Simon G
Olympian
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2016
- Messages
- 26,295
Cthulhu were very kind to me once again and sent me this free of charge to review for which I feel extremely lucky for and I'm very thankful. You've probably all seen the pictures and maybe have even seen a review already so I'll do my best not to make you read anything that is just basic information you can read on the Cthulhu website here...
https://www.cthulhumod.com/hastur-mod-88w-tc/
Things I like very much:
The tin it comes in.
This might not seem important but this will come in very handy as a tin to keep coil winding stuff, tools and even a spool of wire and some cotton in at my desk. I'll take this over a cardboard box any day.
The look.
I don't think it's wrong to suggest that the look of this will be why most people buy it, we all know mods all essentially do the same thing. To me this looks pretty amazing. If you prefer a red and black thing with a rev counter on the front then all power to you, but seriously.... you have no taste or style. This is where it's at.
The buttons.
The layout is perfect, a nice sized fire button that's great to use with your index finger and equally at home for all you thumb weirdos. The small up and down buttons look and feel great too....
The USB-C port.
The best thing here is how is fits perfectly in the hole that's cut out for it, there's no sloppy gaps that look ugly or get filled with pocket fluff. Being such a close tolerance, it also means there is much less danger of damaging the connections to the PCB. It's very tidy.
The battery cap.
I usually have some concerns with this style of screw in battery cover, but I've had it in and out several times and found it an easy and painless experience. It's never going to be as quick and snapping a cover in to place, but we are rarely in that much of a hurry are we? It's gold plated, I like it a lot. The gold looks especially cool with the green I think, it's a good combination.
The ease of use.
The menu system is very simple to navigate, 5 clicks to lock and unlock, which is for all intent and purposes an 'on/off' as it locks everything and then goes to sleep. 3 clicks takes you to the menu that enables you to select the other operating modes like Bypass and TC.
Temp control.
It works, and really quite well indeed with the SS coil I have in the Corolla. I didn't even bother adjusting the 88w down and set at 320F it was spot on and controlled the power perfectly... great stuff. I can see myself using this in TC a lot.
The lack of branding and writing.
I'm really glad they chose not to have stupid writing and branding all over the place “vape with wicked thunder like an steam train god” or whatever nonsense. Other than the small writing on the bottom it's clean and junk free. Massive thumbs up for keeping it clean
Things I don't like as much (or you may not like)
The gap.
An atomiser will sit perfectly flush on top of the tube section, however the front 'regulated' section sits a hair lower creating a very tiny gap under the atty there. Personally I would prefer this to having the top of the green part all scratched and swirled, but if you hate little gaps it's there, just.... so I figured I better mention it.
The options.
While I enjoy a simple menu without a ton of gimmicky extras, I do feel it's lacking a few things (although it is firmware upgradable, so maybe we'll have some of this to look forward to?) Ok, so what would I like to see? The ability to dim the display, it's bright, too bright for me in the evening indoors. I'd also like the ability to change or remove the 'second counter' from the display, I don't need to know that my last puff was 4 seconds and the one before was 5, I don't care. I'd prefer it to show the actual current battery voltage, or even a puff counter.
I'd also like the ability to lock/unlock the up/down buttons only with a simple button combination press.
The screen 'theme' and colours.
The screen is really nice and clear but I'd really like the ability to change to a different 'theme' all together. While the mod looks super cool and classy the bright green/light blue/white/red colour combination does nothing for me... I'd much prefer something with less colours, maybe some options for just white with some single colour highlights?
The weight
This is a proper little lump for a single 18650 mod, on my scale with a 30Q inside and the corolla on top it's around 245g in total, which isn't ridiculously heavy but it might be enough to make you realise you need a belt on your jeans if you slip it in your back pocket. Not a problem if you'll be keep the mod for 'best' and not carrying it around all day as a beater.
To conclude.
…. and that's about it I think. There isn't much negative to say at all. It's $85 on the Cthulhu website which isn't super cheap but I don't think it's an outrageous price either. If you want it and don't mind paying a little over what some mods might cost then I can't think of a genuine reason not to buy it. I did have a little poke at the green paint on the bottom and without going totally nuts on it, it does appear to be a good and robust coating, I guess only time will tell how this holds up over the coming months and years but right now I'm very happy with it.
It's been quite a while since I saw a mod that appealed to me this much, Cthulhu always seem to pull this look off with ease and it surprises me we don't see more devices with similar styling because I can't be the only one that would take this over swirly resin panels.
I love it, I really do and if there were some new aesthetic options on the next firmware update it would be as close to perfect for me as I can imagine. Anything else you want to know, just ask.
Massive thanks again to @cthulhumod I'm very grateful for your generosity.
Firmware V1.3 UPDATE
Screen Brightness is much better, still bright and clear without being quite so dazzling.
Firmware version displayed in lock mode when +/- are held together.
All three colour options are nice and carry over to the TC and Bypass modes two, so the theme is more uniform between the modes.
Up Down button lock confirmed.
Custom Boot up Logo available in the Atom Chip Tool. (I didn't mess with that as I like the Cthulhu logo!)
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