Introduction
Apart from various versions of the Topside and Pulse from Dovpo and Vandy Vape respectively, the mainstream squonk mod market has been very quiet recently, so the addition of a new squonk mod to the market is very welcome.
Note: This review is for the mod only, not the kit that includes the Centaurus Solo RDA.
Product overview
The Centaurus BF Mod is a single 21700/20700/18650 squonk mod, with a 9.5ml proprietary squonk bottle which can be swapped out for a non-squonkable bottle for juice storage.
It’s powered by Lost Vape’s Quest chip, has a 100w max output, and has a no-leak valve designed to prevent internal leakage.
More Images are here
What do you get?
As with the Lost Vape Cyborg mod that I reviewed a while back, the Centaurus feels solid, the materials feel nice and there’s some decent weight to it.
The battery is held in place with a screw-in cap, it’s not the most convenient option, but it is the most secure method.
The placement of the screen, up/down buttons and bottle takes a little bit of time to adjust to, but at least the fire button is in the conventional location and after using it for a day or so, the bottle/screen/button locations become intuitive.
The materials and build quality feel solid, however I’m not a huge fan of using two different decorative materials – combining a leather grip with a carbon panel makes the overall design a bit fussy in my eyes – this is of course very subjective, and different with every color option.
Chipset
I enjoyed the Quest 2.0 chipset when reviewing the Lost Vape Cyborg, the three button setup takes a moment to get used to, but once you do get familiar with it, not having to ‘click three times to enter settings’ is more than worth the learning curve.
It has the usual set of features – wattage, voltage, bypass, temp control, and VPC modes, along with UI color settings, brightness, puff counter reset, etc.
The screen is a little full with battery level, resistance, puff counter, mode, profile all being displayed, however the color coding makes it easier to see the most important details.
Overall, it’s a nice chipset, it does feel very similar to the proprietary chipset that Dovpo use in the Riva 200, which makes me wonder if there’s any connection.
The extra bottle
The Centaurus Squonk mod comes with an extra bottle mounted on a sled, whereas the regular squonk bottle is exposed so it can be depressed, the extra bottle is hidden behind a solid cover. This bottle is designed so that you can use the mod with an RTA and have somewhere to store juice while out and about.
This seems like a waste of time to me. If I want to use an RTA then either I’m going to use a regular single or dual-battery mod and carry a bottle of juice with me.
I’d much rather have an extra squonk bottle, that would have been a very welcome addition to the package.
Squonking
The rectangular squonk bottle has a nice feel to it, it only takes a couple of attempts to get used to the pressure required to fill your juice well.
Filling
Refilling is done by removing the small twist cap on the bottom of the bottle, which gives you two options. You can either remove the bottle sled which means you don’t need to turn the mod upside down, or you can just unscrew the cap and refill while the bottle is in the mod.
The cap is a little small, but it does have a fixed grip which makes unscrewing it comparatively easy.
Reliability
For me, this is where every squonk mod fails or succeeds, there’s little point having all the innovation in the world, if your mod dies within a few months of use.
Most recent squonk mods have had their fair share of reliability issues, the Pulse 2 had a sticking fire button, the Topside had a very fragile door hinge and internal leaks, and the Centaurus has its own Achilles heel – the plastic clips holding the bottle sled in place can fail.
The sticking fire button on the Pulse 2 was resolved with later versions, the Topside Dual V3 has a revised door hinge, so has Lost Vape resolved this issue? I have no idea. All I know if that my bottle clips into place perfectly, despite being removed multiple times.
What makes this potentially more of a problem that it needs to be, is the fact that the mod comes with one squonk bottle and one storage bottle, if they had given a spare squonk bottle+sled instead of the storage bottle, then at least you’d have a spare.
Apart from the bottle clips, other signs are encouraging – the battery compartment is kept isolated from the squonk bottle, the no leak valve seems to be working perfectly (everything has remained bone dry inside the bottle compartment) and the bottle is directly under the 510 pin.
The Centaurus Squonk Mod is something I’d like to test over about three months, so I could give a more definite answer on reliability.
However, I heard all the stories about the Pulse 2 having issues, and I’ve been using mine for six months without a single fault, I hope I have the same experience with the Centaurus.
What could be improved?
I’d be happy to purchase it with my own money, but I’d also accept that there is a chance that I might have to replace the bottle at some time in the future.
But is it better than the Topside or Pulse 2?
Well, it seems the Dovpo are only selling the dual-battery version of the Topside now, so I will rule the Topside out. Actually, I’ll also rule the Topside out because mine died on me.
However, the Pulse 2 is more difficult – I’d be very happy with either, but I love the rounded and stealth aesthetics of my Pulse 2 a lot, and that’s enough to give the Pulse 2 the edge.
Disclaimer
The Lost Vape Centaurus BF Mod was provided for the purposes of this review by Sourcemore who were kind enough to provide the discount code QBFM which reduces the price from $72.00 to $49.99.
Apart from various versions of the Topside and Pulse from Dovpo and Vandy Vape respectively, the mainstream squonk mod market has been very quiet recently, so the addition of a new squonk mod to the market is very welcome.
