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Is Smok that bad?

jworm49

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Is Smok that bad or do people just love to hate them? they seem to me like the iPhone or Samsung of vaping. They have so much out there and much of it to me anyway looks pretty cool. Is it that many people are just sick of seeing them? My alien did just fry but that was because my crown three leaked juice all through it. So I am looking for a new dual 18650 mod and probably not a Smok one but I don't blame them for needing a new mod in my case. I'm just wondering where all the hate comes form and or why other mods are seen as being better is all.
 

VapeNMirrors

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Well, stray juice occurs with typical use. The design should include seals or other component arrangement or means to keep juice from the electronics and causing failures.

So your mod died from typical use. Is that bad?

There are other better choices for the money.
 

karacal

Member For 4 Years
I have had my Alien for 11 months and it still works. Several buyers have received them DOA or they only lasted a couple months.
ALOT of issues are the paint and QC.
The paint did improve on the Procolor, GX2/4, and the newer models.
A good 2 battery device would be a Eleaf Pico IMHO.
Hth

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

jworm49

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Well, stray juice occurs with typical use. The design should include seals or other component arrangement or means to keep juice from the electronics and causing failures.

So your mod died from typical use. Is that bad?

There are other better choices for the money.
No it' not bad as I said I don' blame the mod. I was just curious as to why so many people think there mods in general are crappy. It had been working fine for me untill my tank leaked.
 

jworm49

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I have had my Alien for 11 months and it still works. Several buyers have received them DOA or they only lasted a couple months.
ALOT of issues are the paint and QC.
The paint did improve on the Procolor, GX2/4, and the newer models.
A good 2 battery device would be a Eleaf Pico IMHO.
Hth

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
Thanks I'll have a look at that mod. Also I have herd and seen the paint issues. My AL85 had a chip when I got it I believe but no more since then.
 

eStorm

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Yes its that bad. Not going more into detail. You're of course free to pick whatever you like, if its smok great, if not cool too. But don't come a week later and hope we troubleshoot the garbage you might have just bought.

There's plenty of good devices out there that are cheaper but better, or a tad higher but better or/and equally priced but better. Anything not smok is great, if you want outstanding tho, pick a DNA device.
 

jworm49

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Yes its that bad. Not going more into detail. You're of course free to pick whatever you like, if its smok great, if not cool too. But don't come a week later and hope we troubleshoot the garbage you might have just bought.

There's plenty of good devices out there that are cheaper but better, or a tad higher but better or/and equally priced but better. Anything not smok is great, if you want outstanding tho, pick a DNA device.
OK lol I get you I ended up with Smok because its in all the shops but I'm not a fan boy. I'm actually weighing the benefits to a DNA right now vs the cost.
 

karacal

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Vape Fan

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1. Is Smok that bad or do people just love to hate them? 2. they seem to me like the iPhone or Samsung of vaping. They have so much out there and much of it to me anyway looks pretty cool. I'm just wondering where all the hate comes form and or 3. why other mods are seen as being better is all.
1. More issues/faulty products are seen with smok than most any other brand. Batteries exploding/catching fire, stop working, coils not lasting like they should, leaking, etc.
2. That's because of their marketing, and sometimes people are non the wiser. They crank out a new mod, kit, tank more often than the companies that make better vape gear. Always a different look, shape, color, some kind of gitchya gotchya, imo. They want their stuff to appeal to as many people as possible. Make it look cool. And they're in every B&M because they sell, not because they're better. To me, so much of their stuff is just the same thing only different, but not better than the latter. QC is bad,,as evidence shows from all the known issues,,and I suspect customer service. Probably because their too busy on the front end making another & selling product rather than improving it.
3. Because their are companies that care more about the end user and the products they sell, vs how many they can flood the market with. Evolv for example, DNA is a premium control chip/board manufacturer and they've made how many mods? 1? But companies that make mods will use their chip because its one of the state of the art available. They don't make a new every 3-4 months (smok), only about once a year or longer because what they make is feature full and stands the test of time along side the better mod makers. Voopoo Drag is well made and uses their own Gene chip and I've read enough to know it's a premium product as well. It doesn't have to be DNA or YiHi or Gene etc based to be a quality built mod. Cylon was a prime example of a mod that's much better than what smok makes, because you don't hear bad things about it. And there's more.

