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The first new product to hit the vape community for 2014 is here. It’s the “mod powerkit”, a radical new approach to the electronic cigarette that combines high-tech design with simplicity and ease of use. Best of all, it works. It works really well.
The ‘mod powerkit’ is a 900mAh, 3.7v of regulated power in a small, rectangular shape… with a 2ML capacity tank on top that is offered in several colors. It sounds simple because it is.
There are some fascinating features in the mod powerkit that can be easily overlooked, especially if you live with modern technology everyday, as I do. Here are just some of the features that I will be discussing later in this review:
- Conductive Charging
- The Unique Tank System
- The Exterior Finish
- Balance
After using the mod powerkit for several days now (5 days) I am so sold on the device that I found it difficult to be unbiased in my review. It’s not that the mod powerkit delivers the best vape I’ve ever had, although it does deliver a great vape, but whether because this device worked its way into my vaping lifestyle effortlessly, and I adapted to its unique features without trying. Let me explain.
For 5 days I used the mod powerkit exclusively. Doing so with every device I review offers a great bellwether as to what the device will mean to me weeks and months later. If I can make it 5 days without having to go back to my usual hardware than I know there is potential for the new hardware. It could mean that I ditch my everyday hardware for something new, or it could mean that the device will become one of the few in my normal rotation of vape gear.
Conductive Charging
The biggest impact the mod powerkit had on me was on the 6th day, the day I began integrating back to my usual rotation. For 5 days I never reached for the mod powerkit and found it in need of a charge. I didn’t even notice it until the 6th day, and that was only because my #1 device ran out of juice after a few hours. It startled me. Before the mod powerkit I was used to attaching my batteries to various chargers, like clockwork. Since I didn’t need to do that with powerkit I had forgotten about that aspect of vaping.
The mod powerkit features the first ‘conductive charging’ method ever applied to e-cigarettes. Instead of placing the mod powerkit on my desk surface, or my nightstand, or anywhere else I used the charging dock that comes with it. This dock continually charges the battery so whenever you use it there is always plenty of ‘juice’ at the ready.
The dock plugged into my USB slot on my computer (it does not come with a wall adapter) and because of the rectangular shape of the battery there is this very human trait of ‘wanting to put the square peg into the square hole’ thing going on. I’m dead serious; I was naturally drawn to placing the battery into the dock whenever I wanted to put it down. I didn’t even realize that I was doing it. I guarantee you’ll feel the same desire when you get your own mod powerkit.
So, when I switched back to my cylindrical batteries the common behavior of laying it down on its side kicked in. Before I realized that I had to go back to attaching a charger to the battery it had already drained.
The conductive charging of the dock is brand new to this industry, and it makes a big difference to the end-user. Imagine never having to manually charge up a battery again.
The 2ML Tank System
Like a good solider I read the manual and watched the video so I would know how to fill the tank. Looking at the tank, all up close and personal like, I thought to myself that this tank was going to leak like crazy. There are no screws, no threads whatsoever, except for the 510-threads that screw the tank into the battery, and of course the coil itself, so I figured there was no way this tank was going to seal properly. Even the drip tip is a specially designed, soft textured drip tip without threads.
Taking apart the tank, inspecting the pieces, I couldn’t figure out why this company would choose to make a tank like this. But, I played along and placed a couple of drops of juice around the O-Rings, and with a towel underneath I filled the tank with my chosen eLiquid. I put the bottom of the tank on, an while holding my breath I turned it ‘right side up’ and screwed the tank into the battery. Then I watched it for a minute or two. Not a drop leaked out… I was truly surprised. Everything fit snugly, without screws, and airtight.
Before I talk about the actual vape experience I should mention that the mod powerkit tank is made from food grade polycarbonate plastic. It’s a bottom fill, bottom coil tank with a removable drip tip. They chose Kanger has the supplier of the coil. The coils are 2.2ohms. Mod tells us that the tank is resistant to ‘most’ corrosive juices, mainly citrus and cinnamon types, but I didn’t use any in my review so I can’t say for sure, although other plastic tanks made with food grade plastics do a great job so I imagine mod is correct about their tank’s ability to withstand most of the corrosive juices on the market.
I did learn something about Kanger coils during this review period as well. I have complained many times about a metallic taste in the Kanger ProTanks and others, yet with the mod powerkit tank there was no metallic taste at all. This led me to discover than it was never the coils that caused me to experience a metallic taste, it was all the other metal in these tanks, from the drip tip to the casings. I gained a lot of respect for Kanger coils through this review.
The Soft Textures
Ever since my first experience with what I have been calling “rubberized paint jobs” I’ve always enjoyed the soft texture of various batteries over the all-metal exteriors. The sure grip, the tactile feel, it is so much more pleasurable than wrapping your fingers around bare metal. And so it is with the mod powerkit. Only here we are talking about more than a ‘rubberized paintjob’.
The soft texture of both the battery and the tank comes from the material used to mold the pieces, not a paintjob. This makes the mod powerkit not only soft to the touch, but also lighter overall. If you like the feel of batteries made with a soft texture you’re going to love the way the mod powerkit feels in your hand.
