Coilart Lux200 Kit Review by KingPin!

[KingPin!]

Hi Folks,

To my knowledge this is the second regulated mod to come from the CoilART camp. They switched things up a bit from the Mage 217 box mod by incorporating a new chipset named “Eagle”, which I’m told is proprietary. In addition they got a lending hand from an Italian fashion designer ‘Aligheri Petraca’ to give it some visual flair…..well, there you go fashion designers working in the vape industry is now a thing…..next it'll be: “Get your glitzy mod from Jimmy Choo”…. actually I bet this would go down well with some.

So without further ado …CoilArt kindly sent me the LUX200 Kit for the once over. As usual with any of my kit reviews I’ll go over the tank first, then the mod.



I don’t like to make recommendations in my reviews instead I’ll share my findings to bolster your research should you be interested in the product.

(Please note: photos appear normal size when logged in)

What’s in the box?

• 1 x CoilART LUX200 Mod
• 1 x LUX mesh subohm tank
• 1 x Spare bubble glass
• 1 x M1 0.15 (mesh coil 50-90W)
• 1 x M4 0.15 (mesh coil 80-150w)
• 1 x spare O-rings
• 1 x USB Firmware/Charging Cable
• 1 x User Manual

Product Information: http://www.coilart.net/lux-200-kit
Available Colours: Black, Red, Blue, Green, and White available

Part 1 - The Lux Subohm Tank

Tank Specifications

• Height 49.4mm (with drip tip)
• Diameter 24mm (25mm from the Airflow, and 30mm at the widest point on the glass)
• Thread Length: 5.3mm
• Airflow: Two adjustable (each 14mm x 3.2mm)
• Filling: Top fill – 2 kidney ports (12mm x 2.9mm)
• Capacity 5.5ml bubble glass
• Weight: 58g (with juice and coil)
• Materials in construction: Stainless Steel (SS)304, Pyrex Glass, Resin
• Drip Tip: Resin (Visible Height: 7.2mm, diameter at the tip : 17mm, Tapered Bore 8mm up to 12.5mm)
• Positive Pin: Gold plated SS304

Build Quality and Impressions

The kit I’m reviewing was meant for the American consumer base, meaning the spare glass included is an additional 5.5ml bubble instead of the TPD straight option you’ll get in Europe. It comes with everything to get you started including a couple of different mesh coil types. It’s worth noting both coil options are going to give you a lung full which some vapers might find a bit overwhelming.

The Lux tank is compatible with Smoks TFV12 coil range (according to CoilArt) so that makes it highly accessible when finding spares should you have trouble finding their own coils.

CoilArt markets the finish on the tank as “faux marble” …that’s exactly what I’d expect a fashion designer to say! ….no….it’s plastic, let’s not beat around the bush here. They also say its resin but I’m not sure on that, it feels soft on the surface and has that acrylic smell to it, so I believe it’s not really resin either. Either way to me there’s something about the presentation that’s amiss, personally I think it’s the top cap because other resin type tanks pull it off ok.



There’s definitely a trade-off with form over function because the top cap makes the tank look unnecessarily large, especially with the squished bubble tank. On the flip side it does provide a larger area for grip, combined with the short threads under the cap just makes for a hassle free quick refill experience. Plus it provides very good heat protection using higher wattages…regardless I just think they could have paid more attention to this eye catching area blacken it out, colour match better….lower it …something.

The fit and finish is good, except the drip tip which was really tight to get out to begin with, although it loosens up fine after use...actually I found I had to wipe excess juice pooling underneath it every now and then. There’s O-rings on the tip itself and inside the cap where it fits, meaning unfortunately this tank it not compatible with standard 810 drip tips, although you may find Smok tips work ok. Fortunately the stock tip suits the tank really well especially using the larger M4 coil although some might find its overall diameter a little wide at 17mm.



