I had been looking for a box mod for a while and when the Xpro BT 50 came out at my local vape shop, Sir Vape A Lot, I decided that I would pick one up. Although it's offered in several colors, I picked up a silver one as it was exactly what I was looking for.
The Xpro BT 50 comes in a well packaged plastic shell, with fitted foam, although a little large in terms of packaging. Once opened, the device is easy to slip out, leaving the tray free to be lifted. A little disappointed to find a rather mediocre quality micro usb cable, a tiny hex key and a small booklet. Not even a power block!
I took a few moments to look over the device. The empty mod is fairly light and the finish is slightly pebbled anodizing, which provides a less slippery surface than the usual treatment. The case is beveled on the top and bottom planes, reminiscent of the iPhone or iPad in that design element. There is some slight rattle from the buttons, as they are metal in a metal enclosure and to be expected. They have a positive feel, decent click and tolerable sound level!
The charge port and the venting hole are located on the bottom of the case, somewhat inconvenient in terms of charging but logically located in terms of venting safety. A little more on this topic in a moment. The top plate includes a countersunk atomizer mount point, with one of the best 510 connectors I've experienced. Spring-loaded, it has accepted every single atomizer I've thrown at it without a single issue! As no air slots are provided, bottom aerated atomizers could encounter some issues. The countersunk well is about 2mm deep and will accept 23mm atomizers.
Using the provided hex key, I opened the case. I would have appreciated a magnetic case door system but can accept that screws are an acceptable solution, especially when they are high quality stainless steel, knurled hex head screws. The case cover lacks any kind of registration slots, grooves or pins and must be held in place to screw on and off. The advantage to this is the increased level of adjustability in door fit, but could have been entirely mitigated by the use of grooved registration to centre the door to the case and partially hold it in place. As the case is not meant to be opened regularly, this is somewhat of a moot point.
The interior layout of the mod is very clean, with a covered electronics section and a well finished battery holder. The holder's fit is snug and the inclusion of the cell removal ribbon is appreciated. A nice touch, the holder is mounted positive side down, in line with the bottom vent hole. A smart engineering move for sure. The mod is designed for flat top cells and as mentioned, the fit is snug so there is no battery play at all.
The cover fits in either direction, but with the Smok logo printed at the bottom, I figure most will only mount it in that specific orientation. I did notice some residual machining artifacting but nothing incredibly obvious.
Five clicks turns on the device; yes, you did read that right. The BT 50 has a power off feature, which I've found missing from many other regulated devices. A small happy face logo and a Welcome message greet new users. The power on sequence lasts about a little less than four seconds and then displays a screen very reminiscent of the DNA 30 devices, with watts displayed as the primary element, alongside a small display of atomizer resistance and output voltage during use. As others have noted, there is a very short delay (about 0.5 seconds) to fire, which seems to truly annoy some users. I'm just not one of those and really don't mind the delay at all. I've found it to correspond to the time raising the mod to my mouth.
Three clicks displays the device menu, with three current options: Bluetooth (to turn on and off), Mode (to switch between wattage and mech mode) and Power (to power off the device). Accessing a feature is a question of navigating to the required mode, then waiting two seconds for the menu options. Further clicks at that point toggle between the various options available. A few more seconds without button presses brings the user back to the main screen.
As can be surmised, a standard five clicks locks the device. Unlocking is a little trickier. I've discovered that a first click is required to wake up the device, whereas it displays an X Pro logo followed by the main screen. A further click displays a lock message and the battery meter and the five clicks must be performed while the lock message is displayed (Locked Click 5X). Success sees the message disappear, leaving only the battery meter, then the main screen. It's something that has bothered many users but once again, I just don't see it as a big deal. It's a proprietary safety feature and I find it easy to work with. It might be useful to have a little graphic instruction included in the box though...
