I’m going to take you back…wayy back…too far back for most of you no doubt…The early 70s to be exact, This was a time before video games, before computers…A time when 3 TV channels was enough and even that…for most of us…was black & white. Entertainment in those days was incomparable to today’s standards…we played outside, we got dirty, we pretended to kill each other on a daily basis with twigs shaped like guns and on a good day…whispers of ‘there’s a dead body down the alley’ were all the excitement we needed…come to think of it…finding corpses was an alarmingly recurrent pastime for us kids… hmm…it’s literally just occurred to me how fucking disturbing that is…and also the possibility that one of my friends…could well of been a mass murderer…?
Moving on swiftly…
It was during this golden era that my infatuation with Art came to being, My Playstation was a pad of paper, My controller was a ‘love is’ pencil case covered in obscene graffiti (my perverse older sisters) full of crayons and the game…was whatever my imagination could come up with…cute pictures of puppies probs…
throughout my childhood I would lose myself for hours scribbling away in my own little bubble, Pulling images from my ever expanding imagination and putting them to paper…My first ever Art teacher was so impressed with my talents that she felt impelled to show my parents what an ‘Interesting’ creative flair their little golden child…appeared to possess…
This was a prominent feature throughout my childhood, I was obsessed with all things ‘Arty’ and still am to this day, Although my talents these days tend to be used more just entertaining myself more than anything else…
As for appreciating Art however…the more imaginative and ‘away from the norm’ the better…So it came as no surprise that the moment I clapped eyes on the device I am reviewing today…I felt the same reaction that I felt the first time I saw my bosomy Art teacher all those years ago…I fell in love…
Greetings once again my fluffy little fog muffins, Today I am returning to a new-ish a company who have gained a little momentum of late, A company whose name conjures up all kind of images in my immature juvenile mind…
I am of course talking about Asvape, Their claim of making high quality vape gear at affordable prices has thus far been met with agreement by most… yet… before I even got my grubby little mits on the device I am reviewing today I was already smitten…quality didn’t even come into it at this point, The design alone was enough to gently stroke my inner artistic obsession…so… does the quality match up with the over exuberant exterior …or is it just form over function?.. from my ever tolerant friends at Gearbest …The Asvape Michael VO200 Mod.
Just check out that artwork, I’m sure it has some ‘style’ name in China but…whatever it’s called…it’s awesome. This particular one is the ‘Devil’s Night Edition’ and there is another one with Zombies on it called the ‘Walking Dead Edition’…IMO this one is by far the better of the two.
Retail presence
Before we get into that however I must mention the packaging seeing as it is indeed the first impression you will get should you decide to pull the trigger on one.
It is a beautifully put forward flip top presentation case with a magnetic lid, Once you break the seal and open the slash cut lid the Michael is just sat there presenting itself to you half in and half out of the centre of the box…you can almost hear the ‘Tadaa’ as you open it…Big plus points for retail presence.
The Functionality
The Asvape Michael is a 200w device powered by 2 of your industry standard 18650’s and is powered by the American made VO200 chip. It’s capable of everything you would expect from today’s mid to high end regulated mods with modes for practically everything …although seems to void of a TCR function. It does however have a highly accurate TC mode by all accounts as well as a custom curve mode and a Bypass mode. The menu takes a bit of getting used to although it isn’t rocket science so you will soon become accustomed to it, And all the info you will need is clearly displayed on it’s relatively small OLED screen.
The Controls are obvious, No degree needed here, You have your very clicky fun button and a plus and minus bar. The fun button is quite small but very nicely decorated with the Asvape logo as well as the Latin word ‘Aequitas’ meaning the concept of justice, equality, conformity, symmetry, or fairness…right oh (thumbs up)
The 510 is a very nicely threaded spring loaded affair… and is also a little ‘fancy pants’ with a plate wide enough to fit up to a 28mm top, even 30 at a push but it will overhang ever so slightly…
Although due to the contoured shape around the top it still won’t look that obvious, my only fear with going wide would be the possibility of maybe ruining the top lip of the artwork…something I’m not over keen on doing.
The battery door is unfortunately the bone of contention with the Michael, The batteries are bottom fed which is not particularly unusual however the battery door does come completely off.
Again…not particularly unusual however quite rare these days, the problem with this approach is how well it fits once the batteries are in, there will always be resistance being pushed against the door by the spring loaded battery contacts so it needs to be TIGHT once it’s attached…and this…isn’t. Don’t get me wrong…as far as battery doors go it serves it’s purpose and is after all held in place by a magnet at the rear of it but…it’s just not tight enough. You know that sound you get when you knock a plate on a hard surface which tells you that there’s a crack in it somewhere…a kind of hollow ‘chonk’ (you totally just made up a word)…well it’s a similar sound every single time you put the Micheal down somewhere …‘Chonk’…Vape…‘Chonk’ …it is not a pleasant sound. It’s all down to the small gap between the body and the door, it’s held in place perfectly well but…‘Chonk’…
While we’re on the subject of batteries however it does offer close to 2 amp balanced charging…if you use a different USB lead than the shitty one that comes with it…As good as that is however, I do recommend using an external charger instead.
The Appearance
The metalwork is all finished off in a kind of splatter painted gold, which gives it a satin almost anodised finish, Durability of this is obviously an unknown but it gives the whole device a very opulent appearance and suits the Michael perfectly.
