SirRichardRear
AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Eleaf iStick Mix Mod. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is not marked as a sample.
Introduction:
The Eleaf iStick Mix mod is the latest mod from long time vape manufacturer Eleaf. For anyone who isn’t aware, they are a sub brand of Joyetech (along with wismec as well) so have been around many years most famous for their line of pico mods. I’ve reviewed a ton of their stuff over the past 2 years and they are pretty hit and miss but usually do a good job with the smaller beginner mods like the pico, but outside of that need to put some work in on their mods and tanks/coils to improve. The Mix is a dual 18650 battery mod rated at 160 watts. It’s available in 5 colors Heelwitch, Seabed Snaker, Skyline Numen, Glary Knight, and Wind Ninja. Looking around online I see the mod for around 40-50 USD out of china and pre-order only.
Manufacturer's Specs:
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this mod it felt a bit like deju vu. Looking at the design it’s extremely similar to the drag 2 or famovape magma mods complete with the resin panel. Like the dragy and unlike the magma though it has a panel on only 1 side and the other side is an IML panel that has a same color scheme but different. That felt odd to me, other then that it reminded me a bit of the yostar livpor mod form 3 years ago so kind of a love chile between the yostar livpor and the famovape magma. Seemed like just another decent dual 18650 mod.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .13, .13, .21, and .68 ohms. wattage points were max (160), 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .13 ohms it maxed out at 129 watts and 32 amps. For the rest of the testing it struggled quite a bit which isn’t uncommon but not the norm either. At 100+ it was 18 watts low and under 100 3-13 watts low, so not great but usable under 100 watts for sure. At .16 it maxed out at 140 watts. The rest of the testing here again a bit of a struggle, at over 100 watts it was 10 watts low under 100 3-9 watts low. For the .21 test it maxed out at 154 watts. For the rest of the tests only slightly low by 3 watts except at 25 where it was on point. For the .61 testing it maxed out at 77 watts and 7.258 volts. Also worth noting due to the pre-programmed 8V limit in the mod it would only allow me to set it as high as 94.1 watts but it didn’t reach that volt limit either. For the rest of the testing it was a little 1-2 watts except at 25 where it was on point. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod like most dual battery mods which isn’t a big deal as it’s not needed, but nice when they have one.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was decent at best. It performs its best above .2 ohms and hits weak across the board although once you get to .2 ohms or more it’s very slight and good enough. The 7.258 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit but not needed here. Their manual doesn’t list a voltage limit but the chip is programmed to stop at 8V which is plausible and close enough, they don’t list an amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. On this mod and the most amps i got was 32 with a .13 ohm coil which is pretty low for a dual 18650 mod. Average these days is around 40ish give or take a couple. It’s been a long time since i tested one that was under 35 amps. The most volts i got is 7.258 which is again pretty average for a non boost dual battery mod. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 160 watts, 7.5V and 32A. So overall just ok performer and close enough ratings.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is just decent overall. Close enough rated for watts (154), No boost circuit but not required, really low amp limit of 32. Hits a little weak mostly especially at lower resistances and 100 or more watts
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode, i’ll keep this pretty short and sweet. I think at this point we all know the answer and that they are going to ignore this anyway so it’s whatever but not good for TC. If you wanted the details i used 5 builds 2 simple round single coil and 2 fancy single coil and 1 fancy dual coil. Mod runs a little hot needing about 370-410F for a warm vape so about 40-80F hot. That’s not the big deal, the big deal is that it’s badly inconsistent and i have to keep fiddling with the temp to get the same vape i had. Dry burn protection is iffy at best and the throttle back is very pulsey and pulls back way to hard. Just not a good vape at all. Eleaf (and their associated brands) are hopping on the “naming your chip bandwagon” with these avatar controls chips and they just really aren’t good chips and not sure if it’s a company they own (as they also include avatar controls batteries as well in some kits) or just one they purchase from, but it’s time to look for a new chip manufacturer if they want to continue to compete.
Introduction:
The Eleaf iStick Mix mod is the latest mod from long time vape manufacturer Eleaf. For anyone who isn’t aware, they are a sub brand of Joyetech (along with wismec as well) so have been around many years most famous for their line of pico mods. I’ve reviewed a ton of their stuff over the past 2 years and they are pretty hit and miss but usually do a good job with the smaller beginner mods like the pico, but outside of that need to put some work in on their mods and tanks/coils to improve. The Mix is a dual 18650 battery mod rated at 160 watts. It’s available in 5 colors Heelwitch, Seabed Snaker, Skyline Numen, Glary Knight, and Wind Ninja. Looking around online I see the mod for around 40-50 USD out of china and pre-order only.
