Designed in the USA and carefully crafted in China, the Ascension S150 from Vaptio is a 150 watt temperature control box mod and specialty tank combination. While the box and tank can be used separately with anything else on the market, when brought together they can take advantage of the “Accurate Temperature Control” system that could set this combination ahead of the game. I’ve spent the last 2 weeks putting the S150 kit through its paces and its time to reveal my thoughts.
We received this product from HeavenGifts.com for the purpose of this review and they asked us to be completely honest about every aspect of it.
Watch the video, read the report, and if by the end of our appraisal you wish to purchase the Vaptio Ascension S150 kit, we have a link for you here.
The Vision
There are many companies like Vaptio out in the world, not well known but trying to bring us devices that stand out from the crowd. While they are attempting to compete with the behemoths that we have all come to accept as the main suppliers of devices, the little guys have to be innovative. The concept behind the Ascension S150 is that this tank will give us accurate temperature control like we have never seen. The packaging says there is a chip inside the coil to help with the process, but we will get to that further into the review.
Appearance
At first glance, when you take the device out of the box the Vaptio Ascension S150 looks to be a well designed well proportioned device. The black body with red edging looks amazing and the tank matching perfectly is a major plus point. The device is also available in silver and red for those who don’t dig the black. Measuring in at 95mm by 52mm by 23 mm the zinc alloy and aluminum alloy body feels solid in the hand.
Rounded on the 510 side and squared perfectly on the opposing face gives this rather large box an ergonomic feel in the hand. The inlayed screen that covers almost the entire face with the large firing button, OLED screen and adjustment keys is a nice touch.
One thing that does stand out as you look at this device is a small protrusion inside the 510 connector on both the base unit and tank, a second spring-loaded pin connector to be used with the ATC function.
One thing that’s missing from the base unit, which I consider to be a major issue, is the inclusion of any vent holes. This is a dual 18650 box, if one of these cells should for any reason start to fail, vent holes are the difference between getting hot gas coming out of the box and it turning into a grenade. Some might argue that they could get the door open before it builds up pressure, but unless you’ve held a device in your hand that’s in the process of venting, I will tell you that you’re wrong. For any future offerings of this device I would suggest that adequate venting, both for cooling the batteries and preventing critical failure is included.
On the whole, apart from that single issue, the device looks and feels great.
Features
The Ascension S150 is, as previously stated a dual 18650 device capable of reaching 150 watts in regular power mode. It features a simple to use navigation system, holding the fire button and navigation up button will scroll through all 5 menu options of Wattage, ATC, Ni, Ti and SS without having to play a game of super click. Holding fire and down while in any of the temperature control modes will switch the mod between °C and °F. Holding the up and down buttons together will lock the settings to prevent accidentally changing anything.
It has time out protection after 10 seconds of operation, over heat protection, low battery protection and short circuit protection all built in to the board.
The tank measures in at 22mm by 66.5mm and is constructed from Stainless Steel and glass and matches the body of the box perfectly. It features a 3ml e-liquid reservoir and top filling capabilities through a small opening by the drip-tip. The tank has great knurling around both the base and adjustable airflow ring, the coil and chimney inside look to be extremely sturdy and the drip tip appears to have a second channel for air.
The coil used with the system features a dual use design, one for regular wattage mode and the second, which includes the “chip” for use with the ATC component of the box.
Performance
Lets start with the box as a stand alone device. When used with other tanks and RDA’s it fulfills it’s 150 watt promise all day every day. The chipset and screen appear much slower than similar devices when you are adjusting the wattage, not a huge problem but many vapers are impatient. It offers regular temperature control functions, for Stainless Steel, Titanium and Nickel Wire although it doesn’t specify which compositions of wire it supports (follow this link to understand the importance of knowing which grade of wire is supported). While this isn’t an issue specific to this mod, it is one that should be dealt with across all Temperature Control devices. When you finally figure out which wires are compatible (Ti-1, SS-316 and Ni-200) it holds reasonably well at the levels for the coils.
All in all, the box performs solidly. It lacks some of the features that advanced vapers are used to, like programmable TCR modes or the ability to check the battery levels while they are inside, but for the price of this device no-one is going to complain.
Now for the tank. With the size of the airflow at the base and in the cap, you would expect a much more open vape than you get, but the fact that they closed off the majority of the inside of the drip tip negates that fact. the draw from this tank is extremely tight, even when fully open. Vapor production in wattage mode at full power is adequate, but what you get is flavorless. I soaked the second coil for 2 whole days after a bad experience with the first one, making sure that I hadn’t accidentally killed the first coil, but in both cases the result was a moldy cotton taste.
The ATC mode that would separate this system from everything else on the market looks good on paper and seems to work well at high heat. Unfortunately, when you have the temperature turned up that high, the drip tip rapidly heats up and unless you have asbestos lips this quickly becomes a gimmick. Low heat seems to produce less vapor than a Blu, even with the airflow control turned all the way down.
Great review Daniel… well written!