The focal point for the Michael however is obviously the tremendous Artwork adorning the whole of the exterior. It’s almost tattoo meets Manga meets Gothic with a hint of traditional Chinese thrown in, I’ve never seen anything like it before nor do I know who actually designed it…maybe his name is Michael…who knows…my searches came up with nada.
It appears to centre around a sexy Japanese Vampiress and her ‘evil villain’ cliche’d cat…Not sure where the ‘Michael’ comes into this…looks more like a ‘Michelle’ but who knows…Maybe ‘she’ is in fact a ‘he’ …these Vampires can be full of surprises…who am I to judge.
The next thing that will strike you as soon as you pick it up is the feel of the thing, it’s so smooth and comfortable to hold, And the design is lightly embossed, You can actually feel the picture and the finish itself is almost ‘rubbery’ …and no that’s not me saying it’s ‘lovely’ in a bad Chinese accent…although it is…actually lovely…and considering it is such a large mod the ergonomics are actually on point with the ever so slightly contoured spine.
And it is large…for a dual 18650 device it is definitely above average girth (That’s what she sa…actually… no she didn’t) but with the over elaborate decoration and perfect ergonomics it more than gets away with it.
I don’t think the next part will look quite as spectacular as the mod itself…
The Specs…(sigh)
Main Features:
● Supports multiple modes
● Wattage range: 5 - 200W
● TC range: 212 - 572 Deg.F
● Resistance range: 0.2 - 3 ohm ( Bypass ), 0.08 - 3 ohm ( Power Mode ), 0.03 - 3 ohm ( TC Modes )
● Supports 2pcs 18650 batteries ( not included )
● Firmware upgradeable
● Material: zinc alloy
● Thread: 510
Product Details
Model: Michael 200W
Material: Zinc Alloy
Mod: Temperature Control Mod,VV/VW Mod
APV Mod Wattage: 200w
Dimension and Weight Product weight: 0.1870 kg
Package weight: 0.3870 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 6.00 x 2.70 x 9.50 cm / 2.36 x 1.06 x 3.74 inches
Package size (L x W x H): 16.20 x 10.00 x 5.00 cm / 6.38 x 3.94 x 1.97 inches
Package Contents Package Contents: 1 x Mod, 1 x English User Manual, 1 x USB Cable
May as well ACTUALLY be written in Chinese…
Final Thoughts
My Final thoughts on the Asvape Michael VO200 Mod would be thus…Firstly…for reasons unbeknown to me…the name really suits it… I DON’T KNOW WHY…but it does, It’s ridiculous…but it’s Chinese so it makes a perfect amount of no sense whatsoever, Although when your manufacturer is called Asvape…it probably doesn’t matter anyway, The mod however…is as good as it looks, The chip is a real contender for TC users, and it fires almost instantly, The only thing I did notice with it was a noticeable drop in power once the battery gauge hits about 30% in wattage mode…not sure what that’s about and I have no technological fuckery to find out why but…it’s there. The build carries on from Asvapes promise of bringing us quality devices, It’s very well put together and if it wasn’t for that damn battery door it would be close to perfectly manufactured. The presentation, appearance and finish is phenomenal, It’s become one of my favourite devices to date, I love the way it looks, I love the way it performs…especially in bypass mode…and I absolutely adore the fact that it takes wide tops. Durability…maybe…could become an issue further down the line with regards to it’s exterior…I don’t know that obviously only having it a short time but I’ve seen this paint finish before and in the past I have seen it wear through leaving a silver ‘shadow’ on high impact areas and as for the rubber coating design I feel like I should protect it as if it were a true work of art…I’m kind of apprehensive about taking it out and about with me although I have been doing and so far it’s passed the test so…time will tell. I would still recommend the Michael to anyone who is looking for something ‘unique’ and of a quality we have come to expect from Asvape.
Extra Kudos
Now when I first received the Michael I had an issue with the fire button, It wasn’t releasing instantly, like it was getting caught on something, I have a procedure that I follow when something like this happens and I think it’s only fair. First I search the tinterwebz to see if it’s a known issue…nothing…Then I contact the manufacturer, And this is where Asvape excelled themselves. They had a new device shipped to me in 3 days from there office in China and were more than helpful with instant email replies and offers of help. Having a 100% perfect manufacturing is nigh on impossible, there will always be a few that slip the QC net and it’s believing this that stops me from slating a product based on one fault…on one device, I give the manufacturers the benefit of the doubt and on this occasion…Asvape went above and beyond to put things right…super amounts of kudos to them, And the device I received was perfect.
The Price
Bare in mind that this a luxury product, It is most certainly not your average run of the mill device so…that being said…Gearbest currently have the Michael with 20% off an already discounted price, This work of art could be yours for the meagre sum of £54.82/$72.38 which I think is a steal, Get that deal here…
Asvape Michael VO200 Mod - Discounted price
I only wish more manufactures would follow in Asvapes footsteps when it comes to creativity, This kind of artistic flair appeals to a lot of vapers and I for one am a massive fan of it, It’s in my blood…and as it turns out…it’s also in my youngest daughters blood…I just hope her mother shares my appreciation for her undiscovered talents…
As always if you would like to see how the Michael scored against other awesome pieces of Vapeology then hop on over to Steampugs where my doors are always open, and while you’re there have a mooch around the shop and come and show some support for the ever growing Steam Team.
Until next time.
Pugs.
I get that.
