be conducting on new, popular, or just downright interesting vapor (and battery) hardware. I'll mainly be looking at mods, atomizers, and a charger or two, currently no plans for juice or batteries themselves. I love the vaping communities, you guys are all awesome, and if I can help any vaper, new or old, make an informed decision about products they may be interested in, well, then I'll be happy! So, without further ado, today we'll be looking at the Famovape Magma:
(Disclaimer: This product was sent to me by Famovape for the purposes of this review, though that will have zero influence on the review itself)
------------
Album link, though I'll be linking relevant images throughout the review-
------------
The Magma is a dual 18650, 200 watt mod by relative industry newcomers, Famovape. At the time of writing, they've released one other dual 18650 mod (the Bit Box), a draw activated, variable voltage pod system (the Chillax), a squonk-compatible RDA (the Yup), and two sub-ohm tanks (the Vector Tank and Fat Baby Mesh Tank). The Magma, however, really caught my eye with it's dual-sided resin panels (back side), full color screen (able to be changed between Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green), and an appealing price point (around $39.99). Color options abound, with over a dozen panel styles and 4 frame colors (Silver, Black, Gold, and Rainbow). I was sent the Lava Resin option (yes, that's a Magma on my Magma, sorry, I couldn't help myself
) Okay, so it's pretty, and you'll be able to find a color/frame combination that suits you perfectly, but how does it perform? Thoughts on performance after a quick official spec list-
Manufacturer Specifications
When I opened the box it was mailed in and pulled the mod out, I thought they did a great job with the packaging. Not only does each version come in a box themed around the design you chose (a very nice step up in effort from your typical checkmark on the side of the box), it has the nicotine warning displayed prominently on both sides. While some may not like this on their packaging for mods, I think it's a good move by the manufacturers (especially nowadays), and should become the norm. Removing the outer sleeve reveals your typical, basic box with Famovape's logo. Opening you're greeted with the mod itself. My first thoughts here were, "Wow, this is small!". Seriously, I have some older single 18650 mods only slightly smaller than this guy (like the eVic VTC Mini/VTwo). The box makes the claim to being the smallest dual 18650 device on the market, and while someone might know of something smaller, it's definitely the overall smallest dual 18650 I've personally used.
Build Quality
It feels good in the hand, the small, rounded rectangular shape fits well in the palm, and the resin feels and looks great. The metal frame feels solid, not heavy, but not too light either like some of the plastic framed mods out there that feel 3d printed and cheap to me. The matte paint on the frame is above average, but not excellent, it seems like it will hold up well against scratches, but it is very smooth, creating a bit of a slippery feeling. A leaky tank or juice on your hands will exaggerate this feeling, but overall it's only a minor complaint that came from looking for any negatives, it's still comfortable to use. Taking the price point into account, it's aesthetics are extremely nice. The 510 pin is spring loaded, and the threading is good, atomizers sit flush. It is off center to the side away from the screen, though still leaves enough room for your 25mm atomizers to sit flush on all sides. This may be a potential con to some who prefer the increasingly common centered 510 pin, but I'm an old school kind of guy, and actually hate the centered 510, I think atomizers looks much better off center on boxes. As I said though, this is going to be completely up to you and your preferences.
There is some very slight play on my battery door, which I think could be remedied by using larger, rectangular magnets. and a deeper battery tray, though that would add some bulk, so I'm not sure if that's something I would personally want. Bigger magnets should do the trick just fine. Currently, the magnets used are circular, and quite small. There is also the slightest amount of play on my Fire button, but not enough to cause rattle. The mod accommodates atomizers up to 25mm with very little to no overhang, and 22mms, even oddly shaped ones, look great! (A 23mm is in the album, and the Aromamizer on top in most of the pictures is 24mm) So far, so good!
Here is where I must come to my main major con with this device, however, and that is the battery tray. Specifically, the contacts. While not terrible, they do feel a bit 'loose', the springs under them could definitely be a bit tighter. It doesn't affect performance by any means, but I feel the batteries 'slide' out rather than 'pop'. To many, this may be a pro rather than a con (this mod certainly won't be tearing wraps), but I do have a slight worry in the back of my head about the longevity of the springs. I did not take the mod apart to inspect them, so they very well may just be lower tension than I'm used to and the quality/integrity of the springs themselves may be just fine and last a long, long time, but time will tell there. I think they'll be fine so long as you aren't yanking the ribbon full force every time you go to swap sets though.
