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SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Beast Tank
Since it’s so close to Christmas, I’ve always loved the element of surprise rather than knowing what I’m getting prior to the 25th. When I first received the SMOK Big Baby Beast ($24.95 at Element Vape) from Spinfuel HQ along with many other amazing items, I set it aside and went straight for the SMOK G-Priv Starter Kit since it included the TFV8 Big Baby too.
A couple of nights later, I decided to open the Big Baby and to my surprise, SMOK included the RBA deck! I’ve wanted to purchase the RBA for the Baby Beast as soon as I knew it was being released a month or two ago but never got around to it; the surprise made my night! The SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Beast Tank is a fantastic enlarged upgrade from the TFV8 Baby Beast (a tank I use on a daily basis) and a perfect representation of a slightly smaller TFV8 Cloud Beast. Just when you think there’s no middle ground between the two, SMOK hits us with the TFV8 Big Baby Beast!
The SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Beast is a 24.5mm Sub-Ohm Tank that utilizes the wide selection of Baby Beast Turbo Engine Coil Heads which makes cross-compatibility extremely convenient (not compatible with the Cloud Beast coils). Measuring 3mm taller and a 2.5mm bigger circumference than the Baby Beast while increasing total eJuice capacity by 2ml (to 5ml total); the Taste Flavor V8 Big Baby Beast is a closer rendition to the TFV8 Cloud Beast, in my honest opinion. SMOK struck the perfect balance of not too big (TFV8 Cloud Beast) and not too small (TFV8 Baby Beast) while still being easily transported. It’s definitely not a small tank and feels more in-line with other competing tanks that share the same diameter and juice capacity; there’s nothing baby about it!
SMOK released a few additional colors to the TFV8 lineup and really makes it easy to pick one to match your style. The TFV8 Big Baby is currently available in Black, Stainless Steel and Gunmetal with Gold, Blue, Red, and Green and a Rainbow version called 7-Color being released soon. I’ve been using the Black version that came with the SMOK G-Priv Starter Kit (recently reviewed by yours truly) and the Stainless Steel version with the RBA deck installed. The overall construction is as you’d expect; solid and the superior Stainless Steel material used is identical to most other SMOK atomizers. I’ve been using my Cloud Beast and Baby Beast several times weekly and never had something break, wear down or show any sign of failure; a testament to SMOK’s quality control and manufacturing methods.
The TFV8 Big Baby Beast shares the same hinge-lock top-fill system that SMOK has perfected over the last year and is hands down the best top-fill in the industry! With a nice amount of tension thanks to the extremely thick fill hole silicone gasket between the tank and top cap, the swinging arm stays closed without any looseness or unhinging whatsoever. The fill hole did decrease in size just a smidge compared to the Baby Beast but I had no issues jamming a 120ml dropper in and filling the full 5ml reservoir. I’m so familiar with the swing open fill port that I wish every manufacturer implemented a similar system to get close to what SMOK has accomplished with theirs.
The dual 15mm x 2mm adjustable bottom airflow slots provide the amount of air needed to power the TFV8 Big Baby coils and RBA section. The adjustment ring is super smooth with no hesitation when making changes and stays in any position you set it too. It does stop in the opened and closed positions, which I completely prefer, unlike the Cloud Beast that spins around 360°. The enormous 16mm Delrin wide-bore drip tip (the exact same as the Cloud Beast) still gives a great amount of flavor since it tapers down and connects (by two really strong O-rings) to a 6.9mm chimney. I personally love the larger wide-bore drip tips but SMOK does include a 510 adapter if you want to use your Baby Beast or any other 510 drip tip instead. Never once did I have a heat issue even when running 100W plus.
Lying nicely under the packaging were two replacement glass tubes which I thought was unusual but awesome. Then once I went to install the RBA deck, I realized the second additional glass was slightly taller than the others to compensate for the couple millimeters taller the RBA deck stood over the coil heads. The 510 connection threads installed easily on any device I attached it to (mainly the SMOK G-Priv and Lost Vape Triade DNA250 Box Mod) while the 510 center pin gave me no issues with connectivity.
With the Baby Turbo Engine Coil Heads providing the vapor and flavor, expect a solid performance from each and every option. Every SMOK coil lately (besides a select few) is unbelievably flavorful, well-built, and lasts longer than other brands. The Big Baby Beast uses the same coils as the Baby Beast despite being bigger in diameter and offering almost double the eJuice capacity. I prefer having a couple tanks that use the same coil heads so I only need to stock up on one specific resistance ($14.95 for a 5-pack at Element Vape) that I like with the ability to use a variety of tanks. As excited as I was to have the Big Baby RBA section in hand, it’s not compatible with the Baby Beast since the glass is too short for the tank to assemble properly; unfortunate but is still an awesome addition.
Of course, I started immediately with the RBA section that comes preinstalled with dual Spaced Clapton coils (5-wrap and 2.5mm ID) reading right around 0.34Ω. Remember you need to install the taller glass tube that’s included in the box or you’re left with an unfillable gap.
