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I haven't had luck with Smok, are their latest stuff worth looking at

Boyblue

Member For 3 Years
I've owned a couple Smok mods and a few tanks. My Alien lasted 6 months and the Procolor had a bad door almost from the beginning. Combine that with the fact that their coils didn't last and flavor was lacking, so I haven't bought a Smok product in a couple years.

Now that I'm looking for another mod I'm tempted to give Smok another shot, basically because they're well supported in my neck of the woods and their mods do look impressive. I guess my questions are:
  • Has Smok had quality control issues or was that just me?
  • Do their mods perform as nicely as they look?
  • Have they found a way to make a coil that last longer than a week?
  • Are Smok tanks strictly for cloud chasers or is flavor in the mix?
 

vuJim

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
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I don't know about any of their other stuff, but the Smok Mag P3 is a rockin' mod.
 

N0rmski

Member For 4 Years
I used lots of Smok products when I started and had no issues with them at all. I use high end mechs mostly now and a few high end regulated devices. So no recent experience with their stuff, but like I say when I used them for the money I thought they made a good product

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MrMeowgi

The Vapin' Drummer
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I'd say with any manufacturer it's hit or miss . Smok tanks I tried sucked. Bought a Smok D barrel and the battery door was messed up from the start. Still works so not worth the hassle to send it back as I only paid $20 on sale for it.
 

~Don~

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Some mods and manufacturers are built better than others, also how one treats said devices plays a part in their longevity.

Smok isn’t something I consider well made, and you get what you pay for.

There are mods out there that are designed with abuse in mind; Aegis line as an example.

But every mainstream manufacturer will have something that doesn’t hold up, or isn’t quite what was promised in their promotion.

Regulated mods have a tactile life expectancy (button presses) this is one of their weakest points... it can be 20,000 presses, it can be 250,000 at some point that button will fail.

Same goes for battery doors with hinges, that latch or hinge is built to a specification, what that limit is who knows, but more times than not... it’s a point of failure too.

Then there is how well a mod is resistant to messes, leaky tanks, over dripping... not many are sealed and resistant to spillages or slop.

Like I said, the Aegis line is probably the only one (at least that I can think of) that took these things into consideration.


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Wb80

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Ive only had 1 smok product. A v9 max. It worked ok 4 me. I sold it to a guy at work who had nothing but issues with it.
Regardless i was happy to see it go and odds are will not purchase smok again
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I have several Smok mods, including a thoroughly chewed up 2 and a half year old Procolor that I still use. I have had no more issues with their stuff than I have with some others. That said, there's a lot of good stuff on the market today from numerous companies.

Did you have a particular Smok model in mind?
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
BTW, if you're looking for a lower power mtl setup, forget about a Smok box mod kit. Actually forget about a box mod kit altogether. Subohm tanks start at very loose mtl and go up to cloud chasing wide open from there.

Actually, lets start here. What ARE you looking for? :) How do you like to vape?
 
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gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Bought a Smok D barrel and the battery door was messed up from the start.
I meant to ask you about this when you first brought it up a while back. What was the matter with your door? I've had 4 of those things. Gave 2 away and still have 2. Typical mediocre Smok door, but I haven't had any actual problems. I'm just honestly curious.
 

MrMeowgi

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I meant to ask you about this when you first brought it up a while back. What was the matter with your door? I've had 4 of those things. Gave 2 away and still have 2. Typical mediocre Smok door, but I haven't had any actual problems. I'm just honestly curious.
It doesn't make contact at first if you simply shut the door. You almost have to do it fast with a little force. Sometimes multiple times. It does come on. I kept it because 8vape didn't get back to me except to say my open ticket was closed. And I only paid 20 bucks for it. Spend more on worse so figured ehh
 

gsmit1

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Member For 4 Years
It doesn't make contact at first if you simply shut the door. You almost have to do it fast with a little force. Sometimes multiple times. It does come on. I kept it because 8vape didn't get back to me except to say my open ticket was closed. And I only paid 20 bucks for it. Spend more on worse so figured ehh
Aha. I'll see if I can take one of mine apart see what might be causing that. I bet it's an easy fix. .
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
It doesn't make contact at first if you simply shut the door. You almost have to do it fast with a little force. Sometimes multiple times. It does come on. I kept it because 8vape didn't get back to me except to say my open ticket was closed. And I only paid 20 bucks for it. Spend more on worse so figured ehh
I don't wanna hijack this guy's thread too badly, but it stays on once it turns on?
 

