Supplied by TECC for review purposes.
https://www.theelectroniccigarette.co.uk/geekvape-aegis-mini-2
£49.99 (Includes 2 FREE liquids!)
Well this little kit turned out to be a right dark horse. I was expecting a little RDL kit but what I got was much more than that.
The all new Aegis Mini 2 is the obvious replacement for the popular Aegis Mini V1. As much as I liked the original, the V2 is well worth the upgrade, I was already impressed with the classy facelift but the vape it produced made this an instant favourite.
Features
- 2500mAh Built-in Battery
- Type-C USB Charging
- Power Output 5-100W
- 1.08” Colour Screen
- Waterproof IP68 Rating
- Shockproof
- Dustproof
- Adjustable Airflow
- Compatible with GeekVape B Series Coils
The specs are almost a copy & paste of the original but with a couple of noteworthy changes, a larger battery and the increased wattage range, but there are far more changes than that, a few that stood out were:
- All new ergonomic chassis
- Better rubberised coating which is less of a fluff magnet
- Smaller 510 area but still accepts up to 24mm tanks comfortably
- New Z Nano tank & coils
- Ninja bastard fast charging
- A-Lock physical switch
Unboxing
Surprisingly the M100 kit came in a rather large box, I reckon I could fit three of these kits in that size! I have no clue why it came in such a large package, but perhaps it was an indication of it punching above its weight.
It has an outer generic colour sleeve and a sturdy two piece box with a couple of layers, on top is just the mod, and the tank and extras are below that. Though it might not appear that large, the depth is extreme.
- 1 x Aegis Mini 2 (M100) Mod
- 1 x Z Nano 2 Tank
- 1 x Geekvape B series 0.2ohm Coil
- 1 x Geekvape B series 0.6ohm Coil
- 1 x Drip Tip
- 1 x Coil Tool
- 1 x Spare Parts Pack
- 1 x Spare Glass Tube
- 1 x USB Cable
The overall bundle is generous and the spare glass is always welcome, strangely there is a spare drip-tip that is identical to the installed one. I’m not going to complain but it would have been nice to have something different.
First Impressions
Being totally honest, I had little enthusiasm to review this kit. I was expecting a run of the mill pointless upgrade, but as soon as I got my paws on the mod, I was already impressed with the differences.
I like the way GeekVape have reduced the amount of rubber on the kit but still managed to keep the water-proof rating along with dust and shock proofing. The ergonomics were the first thing I noticed as it felt much nicer in the hand than the old one.
Pretty much every face and edge has been smoothed out and contoured, the minimal use of rubberised coating is also different as it is far better at resisting fluff and pocket lint. The colour matching is spot on and everything contrasts perfectly, there’s nothing loud or garish in the styling.
The screen and control face feels familiar but the buttons are so well shaped and feel tactile. One of the features of the Aegis line is the large screen which they have managed to fit into this smaller kit, and I find it to be one of the easiest to read. The USB-C port is concealed underneath a silicone bung above the fire button.
A detail I really liked was the stylish use of the leather wrap and the decorative GeekVape branded brushed metal panels, it really made it look all new and modern. I don’t resent the use of the now all too common leather wrap as GeekVape were the first mainstream manufacturer to use it and it appeared that everyone else copied the styling (including the exoskeleton), but I always consider it the Aegis style and I’m glad they refined it.
There’s only one odd thing going on with the design, unless I’m being a complete numbnuts I can’t see the name of the mod anywhere, it has GEEKVAPE on each side but no mention of what it is?
The new Z Nano Tank also feels familiar and has quite a contemporary styling that suits the M100 mod. The plating matches perfectly too.
I love the Zeus lightning in hand logo etched on each side and the very discrete ‘Geekvape Z’ engraved on the airflow control ring, the tapered top cap proved to be comfortable when vaping too.
The tank strips down easily and into components that make it easy to clean, the glass section slides off but I did find it unseated the O-ring but it was easy enough to refit.