Note: This review is for the mod only, not the kit that includes the Centaurus Solo RDA.
Product overview
The Centaurus BF Mod is a single 21700/20700/18650 squonk mod, with a 9.5ml proprietary squonk bottle which can be swapped out for a non-squonkable bottle for juice storage.
It’s powered by Lost Vape’s Quest chip, has a 100w max output, and has a no-leak valve designed to prevent internal leakage.
More Images are here
What do you get?
- Centaurus Quest BF Mod
- 18650 Battery Adapter
- 9.5ml Squonk Bottle (fitted)
- 9.5ml Non-squonkable bottle
- Type-C USB cable
- Manual
As with the Lost Vape Cyborg mod that I reviewed a while back, the Centaurus feels solid, the materials feel nice and there’s some decent weight to it.
The battery is held in place with a screw-in cap, it’s not the most convenient option, but it is the most secure method.
The placement of the screen, up/down buttons and bottle takes a little bit of time to adjust to, but at least the fire button is in the conventional location and after using it for a day or so, the bottle/screen/button locations become intuitive.
The materials and build quality feel solid, however I’m not a huge fan of using two different decorative materials – combining a leather grip with a carbon panel makes the overall design a bit fussy in my eyes – this is of course very subjective, and different with every color option.
Chipset
I enjoyed the Quest 2.0 chipset when reviewing the Lost Vape Cyborg, the three button setup takes a moment to get used to, but once you do get familiar with it, not having to ‘click three times to enter settings’ is more than worth the learning curve.
It has the usual set of features – wattage, voltage, bypass, temp control, and VPC modes, along with UI color settings, brightness, puff counter reset, etc.
The screen is a little full with battery level, resistance, puff counter, mode, profile all being displayed, however the color coding makes it easier to see the most important details.
Overall, it’s a nice chipset, it does feel very similar to the proprietary chipset that Dovpo use in the Riva 200, which makes me wonder if there’s any connection.
The extra bottle
The Centaurus Squonk mod comes with an extra bottle mounted on a sled, whereas the regular squonk bottle is exposed so it can be depressed, the extra bottle is hidden behind a solid cover. This bottle is designed so that you can use the mod with an RTA and have somewhere to store juice while out and about.
This seems like a waste of time to me. If I want to use an RTA then either I’m going to use a regular single or dual-battery mod and carry a bottle of juice with me.
I’d much rather have an extra squonk bottle, that would have been a very welcome addition to the package.
Squonking
The rectangular squonk bottle has a nice feel to it, it only takes a couple of attempts to get used to the pressure required to fill your juice well.
Filling
Refilling is done by removing the small twist cap on the bottom of the bottle, which gives you two options. You can either remove the bottle sled which means you don’t need to turn the mod upside down, or you can just unscrew the cap and refill while the bottle is in the mod.
The cap is a little small, but it does have a fixed grip which makes unscrewing it comparatively easy.
Reliability
For me, this is where every squonk mod fails or succeeds, there’s little point having all the innovation in the world, if your mod dies within a few months of use.
Most recent squonk mods have had their fair share of reliability issues, the Pulse 2 had a sticking fire button, the Topside had a very fragile door hinge and internal leaks, and the Centaurus has its own Achilles heel – the plastic clips holding the bottle sled in place can fail.
The sticking fire button on the Pulse 2 was resolved with later versions, the Topside Dual V3 has a revised door hinge, so has Lost Vape resolved this issue? I have no idea. All I know if that my bottle clips into place perfectly, despite being removed multiple times.
What makes this potentially more of a problem that it needs to be, is the fact that the mod comes with one squonk bottle and one storage bottle, if they had given a spare squonk bottle+sled instead of the storage bottle, then at least you’d have a spare.
Apart from the bottle clips, other signs are encouraging – the battery compartment is kept isolated from the squonk bottle, the no leak valve seems to be working perfectly (everything has remained bone dry inside the bottle compartment) and the bottle is directly under the 510 pin.
The Centaurus Squonk Mod is something I’d like to test over about three months, so I could give a more definite answer on reliability.
However, I heard all the stories about the Pulse 2 having issues, and I’ve been using mine for six months without a single fault, I hope I have the same experience with the Centaurus.
What could be improved?
- The storage bottle is just a novelty, I’d much rather have an extra squonk bottle.
- Design is a little ‘busy’ in certain color combinations.
- Is the bottle sled going to remain tight?
I’d be happy to purchase it with my own money, but I’d also accept that there is a chance that I might have to replace the bottle at some time in the future.
But is it better than the Topside or Pulse 2?
Well, it seems the Dovpo are only selling the dual-battery version of the Topside now, so I will rule the Topside out. Actually, I’ll also rule the Topside out because mine died on me.
However, the Pulse 2 is more difficult – I’d be very happy with either, but I love the rounded and stealth aesthetics of my Pulse 2 a lot, and that’s enough to give the Pulse 2 the edge.
Disclaimer
The Lost Vape Centaurus BF Mod was provided for the purposes of this review by Sourcemore who were kind enough to provide the discount code QBFM which reduces the price from $72.00 to $49.99.