Sigelei Zmax V3 and V5 Telescopic: User's Group

[yzer]

V3s with smokey plastic buttons.

V5 with machined stainless steel button.

V5s with chrome plated plastic buttons with power symbol. Photo taken from internet.

 

[fairmana]

I just received a Tmax V5 in the mail from Movapes for $25 and I thought I'd go ahead and share my thoughts on it. This was mostly an "impulse buy" based on the low price, and certainly wasn't the result of any reviews I may have read (which I didn't). I've been curious regarding box mods so I thought this would be a good one to start out with for the price.

First of all, it came as a full kit which blew me away for that price. I thought I was only going to get the body itself. It came with two blue and white "Sigelei" branded batteries (1x 18650 2200mAh and 1x 18350 900mAh) as well as a "Sigelei" single battery charger (model: MTLC-0420-1000) that I don't have plans on using over my Nitecore i2.

The next thing that jumped out at me was that the Tmax felt very heavy when compared to my Zmax. I broke out my scale so I could weigh each of them without a topper or any battery inserted to find out what the actual difference was.

Zmax V5: 3.7 ounces (106 grams)
Tmax V5: 7.8 ounces (222 grams)

As you can see, it's just a hair more than twice as heavy, and you can definitely feel that when you hold it.

There are two threaded battery caps on the bottom, each for a different length battery. You can only use 1 battery at a time and only one size or the other (18650 or 18350). One of the 2 battery caps is rubber insulated and does not have a spring which I assume allows you to store a spare battery in the opposite bay if you want to and keeps you from attempting to use 2 batteries at the same time. The battery caps are thin and not easy to get a grip on with your fingertips which I found to be a little frustrating when compared to the ease of swapping batteries with the Zmax.

As far as the menu, I expected it to be identical to the Zmax V5 menu, but I was way off. First of all, the screen is square instead of being rectangular like on the Zmax. It's also seems to be slightly larger which allows the text to be a little bigger on the screen. Firing the button shows 3 lines of info vs the 2 lines on the Zmax V5. I'm taking into account that the Zmax V5 screen is longer and thinner while the Tmax V5 screen is shorter but taller.

Pressing the button 3 times gets you into the menu, but instead of getting to consecutive menu screens by pressing the button, all the menu "titles" are scrolled on the same screen (3 can be seen at the same time). The current menu is highlighted and if you continue to press the button, the "highlight" is scrolled down to the last menu item which is "Exit". If you leave the current item highlighted for a second or two, it will enter that menu and you can change options by pressing the button as you'd expect to.

While vaping (after I set mine up to the desired settings of RMS and wattage), the 1st row shows "rms 8.0W", the 2nd row shows "res 2.5 ohms" (ohm symbol is used instead of the full word), and the 3rd row shows a battery icon colored in white to show charge level followed by a percentage of charge (ex. "85%"). If I want to know the actual voltage measurement of my batteries, I'm out of luck. There are no options to decide what is displayed on the screen when firing, such as found in the Zmax V5 menu (ex. Voltage, Resistance, Current, etc.). For example, you can't decide between voltage/power or your atomizer current. The menu always shows your voltage/power setting and atomizer resistance which is nice, but you don't have any choice in the matter. You also don't get a puff counter or timer, but those options are not important to me. I do however miss being able to see what specific voltage my battery level is as well as occasionally seeing what current my atomizer is pulling.

In summary, I can't complain about the price I got this Tmax for and it was nice that it came with a full kit which I didn't expect for that price. I'm not happy about how heavy and awkward it feels in my hand when compared to the Zmax. I mostly blame this on the fact that I've never owned any sort of box mod before, but I don't think I could ever prefer a box mod over a tube mod. It may have a lot to do with what you start out with and get used to. People who start out with box mods may find that using a tube mod is too strange to get used to.