With no atomizer connected, the standard Check Atomizer message is displayed when the firing button is pressed. I screwed in my KFL+ clone with a 2.0 ohm build using 28ga Kanthal and Shiseido cotton wick, set the mod to 6W and fired it up; very, very mild! I moved it to 7W and took another draw; better hit. Another move to 8W and this time, a little bit of harshness near the end. I dialed it back to 7.7 and this time, it was absolutely perfect. I've gone through 5 wicks and almost 15 tanks at this setting and it has been perfect every time.
Of course, I also wanted to see how it would power a dripper. The friendly staff at Sir Vape A Lot In Ottawa hooked me up with a Plume Veil clone and we quickly built a dual coil at 0.2 ohm to test it out. I cranked the mod up to 20W and loaded it with some of their fantastic Mastermind (a banana bread/custard combo that is truly excellent!) juice, I gave it a go. Just brilliant. Fired without any problems at all and vaped beautifully. Cranked it up to 35W and still worked brilliantly. Got it up to 40W but that was the limit for this juice and build.
In all of this time, I still had not tested the Bluetooth functionality and was more than a little curious. At home, I downloaded Smok's free app Smart BEC and got it running on my iPad Mini. The app is not Universal, meaning that it was specifically designed for the iPhone/iPod Touch format, although it will still work on larger devices. After confirming that Bluetooth was enabled on my iPad, I launched the app. The first thing that greets the user is a "scanning" screen as the app attempts to locate the BT 50. It is possible to skip this detection step, and the app continues without connectivity to the mod.
I was wondering if something was wrong with my mod when the app refused to locate it, when I remembered that the mod's Bluetooth setting is off by default. Three clicks to get to the settings and I enabled Bluetooth on the mod. A small B icon is displayed on the mod screen when the mode is enabled. Once detected, a device list is shown (I figure it's due to the fact that there could be a number of BT 50s in range!); selecting your device displays a password screen, with a default password of 000000. Entering the password drops the user onto the main screen.
The interface itself is fairly simple to understand and the app is quite intuitive. Overall, it's only real value is the ability to customize the voltage/wattage curve of each activation, but even that function is a little bit overkill. It's fun, it's great proof of concept, but it's not really something I would use every day!
So far, I've really enjoyed this device and would easily recommend it.
The Xpro BT 50 comes in a well packaged plastic shell, with fitted foam, although a little large in terms of packaging. Once opened, the device is easy to slip out, leaving the tray free to be lifted. A little disappointed to find a rather mediocre quality micro usb cable, a tiny hex key and a small booklet. Not even a power block!
I took a few moments to look over the device. The empty mod is fairly light and the finish is slightly pebbled anodizing, which provides a less slippery surface than the usual treatment. The case is beveled on the top and bottom planes, reminiscent of the iPhone or iPad in that design element. There is some slight rattle from the buttons, as they are metal in a metal enclosure and to be expected. They have a positive feel, decent click and tolerable sound level!
The charge port and the venting hole are located on the bottom of the case, somewhat inconvenient in terms of charging but logically located in terms of venting safety. A little more on this topic in a moment. The top plate includes a countersunk atomizer mount point, with one of the best 510 connectors I've experienced. Spring-loaded, it has accepted every single atomizer I've thrown at it without a single issue! As no air slots are provided, bottom aerated atomizers could encounter some issues. The countersunk well is about 2mm deep and will accept 23mm atomizers.
Using the provided hex key, I opened the case. I would have appreciated a magnetic case door system but can accept that screws are an acceptable solution, especially when they are high quality stainless steel, knurled hex head screws. The case cover lacks any kind of registration slots, grooves or pins and must be held in place to screw on and off. The advantage to this is the increased level of adjustability in door fit, but could have been entirely mitigated by the use of grooved registration to centre the door to the case and partially hold it in place. As the case is not meant to be opened regularly, this is somewhat of a moot point.
The interior layout of the mod is very clean, with a covered electronics section and a well finished battery holder. The holder's fit is snug and the inclusion of the cell removal ribbon is appreciated. A nice touch, the holder is mounted positive side down, in line with the bottom vent hole. A smart engineering move for sure. The mod is designed for flat top cells and as mentioned, the fit is snug so there is no battery play at all.
