timwis Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 Hi Vapor Talk members, In this review i take a look at the Vaporesso GEN 220W TC Kit with SKRR-S. The GEN 220W TC Kit with SKRR-S was supplied for the purpose of this review by Jessica from Vaporesso. Introduction The Gen both as a mod only or in kit form including the SKRR-S Tank has been around for about 5 months now but i received mine a few weeks ago as new colours were released. The Gen introduces the new Vaporesso chipset called the Axon which delivers the same performance much loved by many vapers as their Omni Chipset while adding extra features such as Pulse Mode and Smart TC. The Gen generated a lot of hype but since it's released as been met with the sort of enthusiasm that suggests it lives up to that hype so i was really looking forward to finding out for myself! ___________________________________________________________________ In The Box Contents: 1 x Vaporesso GEN MOD 1 x SKRR-S (8ml) (TPD 2ml version available) 1 x QF Strips Coil 0.15ohm 1 x QF Meshed Coil 0.2ohm(Pre-installed) 1 x Replacement Glass Tube 1 x Silicone Case 1 x O-Ring 1 x USB Cable 1 x User Guide 1 x Warranty Card ___________________________________________________________________ Aesthetics and Ergonomics The Gen Kit came in the usual style of cardboard packaging that Vaporesso products come in with both the Gen device and SKRR-S in the top tray and other accessories below. on opening i was surprised how big the device is which for me is a con but not as much of a con as i thought it would be as it's so light, is curved front and back and has a really nice textured rubberised grippy feel actually making it very ergonomic despite it's size. I have the Black Purple version which is one of the new colours, the options are Gold, Black Green, Black Purple, Black Red, Black Blue, Black and Silver, I love how the Black starting at the bottom fuses into the main colour on the two toned devices. Despite their being 4 different SKRR-S colour options all versions come with a Black tank apart from the Silver and Gold versions which come with a Silver tank. We have matching Rose Gold fire button and 510 plate which looks aesthetically pleasing but also wish the navigational and mode buttons were also Rose Gold to match instead of being the colour of choice which looks a bit odd being in a different colour. The face of the device has the mentioned round protruding fire button towards the top and towards the bottom a vertical row of 3 smaller protruding which are the two navigational buttons with the mode button between. Right at the bottom of the face is the micro USB port which disappointingly isn't type C and between the fire and smaller buttons we have the screen. One side of the device has "Vaporeso" printed centrally while central bottom of the other removable side we have the Vaporesso logo, both again are in Rose Gold. Moving to the base we have venting and a notch to help remove the battery side panel, also again in Rose Gold we have branding and Safety stamps. Moving up top we have a central Rose Gold coloured 510 plate which is raised just enough to protect the device's surface while not giving visible gaping, the 510 is Gold plated and spring loaded with a medium throw. The device feels nice, looks nice and is very well made with what seems a very durable finish. ___________________________________________________________________ SKRR-S Specs and Features: Size: 30mm(D) (27mm TPD Version) x 56mm(H) Capacity: 8ml (2ml TPD) Coil: QF Meshed 0.2om, QF Strip 0.15ohm Drip Tip: 810 Improved secondary air flow distribution for richer flavor Easy top screw-up refill design Bullet-shaped coil preventing spit back Advanced QF coil with improved coil structure Widely compatible with GT coils 8ml large e-juice capacity Thread: 510 Colours: Black, Silver, Bronze, Rainbow ___________________________________________________________________ Assembling And Disassembling The SKRR-S The SKRR-S differs to the standard SKRR tank by having a more standard screw on Top-cap along with a standard 810 drip tip and no locking system. These changes makes it a simple subohm tank and separates into it's various parts very easily. Unscrew the base with coil then you can wiggle the glass free, the SKRR-S goes back together with the same ease. The standard version has a 8ml capacity thanks to a bubble glass and you also get a 5ml straight glass included, the TPD version comes with just a pre-installed 2ml glass and no spare. ___________________________________________________________________ The Coils The SKRR-S uses the same QF coils as it's bigger brother and you receive 2 of the new QF coils with the kit. Unfortunately you don't receive the new SK CCELL which uses SS wire which is disappointing as one of the features of the Gen device is Smart TC. The coils you receive are the pre-installed QF 0.20ohm mesh coil and also included is the QF 0.15 strip coil . Both included coils have identical recommendations of 50w to 80w with best at ratings of 65w to 75w, the coils use a Flax Fiber and Cotton mix for their wicking material. The coils have a hollow cone fitted centrally inside them which is sealed around the bottom essentially creating a juice well. Normally with a stock coil head all that stands in the way between the tank of liquid and the hollow in the centre of the coil head which leads straight into the base and then your airflow slots is the wicking material and wire, mesh, etc hence leaking has always been an issue with bottom airflow tanks, in fact even tanks referred to as "they don't have a leaking issue" just means the leaking isn't that bad. This is quite a simple idea but very clever, instead of the surplus liquid caused by over saturation and changes in temperature going down into the base and eventually out the airflow slots it just gathers in the well around the bottom of the cone, when you vape as well as re-wicking from the normal wicking ports on the coil head it also wicks from this well essentially recycling the liquid we would normally end up getting on our devices. The vast majority of manufacturers if they had come up with this idea would be claiming