Removing the cap reveals two smaller kidney shaped refill ports (each 12mm x 2.9mm in size). I did need to be a little careful getting juice in the tank using twist top nozzles by tilting it, otherwise it was fine. I didn’t worry about closing the AFC during refilling and it didn’t seem to care about that with any leaking issues…in fact this tank was bone dry during my month of testing, I didn’t even get any sort of condensation seeping around the AFC which is a big pro in my book.



The chimney section screws on top of the coil directly leaving it more akin to the type of chimney you’ll find on the Aspire Clieto tank (where there’s no chamber dome above the coil), it’s quite handy on this tank because you can check your cotton and make the call when it’s time to swap them out as you go.



The tank is 25mm at its base, however the bubble glass takes it out to a hefty 30mm, and with the mod being narrow the tank overhangs. Careful knocking it over as it will take the full force of the impact….it’s well worth putting a vape band around it, actually CoilART this is something I’d like to have seen you include in the pack for this.

The tank breaks down into 6 pieces, you get two massive 14mm x 3.5mm airflow slots with an adjustable Airflow Control (AFC) ring. It’s not a press fit design so you cannot remove it which helps with a non-leaky base (one of my pet hates). I’m not a huge fan of the amount of airflow this tank has though, even at 120W. I only have to set the AFC slightly open, I’m guessing they added it just in case someone grabs hold of one of the 150 Watt+ Smok coils.

The coil, when screwed in, will sit on top of a gold plated positive pin. It’s possible to pull the pin out from the bottom even after the coil is screwed in which is a bit pants, I don’t like this floating pin design approach, as they rely on the user securing the coil in tight, can create problems with readings on the mod, and only contact a tiny part of the coils base.




There’s a black gasket acting as both an insulator and seal at the end of the coils, I expect this part to be sitting flat with no wires poking out, and in this regard these coils were spot on, as to whether this is the case for aftermarket purchases I can’t say, but these were good and the coils were perfectly packed with cotton..

 

[KingPin!]

How’s it Vape?

This is where the tank comes into its own, very good as far as sub ohms go. The Lux kit comes with two mesh coils (both 0.15 ohm). The M1 is a single mesh sheet rated between 50-90W (best 60-80W), and the M4 coil has 4 smaller mesh sheets rated between 80-150W (best between 100-120W)…it’s worth noting you will lose some tank capacity running the M4 (their way of getting around TPD).



I found the stated resistance to be accurate on both (+/- 0.02 ohm Variance from stated); and the coil break in time (to get rid of that horrible cotton taste after a good priming) to be approx.8ml worth for each coil.

As with other mesh coils I had to put a good 15ml of juice through both coils before I was able to push the wattage past the declared base level, otherwise I was getting a burnt taste…I found it best to go easy breaking these type of coils in and they’ll last longer.

Both coils were very accurate with their stated wattage ranges, not just the best rating but the whole lot, top marks there CoilART.

I didn’t have a problem with wicking on either coil using 70/30 juice. I found flavour transfer really quick, just vape it down to near empty and literally within 5 or so pulls you have the new flavour on tap. The vape is moist and vapour production plentiful. On top of that the draw isn’t too loud either (with a reduced airflow setting).


I settled on 120W for the M4 coil, and it lasted just into the third week which I think is great. Both flavour and vapour production was one of the best I’ve tried from a sub ohm and it handled both bakery and fruity flavours well.


I settled on 84W for the M1 coil, and it lasted well for 2 weeks and it’s still going as I drop this review….again great news, bear in mind with both of these I make my own juice though, commercial juices are usually a lot sweeter which can crush coils quickly.


The winner for me was probably the M4 ohm coil, it fared well, produced great flavour, was slightly tighter on the draw…it’s just a great coil. Whilst the M1 coil was no slouch either it does benefit from saving on battery life with the lower wattage requirement, and it’s smaller so you get more tank capacity by a good ml or more.


