SMOK X Cube 2 Review
The SMOK X Cube 2 is one of the most advanced mods on the market today and a testament to how far vaping technology has come in the last few years. The latest entry in SMOK’s X Cube series comes with all kinds of neat and useful features – including temperature control, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and a maximum power output of 160W – and a decent price to boot. In this review, we’re going to take a look at all the things that make the SMOK X Cube 2 the best value-for-money mod for experienced vapers.
Before we delve into the nitty gritty, let’s get one thing straight – the SMOK X Cube 2 is not a suitable device for beginners. If you’re not familiar with sub-ohming, building your own coils or temperature control vaping, you’re much better off with a simpler setup, like the VaporFi Rocket or Innokin iTaste MVP, which offer advanced performance and variable voltage/wattage functionality and are much simpler to figure out. You need to work your way up to devices like the X Cube 2 and pick up all the necessary information in order to use them correctly and keep yourself safe.
Now, on to the X Cube 2 – without a doubt the best-looking box mod I’ve used so far. This thing is both robust and stylish at the same time. The stainless steel and zinc alloy body simply screams quality and looks amazing, while the proprietary firing bar will leave you in awe. Instead of a using a classic button, SMOK opted to seamlessly integrate the firing mechanism into the design of the X Cube 2 by turning one of the sides of the mod into a firing bar. Gently squeeze the device in your hand and it activates the batteries. Even more impressive is the customizable LED lighting under the firing bar that illuminates in up to 16 million colors when activated. Using the SMOK X Cube 2 in a dark environment, with the LED’s flashing brightly in vivid colors is bound to leave your vaper friends speechless.
I personally love the firing bar, it looks and works great, but it does carry a risk of accidental activation. The SMOK X Cube 2 does have a very simple locking system – just press the firing bar 5 times in rapid succession – which keeps it from firing in your pocket, purse or other tight storing spaces, but often times I found myself having to hold the mod in my hand along with my keys or my phone, and accidentally squeezed it a bit too hard, activating the firing bar. However, it’s a minor fault that most people probably won’t even care about.
Most regulated box mods have the digital display on one of the sides, but not the X Cube 2. SMOK opted to position the OLED screen and two ‘-‘ and ‘+’ buttons on top of the device, right next to the spring-loaded 510 connection. This is pretty unique, and a number of vapers have questioned the practicality of the idea. Some said the vapor from the attached tank/RDA will blur the screen, while others believed leaking e-liquid could damage it. Neither of these things happened to me, and SMOK even took to forums to clarify that the display is completely sealed, so leaks shouldn’t be an issue.
The display offers various information, including a puff counter, battery level, atomizer resistance, real-time puff duration and voltage, and, depending on what mode the XCube 2 is in, current wattage or set temperature.
Another design element worth mentioning is the magnetic battery cover. You just slide it off, put in the two 18650 batteries, put it back on and it snaps into place. There are just two magnets holding the cover, and you sometimes feel that it’s about to slide off when you grab the mod, but it never does. Yes, the cover moves slightly at times, but the magnets promptly pull it back into place. Magnetic battery covers aren’t exactly new, as there are many other mods that use magnets to hold the cover in place, but it’s definitely another cool feature of the X Cube 2.
Finally, you should know that the SMOK X Cube 2 is a big boy. Even for a dual 18650-battery device, the 100x60x24.5 mm dimensions and the 238.6g weight may seem a bit too extreme to some vapers, especially those with smaller hands. It doesn’t really fit well in smaller pockets, but other than that, I personally didn’t have any issues with the size. Maybe because I’m a fan of robust mods.
The main selling point of the SMOK X Cube 2 is the temperature control technology. Studies have shown that at high voltages, coils can burn the wicking material, releasing higher levels of harmful carbonyls. We vapers refer to these instances as “dry hits”. To prevent them from occurring, you have to regularly check that there is plenty of juice in the atomizer, which can become frustrating. Temperature control fixes this problem, by limiting the temperature that the coil is heated up to, preventing wick burns.
Temperature control mods like the X Cube 2 monitor the changes in resistance as the coil heats up and adjusts power output accordingly to ensure the set maximum temperature isn’t exceeded. This not only makes vaping safer, but it ushers in a new level of customization, allowing users to identify their “sweet spot” much more accurately. And, with built-in memory function, the SMOK X Cube 2 stores your preferred configuration, so that in case you switch atomizers and need to change settings, you can go right back to the previous ones at the touch of a button. You can set up to 16 “memories”, so regardless of how many different type coils you have, the X Cube 2 has you covered.