Balance
The last major point I want to talk about before getting into the real world experience is the balance. Balance is something we often overlook when talking about electronic cigarettes above the cig-a-like levels. We use anything from an eGo/Spinner type battery with a top heavy, or even top light, tank or cartomizer, all the way up to something like the iTaste 134 with its huge presence and a massive RBA like a Kayfun down to screwing in a simple cartomizer, and never mention the awkward feel of ridiculous weight distribution.
Most of the time balance isn’t an issue because we’re more concerned with the amount of vapor it will put out, or the accuracy of the flavor. But when you get a chance to use one that is perfectly balanced, that feels so natural in your hand, you notice it instantly. It feels ‘right’. And the mod powerkit is one of the best ‘balanced’ battery + tank I’ve ever used.
Good and proper balance means less stress while holding it, or vaping with it. You don’t feel the stresses of the muscles you use in your hands and forearms, and if you’ve ever suffered from a repetitive stress injury you know exactly what it means to try to use something that causes certain muscles to be used in painful ways. This won’t happen with the mod powerkit because when something is perfectly balanced it’s like holding nothing at all. Ask an Archer what I mean by that. A balanced bow feels a light as a feather. The mod powerkit also feels like as a feather.
So, let’s recap a bit. The mod powerkit consists of:
1 tank
1 battery
1 charging dock
1 drip tip
1 Kanger coil + 1 replacement coil
1 USB cable
The MSRP is $85
The mod powerkit specs are:
3.7 volts – regulated
900mAh battery (about 4 hours of steady use if left off the dock)
LED battery indicator
Rapid Charge Base (about 45-60 minutes, more or less, for a complete charge)
2.2ohm Kanger Coils
Real World
And now it’s time to talk about how it really performs. The bottom line. Are all these new, state of the art design elements worth the price, and does it provide a satisfying vape?
Once I had charged up the battery, which didn’t take but a few minutes because it came 99% charged already, and filled the 2ML tank with juice, I began my 5 days of vaping.
My first draw from the mod powerkit returned little vapor, and little flavor. My second and third were better, but still far below what I wanted. Then the fourth draw…and the thing just turned into this monster machine that produced a vast amount of vapor and a truly magnificent flavor from the juice. From then on, refill after refill, the mod powerkit performed like it was three times bigger than it was. I loved it!
What Matters?
But it got me to thinking. What is it about particular electronic cigarettes that makes one better than the other? After all, the mod powerkit is basically a mechanical mod. The specs are not revolutionary; 3.7volts, ‘regulated’, meaning that no matter what the battery level you’re going to get 3.7v. 900mAh battery is 900mAh, nothing more, nothing less. A Kanger 2.2ohm coil is a Kanger 2.2ohm coil, used in many other devices. So, that being the case, what really sells an electronic cigarette?
In the case of this new, revolutionary (design-wise) mod powerkit there are many features that make it a desirable mod. Having said that, the mod powerkit, like any other device for vaping, is not going to make a bad juice taste good, it’s not going to make a 2.2ohm coil produce more vapor than it is capable of, and a 2ML tank isn’t going to hold more than 2ML, nor is it going go all biblical on us and cause 2ML to last for 8 days and 8 nights.
Here are MY reasons on why you should consider adding a mod powerkit to your vaping arsenal.
- The performance is 100% of its specs. It works at 100% capacity, and you can’t ask for better than that. I wish all e-cigarettes operated at their full capacity.
- It feels great to hold, both texture and balance make the tactile interface a delight.
- Conductive charging – use the dock and you’ll never see the rapid blinking of the indicator light telling you there is no juice left in the battery.
- The Tank – Bottom filling means easy, the coils deliver great flavor and vapor. It does not leak.
- It is what I like to call “state of the art design and function”, meaning that every element is designed to work with every other element. The company calls it ‘user friendly’, that works for me.
Bottom Line and Buying Advice
The mod powerkit should be available for shipping on December 31st.
My belief in the mod powerkit stems from this lightweight finely tuned and balanced electronic cigarette delivering a solid, dependable, great tasting vape in a beautifully designed package. It is a two-piece design, battery and tank, but it operates as a one-piece e-cigarette. You can use any 510-threaded cartomizer or tank you want, but why would you? The tank, though limited at 2ML, was designed to complement the battery, and vice versa. It is a system, and it works.
If you’re reading this review while holding and vaping something that weighs 3 pounds, something with a 6ML tank with dual coils that you wrapped yourself, vaping juice you’ve made yourself, then you might look at the mod powerkit as a curiosity more than something you might want to buy. But, if you are a new Vaper, or someone who is presently using a cig-a-like or an eGo/Spinner, and you want something that delivers more in flavor and vapor, and ease-of-use matters, if looks matter, if having a device that is continually charged while sitting in its dock matters, then by all means buy a mod powerkit and realize your desires.
We can all expect mod to ramp up quickly now that their first, and excellent, e-cigarette is now a reality. I am sure we can expect variable voltage, larger tanks, larger batteries, and a whole lot more high-tech features from mod. But as a first product they outdid what I believed was possible.
I’ve always been an early adopter, so I was excited to see the mod powerkit come to market. Now that its here, I can highly recommend it.
