The saving grace of the SMOK G-PRIV Baby LUXE is it’s removable single-18650 battery. It’s also a negative in this case… unless the user takes advantage of the highest milliamp battery they can get. Thankfully Spinfuel VAPE uses only the Nitecore 3100-mAh 35A battery for all our mods both personal use mods and review units, but others are still content using 2000mAh batteries, which will provide a “too short” vape time problem, for reasons I’ll explain below. That said, the ability to quickly switch out the battery with a fresh one can keep the vape going, unlike mods that have low-yield internal batteries.

Before I get too involved with this review, let me tell you that with 3100mAh to play with, driving this 85W mod with a full 2-inch color display provides a little more than 3 hours of vaping. I tested a 2000mAh battery I had in desk drawer and barely got 90 minutes of vape time, fully charged. The G-PRIV Baby LUXE has lots of features, requires more power than most “baby” mods, so if you decide to pick one up at Element Vape, grab a pair of high powered batteries at the same time, or expect to swap out your power cell often. Alright now, consider this my PSA for this delightful new addition to the SMOK LUXE line.

The SMOK G-PRIV Baby LUXE 85W Starter Kit is certainly a compact mod, just 72mm by 51mm by 29.2mm, with a splendid 2-inch touchscreen display. The front side of the G-PRIV Baby LUXE is all screen, and SMOK has done a marvelous job improving its touchscreen technology that using it is almost like using a smartphone’s touchscreen. Responsive, fast, and accurate, you’ll be setting modes and making adjustments like never before. In fact, it is this touchscreen that, for the first time, caused me to rate this mod as high as I did.

With a full 85W chipset that also incorporates full temperature control, the starter kit is paired with my least liked SMOK Prince, the TFV12 Baby Prince Tank. (4.5mL juice capacity) Until someone from SMOK explains it to me, I have no clue as to why a Mod like the Devilkin (reviewed here) ships with the full-size TFV12 Prince, (reviewed here) and SMOK mods like this one, or even the X-PRIV Baby (reviewed here) shipping with the SMOK BIG Baby Prince. (the X-PRIV Baby even sports 5W less power than the G-PRIV Baby). In any case, the Baby Prince uses SMOK’s TFV8 Baby Coils, sand comes with a Baby-Q4 and Baby-Q2 coil. Of course, any SMOK Baby Coil that requires less than 85W will work just fine.

The G-PRIV Baby LUXE continues the defining elements of the LUXE series, including a luxurious high-gloss finish with prismatic designs components. It is instantly apparent that the build quality provides for an excellent quality chassis and its high-gloss deeply saturated colors (except the Prism Rainbow which is a poor substitute for the rich rainbow finish of the SMOK Majesty LUXE Rainbow Cobra).

As much as I dislike the Baby Prince, I will admit that it is a high-performance sub-ohm tank. My dislike stems from SMOK’s Playbook of milking every success in every way imaginable, reducing the Baby Prince to nothing more than a TFV8 Big Baby Beast dressed up in the Prince’s wardrobe and sold at a premium.

Yes, it does perform, yes it does provide excellent flavor and ample clouds of vapor, but when used with the Baby-Q4 coil, rated for 30-65W, and the Baby-Q2 coil, rated for 40-80W, it passes, but it won’t live up to what the tank can really do with a Baby-Mesh (01.5-ohm/60-70W) or the new Baby-Strip Core, (01.5-ohms/40-80W). Since the G-PRIV Baby LUXE does output up to 85W, pick up a pack or two of better coils like the two mentioned above.

But, what it comes down to is dealing with what we have. The G-PRIV Baby LUXE works, and works well. Using the familiar menu operation of the modern SMOK mods, except that the user has a touchscreen to navigate, it is a splendid 85W mod in every way that counts.

Admittedly, the G-PRIV Baby LUXE chassis is not as ergonomically “comfortable” as other SMOK Mods, such as the X-PRIV Baby, but it is small enough that it’s not a real bother. The cost to own this starter kit is under $60, but in the coming weeks I suspect it might drop a bit. If you’re not happy with the Baby Prince you might want to consider the somewhat better “X-PRIV Baby“. It’s only 5W less wattage, but the trade-off is the slightly bigger SMOK Big Baby Prince. This Sub-Ohm uses the same Baby Coils, but has a larger juice capacity. What you lose with the touchscreen of the G-PRIV, you gain a more comfortable Mod.

SMOK produces so many devices that choosing the right one for you can be difficult. Do you want a touchscreen mod? Then the G-PRIV Baby LUXE is a good choice. Do you prefer pure aesthetics in a small package, that is comfortable to hold but lacks the touchscreen? Then, again, the SMOK X-PRIV Baby might be better for you.

The defining component of the G-PRIV Baby LUXE is its touchscreen, and its where the value is for those that like using touchscreen mods. It is quite a good starter kit when compared to all the “mini” and “baby” Kits on the market, but as far as recommending it, I’m neutral this time.

Score: B+