Fitting the coil is simple enough and after unscrewing the base, it is a simple push fit. There’s a little spanner tool included to remove the old coil but I didn’t find I needed it as I could pull it out with my fingers, but it’s handy if you have juice on your fingers, the included coils seem quite small but they have nice large wicking ports.
The included coils have the details etched onto the base and show the material (KA1) of the mesh.
The top cap has a nice 3rd of a turn fit which has a satisfying seal so it should stay in place well, and the fill ports are plenty large enough for standard shortfill bottles. The chimney is out of the way so I found filling it up was completely mess free.
Top Airflow
I feel it’s worth mentioning the top airflow as it is just superb. I have kind of taken it for granted with the Zeus range of tanks, but if you are new to them then the main benefit to point out is the leak resistance it offers. Rather than an open base that you have on most tanks providing airflow which pretty much always leaks when left for long periods of time, the top airflow prevents excess liquid simply spilling out onto your mod and surroundings. Though it isn’t 100% leak proof, it does eliminate a lot of it. A top tip for when you leave the tank full and unused is to tip it up over a sink in case there’s any liquid pooled up in the base (if not you could end up wearing it on your front when you vape on it).
Controls
- 5 x Fire = Turns Device On/Off
- 3 x Fire = Enters Mode Selection (Up/Down buttons to scroll through options and FIRE to confirm.
- Fire & Up or Down = Adjust Brightness
- Press and hold ALL buttons = Turns screen Off/On
There’s no settings menu but I discovered that once you press 3 x Fire then press and hold the Down/Up buttons it will change the colour scheme.
The A-Lock physical switch will lock all buttons which is very handy when putting it into your pocket or bag, unfortunately there is no adjustments, only lock, but I did find a handy workaround for this:
The ‘Press & hold ALL buttons’ to turn the screen off will still let you vape but you cannot adjust the wattage etc. while the screen is off, though it isn’t ideal it works for me as I hardly ever look at my screen during normal vaping (other than to check the battery).
Modes
- Power: Variable Wattage
- TC - Ni: Temperature Control Nickel
- TC - Ti: Temperature Control Titanium
- TC-SS: Temperature Control Stainless
- Bypass: Automatic Voltage (mech style)
- TC - TCR: Temperature Coefficient of Resistance
- VPC: Variable Power Curve
As you can see, the M100 pretty much has everything covered and easy to dial in the settings, I’m so impressed with this little mod, the only possible thing missing was ‘Preheats’ but you can setup a VPC to cover that.
Performance
I was happily plodding through the motions while photographing this kit but I wasn’t expecting too much from the vape, in my mind I expected this to be an RDL vape judging by the small tank and small coils. The 0.6ohm coil was pretty much a certainty for RDL so I thought I would get the 0.2ohm DL coil out of the way just to tick that box….
By dingbat! This little tw@tter hit well above its weight. At 55 watts the vapour production was incredible and better still, the flavour was equally as impressive. Once the initial surprise wore off, I was still impressed with it every time I vaped on it. I’m not one to show off my massive clouds but I do enjoy a large cloud lobbing session now and then and I was certainly enjoying this. The airflow wasn’t the airiest but still a full on DL with this coil. The coil material is Ni80 mesh and fires pretty much instantly without any need for preheating.
I swapped over to the 0.6ohm and as I suspected it was clearly more suited to RDL as the bore was narrower which didn’t let in the same amount of air. At 22 watts the flavour was equally as good as the 0.2ohm, and closing the airflow off a little gave me my perfect RDL (restrictive) draw. The vapour production was pretty good but obviously not as good as the other full DL coil, but considering it was under half the wattage I would say it was still pretty impressive.
I’m really torn as to which I preferred as in my mind this kit was going to be an RDL kit but it was much more than that, it clearly rivalled most of my full DL kits and certainly beat any pod I could think of, as an RDL kit I was equally happy but it impressed me more as a DL pocket rocket, either way I think you will be impressed.
MTL? Nope, even with the 0.6ohm coil and the airflow closed off it is far from a MTL kit, well unless you like a really sloppy MTL high wattage draw that is?
