SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast Tank Review

This review for the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast is longer than nearly any other Sub-Ohm tank review. That said, I think this tank deserves this much scrutiny and evaluation by Spinfuel. I hope that you will read every word before or after purchasing this innovative tank. – Tom

My first wish while unboxing the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast was that, somehow, this model would be easier to use as an all-day-tank. Last year’s SMOK TFV4 was a wild beast of a tank. A loved it, used it quite a bit for about a month, and then backed away from it and eventually left it completely alone. My last encounter was when I washed it, let it air dry, installed new coils, and set it on my ‘vape shelf’. That was months ago. Today, I’m using the SMOK Cloud Beast, or rather the SMOK TFV8, and so far it has not overwhelmed me yet.

I think SMOK learned a lot with the TFV4. Yes, you can create monster tanks, but if they make people nervous, if they can’t match the flavor with the enormous amount of vapor, then early adopters (or reviewers) might pick up a couple of them, but they won’t have a long usage lifespan.

While the SMOK TFV8 is called the Cloud Beast you can be assured that there is plenty of the flavor in the coils as well.

Size and Capacity TFV4 and TFV8

Much is the same with the SMOK TFV4 and the TFV8, and much has changed, for the better. Size-wise, the TFV4 is 24.5mm x 70mm, or 0.964 inches in diameter and 2.7 inches high. The SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast is (at its widest point) the same 24.5mm in diameter, but the height has come down to just 50mm, or 1.9 inches. Yet, the ejuice capacity of the TFV4 is 5.0mL and the TFV8 is 6mL. Magically, the Cloud Beast, or TFV8 is 20mm shorter and holds 1mL more ejuice than the TFV4. That is something to consider.

Handling the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast is easier than the TFV4, and a lot less scary as an all-day-tank.

I’ll discuss the new coils in a bit, but first let’s go over additional changes, and similarities between the TFV4 and TFV8…

The SMOK TFV4 was one popular Sub-Ohm tank when it was released. We ordered 25 of the Tank Kits from Ave40, but in the stockroom more than half remain. SMOK supported the TFV4 for quite a while, still does, and vendors still stock it, even today. Despite the release of the SMOK TFV8, the TFV4 remains $34.95 at Element Vape, while the TFV8 is just $1.00 more, $35.95, with replacement coils going for $19.95 in packs of 3 coil heads, while the SMOK RBA for the TFV8 is $11.95 for a single RBA. The TFV8 0.15-ohm V8-T8 is $22.95 for a pack of 3. Luckily, these coil heads can last up to a full month of use. Still more to come on the coils.

SMOK Listened

The SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast Tank has improvements over the TFV4 across the board. SMOK took in a ton of feedback from actual users, and reviewers, and then went about creating the TFV8 Cloud Beast that would reflect the best of the feedback.

Some of the improvements over the TFV4, including the increase in capacity and overall height of the TFV8, are as follows:

Improved Airflow

The airflow slots on the TFV8 increase intake by 18% from bottom airflow slots. The airflow Tube was also increased, by a bit more than 30%, creating an unbelievable vape experience.

Improved Top Fill

Personally, I liked the Top-Fill method in the TFV4. The soft plastic protection “lid” had a small, but usable, slot for

filling, and because it was soft I was able to squeeze in the eye-dropper from the ejuice bottle easily, without muss or fuss. Still, everything can be improved, no?

The Top-Fill system for the SMOK TFV8 is much the same of the TFV4, but the e-juice hole of the top-fill section has been enlarged some, to allow the user to insert eye-droppers even better. Some people I’ve spoken with that are huge fans of the older TFV4 say the new enlarged top-fill hole is great, but the old one was never a problem for me, but I’ll admit it’s a decent improvement.

SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast Takeaway

Make no mistake, the TFV8 is a large tank. Larger than the new Joyetech Ultimo, larger than the Vaporesso ORC tank, and even larger than the Uwell Crown 2, a large tank in its own right. The coil heads are massive, and the VT-V8 is intimidating as hell, but despite the size and the massive coil heads, the Cloud Beast is manageable, and makes a fantastic All-Day-Tank.

