What’s up vapefam!
SirRisc here with another gear review!
My previous review of the EGO One CT was an ideal starterkit with simplicity as its main advantage.
Today I will look at the other end of the spectrum with a mod that has so many options and settings, I actually struggled to get it all into this review without just copying the usermanual.
Ladies and gentlevapers, the Smok XCube II.
The Smok Xcube II was sent to me for the purpose of this review by DirectVapor!
Premise.
Some of you may know that I’ve been reviewing for quite some time now (shame on you if you don’t!), and that I have been working with Chinese retailers most of the time.
However a large part of my demographic are US vapers and logistics between the US and Europe can be troubling sometimes.
Most US-based companies simply seek out US reviewers and work with them because it’s cheaper, less of a fuss and more tailored to their customerbase.
However I don’t want to leave anyone out and working together with a US-based company is a logical next step.
Enter DirectVapor, a Miami, FL based retailer who specialises in authentic gear for great prices.
That’s right, they have authentic gear only. No clones, no dodgy stuff, no copied branding bullshit. They’ve dubbed it the “No clone zone”. Catchy!
Now despite a couple of hefty delays (Thank you, Belgian customs!), we agreed to check out the Smok XCube II as our first cooperation.
And I’ll spill the beans here, it’s freakishly fun to vape with but it’s not without its issues.
Sit back, grab some coffee, grab a good vape, 'cause this is gonna be a long one!
Specifications.
- Stainless Steel and Zinc Alloy construction
- Dual 18650 battery powered
- 0.08ohm to 3.0ohm
- 6W to 160W (180W with the 1.093 firmware, which is downloadable for free from the Smok website )
- 0.35V to 8V power output
- Temperature control for Ni200 (Ti01 and SS 317L support can be bought through the Bluetooth app, more on that below)
- 200°F to 600°F or 100°C to 315°C
- 16 memory positions (Wattage)
- TC Mode, Wattage Mode, Memory Mode
- OLED display on top
- Bluetooth 4.0 technology to connect to your Android or iPhone
- RGB LED button (16 million colors)
- Magnetic batterydoor
- Springloaded 510 connection, gold plated
- The biggest firing button you can possibly imagine
Packaging.
The Xcube II comes in the same style packaging the TFV4 came in.
A black box with silver lettering, packed in a white sleeve with the mod depicted on it.
On the back you’ll find a short description of the mod, and the specifications in a short list.
Once you get the black box out of the sleeve and open it up, you’ll be greeted by the mod sitting in a foam insert.
Smok included a bag of silica in the packaging to keep the smell of plastic to a minimum.
Dispose of this bag properly please, silica does not break down easily and is very damaging to the environment.
The foam insert has a ribbon which you can pull to get to the accessories underneath.
A USB cable (which will only serve for updates to the firmware!), the usermanual in a lovely paper envelope, and a velvet carrying pouch are all delivered alongside the mod.
The photos…
Performance.
- The menu.
The menu can be accessed by tapping the firebutton 3 times.
It will then show you the first menu option, which is BT (bluetooth). The XCube II uses Low Energy BlueTooth 4.0, which means it won’t eat into your batterylife too much but is also limited in range.
To go into the option, you can either wait for a few seconds until it goes into to the submenu by itself, or you can hold the firebutton for a second and force it into the submenu.
The BT menu has 2 options: ON and OFF
The second menu option is Mode, which has 3 submenus: Memory Mode, Watt Mode and Temp Mode.
Memory mode is where your 16 preset wattages are set and stored.
You’ll also have the options Soft, Normal and Hard, which are used to determine the way the power ramps up in accordance with your draw.
Soft means the power will spike to its maximum setting first and then drop by 10% after two seconds.
Normal will output the power as you set it.
Hard will ramp up very fast and boost the power by 10% within the first two seconds.
Wattage Mode is pretty much what it says, a mode where you can manually dial in the wattage you want. The same Soft, Normal, Hard draw can be set here.
Temp Mode is where it gets interesting… You’ll have the same options as mentioned above, but you’ll also have a few extras.
First off you’ll get the TC-Ni option, which is as the name suggest for Nickel wire. If you select that you’ll be presented with the options SC (Single Coil) and DC (Dual Coil).
If you’re wondering why they ask you that, it’s because the TCR (Temperature Coefficient of Resistance, basically the way resistance changes with heat) is different.
When using a single coil you’ll have a set TCR, but at the same resistance with a dual coil the TCR will be halved.
If you upgrade the firmware of the XCube II, you’ll be able to change the TCR yourself. More on that below.
Option 3 is LED, where you can play with the LED lighting under the firebutton.
It presents you with 4 options: RGB, Jump, Shade, and LED Off.
In RGB you can customize the color to one of 16 million options by setting Red, Green and Blue to a value between 0 and 255, and then set how fast or slow the light will fade in and out.
