- My Impressions & Findings-
First and foremost, I'm going to point out my appreciation for Innokin's continued use of recycled material in their packaging. I don't need shiny plastic and stickers to get excited about what's inside the box - the proof is in the pudding.
Both of these kits have been put to work for 2 full weeks now. I've been running both mods side by side: One with the 0.2 Ohm coil and an 18650, the other with the 0.3 Ohm coil and a 21700. Why you might ask? They give us the best idea of both extremes. The smaller 18650 used at higher Wattage, and the larger 21700 used at lower Wattage. From my estimation, using the 0.2 Ohm coil at 50W gives me about 150-200 puffs on a full 18650 battery. For the 0.3 Ohm coil at 35-40W, you can expect 250-300 puffs depending on the mAh value of the chosen 21700.
What's In the Booooooooox?!
- Kroma 217 Mod
- Z-Force Tank w/ Bubble Glass (5 mL)
- 0.2 Ohm ZF Coil (Recommended @ 50-80W, Pre-installed)
- 0.3 Ohm ZF Coil (Recommended @ 30-45W, Packaged)
- Spare Bubble Glass (5 mL)
- Spare O-rings
- USB-C Charging Cable
- 18650 Battery Adapter Sleeve
- Z-Force Tank Quick Start Guide
- Warning & Safety Manual
- The Users Manual (can view/download from Innokin's site)
A Closer Look.
This is a closer look at the River Wood mod from various angles. The matte black makes me think it's of similar material with what Batman's suit is made of; I really like it. I almost wish they had a full matte black mod, lol. The River Wood looks like a laminate but it's almost cushiony and soft to the touch. Closer pics of the Carbon Fiber mod will be shown below. I think the Kroma-series brushed metal industrial look is super attractive.
The 510 deck tapers in at the top, allowing up to a 26 mm atomizer before noticing any overhang.
It should be noted that the fire "button" is actually a bar. You can press down on the UI and it will fire. The hand-feel is great, whether you're a thumb, index finger, or palm person (being that the fire button is a bar, you can simply squeeze your hand while it's wrapped around the mod to fire it).
One of the big things I look for in mods now is a fastened 510 plate. I've read several reviews on mods such as the Vaporesso Gen-series that are fantastic in performance, but they have press-fitted 510 plates that pop loose after a while rendering the mod unusable or needing tinkering to get them back in working order. I like overall mod durability and I'm willing to carry around a brick around if that's what it takes for long-term reliability. I popped open the mod to take a peek at the 510 plate because you cannot tell if it's press-fitted or not based on the exterior. In the photo below, you can tell it's bolted in from the underside. Thank heavens!
Another big thing I've been keeping an eye out for is the battery door. It would appear that companies like VooPoo are cutting corners on these types of things, and it's starting to catch up with them in the form of numerous complaints.
You can see here that metallic teeth in the door slide and click into the grooves at the base of the mod. There's a noticeable "click" when the door is seated properly.
The UI.
The basic readout of the UI from left to right and top to bottom is:
- Mod Lock/Unlock
- Battery Status
- Wattage/Voltage Setting
- Firing Mode (Coil+ vs Conventional Power Modes)
- Puff Timer
- Coil Resistance
- Puff Counter
- Wattage/Voltage Readout Opposite of Wattage/Voltage Setting
The menu isn't overly complicated. To reach the MAIN MENU, hold down both
+ and
- directional buttons below the UI for 1-2 seconds.
COIL+ and POWER Modes both have sub-menus allowing you to pick whether you want to run that mode in Wattage or Voltage Mode. If you choose to forego the COIL+ option and stick with the conventional POWER Mode, regardless if you pick Wattage or Voltage Mode, you're able to choose the ramp up quickness via SOFT, NORM, and HARD.
REFRESH has 2 options shown above. You can have it auto-cycle for about 4 seconds, or you can manually run it for as long as you'd like.
SETTINGS allows you to change the UI Timeout (5-180s), the Cutoff timer for firing (3-18s), find the Device ID, and also factory reset the mod. For example, my Device ID is
.
Left Photo:
This is a miscellaneous info menu where you can view the current battery Voltage, the coil resistance to the thousandth, and reset your puff counter. I love that there's a confirmation before wiping out the puff counter in case you forget what button combo does what - you can try all button combos w/out accidentally resetting the counter. To get to this menu, hold the
+ directional button and the fire button simultaneously for a second or two.
