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Vaporesso GEN 80S and GEN 200 Mod Kits - Community Review

RichieRich

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Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening!

Up for your viewing pleasure, is something a little different, as this review is a collaborative effort between 8 Forum members, covering the Vaporesso Gen 80S, and Gen 200 Kits available now from all good retailers.

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Vaporesso wanted to try a community review after seeing how well they have been carried out by another manufacturer on the forum. It’s a review format that not only gets everyone’s opinions, but it also ensures an honest result, good or bad, as everyone’s input matters. Every member of the test was told to be as honest and impartial as they can, which they took onboard and it delivered some interesting results. The test ran for 2 weeks to allow the testers to get acquainted with the kits and fill in a scorecard covering a number of key points, and totals up an overall score for each member (which will be posted at the end of this review). As well as testing, good banter was had by all, ideas bounced around, and any questions/issues fed back to Vaporesso for reply.

Our group testers are: @Astral, @ForestMagpie, @Gitchy, @hack400, @JohnNada, @richierich, @Sam Andrews, and @WaitFor1t88

So lets start by introducing the kits, The latest generation of the Gen mod family. In Vaporesso's words, The new GEN 80S and the GEN 200, which are designed to be the lightest in dual/single battery kit with the same stylish coating as the GEN S. Continuing to use the innovative iTank, it provides a flavourful and worry-free vaping experience with what’s called the Turbo Airflow System and Liquid Self Cleaning System. The newly developed GTi coil platform gives you more options to choose a powerful DTL experience.

Vaporesso released the original GEN in 2019 and received big praise from lots of reviewers and users. It has seen a couple of updates since, the GEN S, then the GEN X, so a lot of the group testers were rather keen to see how the new GEN 200 compares.

Full list of specs and info can be found here: https://www.vaporesso.com/vape-kits/gen200


Starting off with the kits as they arrived, the unboxing.

Vaporesso sent a good mix of colours for all of the kits, Aurora Green, Sunset Glow, Midnight Blue, Dark Black, Light Silver, and Matte Grey. Each member got to pick the colours they would like to test, which went surprisingly well with absolutely no squabbling :2thumbsup:

The presentation of the boxes look great. An outer sleeve slides off the box, and once the lid is removed, reveals the contents within. The overall quality of the packaging is rather good, the box does well to protect the contents during transit, and to quote @JohnNada “The box and packaging reminds me of Samsung and Huawei mobile phones which is a definite plus. I love the holographic trim and text, would stand out really nicely on a shop shelf or window display”.

Inside the box is a plastic tray keeping everything securely in place, so secure that nothing is going to come loose while it’s being delivered to your door. Not sure what kind of plastic the tray is, but the rest of the packaging is recyclable.

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Both kits come with the following contents:
1x Mod
1x iTank (5ml Glass)
1x 0.2 GTi Mesh Coil (60-75w)
1x 0.4 GTi Mesh Coil (50-60w)
1x 8ml Bubble Glass
3x Orings
1x USB-C Cable
1x Manual
1x Warranty Card

Out of the 8 members, unfortunately 1 of us was missing a set of spare tank orings, but this was quickly resolved with spares sent by Vaporesso.

ITANK
We’ll start off the kit reviews with the new iTank. Both kits come with it, and use the new GTi coils.

@Sam Andrews has already done a review of this tank when it was first released, and can be viewed in more detail here (and echo’s some of the findings below too): https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/...ck-coil-tanks/threads/vaporesso-itank.209771/

They come with 0.2 and 0.4 Mesh, the 0.2 being pre-fitted in the tank.

As we are reviewing the non-TPD kits, they come with a 5ml straight glass, and 8ml bubble glass. From experience, you’ll be happy to know that the TPD version can be changed from 2ml to 5ml by removing the glass, and taking out the plastic restrictor inside the tank, that’s it!

There are also one or two changes to the iTank since its first release. The new tank has a bare core instead of being colour coated, plus the etching and grip notches have changed slightly. Neither of these affect the tanks performance though.

Left – Target200 kit tank Right – GEN 80S/200 kit tank

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The tank is a swivel top fill design, and incorporates a wide-bore 510 drip tip. Straight away, we ran into the first issue (which has been mentioned before when the iTank was released), filling is fine with regular 60ml shortfill bottles, but the 120ml chubby bottles needed the 510 drip tip removing to allow the bottle nozzle to sit in the fill hole correctly. While not a deal-breaker, this could be a bit of a niggle if you consume a lot of e-liquid like @hack400 :18:. @Astral noted (but also advised its just nit-picking), that the rotation of the fill cap may restrict access for left handers a little, which was agreed by @Gitchy.

The iTanks adjustable airflow has 3 holes, and offers a good range of adjustment. The tank also boasts a feature dubbed “Turbo Airflow”, which brings in the air from the 3 inlets, over a curved silicone ring, which is meant to make the airflow smoother and lower the noise. The GTi coils are a press-fit, and the coil orings provide a decent amount of resistance ensuring it stays put if you ever need to remove the base of the tank.