In temperature mode, the SMOK X Cube 2 works between 200°F-600°F (100°C-315°C), but apart from finding the right temperature for your setup, you also need to set the proper coefficient for the type of wire you’re using, to ensure temperature control actually works properly. Temperature control currently only works with nickel and titanium wire coils, because they have a more linear relationship between resistance and temperature, compared to the commonly used Kanthal and NiChrome. By default, the coefficient is set to “0”, so before you use the X Cube 2 in temperature mode, you have to set the coefficient to either 0.006 fro nickel wire, or 0.0038 for titanium, otherwise the mod will not work as it should. There are several YouTube videos of vapers doing dry burn tests with the SMOK X Cube 2 without adjusting the coefficient, which results in wick burns at temperatures levels that it shouldn’t burn at. Unfortunately, there is nothing about temperature coefficient adjustment specified in the user manual, so users risk getting dry burns in temperature mode, unless they do some research beforehand. Hopefully they’ll mention this in the manual from now on.
Oh, and you should know that the temperature coefficient, although accessible in the X Cube 2 menu, can only be adjusted via the SMOK downloadable app. You’ll need to install it on your iOS 7 or Android 4.3+ device, turn on Bluetooth on your mod and pair them. Then go into the mod settings and move the slider under “Temperature Coefficient” to the proper value. Other cool things you can do using the app include checking more accurate real-time vaping data, like wattage, voltage, temperature, puff duration, number of puffs (most of which you can see on the mod’s OLED display, only here they are also saved on a daily basis for future reference), and setting up the mod to fire in a specific pattern, via “Custom Voltage Mode” and “Custom Power Mode”. So, for example, you can set the SMOK X Cube 2 to fire at 70 watts for the first two seconds, and for the other 10 seconds until cutoff to fire at 80, 90 watts or whatever wattage you like for that matter. This feature is only available via the SMOK app.
In wattage mod, the power output of the X Cube 2 ranges from 6 W – 160 W, more than enough to run some of the most extreme sub-ohm setups (down to 0.1 ohm resistance in Watt Mode and 0.06 ohm in Temp Mode). Another cool feature available in wattage mode is the possibility to choose from “Soft”, “Normal” and “Hard”. In Normal, the mod fires at the specified wattage, while in Soft, it will fire at 10% lower wattage than the input value for the first 2 seconds of the draw and then jump to the set wattage, and in Hard it will fire at 10% higher wattage for the first 2 seconds before dropping down to the set wattage.
The X Cube 2 menu includes a lot more settings than the ones we already mentioned above, like adjusting the amount of time the display stays on, screen rotation, date and time, but the ones I was most impressed with were the LED lighting settings. Not only can you choose from up to 160 million colors by inputting their respective RGB values, but you can also set the colors to rotate at different speeds via the “Jump” and “Shade” sub-menus. For some reason, fiddling with these lighting settings was surprisingly fun. I just liked looking at myself in the mirror while I vaped to see all the different light effects. This is one of the coolest features I’ve seen on a mod, that’s for sure.
The menu may seem a bit complicated at first, if you haven’t used SMOK products before, but once you figure out all the features, it’s actually really straightforward. One thing that I didn’t like about it was the long waiting time for settings to activate. With SMOK mods, you have to sift to the different sub-menus to the option you want and instead of pressing a button to confirm your choice, you just wait for it to input. With other SMOK devices I’ve used in the past, like the BEC Pro, the waiting time was about 2 seconds, whereas on the X Cube 2 it’s 5 seconds. So you have to wait 5 seconds to access a menu, another five to access a sub-menu and finally another five after activating a setting, for it to activate. Hopefully they’ll add a possibility to shorten the waiting time through a firmware upgrade.
I used the SMOK X Cube 2 both with my favorite RDA’s, with 0.5 Ω coils, and with the new SMOK TVF4 sub-ohm tank, with 0.2 Ω triple-coil and 0.16 Ω quadruple-coil heads, and never had any problems with it. I never went over 90 watts however, as even though I’m all for big clouds of vapor, the heat at 100 watts and over is just too much for my throat. For most vapers, even 60 watts are more than enough, but if you’re looking for something that can output a lot more power, the X Cube 2 has you covered. But, as you can imagine, the battery drain at high wattages is pretty insane. At 90 watts, with two fully charged AW 18650 IMR batteries I couldn’t get a full day’s worth of vaping without having to recharge the cells, not to mention the juice evaporated at an astonishing rate.
