Hi folks!
I'd like to share my thoughts on the above device/kit (VIP Photon Super Tank Kit).
I'll try to come back to this later and update with a video review and/or some pics.
Some initial background to the review/about the reviewer's perspective:
I purchased one of these as my first piece of vaping gear around a month ago, having borrowed one from a colleague. Prior to this I had next to zero experience or knowledge of vaping aside from watching a few youtube videos and boggling my mind with the sheer variety of devices out there. I had tried a couple of cig-alikes but found them to be fairly unsatisfying and inadequate as a replacement for the roll-ups I was then smoking.
Prior to purchase, I settled on this device because:
i) It was recommended to me by someone I knew who had been using it for a long time (>1yr) and had successfully switched to it from a 20+/day ciggie habit.
ii) The price seemed reasonable.
iii) I had tried one. Admittedly an old one which leaked a little - but it did work a lot better than anything else I had tried in terms of the potential to reduce/replace my baccy consumption.
Delivery was free and fairly quick - 4 days, ordered Thursday night and received the following Monday - and that was to one of the Scottish Islands. I'm sure that 1-2 days to mainland UK would be the norm.
OK on to the kit... so what do you get for your money? (£25 offer at the time of ordering)
1) Presentation box
2) 1100mAh battery
3) 2x V5/CE5 clearomizers
4) 10ml e-liquid
5) 1x UK mains adapter
6) 1x USB charger
7) Instructions
1) The box is (imho) a nice looking affair, satin gold foil-esque finish to a stiff card outer, with embossed lettering - almost reminiscent of a pack of B&H. Inside, the battery & clearomizers were well packaged what I can only describe as a black velvety covered foam - similar to other presentation packaging for pens/jewellery really. If it was not apparent earlier that this may have been better as a video review, it soon will be lol. Apologies for the descriptions
In any case, since I was buying this for myself the box was superfluous. It might be a nice touch if buying this kit as a present for someone, but I've ended up discarding the innards and will use it to store my juice bottles, q-tips & spare parts until they outgrow the space.
2) The battery is stainless steel 1100mAh and approx. 9cm x 1.4cm. Additional to the kit I also purchased a smaller (mini) version which is rated at 390mAh and is around 5.6cm long. These are both plain non-variable batteries aside from the power button having an LED surround which will glow white/blue/red as it depletes. Like most batteries of this style, they can be turned off/on with 5 clicks for safety. The battery will shut down on reaching 3.2v, there is also apparently overcharge protection at around 4.15v as well as atomizer short-circuit protection - neither of which I have needed thus far thankfully.
Currently I'm finding that the fullsize battery is lasting me most of the day when I'm at work and only vaping during breaks/lunch plus much heavier use at night. Charging back up to full seems to take about an hour at this point. I've been pretty happy with it so far. In contrast the smaller one has been something of a disappointment to me. I was not expecting it to last anywhere as long as the 1100mAh one, but for my purposes it has turned out to be little more than an emergency spare to use while the main battery is charging. It is however much lighter, more comfortable and discreet, should those be a concern. I haven't put a multimeter near either of them yet to measure voltage, but they seem to work happily enough with both the supplied clearomizers as well as the aspire ce-5 / et-s versions (with the 1.8-2.0 ohm dual coil heads that I have). No issues with threads or removing/attaching tanks as yet. My only minor gripe about the design might be that the button is perhaps too flush with the body for my liking - my thumb doesn't always find it right away by touch.
3) Clearomizers. These are in my opinion the weak link in the kit. The second hand unit I borrowed prior to purchasing this kit... leaked. On closer inspection there were what looked to be hairline cracks at the base of the tank. Of the two clearomizers that came with the kit - the first one began to show similar signs of juice seepage and cracking after only 3-4 days although it did still work. Note - this was using the standard supplied tobacco type e-liquid, not something from another vendor that might react with the cheap plastic of the tank. The second one stopped working after a mere 2-3 days, likely through my fault. I had seen some leakage onto the battery terminal when I had removed it to charge, and had tried to use a q-tip to clean the underside of the tank as well as the battery - I suspect this has pushed the atomizer head up a fraction into the tank and it no longer makes contact with the battery. VIP's website lists the clearomizers as consumables, will only warranty them against being DOA, and does not seem to sell replacement heads/coils for them anyway - suggesting that they should be replaced within 30 days max. I had hoped to get at least 3-4 weeks from them, not 3-4 days. Solution? Order a couple of glass / metal tanks, the aspire et-s and ce-5.. both of which have been great so far. No leaking and easy replaceable coils. I'm glad to see that VIP supply glass tanks with their variable voltage kits, but they could really do with making these standard across all their kits - their basic CE5's are really poor in my experience.
