KangerTech has produced an attractive, high-powered mod with the Kanger iKEN 230W TC Starter Kit. Packed with a whopping 5100mAh internal battery and a full-range of functions including variable wattage and temperature control, and paired with a top-filling, top-airflow iKEN Sub-Ohm Tank. For someone wanting to get into the sub-ohm segment of vaping, the iKen makes a sensible choice. More advanced users, however, just won’t bite. Let’s see why…

First, A Little Kanger History

Kanger has been off the Spinfuel VAPE radar for a long time now. There were times when it looked like Kanger was the King of the Hill, with superb sub-ohm tanks, excellent box mods, and a good reputation.

Now, it’s hard to remember what vape boxes and tanks they continue to produce.

The first widely popular sub-ohm tank belonged to Kanger, the Kanger SubTank. And with the huge boost in sales, Kanger spread far and wide with product after product, some good, some not-so-good. Then, for some reason, Kanger fell from grace, at least with us, and nothing they built and shipped out was of any interest.

The same thing happened to Innokin, though Innokin never bothered to produced hundreds of devices, but they too took a backseat to the rest of the market.

For the last couple of years both Kanger and Innokin got their asses handed to them, and manufacturers like SMOK took center stage. But, it’s not just SMOK; the market now belongs to manufacturers and companies that can produce high-quality, aesthetically pleasing, and high-performance mods and tanks, yet remain in the mainstream; including Eleaf, Joyetech, and WISMEC. Not to mention the smaller, exquisite companies like Lost Vape.

Honestly, the only reason we chose to pick a Kanger product to review was the photos we saw of the Kanger iKen. The iKen is an attractive box mod, and its namesake Sub-Ohm is a good match for it. In addition, when we learned that the iKen was a 230W mod, it surprised us. So here we are.

The Kanger iKEN 230W TC Box Mod is designed with soft curves along the chassis, and carbon fiber inlays around the grip area that makes a good impression.

The iKen sports a large 1.54 Inch TFT Color display screen that displays a full array of essential information with a truly intuitive setting adjustments. Plainly speaking, it’s easy to use.

Powered by a large 5100mAh internal battery that not only provides a long battery life, but the iKEN can output 230W, along with temperature control suite, TCR adjustments, and three different power modes: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.

The included iKEN Sub-Ohm Tank features a top-filling, top airflow design and uses Kanger’s SSOCC atomizer coils. The top airflow structure is designed well, allowing air to channel through the two dual air slots and redirects downward toward the atomizer’s core and back up through the central chimney, creating a “U” airflow pathway. While using the iKen Kit for a couple of weeks, off and on, it does produce a very decent amount of flavor and clouds.

At first, for a few days, I was satisfied with the iKen. The biggest issue for me was the design of the Tank’s exterior, it blocks the view of the remaining eliquid once that level drops below the glass window. To avoid running out of ejuice I topped it off way too many times to feel comfortable with it.

Despite being able to take Direct Lung hits from the tank, the draw, even with the airflow wide open, was tighter than I like. This again, makes me think that the iKen would make a very good Kit for those Vapers wanting to get into the world of sub-ohm vaping without overdoing it with something like the SMOK TFV12 Prince, or Cloud Beast King, and a SMOK Mag 230W powerhouse mod. The iKen may be able to hit 200+ watts, but the included sub-ohm tank won’t get near that.

The Kanger iKen is easy to grip, so no complaints there. The fire button is in a good position, easy to rest a finger on. That said, for my own vaping pleasure, the iKen wasn’t enough, though with 230W to play with, it should have been.

There is something about the iKen that causes me to treat it as some beginners vape kit. I can’t take it seriously, as I would something like the Lost Vape Paranormal DNA166 with a Uwell Valyrian sub-ohm tank on top. It’s hard to explain, except that even with the huge capacity internal battery, the entire unit feel light… and plastic-y.

On the other hand, we had a handful of these Kits in stock for past 2 or 3 months and during that time we had the opportunity to give them away to new Vapers looking for a high-powered mod with a good-enough sub-ohm tank. The result was that every single one of them absolutely loved the iKen. I mean, every time we ran into one that would thank us profusely for giving them the Kit. They’ve since reordered replacement coils, and have been completely happy with it.

The Kanger iKen will find the best audience in new Vapers. The deep, gorgeous colors of the body, the attractive, but kind of blind tank, and the lightness of the body and tank, will delight Vapers that have not yet experienced what it’s like to vape in the ultra-low resistance, massive cloud producer sub-ohm tanks sitting atop a dual or triple cell mod that means business.

To score the iKen fairly, I must look at the Kit as I would someone that does not vape every day with a Uwell Valyrian/TFV12 Prince and a high wattage mod designed to throw some serious power.

Kanger iKen Mod – B+

Kanger Sub-Ohm Tank – B

Kanger iKen Starter Kit – A (value, performance, appeal to new Vapers)

Iken Box Mod Features:

• 1 to 230W Output Range
  • 0.1 to 5 ohm Atomizer Resistance Range
• Temperature Control Suite
  • Ni200 Nickel Support
  • Titanium Support
  • SS316L Support
  • Adjustable Three Memory TCR
    • Fine Tune Temperature Output
  • Preheat Functionality
  • Resistance Lock
  • 200 to 600 Degree Fahrenheit Range
  • 0.05 to 1.5 ohm Atomizer Resistance Range
• Selectable Mode Interface
  • Beginner
    • Simplistic Mode
  • Intermediate
    • Enables Temperature Control Mode
  • Expert
    • Enables M1 and M2 Custom Mode
• Vertically Oriented 1.54 inch TFT Display
  • Vertical Arrangement
  • Output Temperature
  • Output Wattage
  • Output Voltage
  • Material and Mode Selection
  • Atomizer Resistance
  • Battery Life Indicator
  • Adjustment Lock
  • Puff Counter
• Three Button Interface
  • Oversized Firing Button
• 5100 mAh Built In Battery
  • On Board Charging
• Stainless Steel 510 Threading
  • Spring Loaded Gold Plated Contact

iKen Dimensions:

• 44mm by 42mm by 78mm

iKen Sub-Ohm Tank Specs:

• 24mm Diameter
• Threaded Top Fill
  • Dual Fill Ports
  • 4ml Tank Capacity
  • Easy to Fill
• Top Airflow
  • 9mm by 1.5mm Each Airslot
  • U-Airflow
• SSOCC Coil Series Heads
  • SSOCC SS
    • 0.20 Ohm
    • Organic Cotton
• 11mm Bore Proprietary Drip Tip

iKen Kit Contents:

• One Kangertech IKEN Mod
• One Kangertech IKEN Tank
• Two SSOCC SS 0.20 Ohm
• One Manual
• One Micro-USB