MrMeowgi

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I don't wanna hijack this guy's thread too badly, but it stays on once it turns on?
It does. Until I take the batteries out. Powers on even if turning off. Just when you break connection. This may be a good convo for his thread. Asking if smok is still trash. Some have better luck than others.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
It does. Until I take the batteries out. Powers on even if turning off. Just when you break connection. This may be a good convo for his thread. Asking if smok is still trash. Some have better luck than others.
That's far out.
Regulated mods are wired in series (mostly) so the contact in the battery door is just a bridge between the batteries and the middle contact that sends data to the board.

There's a little spring loaded pin near the hinge for the door in between the battery compartments on the body of the mod. Mine has a stiff resistance to it as it should. Is yours by any chance loose, or the spring not very firm?
 

MyMagicMist

Diamond Contributor
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Member For 5 Years
Has Smok had quality control issues or was that just me?
Do their mods perform as nicely as they look?
Have they found a way to make a coil that last longer than a week?
Are Smok tanks strictly for cloud chasers or is flavor in the mix?

Has Smok had quality control issues or was that just me?

Their quality control has somewhat declined. I wouldn't suggest this decline is outside of normal industry parameters though. That meaning it is kind of to be expected quality control will wain after doing so much.

Do their mods perform as nicely as they look?

This is dependent and will explain this a bit further on.

Have they found a way to make a coil that last longer than a week?

Again a bit of a dependent question.

Are Smok tanks strictly for cloud chasers or is flavor in the mix?

Alright a third dependent question. I'll now try to explain this simply. The answer to these questions is subjective to the use of whatever product.

I had one mod by Smok and it never really gave me any serious issues save for after having it a bit over two years. It was well, just "nice" to me. I never thought it the greatest thing since sliced bread. These devices in my mind are things, I don't love things and so don't hold them with high opinion either. To me "does it function as stated" is a better question. Yep, the one mod of theirs I had did and those I used that others had seemed to do what the "tin says" so to speak.

I could make an old evod tank style, coil the Pro Tank universal coil assemblies last two weeks. I didn't use sweet juices, or VG heavy ones. Rinsing off a coil and putting in fresh wick often did the trick. I also got started on learning to rebuild on these despite the drudgery I found it to be.

I can get a happy medium using max Vg and a little PG with flavorings using my own DIY mixed, or just unflavored juice. By that I mean I get modest clouds but decent flavor ROI too. It comes down to your juice, your coil, your air, your wick and you see how the plethora of variables keeps coming to play. So ultimately this is what I mean by these questions being dependent. It depends on how you use things, and depends on your perspective of things. Bearing that in mind one could say these answers also rely upon subjective points of view or rather, opinions.

Opinions make questions difficult to answer as speculation is often inadvisable to offer instead of facts. Facts serve as a bit more of an objectively concrete answer. For example we can say light is white in color, but science proves it lacks any color at all yet is not black. People are seemingly adverse to facts. They rather watch the smoke (see light as white) and don't want to help build the fire (actually do the work to solve a problem, get an answer) to get smoke.

"By the by, here have an opinion, they're free." :)
 
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nadalama

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I have quite a few Smok tanks now, but only one mod, and it's a super-cheap one. Got a G80 kit from Breazy for about $15 Christmas before last. It's very no-frills, a single-18650 80W (I think) mod with a black screen with white lettering. I bought a $10 wrap for it as soon as I got it, because I know how crappy some of Smok's finishes can be. I used that mod some and it worked fine, but frankly, there isn't much to break. It's a very basic design but does work well within its own design parameters.