It doesn't cost a lot for quality, you just have to shop smart.
It puzzles me when someone(not you)wants to quit smoking, or continue to not smoke, but they want it for less than the cost of a carton of cigarettes.
 

5150sick

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Do you guys remember back in 2005 when the original Xbox360 came out?
It was the really old one that didn't have an HDMI output.

They fucked up using the wrong soldier and when the xbox got hot the solider sometimes got hot enough to melt at the GPU frying the xbox.
It was called RROD (Red Ring of Death) and Microsoft had very, very bad quality control with these first units.
So bad that at the one year mark they had a 30% failure rate.
That is some fucking HORRIBLE QC there.


Now, Think of Smok as being Xbox360 circa 2005.
 

St.Roostifer

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Do you guys remember back in 2005 when the original Xbox360 came out?
It was the really old one that didn't have an HDMI output.

They fucked up using the wrong soldier and when the xbox got hot the solider sometimes got hot enough to melt at the GPU frying the xbox.
It was called RROD (Red Ring of Death) and Microsoft had very, very bad quality control with these first units.
So bad that at the one year mark they had a 30% failure rate.
That is some fucking HORRIBLE QC there.


Now, Think of Smok as being Xbox360 circa 2005.
Fucking hell I remember that! If I remember correctly microsuck was pushing to get it released to compete with Sony's newest PlayStation. Yep, I was one of those suckers that bought that Xbox.

Seeing more and more of the push it to market mentality and not just with Smok. Vandyvape and ijoy seem to be doing the same tho not as bad as Smok. Guess I should feel lucky that Smok products have never appealed to me.
 

Pastorfuzz

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Do you guys remember back in 2005 when the original Xbox360 came out?
It was the really old one that didn't have an HDMI output.

They fucked up using the wrong soldier and when the xbox got hot the solider sometimes got hot enough to melt at the GPU frying the xbox.
It was called RROD (Red Ring of Death) and Microsoft had very, very bad quality control with these first units.
So bad that at the one year mark they had a 30% failure rate.
That is some fucking HORRIBLE QC there.


Now, Think of Smok as being Xbox360 circa 2005.
Yeah, I remember the 1st 360's. I had one crap after a year. Sent it in and they fixed it free.
Changed the drive in it 2 years ago and it still works today.
Plus it will help warm the house in the winter!
 

The Cromwell

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Do you guys remember back in 2005 when the original Xbox360 came out?
It was the really old one that didn't have an HDMI output.

They fucked up using the wrong soldier and when the xbox got hot the solider sometimes got hot enough to melt at the GPU frying the xbox.
It was called RROD (Red Ring of Death) and Microsoft had very, very bad quality control with these first units.
So bad that at the one year mark they had a 30% failure rate.
That is some fucking HORRIBLE QC there.


Now, Think of Smok as being Xbox360 circa 2005.
Wish we had access to reliable failure rate data on vaping devices.

My impression is that Smok devices are engineered for a 6 month lifespan.
Some of the sticks not even that.

Sure, some may last longer.
 

eStorm

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Wish we had access to reliable failure rate data on vaping devices.

My impression is that Smok devices are engineered for a 6 month lifespan.
Some of the sticks not even that.

Sure, some may last longer.
Mine didn't even made it there, 3 mods and all of them died within the first 2 month, the first mod died right after 4 hrs of purchase, which of course got exchange but we send my husbands to warranty in September 2017 and its still there, the warranty department is literally flooded with non working devices lol. Mine I never send, why bother just bought more reliable mods and called it a day :D
 

Just Frank

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Is Smok that bad or do people just love to hate them? they seem to me like the iPhone or Samsung of vaping. They have so much out there and much of it to me anyway looks pretty cool. Is it that many people are just sick of seeing them? My alien did just fry but that was because my crown three leaked juice all through it. So I am looking for a new dual 18650 mod and probably not a Smok one but I don't blame them for needing a new mod in my case. I'm just wondering where all the hate comes form and or why other mods are seen as being better is all.
People here LOVE to hate on Smok. There's people that haven't tried anything Smok put out lately, that will claim it's garbage. Ive got a year old Alien that still works fine. I have some of the stick mods that all still work fine. That said, I got a bunch of other stuff too. I'm loyal to no brand. Not all Smok stuff is garbage. Some peoples opinions here are garbage tho.
 

