Anything two can do three can do better. That’s the approach behind the iJOY Captain X3 Mod Kit, which can accommodate three 20700 batteries within its substantial body. It’s not “slim.” It’s not “pocket-friendly.” And it’s not “subtle.” But the Captain X3 might just have provided the battery life boost high-wattage vapers have been seeking.

And for customers who vape at lower wattages, the X3 might be the Mod that truly lives up to battery life claims. Let’s take a closer look at this potentially groundbreaking Mod.

Like I said above, there is nothing subtle about the iJOY Captain X3. It has one of the widest girths of nearly any three-battery Mod in my collection (though the Vaptio N1 Pro is bigger). But this size comes with good reason – the girthy frame contains three 20700 cells, for a maximum of 9,000mAh and 324 watts. With great size comes great… well, you get the point.

That said, iJOY was smart to shave off as much height as possible – at “just” 79mm tall, the Captain X3 manages to reign in its size and actually feel compact in the hands. There’s nothing tremendously original about the hexagonal shape of the Mod, but iJOY did a nice job trimming the excess wherever possible to keep the Captain X3 as portable as possible.

Strangely, the Captain X3 Mod has an offset 510 connection, rather than centered in the middle of that wide frame. And with any atomizers over 26mm wide, there is actually overhang – while veritable miles of unused real estate sit right next to it. A Mod this wide is just screaming for a 30mm tank on top of it. For all the positive design choices iJOY made on the Mod’s size, this one is a head scratcher.

Otherwise, everything on the iJOY Captain X3 is sharp. The design borrows quite a bit from similarly styled Wismec Reuleaux Mods. My two-tone green and black test Model certainly isn’t low-key, but the overall design is tasteful and mature, even if the color scheme is bright.

Finally, the hinged bottom battery door is firm and locks nicely. I have to say, with three 20700s installed, there isn’t much movement or rattle. The Captain X3 is certainly weighty, but I don’t think customers interested in a Mod this size would expect anything less. And interestingly enough, the Mod is actually a touch heavier when using three 18650s with the included silicone sleeve adapters.

There’s a lot more to the Captain X3 than power and size. The Mod is the first to use iJOY’s all-new X3 chipset, which was designed to optimize battery efficiency, even when vaping at maximum wattages and temperatures. Happily, this proved to be true. I rarely vape above 100 watts consistently, but enjoyed a number of different low-resistance atomizers well north of this total, and my battery meters barely moved.

In fact, even with a pair of 18650s in the sleeve adapters, I noticed the three cells drained more slowly and evenly in the Captain X3 than in other triple-battery devices.

Now, let’s be clear here – the company made some serious claims about battery life in the promo materials, and on the packaging, boasting that the X3 will offer up to three days of steady performance before needing to recharge. Well, I didn’t experience THOSE levels of efficiency, but make no mistake, iJOY’s new chipset is a winner, and the Captain X3 can safely be labeled an “all-day” device.

Beyond the battery life, the X3 chipset features a full slate of features. In addition to the 324 watts of power, users will enjoy a wide range of temperature control settings, TCR slots, bypass Mode, firmware upgrade ability, and more.

As we predicted in the preview, there isn’t a lot of “innovation” to be had with this chipset, but is that necessary at this point? If you have a Mod that can vape over 300 watts, with functional temp control and long battery life, it seems petty to argue for more.

However, the already-great iJOY display has been significantly upgraded to a full-color arrangement on the Captain X3. While the layout remains largely the same – wattage/temperature, battery life, coil resistance, voltage, etc. – but the vivid OLED seems even brighter and more vibrant than before.

Finally, the operation buttons are typically top-notch. We’ve always enjoyed iJOY’s oversized fire buttons, and – while this one is smaller than we’re used to from the series – it maintains the same clickiness and responsiveness as its predecessors.

The up/down control buttons are similarly responsive, and the angled shape makes them easy to find without looking. Though I wish there was a dedicated “action/enter” button included with this all-new chipset and display, my feelings on the matter are already well-documented on this site, so I’ll just express my desire for the follow-up to feature one.