It came with a Smok Spirals tank, and I bought the single-coil RBA for that tank. I loved it with the RBA. After that I bought a Spirals Plus, which came with the RBA. Loved that one as well. Then I bought a couple of Prince tanks that came with RBAs. I later PIF'd these because I couldn't get them to not leak. Bought several X-Baby tanks and the RBAs for them. I used them and they're ok, but flavor isn't great. Bought a couple of Resa Prince tanks and put an RBA in one and a Q4 coil in the other. They both vape really well and I've used them a lot lately. The Q4 coil has held up very well at about 60W. I do have to fill them with airflow closed and then invert them to open airflow, or they will leak.

Also have a Smok TF-RTA with a Q2 deck, a Smok TFV-16, a Smok RSBT RTA. The TF-RTA is an old-style tank, but it's a vaping beast that goes through juice like it's going out of style. The TFV-16 is just unremarkable imo, and I have yet to spend much time with the RSBT, so I'll reserve comment on it.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
To me "does it function as stated" is a better question.
It's a very basic design but does work well within its own design parameters.

To me this the key.

Is a device what it it "says" it is? Is it what it's trying to be?

The Moonbox is about the cheapest chintziest, low end piece of thin pressed aluminum and molded plastic one can think of. BUT, that's what it sells itself as and it works great :D Simple VV circuit and a plastic dial. It doesn't pretend to be more than a cheapo low end toy and the price reflects that. I love it.

The question with Smok is always longevity. I don't think this issue is as simple as it is often made to appear. For more on that see HERE
 

Master Rahl

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
I have had very little luck with smok. Their devices to me have a cheap feel to them and they dont last past the first drop or 2. I have had great luck with sigelei products all the way around. Some mods still feel cheap but survive the drops that my devices are all subject to. I'm fairly hard on my devices though and I am a heavy chain vaper. Personally I would look at sigeli or wismec over a smok product everyday. I already mentioned my USV device in another thread so I dont want to sound like I'm beating a dead horse with more comments about that device. If you are overly cautious with your devices smok isnt that bad however there are better devices out there at similar costs that are sturdier and can handle more abuse in my opinion.
 

Carambrda

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Member For 5 Years
I have had very little luck with smok. Their devices to me have a cheap feel to them and they dont last past the first drop or 2. I have had great luck with sigelei products all the way around. Some mods still feel cheap but survive the drops that my devices are all subject to. I'm fairly hard on my devices though and I am a heavy chain vaper. Personally I would look at sigeli or wismec over a smok product everyday. I already mentioned my USV device in another thread so I dont want to sound like I'm beating a dead horse with more comments about that device. If you are overly cautious with your devices smok isnt that bad however there are better devices out there at similar costs that are sturdier and can handle more abuse in my opinion.
Yes, and, with the Wismec Reuleaux RX Gen3 Dual (dual 18650) mod, the RX 2 21700 (dual 21700), the RX Gen3 (triple 18650), or the RX 300 (quad 18650), you get to use the free-to-download ArcticFox firmware that you can set up by using the (also free-to-download) NFE Tools software on a Windows PC. After that, in NFE Tools you can set the Preheat Type to 'Curve' and select a power curve that you can easily customize to suit your own need, by clikcing on the Edit button. Upload the changed settings into the mod, done... it automatically scales the power curve on-the-fly for you each time when you change the wattage setting up or down on the mod so you no longer need to hook the mod up to your PC. Any and all regulated mods I've found are incompatible with ArcticFox either don't support custom power curves or don't automatically scale them with the wattage that you set on the mod so they are purely a waste of time. On a regulated mod (any regulated mod), custom power curves are the way to go if you, like me, are a high wattage DL vaper who only uses handbuilt advanced coil builds to get the absolute best flavor performance level that is possible to be pulled out of a regulated mod.

