First impressions!
The packaging is nice. Pretty standard box with sleeve. In the box, the mod is arranged a little differently than normal. The screen faces out , and the tank is next to it. Most times, the mod is sitting on its side, and the tank is underneath.
Underneath? Since the mod is set on its back so the screen faces out - poking through a foam insert - removing the mod and the foam allowed the tank to drop back into the box. Might want to put something under the tank so that it won't drop onto a floor. Also underneath is a box which houses a USB cable and a spare coil.
About those coils... Hmmm... The first one that was installed in the tank on arrival got primed and tucked into a filled tank. It was stiff to pull through, gurgled, and leaked. Not a great beginning. I pulled the spare coil out of the box and found that the center of the pin was missing. This is where the temp sensor would have gone. I do not know if that was intentional or an issue with quality control. I did not use this coil.
Instead, I opened one from the included pack. Thanks the Vaptio for that. Not only is it a generous thing to do, it's going to make it that much easier to give this device a fair shake.
The second coil, then, got primed and installed, and it's still a little stiffer on the draw than some other coils, but not bad. I've gone through a full tank with it.
The tank is easy to fill if you do it upside down. Not as easy to do through the fill port on top. The first tank - the one that leaked out through the bad coil - filled OK. I suspect since the vent hole on top is so small, part of the reason that the coil gurgled and leaked is do to the pressure created by the filling process. A larger fill hole and air port on top would make this go much better. Going the route that SMOK took with the TFV4 and giving a single large hole might work, too. I do really like the concept of the swing away fill port. I am not a huge fan of the twist off tops. I am always afraid I'll drop the top and it'll roll out of reach or that I'll lose an o-ring.
On to the mod...
Remember that these are first impressions...
I like that the mod immediately senses an ATC coil, and switches to the correct mode from any other mode. I like that it recognizes when a non ATC coil is installed. However, I have noticed that no matter what mode or coil is selected there are some standard settings applied. In the case of TC modes, that appears to be 200 F. In the case of Variable Wattage mode, that appears to be 75 watts. In my opinion, 75 Watts is way to high for a new coil. I dropped the batteries out to test the door, and when I put them back in, the mod reverted to 75 Watts instead of the last setting (ATC coil, 480 F), and I nearly friend another coil. Something around 30 watts would be better, in my opinion.
In wattage mode, it feels about right. I installed a .8 Ohm Clapton in a SMOK TFV4 Mini using the RBA deck, and set the mod to 50 Watts. It feels just like a 50 Watt hit off of a .8 Ohm Clapton coil should feel like. I have not run the mod up to 150 Watts. The 75 Watt blast off of a .4 Kanthal coil mentioned above was as hot and unexpected as would be expected.
I next installed a .4 Ti coil into a Kayfun V4, and tried the mod in Ti Mode. It's a bit odd, to be honest. It read the resistance right, but when I hit the fire button, it read out the resistance in real time. I read through the manual (again) looking for a way to lock the atomizer, but there was no help to be found there. However, when I picked up and topped the fire button again, the resistance returned to the baseline and began to climb again. The vape was about the same as what I was getting off of the iStick TC40W the Kayfun had been installed on previously.
I have a dual 316L SS build in my Charon tank RBA, so I thought I would try that next. I again turned to the manual to see what SS the device is tuned to. No answer. The website, however, does specify 316L. With the mod set to the same 480 F that I had been running this build on a SMOK Treebox, the vape was a bit tepid. I noted that the resistance reading was a bit off, so I removed the tank, allowed it to cool, fired the device without a tank to clear the recorded resistance, and reattached the tank. it now read the same .33 Ohms that it read on the other mod, and the vape was about the same.
I have not tried the mod with a Ni200 coil... hmmm...
For the mod alone, here are the positive notes, thus far...
- The device does what it is supposed to do in temperature control and wattage modes.
- The ATC coils work well when the coil is not damaged...
- The screen is nice, bright, and easily readable
- It's an attractive device
- The menu is simple. It was very easy to learn
- I do like that Vaptio is an American company even if the mod is made in China
All is not thumbs up and roses, though... Here are some cons...
- The device goes to sleep, and requires a quick click of the fire button to wake up.
- It takes a little bit of fiddling (fire the device with the tank removed to clear the resistance settings and check your settings every time a new atomizer is attached).
- I think the temperature calibration in TI and SS might be a little low, but not overtly. As noted, I did not test the mod in Ni200 mode.
- The menu is simple. It seems as though several options were omitted (no stealth, no flip, no atomizer lock).
I don't have near as many positives for the tank and coils. In fact, the only positive I can really come up with right now is that it looks nice with the mod. I suppose the top fill system might be a positive, but only when used with a very small filler tip.
Cons, then..
- It is a concern when the first two coils encountered appear to be damaged and do not function correctly.
- I do not like the auxiliary airflow built in to the top of the tank and would prefer it removed altogether or built in to the drip tip. As it stands, most other drip tips cannot be used with this tank.
- Even wide open, the air - with the provided coils - is a bit tight.
Another reminder that these are first impressions. I'll be writing up a complete review and putting together a video in a week or so.
IF I had to give it a final grade right now, it would only get a B. However, a 150 Watt device with as many features as this has for $55 (the current sale price on Heaven Gifts) is kind of a no brainer... even if there are glitches...