Right Photo:
Pressing the
- directional button and the fire button simultaneously for a second or two will lock the device from being able to be changed while still allowing you to fire the mod. Holding this combo down again for a second or two will unlock it.
Airflow.
Nothing too tricky about the airflow. As mentioned above, there isn't a setting in which I've found any sign of whistling, or like the atomizer wants to whistle which is nice. The AFC ring is easy enough to turn w/out difficulty, but stiff enough to stay in place. I've found the best AFC setting for flavor in the 0.2 Ohm coil is about 1/2 open. For the 0.3 Ohm coil, all the way open oddly enough.
The Z-Force Tank.
The Z-Force tank has a lot of features that I absolutely love. The tank itself is very easy to take apart and clean. The sliding top has an engraved arrow so you can easily tell which way to push it open. Many people do not like the drip tips with the o-rings on the drip tip; in this case, I like it. For the drip tips that use this sealing method, but sit very loose to the point where you get juice seeping through the drip tip and the cap - that's a no go. With the ZF tank, that is not the case, and the drip tip doesn't take the finger strength of an ape to get off.
Note in the bottom two photos, the left picture has no seal in it, and the right picture does. As mentioned above, there's a spring-loaded leak-proof sleeve that gets pressed down as you push the coil in. On the left you can see the entire sleeve covering the juice ports; on the right, you can see the coil pressed in, pushing the sleeve down to expose the juice ports and wick of the coil. I did some testing with this where I filled the tank about as full as I could get it, and then changed the coils.
Top-left Photo:
Tank is fully assembled with the coil in.
Top-right Photo:
510 base and coil have been removed - sleeve is actively blocking the juice ports
Bottom-left Photo:
A peek inside the chimney to show no leaking.
Bottom-right Photo:
Tank sitting upright without the coil or 510 base, and a completely full tank of juice. Try doing this with any tank that doesn't have a sleeve mechanism like this. Also grab yourself a bunch of paper towels if you do so.
Coils.
Top Two Photos:
0.2 Ohm ZF coil recommended at 50-80W. This was my first coil and it took 9 mL before it finally started producing decent flavor. Definitely the longest coil break-in I've ever experienced, although something tells me it might have been a dud? The 0.3 Ohm coil took less than a half hour with very few puffs. The flavor of the 0.2 Ohm coil never reached the potency of the 0.3. I also noticed that the 0.2 Ohm coil produces a "dryer" vapor (for lack of a more accurate description) than the 0.3 - I would say it vapes in the same ballpark as the VooPoo PnP, Lost Vape UB Pro, and Vaporesso GT coils. Once again, decent flavor, but a less moist vapor plume which I think all 3 of these other brands have in common.
Middle Two Photos:
0.3 Ohm ZF coil recommended at 30-45W. This coil broke in quite quickly and started producing much more flavor for me. It produces a more "wet" vape, where you can taste it lingering in your nose after your exhale. This is closer to the product of a Freemax coil which are my current favorites. Very good flavor, and much easier on the juice and battery consumption.
Bottom Two Photos:
In the bottom left photo, you can see the outer coil of the DuoPrime coil design through a thin layer of cotton. Always remember to give your coils a good prime before popping them in if you want to get to vaping right away. If the cotton is so saturated, like in the bottom right picture, that it won't absorb anymore juice - you're free to vape as soon as you assemble the tank and fill it up with juice.
Mod Performance/Technical Side.
Being that I'm somewhat of a single 217 battery mod snob, I've tested several mods that fit into this particular category which include, the Aspire Deco, GeekVape Aegis Max, Freemax Maxus 100W, Lost Vape Grus/Cyborg (Ursa - same chip), OBS Engine, Vandy Vape Pulse V2, Vaporesso Target 100, VooPoo Drag X Plus & Drag X Plus Pro.
When I originally started testing out mod performance, it was to check the Voltage outputs being that the vape industry has recently run into a wave of brands that are using unboosted chips (*ahem* - I'm looking at you again VooPoo). This isn't such a concern in dual battery mods as it is in single battery mods, being that a 6.4-8.4V output is fine for just about any practical higher Ohm build. Single battery mods are a completely different story however, and if you've ever tried a high resistance coil/atomizer with an unboosted single battery mod, you know what I'm talking about. You're essentially using an underpowered regulated mech mod. "I can still set the mod to 100W though!" That's great, but a Wattage setting is a requested output from the chip - it means absolutely nothing to the amount of power that the mod is actually putting out.
