3stars

Augvape VTEC 1.8 Mod Review

It’s been a year and a half since I reviewed the Augvape V200, one of my all-time favorite dual-18650 battery mod, and today I have the chance to rave about how cool it looks and feels in the hand all over again. That’s because Augvape decided to relaunch the mod under the name VTEC 1.8 – in honor of the legendary Honda engine that inspired the original mod. It’s basically the same device, with only minor design adjustments and added features. Let’s check it out:

A Look at the Contents

One of the things Augvape decided to change was the packaging. While the V200 came in a large, rectangular box with a clear view of the device inside, the new VTEC 1.8 vape mod comes in a regular cardboard box, with a cool graphic of the mod as an actual engine, on the front, and the same graphic, but also a list of contents and manufacturer information, on the back.

Inside the box, you’ll find the VTEC 1.8 mod, a micro-USB cable and a user manual. That’s about all there is to this kit.

Design and Build Quality

This is usually the section of the review that takes up most my time, but this time there is not a lot to write that I haven’t already included in my review of the Augvape V200 mod. As I mentioned, this is basically a relaunch of that same device, with minor modifications that I will go over below. However, if you are a proud V200 owner like myself, there really isn’t any reason to buy the VTEC 1.8 as well, unless you’re a collector.

Just like Augvape’s very first vape mod, the VTEC 1.8 is shaped like a legendary Honda VTEC engine, is made primarily out of zinc alloy and comes only in red and black colors. It has the exact same dimensions as the V200 (87.5mm x 45mm x 29.2mm) and the same weight (165 gram, without batteries).

The general look and feel of the mod are the same, which was apparently intentional on Augvape’s part, as they mainly wanted to very slightly enhance their most successful vaping device ever. Apart from the branding on the mod – which changed from “V200” to “VTEC 1.8” – the first noticeable change is the plate around the 510 connection, at the top of the mod. It used to have these patterns carved into it, which made it look like a car’s rim, but now it’s just plain black. It’s not as cool, in my opinion, but it’s not a con either, as you could only see the design when you had no atomizer hooked up to the mod anyway.

The next thing Augvape changed on the new VTEC 1.8 vape mod is the black, plastic stripe on the back of the mod, which has now been replaced by a strip of red leather with the engine code “B18C-R” debossed into it. It’s ok, but the glossy plastic of the V200 was just as good, so I don’t really see the point of the change.

Finally, the last design change we see on the VTEC 1.8 is the battery door. Now this one is the most subtle of changes too, and if it hadn’t been mentioned in the user manual, I probably wouldn’t have spotted it. Basically, they just altered the door just a little bit to allegedly make it more secure, although I’ve never had any issues with the battery door of my V200. One thing I didn’t like was that right out of the box, the VTEC 1.8 had two visible defects on the bottom. You can see in the photos that the paint is chipped on a couple of corners, which isn’t very reassuring. I hope that was just an issue with my sample and not a general problem.

Other than the mentioned chances, the VTEC 1.8 is pretty much identical to the Augvape V200. It has the exact same shape, the display is exactly the same, as is the oil-cap-shaped knob used to adjust the wattage/voltage, and the concealed fire button. SO if you liked the look of the original, you’re most definitely going to like the VTEC 1.8 as well.

Battery Life and Performance

I skipped the “menu and Navigation” section of the review entirely, as there was really nothing to go over. Augvape cl;aims that the VTEC 1.8 features an upgraded software pack, but as far as I can tell, everything is exactly the same, down to the scroll speed when adjusting the wattage. The display is the same as well, which isn’t that great. While the mod itself still retains its charm even after a year and a half – that’s a long time in this fast market – but the screen looks seriously outdated.

If you’d like to know more about the various mods and features of the Augvape VTEC1.8, check out my review of the V200 vape mod, because they’re all the same.

Anyway, in terms of battery life, as is always the case with external battery vape mods, it’s impossible to accurately assess how long you will vape on a single charge, because there are just too many variables to factor in. The type of batteries you are using, the power output of the mod and how much you vape in a day, these factors all affect vape time, and since we all have different preferences, we all get different battery life.

In terms of performance, the Augvape VTEC 1.8 seems just as good as the V200, which is not surprising, considering they are using the same board, essentially. So you can expect lightning-fast battery activation and ramp-up, just like from the first mod.

I’ve only been using the VTEC 1.8 for almost a week now, so I can’t speak about how it holds up in the long run, but so far I’ve had no problems with it whatsoever.

Conclusion

As far as I am concerned the Augvape VTEC 1.8 is a V200 mod with a face-lift. You get a different connection plate, some leather instead of a plastic panel, a slightly different battery door, but essentially it is the same vape mod. I don’t really know why Augvape didn’t go full ham and really update the original V200 with a larger, more appealing display and maybe a new board with an extra feature or two, because as it stands, I see no point in relaunching the same mod they release over a year and a half ago.

Oh wait, there is a reason. According to the user manual, the Augvape VTEC 1.8 is cheaper that the V200 mod used to be when it launched. You can buy it for just over $40, which is decent for a mod of this quality. Still, it doesn’t justify the relaunch, in my opinion…

I gave the Augvape V200 five starts, and I still think it’s one of the coolest, most solid vape mods I’ve ever used, but sadly I can’t give the same score to the VTEC1.8, even though it is essentially the same device, or precisely because of that.