DNA-200 Written Review

Figured I'd cross post this from another forum for those on the fence about the DNA-200, it is a game changer, not DNA-40 with more power, but a whole new experience.


I swung by the house and picked my box out of the mail today.
First, I just have to say, Mad Wiener Mods choice of materials and craftsmanship are incredible. The mod he sent me looks great in photos, it looks vastly better in person. The intricacies of the wood and the blue portions is a thing cameras just don't pick up well, super happy with the aesthetics of the mod. The shape is perfect for my hand.

Onto the DNA 200:
I have seen most of the youtube review etc. They seem to focus on the number, 200, more than the things that really matter to me, because 200 watts is really just a dick measuring contest. The 200 watt potential does play a huge part in why the DNA 200 is so amazing though.

The vape off a DNA-200 is more akin to a mech than any chip vape I have used to date. It doesn't rattlesnake, response is nearly instant when you hit the button. The temp control using Ti functions perfectly after adjusting the CSV from steam-engine to account for wire type. The way it limits is much more subtle and transparent to the user. When you hit the "temperature protected" warning, it doesn't cut all power, it ramps down, and it adjusts MUCH quicker than the Snow Wolf LE or DNA-40. I have my build which I listed below set to 75 watts and 520f. Never an iota of burnt juice taste, scorched wick taste, or anything other than the flavor of Daft Spunk pouring out of my Velocity. When way overpowering the temp limit by setting wattage vastly higher than needed to achieve a temperature, the vape is still consistently awesome and it doesn't yoyo high to super low power like my other devices, it quickly finds a power level that is sustainable and floats in that region. As a result of this behavior, I find I have turned the temp up a bit higher because it doesn't overshoot by as much as my other devices do.

Preheat - Preheat is absolutely amazing when it has a very high limit...200watts. It takes the ramp time on a crazy coil builds down to near nothing. Currently I am running a Velocity RDA that has dual coils using CP Ti 1, 2 strands of twisted 26 gauge and 2 strands of 30 gauge twisted reverse direction of the 26 gauge twist. It is a fairly hefty coil that has a lot of surface area, and on my Snow Wolf LE it does have a little ramp time, maybe 0.25 - 0.5 seconds or so when set to 70 watts. On the DNA-200 its basically instant ramp up, and I have the ramp set to 125 watts with a strength of 4, so there is a LOT of headroom to increase the ramp rate if I need to in the future using dual fused Clapton 24ga/30ga coil.

Escribe and Presets - Super awesome. Being able to adjust all the little things that are fixed on other devices is really nice. Things like screen brightness and timeout. One super nice feature in my opinion is the ability to have it show the voltage of the 3 individual cells while charging. While a small feature, when dealing with LiPO cells, its that little bit of assurance that you can actually check they are balanced instead of having to trust that they are. A nice feature when dealing with what is quite literally a small bomb stuffed in a wooden box placed inches from your face frequently. Yes I know cell phones have LiPO, and have for quite awhile, but last I checked no cell phones pulls the massive amperages we are from batteries.

Vape Quality - Let me just say this... I intend to buy a second DNA-200 chip asap, a cheaper one, something $200 or less that I don't care if I drop, gets scratches etc, a beater, because I'm done with all other chips. This has ruined the Snow Wolf LE for me and exposed all its rudimentary problems, which I didn't even know existed before owning this.

Please excuse the atty on this, it's my beater atty that was on my (now) beater Snow Wolf LE, that I had readily available with a good coil in it to test with.

Thank you for this very informative.

Have 2 DNA200 mods on the way,one for home and one for beater,but will probably use 2nd one while charging the other one! Thanks for the info but now I am stalking the mailman Happy vaping and also nice looking mod!

I have some battery endurance results.

Pulled off charger at 4.2v per cell at 624AM.
Vaped a tank (5ml) from my billow on a 0.13 ohm dual coil set to 470f and 40 watts.
Pulled the tank off at 120PM.
Put on Velocity and Vaped at 65 watts from 120PM to 330PM when the battery needed charging.

All told its quite a bit more endurance than I get from a single 18650, but certainly not as much as I get from a dual 18650 mod, as can be expected. There is one caveat though.

With the Snow Wolf LE, the eleaf sticks, and my DNA 40 mod, when the battery indicator is at about 1/2 value, the vape quality drops significantly. It just cant get up to temp properly because the battery can't keep up with the demand. The DNA-200 delivered a nice hot vape all the way till the LiPO cells hit 3.66 volts per cell, when I plugged it in. The bar looks to be empty when the battery hits 3.6 volts, right where it should be for a LiPO setup, so quite happy with that.