Teresa P

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Vandyvape and ijoy seem to be doing the same
That being said, I have four Smok devices - three 220s and a GX 2/4 - and I haven't had a split second's trouble with any of them, but I've had two iJoy mods croak within the past week. I'm much more of an iJoy hater than I am a Smok hater.... :headbang:
 

BearHunter104

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Odd man out I reckon ....have several Smok mods and tanks, no real problems. However just starting RTA (Kylin) with Wismec Reuleaux
RX200S......have not looked back since.......Vape On................
 

Titanium5000

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I've seen a Smok Alien lose much of its paint, my Alien device didn't because it broke (top half separated where the diagonal piece meets the button and the screen's frame).

I bought another one, the GX350 and the paint in 3-4 months has started immediately coming away from the fire button.

I'm now looking for a replacement, it will look tacky shortly, any other manufacturer with a similar design that can hold 4 18650s will be on the list (Really like the top mounted screen so you can see how long the puff is as you're firing).
 

zephyr

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Do you guys remember back in 2005 when the original Xbox360 came out?
It was the really old one that didn't have an HDMI output.

They fucked up using the wrong soldier and when the xbox got hot the solider sometimes got hot enough to melt at the GPU frying the xbox.
It was called RROD (Red Ring of Death) and Microsoft had very, very bad quality control with these first units.
So bad that at the one year mark they had a 30% failure rate.
That is some fucking HORRIBLE QC there.


Now, Think of Smok as being Xbox360 circa 2005.

Good analogy, but will Smok take your broken mod and fix it for you like Microsoft did? No way... Microsoft did do that, right? Was a long time ago my memory is fuzzy

Next few times I'm checking New Posts on my laptop, I'm going to screenshot and circle every post that's about a mod or tank problem, and count how many are Smok related

This doesn't make the company's line of products bad inherently, but they are mass-produced with such speed and scale that quality control is as hit and miss as it would be for any other manufactured item

I don't hate them, but I am kind of tired of the repetition and new products every month or two with very few functional changes
 
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jworm49

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Thanks everyone for all the input. I would have to say that I agree they just put out too much new stuff all the time. The two mods I have used have been fine the coils I think are crap though. Let's hope my Al85 keeps holding up until I can get a new mod. Looking at the Cylon, Vaporesso switch and the Revenger X at the moment. Still waiting for something that jumps out at me.
 

minimag03

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I don't like Smok for a few reasons.

My Alien's screen died after about 3 months of use. It just stopped working for no noticeable reason. It wasn't dropped, didn't get juice on it, etc. I don't coddle my mods but I don't abuse them either.

My AL85 would burn the shit out of your thumb if you placed it on the battery cap while firing. I gave it to my dad and its screen stopped working too.

Smok's coils are horrible too, the worst of any major company I've tried. In a 5-pack of Baby Beast coils, you would be lucky if 4 wicked correctly. In my experience at least 3 of them would need to be poked with a sewing needle to make them wick, and the other 2 that did wick well from the factory would allow a steady seepage of juice from the airflow.

It's not that Smok's products are horrible, they are usually just flawed in some major aspect. Ultimately I'm happy Smok's products were so flawed. It pushed me to buy my first decent mod and to learn how to build.
 

jworm49

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I don't like Smok for a few reasons.

My Alien's screen died after about 3 months of use. It just stopped working for no noticeable reason. It wasn't dropped, didn't get juice on it, etc. I don't coddle my mods but I don't abuse them either.

My AL85 would burn the shit out of your thumb if you placed it on the battery cap while firing. I gave it to my dad and its screen stopped working too.

Smok's coils are horrible too, the worst of any major company I've tried. In a 5-pack of Baby Beast coils, you would be lucky if 4 wicked correctly. In my experience at least 3 of them would need to be poked with a sewing needle to make them wick, and the other 2 that did wick well from the factory would allow a steady seepage of juice from the airflow.

