Powerful SMOK S-PRIV Starter Kit Review: A Stylish ‘Skull-In-A-Top-Hat’ Vaping Experience (2018)

Of all the SMOK Box Mods and Starter Kits introduced in 2017, none are more controversial than the SMOK S-PRIV 230W Mod. In the Kit version, the S-PRIV is kept company with the SMOK Big Baby Light Edition Vape Tank. Together they deliver a very good vape experience, but that skull in a top hat embossing on the front side of the Mod evokes either applause or disdain. If you’re into this type of Mod, the S-PRIV could be your next Mod.

The SMOK S-PRIV 230W Kit’s weird embossed skull and top hat even has its skull eyes light up, in addition to the usual SMOK OLED display found in other SMOK Mods. Additionally, as part of the Starter Kit model the SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Light Edition Vape Tank is included.

The SMOK S-PRIV Mod stands 86mm by 47mm by 30mm and features the same bottom latched battery compartment of the Veneno and others and holds a pair of hi-amp 18650 batteries. The Veneno measures 85mm by 47mm by 30.6mm, uses the same dual 18650 batteries, but pushes out 5W less than the S-PRIV.

Let’s take a quick look at the top specs of both the S-PRIV and the Veneno.

Clearly similar in specs, it’s interesting to note that the only difference in top specs is somehow the S-PRIV pushes out 5 additional watts of power. Everything else is identical.

The skull eyes can emit one of 12 different LED light colors, including red, green, blue, orange, white, and more. When choosing the LED color for the eyes you can also choose 3 different light ‘styles’, including normal, flash and fade.

The top hat of the skull serves as part of the OLED screen. Like other recent SMOK Mods, there are 3 Modes to choose from, Wattage Mode, Temperature Control Mode, and Memory Mode. Wattage Mode goes from 1W all the way up to 230W.  In temperature control Mode you can choose titanium, Ni200 Nickel, and Stainless-Steel, as well as the support for TCR adjustments.

Additionally, the SMOK S-PRIV Mod features a preheat function, dual battery life indicators on the display, a puff counter (resets to zero when switching out batteries), and a ‘boost’ function that the user can set to normal, soft and hard strength, and the user can choose from 6 color settings for the display. Lastly, a micro-USB port on the backside of the Mod for charging as well as firmware upgrades.

The included TFV8 Big Baby Light Edition is made using 304 stainless steel and high-grade glass. The tank is 24.5mm in diameter, and stands 56mm tall, and weighs just 60g. The drip tip is an 8.5mm black Delrin wide-bore drip tip that is proprietary to this tank.

The top fill system has The SMOK swing away hinge design. The bottom of the tank features dual adjustable airflow slots that can fine-tune your ‘vape experience’. I found this tank to have a tighter draw to it then SMOK’s TFV8 Big Baby Tank due to a thin metal divider inside the base of tank. I’m not sure what this divider is, perhaps circuitry for the LED lights, but it does cut down on the amount of airflow, thus causing a tighter draw.

It is still very much a Direct Lung Vape Tank, but the draw doesn’t come as easily as it does on the TFV8 Big Baby, which is, arguably, SMOK’s best-selling Sub-Ohm Vape Tank before the release of the TFV12 Prince and Baby Prince.

Of course, in addition to a slightly tighter draw, the headline of this tank is the LED light that shines whenever a draw is taken from the drip tip. This LED light cannot be turned off by the way. If you like the light it will add some pleasantries to the vape experience, and because the tank comes with several differently colored O-rings, you can change the color of the light by switching to a different O-ring.

The S-PRIV Kit comes with the Big Baby Light Edition with a pre-installed V8 Baby-Q20.4Ω coil, and an extra V8 Baby-T8 0.15Ω coil, that are designed for specific types of vaping experiences.

V8 Baby T8 Coil Head

0.15 ohm

Quadruple Coil

50 to 100W

60 to 80W Recommended Range

V8 Baby Q2 Coil Head

0.4 ohm

Dual Coil

40 to 80W

55 to 65W Recommended Range

The Baby-T8 coil head is .15-ohm, quad coil rated at 50 to 100-watt range. The optimal range for this coil is from 60 to 80 watts.  The T8 for me is a 65W sweet spotter. 65W is where I find the best combination of flavor fidelity and vapor production. Though, once again, the cloud production with a Big Baby is bigger than this Baby Light Edition.

The Q2 coil is the preinstalled coil.  The Q2 is .4-ohm dual coil rated at 40 to 80 watts. SMOK’s optimal range is supposed to be between 55 and 65 Watts. My sweet spot is 58 watts. I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but even with the Q2, a real Big Baby produces better flavor and more vapor.  Both coils are good SMOK coils, and provide a satisfying vape experience, especially in other “Baby” tanks.

I should also mention that the coil life of these particular coils are pretty decent as long as you stay away from super sweet e-juice, otherwise known as Coil Killers.

Getting around the menu system with a SMOK Mod doesn’t take much of a learning curve.

SMOK S-PRIV SPECS – Basic Operation:

Click 5 times to turn the mod on and lock it.

Click 3 times to enter the main menu.

In the main menu system, click the fire panel to advance through menu, and hold the fire panel down to advance into the sub menu systemthat you are currently in.