Functionality and Performance
Alright, so it's a pretty mod that feels good, but this is what you're really here for, right? I tested Wattage, Bypass and Temperature Control with a variety of different builds, but let's get menus and navigation out of the way first. First off, the screen looks AWESOME. Bright, crisp, and clear, and the different colors all look great (Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow). Navigation on the mod will feel familiar to anyone who's used regulated mods before. You have-
Wattage Mode
Wattage feels very accurate when compared to other mods, and seems to be right on point (not over or underpowered). The V-Tek chip boasts a 0.0016 (1.6 millisecond) firing speed, and while I don't have the tools to measure that kind of speed, I can say firing the mod is instantaneous in all modes. Quicker than any of my others, dual or single, it's like how the original Drag was, press Fire and bam! Instant power. No ramp up here (unless you have the Wattage set lower than it should be, of course, but that doesn't count!). This was true with both simple 28g round wire Kanthal up to 3x Fused and Staggered SS Claptons. Wattage does only increase in 1 watt increments, no decimal point here, which can be a bit of a con for extremely low power (<20w) builds but a neutral/pro for builds above 30 or 40w. The feature is largely useless anyway, though considering it's the norm, maybe including 0.5w increments could have been a nice middle ground. Also no curves or preheat/strength settings, you get what you set. Scrolling is good, with a slow scroll for 2.5 seconds after which it speeds up, but not too fast that you'll be overshooting your desired setting. Scrolling from 5w-200w without stopping took 10.7 seconds. It does not round robin.
Bypass Mode
Not too much to say here, it turns the mod into an 'unregulated' SERIES box. Do remember that on a fresh pair of batteries it will be pulling the max voltage from the chip (7.5 Volts), it's not the 4.2v of single battery unregulated device/Bypass. Current Wattage and Voltage are displayed in the same place as they are in Power Mode. A pretty nice feature to be honest if you're a fan of series builds, though you will be starting out at 7.5v as opposed to 8.4 on a dedicated series box. Considering all the other features the mod has, I call that a fair trade.
Temperature Control
So, this feature will be what a lot of you are wondering about, and in short, it works, and above averagely. Especially for a <$40 mod. While it's not a DNA or YiHi, it's comparable to Smoant's newer TC. It supports Stainless Steel, Nickel, and Titanium, and while there isn't a dedicated TCR mode, when selecting any of the modes, it will present you with a default TCR setting that you can then adjust to your preference. The defaults are Ni: 500, Ti: 300, and SS: 100. I found the best performance for SS316 to be at my tried and true 92 (I tried the default 100, 88, and 110), SS317 at around 95-97, and SS430 at 135. Titanium worked well around 330ish, though I didn't test it as extensively as SS. A quick and dirty Nickel build needed TCR adjusting up to 550+, but I really didn't use that build too much (I just really dislike ni200 in general). Two clicks of the Fire button in any of the modes will allow you to adjust your Wattage. There is an 80 watt limit in TC. Scrolls in 5 degree increments, round robins between Fahrenheit and Celsius. Rampup is good, and it will stay at your set temperature reliably. No button combo to lock resistance, though it wasn't an issue, so I'm assuming the chip locks it in automatically. I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the TC on this mod, given the price, I figured most of the R&D was going into the screen and hardware and that TC would be an afterthought. Not so. The TCRs take a little adjusting, but it does work adequately. NOTE*- I base TC performance on mods on whether or not a dry wick will give a dry hit between 420-440F. I did not use anything crazy like a laser thermometer or anything, this is based on real world performance/experience.
In Conclusion
This is a great looking mod that performs surprisingly well, especially for the price point it's at! A few things, like larger magnets on the battery door, decimal point wattage adjustment (and perhaps a Voltage Mode, though anyone who knows me knows that's really just my personal preference), and a bit of texture to the very smooth frame paint have room for improvement, but all in all, I would feel comfortable recommending this mod to anyone who likes the resin style and wants a smaller form factor dual 18650. I had been lamenting the loss of my Drag the past few months, but this mod is more than an adequate replacement, and the resin on both sides of the mod goes a LONG way in making it look better in my opinion.