Tank Pro’s

• Great Flavour and Cloud production for a sub ohm with both coils
• Fast flavour transfer (when changing juices)
• Decent capacity (with the bubble)
• Compatible with all the Smok TFV12 beast coil size options
• No Leaking (didn’t even get condensation)
• Doesn’t get too hot to vape on even at 120W chain vaping
• [personal] Drip tip is comfortable to use
• Accurate coil wattage range and stated resistance was within tolerance (+/- 0.2 ohms)
• [personal] much prefer the M4 coil, it’s a gooden…
• Quick threaded top cap
• Draw is smooth and not too loud
• Great coil assembly (out of the box) no issues with insulators or packing
• Non press fitted AFC

Tank Cons

• Huge unnecessary airflow
• [personal] styling leaves a lot to be desired
• Drip tip is not a standard 810
• Refilling holes could be a bit bigger
• Positive pin design could be better
• Materials used are a bit cheapy, not sure they are actually resin.

Flow Pro Tank - Final Conclusion

Bit of a strange one this one, I deeply dislike the tank in terms of how it sits on the mod as an ugly sister…but I can’t deny performance wise it ticks a lot of boxes and goes about it business really well. If (or rather when) CoilART bring out a new kit, in my opinion they should keep the formula but change the materials and aesthetics somewhat…even it’s just that top cap.

.....onto the mod

 

[KingPin!]

Part 2 - The LUX 200 Box Mod


Manufacturer Specs

• Eagle chipset
• Firing Speed 0.005s
• Size: 53.5mm(L) X 25mm(W) X 89mm(H)
• Batteries: Takes 2 x 18650
• Display: OLED (27mm x 16mm)
• Weight 260g (with 2 cells loaded)
• Output range: 5 – 200W
• Output modes: VW (Min, Normal, Max)/ VW Custom / Temp (Ni, Ti, SS)
• Resistance range: 0.05 – 3 Ohm
• Temperature control: 95 – 315°C / 200 – 600°F
• Voltage output – 6.3 - 8.4V
• Charging Rate: 1.5A
• 510 connector
• Pass-through available
• Firmware upgradeable (not at time of this review though)
• Reverse Polarity protection/ Over-heating protection/ Low voltage protection/ Overload Protection /Short-circuit protection/ Over-time protection/ No Device protection / Over- Discharge Protection

Product Information: http://www.coilart.net/lux-200-kit
Available Colours: Black, Red, Blue, Green, and White available

Impressions, Build Quality

Let’s kick off with form factor, to me this plays a large part of the overall success of a mod and I feel the Lux falls short. I never did review the Mage 217, but the DPro 133 was really comfortable to hold and use. I personally don’t mind a boxy shape, but CoilART left the edges on the Lux pretty square……this unfortunately means it’s only ok to hold in a thumb fire position where the edges sit in the creases of my fingers, and I rest my pinkie finger under the base. When I hold it in a finger fire position the edges dig into the palm of my hand, and over a period of time I really start to notice it...so thumb fire only it is




The fire button is large and easy to engage, thankfully you don’t need to press it too hard which would further enhance the above paragraph...it provides great feedback and clicks in and out thanks to the metal diaphragm sitting under the actuator. The same is true of the up and down button as well.

When I stripped the mod down to take a look there’s rubber frames around the buttons, but not a true seal cover which does leave the mod susceptible to leaking in these zones. In addition I cannot see any sort of waterproof coating over the board which would have negated this potential issue, so it’s worth watching for leaks due to a tanks location on this one.



While I’m under the hood I can see they used a similar two part 510 assembly that I saw on the DPro 133. The Lux assembly is improved as it’s not a press fit, rather the top plate is screwed to the frame and won’t shift. My main concern would be leaking in a “what if scenario”….if you push down on the positive pin; juice could work its way internally a lot more easily than a sealed unit. Having said that they have used an O-Ring under the plate itself so it better guarded than a lot I’ve seen around the plate edges. …so this paragraph is more for you to research into its assembly approach rather than me experiencing any issues.