I'm not crazy about the Tmax V5 menu since it doesn't allow for the same flexibility and fails to show you some of the info I'm used to seeing on the Zmax V5. However overall it's not horrible if you can get used to a battery icon/percentage (no specific battery voltage) and since it always shows your power/voltage and resistance. It was recently mentioned here that the 510 connector is not stainless steel and I'm certainly not happy about that. If I ever use this mod, it will likely be next to the sofa when I watch TV and it's definitely not going out the door with me anywhere. More than likely it will stay in the box it came in or possibly be given to someone I know who is just starting out on vaping.

 

[spydre]

fairmana, it sounds like some sort of weird hybrid between the MVP and the Zmax. The MPV has the green, yellow, red light indicator for battery charge around the trigger (although you can't always see it, it may be blocked by your thumb), but pressing both buttons at the same time (2 button settings) will give you the exact battery charge, rather than a percentage (my one gripe about the VTR is when they made that one, they took away the exact battery charge measurement and just left it with the red, yellow, green indicator light). But the weight definitely sounds in line with the MVP, except, of course, the MVP has no external battery, and I think the mAH on the MVP is around 3000. All I know is I had to charge it once a day when I used it.

I'm curious as to how much pressure is required on the trigger to use it when compared to other APVs. That's one of the reasons I can't use my MVP anymore. Due to my thumb/hand issues, I can't keep the correct amount of pressure on the button continuously. When I can keep the pressure up, it actually becomes painful, even on my surgically corrected thumb.

I just have to stay away from box mods anymore, I'm guessing - even my surgically corrected trigger thumb on the right hand has lingering problems - because of my hand issues. Plus, the increased weight of the box mods, while it certainly adds to the durability, also lends very klutzy me to drop them more often, lol - in which case it's a good thing they are durable, except for the stupid extender on the VTR (which is also the only way you can use an ego connection) being the "weak spot" and bending, I guess, the last time I dropped it.

 

[spydre]

and as an interesting little side note, I still have the USB charger in the orginal packaging, never used

Frank, do you mean the USB cord for the option to charge the cell phone? If so, the MVP had that option.....also, even though you had to charge the entire MVP, not just replace the battery, a USB charging cord was sent, but no "wall wart". I hunted up another USB "wall wart" that I had - we keep that stuff - and used that, since charging off the USB port in a PC is generally slower. But the USB cable still comes in handy, for when I have something to charge (like my external battery for my cell phone) and all my other cords are in use. Well, okay, that's generally how I charge my external battery for my cell phone.

Just got my new V5 fired up today with a Kanger Genitank Mega and it vapes out very good.
Took a little bit to get the menu figured out and set up the way I wanted to start with and I vaped about 25/30 times and then started to tinker with the VW/VV and that is when I found out how I am not a fan of the one button menu system.
I had thoughts of getting my wife one as she live the tube mod much better than the HANA box mod...but she'll never get the menu function down so I'm just not sure where to go from here...
I can live with the menu system so I'm ok with it....as I know we will be adding more different mods in the future we'll come up with something she can get around in the menu with more ease!!
Other than the menu..I really like it....well built and looks as if it's gonna be with me for a long time!!

Also.....is there a way to set the display to stay on? I have tried but the only way I get the display to light up is to press the fire button...which does just that...fires it...which seems to me to be kinda not good to have it firing the coil while I'm looking at the display.

Thanks!!

Since the Zmax was my first APV, it wasn't that difficult getting used to the menu. When I switched to the MVP, I had more trouble getting used to the two-button operation, since it's not a menu. But if your wife thinks the single button menu of the Zmax is daunting, she should take a look at the menu system for the Provari. I've heard on forums that it's very complex compared to other single button menu systems. The only times I've used a Provari is when someone else has done the settings for me - or once or twice I've had someone check the resistance of the coil in my tank on their Provari when I was getting totally wrong readings (for a while, I was vaping a juice that not only burned through Kanger coils almost like they were paper, but screwed up the resistance readings, not matter the device I checked it on - generally close to when the coil was going to die, and with that juice, 50% of the time when the coil went bad, it just up and stopped working, which I've never experienced while vaping any other juice, and I vape three juices regularly).

 

[fairmana]

I can't remember where I saw it, but I did read somewhere that Sigelei ended up changing from the plastic switch button that was originally on the mod with a, I believe, stainless steel button.

