conanthewarrior
Achiever
- Joined
- May 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3,061
Hi everyone.
EDIT: I should add, this is the newer B model, running B 1.0.2.
Around a week ago, I received a SMOK alien kit, including the TFV8 baby beast, from Gearbest for review purposes.
I understand it is not the newest mod, but still a popular one so ideal to add my take on the set up for potential buyers who wish to know more.
I will give my overall impressions of the mod first, then the tank, and also add in the tech specs for people who want to know about those at the end.
The first thing I noticed on opening this mod was its size- it is tiny for a dual 18650 mod! Out of 40+ mods, this is my smallest dual 18650 device. It fits in the hand comfortably, and is not so large it will draw attention to you like some larger box mods. I have small hands for a man and they easily cover the mod.
The mod feels coated, and has a nice feel to it, and has some nice heft, but is not too heavy for its small size.
I first off did what was needed, and inserted a set of married batteries. The door was a bit tricky the first time to use, it is at the bottom of the mod, and has a small indentation in it. You must slide the door sideways, and then it is allowed to flip open.
You then insert your batteries, and apply pressure to the door, and slide it back in place.
This may be a bit fiddly for people who have problems with their hands, so you may want to take this into consideration if you do suffer with issues here.
My Grandfather has had a stroke and is left with weakness in his left side, whenever I test something out I see if he can use the device himself, unfortunately he could not manage the battery door.
Once in place, I took out a Q2 coil included in the kit, and loaded it into the provided tank. The 510 connection seems nice, I tested it and it has a nice amount of travel too it, and is definitely spring loaded. The tank screwed on easily and sat flush with the mod- no gaps or washers needed with this mod, with all tanks and RDA's I used during my testing.
The device locks with 5 clicks of the fire bar, and unlocks with another 5.
I first off used Watt mode-you select modes by pressing fire 3 times in quick succession, pressing fire again when the screen displays 'mode', and select 'Watt, Temp or Memory' by using the left and right buttons.
The coil was listed as 0.4, and read around 0.41 Ohms- completely acceptable to me. There is no delay upon hitting the fire button, which is a bar down the side of the mod, and the device actually firing, which has been an issue with past SMOK devices.
You can select between Soft, Norm and Hard modes, which will apply more or less power at the beggining of your draw depending what you like. I prefer the Normal mode myself.
Power feels around where it says it is, 40W feels like 40W does on one of my other mods. I did also test out the mod at higher power settings, 200W with a RDA using fused claptons, this was too hot for me, so I reduced to 150W, and the power was definitely there.
If you want a mod that can provide power, this definitely can do it, and in a very small form factor.
I next tested out TC modes, using a few different tanks. I must say, I am very impressed with the Aliens TC, it is much better than all other mods I have by SMOK.
My favourite setup is SS316L in my Griffin, around 0.25 Ohms dual coil. I set the power at around 50W, and the temperature at 230C. This worked great, and I did not need to change the TCR myself to achieve a smooth TC vape.
You can adjust the TCR if you use other wire types, such as NiFe wires for TC.
With older SMOK mods I used too notice you could feel the power dropping and increasing as the TC worked, this mod did not go hot/cold as the TC did its thing.
It was smooth from the beggining of my draw until the end.
I tested the mod using Samsung 25R's, Samsung 30Q's, and LG HE4's. I found battery life to be around what I would usually expect from a dual 18650 mod, around a day and a halfs worth of vaping at my usual level. Depending how much you use the device, it will vary for you, but I would expect it to last the day easily, apart from vapers who chain vape constantly, or use very high wattage settings.
I would definitely suggest the Alien as a mod to someone looking for a dual 18650 device, that also offers great TC and high power available.
Onto the included baby beast tank.
I am actually pleasantly surprised with this tank, and it is a worthy addition to my collection.
The tank is included in the kit, and comes with 2 coils, a Q2 dual core at 0.4 Ohms, rated for 40-80W, and a T8 Octuple coil, rated for 50-110W.
A bag of spare seals and O-rings is included, as well as a spare glass section for the more cack handed of us. A few vape bands are also included if you wish to use these on the tank for protection/fashion.
The tank holds 3ML of juice, although mine is the worldwide version, if you get the EU version it will hold 2ML of juice due to the TPD regulations. I did not find the tank to be overly thirsty though, which surprised me compared to other SMOK tanks.
