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Presentation.
As with all Kangertech products the Subox Mini Starter Kit, comes very well packaged in its presentation box, the box has a black sleeve that holds the box securely closed shut.
Once you slide the cardboard sleeve off, you can open the box lid at the side which is held shut by a small magnet.
On the inside of the lid, it lists the contents of the kit, and general safety information.
The top layer of the box holds the kbox mini and sub tank mini, securely held in a cut out foam bed, once this layer is removed, it reveals the rest of the kit, all securely laid out in foam cut outs.
The kit includes:
1 x Kbox Mini
1 x Subtank Mini
1 x OCC 0.5 Sub ohm head
1 x OCC 1.5 ohm head
1 x RBA Mini Plus base
2 x Ready made RBA Coils
2 x RBA deck screws
2 x RBA cover screws
1 x Manual, battery Stickers.
1 x Screw driver
1 x Japanese Cotton Sheet.
1 x White USB Charging cable.
Kangertech seem to always put together a very complete package on every one of there kits that they produce, and they haven't let you down with this one, as you can see.
The only thing that the kit doesn't include is an 18650 battery, and a plug to plug the USB cable into. It is recommended on the gearbest website that the battery cell output should be above 20A.
Kbox Features & Spec
Model Name : Kbox
Manufacturer: Kangertech
Main Material : Zinc Alloy
Type : VW/VV Mini Box Mod
Atomiser Connection: Brass Spring Loaded 510
Display : OLED
Charging : Mirco USB (DC 5v at 1A
Battery Cover : Magnetic
Output voltage :
Output Wattage: 7 to 50w
Ohms Range: 0.3ohms to 1.6ohms (above 1.6ohm output cannot reach 50w)
Battery Size: 18650 Flat top over 20A
Battery Contacts : Brass Sprung loaded
Screen : OLED
Weight : 110g (excluding Battery)
Size (mm) : 82 x 39 x 22
Subtank mini Features & Specs
Diameter : 22mm
Height : 48mm
Weight : 66.5g
Connector : 510
Tank : Glass
AFC : Dual 3 position adjustable Slots
Capacity : 4.5ml
Drip Tip : Delrin 510
The Subox Mini Starter kit comes in a choice of two colours
Gearbest.com kindly supplied me with a white kit.
Built in safety
The Subox mini starter kit comes with a great level of built in protection to keep new and old vapours safe.
Short Circuit Protection - the device will not fire and display 0.0ohms.
Reverse Battery Protection - will protect your device should you insert the battery the wrong way round.
Over Heat Protection - will protect the PCB from over heating and will shut off the device and display "Temp High".
Cell Capacity Protection - when the battery level gets to low it will prevent the device firing and the battery bar will flash.
Overtime Usage Protection - the device will fire for a maximum of 10 seconds then will cut out and display "10s Over"
Once you have installed the 18650 battery, and filled up with your chosen juice, the Subox Mini is ready to Vape. For the purpose of this review, we will look at each part of the device and tank in detail, and then go onto look at the RBA section, and put a build on it.
Kbox Body
The Kbox body and battery cover is manufactured out of Zinc Alloy, and then seems to be powder coated to a really nice finish.
The body is rounded on both edges to give it a great feel in the hand. The flat bottom of the device has as a small thumb grove machined into it, to allow you to easily remove the battery cover.
Battery Compartment
Using your thumb nail and with a small amount of resistance the battery cover clicks outward, way from the four small magnets.
The battery cover is securely held in place with four perfectly sized magnets, I have had no issues with the battery cover coming off by accident.
Once the battery cover is removed, you can see the slot for the single 18650, the battery is securely held in place by the by the sprung loaded brass battery contact, which holds it securely in place.
The battery cover has the Kangertech logo machined into it, which provides plenty of venting for the battery, should it have and issues.
Nice Attention to detail - due to the battery being visible through the cut out section of the battery cover, Kangertech have included in the starter kit, four black stickers, which can be stuck on one side of the battery, to provide a black background to the Kangertech logo.
When installing the battery, ensure that you install it the correct way round, positive end down. Which seems the wrong way round, as you are so used to installing batteries positive end up. It's worth noting the the device will remember you chosen wattage when the battery is removed and reinstalled.
510 Connection
On the top of the Kbox you have Kbox mini name stamped into the top, on the opposite end you have the 510 connection, which has stainless steel threading, and a sprung loaded brass centre pin. With four air slots machined into the top on the body surrounding the 510 connection.
The Subtank screws down completely flush when fitted, and I was a bit concerned about it marking the coating on the top of Kbox, once it had been taken on and off a few times. But up till now, it is still scratch free!
Control Panel & Display
The control panel in set into the leading edge of the device. At the lower edge of the leading edge they have machined a smooth recess, cutting off the curve of the base, which is where they have mounted the Mirco USB socket, which seems to add to the form and look of the whole device, and seems to be were I rest my little finger whilst vaping, which adds to the grip.