Yes, some people were lucky enough to get the V5 version that came with the stainless steel outer button. It's a shame they didn't stick with those. You don't have to worry about the chrome wearing off which happens with the plastic ones that have the "power symbol" on them.

 

[Redbellie]

Frank, do you mean the USB cord for the option to charge the cell phone? If so, the MVP had that option.....also, even though you had to charge the entire MVP, not just replace the battery, a USB charging cord was sent, but no "wall wart". I hunted up another USB "wall wart" that I had - we keep that stuff - and used that, since charging off the USB port in a PC is generally slower. But the USB cable still comes in handy, for when I have something to charge (like my external battery for my cell phone) and all my other cords are in use. Well, okay, that's generally how I charge my external battery for my cell phone.



Since the Zmax was my first APV, it wasn't that difficult getting used to the menu. When I switched to the MVP, I had more trouble getting used to the two-button operation, since it's not a menu. But if your wife thinks the single button menu of the Zmax is daunting, she should take a look at the menu system for the Provari. I've heard on forums that it's very complex compared to other single button menu systems. The only times I've used a Provari is when someone else has done the settings for me - or once or twice I've had someone check the resistance of the coil in my tank on their Provari when I was getting totally wrong readings (for a while, I was vaping a juice that not only burned through Kanger coils almost like they were paper, but screwed up the resistance readings, not matter the device I checked it on - generally close to when the coil was going to die, and with that juice, 50% of the time when the coil went bad, it just up and stopped working, which I've never experienced while vaping any other juice, and I vape three juices regularly).

Thanks for the response Spydre...
Well...after some further playing with the menu..I discovered that when setting the VW/VV that the settings will not stop at the min and max but will roll over and start with the top or bottom figures...that was huge to find that out. It does not tell you this in the manual. So now that I know when you get into the VW/VV that just because you run past the value you want..you don't have to run through the whole menu and back in to the up or down....you just continue to hold the button and it will run out the top and start back at the lower end or run out the lower end and start back at the top end...this is great!!
I just downed and ordered her one this morning along with a Kangertech Genitank Mega and ain't looking back....she's gonna love it....hahahaha...she was so jealous when I ran out of battery last night and just went to the vape drawer and pulled out a fresh Efest 18350 and popped it in and was vapping in about 30 seconds....I didn't rub it in to bad.
So Santa's gonna be a good one to her this year!!

P.S. I do love this V5 and Genitank Mega..its so fine!!

 

[fairmana]

Just in case there was any confusion, the switch that sometimes goes bad in the Zmax is unrelated to the outer button that is visible from the outside of the tube. The switch is soldered to the circuit board and is not physically part of the outer button. Any reference to a faulty or failing switch will always be in reference to the switch and not the outer button.

I apologize if I overstated the obvious. I've noticed that there can occasionally be confusion between the terms "button" and "switch", especially since we quite often use both terms interchangeably to describe two separate things (myself included). My intention was not to insult anyone's intelligence so I apologize ahead of time if I did.

 

[fairmana]

I'm curious as to how much pressure is required on the trigger to use it when compared to other APVs. That's one of the reasons I can't use my MVP anymore. Due to my thumb/hand issues, I can't keep the correct amount of pressure on the button continuously. When I can keep the pressure up, it actually becomes painful, even on my surgically corrected thumb.

I just have to stay away from box mods anymore, I'm guessing - even my surgically corrected trigger thumb on the right hand has lingering problems - because of my hand issues. Plus, the increased weight of the box mods, while it certainly adds to the durability, also lends very klutzy me to drop them more often, lol - in which case it's a good thing they are durable, except for the stupid extender on the VTR (which is also the only way you can use an ego connection) being the "weak spot" and bending, I guess, the last time I dropped it.

Spydre, sorry to hear that your having that much trouble with your hands. One solution might be to get your APV switch replaced with a switch that requires lighter pressure. During my research to find a suitable replacement switch for the Zmax, most of the switches I tried to use would fire the Zmax with too little pressure, which I found unsuitable. However, one of those switches might be perfect in your situation. However, you'd need to take extra care not to fire the device accidentally. Just having the tube mod roll over on the switch would be enough to fire it.