The fact that the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast is an all-day-tank, we need to keep in mind the power needed to drive the tank, and the huge amounts of ejuice it takes to keep a Vaper vaping.

Each of the Coil Heads available for the TFV8 is rated for wattage, and this does provide some leeway into the power/ejuice needs. I’ll discuss the individual coil heads below, and I’ll let you know what to expect as far as battery life and ejuice usage for each one.

New Coil Heads and RBA

The SMOK TFV8 launches with four coil head options, all using Kanthal A1 wire. While the RBA section includes a dual coil Clapton with Kanthal, you can use any wire with the RBA for Temperature Control vaping. But, at this time, the SMOK TFV8 is not for TC Vapers unless the RBA component is used with various TC wire (Nickel, Titanium, Stainless Steel).

The highest wattage coil that comes with the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast package is the V8-T8, which can be vaped at up 260 watts with the right ejuice.

The SMOK TFV8 Turbo Engines Replacement Coils use powerful cores. Patented by design and high-performance capability, they offer an unmatched airflow performance and incredible vaping

experience.

 

It should be noted that during the lifespan of the SMOK TFV4, SMOK introduced 15 different coil heads. SMOK just might do the same thing the TFV8, but I suppose that will depend on the sales numbers, initially and down the road. The most important question SMOK will have to answer is; Are Vapers using this tank long term or are Vapers picking one up for novelty or to add the most powerful Sub-Ohm tank to their arsenal? If the TFV8 is used as an all-day-tank, which it should, then coil head options are probably a sure thing.

The three standard coil heads and the one RBA are all rated in wattage of at least 50w. The top-end of the wattage scale varies as to the coils in the heads, but maxes out at 260w. To vape at that wattage, you would have to buy one of the few 300w mods, something I hope to never do.

My Vape Experiences with the Four Heads

TFV8 – V8-T6

The V8-T6 coil head is rated at 50w to 240 watts. The ohms rating is 0.2, and the coil is made up of 6 separate coils, a patented design. This Turbo coil head might become the favorite among users because it can be used to create a great vape at about 90-100w. No doubt you’ll breeze through ejuice and battery life, but the flavor from this coil head, and the vapor production, will beat any prebuilt coil head on the market, except for the T8-V8.

TFV8 V8-Q4

This coil head has a total of 6 oblong cuts into the outer casing to allow even more air to circulate directly on the quad

coils. SMOK tells us that this coil head delivers a super smooth and silky vape experience, similar to a Hookah. The last Hookah I used was the e-hookah by the new-defunct Triple 7 company. That device was, back in the day, a very decent vape, though now it would be so outdated I wouldn’t bother.

Attaching the V8-Q4 to the TFV8 and using the Fuchai 213 I discovered that 95w produced a nice lukewarm, silky vape just as SMOK claimed. The vapor was very dense, the flavor was out of this world, but in order to achieve warm vapor I had to push the wattage to 125w, so once again battery life and ejuice consumption was high.

TFV8 V8-T8

This coil head is seriously astonishing. Even vaping at a full 100w the vapor temperature was only slightly warm. I moved it to 140w to achieve just enough warmth in the vapor and overwhelming flavor. This coil head is possessed by the Devil himself. You can expect the largest clouds you imagine, with extraordinary flavor with a MaxVG eliquid, but should you decide to vape at 140-180 watts, which is easily done, you can expect to almost watch your battery indicator slide down in real time, and that 6mL of ejuice to disappear inside of 20 minutes.

If the user decides that the V8-T8 is the coil head of choice, the user should expect to have a couple of extra “sets” of batteries in waiting, as well as an extra 30mL bottle of ejuice at the ready.

The Much Improved RBA Base

The TFV8 RBA coil is an enormous improvement over the RBA for the TFV4. The TFV8 RBA section has an 18mm build deck for making easy work with just about any wire or any build. For builders SMOK outfits the TFV8 with a strong V8 RBA Head (4.0T-X) that includes a pre-installed 0.28ohm Clapton Dual Coils. The build deck features a two-post, dual terminal design that will accommodate a wide variety of build ‘styles’ and coil structures.