Pros
Honestly, you really can't go wrong with this if you're looking for an extremely fairly priced, smaller form factor, resin paneled, dual 18650 mod. Aside from a few nitpicks (the tiniest bit of play on the battery door and fire button, battery contact springs could be tighter wound, and some personal preference stuff like no decimal in Wattage, no Curve or Preheat, and no VV mode), I honestly couldn't find much wrong with this mod. The screen looks absolutely great, and the dual resin paneling is a huge plus if you wanted to get a resin mod like the Drag etc (I really did not like the giant logo on the battery door on the Drag). Wattage feels accurate, and Temp Control worked surprisingly well, even with multi-core builds. It has all the features you would expect from a $50-$80 dual 18650 mod at a much more reasonable price. Feels good in the hand, and I would be comfortable using this as a daily carry! A nice surprise from a newer company, this mod earns a definite recommendation from me!
Official Famovape Product Page
Hey all, long time member, though I've been posting on reddit a bit more lately (sorry, I still love you guys and gals!), this is the first in a new series of reviews I'll be conducting on new, popular, or just downright interesting vapor (and battery) hardware. I'll mainly be looking at mods, atomizers, and a charger or two, currently no plans for juice or batteries themselves. I love the vaping communities, you guys are all awesome, and if I can help any vaper, new or old, make an informed decision about products they may be interested in, well, then I'll be happy! So, without further ado, today we'll be looking at the Famovape Magma:
(Disclaimer: This product was sent to me by Famovape for the purposes of this review, though that will have zero influence on the review itself)
------------
Album link, though I'll be linking relevant images throughout the review-
------------
The Magma is a dual 18650, 200 watt mod by relative industry newcomers, Famovape. At the time of writing, they've released one other dual 18650 mod (the Bit Box), a draw activated, variable voltage pod system (the Chillax), a squonk-compatible RDA (the Yup), and two sub-ohm tanks (the Vector Tank and Fat Baby Mesh Tank). The Magma, however, really caught my eye with it's dual-sided resin panels (back side), full color screen (able to be changed between Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green), and an appealing price point (around $39.99). Color options abound, with over a dozen panel styles and 4 frame colors (Silver, Black, Gold, and Rainbow). I was sent the Lava Resin option (yes, that's a Magma on my Magma, sorry, I couldn't help myself
) Okay, so it's pretty, and you'll be able to find a color/frame combination that suits you perfectly, but how does it perform? Thoughts on performance after a quick official spec list-Manufacturer Specifications
- Dimension: 87*48.5*25mm
- Material: Zinc Alloy
- Display: 0.96 inch TFT color screen
- Proprietary V-Tek chipset
- Power range: 5-200W
- Temperature range: 100℃-300℃/200℉-570℉
- Input Voltage: 6.4V-8.4V
- Output Voltage: 1.0V-7.5V
- Max output current: 40A
- Battery Capacity: Dual 18650
- Power Mode POWER/BYPASS/SS/NI/TI (TCR Adjustable)
- Minimum Resistance: 0.08 ohms
- Atomizer resistance range: 0.08-3.0
- Supported Wire materials: Kanthal/Nichrome/SS/Ni200/Ti
- USB charge: USB charge: DC 5V/2A (note: as you know, with all external battery mods, particularly dual battery mods, I do highly recommend charging externally and using married sets of batteries only)
- 10s Cutoff
- Short Circuit Protection
- Overheat Protection
- Reverse Polarity Protection
When I opened the box it was mailed in and pulled the mod out, I thought they did a great job with the packaging. Not only does each version come in a box themed around the design you chose (a very nice step up in effort from your typical checkmark on the side of the box), it has the nicotine warning displayed prominently on both sides. While some may not like this on their packaging for mods, I think it's a good move by the manufacturers (especially nowadays), and should become the norm. Removing the outer sleeve reveals your typical, basic box with Famovape's logo. Opening you're greeted with the mod itself. My first thoughts here were, "Wow, this is small!". Seriously, I have some older single 18650 mods only slightly smaller than this guy (like the eVic VTC Mini/VTwo). The box makes the claim to being the smallest dual 18650 device on the market, and while someone might know of something smaller, it's definitely the overall smallest dual 18650 I've personally used.