Find the screen you want to make adjustments to, and you can use the up and down buttons to make them.

As an example;get into the menu, press the fire panel till you come to the Modes. Use the up/down buttons to get to the mode you want, in this case, just choose the default “W” for Wattage.  Then press and hold the fire panel to one by one until you get to Normal/Hard/Soft which functions like a punch to initial second of your draw.

In this example, move it to Hard, then press and hold to come back out to main menu. Take a normal hit from the drip tip and see if this Hard punch is something you want to experience. If not, go back in, and move to it Soft, then Normal. The more you play with these settings the easier it will be to customize your ‘vape’ experience.

If you have own other SMOK mods that are fairly recent, the S-PRIV will feel like you’ve already used it. When compared to an older device, like the SMOK Alien, you’ll notice an interface is easier to use, and the display is definitely a high definition screen, with color.

If you like tanks that light up, the TFV8 Big Baby Light Edition is a good pick. Flavor is nice, and the vapor production is ample.  The S-PRIV Mod also features the two lit up eyes in the Skull.

Except for the Skull and Top Hat, which I just don’t care for, the S-PRIV is a nice, well-built mod, albeit, strange box mod. However, when compared with all the SMOK Box Mods recently released, the only selling point will be for Vapers that find the skull in a top hat cool enough to want to own it. That extra 5W of power means little to nothing in 99.999% of vaping.

If, like me, you’d rather not own a Mod with a skull in top hat, I would recommend the SMOK Veneno, the X-PRIV, or T-PRIV, and if you want a similar vape and touchscreen capabilities, there is the SMOK G PRIV 2 Luxe, which includes the best-selling TFV12 Prince.

There is nothing here in the S-PRIV we haven’t seen before from SMOK, except for embossed front side. Not judging the skull in a top hatmotif, I give the SMOK S-PRIV Starter Kit….

SMOK Baby Light Edition: B

S-PRIV Mod: A

Overall Score: A- for The SMOK S-Priv

SMOK S-Priv TC Features:

• 6 to 225W Power Output
  • 0.5V to 9V
  • 0.1 to 3ohm Atomizer Resistance Range
  • Three Setting Output Mode
    • Hard
    • Normal
    • Soft
  • Firmware Upgradeable
• Temperature Control Output
  • Ni200 Nickel Support
  • Titanium Support
  • Stainless Steel Support
  • Adjustable Initial Resistance
  • Adjustable TCR
  • Preheat Capability
  • 200 to 600 degree Fahrenheit Output Range
  • 0.05 to 3.0 ohm Atomizer Resistance Range
• 1″ Colorful OLED Screen
  • Vibrant Display Resolution
  • Icon Based Display Matrix
    • Highly Visible
    • Comprehensive Menu Settings and Adjustment
    • Full Display
    • Dual Battery Life Indicator
    • Menu Color Customizable
      • Blue
      • Purple
      • Orange
      • Red
      • White
      • Green
• LED Light Located on the Eye of the Skull
  • 12 Different Colors to Choose From
    • Cyan
    • White
    • Rainbow
    • Red
    • Green
    • Blue
    • Yellow
    • Magenta
    • RGB
    • Orange
    • Pink
    • Purple
  • 3 Light Styles
    • Normal
    • Flash
    • Fade
• Innovative and Ergonomic Firing Mechanism
  • Comfortable and Easy to Use
  • Squeeze to Fire Operation
• Bottom Latch Battery Bay Door
  • High Amperage 18650 Battery Powered
    • Sold Separately
  • Zinc Alloy and Carbon Fiber Paneling
  • Spring Loaded Internal Contacts
• Zinc Alloy Chassis
• Stainless Steel 510 Threading
  • Gold Plated 510 Contact

SMOK S-Priv Dimensions:

• 47mm by 30mm by 86mm

TFV8 Baby Light Edition Beast Features:

• • 24.5mm Diameter
  • Hinge and Lock Top Fill System
    • Swivels Open and Shut
    • Fill Port
  • 5.0ml Max Capacity
  • SMOK Baby Turbo Coil Family
    • V8 Baby X4 Coil Head
      • 0.15 ohm
      • Quadruple Coil
      • 30 to 70W
      • 45 to 60W Recommended Range
    • V8 Baby T6 Coil Head
      • 0.2 ohm
      • Sextuple Coils
      • 40 to 130W
      • 70 to 90W Recommended Range
  • LED Light Located on the Bottom of the Tank Seal
    • Color is Configurable through Sealing O-Rings
      • White
      • Red
      • Orange
      • Yellow
      • Green
      • Purple
      • Black
  • Dual Adjustable 15mm by 2mm Airslots
  • 8.5mm Delrin Drip Tip
  • Stainless Steel and Glass Construction

TFV8 Baby Light Edition Product Dimensions:

• 24.5mm by 59mm

Product Includes:

• One SMOK S-Priv 225W TC Box Mod
• One SMOK TFV8 Baby Light Edition Tank
  • One V8 Baby-Q2 0.4 Coil Head
    • Pre-Installed
  • One V8 Baby-T8 0.15 Coil Head
• USB Charging Cable
• Replacement Parts and Glass
• User Manual