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Joyetech Ultimo Tank Review
The Joyetech Ultimo Sub-Ohm Tank is the new flagship Atomizer from Joyetech, a company well known for their eVic line of Box Mods. Releasing a new type of coil structure, the MG Series Coil Heads seemed promising and was excited to give them a go. I’ve owned a few Joyetech products the past year and I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t amped up to review the Ultimo. The Joyetech Cubis and Cubis Pro were both extreme let downs for me so I was expecting Joyetech to come out swinging with their next Sub-Ohm Tank.
Believe it or not, I entered into a YouTube Rip Trippers giveaway (before I joined Spinfuel, now I don’t enter giveaways) and won an Ultimo Tank about a month before receiving another for review. My experience the first time around was well below average and just unsatisfying. Assuming I received a pre-release version or sample unit and the new one on its way would yield a completely different result. Here’s my timeline of unfortunate events with the Joyetech Ultimo. This thing is hot! Not the ‘everybody has to have it‘ kind of hot but the tank gets and stays hot, literally!
Vaping the 22mm Sub-Ohm Tank (22.3mm actually) is like juggling a hot potato; my instinct was to drop or simply throw it. Fire any of the four coil options and the amount of heat that radiates from the entire tank is ridiculous; resulting in plenty of ‘let it cooldown’ sessions. I ended up with two Stainless Steel variations but also available in Black, which I would’ve preferred. Visually, the tank looks great and has a deep Ultimo engraving on the chimney barrel. The optional Blue O-rings quickly replaced the clear that come preinstalled and for being a medium sized Sub-Ohm Tank holds a solid 4ml of eJuice.
The Joyetech Ultimo has a standard top-fill system by removing the thin 2mm top cap and filling up your eJuice through the dual crescent shaped juice slots. The top cap has some knurling so removing and installing it was never an issue. Threads feel nicely machined, on the tank itself, but the coils are a different ball game (more on that later). The 9mm ID Stainless Steel drip tip (a Black Delrin option is also included) came preinstalled and is held on by three O-rings with a good amount of tension; never had to struggle with it. On the underside of the top cap, there’s an O-ring that sits flush and creates a tight seal when screwed down. That same O-ring tends to fall out easily and after almost losing mine down the garbage disposal, I’ve been extra careful when cleaning. The dual airflow slots are 12.5mm, tapering to 11mm x 2.2mm giving a sharp and clean presentation, providing plenty of airflow thanks to the 6.7mm wide chimney.
I prefer the airflow half open, but ran it wide open most of the time, not because I like the super airy draw, but to dissipate some heat to prevent overheating. The airflow ring has some slight notches to grab onto but at times is hard to adjust, especially with an inset 510 connection device like the WISMEC RX2/3. The airflow ring stops in the open/closed positions and doesn’t spin 360 degrees. The Stainless Steel 510 connection and well machined threads attached to several devices without a hitch. The glass section slides over the chimney and grips tight thanks to the thick top seal. Getting the glass to pop off is challenging at first but loosens up with time. I accidently dropped the glass in my sink and it surprising didn’t break; though there’s an extra included in the box. The MG Series coils are a brand-new design that are shorter but wider than most sub-ohm coils, supposedly improving airflow travel resulting in more effective wicking.
The air enters from the bottom dual airflow slots, flows straight up the middle of the coil through a 5.8mm opening, then breaks off into four separate holes forcing air around the coil. Even though the design sounds innovative, the execution is sub-par and I believe is the reason for the tank heating up so rapidly. The cross-hatched section on the coils provides enough knurling for a simple install. The MG Ceramic coil was the only one of the four options available I vaped and enjoyed the experience. Hands down the only coil I actually appreciated was the MG Ceramic 0.5Ω coil. The large 5.5mm ID coil and the four 3mm wicking slots did their job producing very dense clouds and an amazing aroma of sweetness.
Hard Ceramic surrounds the coil with cotton wrapping around both. Between 60W-70W (rated to 80W) was a perfect balance for me and even though the tank got hot, the heat risk was worth the flavor reward. I got some leaking at first but slowly faded; think it was user error since I over-prime my coils often. Even chain vaping, which I avoided most of the time, kept up well as I never received a dry or burnt pull. Now that the good is out of the way, let’s get to the bad and the ugly.