rx300.jpg build2.jpg
 
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Smigo

Gold Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Late to this party but I love the TFV16 tank with the dual mesh coils. Using it right now with a Raspberry Lemonade Bilberry mix.
Doesn't use as much juice as some percieve it to really. I like it.
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Yes, and, with the Wismec Reuleaux RX 2 Dual (dual 18650) mod, the RX 2 21700 (dual 21700), the RX Gen 3 (triple 18650), or the RX 300 (quad 18650), you get to use the free-to-download ArcticFox firmware that you can set up by using the (also free-to-download) NFE Tools software on a Windows PC. After that, in NFE Tools you can set the Preheat Type to 'Curve' and select a power curve that you can easily customize to suit your own need, by clikcing on the Edit button. Upload the changed settings into the mod, done... it automatically scales the power curve on-the-fly for you each time when you change the wattage setting up or down on the mod so you no longer need to hook the mod up to your PC. Any and all regulated mods I've found are incompatible with ArcticFox either don't support custom power curves or don't automatically scale them with the wattage that you set on the mod so they are purely a waste of time. On a regulated mod (any regulated mod), custom power curves are the way to go if you, like me, are a high wattage DL vaper who only uses handbuilt advanced coil builds to get the absolute best flavor performance level that is possible to be pulled out of a regulated mod.

View attachment 163010 View attachment 163011
WHAT'S THIS!!
A regulated mod?

I love AF btw. I have some Eleaf devices running it.
 

f1r3b1rd

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Smok is the onnly modmaker that's ever resllymacared me from a safety standpoint. It was a friends mod. He claimed he was having issues with it, so he brought it over to me to look at. I tried firing the mod and the damn thing started sparking. I took out the cells and pitched it in the trash for him.

I'm not saying all are bad. No company makes total crap and stays in business as long as they have. That said, I wouldn't buy one. There are plenty of alternatives out there in the same price range.

I've had some eleaf/wismec/joyetech products last years. They not only keep working well: but also, keep their cosmetic appearance well.
 

Carambrda

Platinum Contributor
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Member For 5 Years
WHAT'S THIS!!
A regulated mod?

I love AF btw. I have some Eleaf devices running it.
Lol yea, a regulated mod is what people use to switch from smoking to vaping, and to learn to switch to mech mods maybe after that. I managed to do both. That's why I love ArcticFox so much: I used to use it as a learning tool and to more easily switch to mech mods, as it can be used to speed up the rampup of those heavier coil builds that most vapers don't easily associate with going for a top flavor performance level. The reason why so many vapers don't make this type of logical connection about flavor is because most vapers haven't ventured into the flavorful realm of advanced coil building yet, or they don't ever plan to, when the reality is that, flavor wise, simple round wire and parallel round wire builds are first and foremost about going for (cheap) convenience, not about wanting to get the best flavor.

True flavor comes not from following TC protesters nor from following low wattage round wire potesters. Rather, it comes from a long learning process through meticulously fine-tuning all the various parameters that make up the real experience of high wattage DL on intricate builds such as SFCs, aliens, fraliens, SSFCs, or stapled helixes, and from doing fair comparisons as opposed to jumping to all sorts of ridiculous conclusions... I read through comments from people who disagree with me on this as if claiming there are no colors in a rainbow.
 

Boyblue

Member For 3 Years
Thank you guys, you have satisfied my curiosity.

My final determination...
Smok is not as bad as my experience with their devices so if something peeks my fancy I'll bite, but the reviews will have to be off the charts.
 

Carambrda

Platinum Contributor
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Member For 5 Years
Thank you guys, you have satisfied my curiosity.

My final determination...
Smok is not as bad as my experience with their devices so if something peeks my fancy I'll bite, but the reviews will have to be off the charts.
Of course Smok is not as bad as your experience with their devices. That's just because Smok is waa-aaaa-aaaaaaay worse than your experience with their devices. :p
 

Carambrda

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Member For 5 Years
LOL, Like I said the reviews will have to be great :bliss:
The vast majority of reviewers are shills... these days they are ofen called influencers. Nothing is impossible I guess, but why would Smok suddenly decide to change their marketing strategy that works? They put out mod after mod after mod, yet, as far as their mods are concerned, they show no real innovation, and no improvement in the quality. Then when a couple of Russians make a free-to-download firmware and software combination that effectively turns the RX Gen3 Dual, RX 2 21700, RX Gen3 and RX 300 into a truly innovative lineup, hardly anyone cares, because the reviewers don't.
 

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