smok alien is pos

[Baditude]

smok is a Chinese manufacturer. Any device made there has a chance of failing within 90 days of being put into service. It just is what it is and it's not gonna change.

Treating our devices as semi-consumable is smart. They sometimes last for years but most don't. If you get a solid year out of a $40-$50 mod, you're doing pretty well.

It has nothing to do with being manufactured in China. Even electronics manufactured in the western hemissphere, like washing machines or TVs for example, are designed with a predetermined breakingpoint, so that they malfunction after the warranty expires.

Yep. It’s called expected service life. I think the issue is people are seeing as little as 6mo service lives out of these things and it annoys them. 2 months is definitely unacceptable though. The thing is that with the constantly advancing technology, a multi year service life doesn’t make sense in a market as fast moving as e-cigarettes.

See now that is annoying in its self I spend money on something I want it to last I mean with the cost of some of these devices I think anything under a year is unacceptable.

Any device, manufactured anywhere, has a chance of failing within 90 days of being put into service. Chinese devices aren't some special case here. Some Chinese manufacturers put a lot of effort into producing quality devices, others don't.

Back in the day (2012 - 2015) and describing Chinese made mods, we used the cliche, "We make cheap. You buy cheap. If it break, you buy another. "

I'll admit that a lot of the Chinese manufacturers have upped their game by producing better mods and tanks. But a lot of the others are still putting out lesser quality stuff.

SMOK has been around for years, and I'm honestly surprised that they are still around. I've purchased a few of their products over the years and I have opinions. With them, its a crapshoot on what you'll get and how long it will last. I admit my bias, but I never recommend a SMOK product.

 

[bombastinator]

See now that is annoying in its self I spend money on something I want it to last I mean with the cost of some of these devices I think anything under a year is unacceptable. Maybe Zippo needs to start making mods.

Lighters are actually a great example. There used to be hundreds of lighter companies. New designs kept coming out. Zippo is merely the only remaining survivor. Nobody talks about,say, ronson lighters anymore. They used to be much bigger than zippo. Their slogan was “lights the first time every time”. Zippo did it for less money though.

 

[mimöschen]

SMOK has been around for years, and I'm honestly surprised that they are still around. I've purchased a few of their products over the years and I have opinions. With them, its a crapshoot on what you'll get and how long it will last. I admit my bias, but I never recommend a SMOK product.

After 2 years of heavy use my R200 and H-Priv still work flawless. Even the paint is absolutely fantastic.

 

[Baditude]

After 2 years of heavy use my R200 and H-Priv still work flawless. Even the paint is absolutely fantastic.

I used my RX200 for about a year of daily use. The 510 connector then became an issue. The paint finish had mostly worn off and I resorted to using a silicone sleeve on it. It's currently retired for backup use.

Christmas before last, my son was showing off his new SMOK regulated box mod. I don't know the model, but I was skeptical when I saw what he was using. I kept my thoughts to myself. A year later he was using something else, and I asked what happened to the SMOK. He said he had to trash it. Uh huh.

I guess using a Provari all those years before spoiled me for other mods. They all still work; my vaping preferences changed so they are retired as backups, too.

 

[mimöschen]

My Provari V1 is mothballed somewhere. It's a shame you can't subohm with it, otherwise it would still be an awesome device.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Any device, manufactured anywhere, has a chance of failing within 90 days of being put into service. Chinese devices aren't some special case here. Some Chinese manufacturers put a lot of effort into producing quality devices, others don't.

Sent from my Thor E using Tapatalk

In the early to mid 1990's, Chinese manufacturers flooded the PC components market with inexpensive motherboards that shoved PC prices down and helped spur the dot com takeoff. But the quality of the boards was a lot like what we're seeing now in e-cigs. Buying a Chinese-made motherboard in 1993 was a calculated risk. Buying a Chinese-made mod in 2018 is, too.

The only things that have changed is that China can now sell directly to western consumers and there is an internet.

 

[r77r7r]

Seems like the Japanese are making a mod or two now. Sure liked there cars and tv's. My Sony Trinitron TV just died after 15yrs good use.

Well, it made a weird sound once and the wife mentioned it. What could I do. First replacement Smart model was bad out the box tho...