Handling wise; it was just a joy to use. 55 watts was the maximum the included coils required so it was well under its 100 watts max, and the 2500mAh battery was more than adequate to last me a full day out and into the evening. It has 2 Amp charging which took just over an hour daily from around 30%, I’m not sure how long from fully flat. The charging screen was a bit pants though as it only had a battery icon without percentage or estimated time.
As for the ergonomics during vaping, I just loved it. The A-Lock was really useful and soon became habitual, and it was resistant enough as to not accidentally switch in your pocket or bag. In the hand, the feel was just so pleasing as it was comfortable and intuitive with the fire button perfectly place and tactile. The weight was balanced and just right. Perhaps a daft little thing, but I often found myself admiring the looks between vaping.
Here it is next to the Legend 2 kit. The surprise for me is that I would grab the M100 to take out with me as I preferred the vape and compact form of it, bigger isn’t always better in this case. Maybe the M100 punches above its weight, but the coils made all the difference.
It knocked my preferences out of whack, usually I would be moaning that the drip tip was too small or the smaller coil wouldn’t be suitable for a cloud lobbing choice, but it just works as is with this kit. The drip tip worked mainly due to the clever curve of the top cap. Even though this kit does DL and RDL, if it had a larger 810 drip tip it would have ruined the proportional look.
There’s only one problem for me and that’s not GeekVape’s fault; the poxy 2ml TPD limit of the tank. It wasn’t much of a problem in RDL setup at 22 watts, but the 0.3ohm coil at 55 watts was more of a refill chore. I recommend that you get a larger capacity glass for it. As a contradiction, it could potentially ruin the overall look of it though, the supplied glass is pretty decent as it doesn’t bulge out of proportion. I’m going to try and live with it for now and see how I get on, it’s not like I’m not used to those TPD restrictions.
Conclusion
GeekVape took me on a journey of Meh to 60 in 2 seconds and blew away my expectations, admittedly they were low to start off with but with that aside, I seriously love everything about this kit. I’m a fussy sod and novelty factors soon wear off, but this is different, the more I use it the more I like it.
Innovation? Other than the A-Lock which has already featured on some other newer GeekVape mods, I can’t find any game-changing features at all. The M100 does the same job as the Mini V1 at the core, and that is to deliver wattage to your coil, BUT it’s not all about that. The M100 does it better, looks better, feels better, and the tweaked Z Mini tank and new coils wrap a bow around it to produce a faultless kit well worth upgrading to and with no more grotty fluff magnet coating.
Pros
- Classy whole new styling
- Improved ‘in the hand’ feeling
- 2500mAh inbuilt battery
- Water/Dust/Shock resistance
- Impressive vapour production of the 0.2ohm coil
- Leak resistant top airflow
- Very useful A-Lock
- Large clear screen
- Perfect colour matching contrast
- Punches above its weight
Cons
- Zilch
- Naff all
- Not a sausage
I was surprised that I struggled a little with the list of ‘Pros’ as I found it tricky to quantify the overall bundle, GeekVape haven’t really pushed the envelope with innovation but they have redesigned this kit from the ground up and perfected pretty much every detail.
Final Thoughts
There’s been a few kits in 2021 where I sincerely couldn’t find any cons. While M100 is one of them, it stands out to be much more than that, a superb RDL kit but its full DL performance is the cherry on the icing. It will easily fit into my ‘Best of 2021’ sub-ohm kits, and I doubt it will be beaten.
Scores
- Flavour: 9.5/10
- Vapour Production: 9/10 (relative to its size)
- Performance: 9/10
- Quality: 9.5/10
Overall Score: 9.5/10 – I loves it I does
Si Davies
Reviewer at POTVMy background is Engineering and Professional Photography. Mostly from POTV users knowledge I learned so much about pretty much all styles of vaping and equipment, Cloud Chasing, Squonking, Mouth To Lung, Direct To Lung, Pods, Mechs, Rebuild-able tanks and atomisers etc, and have experience with many many devices and atomisers, it's become a hobby and enjoy trying out the latest gear. I like to think my reviews are plain speaking and informative without getting too technical, if I have to resort to reading the manual then I don't consider it user friendly!
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