It's not that Smok's products are horrible, they are usually just flawed in some major aspect. Ultimately I'm happy Smok's products were so flawed. It pushed me to buy my first decent mod and to learn how to build.
It seems like maybe its the QC that is lacking.
 

minimag03

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At this point, I think it's beyond just QC with Smok. I might just be a pessimist, but I believe they don't even bother with QC because it ultimately results in better sales if they don't. Smok has such a large portion of the market that they know people will continue to buy their products.

There are more new vapers every day, compared to the small amount (like myself) that move up to nicer mods and rebuildables and leave Smok behind because of their issues. It will catch up to them eventually but not until the industry stops growing exponentially.
 

jworm49

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At this point, I think it's beyond just QC with Smok. I might just be a pessimist, but I believe they don't even bother with QC because it ultimately results in better sales if they don't. Smok has such a large portion of the market that they know people will continue to buy their products.

There are more new vapers every day, compared to the small amount (like myself) that move up to nicer mods and rebuildables and leave Smok behind because of their issues. It will catch up to them eventually but not until the industry stops growing exponentially.
What helps them out is all the B&M's pushing them so hard.
 

St.Roostifer

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Last time I was in the local vape shop I was talking shop with a guy that works there and a customer walks in. She tells the shop clerk how she just had to throw her Smok v8 stick out the car window while driving down the expressway because it got hot and started smoking. So what does she do? Buys another right there on the spot. :crazy:
 

jworm49

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Last time I was in the local vape shop I was talking shop with a guy that works there and a customer walks in. She tells the shop clerk how she just had to throw her Smok v8 stick out the car window while driving down the expressway because it got hot and started smoking. So what does she do? Buys another right there on the spot. :crazy:
Wow now that is just dumb.
 

jworm49

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So I'm all set to order the Cylon and Element vape wants me to upload a pic of my license WTF? I can probably find it somewhere ells but I don't want to wait on the slow boat form China either.
 

eStorm

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So I'm all set to order the Cylon and Element vape wants me to upload a pic of my license WTF? I can probably find it somewhere ells but I don't want to wait on the slow boat form China either.
Contact customer service they will be happy to help you out with that, or check other vendors if you don't want to do that. I personally never had an issue with them or the upload of my license if I chose to do that.

Breazy I think still has a sale going, not sure how long or if they sell it etc. Good vendor as well and not China lol
 

jworm49

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Contact customer service they will be happy to help you out with that, or check other vendors if you don't want to do that. I personally never had an issue with them or the upload of my license if I chose to do that.
I just worry how secure that is.
 

minimag03

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Where you not going to use a credit card when you checked out? I would be more worried about some stealing that information than having my license number.

It looks like all my normal online stores are either sold out or don't carry it. I usually only shop at the places that have free shipping on everything though... A few places have the Ranker (or whatever its called) in stock tho, and the Drag.

That does suck though, I've never been asked for my ID when buying vape stuff online. It must be either your state law of the state in which Element is based.
 

jworm49

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Where you not going to use a credit card when you checked out? I would be more worried about some stealing that information than having my license number.

It looks like all my normal online stores are either sold out or don't carry it. I usually only shop at the places that have free shipping on everything though... A few places have the Ranker (or whatever its called) in stock tho, and the Drag.

That does suck though, I've never been asked for my ID when buying vape stuff online. It must be either your state law of the state in which Element is based.
well I went ahead and did it. I could have gotten free shipping but I paid for priority to get it faster lol. And some new batteries as juice got all over mine when the Alien flooded out.
 

jworm49

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I hope they get their batteries from a reliable vendor :/
Me too. I got MXJO 3000mah 35amp I have to already form them and they have been fine. One got juice under the wrap though so I'm nervous to use it. They seem like a pretty legit site though.
 