The gold plated positive pin inside the plate sits at a depth of 3.75mm and will push down to about 4.6mm which covers a large number of thread lengths I’ve seen so far. It reads resistances accurately within +/-0.02 ohms, and the board assembly is very tidy.



The mod will seat 25mm atomisers flush without overhang. The 510 plate is 18.5mm in diameter and sits flush with the box, so to avoid damage on the paintwork its worth looking into a disc protector.

It has a full zinc alloy frame, buttons and battery cover so there is a bit of bulk to it at 260g when two batteries are loaded, in fact with the lux sub tank on top it comes out to 318g which puts close to the “heavyweight” category. Personally I like a bit of weight to my mod so this aspect doesn’t bother me.

The door panels incorporate different layers….First is the back layer which is similar to the magnetic material you’ll find on a fridge magnet, this should also give you an idea of how strong it attracts to the magnets on the frame…i.e. there is a light attraction although the doors do snap back in ok. Then they reverse printed the colour image direct onto a glass sheet which is cured in seconds under UV light, after which another layer of glass is added effectively sandwiching it between two pieces of glass before its hardened and stuck to the backing.




……It’s a nice idea and does mean the print image is repeatable for everyone, rather than the random resin patterns you might get from others out there, also it’s not a finger print magnet. I guess my concern would be longevity…firstly the panel backing becoming unstuck, secondly accidentally dropping and cracking the panel.

Unfortunately during the cutting process they left the doors a fraction undersized for the frame, so both sides wobble up and down. It’s not “too” noticeable while the mod is gripped and in use, but annoying all the same.



In the month using it before this review I managed to dink the paintwork a few times along the edge and button, nothing major like peeling, flaking or fading going on but it’s not as hard wearing as the paint was on the DPro.

The OLED screen is nice and bright even in daylight. It looks very similar to the screen layout seen on the GeekVape Aegis legend except it sports the classic blue colour hue. When it comes to navigation and user interface everything can be done through a series of clicks (with or without holding up/down button).

Battery markings are clear which is good to see and reverse polarity works (I tried all combinations), as does the 10 second continuous cut out. There is no ribbon to help you remove the batteries from the spring loaded connectors, so unless you have nails you will need to remove both doors to push them free.

 

[KingPin!]

Navigation

• Click “Fire Button” 5 times = Turn mod on/off
• Hold up/down = lock up down buttons (note it still fires)
• Click Fire Button 3 times = To cycle through modes
• Click up or down = move up of down whilst in a menu area
• Click Fire Button 1 time = whilst in menu select option
• Hold Fire button = fire

When in power mode

• Click “Fire” button 4 times = open menu to select Weak, Normal, Strong, *Custom
• Adjusts Wattage

*Custom means you can set the wattage level every second for 10 seconds

When in TC Mode

• When entering TC mode = press up for new coil, down for old coil
• Click “Fire” button 4 times = activates pre heat wattage (press up and down to select then hit fire button to confirm)
• Hold up or down = adjusts temperature

*For most people you’ll want to keep cycling the menu until you see SS (stainless steel) at the top.

Connecting a USB Cable

• Press Up/Down = Select “Charge” or “Update”

*Don’t lose the cable it comes with for data transfer update you’ll need it


Power Mode

The Lux’s best feature is its responsiveness and grunt in power mode. Bear in mind from cold heating up 4 individual coils can take a while (i.e. the M4 coil)…but press the go button and your away, it’s instant on and ramp up performance is impressive on just the normal setting, it’s pretty beastly on strong.

I like both Aspire and Smoant chipsets in the affordable bracket, for me they are tried and tested and I’ve never had problems with either (granted I’ve not tried the gene chip yet from Voopoo) but this has more grunt than either of them using stock firmware…The Eagle chipset has definitely got some mojo in power mode.

