Part one - the mod
Introduction
This should be a simple review, the Vandy Vape PR SE Kit is the Pulse 2 mod (minus one feature) + the Requiem RDA.
Both have been available for a while and are known quantities, so I won’t need to go into major detail on things that have already been covered in numerous other reviews, instead I want to give more of an opinionated review on how they are to use, and how much sense they make as a kit.
More images are here.
Pulse 2
Visually, the Pulse 2 is an updated version of the Pulse BF 80w, with a more rounded design, larger screen and a larger squonk window – this is a classic squonk design.
When it comes to features, changes go a little further with bottom-fill, 21700/20700/18650 battery support. waterproof PCB and a new 95w chipset.
Bottom-fill
The Pulse 2’s bottom-fill system has two features, firstly you unscrew the cap on the bottom of the mod to reveal an open squonk bottle ready to be filled with juice, secondly if you just pull on the latch on the bottom cap instead of twisting, you can remove the entire bottle for cleaning.
Initially, bottom-fill appeared to be a strange choice – the Topside made a name for itself using top-fill and having to turn the mod upside down to use bottom-fill seemed to be a step back...However, I agree with the choice to choose a bottom-fill system.
My opinion is that the squonk bottle should be directly below the 510 pin, it makes the design simpler and less prone to failure/leaks – while top-fill is amazingly convenient, convenience takes second place to reliability, especially when talking about squonk mods.
I don’t expect everyone to share my opinion, the Topside and its convenient top-fill system is extremely popular for good reason.
Chipset
First major point – unlike the original release of the Pulse 2 – the version with this kit does not come with the Bluetooth functionality, this isn’t a case of it needing a firmware update, it doesn’t have the required hardware. Current versions of the Pulse 2 not bought as part of this kit are also lacking the Bluetooth function – supposedly worldwide chip shortages is the reason for this.
This is either a negative point, because you want the Bluetooth functions, or a positive point because with the original Pulse 2, you couldn’t turn the Bluetooth off and you don’t like that. I have the Bluetooth function on my Gaur 21, and it does work well but is generally a novelty feature.
Apart from that, this is essentially the same chipset as in the Gaur 21 that I reviewed a while back – this is a good thing as far as I’m concerned, I really like Vandy Vapes’s recent chipsets.
As standard, the Pulse 2 comes with only wattage mode enabled, however once you go into the settings menu, you can enable voltage mode, bypass mode, temp control and automatic resistance mode.
In addition to these modes, you can change the interface color, lock the power/fire button, reset the puff counter etc, all pretty standard stuff.
How is it to use?
Filling is really easy with the bottom-fill system, not quite as easy as top-fill but still far easier and less messy than having to remove a conventional squonk bottle.
The other less messy part is the ability to clean and wash the Pulse 2, the waterproof chipset means you can run it under the tap (after removing the battery of course) to clean it – I appreciate this so much in a squonk mod.
Squonking with the Pulse 2 is good, the large cutout for the squonk bottle make access to the bottle good and the bottles feel good – however due to the bottom fill system, they are proprietary bottles.
The buttons are click and responsive, in early versions of the Pulse 2 there were issues with the fire button sticking, I assume the Vandy Vape have dealt with this issue in later versions because my fire button hasn’t given me any problems.
The Pulse 2 is surprisingly compact for a 21700 squonk, it’s shorter than all of my current dual 18650 mods and only a fraction larger than my single 18650 RSQ squonk mod – I think you’d have to be looking at mech squonks if you want even smaller.
Conclusion
I really like the Pulse 2, this is all highly subjective but I think the only advantage the Topside has over the Pulse 2 is the convenience of the top-fill system. The Pulse 2 looks better, feels better, has a better chipset, is washable, doesn’t have battery door issues (but to be fair, the latest version of the Topside has an improved hinge design), and has the potential to be more reliable due to the simplicity of having the bottle directly under the 510.
Introduction
This should be a simple review, the Vandy Vape PR SE Kit is the Pulse 2 mod (minus one feature) + the Requiem RDA.
Both have been available for a while and are known quantities, so I won’t need to go into major detail on things that have already been covered in numerous other reviews, instead I want to give more of an opinionated review on how they are to use, and how much sense they make as a kit.
More images are here.
Pulse 2
Visually, the Pulse 2 is an updated version of the Pulse BF 80w, with a more rounded design, larger screen and a larger squonk window – this is a classic squonk design.
When it comes to features, changes go a little further with bottom-fill, 21700/20700/18650 battery support. waterproof PCB and a new 95w chipset.
Bottom-fill
The Pulse 2’s bottom-fill system has two features, firstly you unscrew the cap on the bottom of the mod to reveal an open squonk bottle ready to be filled with juice, secondly if you just pull on the latch on the bottom cap instead of twisting, you can remove the entire bottle for cleaning.
Initially, bottom-fill appeared to be a strange choice – the Topside made a name for itself using top-fill and having to turn the mod upside down to use bottom-fill seemed to be a step back...However, I agree with the choice to choose a bottom-fill system.
My opinion is that the squonk bottle should be directly below the 510 pin, it makes the design simpler and less prone to failure/leaks – while top-fill is amazingly convenient, convenience takes second place to reliability, especially when talking about squonk mods.
I don’t expect everyone to share my opinion, the Topside and its convenient top-fill system is extremely popular for good reason.
Chipset
First major point – unlike the original release of the Pulse 2 – the version with this kit does not come with the Bluetooth functionality, this isn’t a case of it needing a firmware update, it doesn’t have the required hardware. Current versions of the Pulse 2 not bought as part of this kit are also lacking the Bluetooth function – supposedly worldwide chip shortages is the reason for this.
This is either a negative point, because you want the Bluetooth functions, or a positive point because with the original Pulse 2, you couldn’t turn the Bluetooth off and you don’t like that. I have the Bluetooth function on my Gaur 21, and it does work well but is generally a novelty feature.
Apart from that, this is essentially the same chipset as in the Gaur 21 that I reviewed a while back – this is a good thing as far as I’m concerned, I really like Vandy Vapes’s recent chipsets.
As standard, the Pulse 2 comes with only wattage mode enabled, however once you go into the settings menu, you can enable voltage mode, bypass mode, temp control and automatic resistance mode.
In addition to these modes, you can change the interface color, lock the power/fire button, reset the puff counter etc, all pretty standard stuff.
How is it to use?
Filling is really easy with the bottom-fill system, not quite as easy as top-fill but still far easier and less messy than having to remove a conventional squonk bottle.
The other less messy part is the ability to clean and wash the Pulse 2, the waterproof chipset means you can run it under the tap (after removing the battery of course) to clean it – I appreciate this so much in a squonk mod.
Squonking with the Pulse 2 is good, the large cutout for the squonk bottle make access to the bottle good and the bottles feel good – however due to the bottom fill system, they are proprietary bottles.
The buttons are click and responsive, in early versions of the Pulse 2 there were issues with the fire button sticking, I assume the Vandy Vape have dealt with this issue in later versions because my fire button hasn’t given me any problems.
The Pulse 2 is surprisingly compact for a 21700 squonk, it’s shorter than all of my current dual 18650 mods and only a fraction larger than my single 18650 RSQ squonk mod – I think you’d have to be looking at mech squonks if you want even smaller.
Conclusion
I really like the Pulse 2, this is all highly subjective but I think the only advantage the Topside has over the Pulse 2 is the convenience of the top-fill system. The Pulse 2 looks better, feels better, has a better chipset, is washable, doesn’t have battery door issues (but to be fair, the latest version of the Topside has an improved hinge design), and has the potential to be more reliable due to the simplicity of having the bottle directly under the 510.
