Vapesoul Vone 230W Kit Review
The Vapesoul Vone 230W is an advanced dual-battery mod from Chinese manufacturer Itsuwa. Apart from a gorgeous color LCD display, an ergonomic power button that can be pressed both vertically and horizontally, and advanced features like temperature control and adjustable TCR, the new Vone 230W also introduces a completely new function that allows you to pair it to a smartphone and find either one of them with the touch of a button, if you ever forget where you left them.
A Look at the Contents
The Vapesoul Vone kit comes in a cardboard packaging that is a little like a Matryoshka doll, in that you have a box that slides out through the side of the main box, which contains two smaller boxes, one for the accessories, and another for the 230W mod and the Vone tank.
The smaller box contains the user manual, a micro-USB cable for on-board charging and firmware updates, as well as a battery safety card. The main box contains the Vapesoul Vone 230W mod, the Vone 2.5 ml tank, a spare coil-head and a spare glass tube and o-rings.
Design and Build Quality
The Vone mod is primarily made of zinc alloy and measures 85.5 x 53 x 31 mm. This puts it in the category of mid-size dual battery mods, although it is slightly wider than popular devices like the SMOK Alien or the newer SMOK Procolor. Luckily, the beveled edges and curved design of the Vone make it very comfortable in the hand, compared to sharped edged-mods like the new VooPoo Alpha One, for example. It may not be the smallest or lightest dual-battery mod on the market, but it’s definitely one of the most ergonomic ones I’ve used.
Itsuwa offers four color options for their newest vape mod – black, white, red and and grey – all of which have a matte paint finish. The device comes with protective plastic films on both the side display and the smaller “+” and “-” button panel, but I was a bit disappointed to find that the sample I received was a bit damaged on one side. It wasn’t anything serious, just a bit of scratching, but, as you can imagine, I wasn’t too thrilled to find it this way right out of the box. I don’t know how, or when it got scratched, as the device was firmly inserted in a Styrofoam holder inside the packaging.
Ono of the coolest features of this mod is the massive fire button. It covers the whole upper corner opposite the 510 connection, and since it stretches both on to the top and the side of the device, it can be pressed both vertically and horizontally. That means that no matter how you’re holding the mod, you will be able to easily press the button and activate the battery. Now, is this the best-looking button I’ve ever seen. Definitely not, it’s huge and doesn’t really stand out at all, but in terms of functionality and ergonomics, it’s great.
The 510 connection has a slightly raised metal platform that prevents you from accidentally scratching the paint job of the mod even if you screw an atomizer on too tight. Unfortunately, the raised metal ring around the connection means that your atomizer won’t sit perfectly flushed on the device. The gold-plated pin is spring-loaded, and even though it doesn’t have that much travel, I’ve had no issues with any of the atomizers I’ve tried.
The Vapesoul Vone 230W mod features a gorgeous 1.3-inch color LED display. You can adjust the brightness of the screen in the menu, but it’s set at maximum brightness by default. The display has an artistic background with an ominous sky and some lightning behind all the technical information.
The wattage/temperature takes up most of the screen, making it easy to see even from a few feet away, but you also have dual battery indicators, a puff timer, real-time voltage, resistance and a mode icon. I still haven’t figured out of those vertical blue lines under the wattage/temperature serve any purpose.
The battery compartment can be accessed through the bottom of the Vapesoul Vone mod, by opening the hinged battery door. All you have to do is push it outwards and the cap pops up, giving you access to the batteries. Both compartments feature polarity indicators, but the mod does have reverse battery protection, in case you still manage to insert them wrong.
I had never even heard about Vapesoul prior to receiving the Vone kit, so I didn’t really didn’t have high expectations, but this device was a very nice surprise. Apart from it being a bit scratched on one side, I didn’t really find any other cons worth mentioning. The design feels really solid, there’s no rattling at all, and the well-thought out ergonomic design makes it feel really nice in the hand.
Menu System and Navigation
I don’t know what chip the Vapesoul Vone 230W mod uses, but I’m pretty sure it’s something developed in-house by Itsuwa. The menu system, though intuitive, is different than anything I’ve used before. It actually has two menus, for some reason, which can be a bit confusing.
The main menu can be accessed by keeping the “+” and “-” buttons for two seconds. Here you’ll be able to select between Power/Wattage Mode and Temperature Mode for three supported materials (nickel, titanium and stainless steel), set and save the TCR for two different atomizers, and use the “Find My Phone” function (more on that below).
The second menu can be accessed by pressing the fire button three times in rapid succession. Here you’ll find some secondary settings, like screen brightness, screen shut off time, screen dimming time, checking the firmware version, and upgrading the device.
Keep in mind that scrolling through the different options is done with the “+” and “-” buttons, and imputing changes is always done with the fire button.
Now, on to what really makes the Vapesoul Vone stand out from all other advanced mods on the market – the “Find My Phone” function. The name is a bit misleading, because this neat feature can be used to either find your smartphone or the mod itself, depending on which one you lose. If you lose both at the same time, you’re in trouble.