 

[yzer]

Sigelei Zmax flat head V3, stainless: $41.95 with 90-day vendor warranty. This week only.

V3 at Varitube

 

[PaulBHC]

Good deal with a warranty.

BTW the MVP switch has a rubber ring between the button and the switch and that is what causes the effort to fire it. Someone posted about taking one apart, slicing a bit off the ring, for less resistance. I don't remember how successful it was or wasn't. Maybe searching one of those threads.

 

[DingerCPA]

FWIW

I've just come across this vendor - favorable comments - and they have V3s and V5s on sale: Holiday Sale

I've not ordered from them personally, but I'm watching a couple of items and considering.....

 

[Redbellie]

FWIW

I've just come across this vendor - favorable comments - and they have V3s and V5s on sale: Holiday Sale

I've not ordered from them personally, but I'm watching a couple of items and considering.....

I looked long and hard at these folks before ordering from MVS which is where I ordered my first one from last week...but what kept me from ordering from VapeNW was the photo they show does not have the "SIGELEI" lable just below the power button...and all the ones on the Sigelei site does have the label...as does the one I got from MVS....seems that all of the ones like mine that comes as the mod itself with and not in the kit has the label...and all the ones that come in the kit are about 20 bucks cheaper than the mod alone....so I just passed on the to good to be true deal. Which is not to say that the kit is not legit...it may be..but I just went with what I felt was the best deal for me!!!

 

[spydre]

It came two days ago, and I absolutely love it so far. The draw isn't as tight as on the VTR, so I had to go back to using the beauty ring with my Davide and Protanks, but that's not a big deal. The automatic cut off isn't as short as the VTR, so I'm taking longer draws, plus, since I'm holding it more and not putting it down as much, I hit it more frequently, so I have to be careful or the tank gets hot. And since I'm hitting it more, I'm, of course, going through more juice. And the weight difference - well, when you look at the numbers it doesn't seem like much, but when you pick up a VTR, and then pick up the Zmax, the difference is HUGE.

Thanks for the response Spydre...
Well...after some further playing with the menu..I discovered that when setting the VW/VV that the settings will not stop at the min and max but will roll over and start with the top or bottom figures...that was huge to find that out. It does not tell you this in the manual. So now that I know when you get into the VW/VV that just because you run past the value you want..you don't have to run through the whole menu and back in to the up or down....you just continue to hold the button and it will run out the top and start back at the lower end or run out the lower end and start back at the top end...this is great!!

That is a GREAT find! Usually, if I'm adjusting the wattage, I'm only doing it by a single increment, so it's almost a given that I'm going to miss it, so I got in the habit with my first one, and now with this one, of overshooting the wattage I want, and then going back in and adjusting the power back to where I wanted it in the first place. I'm very glad that you are enjoying yours.

I don't think I'm familiar with the APV your wife was using, but if it is one with an internal battery - granted, since you are getting her a Zmax for Christmas it doesn't matter now - I got a twist to use during the hour and half, two hours it took to charge, so I didn't have to put up with vaping the straight voltage that my starter Ego stick batteries provided.

Spydre, sorry to hear that your having that much trouble with your hands. One solution might be to get your APV switch replaced with a switch that requires lighter pressure. During my research to find a suitable replacement switch for the Zmax, most of the switches I tried to use would fire the Zmax with too little pressure, which I found unsuitable. However, one of those switches might be perfect in your situation. However, you'd need to take extra care not to fire the device accidentally. Just having the tube mod roll over on the switch would be enough to fire it.

The pressure on the Zmax isn't a problem for me, unless when it's sitting there, I accidentally roll it over onto the trigger and it fires. Even the pressure on the VTR wasn't a problem, and the VTR was easier to use than the MVP (as far as box mods go) because of where the trigger was located, you naturally trigger it with your finger. I had stopped using the MVP by the time my thumb was a constant problem, and even then, well before my surgery on it. It was only when I tried it out again recently when I got a Kayfun (draw is WAY to airy, even on the VTR, tried it on the MVP to see if that made a difference) that I discovered it had become a problem.