 

[KenD]

In the early to mid 1990's, Chinese manufacturers flooded the PC components market with inexpensive motherboards that shoved PC prices down and helped spur the dot com takeoff. But the quality of the boards was a lot like what we're seeing now in e-cigs. Buying a Chinese-made motherboard in 1993 was a calculated risk. Buying a Chinese-made mod in 2018 is, too.

The only things that have changed is that China can now sell directly to western consumers and there is an internet.

Very, very, very few mods these days are not Chinese made.

Sent from my Thor E using Tapatalk

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Very, very, very few mods these days are not Chinese made.

Sent from my Thor E using Tapatalk

Don't get me wrong--I like it this way. I've calculated the risk and found it worth taking.

 

[ShowerHead]

I'd suggest that people get over having Chinese made products, especially if it involves electronics.
China has the driver's seat in making things. They manufacture, the rest of the world, not so much anymore.
Everybody starts somewhere, but China over the past ten years has gotten VERY good at a number of things, especially making electronic gadgets.
Now, designing those devices is a crapshoot. Most companies farm the manufacturing out to the lowest bidder. Some do QC before shipping, some don't. Some have a lousy design, that while it was manufactured exactly as the prints called for, is still a bad design.
Lots of companies do 'make to price', like a store wants to offer a $10 toaster at Christmas. They don't take a $25 toaster and mark it down in many cases. They go to a maker and say 'I want a $10 toaster' and you, the end user, get a toaster that won't toast evenly or reproducibly.

Sometimes it's just plain 'Pennywise and pound foolish'. Like my late, great Modefined Sirius. Great hand feel, great shape, excellent battery door, swell chip, wonderful menu, TC spot on, auto wattage mode even in TC, fit 30mm tanks. Shame about the $.005 fire button.

I remember my dad bring home a strange 'transistor' radio when I was a small boy. It was cheap, made in Japan.
Fast forward 20 years and if you wanted quality audio, video, or cars, Japanese was the mark to beat.

Are there individuals or small companies in the US or Europe that do custom or low rate mods? Sure. But nobody is going to mass produce a mod in those places because there isn't the infrastructure to support doing it, even if the work force knew how (they don't), and the labor rates were competitive (they aren't).

Buck up, soon you'll be commiserating about the crummy Vietnamese built mods, pining for the days when you used to get quality Chinese mods. Meantime, you pays your money and you takes your chances. I'm at about 30% success on buying mods of any flavor, DNA, Yihi, proprietary chips, no maker has been even 75% reliable. I am not shy about returning immediately, and refusing to video if the problem is intermittent. Heck, I'll dispute the charge with my credit card company if a vendor gets too unreasonable. It's why I don't use PayPal. Vaping violates their terms of service and I ran afoul of that once.

 

[DaveP]

Interesting info about the Smok Alien. I've had mine for a year or so and it's been fine. I upgraded the firmware to v1.3.2 and that tamed the TC mode issues. It's been the mod I carried when I'd be away from home all day because it gets two days on a set of good batteries. I guess I got one made by a happy technician who had a good day and happened to pick good parts to install ... luck!

Mine will probably fail tomorrow now that I've bragged on it.

 

[Necrospecter]

Interesting info about the Smok Alien. I've had mine for a year or so and it's been fine. I upgraded the firmware to v1.3.2 and that tamed the TC mode issues. It's been the mod I carried when I'd be away from home all day because it gets two days on a set of good batteries. I guess I got one made by a happy technician who had a good day and happened to pick good parts to install ... luck!

Mine will probably fail tomorrow now that I've bragged on it.

in that case, you better find some wood to knock on, salt to throw over your shoulder and a rabbit foot to rub...

 

[Ralph_K]

I've had my alien for about a month. If it last 6 months I'm fine with that I plan on getting something different anyway not because its a bad mod just want a different color

 

[DaveP]

in that case, you better find some wood to knock on, salt to throw over your shoulder and a rabbit foot to rub...

Yep, it could break tomorrow.

I have a box full of everything from the old eGo and Joye early ecigs up through the the ones I've picked and purchased through the last 8 years. My plan is to have enough mods to carry me through hardware breakdowns and FDA stabs! You never know when some sort of legislation will cut us out of the mail order ecig buying business.