4) 10ml e-liquid. This is chosen from a handful of options - USA tobacco or menthol in one of two available strengths or nicotine-free mango. Not particularly exciting but serves the important purpose of getting you started. Although I have in the past smoked menthol cigs, I'm not really a big fan of the taste so my choice was made easy. Keeping in mind that this was my initial move from RYO tobacco, I opted for the 24mg USA tobacco e-liquid. Have to say, in my extremely limited experience with different e-liquids... the VIP traditional/tobacco liquids are all pretty decent. Having tried their others now, although I prefer the Havana / RY4, I find the USA to be a more than acceptable "all day vape" to start with. I'm slowly branching out with other flavours having found some particularly nice chocolate fudge brownie & irish cream
but I'm happy to credit the VIP tobacco e-liquids with being the thing that allowed me to stop smoking and start vaping instead.
5) UK Mains adapter. Nothing fancy, is compact and does the job well enough. Basically a UK plug with a USB port (Branded as VEHO) - output is 5v @1A. Is compact and doesn't interfere with neighbouring sockets as some adapters might, and does not appear to heat up beyond "mildly warm" to any noticeable degree. Use in conjuction with 6)
6) USB charger. USB (male) plug on one end, around 8 inches of cable, to 4.2v 420mA output threaded connector - onto which you screw the battery to charge it. Probably much the same as any other ego-style USB charger? Should probably pick up at least one spare of these.. because if this breaks or gets lost... sh*t's gonna get real stressful!
7) Instructions. Ahem. Appear to have thrown these away. Will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that this is not testament to their usefulness
Luckily all the important safety instructions (and common sense stuff like not mutilating or crushing the battery!) are duplicated on the bottom of the presentation box and also available on the website. If I might summarize... fill up the tank as directed and attach to the battery. Settle down for the evening and start vaping. Browse the forums on here, watch some youtube instructionals from the likes of pbusardo/todd/grimm. Vape some more. Try to avoid ordering a zillion e-liquids, replacement gizmos and mods. Wonder why it is now daylight outside and how your inbox is now full of order confirmations
In all seriousness, with the exception of the bundled clearomizers, I've been fairly happy with this kit as a beginner. It contained everything I needed to get started at a reasonable price. I would have happily paid more for the inclusion of a half-decent glass tank if I had known how poor the starter ones were, but then it is easy to criticize with hindsight and perhaps many people do get several weeks use from them. Given that this is the only such kit I've purchased, I can't really compare with other vendors - it is perhaps marginally more expensive than buying the parts either separately or as a kit from elsewhere - but at this price point for what's included... there likely won't be more than a few quid difference and there's probably a reason that cheap clearomizers come in packs of 10+...
I'll give it 7/10 as an overall rating.
There is a lot to like about the simplicity and style of this kit (and others like it). I like the look of the plain stainless style. No rhinestone-covered or day-glo coloured versions for me
I like the interchangeable nature of the ego/510 design - seems to be a lot of scope to upgrade/personalize your devices. I also like the small form factor of the pen-style, ideal for on a lanyard or in a pocket. I like the fact that it vapes great now I've got the aspires on there.
There are many recommendations out there for things that are better / bigger / faster / more - but in the absence of having any prior experience or close personal friends who are vapers... I think that it was useful (for me) to start with this basic ego-style kit not least for the experience of having tried it and found out what things I like and what direction I'd like to go in with future upgrades.
And that about wraps it up. Hopefully someone made it at least part-way through the wall of text and can retrieve something useful from it
Happy vaping to y'all!