Build Quality
It feels good in the hand, the small, rounded rectangular shape fits well in the palm, and the resin feels and looks great. The metal frame feels solid, not heavy, but not too light either like some of the plastic framed mods out there that feel 3d printed and cheap to me. The matte paint on the frame is above average, but not excellent, it seems like it will hold up well against scratches, but it is very smooth, creating a bit of a slippery feeling. A leaky tank or juice on your hands will exaggerate this feeling, but overall it's only a minor complaint that came from looking for any negatives, it's still comfortable to use. Taking the price point into account, it's aesthetics are extremely nice. The 510 pin is spring loaded, and the threading is good, atomizers sit flush. It is off center to the side away from the screen, though still leaves enough room for your 25mm atomizers to sit flush on all sides. This may be a potential con to some who prefer the increasingly common centered 510 pin, but I'm an old school kind of guy, and actually hate the centered 510, I think atomizers looks much better off center on boxes. As I said though, this is going to be completely up to you and your preferences.
There is some very slight play on my battery door, which I think could be remedied by using larger, rectangular magnets. and a deeper battery tray, though that would add some bulk, so I'm not sure if that's something I would personally want. Bigger magnets should do the trick just fine. Currently, the magnets used are circular, and quite small. There is also the slightest amount of play on my Fire button, but not enough to cause rattle. The mod accommodates atomizers up to 25mm with very little to no overhang, and 22mms, even oddly shaped ones, look great! (A 23mm is in the album, and the Aromamizer on top in most of the pictures is 24mm) So far, so good!
Here is where I must come to my main major con with this device, however, and that is the battery tray. Specifically, the contacts. While not terrible, they do feel a bit 'loose', the springs under them could definitely be a bit tighter. It doesn't affect performance by any means, but I feel the batteries 'slide' out rather than 'pop'. To many, this may be a pro rather than a con (this mod certainly won't be tearing wraps), but I do have a slight worry in the back of my head about the longevity of the springs. I did not take the mod apart to inspect them, so they very well may just be lower tension than I'm used to and the quality/integrity of the springs themselves may be just fine and last a long, long time, but time will tell there. I think they'll be fine so long as you aren't yanking the ribbon full force every time you go to swap sets though.
Functionality and Performance
Alright, so it's a pretty mod that feels good, but this is what you're really here for, right? I tested Wattage, Bypass and Temperature Control with a variety of different builds, but let's get menus and navigation out of the way first. First off, the screen looks AWESOME. Bright, crisp, and clear, and the different colors all look great (Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow). Navigation on the mod will feel familiar to anyone who's used regulated mods before. You have-
- Five Clicks of Fire to power on/off
- Three Clicks of Fire to enter the menu
- Up/Down Adjustment buttons to navigate, Fire to Select
- Fire+Adjust Up to lock adjustment, no Fire Lock
- Two Clicks of Fire in Temp Control to Adjust Wattage
- This isn't in the manual or any other literature I found on this mod, but pressing Up+Down at the same time seems to re-read coil resistance. Handy for SS in Power mode
Wattage Mode
Wattage feels very accurate when compared to other mods, and seems to be right on point (not over or underpowered). The V-Tek chip boasts a 0.0016 (1.6 millisecond) firing speed, and while I don't have the tools to measure that kind of speed, I can say firing the mod is instantaneous in all modes. Quicker than any of my others, dual or single, it's like how the original Drag was, press Fire and bam! Instant power. No ramp up here (unless you have the Wattage set lower than it should be, of course, but that doesn't count!). This was true with both simple 28g round wire Kanthal up to 3x Fused and Staggered SS Claptons. Wattage does only increase in 1 watt increments, no decimal point here, which can be a bit of a con for extremely low power (<20w) builds but a neutral/pro for builds above 30 or 40w. The feature is largely useless anyway, though considering it's the norm, maybe including 0.5w increments could have been a nice middle ground. Also no curves or preheat/strength settings, you get what you set. Scrolling is good, with a slow scroll for 2.5 seconds after which it speeds up, but not too fast that you'll be overshooting your desired setting. Scrolling from 5w-200w without stopping took 10.7 seconds. It does not round robin.
