Kanger KBOX

Well known for their tanks and clearomisers, and perhaps most recently the famed Subtank sub ohm tank range, Kangertech have finally made a foray into the world of box mods, and have recently released the Kanger KBox. Primarily aimed at new users wanting to pick up their first box mod, and Subtank users looking for a mod to pair their Subtank with, the Kbox is a budget range mod capable of outputting an impressive 40w. Let’s have a look at what the Kbox has to offer…

by Dave Junglist
May 2, 2015

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Introduction to the Kanger KBOX

“Introducing Kangertech’s first box mod, the KBox makes use of an aluminium chassis to give you a lighter mod to handle. Lightweight yet durable, with a design to feel comfortable in the palm of your hand. A simple wattage setting that you can choose from 7 wattage variables of atomizers with a resistance of 0.4ohm and above. The Kbox features a heat dissipation hole, short circuit and over current protection and an interchangeable battery socket, making an overall convenient device for your vaping experience”

KBOX Specs

89mm height
40mm length
20mm width at its thinnest, 25mm width at the widest point
Takes 18650 batteries
Preset wattage output from 8-40 watts
Fires resistance down to 0.4ohms
510 threading with floating connector pin
Low voltage protection
Low resistance protection
Short circuit protection
Reverse battery protection
Low battery warning
10 second cut off
Lightweight build materials used
Compact design
Twist off battery cap

What's in the box?

1x Kanger Kbox
1x User Manual

There is no battery included with the Kbox, you do need to supply your own 18650 battery and compatible charger as the Kbox cannot be charged through a USB cable.

KBOX Looks

There’s no secret the Kbox was designed to be used with the Subtank, and the full size 25mm one at that.

Looks wise, I think it is a very good looking mod. Made of lightweight aluminium, with tactile buttons that did not click or rattle, it feels pretty solid, whilst it also manages to feel light in your hand at the same time. Aluminium is a good choice of material to use, as it is light weight, and pretty scratch resistant- I haven’t managed to scratch mine at all. Yet!

It’s sleek and minimalistic and seems aesthetically very well designed. The Kanger ‘K’ logo on the battery tube doubles up as the vent holes, and allows air to flow freely to your battery to help keep it cool. The battery tube sits really well in the palm of my hand, making it a comfortable and ergonomic mod to hold. At the top of the battery tube is the 510 connector with a floating 510 pin so you do not need to manually adjust this to screw in your atomizer of choice. The battery tube and the 510 connector are of 25mm width so you will need a full size Subtank or similar width atty for everything to sit flush, however the Subtank Mini and other 22mm width atties do not look out of place at all. It does look excellent with the new Subtank Plus on top, everything looks smooth and like one solid unit.

The power button is of a good size and sits at the top of the mod, you have the LED indicators underneath this for battery and power display, and the wattage button underneath to change through the preset wattage settings. I couldn’t help feeling like whilst holding this it was neither a box nor a tube mod, but in-between!

There is a knurled battery cap at the bottom to switch out batteries easily when it is time to give them a charge. A gripe that I had with this is that the battery cap can be pretty stiff, and it has got stuck on a couple of occasions. No USB charging present here, you need to manually remove the 18650 battery each time you wish to change or charge your battery.

Display and Performance

Well there isn’t a lot to talk about with the screen here. Simplicity is the key. 5 clicks of the fire button and the Kbox is ready to go. You have a very basic row of LED indicators that are essentially your display, on the left you have the battery indicator, on the right hand side you have the incremental preset wattage LED’s that go from 8-40w and increase with a button press of the ‘W’ button located underneath the rows of LED’s. Wattage is adjustable through preset settings of 8, 13, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40 watts, once you cycle the whole way through them up to 40w the setting will go back around to 8w. I do like using my Subtank at 27.5w however, but I found it to be fine at 30w on the Kbox.

You should really get a full day’s use from the Kbox from a fully charged 18650 battery, even at 40w, but that depends on the condition of your battery and which battery you are using.

The chip does include short circuit protection, reverse battery protection, low voltage protection and low resistance protection if you are trying to fire an atomizer with a resistance of less than 0.4ohms, however, the current resistance of your build is not displayed. If any of these issues arrive with the Kbox, the power light flashes 3 times and disables the output. The standard 10 second cut off is included, so if you hold the power button down for longer than 10 seconds the power will be disabled. Once your battery needs recharging the LED display will flash 15 times to make you aware of this and you will no longer be able to use the Kbox until a fully charged battery is inserted into the mod.

You will need a battery with a continuous amp rating of a minimum of 20A to ensure safe usage of the Kbox, especially if you intend to use the Kbox for prolonged periods at over 40w.

Conclusion

It feels solid, it sits in your hand well and it’s a really nice looking mod, I enjoyed using it despite the lack of features. Despite its limitations, there is enough there to keep you happy. For a beginner mod or even an out and about no frills mod, it definitely represents value for money, and priced in the £25 and under range it is going to sell very well. The downsides are the lack of any sort of screen display, 25mm 510 connector (which may put off OCD vapers) and sticking to having preset wattage rather than offering the option, which is perhaps something that Kanger could look at including in their next Kbox offering. A fixed battery may not be a bad idea as well especially if they are looking to capture a large share of new vapers. It’s a good start though from Kanger, and a great budget option, 40w of power at that price is not to be sniffed at. I believe they have gone for practicality over price and done it well. If you are looking for a cheap mod to pair with your Subtank and aren’t bothered about setting your wattage precisely, the Kbox is ideal.

We received this item for review from Vaperama. Images courtesy of Kangertech.

Dave Junglist

Reviewer at POTV

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Dave Junglist is co-owner of Planet of the Vapes and has been vaping since 2015. He spent his early years with his head in a bass bin and was a very committed and experienced smoker. He had his first cigarette at the age of 13 and just knew it was for him. He did stop briefly with the aid of patches but reverted quickly and became a ‘secret’ smoker, working hard to keep his weak will from the attention of his family. Vaping made an honest man of him and for this he is forever thankful. He has been involved in websites since completing a degree in Environmental Science in the late nineties. At that time there was pretty much no contact with computers but on joining the regular workforce and deciding that the world-wide-web was the future he blagged his first job as a web designer and never looked back. As you would expect from a junglist, Dave likes his beats and is most comfortable when the bass is wobbly.