Overall I feel the wattage range is accurate up to at least 120W which is the limit of where I like to vape….you’ll need the reviewers with the oscilloscopes to confirm for sure.

Battery life seems to be pretty decent as well with cut out equal across both cells at 3.3V.

Honestly I didn’t even bother using the custom power curves because I was really happy with the way it responded in simple modes.

You cycle through 0.5W increments when clicking up to 100W, otherwise when holding or above 100W it cycles through quickly in 1W increments. It will cycle round when you reach the end by giving the fire button a single click

One thing I do notice which is slightly irritating, is the mod changes the wattage setting back to an auto detection setting every time you change batteries. It’s not the end of the world but this is the sort of fine tuning they’ll get with later editions of the chipset or firmware updates.

While on the topic of firmware update, CoilART doesn’t have any sort of link on their site yet so this review is based on stock.


Temp Control (TC)

TC on the LUX is a simple affair …it does it for you (at the time of this review on stock firmware), yep there is no TCR setting to fine tune it, so it either works or it doesn’t

Again I’m impressed especially for an auto detection. I always use SS316L fused claptons for TC and the only thing I have to worry about is setting my pre-heat wattage or temperature….just like the wattage mode this is super user friendly

And the good news is it actually works ok, it’s not as accurate as the Smoant or Aspire chips but it’s not half bad, I’m sure they’ll polish it a little as they go (especially once they change that 510 assembly out!).

I was able to get a decent TC vape out of my coils once I raised the temp to about 470.F (normally I put it between 430 -450) so I reckon its about 30.F out at present….but it cuts off at temp and doesn’t wobble on the draw.

I did note that Kanthal does not kick me out of TC at present this is something CoilART could address as well.


Charging and Batteries

Very impressed in this area – dead even charge and discharge across both cells… low cut off was 3.3V and charging cut off was bang on 4.2V on both cells it takes approx. 3 hours to charge fully from cut out.

The mod warms a little around the USB but I noticed the mod, stop/starting to control its cycle and internal board heat….when it’s complete it turns itself off.

N.B. I still prefer to charge my batteries externally, and never leave them charging unattended overnight.


Pros

• Power mode has punch and its bloody fast firing
• TC mode considering its automatic works pretty well enough.
• Fire button is large very responsive anywhere you press
• Menu is simple to understand (although you will need to remember no. clicks for features)
• Solid frame construction
• 510 will accommodate “most” atomisers pin range between 3.75 – 4.6mm
• Helpful Manual
• Big Screen and clear picture quality / brightness
• Decent Cut-off (3.3V) don’t notice much power loss right until low battery
• Easy to get battery’s in and out (although would prefer a ribbon)
• Future firmware upgradable (apparently)
• Very accurate discharge and charge across both cells
• [personal] Nice styling visually

Cons

• Shape of the mod, the edges need rounding its uncomfortable.
• 510 assembly – is not a single sealed unit
• Button areas aren’t guarded against leaking
• Doors both wobble
• Magnets aren’t the strongest due to backing material of the door
• Doors susceptible to cracking if dropped or peeling away from the backing
• Need to remove both doors to change batteries unless you have nails
• Wattage resets when you swap batteries out (could be fixed in firmware update)
• Paintwork damage in a few spots during normal daily use before this review drop
• Temp Control seems a little on the low side (out by 30.F or so)
• Fairly narrow 25mm before tank overhang

Final Conclusion

There are elements I really like about the Lux (chipset being one of them), also how easy it is to just plug and play, thinking on the kit as a whole the same rang true on the atomiser as well ….so performance wise I like the Lux kit

But I do think there are some ergonomic and finishing areas that could be greatly improved to give the mod a nicer feel, I’d also like to see CoilART dump that 510 assembly and go with a higher quality sealed unit.



Thank you for reading my review. I hope you find the information useful, until next time KingPin!