With the Q2 coil, at around 50W, I was getting through around 7ML of juice a day, which is fairly average for me.
The tank fills in a nice way, with the top section swinging out sidewards, leaving a opening in the top of the tank you fill your juice through. I had no issue using nozzle style juice bottles, although you may have a bit of trouble with larger pipettes.
I found the Q2 coil to be good, and offered plenty of vapour and OK flavour. What surprised me was that I preferred the T8 coil, which runs at a higher wattage. I usually vape at lower power levels, but have been enjoying the T8 coil at around 70W. It gives fantastic flavour, and also produces a lot of vapour. This definitely is not a stealthy tank by any means. It really is a beast, a small one, but still a beast.
There is a tonne of airflow available, and if you are running at high wattage settings this is a good thing. I found at the level I enjoyed using it at, around 3/4's open was perfect for me. Still plenty of airflow, but flavour seemed to be better here.
I like the tank so much, that I yesterday ordered the RBA kit for it. Unfortunately this is not included in the kit, and costs around £10 from various sources.
If you however plan on buying pre made coils, these are readily available for the tank, and there is a wide selection to suit different vaping styles.
Overall, I think this is a fantastic kit at the price it is available for, and would suit a vaper looking into getting their first dual 18650 mod. I think 220W is a lot to ask for from 2 18650's, but it provides ample power safely for all but the most power hungry user.
If I lost this mod, I would replace it with another as soon as possible,
The tech specs for people who want to know them:
Size:85x44x30MM
Power range:6-220W
Output voltage range:0.35-8V
Resistance range:0.1-3Ohms (VW) 0.06-3Ohms (TC mode)- it will fire pretty much anything you throw at it.
Temp range-200-600F, 100-315C.
TFV8 Baby tank:
Stainless steel.
Size:22x53MM
weight:47G
Capacity:3ML
Here is an image of the mod and tank combination:
The kit is available from gearbest here: http://www.gearbest.com/mod-kits/pp_426459.html?wid=21
Any questions regarding the mod or tank I have not covered, please feel free to ask and I will get back to you with answers.
EDIT: I should add, this is the newer B model, running B 1.0.2.
Around a week ago, I received a SMOK alien kit, including the TFV8 baby beast, from Gearbest for review purposes.
I understand it is not the newest mod, but still a popular one so ideal to add my take on the set up for potential buyers who wish to know more.
I will give my overall impressions of the mod first, then the tank, and also add in the tech specs for people who want to know about those at the end.
The first thing I noticed on opening this mod was its size- it is tiny for a dual 18650 mod! Out of 40+ mods, this is my smallest dual 18650 device. It fits in the hand comfortably, and is not so large it will draw attention to you like some larger box mods. I have small hands for a man and they easily cover the mod.
The mod feels coated, and has a nice feel to it, and has some nice heft, but is not too heavy for its small size.
I first off did what was needed, and inserted a set of married batteries. The door was a bit tricky the first time to use, it is at the bottom of the mod, and has a small indentation in it. You must slide the door sideways, and then it is allowed to flip open.
You then insert your batteries, and apply pressure to the door, and slide it back in place.
This may be a bit fiddly for people who have problems with their hands, so you may want to take this into consideration if you do suffer with issues here.
My Grandfather has had a stroke and is left with weakness in his left side, whenever I test something out I see if he can use the device himself, unfortunately he could not manage the battery door.
Once in place, I took out a Q2 coil included in the kit, and loaded it into the provided tank. The 510 connection seems nice, I tested it and it has a nice amount of travel too it, and is definitely spring loaded. The tank screwed on easily and sat flush with the mod- no gaps or washers needed with this mod, with all tanks and RDA's I used during my testing.
The device locks with 5 clicks of the fire bar, and unlocks with another 5.
I first off used Watt mode-you select modes by pressing fire 3 times in quick succession, pressing fire again when the screen displays 'mode', and select 'Watt, Temp or Memory' by using the left and right buttons.
The coil was listed as 0.4, and read around 0.41 Ohms- completely acceptable to me. There is no delay upon hitting the fire button, which is a bar down the side of the mod, and the device actually firing, which has been an issue with past SMOK devices.