Bypass Mode
Not too much to say here, it turns the mod into an 'unregulated' SERIES box. Do remember that on a fresh pair of batteries it will be pulling the max voltage from the chip (7.5 Volts), it's not the 4.2v of single battery unregulated device/Bypass. Current Wattage and Voltage are displayed in the same place as they are in Power Mode. A pretty nice feature to be honest if you're a fan of series builds, though you will be starting out at 7.5v as opposed to 8.4 on a dedicated series box. Considering all the other features the mod has, I call that a fair trade.
Temperature Control
So, this feature will be what a lot of you are wondering about, and in short, it works, and above averagely. Especially for a <$40 mod. While it's not a DNA or YiHi, it's comparable to Smoant's newer TC. It supports Stainless Steel, Nickel, and Titanium, and while there isn't a dedicated TCR mode, when selecting any of the modes, it will present you with a default TCR setting that you can then adjust to your preference. The defaults are Ni: 500, Ti: 300, and SS: 100. I found the best performance for SS316 to be at my tried and true 92 (I tried the default 100, 88, and 110), SS317 at around 95-97, and SS430 at 135. Titanium worked well around 330ish, though I didn't test it as extensively as SS. A quick and dirty Nickel build needed TCR adjusting up to 550+, but I really didn't use that build too much (I just really dislike ni200 in general). Two clicks of the Fire button in any of the modes will allow you to adjust your Wattage. There is an 80 watt limit in TC. Scrolls in 5 degree increments, round robins between Fahrenheit and Celsius. Rampup is good, and it will stay at your set temperature reliably. No button combo to lock resistance, though it wasn't an issue, so I'm assuming the chip locks it in automatically. I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the TC on this mod, given the price, I figured most of the R&D was going into the screen and hardware and that TC would be an afterthought. Not so. The TCRs take a little adjusting, but it does work adequately. NOTE*- I base TC performance on mods on whether or not a dry wick will give a dry hit between 420-440F. I did not use anything crazy like a laser thermometer or anything, this is based on real world performance/experience.
In Conclusion
This is a great looking mod that performs surprisingly well, especially for the price point it's at! A few things, like larger magnets on the battery door, decimal point wattage adjustment (and perhaps a Voltage Mode, though anyone who knows me knows that's really just my personal preference), and a bit of texture to the very smooth frame paint have room for improvement, but all in all, I would feel comfortable recommending this mod to anyone who likes the resin style and wants a smaller form factor dual 18650. I had been lamenting the loss of my Drag the past few months, but this mod is more than an adequate replacement, and the resin on both sides of the mod goes a LONG way in making it look better in my opinion.
Pros
- Very nice resin on both sides of the mod
- Small form factor
- Accommodates 25mm despite its size
- Accurate Wattage
- Accurate Temp Control
- Extremely Fast Firing Speed
- Extremely crisp, clear, bright, and colorful screen with 4 color options to match your resin choice
- Chip is overall extremely good for a proprietary chip from a newer company
- Puff Counter/Timer
- No decimal point in Wattage Mode
- Off-centered 510 plate
- No Wattage or TC Curve
- Low Tension Battery Contact Springs
- Room for improvement with battery door magnets (strength is good, but a size increase wouldn't hurt)4
- Some small play on the Fire Button, but not enough to audibly rattle, even when shaken
Honestly, you really can't go wrong with this if you're looking for an extremely fairly priced, smaller form factor, resin paneled, dual 18650 mod. Aside from a few nitpicks (the tiniest bit of play on the battery door and fire button, battery contact springs could be tighter wound, and some personal preference stuff like no decimal in Wattage, no Curve or Preheat, and no VV mode), I honestly couldn't find much wrong with this mod. The screen looks absolutely great, and the dual resin paneling is a huge plus if you wanted to get a resin mod like the Drag etc (I really did not like the giant logo on the battery door on the Drag). Wattage feels accurate, and Temp Control worked surprisingly well, even with multi-core builds. It has all the features you would expect from a $50-$80 dual 18650 mod at a much more reasonable price. Feels good in the hand, and I would be comfortable using this as a daily carry! A nice surprise from a newer company, this mod earns a definite recommendation from me!
Official Famovape Product Page