Removing the glass proved a little tricky, as everyone experienced a lot of resistance when taking it off the tank. Same with refitting. Top tip if you need to remove the glass is to twist it off as you pull it. There is a plus to this however, that the orings are not going to be responsible for any leaks!

In use, we all found the tank to perform brilliantly, being used with a wide variety of different flavour profiles among the group. What has been noted is that the coil ratings seem a bit high, as a lot of us have found the perfect wattage for these GTi coils to be lower than the recommended range noted on the box and coil. For instance, @ForestMagpie found his sweet spot on the 0.2 coil to be 43w and it “performed beautifully”. Gitchy found the 0.4 coil to perform great at 40w. I decided to try the coils in their recommended range, opting for 50w on the 0.4, and 65w on the 0.2. I didn’t notice a huge difference in higher or lower wattage other than it got slightly warmer, which is what I like anyway, and couldn’t fault them.

The flavour and vapour production from the iTank is great. I think I can speak for everyone in the group and say none of us had a bad vape from this tank, everyone enjoyed it, and was praised highly for a stock coil mesh tank. @WaitFor1t88 noting “its on par with the Freemax Mesh Pro for sure”. @JohnNada noted “Probably the best stock coil I've tried in terms of flavour and they're giving my mesh RTAs a good run for their money too”

A few points were raised in the group about the iTank design, mainly why it uses a 510 Drip tip instead of an 810 given its already a wide-bore. Another mention was about the top-cap, and I think we all felt it would have been better as a screw-top or bayonet fitting instead of a swivel design, especially for the clearance of a chubby bottle. I'm happy to report however, that Vaporesso have taken this criticism on-board, and have advised they will make improvements to future upgrades, and new versions of products. A few of us also noted the threads on the tank which screw into the airflow base were a little “crunchy” to start with, but eased up over time.

One fault we had in the group was that one of @Sam Andrews kits had a problem. When unboxing one of the iTanks, he removed the 0.2 coil from the tank, which at first didn’t look right. On closer inspection, it appears the coil outer section stayed in the tank and separated from the cotton/mesh core. Sam managed to remove the stuck section from the tank and fit the 0.4 coil fine. Tank was fine after with no issues, and a replacement 0.2 coil sent to Sam from the spares that Vaporesso had sent, ensuring a full kit to continue testing.

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Part 2 below (15000 character limit :17:)
 
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Part 2


Now on to the mods. As I mentioned before, The Gen has been out for a few years now, and we were looking forward to trying out what the GEN 200 had up its sleeve. Immediately, the size of it was welcomed by all members of the group, with a couple of them providing size comparisons to the original.

@Gitchy provided the pic below, so you can see how they stack up

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The 80S and 200 both have the same coating, giving a good grip. @Astral notes “The coating is the real piece de resistance here though. It's gorgeous. I really love the handfeel of these mods and the rubberised surface not only looks great but feels sensual to the fingers too. I'm glad they've kept this from the previous Gen, it's a real winner”.

The overall aesthetics of the mods were well received, and the finish on these mods are excellent. The buttons are easy to operate, secured well, and do not rattle! The battery panel on both mods are held on with decent magnets, and there is no rattle, creaking, or movement in these at all. Good job!

In use, one thing was noticed straight away by all members when comparing to the original GEN, the new GEN 80S and GEN 200 are both missing a feature. One feature that the original GEN did quite well too. Yep, the new mods are missing Temp Control as a function. They come with 3 main modes of operation: Wattage, Pulse, and F(t). There are also DIY modes: VW (S, N, H), VV, and BP.

I asked Vaporesso why TC was missing and if it could be available as a firmware upgrade, but I was told the 80S and 200 use the new Axon 2.0 chipset and cannot be upgraded. However, they took the feedback onboard to see if future iterations of these mods can have this implemented.

So, for the modes:
Wattage, plain old wattage mode, the bread and butter of every mod available.
Pulse, in Vaporesso’s words, boosts power every 0.02 seconds to bring a consistent vape.
F(t) mode, provides precise heating rate control, but in a non-TC way.

Initially some members didn’t see a difference between modes. I’ve used these features previously on the Target 200 mod, with other tanks fitted. I have had a brilliant experience in Pulse and F(t) mode using the Blotto 1.5 RTA on top of the Target 200, and you can really tell the difference between them. In F(t) mode with the Blotto (0.3 ohm dual NI80 coils), it was extremely close to giving the same flavour output as my Zeus X Mesh RTA when vaping the same juice in both tanks. I set away @hack400 testing one of his RTA’s on the GEN 200, at the same wattage on each mode. He reported back that “There's a fairly noticeable difference between wattage mode and the other 2. A slight noticeable difference between pulse and Ft”.

The mods themselves are easy to operate, and menus easy to navigate. 5 clicks of the fire button for power on/off, 3 clicks of the middle button to enter the menu (press and hold for the main 3 modes only), and up/down for wattage control in 1w increments. The wattage doesn’t round-robin when you get to the highest or lowest setting however.