You can select between Soft, Norm and Hard modes, which will apply more or less power at the beggining of your draw depending what you like. I prefer the Normal mode myself.
Power feels around where it says it is, 40W feels like 40W does on one of my other mods. I did also test out the mod at higher power settings, 200W with a RDA using fused claptons, this was too hot for me, so I reduced to 150W, and the power was definitely there.
If you want a mod that can provide power, this definitely can do it, and in a very small form factor.
I next tested out TC modes, using a few different tanks. I must say, I am very impressed with the Aliens TC, it is much better than all other mods I have by SMOK.
My favourite setup is SS316L in my Griffin, around 0.25 Ohms dual coil. I set the power at around 50W, and the temperature at 230C. This worked great, and I did not need to change the TCR myself to achieve a smooth TC vape.
You can adjust the TCR if you use other wire types, such as NiFe wires for TC.
With older SMOK mods I used too notice you could feel the power dropping and increasing as the TC worked, this mod did not go hot/cold as the TC did its thing.
It was smooth from the beggining of my draw until the end.
I tested the mod using Samsung 25R's, Samsung 30Q's, and LG HE4's. I found battery life to be around what I would usually expect from a dual 18650 mod, around a day and a halfs worth of vaping at my usual level. Depending how much you use the device, it will vary for you, but I would expect it to last the day easily, apart from vapers who chain vape constantly, or use very high wattage settings.
I would definitely suggest the Alien as a mod to someone looking for a dual 18650 device, that also offers great TC and high power available.
Onto the included baby beast tank.
I am actually pleasantly surprised with this tank, and it is a worthy addition to my collection.
The tank is included in the kit, and comes with 2 coils, a Q2 dual core at 0.4 Ohms, rated for 40-80W, and a T8 Octuple coil, rated for 50-110W.
A bag of spare seals and O-rings is included, as well as a spare glass section for the more cack handed of us. A few vape bands are also included if you wish to use these on the tank for protection/fashion.
The tank holds 3ML of juice, although mine is the worldwide version, if you get the EU version it will hold 2ML of juice due to the TPD regulations. I did not find the tank to be overly thirsty though, which surprised me compared to other SMOK tanks.
With the Q2 coil, at around 50W, I was getting through around 7ML of juice a day, which is fairly average for me.
The tank fills in a nice way, with the top section swinging out sidewards, leaving a opening in the top of the tank you fill your juice through. I had no issue using nozzle style juice bottles, although you may have a bit of trouble with larger pipettes.
I found the Q2 coil to be good, and offered plenty of vapour and OK flavour. What surprised me was that I preferred the T8 coil, which runs at a higher wattage. I usually vape at lower power levels, but have been enjoying the T8 coil at around 70W. It gives fantastic flavour, and also produces a lot of vapour. This definitely is not a stealthy tank by any means. It really is a beast, a small one, but still a beast.
There is a tonne of airflow available, and if you are running at high wattage settings this is a good thing. I found at the level I enjoyed using it at, around 3/4's open was perfect for me. Still plenty of airflow, but flavour seemed to be better here.
I like the tank so much, that I yesterday ordered the RBA kit for it. Unfortunately this is not included in the kit, and costs around £10 from various sources.
If you however plan on buying pre made coils, these are readily available for the tank, and there is a wide selection to suit different vaping styles.
Overall, I think this is a fantastic kit at the price it is available for, and would suit a vaper looking into getting their first dual 18650 mod. I think 220W is a lot to ask for from 2 18650's, but it provides ample power safely for all but the most power hungry user.
If I lost this mod, I would replace it with another as soon as possible,
The tech specs for people who want to know them:
Size:85x44x30MM
Power range:6-220W
Output voltage range:0.35-8V
Resistance range:0.1-3Ohms (VW) 0.06-3Ohms (TC mode)- it will fire pretty much anything you throw at it.
Temp range-200-600F, 100-315C.
TFV8 Baby tank:
Stainless steel.
Size:22x53MM
weight:47G
Capacity:3ML
Here is an image of the mod and tank combination:
The kit is available from gearbest here: http://www.gearbest.com/mod-kits/pp_426459.html?wid=21
Any questions regarding the mod or tank I have not covered, please feel free to ask and I will get back to you with answers.
Last edited:
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