In our preview, we drew a number of comparisons between the 8mL Captain X3 tank and SMOK’s dynamite  TFV12 Prince – most notably the bowed out glass section and strikingly similar patterned resin drip-tips. Well, as it turns out, these comparisons were warranted, as the Captain X3 is a near carbon-copy of the Prince, and outperforms it in two major areas.

First, the vapor production from the included X3 coils (the dual-coil C1 and the sextuple-coil C3) borders on the ludicrous. Even vaping at Moderate wattage, I was fogging my office with every puff with thick, milky clouds. Though the Prince slightly edges the X3 on flavor, the dual-coil C1 head offered nice, rich flavor as well, even at higher wattages. The C3 wasn’t as nuanced as the simpler setup, but the flavor wasn’t bad there, either.

Secondly, the coil longevity for the X3 is insanely long. I began using this Mod more than a week ago, and am still getting prime performance from both heads, without an ounce of dropoff in flavor or vapor from either of them. And make no mistake, I’m not treating them lightly. Even if one of these coils completely dies tomorrow (which I don’t think will happen), I would be unbelievably satisfied with how well they’ve held up and performed throughout testing.

The rest of the Captain X3 tank seamlessly melds the Prince design with existing elements from the Captain series, including the wide fill port, sliding top-fill cap, and butter-smooth bottom airflow control ring.

All in all, the Captain X3 tank might be a bit derivative, but this is easily the best sub-ohm tank in the Captain series, and a major highlight of the entire Kit.

The iJOY Captain X3 offered one of the smoothest, most-powerful vapes I’ve had to date. Obviously, a triple-20700 setup is going to have some ample “oomph,” but I wasn’t expecting the Captain X3 to be as effortless as this.

First off, the 324-watt claim – even if 324 is an odd number – is legitimate. I was able to easily hit the maximum wattage without so much as a hiccup coming from this uber-powerful Mod. The device also never threw out warnings at higher elevations, nor did it misfire once.

Moving to temperature control, I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy and user-friendly the updated chipset makes things for users. Even the most power-focused cloud fiends will have no trouble popping a TC coil onto here, setting parameters, and vaping away.

It’s not the most detailed TC system out there, nor does there seem to be any custom curves or software apps on the way. But for a Mod so laser-focused on brute strength, I enjoyed precise adjustments and enjoyable vapes each and every time I fired.

So, it’s pretty clear I enjoyed the iJOY Captain X3 Mod Kit. However, if you peeked to the bottom of this paragraph, you’ll notice I didn’t QUITE give it a perfect score. That’s because the Captain gets a little hot. Okay, it gets VERY hot. Obviously, with three 20700s cranking at full power, some residual warmth is expected. But I didn’t expect it at 80 watts, vaping infrequently.

To be fair, there seems to be plenty of venting, I never received warnings about heat, and the Mod never misfired, so it’s probably just the result of a powerful vape Mod doing its thing. But on more than one occasion, the Captain X3 seemed a little warmer than I was comfortable with.

Still, that was the only flaw I could find, and I couldn’t put it down. The iJOY Captain X3 is one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve had since taking a job with Spinfuel VAPE, and a new “go to” device in my collection.

iJOY Captain X3 Mod score: A-

iJOY Captain X3 tank score: A+

Overall Kit score: A

iJOY Captain X3 Specs:

• Size: 79x51x44 mm
• Can use up to 26mm diameter tanks
• Display: OLED color screen
• Wattage range: 324W
• Minimum resistance: 0.05ohm
• Ni/Ti/SS Temperature control
• Custom user Mode
• TCR adjustment Modes
• Firmware upgradeable
• Spring loaded 510-connector

iJOY Captain X3 Tank Specs:

• Size 62x25mm
• Liquid Capacity: 8ml
• Cobra resin drip trip
• Sliding top filling system
• X3-C1 Dual coils – 0.4ohm
• X3-C3 Sextuple coils – 0.2ohm

iJOY Captain X3 Triple-20700 Mod Kit includes:

• iJoy Captain X3 Mod
• 3x batteries – 20700
• 18650 battery adapter.
• iJoy Captain X3 tank
• X3-C1 coil head 0.4ohm
• X3-C3 coil head 0.2ohm
• Replacement tank glass
• 510 drip tip adapter
• USB cable
• Manual
• Warranty card