I looked long and hard at these folks before ordering from MVS which is where I ordered my first one from last week...but what kept me from ordering from VapeNW was the photo they show does not have the "SIGELEI" lable just below the power button...and all the ones on the Sigelei site does have the label...as does the one I got from MVS....seems that all of the ones like mine that comes as the mod itself with and not in the kit has the label...and all the ones that come in the kit are about 20 bucks cheaper than the mod alone....so I just passed on the to good to be true deal. Which is not to say that the kit is not legit...it may be..but I just went with what I felt was the best deal for me!!!

Good catch. I also noticed that, now that I looked for it, on the link yzer put up - on both of them, the only thing that showed "Sigelei" was the batteries (and I never found a V5 "kit", although I wasn't looking for one, since I already have three 18650 IMR batteries). All I know is that it shows up in the photos on Sweet Vapes very clearly, and I only paid about $15 more.

 

[spydre]

And woo-hoo, just found on MadVapes a Zmax lanyard that will cut down on my dropping it because I'm carrying it and probably too much stuff. Three dollars plus shipping. It's made for the V2, but the V5 should fit. Been looking for something to carry my current APV in for, like, forever. I never tried the MVP holster, and the VTR is too heavy for it, and I only had the V3 for maybe a month or six weeks before I returned it because of the button issues.

 

[fairmana]

In a vape shop a few months ago, I bought a lanyard that had a clear silicone ring on the end with a eyelet to attach to an included lanyard. It was designed more for an E-go sized device, but with some effort I was able to stretch it around my Zmax's removable collar (hot water and plenty of cursing). At first it worked out fine, but the strap was too thin and it would start to get very uncomfortable around my neck. The weight of the Zmax would cause the strap to "cut" into the skin, so I stopped using it. I would need to get one of those straps that has a wide padded section in the center for the back of my neck. I'm sure I could find something suitable online, but I just haven't pursued it much to be perfectly honest. There are definitely times when a lanyard is nice to have, while there are other situations where it just gets in the way of what you're doing.

 

[DingerCPA]

I looked long and hard at these folks before ordering from MVS which is where I ordered my first one from last week...but what kept me from ordering from VapeNW was the photo they show does not have the "SIGELEI" lable just below the power button...and all the ones on the Sigelei site does have the label...as does the one I got from MVS....seems that all of the ones like mine that comes as the mod itself with and not in the kit has the label...and all the ones that come in the kit are about 20 bucks cheaper than the mod alone....so I just passed on the to good to be true deal. Which is not to say that the kit is not legit...it may be..but I just went with what I felt was the best deal for me!!!

Agreed. Hard to tell for sure what's "live" and what's "Memorex" especially when the prices are considerably lower than other vendors.

 

[fairmana]

Based on discussions we've had in this thread in the past, it was surmised that U.S. distributors had the option to purchase them in quantity from Sigelei with or without the logo's. There was certainly a time (prior to about a year ago?) when logo's were not usually included, especially on the V3's. That may not be the case anymore and Sigelei may have decided since then to always include logo's on all their products. I believe it was last December that I purchased two 2nd gen V3's (each from different vendors) and 1 of them included a logo (my first Sigelei Zmax that had one). Prior to that it was uncommon to see a Sigelei logo on a Zmax. As far as I know, you're now much more likely to receive a Zmax with a logo rather than without one.

It might be worth contacting Sigelei directly to determine if all their devices now come shipped with the logo as the standard. Keep in mind that if you're getting a good deal it's quite possible that the Zmax your buying has been laying around from old stock (nothing wrong with that if it's still "new").

Since we're on the subject - has anyone ever seen or heard of a Zmax clone that was so similar that it was physically indistinguishable from the authentic Sigelei? I've never heard of anyone getting duped like that with a Sigelei Zmax in this thread or elsewhere. I mention it because I'm not so sure that fakes are something we really need to be concerned about. If someone did get swindled with a clone, I'd be very interested in hearing about it and hopefully get to see some pictures (as I'm sure others would as well). It would just be nice to get confirmation that such a clone even exists.