In Jump the colors will cycle through several shades in a jumping manner, and again you can set the speed of cycling there after.
In Shade the same options as Jump are presented, but the cycling is smooth instead of jumping from one color to the next.
LED Off does what it say on the menu, it turns the LED lights off completely. Ideal for stealthy vaping (as far as that is a possibility with a big mod like this).
Option 4 is Puffs, where you can set a maximum amount of puffs for 24 hours. A feature that is handy if you’re trying to cut down on vaping, but otherwise useless.
It also has the ability to reset your puffcounter, and the actual puffcounter.
Option 5 is Setting, where most of the other settings are presented.
The first submenu is SCR Time, where you can set the mod to stealthmode (no display) or set the time to keep the screen on after using the mod. This can be anywhere between 15 seconds to 240 seconds.
The second submenu is SCR Locked, where you can adjust the mod to lock automatically after the same period as you set above. So the mod locks when the screen turns off. This only has two options, on and off.
The next option is Contrast, where you can set the screens brightness anywhere between 10% and 100%.
SCR Dir is the next submenu, where you can set the screen orientation. I personally prefer the screen rotated so I can read the display when I take a toot.
The next submenu is Time where, as the name suggest, you can set the time and date on your mod. Thank you for including that fucntionality, Smok!
The next submenu is Adjust Initial Ohms, where you can adjust the initial resistance of your coils. Handy for pesky RTAs like the Kayfun that are a bit… iffy when it comes to good connnections.
Then there’s the last submenu, Download, which is used to update the firmware of the mod via internet. You won’t actually need this if you use the app Smok provides. Again, more on that below.
Option 6 is Power, where you can turn the mod off. It’s very basic, just On and Off.
- The big LED button.
The big LED button is what makes this mod stand out from the rest, the entire side of the mod is basically a button.
Underneath the button are four RGB LEDs that can be changed to suit your taste, in 16 million different colors.
You can set the color to one single color, you can make the colors jump from one to another, or you can have it fade between colors.
The speed of the colorswitching can also be set in 14 gradations, and can be turned off if needed.
- Temperature control.
The mod is sold in two options, with TC enabled and with TC disabled.
Mine came with TC enabled, which means I can use the mod in Temp Mode with Ni200 wire.
However! If you want Ti01 support which is basically just another option in the menu with a different TCR, you’ll need to download the app to your phone or tablet and buy the option from Smok.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? Is this the age of DLC on mods? Nope.jpeg
I get it, you want to make a little more money on the mod but why not sell it in a package deal with the TC enabled mod?
That said though, the temperature control in Ni Mode does work great.
It passed the dry cotton test with flying colors, even at high wattages.
Setting the temperature to about half of what you need for Ni, you can actually use Ti wire without having to buy the extra menu option but it’s less accurate.
TC for Stainless Steel wire is another option you can buy through the app which is rather interesting but again, I hate DLC.
- Wattage mode.
To use the mod without temperature control, you can use either memory mode or wattage mode.
If you bought the mod and don’t want to upgrade the firmware you’ll be able to push a blistering 160W out of the mod, if you do upgrade the firmware you’ll add another 20W to that which lands you on an insane 180W.
To give you an idea of how hard 180W is, I’m running a Velocity with a dual fused clapton (2 core wires of 0.51mm Kanthal A1, 0.2mm wrap Kanthal A1) at 0.16ohm and it’s ramping up in less than a second. (Not to mention it clouds up a room in the same amount of time…)
The option to make the mod ramp up faster or slower is a nice addition and really helps with the bulkier coil builds.
- Bluetooth.
The mod has LE BT, Low Energy BlueTooth. This means it can connect to something without eating your battery too much.
So what can it connect to?
To an Android phone or tablet, provided it’s running Android 4.3 or higher, has bluetooth and has the Smok BEC app installed.
Or to an iPhone or iPad, provided it’s running iOS 7.0 or higher, and has the Smok BEC app installed.
The Android app (I don’t have an iPhone so I couldn’t check, sorry!) is not great but it’s not terrible either.
I’m running a custom Android 4.4 rom on my tablet, and have never had any stability issues besides the Smok BEC app force closing every now and then.
From what I hear the iOS version has the same stability issues and a lot of users are complaining about it.
As such I won’t go into too much detail about the apps, they do pretty much the same as what you can set on your mod with a few additions.
One of those additons is a log and a map of where you’ve vaped, which is rather scary to see. I usually have my location services turned off though so it didn’t quite work.
The log shows everthing from how long your puff was, how much wattage, what resistance… It’s pretty extensive.
There’s also a kind of social section, where you’ll find links to the Smok forums, the Smok blog where firmware updates are posted, and a link to your Smok profile.
- Upgrading the firmware.
This couldn’t be made much easier, Smok actually did a great job on their tool to upgrade the firmware.