it's a leakproof system so you have to hand it to Vaporesso that they refer to it has leak reduction. The reason why some liquid can still potentially go into the base is because you still have the air entering the coil head through the sides of the cone and another cause of liquid getting into the base is spitting, all coils will spit occasionally it's just with stock coils we don't notice because it spits from the sides of the coil head to the centre hollow of the coil so we don't feel the spitting on our lips. Although some spits will just hit the metal on the cone and work its way down to the already mentioned juice well some spits will go through the air openings on the cone and down into the base, but that's a hell of a lot of spitting you would need before liquid would escape through the airflow slots. Happy Days! ___________________________________________________________________ The Airflow This will be a short section as the cone has already been explained. The SKRR-S like the SKRR has tri cyclops with stoppers, the air when entering the tank instead of doing so through the hollow of your coil head enters the hollow of the already explained cone which is fixed into the hollow of your coil head. Halfway up this cone we have 4 cutouts all the same size evenly spaced around the cone which allows the air to enter the coil head, this is called the Quadflow air distribution system, which is claimed reduces leaking and spitback but also eliminates cold air intake giving a warmer richer flavour (not my words). ___________________________________________________________________ Gen Specs and Features: Dimensions: 93.5 x 53 x 27mm Display: 0.91' OLED screen Battery: 2x18650 (Not Included) Power Range: 5-220W Charge current : 2.5A Resistance Range: 0.03~5Ω All-new Axon chipset 2.5A fast charging system powerful 220W Power ECO mode and DIY mode Innovative PULSE mode and SMART TC mode Thread: 510 Colours: Gold, Black Green, Black Purple, Black Red, Black Blue, Black, Silver ___________________________________________________________________ Fitting The Batteries The Gen accommodates dual 18650 batteries and we have the inclusion of a battery ribbon for easy removal. The side panel can be removed by getting your fingernail into the little notch on the base and once removed we can see it's secured by large magnets top and bottom. Once again battery orientation is marked Black on Black which i just don't like, this needs to be more visible but other than that no complaints. The panel fits in place very securely and on the device i received i have absolutely no play of any kind, good job! ___________________________________________________________________ The Display We have a real contradiction with the Gen being such a feature rich innovative device yet as a very basic Old School style screen which still appeals to many and i believe this is quite deliberate as it makes the whole device less overwhelming and quite easy to navigate. The screen is bright and sharp and the brightness can be adjusted. Top left we have a single battery bar (wish we had one for each battery) and also within the battery status bar we have the remaining charge given as a percentage. Underneath the battery bar we have the resistance and then below that the time of your vape. Central and taking up most of the display we have the wattage, temperature or voltage depending which mode you are in and then top right we have the mode. ___________________________________________________________________ Navigating The Gen The Gen is the usual 5 clicks of the fire button to turn on and 5 clicks to turn off and once on 3 clicks of the fire button locks and unlocks the navigational and mode buttons but when locked the device will still fire. Holding down both the mode and fire buttons together brings up an information screen giving serial number and firmware version. The menu is very old school giving a row of icons which when you try to carry on scrolling past the last one displayed if there are any more in that section then the others appear on the screen, the last icon is always exit and also having a mode button the whole system is easy to navigate even if sounding complicated when i try to explain it. To enter the menu you can either long press the mode button or click it 3 times and it brings up the following options, Pulse mode, Power Eco, Smart TC, DIY Mode, System Set and Exit. Choosing either Pulse mode, Power Eco or Smart TC takes you to that working screen and i will go through these features later. Choosing DIY Mode brings up the following options Variable wattage, Variable Temperature, Variable Voltage, Custom Wattage Curve, Bypass, Super Player Mode and Exit. Curves, Variable Voltage and Bypass are all straightforward and Super player mode is a feature that Vaporesso have included for a while now where it allows you to fire down to 0.05ohm and something i really don't care for. Choosing Variable Wattage gives you the choice of Normal, Soft or Hard pre-heats and Variable Temperature first allows you to choose your wire type and then allows you to alter the TCR, set wattage for temp control and lock resistance. The Final option in the main menu is System Settings which allows you to reset your puff counter, set vape time allowed, adjust brightness, turn smart wattage on or off, flip the screen, turn automatic eco on or off, set device to default and finally bring up the same information screen that can be accessed with the mode and fire button together from the working screen. The device adjust in 0.1W increments up to 100W and then switches to 1W increments up to 220W, holding the navigational button down will adjust in 1W increments from 5W to 220W and at a speed of knots but it doesn't round robin. ___________________________________________________________________ The New Modes I do find the fact the device by default is in Pulse mode and the first tier of the menu system is the three new modes and to use the standard Wattage, Temperature modes etc are further within the menu system a little strange. I do understand why it's been done this way as Vaporesso are showing faith in these new features and trying