 

[Redbellie]

It came two days ago, and I absolutely love it so far. The draw isn't as tight as on the VTR, so I had to go back to using the beauty ring with my Davide and Protanks, but that's not a big deal. The automatic cut off isn't as short as the VTR, so I'm taking longer draws, plus, since I'm holding it more and not putting it down as much, I hit it more frequently, so I have to be careful or the tank gets hot. And since I'm hitting it more, I'm, of course, going through more juice. And the weight difference - well, when you look at the numbers it doesn't seem like much, but when you pick up a VTR, and then pick up the Zmax, the difference is HUGE.



That is a GREAT find! Usually, if I'm adjusting the wattage, I'm only doing it by a single increment, so it's almost a given that I'm going to miss it, so I got in the habit with my first one, and now with this one, of overshooting the wattage I want, and then going back in and adjusting the power back to where I wanted it in the first place. I'm very glad that you are enjoying yours.

I don't think I'm familiar with the APV your wife was using, but if it is one with an internal battery - granted, since you are getting her a Zmax for Christmas it doesn't matter now - I got a twist to use during the hour and half, two hours it took to charge, so I didn't have to put up with vaping the straight voltage that my starter Ego stick batteries provided.


The pressure on the Zmax isn't a problem for me, unless when it's sitting there, I accidentally roll it over onto the trigger and it fires. Even the pressure on the VTR wasn't a problem, and the VTR was easier to use than the MVP (as far as box mods go) because of where the trigger was located, you naturally trigger it with your finger. I had stopped using the MVP by the time my thumb was a constant problem, and even then, well before my surgery on it. It was only when I tried it out again recently when I got a Kayfun (draw is WAY to airy, even on the VTR, tried it on the MVP to see if that made a difference) that I discovered it had become a problem.



Good catch. I also noticed that, now that I looked for it, on the link yzer put up - on both of them, the only thing that showed "Sigelei" was the batteries (and I never found a V5 "kit", although I wasn't looking for one, since I already have three 18650 IMR batteries). All I know is that it shows up in the photos on Sweet Vapes very clearly, and I only paid about $15 more.

spydre..she's using a HANA DNA 30 clone....but to change batteries and keep on vaping...she/me would have to get out the screw driver and remove the little, tiny, wee sized screws....well she has a trigger finger and its so very hard for her to manage that kind of work...so its easiest to just wall charge it....but then she has to go to the Spinner II which has on more than one occasion been battery dead or close...so being able to just zap a new battery in the V5 and pucker up quick like it her cup of coffee!!!

 

[Redbellie]

And woo-hoo, just found on MadVapes a Zmax lanyard that will cut down on my dropping it because I'm carrying it and probably too much stuff. Three dollars plus shipping. It's made for the V2, but the V5 should fit. Been looking for something to carry my current APV in for, like, forever. I never tried the MVP holster, and the VTR is too heavy for it, and I only had the V3 for maybe a month or six weeks before I returned it because of the button issues.

Was just thinking about the need for one of these last night....gonna have to take a looksee my self!!
Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[yzer]

Inscriptions on the Sigelei tubes are laser etched. Sigelei obtained the laser equipment and started to use these brandings in 2013. We have seen a lot of variation in these etchings on authentic Sigelei product including placement. Etchings may include the Sigelei logo, the CE approval logo or others. My two V3s have no etchings, the V5 does. All are authentic.

Prospective buyers can be pretty naive about e-cig vendors believing everything that they see on every site it absolutely true, accurate and up-to-date perfectly representing the product for sale. This just isn't true in most cases. Often the vendors do not provide complete product information and use product photos that are out of date or borrowed from other web sites.

There will be differences in Sigelei V3 and V5 trim and finish depending the the particular product batch the vendor is selling. The website may not illustrate these actual differences. If you have questions regarding product details contact the vendor before buying. Differences can include the type and number of battery caps, logos, vented or non-vented top caps and button materials.

Three Sigeleis. left to right: V5, first generation V3, second generation V3.