I'd like to share my thoughts on the above device/kit (VIP Photon Super Tank Kit).
I'll try to come back to this later and update with a video review and/or some pics.
Some initial background to the review/about the reviewer's perspective:
I purchased one of these as my first piece of vaping gear around a month ago, having borrowed one from a colleague. Prior to this I had next to zero experience or knowledge of vaping aside from watching a few youtube videos and boggling my mind with the sheer variety of devices out there. I had tried a couple of cig-alikes but found them to be fairly unsatisfying and inadequate as a replacement for the roll-ups I was then smoking.
Prior to purchase, I settled on this device because:
i) It was recommended to me by someone I knew who had been using it for a long time (>1yr) and had successfully switched to it from a 20+/day ciggie habit.
ii) The price seemed reasonable.
iii) I had tried one. Admittedly an old one which leaked a little - but it did work a lot better than anything else I had tried in terms of the potential to reduce/replace my baccy consumption.
Delivery was free and fairly quick - 4 days, ordered Thursday night and received the following Monday - and that was to one of the Scottish Islands. I'm sure that 1-2 days to mainland UK would be the norm.
OK on to the kit... so what do you get for your money? (£25 offer at the time of ordering)
1) Presentation box
2) 1100mAh battery
3) 2x V5/CE5 clearomizers
4) 10ml e-liquid
5) 1x UK mains adapter
6) 1x USB charger
7) Instructions
1) The box is (imho) a nice looking affair, satin gold foil-esque finish to a stiff card outer, with embossed lettering - almost reminiscent of a pack of B&H. Inside, the battery & clearomizers were well packaged what I can only describe as a black velvety covered foam - similar to other presentation packaging for pens/jewellery really. If it was not apparent earlier that this may have been better as a video review, it soon will be lol. Apologies for the descriptions
In any case, since I was buying this for myself the box was superfluous. It might be a nice touch if buying this kit as a present for someone, but I've ended up discarding the innards and will use it to store my juice bottles, q-tips & spare parts until they outgrow the space.2) The battery is stainless steel 1100mAh and approx. 9cm x 1.4cm. Additional to the kit I also purchased a smaller (mini) version which is rated at 390mAh and is around 5.6cm long. These are both plain non-variable batteries aside from the power button having an LED surround which will glow white/blue/red as it depletes. Like most batteries of this style, they can be turned off/on with 5 clicks for safety. The battery will shut down on reaching 3.2v, there is also apparently overcharge protection at around 4.15v as well as atomizer short-circuit protection - neither of which I have needed thus far thankfully.
Currently I'm finding that the fullsize battery is lasting me most of the day when I'm at work and only vaping during breaks/lunch plus much heavier use at night. Charging back up to full seems to take about an hour at this point. I've been pretty happy with it so far. In contrast the smaller one has been something of a disappointment to me. I was not expecting it to last anywhere as long as the 1100mAh one, but for my purposes it has turned out to be little more than an emergency spare to use while the main battery is charging. It is however much lighter, more comfortable and discreet, should those be a concern. I haven't put a multimeter near either of them yet to measure voltage, but they seem to work happily enough with both the supplied clearomizers as well as the aspire ce-5 / et-s versions (with the 1.8-2.0 ohm dual coil heads that I have). No issues with threads or removing/attaching tanks as yet. My only minor gripe about the design might be that the button is perhaps too flush with the body for my liking - my thumb doesn't always find it right away by touch.
3) Clearomizers. These are in my opinion the weak link in the kit. The second hand unit I borrowed prior to purchasing this kit... leaked. On closer inspection there were what looked to be hairline cracks at the base of the tank. Of the two clearomizers that came with the kit - the first one began to show similar signs of juice seepage and cracking after only 3-4 days although it did still work. Note - this was using the standard supplied tobacco type e-liquid, not something from another vendor that might react with the cheap plastic of the tank. The second one stopped working after a mere 2-3 days, likely through my fault. I had seen some leakage onto the battery terminal when I had removed it to charge, and had tried to use a q-tip to clean the underside of the tank as well as the battery - I suspect this has pushed the atomizer head up a fraction into the tank and it no longer makes contact with the battery. VIP's website lists the clearomizers as consumables, will only warranty them against being DOA, and does not seem to sell replacement heads/coils for them anyway - suggesting that they should be replaced within 30 days max. I had hoped to get at least 3-4 weeks from them, not 3-4 days. Solution? Order a couple of glass / metal tanks, the aspire et-s and ce-5.. both of which have been great so far. No leaking and easy replaceable coils. I'm glad to see that VIP supply glass tanks with their variable voltage kits, but they could really do with making these standard across all their kits - their basic CE5's are really poor in my experience.