to push them but i still thing it should of been done the other way around. ___________________________________________________________________ Pulse Mode The idea of Pulse Mode is to give you more consistent power so instead of your initial fire which once it hits set wattage can dip in Pulse mode it's continuously firing every 0.02 seconds up to 500 times in one vape giving consistent power. ___________________________________________________________________ Power Eco Mode One thing i have noticed with the Gen is it's not very efficient and ploughs through battery life. I initially thought it was just pulse mode but then i spent most of my time using Smart TC and again it was not friendly on the batteries so finally tried using the more standard modes and it just appears not to be very efficient. When in Power Eco Mode it optimises your settings despite that you are still setting the settings, if you are in other modes it will also ask if you want the device to use Eco Mode when the battery life gets down to 40%. Why when it sill uses your settings does it become so much more efficient and why not efficient in the first place? I can only go by my experience using the device which say's complete gimmick as i noticed no better battery life whatsoever. ___________________________________________________________________ Smart TC When using Smart TC and you first attach your atomizer it fires the atomizer for a micro second and scans the information. It recognises wire type and ohms extra and automatically gives the best TC settings for that coil. When using Pulse mode it also fires and scans the atomiser and if it's a TC coil asks if you want to use Smart TC, likewise if you have the device in Smart TC mode and the atomizer you attach doesn't have a TC compatible coil it will jump the device out of Smart TC and into Pulse Mode. I absolutely love this mode and have been using it the vast majority of time while testing the device. ___________________________________________________________________ Charging I don't ever personally recommend charging external batteries in a device but with Vaporesso claiming 2.5A charging which will fully charge the batteries in 60 minutes this needed testing. The results i found were very disappointing as it barely at any point of charging got much above 1.5A and the batteries in the device took about 2.5 hours to charge. Good feedback is given while charging though telling you the percentage charge and charge time remaining for each battery. (REALLY????) ___________________________________________________________________ My Experience Using The Gen Kit To start with i will cover the SKRR-S tank as in the past i have used the SKRR-S, the SKRR-S Mini and the SKRR and they all use the same coils and vape pretty much the same apart from the SKRR giving a tonne more air. I much prefer RTA's and wanted to test the Smart TC so didn't on this occasion use the SKRR-S but from past experience can tell you it's leak resistance works well, both coils give really good flavour and smooth airflow and the standard version with installed bubble glass gives a whopping 8ml capacity. The threading is a touch crunchy on the top-cap but other than that it's a very good sub-ohm tank with the bonus of also being compatible with Baby beast coils which means a lot of mainstream coils will fit. The star of the show is the Gen with many quoting "best mod of the year" and it's definitely in the running. I like the Pulse Mode idea and indeed it did give a very consistent vape with no drop in power but then the Omni chipset i always found did that in normal power mode so i did also compare to the normal variable wattage mode on the device and although this is not a con for the Pulse mode but more of a plus for the chip in general i could tell absolutely no difference between pulse mode and normal wattage. The main con for the device is battery life giving below average vape time and having an Eco Mode sounds great in theory but i found it made little if any difference. Another con is the claimed charge rate and charge time, maybe it's a fault with my device but as mentioned in the review it charged at around 1.5A and took over 2.5 hours to charge which is miles away from what is claimed. All the usual modes worked great including curves and having variable voltage is another plus, i didn't use the normal TC but absolutely love the Smart TC mode which worked great for me and allows vapers to vape in TC without having to set anything. I also love the looks and feel of the device and it's lightweight allows it to be a good out and about device despite it's large size which is a con for me. It's central 510 position (most will love this) will allow up to 26mm atty's without overhang. All the buttons including the fire button are nice and clicky and it fires in an instant with great ramp up whichever mode you use. Finally the Gen is fully firmware upgradeable. ___________________________________________________________________ Likes Good build quality Grippy textured rubber finish Finish seems very durable Ergonomic despite size High powered 7 Colour options Lightweight Old school, sharp bright display Easy to navigate Battery status shown both as a bar and as a percentage Mode Button Feature rich Variable Wattage, Voltage, TC, Bypass, SP Mode and Wattage Curve. Pulse Mode Power Eco Mode (not convinced) Smart TC (Loved using this mode) Performed excellently Battery panel fits very securely Battery Ribbon Up to 26mm atty's without overhang Firmware Upgradeable SKRR-S Very good inclusion with huge capacity (standard version) and mainstream coils compatible Cons Battery life below average Power Eco Mode does little from what i experience to improve battery life Claimed Charge Rate and Charge time nowhere near what i experienced Very large dual 18650 device Black on Black battery orientation SKRR-S threading a little crunchy I would once again like to thank Jessica from Vaporesso for supplying the GEN 220W TC Kit with SKRR-S for the purpose of this review. ___________________________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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