With this kind of power output at your fingertips, some degree of protection is required, and the SMOK X Cube comes with a range of safety features, including short circuit/low resistance protection, low battery warning, overheat protection and a 12-second cutoff.
Last but not least, we have to talk about the price. The SMOK X Cube 2 currently retails for $69.99, which is an insanely low price for a 160-watt temperature control mod. Even if you don’t factor in all the extra features and the attractive design, it’s still a must buy. By comparison, the Siegelei 150 W temperature control mod currently costs around $100, while the TESLA 160 W box mod costs at least $75. Even with the extra $2.99 you have to pay to unlock the temperature control option via the SMOK app, the X CUBE 2 is still, by far, the best value for money. If you’re on the fence about what your next temperature control mod is going to be, the price of this amazing device is definitely going to help make up your mind.
Would I recommend the SMOK X Cube 2? Hell yeah! It’s a great-looking device packed full of features and with enough power to satisfy even the most extreme vapers. And SMOK actually got the temperature control feature working properly this time around. You’re just not going to find a better device at such a low price right now. Did I mention it’s even cheaper with discount codes?
Just got yesterday. It smokes great. I have a lot to learn. Then one thing I didn’t like was I paid way more than $69.00. Next time I’ll order on line. But its definately fun to play with. I love it.
I try to support my vape shops but some of them take a big advantage on prices I paid $55 dollars for mine at my vape shops it’s $89 I will support online. From now on
I got it from my friend..I am not sure what watts or temperature I should set it at..screw n coil is all I know ..I was trying it and got a hard chunk of stuff n my mouth ..got any tips
tips aren’t going to cut it, I’m afraid. You need to do some reading on the basics of advanced mods – atomizer resistance, wattage, amperage, battery safety, etc.. You’ve probably heard about the many tragic accidents involving exploding mods. While the vast majority involve mechanical mods, you can never be to careful.
got mine yesterday and i love it, for me it is better than my sx mini m class at a third of the price, as far as waiting for the menu option to change i just press and hold the fire button on the menu option i require rather than having to wait for 5 seconds each time
I have had my Smok Cube 2 for a month now. Today I picked up the Smok TFV4 tank. I don’t think I have vaped a single day and not thought to myself at least once “Damn I love this mod.”! Now with the perfect tank attached, well, I am enjoying a great vaping life. Oh ya, I have been vaping for only four months plus. I have, after smoking cigarettes for 30+ years not picked up a butt for four months plus!!!!
I love this mod! I have 1question when you attach your tank what setting our you setting it on ( soft,med,or hard
All of the above
mine always came out ohm to high. its make me disappointed overtime and my tank became hot.
no wonder my friend tell me smoke is SUKSsss…….
Sorry you’ve had trouble. Want to sell it???
Hey I am ready to sell my smok vape mod box I am just trying to get about $80 out of my box mod takes two batteries and it’s in wonderful condition and ready to sell it if you are interested in coming to buy it from me call me at(614) 816-3325 and ask for Charles and I will be glad to sell it to you before you just up and stop looking for one I’ll even throw you in a little bit of juice to go with your new vape brother
I’ve had mine for about a week now. I love it but I have accidentally turned my display off and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get it back on. Can someone help me with this? I’m sensitive to it so I like to use my controls a lot to change the temp and now I can’t do that at all. Please help !
Not sure if this is your problem but it sounds like you are in stealth mode. With the MOD locked (by pressing fire bar 5 times fast) Press the fire bar and minus button at the same time. It should toggle between stealth on/off. Hope this helps.
To turn off stealth mod u need your mod to be locked so basically click the firing button 5 times and when it’s locked you click firing button and – button at the same time
In settings on the mod which is section 5 let it go to stealth which is second setting that comes up the turn off
Just bought the smok X cube 2 today but can’t figure out if it’s charging or not any advice ?
Zak, that’s not a charging port on the mod, that’s for firmware upgrades ONLY.
I’ve had my X Cube 2 for a few weeks now and just got the TFV4. It’s an awesome pair and when I go in the local vape shop, everyone asks about it. I smoked for 30+ years, started vaping in November of 2013…haven’t had a cig since.