After some minor adjustments, I wicked it up with some premium cotton (Native Wicks Platinum to be exact) and filled it with some juice that I know like the back of my hand.
Once I reached about 70W, the vape was extremely smooth. A cooler vape than I normally prefer but with great flavor and clouds upon clouds of vapor. I normally build contact coils (wraps that touch each other rather than spaced apart) so after a couple tanks, I decided to install my own coils.
The RBA is a two-post Velocity-style deck that measures 16mm in total diameter with two 2mm holes on each post. The side-tension screws hold your coil leads in place with no issues despite their smaller size. Wicking is similar to the Cloud Beasts included RBA where you tuck your wicks into the corner channels with four 4.3mm x 2.5mm wicking slots around the bottom feeding juice to the cotton. With either a lot of cotton or the bare minimum, I get no leaking, gurgling or spitting with the stock setup or the dual SS316L Clapton coils (7-wrap and 2.5mm ID) I installed shortly after. I was able to push my dual Clapton coils (reading at 0.21Ω) to much higher wattages and was getting a warmer denser vape right around 80-90W. Obviously, you’re going to be limited to smaller builds but the flavor and vapor is right on par with larger more power hungry RBA’s.
The preinstalled 0.15Ω V8 Baby-X4 coil head consisted of dual parallel (quadruple) coils measuring 2.8mm ID each with four 7mm x 2.5mm wicking slots. The dual coils are placed in the center of the coil giving you direct from the coil vapor production. SMOK recommends the best output around 45-60W (with a total range of 30-70W) but I found around 65W was a perfect number for me. I’ve been vaping these coil heads with the TFV8 Baby Beast for months and bought several packs since I do enjoy them a lot. The life of the coil is close to a week of severe vaping before I started getting a change in flavor but overall I enjoy the Baby-X4 coils a lot.
Also included in the box is the 0.2Ω V8 Baby-T6 Sextuple coil head, the most powerful coil head in the V8 Baby lineup. With three individual parallel coils (giving you six coils total), a 3mm ID and three 5.5mm x 2.5mm wicking slots, power is drastically increased. The wattage range of 40-130W (best between 70-90W) is a little optimistic. I cranked it gradually to 130W and I was getting a dry hit every other pull. The plumes of vapor are thick and the flavor was definitely more up my alley around 110W. I didn’t get more than a few days of good vaping until I was getting a muted almost musty taste. While I do prefer the higher wattage capability of the T6 (I’m a triple digit vaper at heart), the Baby-X4 is the clear cut winner between the two.
While there are several other coil head options that I do vape with my Baby Beast, never once do I get leaking or resistance errors. The coil life varies from person to person so my time is normally cut shorter since I’m constantly reviewing other products. But the only con I came up with on the TFV8 Big Baby is when tightening the top cap down, it loves to hold the top of the coil head. So when I try to remove the top cap, the coil unscrews from the base with it and caused a mess, especially with the RBA section (it took pliers to unscrew the cap on the RBA more than once). It happened the few times I went to clean my tank out and when changing to a different coil (just a friendly heads up).
Final Grade – A
“I’ve grown to expect impeccable flavor and large dense plumes of vapor from every SMOK tank I come across. Since the TFV4, I use at least one SMOK tank in my daily vape routine and that won’t change as long as they continue to design and manufacture products like the SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Beast! And if you prefer larger or smaller atomizers, you could always pick up the TFV8 Baby Beast ($19.95) or the TFV8 Cloud Beast ($29.95), both available at Element Vape as well.”
Team Spinfuel
SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Beast Tank Features:
- Enlarged Edition of the Baby Beast
- 24.5mm Diameter
- 5mL Juice Capacity
- Superior Stainless Steel Construction
- High-Grade Glass Reinforcement
- Convenient Top-Fill Design with Hinge Lock
- Dual Adjustable Airflow Control at Base
- Black Delrin Ultra-Wide Drip Tip
- Patented Baby Turbo Engines Coil Structure
- 0.4ohm V8 Baby-Q2 Dual Coil – rated for 30-80W | recommended 55-65W
- 0.15ohm V8 Baby-X4 Quad Coil – rated for 30-70W | recommended 45-60W
- 0.15ohm V8 Baby-T8 Octuple Coil – rated for 50-100W | recommended 60-80W
- V8 Baby RBA – Two-Post Deck
- 510 Connection
- Available in Stainless Steel, Black, Gunmetal, Gold, Blue, Red, Green, and Rainbow
SMOK Big Baby Edition Package Includes:
- 1 SMOK TFV8 Big Baby Tank
- 1 Preinstalled V8 Baby-X4 Coil Head
- 1 Extra V8 Baby-T6 Coil Head
- 1 V8 Baby RBA
- 1 Replacement Glass Tube
- 1 510 Drip Tip Adapter
- Spare Parts
- Instruction Manual