The latest firmware at the time of writing this review is 1.093 and brings a couple of very nice additions, most notably it brings the maximum wattage up to 180W.
The tool can be downloaded from the Smok website and installs on Windows computers running Windows Vista or higher.
Once installed you can then start up the tool and be presented with 3 buttons, pressing the Check Updates button will connect to the Smok servers for the latest firmware.
Then you need to prepare to connect your mod to the computer.
Take the batteries out of the mod, and hold the firebutton. Connect the USB cable to the mod and PC while still holding the firebutton.
Press the Connect button in the tool while still holding the firebutton, it should say “Connected” before proceeding.
If it does, keep holding the firebutton and press Update, the tool will then show activity for about half a minute and give you the all clear if the upgrade succeeded.
If you let go of the firebutton during the process, what happens? You risk bricking your device, which means you’ll be left with an expensive paperweight.
DISCLAIMER: Neither I or DirectVapor are responsible if you or Smok fuck up your mod. Be careful when flashing any devices!
Aesthetics.
Ok, let’s get the obvious out of the way.
The XCube II is big, but it’s comfortable to hold. It’s heavy, but it’s not a brick. It’s bulky, but it’s not clunky.
My XCube II comes in stainless but it’s also available in black and if you really want another color, there are several colors of silicone sleeves available or you could wrap it, I believe Jwraps has some nice stuff.
The shiny stainless finish has only one disadvantage, it attracts fingerprints like crazy. It does look very smooth and there is a strong clearcoat on it protecting it from scratching.
One of the smaller things that irk me about the Stainless Steel finish is that you can see where the magnets are set in.
There’s a slight warping to the steel surface which is even more noticeable because of the shiny finish.
The big firebutton is definitely an eyecatcher with the LEDs, and it doesn’t seem to matter where you press it to fire. It has a nice touch to it, there’s quite a bit resistance to the press.
Being able to customize the color of the LED lighting is fun, and brings a new level of customisability to the mod that is not often seen in other mods.
On the bottom of the mod you’ll find a bunch of venting holes, and the USB which is NOT for charging. The USB only serves as a connection to your PC to upgrade the firmware.
The top of the mod is where the 510 sits, which is springloaded and goldplated. I’ve had no issues with any of my atties, even the long ones fit perfectly flush on the mod.
Just next to the 510 is the display, and it’s a doozy. The display is fairly big and shows a lot of info, it’s clear even in sunlight and very easy to read.
I’ve noticed a slight flicker when changing settings but nothing major, it’s just the display refreshing.
If you’re worried about liquid getting in the display because it sits next to the 510, don’t be. It’s sealed off very nicely and the only thing that may happen is a bit of condensation forming on the top.
Just next to the display are the + and - buttons, which do have a little bit of a rattle to it. Not like the iSticks or anything, but still…
The buttons will also switch position when you flip the display, which honestly is a brilliant move by Smok.
A few more photos…
Pros and Cons.
Pro.
- Custom colored LEDs
- Big firing button
- Big display
- Great batterylife
- Upgradeable firmware
- Excellent 510
- Temperature Control works well
- Bluetooth functionality let’s you track quite a few things
- 180W with the newest firmware
- Easy to navigate menus
- Comes with a velvet carrying pouch
Con.
- It’s heavy
- Silver finish attracts fingerprints
- Display gets some condensation on top (not IN the display, ON the display)
-
- and - buttons have a very slight rattle
- Ti01 and SS317L support has to be bought through the app
- The app force closes on Android sometimes
- 160W printed on the side, 180W max output with firmware upgrade
In conclusion.
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say this, but the XCube II is a mod that has me stumped.
With the firmware upgrade it reaches a peak performance of 180W and measuring the output I was surprised to see it was actually very close.
Despite the high power the batteries seem to last longer than any of the other high powered mods I own at the moment.
The big firing button is a joy to use, especially with the ability to customise the LED lights underneath.
The XCube II is priced very friendly and you get a lot for you money in my opinion… though I’m still not a fan of the “DLC” part of the mod, I think it should come fully unlocked.
If you do buy the upgrades you’l be able to run temperature control with Ni, Ti and SS making the mod complete.
Overall I never thought I’d love this mod so much, but I do. It’s a very good deal!
In closing I would like to thank DirectVapor for sending me the Smok XCube II for review!
Go and order, tell them SirRisc sent you! 
And of course all of you who read my reviews, thank you very much!
Join me next time as I take a look at the Efest LUC Blu6 Intelligent Battery Charger!
I’m always looking for more opportunities to review! Do you think your stuff has what it takes? Get in touch!
I can be reached on my website, via DM on Instagram, on the Facebook page, via DM on Reddit, or via DM on ELR.
#staycloudy !
SirRisc disappears in a cloud of lemon cake scented vapor