The cover fits in either direction, but with the Smok logo printed at the bottom, I figure most will only mount it in that specific orientation. I did notice some residual machining artifacting but nothing incredibly obvious.
Five clicks turns on the device; yes, you did read that right. The BT 50 has a power off feature, which I've found missing from many other regulated devices. A small happy face logo and a Welcome message greet new users. The power on sequence lasts about a little less than four seconds and then displays a screen very reminiscent of the DNA 30 devices, with watts displayed as the primary element, alongside a small display of atomizer resistance and output voltage during use. As others have noted, there is a very short delay (about 0.5 seconds) to fire, which seems to truly annoy some users. I'm just not one of those and really don't mind the delay at all. I've found it to correspond to the time raising the mod to my mouth.
Three clicks displays the device menu, with three current options: Bluetooth (to turn on and off), Mode (to switch between wattage and mech mode) and Power (to power off the device). Accessing a feature is a question of navigating to the required mode, then waiting two seconds for the menu options. Further clicks at that point toggle between the various options available. A few more seconds without button presses brings the user back to the main screen.
As can be surmised, a standard five clicks locks the device. Unlocking is a little trickier. I've discovered that a first click is required to wake up the device, whereas it displays an X Pro logo followed by the main screen. A further click displays a lock message and the battery meter and the five clicks must be performed while the lock message is displayed (Locked Click 5X). Success sees the message disappear, leaving only the battery meter, then the main screen. It's something that has bothered many users but once again, I just don't see it as a big deal. It's a proprietary safety feature and I find it easy to work with. It might be useful to have a little graphic instruction included in the box though...
With no atomizer connected, the standard Check Atomizer message is displayed when the firing button is pressed. I screwed in my KFL+ clone with a 2.0 ohm build using 28ga Kanthal and Shiseido cotton wick, set the mod to 6W and fired it up; very, very mild! I moved it to 7W and took another draw; better hit. Another move to 8W and this time, a little bit of harshness near the end. I dialed it back to 7.7 and this time, it was absolutely perfect. I've gone through 5 wicks and almost 15 tanks at this setting and it has been perfect every time.
Of course, I also wanted to see how it would power a dripper. The friendly staff at Sir Vape A Lot In Ottawa hooked me up with a Plume Veil clone and we quickly built a dual coil at 0.2 ohm to test it out. I cranked the mod up to 20W and loaded it with some of their fantastic Mastermind (a banana bread/custard combo that is truly excellent!) juice, I gave it a go. Just brilliant. Fired without any problems at all and vaped beautifully. Cranked it up to 35W and still worked brilliantly. Got it up to 40W but that was the limit for this juice and build.
In all of this time, I still had not tested the Bluetooth functionality and was more than a little curious. At home, I downloaded Smok's free app Smart BEC and got it running on my iPad Mini. The app is not Universal, meaning that it was specifically designed for the iPhone/iPod Touch format, although it will still work on larger devices. After confirming that Bluetooth was enabled on my iPad, I launched the app. The first thing that greets the user is a "scanning" screen as the app attempts to locate the BT 50. It is possible to skip this detection step, and the app continues without connectivity to the mod.
I was wondering if something was wrong with my mod when the app refused to locate it, when I remembered that the mod's Bluetooth setting is off by default. Three clicks to get to the settings and I enabled Bluetooth on the mod. A small B icon is displayed on the mod screen when the mode is enabled. Once detected, a device list is shown (I figure it's due to the fact that there could be a number of BT 50s in range!); selecting your device displays a password screen, with a default password of 000000. Entering the password drops the user onto the main screen.
The interface itself is fairly simple to understand and the app is quite intuitive. Overall, it's only real value is the ability to customize the voltage/wattage curve of each activation, but even that function is a little bit overkill. It's fun, it's great proof of concept, but it's not really something I would use every day!
So far, I've really enjoyed this device and would easily recommend it.