Manufacturer's Specs:
- Colors: Hell Witch, Seabed Snaker, Skyline Numen, Glary Knight, Wind Ninja
- Size: 83 x 52 x 27mm
- Powered By Dual 18650 High-Rate Batteries(Sold Separately)
- 160W Max Output Wattage
- Resistance Range: 0.1-3.0ohm(VW/Bypass) / 0.05-1.0ohm(TC)
- Working Modes: VW, Bypass, TC-NI, TC-TI, TC-SS, TC-M1, TC-M2, TC-M3
- Distinctive In Molding Label Technology
- Built-in Stable Avatar Chipset
- Exclusive Resin Panels
- 0.96Inch OLED Display
- Over-Charge Protection
- Over-Discharge Protection
- Over-Current Protection
- Over 10S Protection
- Short Circuit Protection
- Reverse Polarity Protection
- 2.5A Quick Balanced Charge System
- Type C Port For Fast Charging & Firmware Upgrading
- 1 x iStick Mix TC Box Mod
- 1 x QC 3.0 USB Cable
- 1 x User Manual
album
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this mod it felt a bit like deju vu. Looking at the design it’s extremely similar to the drag 2 or famovape magma mods complete with the resin panel. Like the dragy and unlike the magma though it has a panel on only 1 side and the other side is an IML panel that has a same color scheme but different. That felt odd to me, other then that it reminded me a bit of the yostar livpor mod form 3 years ago so kind of a love chile between the yostar livpor and the famovape magma. Seemed like just another decent dual 18650 mod.
Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .13, .13, .21, and .68 ohms. wattage points were max (160), 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .13 ohms it maxed out at 129 watts and 32 amps. For the rest of the testing it struggled quite a bit which isn’t uncommon but not the norm either. At 100+ it was 18 watts low and under 100 3-13 watts low, so not great but usable under 100 watts for sure. At .16 it maxed out at 140 watts. The rest of the testing here again a bit of a struggle, at over 100 watts it was 10 watts low under 100 3-9 watts low. For the .21 test it maxed out at 154 watts. For the rest of the tests only slightly low by 3 watts except at 25 where it was on point. For the .61 testing it maxed out at 77 watts and 7.258 volts. Also worth noting due to the pre-programmed 8V limit in the mod it would only allow me to set it as high as 94.1 watts but it didn’t reach that volt limit either. For the rest of the testing it was a little 1-2 watts except at 25 where it was on point. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod like most dual battery mods which isn’t a big deal as it’s not needed, but nice when they have one.
Overall I felt the performance of this mod was decent at best. It performs its best above .2 ohms and hits weak across the board although once you get to .2 ohms or more it’s very slight and good enough. The 7.258 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit but not needed here. Their manual doesn’t list a voltage limit but the chip is programmed to stop at 8V which is plausible and close enough, they don’t list an amp limit and I wish they would list all 3 personally. On this mod and the most amps i got was 32 with a .13 ohm coil which is pretty low for a dual 18650 mod. Average these days is around 40ish give or take a couple. It’s been a long time since i tested one that was under 35 amps. The most volts i got is 7.258 which is again pretty average for a non boost dual battery mod. Personally If i was listing the specs I’d call the mod 160 watts, 7.5V and 32A. So overall just ok performer and close enough ratings.
Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is just decent overall. Close enough rated for watts (154), No boost circuit but not required, really low amp limit of 32. Hits a little weak mostly especially at lower resistances and 100 or more watts
Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and SS mode, i’ll keep this pretty short and sweet. I think at this point we all know the answer and that they are going to ignore this anyway so it’s whatever but not good for TC. If you wanted the details i used 5 builds 2 simple round single coil and 2 fancy single coil and 1 fancy dual coil. Mod runs a little hot needing about 370-410F for a warm vape so about 40-80F hot. That’s not the big deal, the big deal is that it’s badly inconsistent and i have to keep fiddling with the temp to get the same vape i had. Dry burn protection is iffy at best and the throttle back is very pulsey and pulls back way to hard. Just not a good vape at all. Eleaf (and their associated brands) are hopping on the “naming your chip bandwagon” with these avatar controls chips and they just really aren’t good chips and not sure if it’s a company they own (as they also include avatar controls batteries as well in some kits) or just one they purchase from, but it’s time to look for a new chip manufacturer if they want to continue to compete.