The 510 top is nicely finished, and does have a sprung positive pin.

One common issue we’ve seen with both mods, is that they sometimes show low battery when replacing with fresh ones. It’s a bit of an oddity that it remembers the previous battery level. However, this does not happen when pressing the fire button once you’ve removed the battery. Doesn’t happen all the time, but we decided this was not a deal-breaker.

Now, we will cover the mod specifics below.

The GEN 80S, is the lightest of the two mods, weighting in at 49 grams before adding the tank and battery. The buttons on this mod are in-line with the screen and easy to operate comfortably.

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Paired with the iTank, it was immediately apparent that it was top-heavy once the tank is screwed onto the mod.

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Also as this is a single 18650 mod, we thought this was a bit of an odd pairing (not in terms of looks), and felt that the mod would have suited an MTL tank instead, Otherwise you’d be carrying extra batteries to get you through the day (based purely on the supplied coils). That impression could change once the new 0.5 GTi coil is released though, as this coil may see your battery lasting longer.


The GEN 200 is where we saw some excellent potential. Weighing in at 76 grams before adding tank and batteries, this has to be one of the smallest/lightest dual battery mods going!

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As I like taking things apart (I think I’m on the spectrum), I decided to have a look inside to see how they managed to centre the 510 on the top, with no gap between the batteries inside. All I can say is, @Vaporesso whoever designed this needs a good pat on the back for ingenuity! I didn’t take any pics of this, as it doesn’t form part of the review (unless you are DJLsb of youtube stardom) but, I thought it was worth mentioning how well they designed this mod.
The button layout on this mod is slightly different. Fire button is on the side, and adjustment is below the screen. Despite its looks, having the screen on the side seemed to have won over the testers in the group. With the batteries in, and tank on top, it still felt light, as well as comfortable to hold. One thing about the display on this mod, is that it is slightly dimmer than the 80S, not sure why, but worth pointing out.
Plenty space up top for larger tanks, as @hack400 found, it will easily take a 28mm tank with no overhang too.

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Class swot @hack400 also managed to get some battery usage stats for each mod and coil used :)

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While both mods perform brilliantly, there are a few things we have noted for improvement, and Vaporesso have taken these on-board for feedback.
Firstly, it would be nice to see a brightness option for the screen.
Secondly, if it would be possible to change the colour for each mode. Pulse mode displays red, which can be a little difficult to read in bright light or sunlight. A stealth mode would be a good addition too.
Thirdly, Re-instating TC mode. @Gitchy noted “I feel the Gen range is the premier Vaporesso range and should have the full functionality for the users that want it. The Gen S rivalled Yihi and DNA mods in my opinion. Not quite as adjustable as a DNA but the functions worked really well and were a good substitute. I feel that this Gen is oversimplified and not as focused as the others.”
And lastly, if there are further versions of this GEN line-up coming soon, it would be nice to see with the option of 21700 batteries. If Vaporesso have managed to shoe-horn 2x 18650’s into the GEN 200, it should hopefully be easy enough to do dual 21700 in the size of the original GEN shell.

So, now for the scorecards. These will appear below at the end of this review, so the individual scores for each criteria can be seen.
Overall scores are out of 10 (10 being highest obvs)

GEN 80S / GEN200
@Astral 8.9 / 8.8
@Sam Andrews 8.0 / 8.5
@WaitFor1t88 7.3 / 7.4
@Gitchy 8.3 / 8.3
@ForestMagpie 7.8 / 8.0
@JohnNada 8.5 / 8.6
@hack400 8.3 / 8.3
@richierich 9.0 / 9.1

Giving a group average score of 8.3/10 for the GEN 80S, and 8.4/10 for the GEN 200

While the scores are widely varied, we have all enjoyed using these kits. Even after the test had finished, @hack400 said “The worrying thing is, I am still using both devices. I have yet to go back to my RTA's”. When asked if any of the group would keep the GEN mods in their daily rotation, I didn't get a no, which is re-assuring.

Vaporesso were kind enough to supply some extra kits, which are going up for Giveaway here: https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/...aporesso-gen-80s-and-gen-200-giveaway.212208/

EcigOne have kindly supplied a 5% discount on the Vaporesso Gen 80S and Gen 200 kits using the code POTV5 at checkout

And finally, Please give a thumbs up if you have enjoyed this review. If you have any questions, ask away and one of us will happily respond to you!

Thanks for your time :2thumbsup:
 

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Superb review @richierich, very detailed and nice write-up. Perticually like the score cards :18:. Pats on the back to all, good job :clapping:
 
Superb review @richierich, very detailed and nice write-up. Perticually like the score cards :18:. Pats on the back to all, good job :clapping:
The cards were commended by the group, I did say I couldn't take credit for their creation :worship: Just amended slightly for different criteria, hope you don't mind, as they work so well!
 
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