The 0.5Ω MG Clapton coil head is a single, vertical 5.5mm ID Clapton coil with the same four 3mm wicking slots. Rated up to 90W, I could comfortably push to 60W before the heat of the glass and base was too extreme. I did experience some spit back and also a slow dribble of eJuice underneath the coil. The dripping continued but eventually stopped after the second or third tank; still created an unwanted mess. I only got three days of heavy vaping, which at 60W should’ve lasted over a week! The wicking ports started turning black on the second day and was affecting not only the flavor profile, but the wicking flat out couldn’t keep up with even light use. Halfway through the third day, I took the tank apart and the top and bottom of the coil were completely charred and unrecoverable. I was disappointed especially after having such a positive experience with the MG Ceramic coil.
I have to warn you that the MG QCS (Quick Change System) 0.25Ω NotchCoil gets the tank and base boiling hot! So hot to the point where I had to remove it from my RX2/3 and set it on my kitchen-counter to cool off. The 9.3mm NotchCoil comes pre-wicked with a power range of 60-100W. I highly recommend keeping the wattage towards the lower end of the range but even at low wattages, expect some blazing heat almost instantly! The airflow comes from a 5.6mm hole underneath the base of the coil and disperses to four 2.4mm wicking holes. Performance was shoddy at best the first couple pulls; then the heat came into play. Not just hot to the touch, I’m talking scorching hot which ruined any chance of a good vape session. Good idea-poor execution.
The top cap unscrews and you have the ability to rewick the QCS coil if you so choose. It’s pretty straightforward to wick it; that’s not the issue. The NotchCoil just sits inside the housing, has a cotton strip hugged around it and when the top cap is screwed back on completes the connection. I rewicked it a couple different times after playing the ‘Atomizer Short’ cat and mouse game. I constantly was getting the ‘Short’ error code on variety of mods. Took the coil head apart, pushed the cotton and coil down and reattached it, only to get more error messages. Frustrated, a day later I tried to redo it completely one last time and it wouldn’t read the resistance at all! What a waste of time that was.
The RBA Build Deck (sold separately for $4.95) was also sent to me and was anxious to start building since two of three coils failed me already. I took it out of the package and the first thing I noticed was its tiny and very cheaply made! For starters, the top thread O-ring is very thin and pops off too easily, making the installation process annoying. Thankfully a small Allen Key was included since I don’t have a tool small enough to loosen or tighten the microscopic screws. I inserted the included NotchCoil and I’m glad I have 20/20 vision or I would’ve needed a magnifying glass to get it done! Wicking is easy if you build on a regular basis, but the biggest problem I had was getting the chimney screwed down onto the coil. Something was off with the threading of the coil and I couldn’t for the life of me get it to tighten down. It got to a point where I just set it aside and came back later multiple times, gave it another shot with no success. I can’t give you input on performance or flavor since I couldn’t even get it attached to my tank! CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
Final Grade – D
“With a 25% coil head success rate, the Joyetech Ultimo deserves a big capital D! The MG Ceramic coil and aesthetics the only thing keeping me from failing this one. Even for $24.95 at MyVaporStore, I couldn’t recommend the Ultimo in a competitive pool of Sub-Ohm Tanks that outperform it tenfold. Put your oven gloves on if you plan on picking this one up; what a shame Joyetech.”
Team Spinfuel
Features and Specs:
- Dimensions: 2-1/8″ x 7/8″
- 22mm Diameter
- 4ml e-Liquid Capacity
- 510 Threaded
- Top Fill Design
- Adjustable Airflow Valve
- Utilizes MG Series Atomizer Heads
- Unique Design that allows Airflow through the Center
- (4) Large e-Liquid Inlets
- Includes (1) MG Ceramic 0.5ohm Atomizer Head – Long lasting ceramic material with 100% pure cotton
- Includes (1) MG Clapton 0.5ohm Atomizer Head – Greater surface area increasing vapor production
- Optional MG Quick Change System (QCS) NotchCoil 0.25ohm Atomizer Head – Allows you to change the cotton quickly with ease. The NotchCoil offers you great flavor and vapor production (Sold separately)
- Optional MG RTA Head – Offers the ability to rebuild coils and includes a prebuilt NotchCoil 0.25ohm (Sold separately)
- Fully Detachable and Washable
Standard Configuration:
1 * ULTIMO Atomizer
1 * MG Ceramic 0.5ohm head
1 * MG Clapton 0.5ohm head
1 * Glass Tube
1 * Mouthpiece
1 * Manual & Warranty Card
1 * Warning Card