I bought one second hand and also thought that was the charging port….how do you charge it? I didn’t get anything else with it.
You need a separate battery charger
Not in stealth mod, but, the led screen isn’t on. Any ideas?
Maybe contrast turned right down or screen time on zero
I bought my smok two days ago. The day I bought it the fire bar kept getting stuck at the top of the mod. So I went back to my vape ahop they exchanged it no problems. That was the silver one. They gave me the black one in exchange. So I get up thes morning and turn it on take a few vapes then shut it off. Bout thirty mins later go to vape and my smok x cube 2 wouldnt turn on. So I removed the batteries and put back in it turned on I take a vape and after I let off the fire bar not sticking but keeps fire going so I have to tap it a few times. Going to return it monday. In my opinion the smok x cube 2 is a piece of junk
Had the same problem. I took it back to the shop. One of the allen screws was missing and one was too tight. The shop ordered a screw and allen key and within a couple of minutes I had a fully operational mod. Check all screws. Top and bottom of the firing bar.
Had the same issue with mine. Fixed it myself. (#6 torx bit, just loosened an overtorqued screw on the sticky corner, and now it’s working great) other than that, I love it, so far. I probably won’t use half of what this mod can do, but I wanted a dual 18650 device, and the design of this one is VERY good. I probably won’t use half of what this mod is capable of, but, so far…
We’ll see how it holds up over the long haul.
How do I charge it? Do I have to buy new batteries?
yes, you need to have two 18650 high-drain batteries, which you charge externally with an intelligent battery charger, like those made by Nitecore
Had mine for about a month now. Finally figured out how to use it without the stupid app. App was cool for a while, but now it keeps force closing and wont even ask me for my password. It logs on just fine and finds my device fine. But once I select my device it wont ask for a passcode as it is set to, and then says passcode incorrect and crashes. Stupid idea anyway. Any seasoned vaper should know how to operate their box without having to run for their cell phone anyway. Other than that, Im actually liking this box now. A little glitchy in the begining, but I’ve finally figured it out. Although I love my RDA’s with fused claptons on it best, popping my Kangertech Subtank mini on top with a 0.5 at 30 watts…BATTERY LIFE FOR DAYS!!!!! About 2.5 days before I need a recharge. Love it!!!
Or if you jave another couple if mods charge them and swap them out when there avout to die. I got seven of these fuckers and a hades with 26350 battery and just charge it at the shop when i go in cause its the one i us less but. By a nice starter luke a kanger tech k box mini ine fir the car one fir the house and dont jave to buy a charger.
Im just lazy and the tfv4 is amazing on this mod. Jardly use my rdas on it anymore or on the other boxes its that good
I got mine on a black Friday sale for $60. I was using 24g Ni 80 wire in a Goliath 2 with amazing result at 40w. I wanted to dive down into temp mod, but constantly running into a brick wall getting little to no vape without kicking in the protection mod. Well, I switched out my wire for Ni 200 and still had problems. Finally, using the app, I started cranking up the coefficient to .00765 and the flavor, density, and puff quality started to improve. I’m now getting great results with no burn. I’ll have to monitor battery life and coil build up as well as juice used over the next few days. Hopefully, the benefits of temp control will out weigh the watt mod. So far I’m set with 455℉ .09ohms using Ni 200 with 10 wraps having 2.5 I.d. I never thought I would ever use that low of resistance, and I wonder how dangerous such mega ohming is on my device.
when the xcube 2 first came out I wanted nothing more .
Now that I have it what a con
does not have any tc modes unless you pay to up grade to them
the delay when firing sucks
got both the tfv4 and tfv4 mini and they both leak.
the coils cost a arm and a leg
look at the RX200 by wismec does 200 watts and all tc modes for 48 bucks
Also bought the tfv4, it leaked with the triple coil which my shop installed for me. The next day I installed the quad coil that came with the tfv4 too and it hasn’t leaked in two weeks with that quad coil in. Maybe the triple coil was too loose or too tight, I don’t know. Just sharing my experience.
As with any product, some come with manufacturing defects, or faulty parts. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the design. That’s why they have a guarantee, so you can return faulty ones and get new ones that work properly.
Sure they have a return policy but not if it xraps out on you after 5-6 weeks. 🙁
My wifes RX200 hits harder than this thing with way less issues. Is this a new coil, going in temp mode with kanthal build, and over 100 watts hits like a little sissy!
