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Vandy Vape Pulse AIO Kit review by Antony Lord
Waaay back in late 2017 squonking was a bit of a niche market so Vandy Vape and TonyB from the Vapor Trail channel (YouTube) teamed up to try and bring squonking to the masses with the Pulse Squonk kit, an inexpensive plastic squonk mod, and it’s fair to say that they succeed. Fast forward to late 2021 and TonyB has got into another expensive niche market in a big way, namely the billet box, so he’s teamed up with Vandy Vape once again to see if they can repeat their previous success and make a truly affordable mass market Boro style device. With this in mind I was keen to see if they’ve managed to capture lightning in a bottle twice and I asked our good friends over at Sourcemore if I could take a peek at the Pulse AIO kit.
The Pulse AIO comes nicely presented and I have to say I was impressed with just how much is included in the box besides the AIO itself. Whilst initially it might seem like you’re just being given a stock coil Boro style tank and two coils once you open the AIO up you’ll realise that you also get a rebuildable Boro tank included in the kit as well in the form of the Pulse Vessel, given the price point that this kit is being offered at this is basically unheard of in the Boro device market!
Underneath this you’ll find a few other goodies like a manual and spare o-rings etc. for the Vessel and a rather handy multi tool.
Looking at the two devices side by side you can clearly see that the external design language is very obviously influenced by the original billet box and with a battery and Boro tank installed the weight is even fairly comparable, you do get slightly more airflow but it’s still relatively restricted. I was surprised to find that despite the jump from an 18650 device to a modern 21700 setup that the Pulse AIO is actually a pretty similar size to a billet box, it’s just a tiny bit fatter to accommodate the larger battery, and I found that as someone with fairly small hands the Pulse AIO still remains comfortable for me to use.
With the side panels removed a couple of changes become apparent besides the obviously larger battery compartment which has a convenient cutout around the back to make it easy to remove the battery. The control panel and screen are on the opposite side from the tank, this should provide a degree of isolation for the board which is particularly helpful as Boro tanks/bridges are notorious for having condensation issues. The board seems pretty competent with wattage, TC, bypass, and voltage modes available and is easy to use, there’s even on board charging available via USB-C but with the jump to a 21700 battery you shouldn’t need to worry about power and should easily be able to get through a day with this.
Vandy Vape has also designed the Pulse AIO with customization in mind with side panel, control panel, and button kits available right from the get go if that’s your sort of thing although it has to be said I’m more than happy with my classic black kit, I must admit that some of the semi transparent coloured versions do look pretty cool though.
With Boro style devices your negative contact is made with the retaining 510 nut on the top of the device and the Pulse AIO is no different in this respect. There is a temptation here to really crank this nut down, particularly if you’re having issues with an unstable connection, but you need to bear in mind the plastic construction in use here and I have noticed though that several sites have already started putting notices on the their Pulse AIO product pages that any items returned under warranty with cracking around this area will not be covered! You really only need this nut to be finger tight and if you’re having connection issues then you’re better off trying to adjust the positive screw as shown above… you have been warned!
I quickly took a dislike to the included drip tip and ended up using my own. I also tried the Pulse AIO with a couple of third party integrated drip tip/nuts and can report that the threading is billet box compatible. Most of these seemed to work just fine whilst a couple of others stubbornly refused to cooperate (those also have issues with other Boro style devices as well though) so you’ll need to experiment on that front.
For the stock coil side of things Vandy Vape has included a tank which uses their Jackaroo pod kit. Coils are press fit from the bottom and you even get adjustable airflow as well along with a modern rubber bung filling arrangement and a 5ml capacity.
Two coils are included in the kit, a 0.3 & 0.6 ohm one, I found the 0.3 ohm mesh coil was right up my street with a semi-restricted direct lung vape but the 0.6 ohm coil was honestly a little underwhelming. Coil material isn’t mentioned but I pulled the 0.3 ohm coil apart after it was done and this is magnetic which means it’s Kanthal, I haven’t killed the 0.6 ohm coil yet but I may post a quick update once I have.