4) 10ml e-liquid. This is chosen from a handful of options - USA tobacco or menthol in one of two available strengths or nicotine-free mango. Not particularly exciting but serves the important purpose of getting you started. Although I have in the past smoked menthol cigs, I'm not really a big fan of the taste so my choice was made easy. Keeping in mind that this was my initial move from RYO tobacco, I opted for the 24mg USA tobacco e-liquid. Have to say, in my extremely limited experience with different e-liquids... the VIP traditional/tobacco liquids are all pretty decent. Having tried their others now, although I prefer the Havana / RY4, I find the USA to be a more than acceptable "all day vape" to start with. I'm slowly branching out with other flavours having found some particularly nice chocolate fudge brownie & irish cream
but I'm happy to credit the VIP tobacco e-liquids with being the thing that allowed me to stop smoking and start vaping instead.5) UK Mains adapter. Nothing fancy, is compact and does the job well enough. Basically a UK plug with a USB port (Branded as VEHO) - output is 5v @1A. Is compact and doesn't interfere with neighbouring sockets as some adapters might, and does not appear to heat up beyond "mildly warm" to any noticeable degree. Use in conjuction with 6)
6) USB charger. USB (male) plug on one end, around 8 inches of cable, to 4.2v 420mA output threaded connector - onto which you screw the battery to charge it. Probably much the same as any other ego-style USB charger? Should probably pick up at least one spare of these.. because if this breaks or gets lost... sh*t's gonna get real stressful!
7) Instructions. Ahem. Appear to have thrown these away. Will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that this is not testament to their usefulness
Luckily all the important safety instructions (and common sense stuff like not mutilating or crushing the battery!) are duplicated on the bottom of the presentation box and also available on the website. If I might summarize... fill up the tank as directed and attach to the battery. Settle down for the evening and start vaping. Browse the forums on here, watch some youtube instructionals from the likes of pbusardo/todd/grimm. Vape some more. Try to avoid ordering a zillion e-liquids, replacement gizmos and mods. Wonder why it is now daylight outside and how your inbox is now full of order confirmations In all seriousness, with the exception of the bundled clearomizers, I've been fairly happy with this kit as a beginner. It contained everything I needed to get started at a reasonable price. I would have happily paid more for the inclusion of a half-decent glass tank if I had known how poor the starter ones were, but then it is easy to criticize with hindsight and perhaps many people do get several weeks use from them. Given that this is the only such kit I've purchased, I can't really compare with other vendors - it is perhaps marginally more expensive than buying the parts either separately or as a kit from elsewhere - but at this price point for what's included... there likely won't be more than a few quid difference and there's probably a reason that cheap clearomizers come in packs of 10+...
I'll give it 7/10 as an overall rating.
There is a lot to like about the simplicity and style of this kit (and others like it). I like the look of the plain stainless style. No rhinestone-covered or day-glo coloured versions for me
I like the interchangeable nature of the ego/510 design - seems to be a lot of scope to upgrade/personalize your devices. I also like the small form factor of the pen-style, ideal for on a lanyard or in a pocket. I like the fact that it vapes great now I've got the aspires on there. There are many recommendations out there for things that are better / bigger / faster / more - but in the absence of having any prior experience or close personal friends who are vapers... I think that it was useful (for me) to start with this basic ego-style kit not least for the experience of having tried it and found out what things I like and what direction I'd like to go in with future upgrades.
And that about wraps it up. Hopefully someone made it at least part-way through the wall of text and can retrieve something useful from it
Happy vaping to y'all!
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