Love this device,but I have had problems with e-juices leaking underneath the screen so clearly the screen is not completely sealed and if you take of the battery cover you can see it is not sealed. I was just vaping on it an hour ago, when I went to vape on it just now the led display is not functioning and I can not see any of the screen menus. Unsure why this has happened, buy I am very annoyed and cannot vape with it anymore.
I’ve had mine just over a month and I also love it. My question to anyone who is leaking out so much juice that it shorts out the screen is, Why so sloppy wiith your juice? If you’ve got a tank that leaks that much, fix or replace it. Stupidity isn’t covered by any warranty!
Got my smok cube 2 about 2 weeks ago and I also bought the tfv4 with it ..LOVE It…the only thing that I could find to complain about was the holes on the bottom to keep ur battery’s cool,wasn’t paying attention and I sat it on used cotton and liquid got in the holes ..didn’t break but I stuck it in rice to try to suck the liquid out just to make sure hahahah..works great ..thoughs with all these problems must just be reckless and not take care of their things
Excellent piece of kit not all about high watts just a really good bit of kit using several different tanks like I sub,aspire ,tfv4 and a wotofo dripper all perform well on the xcube 2
ive had mine for almost a week and love it, the only problem is i have to use wattage mode, ill set it to temperature fire it twice then reverts back to wattage, does anyone know how to fix this? im using the TFV4 tank by the way
Make sure you’re using nickel, titanium, stainless steel wire. Or set a tcr for other wires. If you’re using kanthal, of course it’s not gonna work in tc mode.
I have had my smok cube 2 with Nautilus tank but wondering when should I change my coil I have five extra two quad and two triple can someone help
I’ve had my xcube since july. Was a little annoyed with the whole app and firmware deal, then realized titanium feature and coefficient change was already downloaded somehow. Color change seemed gimmicky at first but I think i may be addicted to playing with it now.firing bar is awesome. Every time I use another mod now I keep trying to use the bar. Went back to my snow wolf for a while, realized I missed the xcube. Durability? Amazing, I have dropped this thing so many times and I keep expecting it to be broken but it just keeps going. I get bored with stuff but I would literally buy this mod again if I ever do break it.
Im hving a problem with the mod.i cant see the woltage value but whn i press the mode there is smoke.how do i domake it back to normal?
I think you are in “stealth mode”, Vaarunn. Try pressing the firing bar and the “+” button at the same time to turn the screen back on. Hope this helps.
This is awesome, but is there a way to change the max wattage in temperature mode? I cant seem to figure it out.
ok so here’s my experience with the mod. 1. my mod won’t charge. 2. my mod just died for nothing. 3. it wasn’t miss treated if you think that. i just bought the damn thing and i want my money back from the store. it even said it had passed the test they do ha ha my ass. well they didn’t test this mod i bought!!
The port on the bottom is ONLY for upgrading the firmware. It is NOT a charging port. You HAVE to have a separate battery charger
The X cube 2 has no charging port. You need an external charger. Their USB port is for updates only. Most dual 18650 mods don’t do charging ports for short protection. They are in the right here.
Ok i bought this modbox 07/20/2016.
The oled screen is broken now…
because of LEAKAGE. the eliquid went into the cracks of the +/- buttons.
And you can guess what happened. First off the brightness started getting less, after a day it justwent off.
I wrote an email to SMOK. I could send it their way to the USA. shipping i would have to pay .. and if returned also those shipping costs are for my account. That equals in at about 35 dollars shipping. (im in Europe)
They couldnt do anything more .. Mod that cost about 89 euros here.. broken in 3 months.. and the company that sells it is like : your problem. Last time i buy from this lousy company!
If you are getting juice all the way up to the buttons, you may need a lesson on not being sloppy.
I got this mod back end of 2015, SS style. It’s worked like a champ and still going as my #1 in 2017. Only one issue, Temp mode with my SS, have to keep it at 220F or it burns. Also the SS finish is wearing off a little on the back and the fire button, so I’d have to say it’s coated since it has odd small spots in those places.
Had mine in SS finish since end of 2015. Still cranking like a champ. This boy has been dipped, thrown, leaked on and on, and even had a battery begin to explode in it (don’t buy cheap) and not a single problem.
This has been my daily since I bought it, and quite honestly I haven’t found another mod that’s as quality as this particular model.