Whilst the stock coil tank is a nice bonus in my eyes the rebuildable Pulse Vessel tank is probably more interesting and I was honestly surprised to see this included in the kit rather than being done as a separate purchase. This features a kylin style half pipe honeycombed airflow with a nicely domed upper chamber so I was expecting good flavour here. Building is easy with a postless style deck designed to accept coils wound in either direction and an integrated 510 connection under the adjustable airflow ring.
Wicking was easy, just cut the wicks slightly outside the deck and tuck them into the fairly large recesses on either side but make sure they stick up a little as shown because it actually wicks from above via the four small holes in the chimney section.
One criticism I would have here is that the o-ring tolerance between the tank and the deck is quite loose, I haven’t had any leaking but I’d definitely fit this into your Pulse AIO before filling it up as it’s very easy to knock the two apart whilst your handling the tank!
With my fairly modest 0.48 ohm build I was getting cracking flavour at about 38 watts with the airflow fully open. The airflow adjustment seemed a little redundant to be honest as it’s nearly impossible to adjust whilst it’s in place and most of the restriction actually comes from the chassis of the Pulse AIO itself. This is definitely a bit of a one trick pony with a full blown direct lung experience so if you’re a mouth to lung fan then this really won’t float your boat in the slightest.
The stock coil and rebuildable pods are also available as a separate Vessel kit if you already have several Boro style devices and don’t fancy a plastic Boro kit.
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion:
Vandy Vape and TonyB have gone all out to make this one of the most comprehensive Boro device starter kits whilst keeping the price super competitive, this really is the cheapest ever way to get into the Boro device scene. I do have some misgivings over the 510 nut area but as long as you don’t crank that down like a crazed gorilla it should last a good while and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Pulse AIO Kit so far. Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Sourcemore for sending it over for review and as always they’ve given me a discount code for you to use: $56.99 - Vandy Vape Pulse AIO Kit Code: PAIOK
@Sourcemore
Waaay back in late 2017 squonking was a bit of a niche market so Vandy Vape and TonyB from the Vapor Trail channel (YouTube) teamed up to try and bring squonking to the masses with the Pulse Squonk kit, an inexpensive plastic squonk mod, and it’s fair to say that they succeed. Fast forward to late 2021 and TonyB has got into another expensive niche market in a big way, namely the billet box, so he’s teamed up with Vandy Vape once again to see if they can repeat their previous success and make a truly affordable mass market Boro style device. With this in mind I was keen to see if they’ve managed to capture lightning in a bottle twice and I asked our good friends over at Sourcemore if I could take a peek at the Pulse AIO kit.
The Pulse AIO comes nicely presented and I have to say I was impressed with just how much is included in the box besides the AIO itself. Whilst initially it might seem like you’re just being given a stock coil Boro style tank and two coils once you open the AIO up you’ll realise that you also get a rebuildable Boro tank included in the kit as well in the form of the Pulse Vessel, given the price point that this kit is being offered at this is basically unheard of in the Boro device market!
Underneath this you’ll find a few other goodies like a manual and spare o-rings etc. for the Vessel and a rather handy multi tool.
Looking at the two devices side by side you can clearly see that the external design language is very obviously influenced by the original billet box and with a battery and Boro tank installed the weight is even fairly comparable, you do get slightly more airflow but it’s still relatively restricted. I was surprised to find that despite the jump from an 18650 device to a modern 21700 setup that the Pulse AIO is actually a pretty similar size to a billet box, it’s just a tiny bit fatter to accommodate the larger battery, and I found that as someone with fairly small hands the Pulse AIO still remains comfortable for me to use.
With the side panels removed a couple of changes become apparent besides the obviously larger battery compartment which has a convenient cutout around the back to make it easy to remove the battery. The control panel and screen are on the opposite side from the tank, this should provide a degree of isolation for the board which is particularly helpful as Boro tanks/bridges are notorious for having condensation issues. The board seems pretty competent with wattage, TC, bypass, and voltage modes available and is easy to use, there’s even on board charging available via USB-C but with the jump to a 21700 battery you shouldn’t need to worry about power and should easily be able to get through a day with this.