Carambrda

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Me too. I got MXJO 3000mah 35amp I have to already form them and they have been fine. One got juice under the wrap though so I'm nervous to use it. They seem like a pretty legit site though.
A little bit of juice under the wrap is not a big problem, but those MXJOs are just rewraps of a 15 amp or possibly a 20 amp battery so that 35 amp rating is just a lie, and a dangerous lie at that. There are no 35 amp 18650 batteries... there is no real reason to buy 18650 rewraps because more often than not you're only paying more for less, albeit there are exceptions to this. I never buy my batteries from a site that seems pretty legit. But rather, I always buy them from a vendor that made it to Mooch's list of trusted battery vendors. I sure as fuck don't buy any batteries without having looked at Mooch's test results first.
 

jworm49

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A little bit of juice under the wrap is not a big problem, but those MXJOs are just rewraps of a 15 amp or possibly a 20 amp battery so that 35 amp rating is just a lie, and a dangerous lie at that. There are no 35 amp 18650 batteries... there is no real reason to buy 18650 rewraps because more often than not you're only paying more for less, albeit there are exceptions to this. I never buy my batteries from a site that seems pretty legit. But rather, I always buy them from a vendor that made it to Mooch's list of trusted battery vendors. I sure as fuck don't buy any batteries without having looked at Mooch's test results first.
Ok I haven' herd of that. Do you have any like a to a good site? They do have an authenticity code on them not sure if that matters. They do say 20amp continuous on them 35amp peak. Seems pretty shady to rewrap them but then people are shady.
 

jworm49

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Ok I haven' herd of that. Do you have any like a to a good site? They do have an authenticity code on them not sure if that matters. They do say 20amp continuous on them 35amp peak. Seems pretty shady to rewrap them but then people are shady.
Oh yeah if I didn' mention it already it's Element Vape I got them from
 

rdsok

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Ok I haven' herd of that. Do you have any like a to a good site? They do have an authenticity code on them not sure if that matters. They do say 20amp continuous on them 35amp peak. Seems pretty shady to rewrap them but then people are shady.

As far as I'm concerned... peak amps info is just a marketing ploy and has very little real value... it's the continuous amps that is the number to pay attention to... not the one ( peak ) that just indicates what it can reach for only a few moments.
 

The Cromwell

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MXJO seems to have at least 3 different cells under their 3000 mah 35 amp wrapper.
At best they are 20 amp cells per mooch.
 

Vape Fan

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MXJO isnt a bad battery, per se'. Just not the most preferred. It's amps are over rated but they'll be ok for your Cylon.
 

minimag03

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A little bit of juice under the wrap is not a big problem, but those MXJOs are just rewraps of a 15 amp or possibly a 20 amp battery so that 35 amp rating is just a lie, and a dangerous lie at that. There are no 35 amp 18650 batteries... there is no real reason to buy 18650 rewraps because more often than not you're only paying more for less, albeit there are exceptions to this. I never buy my batteries from a site that seems pretty legit. But rather, I always buy them from a vendor that made it to Mooch's list of trusted battery vendors. I sure as fuck don't buy any batteries without having looked at Mooch's test results first.

I didn't want to be the one who said it...

I just bought some Samsung 30Qs from Illumn just because Mooch just tested 30Q from Illumn and they were legit lol
 

Carambrda

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Ok I haven' herd of that. Do you have any like a to a good site? They do have an authenticity code on them not sure if that matters. They do say 20amp continuous on them 35amp peak. Seems pretty shady to rewrap them but then people are shady.
Oh yeah if I didn' mention it already it's Element Vape I got them from
So you're telling me you paid $10.95 for a battery that is just a rewrap of the Samsung 30Q https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/t...st-results-still-an-overrated-battery.779365/

Mooch's list of trusted battery vendors can be found in the description of each one of his videos on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePHh3NMvu3rW2LFJeOWo-Q
 

The Cromwell

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VTC5A is much better or the VTC6 for under 20 amps.
And the 5A is only $5.99 ea right now at Illumn.com
Much cheaper than I suspect that you paid for an MXJO.
 

Vape Fan

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VTC5A is much better or the VTC6 for under 20 amps.
And the 5A is only $5.99 ea right now at Illumn.com
Much cheaper than I suspect that you paid for an MXJO.
And the 30Q is just $4.99, so for the price of 1 of those MXJO's, could have had 2 batts and a battery case.
Sometimes it's worth it to be a little patient.
 

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