I have a Hana Modz V200 and love it to death. I agree with all of the above. My only complaint is battery life. I'm waiting for a dna 200 mod with exceptional battery life. I've seen there is one coming out with an equivalent of 5 or 6000 mah. That would be nice. I don't think 2 18650s is enuff with you consider it's very active temp control, preheat ability and 200 watt/joules ability.

Just completes my first DNA 200/133 yesterday after botching the first display, it had to happen some day I guess. It's a pretty tight build but makes for quick easy battery changes. I have two more prints coming and plan on doing a complete video build, more likely videos anyway.

I was helping someone with button actuator measurements and dinked up the epoxy paint on a couple buttons, good enough for me I'm going to vape it like I stole it anyway.

@Podunk Steam i was thinking about ordering one of the boxer 133, how do you like it so far any issues with it?

Wouldn't be good to not be honest, I'm a co-designer of the Bootlegger DNA 200. It's a Blender hack of the Evolv IGES print files they have put out and our Bootlegger design that I put together.

Clearing the air of that, I like it a lot being as unbiased as I'd prefer someone else to be. The doors are attached unlike the Boxer so they're less likely to get lost or fall off. The Boxer may be an easier build although I haven't built one. There are a few tight fitments with the Bootlegger so I'm considering it a semi-advanced build. It's really just a matter of thinking ahead and soldering wires to the right side of contacts, getting the charging systems wires equal lengths, cutting the U shaped tabs under the 209 battery contacts off so they slide in place easier, putting a bend on the 209s so opening and closing the doors is easier, a few fitment preemptive will go a long ways in building the Bootlegger. Really just a lot of common sense electrical things as well as watching the space allotted.
The rounded edges are comfortable in the hand, ambidextrous thumb fire always has the display facing the vaper, the buttons are semi protected with the hinges protruding, battery changes are about the quickest of any mod I've used, flip the doors open pour the batteries out and replace with fresh ones. I don't know the exact size of the Boxer but I've built similar and think the Bootlegger is a little larger in height and width although flatter and maybe more pocket friendly because of its shape, again as unbiased as I'd want someone to be with me.
As far as the DNA 200 in 133 watt mode, it rocks, it's no first run DNA 40 by any means, they nailed it and it's getting better all the time with firmware upgrades and suggestions from builders.


Edit: I haven't built a Lipo pack 200 yet but if Watt Hours are figured as really should be done when looking at battery life a couple 25Rs are doing a decent margin better than a 1000 mah Lipo pack.

Podunk Steam said:

Wouldn't be good to not be honest, I'm a co-designer of the Bootlegger DNA 200. It's a Blender hack of the Evolv IGES print files they have put out and our Bootlegger design that I put together.

Clearing the air of that, I like it a lot being as unbiased as I'd prefer someone else to be. The doors are attached unlike the Boxer so they're less likely to get lost or fall off. The Boxer may be an easier build although I haven't built one. There are a few tight fitments with the Bootlegger so I'm considering it a semi-advanced build. It's really just a matter of thinking ahead and soldering wires to the right side of contacts, getting the charging systems wires equal lengths, cutting the U shaped tabs under the 209 battery connectors off so they slide in place easier, putting a bend on the 209s so opening and closing the doors is easier, a few fitment preemptive will go a long ways in building the Bootlgger. Really just a lot of common sense electrical things as well as watching the space allotted.
The rounded edges are comfortable in the hand, ambidextrous thumb fire always has the display facing the vaper, the buttons are semi protected with the hinges protruding, battery changes are about the quickest of any mod I've used, flip the doors open pour the batteries out and replace with fresh ones. I don't know the exact size of the Boxer but I've built similar and think the Bootlegger is a little larger in height and width although flatter and maybe more pocket friendly,, again as unbiased as I'd want someone to be with me.
As far as the DNA 200 in 133 watt mode, it rocks, it's no first run DNA 40 by any means, they nailed it and it's getting better all the time with firmware upgrades and suggestions from builders.

Click to expand...

thanks I'm really liking the way the boxer is looking and the design waiting on some more people to get theirs and reviews contemplating on what DNA 200 mod to get!!

I admire it as well, as I mentioned I've built similar configurations in the passed. It was an Iroko wood mod, SX350 powered, dual 18650 with brass end caps.

Edit: Had a spring loaded 510 back when manufactures using them was not heard of or at least very rare.