Vandy Vape has also designed the Pulse AIO with customization in mind with side panel, control panel, and button kits available right from the get go if that’s your sort of thing although it has to be said I’m more than happy with my classic black kit, I must admit that some of the semi transparent coloured versions do look pretty cool though.
With Boro style devices your negative contact is made with the retaining 510 nut on the top of the device and the Pulse AIO is no different in this respect. There is a temptation here to really crank this nut down, particularly if you’re having issues with an unstable connection, but you need to bear in mind the plastic construction in use here and I have noticed though that several sites have already started putting notices on the their Pulse AIO product pages that any items returned under warranty with cracking around this area will not be covered! You really only need this nut to be finger tight and if you’re having connection issues then you’re better off trying to adjust the positive screw as shown above… you have been warned!
I quickly took a dislike to the included drip tip and ended up using my own. I also tried the Pulse AIO with a couple of third party integrated drip tip/nuts and can report that the threading is billet box compatible. Most of these seemed to work just fine whilst a couple of others stubbornly refused to cooperate (those also have issues with other Boro style devices as well though) so you’ll need to experiment on that front.
For the stock coil side of things Vandy Vape has included a tank which uses their Jackaroo pod kit. Coils are press fit from the bottom and you even get adjustable airflow as well along with a modern rubber bung filling arrangement and a 5ml capacity.
Two coils are included in the kit, a 0.3 & 0.6 ohm one, I found the 0.3 ohm mesh coil was right up my street with a semi-restricted direct lung vape but the 0.6 ohm coil was honestly a little underwhelming. Coil material isn’t mentioned but I pulled the 0.3 ohm coil apart after it was done and this is magnetic which means it’s Kanthal, I haven’t killed the 0.6 ohm coil yet but I may post a quick update once I have.
Whilst the stock coil tank is a nice bonus in my eyes the rebuildable Pulse Vessel tank is probably more interesting and I was honestly surprised to see this included in the kit rather than being done as a separate purchase. This features a kylin style half pipe honeycombed airflow with a nicely domed upper chamber so I was expecting good flavour here. Building is easy with a postless style deck designed to accept coils wound in either direction and an integrated 510 connection under the adjustable airflow ring.
Wicking was easy, just cut the wicks slightly outside the deck and tuck them into the fairly large recesses on either side but make sure they stick up a little as shown because it actually wicks from above via the four small holes in the chimney section.
One criticism I would have here is that the o-ring tolerance between the tank and the deck is quite loose, I haven’t had any leaking but I’d definitely fit this into your Pulse AIO before filling it up as it’s very easy to knock the two apart whilst your handling the tank!
With my fairly modest 0.48 ohm build I was getting cracking flavour at about 38 watts with the airflow fully open. The airflow adjustment seemed a little redundant to be honest as it’s nearly impossible to adjust whilst it’s in place and most of the restriction actually comes from the chassis of the Pulse AIO itself. This is definitely a bit of a one trick pony with a full blown direct lung experience so if you’re a mouth to lung fan then this really won’t float your boat in the slightest.
The stock coil and rebuildable pods are also available as a separate Vessel kit if you already have several Boro style devices and don’t fancy a plastic Boro kit.
Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Stock coil and rebuildable pods included
Cons:
- May have durability issues, especially around the 510 nut area
Conclusion:
Vandy Vape and TonyB have gone all out to make this one of the most comprehensive Boro device starter kits whilst keeping the price super competitive, this really is the cheapest ever way to get into the Boro device scene. I do have some misgivings over the 510 nut area but as long as you don’t crank that down like a crazed gorilla it should last a good while and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Pulse AIO Kit so far. Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Sourcemore for sending it over for review and as always they’ve given me a discount code for you to use: $56.99 - Vandy Vape Pulse AIO Kit Code: PAIOK
@Sourcemore