While the Clapton coils are attached, the user will still have to wick it. Thankfully, SMOK includes some organic cotton to fully wick the RBA.

As far as Sub-Ohm Tank RBA components go, the TFV8 is the easiest one I’ve ever worked with. Twist off the coil wall to expose the actual coils, wick it, saturate it, and vape like hell. When it comes to wrapping your own coils there is plenty of room to work with, and as I said above, with so many options for builds, the RBA will easily become the favored component for builders that own the tank. Inside the TFV8 Tank box is everything the user needs, and everything the users get when purchasing the RBA section separately.

Bottom Line – Real World Impressions

I fully expected the SMOK TFV8 to cost $49.99. It looks like a $50 tank, and it performs like nothing I’ve used before. When SMOK went back to the lab to design the TFV8, with all the notes and feedback by users, they came out with a tank that is so vastly improved that I cannot imagine an owner of the TFV4 being happy with that tank when the TFV8 can be had for $1 more.

As I’ve said so many times before, just about every sub-ohm tank today provides a good vape, and many provide an excellent vape. So why should Vapers go out and buy the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast?

Well, not everyone should. Despite the new shorter height, the TFV8 is still 24.5mm wide, 25.5 at the widest, and it needs plenty of power to push it. If you don’t have a mod that push past the 100w mark, you won’t get all that the TFV8 offers. In fact, if your mod maxes out at 100W, there are better tanks for your needs. The Atom Vapes Metropolis, the Joyetech Ultimo, the eLeaf Lemo 3, the Protank 4 by Kanger, and others, are sub-ohm tanks for the 100w and under mods.

If a Vaper uses a high powered mod, in excess of 150w, then the TFV8 will provide a vape experience like no other. This much-improved ‘TF’ tank is more than a Cloud Beast, though it is a cloud beast, the flavor production is just as “big” as the clouds of vapor. After all, the TF in TFV8 stands for TASTE FURIOUS.

A while back we began using the terms “mainstream tanks” and “specialty tanks”, and the SMOK TFV4 was diffidently a ‘specialty tank’. Can the same thing be said about the TFV8? Yes, and No.

Certain aspects of the SMOK TFV8 are definitely “specialty”. The very high wattage, the large width, and the huge coil heads. On the other hand, with so many Vapers owning mods that exceed 100w, plenty of those mods have the space for a 24.5mm base, and the excellently balanced flavor/vapor production, I would say that even New Vapers who opt for the high wattage mod, could handle the TFV8 without much of a problem.

Owners of the SMOK TFV8 will get less battery life and vape through more ejuice than they would with other sub-ohm tanks, But, if that isn’t a problem, the TFV8 will provide a vape experience that can’t be found in any other sub-ohm tank.

 

Grade: A+

“SMOK managed to improve almost every aspect of the TFV4 with the TFV8. Although the pre-built coils as Kanthal, leaving out Temp Control Vapers unless they opt for TC wire in the RBA section, the tradeoff is worth it. In the 5 years of vaping, the TFV8 surpasses all others in sheer flavor and vapor production. A must-have tank for any Vaper owning a mod that produces more than 100w of power.”

Pick up the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast at Element Vape.

Available in Stainless Steel and Black. $35.95.

Coil Replacements

Tom McBride

SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast Features:

• 6ml E-Liquid Capacity (5.5ml with TF-V8 Coil Installed)
• 24mm Diameter (Glass Diameter 25.5mm)
• 50mm Height
• Stainless Steel Construction
• Wide Bore Delrin Drip Tip
• V8-T8 Coil: 50-260 Watts | Best Range: 120-180W
• V8-T6 Coil: 50-240 Watts | Best Range: 110-150W
• V8-Q4: 50-180 Watts | Best Range: 90-150W
• V8 RBA: 18mm Build Deck | Pre-Installed 0.28ohm Dual Fused Clapton Coil (50-140 Watts)

In The Box:

• TFV8 Cloud Beast
• V8-T8 Octuplet Coil Head (0.15ohm)
• V8-Q4 Quadruple Coil Head (0.15ohm)
• V8 Exclusive Turbo RBA Head (0.1528ohm)
• One Replacement Glass – o-rings, RBA tool