Here’s how it works: first you have to download a dedicated app from the Apple Store or from the Google Play Store, depending on what smartphone you have. I personally have an Android phone, so I had to download it from the Play Store. To find it, just search for “Vapesoul” and the only result is an app with a name in Chinese characters. Install it, enable Bluetooth on your phone. Now open the Itsuwa app and press the “Bind new device” button at the bottom. You’ll be taken to a list of available devices; select your mod and you’re good to go.
So how does “Find My Phone” work? Well, let’s assume you forgot where you put your phone and don’t have the time to look for it. Just grab your mod, access the “Find My Phone” option through the menu, and select “Yes”. A few moments later, your phone should start ringing or chiming, depending on what ringtone you’ve selected in the app. It’s as easy as that.
But, as I said, the function works both ways. If you lose your mod, you can just go to the Itsuwa app, press the “Find” button and the mod will start to beep/chime. It won’t be as loud as the phone, but you should still be able to hear it and track it down.
As someone who constantly forgets where they put their phone, I declare myself a big fan of the “Find My Phone” feature. The only downside I can think of is that the Bluetooth connectivity is active at all times – at least I wasn’t able to find an option to turn it off – so it takes a toll on the battery life of the mod.
Battery Life and Overall Performance
There’s not a lot I can say about battery life, since this is a variable wattage device that is compatible with different capacity 18650 batteries. At the end of the day, battery life depends on what power output you are using the Vapesoul Vone at, what batteries you are using, and how often you use it. Personally, I’ve noticed no major difference in battery life between this mod and other dual-battery devices like the Asvape Michael or Smoant Charon TS.
The Vapesoul Vone does support on-board charging of the batteries, but for your safety, I recommend using a dedicated battery charging whenever possible.
In terms of performance, the Vapesould Vone has an official max power output of 230W, which is a bit higher than what most dual-18650 mods. Does it really reach 230W? I don’t really know, since I don’t vape anywhere near that level, and I don’t have the equipment to measure the output. However, I did take it up to 100W with the included tank, and it hit like a truck. It might be slightly overpowered, I’m not sure but one thing I can tell you is that it is definitely not underpowered.
One thing that really impressed me about this device is how quickly it fires. I have been using the term “instantaneous firing” a lot lately, because mods in general have been getting more and more responsive when it comes to firing, but the Vapesoul Vone might just be the fastest one yet. Just a short press of the fire button gets the coil sizzling, and I’m not exaggerating one bit. It’s lightning fast, even if you press the fire button after it has gone to sleep (not in use for more than 10 minutes).
I haven’t used the Vapesoul Vone in temperature control. I’ve never been a fan of it, and since I didn’t have any temp control compatible coils around, I just skipped this step completely. The coil heads are both made with Kanthal wire, so there was nothing for me to test it with. So if you’re into temp. control vaping, I don’t know what to tell you.
The Tank
The Vapesoul Vone 230W mod may be the highlight of this kit, but the tank it comes paired with is pretty interesting as well. It’s a 2.5 ml capacity subohm tank with an ingenious top-filling system and bottom airflow. It looks very similar to the SMOK Baby Beast tank, and actually uses the same style of coil heads. In fact, Baby Beast coils are compatible with the Vone tank, so if can’t find any Vapesoul coil-heads, those will work too.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Vone tank is the top filling system, more precisely the way it locks and unlocks. It has two gold buttons on the top cap and you have to press them both at the same time to access the fill port. As soon as you apply pressure to those buttons, the top cap will pop up, allowing you to pour juice into the tank through a large slot. As soon as you’re done, just press on down on the top cap until you here it lock into place. The top cap remains attached to the tank at all times thanks to a metal hinge similar to that used by SMOK on its TFV family of tanks, but the locking feature is pretty original.
The drip tip is made of Ultem, and while it may look like a standard 510, it’s not. It’s not an 810 either, it’s a custom drip tip that only works on this tank. So if you’re hoping to pair the Vone with your favorite drip tip, sadly, you won’t be able to do that.
The Vapesoul Vone kit also includes two coil-heads, both made of Kanthal and rated 0.15Ω resistance. They can be used at wattages between 40W and 120W, but Itsuwa recommends you vape them at 50W – 110W.
The beefy coils, with the abundant air fed through the slots at the bottom of the Vone tank and the instant power of the 230W, produce loads of vapor, so if that’s what matters to you, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately, the Vone tank is not as strong in the flavor department. It’s not that the flavor is bad, but it’s just not as intense as I would have liked.
Overall, this is a decent tank that stands out thanks to the ingenious locking system of the top cap. It puts out a lot of vapor, produces decent vapor, but you can definitely find better tanks out there.
Conclusion
The Vapesoul Vone kit was a breath of fresh air. I don’t often get to review a device that really brings something completely new to the world of vaping, but the Vone 230W mod is one such device. The “Find My Phone” function is a lot more useful than most people realize and actually works as intended. But even without this feature, the Vone has a lot going for it. From the quality of the materials and the ergonomic designs, to the instant firing, this is a really solid device, so if you’re willing to take a chance on a relatively unknown brand, I think you’ll find it worth your money.