I'm really pleased that they have taken the time to add the USB socket to the front of the Device, rathe than the base, allow you to charge it whilst standing up, which is perfect.
Just above the Mirco USB socket are located the small function buttons, which are made of black plastic, with a (+) and (-) embossed into the top, although small they have a nice positive clicky feel to them. These function buttons, have two fucntions, first to increase or decrease the wattage of the device, and secondly, by pressing and hold both buttons at the same time, allow you to reverse the display, for right or left handed user, which is a nice touch.
I'm really please that they decided to located to Mirco USB on the side of the device, rather than the bottom, which allows you to keep it up right whilst charging. Which is one of my pet hates.
The small OLED screen is located above the the function switches, the screen itself recessed back into the device below a clear protective layer, which seems to give a better viewing experience when outdoors, as the screen it automatically sheltered from the glare.
The OLED screen clearly displays the following information.
- Graphical battery level indicator.
- Voltage output.
- Resistance of the attached decide.
- Selected wattage output.
The display is clear, and gives you all the information you require on one screen.
The fire button, located above the OLED screen, made out of black plastic, raised out of the body, due to the recessed curve machined into the body.
The fire button has two functions, pressing five times turns the device off, although off, when any of the buttons are pressed it displays 'off' on the screen. Pressing the fire button five times again turns the device fully on again, displaying the Kangertech name to indicate it has turned on. The second function is to fire the device. Which is limited to 10 seconds.
The Subox Mini starter kit comes with the perfectly matched Subtank min, Kangertech have improved the design of this tank since the version 1, and have designed it primarily to work in harmony with Kbox 50w.
This new version of the Subtank has been coated and finished with a white ceramic coating, to assist with the heat dispersion when vaping at higher temperatures.
To assist the new vapors, looking to get into sub ohm vaping, and to help them ensure that they get the best experience, Kangertech have also included a guide to assist in them which blend juices should be used at what temperatures.
OCC 0.5 Coil | Direct lung inhales.
80% to 100% VG - 15w to 40w
50% to 70% VG - 15w to 50w
20% to 40% VG - 15w to 60w
OCC 1.5 Coil | Mouth to Lung
80% to 100% VG - 10w to 18w
50% to 70% VG - 10w to 22w
20% to 40% VG - 10w to 26w
It is great the manufacturers are taking more respond illite in guiding users, especially when a kit is advertised as a starter kit, which will appeal to newer less experienced vapors. This will also ensure that they have the best possible experience and flavour from their new device.
The Subtank can be broken down easily into its component parts, to assist with cleaning, coil changing and filling with ejuice.
We will have a look at each of the parts, before putting it back together, and then looking at the RBA section.
Base Section
The section has the 510 connection machined into its base, the 510 connection has a brass centre pin, which will connect directly through to the coil.
Leading up from the polished base, is a knurled ring that runs around the bottom of the Subtank, which gives good grip when attaching the to the Kbox.
Sitting just above is the Air Flow Control ring, which allows you to adjust the air-draw through the device. It has three different settings, from wide open, to very tight, these can be adjusted by rotating the ring, as each opening is selected, it clicks into place.
The top of the base section, where the coil connects, is surrounded by a thick black o-ring, which ensure a good seal, when the tank section is secured in place, you need to make sure that it doesn't drop out when cleaning,
The Kit comes with two of the newly designed OCC coils, Kangertech have re-engineered the coils, with larger juice wholes machined into the each side.
To allow thicker VG juices the soak through easier.
They have also resigned Sub Ohm coil replacing the previous vertical coils with horizontal coils, whilst retaining the Japanese Organic Cotton, helping to improve both flavour and vapour production.
As instructed, you must ensure that all new coils are soaked with juice and primed, to avoid burning them out.
The square box coils can easily be secured into place on the base.
Tank Section
The Subtank mini comes with a Pyrex glass tank, which is securely held in place by two large black o-rings. Where it sits around the ceramic coated inner skeleton.
Unlike the previous version of the Subtank, the top section of the tank cannot be removed, and a machined into the body of the tank, with the centre chimney fitting both the OCC and RBA Coils.
The top of the tank features a polished 510 drip tip recess, and although the Subox starter kit features a wide bore tip, the 510 recess in the top of the tank is reduced down quite dramatically, which may effect air flow, but does reduce spit back from the coils.
510 Drip Tips.
The starter kit includes two Delrin drip tips, one black one white.
The 510 connector, features a small coloured R-ring, to securely hold the drip tip in place. The only thing I didn't like about the drip tips, was the edge top edge, which I found a little sharp around the edges.
The fact that the drip tips on the tank are removable allows for super easy filling, you can simply remove the drip, and sit the tank down on its top when filling. Once you have filled it up to the top of the ceramic coating on the chimney, you can securely screw the base section and coil in place.
The RBA has been re-designed since the first Subtank, in this version 2! Kangertech have increased the juice holes in the side of the RDA. To allow for better wicking when using thicker VG juices, reducing the amount of dry hits that you can get.
They have also removed the threading from the bottom of body of the RDA, replacing it with a small cross head screw, that hold the section securely in place.
The deck section has also be redesigned to make it easy to build on, and less chance of it shorting out, through lowering the lower section of the deck and replacing the plastic insulator with a true peak insulator to coupe with the higher temperatures.
The RBA section of the kit allows users to move onto rebuilding with relative ease,
The kit includes everything you will need to start rebuilding when you feel ready.
The best way to start, is by wicking the coil that comes pre-installed in the RBA deck. This is done by removing your stock OCC coil from the base, and replacing it with the RBA section.
The base can then be attached to the Kbox, which holds it securely in place whilst rebuilding the coil. The RBA cap can then be unscrewed and removed, allowing access to the deck.
Once the cap has been removed you can the loosen off the screw on the side of the RBA chamber, just one turn, it does not need to be removed. Once loosened off the chamber can be removed.
Now the chamber has been removed you have full access to the build deck, the RBA comes with a coil re-installed, so for your first rebuild, all you will be doing is add the wick.
The kit includes a sheet of organic cotton, which you will need to cut a strip off, to use as wicking material. When you look at the cotton, you will see that it has a grain, so you will need to cut a strip about 5mm wide, about half the width of the sheet.
You then rub one end of the piece between your thumb and finger, until it is thin enough to feed through the coil, and pull through.
Once the ends have been evened out, they need to be raised up, to feed through the chamber as it is replaced.
Once the chamber is in place the screw can be re-tighten, to hold the chamber in place.
The cotton wicks then need to be poked down into the chamber, and slightly pulled out through the juice holes.
Before you put the top cap back on, you need to prime the wicks, giving them a good soak. The cap can then be replaced and screwed down.
The Re-wicked RBA can then be installed into the tank, and after a couple of mins soak, is ready to Vape.
As you change your flavour, all you will need to do that is to repeat and change out the wicks. As you feel ready you can have a go at changing the coil, for the pre-made coil that comes in the kit, then move onto winding your own coils.
Atheistic's and Build Quality
Kangertech have really raised the bar with this starter kit, as soon as you get it out of the box, it has a real premium feel to it, with a great level of attention to detail. Both parts of the kit, the KBox and the Subtank have been designed and styled to be used together. Rather than just taking one of their stock tanks and added it to a mod. They seem to have designed the starter kit from scratch.
The kits feels very solid in the hand without being to heavy, it has a real luxury feel to it.
The powder coating that has been apply to the Kbox, gives it a great look and feel, and seems quite scratch resistant, although as it seems to be a coating it does seem to chip quite easily through every day use.
As far as build quality and looks, I think this kit will be desired by new and old vapors alike.
Performance & Real World Experiences
As I said at the beginning of this review, I have been using the starter kit for the last two weeks, as my out and about Vape. And have been really impressed from the first Vape. The tank and mod seem to be perfectly matched together, producing out standing levels of flavour and vapor, out of such a pocket sided device.
The single 18650 battery on the 0.5ohm coil at about 30watts seems to last me the whole of the working day, and if it does dip, I take the USB cable to give it a top up of power.
I have had no issues with leakage, using the OCC coils or the RBA. And feel confident to stick it in a my trouser pocket, without worrying about looking like I've wet my self.
Recommendation.
When I first received the kit I was a bit concerned that it had been advertised as a starter kit, as I have mixed feelings about new vapors starting out with a sub ohm kit. But as I got into the kit and writing the review, I have been really impressed with the amount of effort the Kangertech have put into making this kit appeal to all levels of vaping experience. With the inclusion of two different levels of coils, both lung and mouth to lung. And the ability to rebuild your own coils as you progress.
I think so many smoker try to quite by using a £10 ecig kit, and give up due to a lack of satisfaction and flavour, if more new vapors got to experiences the performance and levels of flavour that this kit produced, we would be getting more people off the stinky's.
I think Kangertech have designed and put together a high quality, high performance kit that is great value for money, with lots of appeal to vapors new and old. Definitely recommended.
P.s Sorry for such a long review , but there was loads to cover, thanks for taking the time to read it. As a thank you, don't forget to use my online discount code when you purchase.
MVR RATING
Build: 10/10
Features: 8/10
Finish: 10/10
Threading: 10/10
Switch: 10/10
Aesthetics: 10/10
Performance : 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Supplied by : www.gearbest.com
Standard online purchase price $79.99
Use my Online discount code KSMGB to get the Subox Mini kit for coupon price of $52.99 and save $27!