The lowest Ohm coil reading I tested was a 0.27 and at 100W, it pulled 19.6 Amps. When I get around to it, I'll retest all of these mods with a coil around 0.1 Ohms to get a better idea of where the Amp limit is. Stated in the specs, for a 21700 battery, the mod is supposed to limit the Amp draw from the battery to 32A which I think is pretty safe; 28.5 Amps for an 18650 battery, respectively. For a 0.8 Ohm Z coil, the mod tapped out at its designated 7.5V max output with a resulting Wattage at about 69.4W. This is way far beyond practicality for a 0.8 Ohm coil, but at least you know you aren't being short changed. This is an outstanding performing single 217 mod.
- Final Word -
I was so excited when I heard rumors of an actual 217 Innokin mod floating around, and even more excited when I was contacted by Anna to do this review. I feel 217 batteries have spoiled me in a way, but that's what I've found to best suit me and really glad they went ahead and did that for the Kroma-series. Now, if only they'd bring back f(0) mode in their Cool Fire mods with a 217.
As I had mentioned in the intro, Innokin always seems to be pushing the boundaries of innovation. I'm not even entirely sure that Coil+ or Refresh work, but they really seem to be doing the trick so I cannot refute the claim. I think the double coil heating differential in their new DuoPrime design is quite a genius idea. For anyone that continually changes atomizers on different mods with different coils, metals, and airflow settings - they all change the way a single juice can taste. Even batteries sag differently when a mod is fired, or different mod efficiencies can change the way a coil heats the ejuice. So, having two coils heating up at different rates is super innovative. This is a huge reason why I continue to collect vape gear, and I encourage you to keep an eye on Innokin for their next step in the evolutionary process. Well done Innokin, well done.
- Pros/Cons -
== Kroma 217 Mod ==
-= Cons =-
- No TC/TCR (is this really even a con anymore?)
- No option to change UI brightness
-= Pros =-
- Chip is buck boosted for 1.0-7.5V
- Innovative Coil Tech: Coil+ fire mod, Auto/Manual Refresh feature
- Variable Voltage firing mode available
- Soft/Normal/Hard Setting (ramp up quickness) for conventional VV, and VW Fire Modes
- Fire button requires deliberate press to fire which will prevent it from accidentally firing
- Fire “button” is actually a bar – you can fire it pressing on the UI screen
- Feels comfortable firing with the thumb, palm, or finger(s)
- Battery level readout is accurate (I’ve noticed a lot of mods recently with inaccurate readouts)
- Battery door feels very solid
- 18650/20700/21700 compatible batteries
- 510 plate is fastened
- Great hand-feel
- Quality build
- Easy to navigate
- USB-C charging
- No rattling
- UI is simple and easy to read
== Z-Force Tank ==
-= Cons =-
- Difficult for Gorilla bottle style nozzles to fully penetrate rubber refill membrane w/out taking the 810 drip tip off
- Coils have smaller window of Wattage recommendations
-= Pros =-
- Decent tank size (5 mL)
- The rubber refill membrane works much better than previous iterations
- Top cap slide is smooth, but resistant enough to not accidently slide open
- Coil can be changed on an absolute full tank of juice
- 810 drip tip easily goes on and off without wiggle (2x o-rings on the drip tip)
- Airflow Control ring is resistant enough to stay put, but easy enough to turn with fingers
- ZF Coils innovative dual coil design having two mesh rings (inner and outer), one heating up slower to reach more flavor notes
- Coil seating is at the very bottom of the tank - longer potential time span between refills
- Bottom airflow but no leaking (so far)
== Coil Breakdown (Pros & Cons) ==
0.2 Ohm Coil
- Took quite a while to break in (9 mL for me to reach flavor peak)
- Dryer vape (can be seen as a pro or con)
- Overall flavor not quite as good as the 0.3 Ohm Coil (to me)
- Puts out good clouds
- The lesser used of the two coils, but at around 200 puffs with no degradation of coil or flavor quality
0.3 Ohm Coil
- Quick break-in
- More moisture in vape which lingers (tastier to me)
- More efficient on juice consumption
- More efficient on battery drain
- Currently at around 600 puffs and no degradation of coil quality yet
- Evaluation -
Before I give a final evaluation, I want the viewer to understand how I rate this. For all values with a Weight of 10, it means this is a high priority for me - what I personally look for in a vape product. The lower the weight, the less this effects my overall judgment. Also bear in mind that I am evaluating this product for its intended purpose. The overall rating isn't a computed average of each of these scores, but rather my overall enjoyment of vaping with this product.
Evaluation considerations:
Battery: Weight 10, Evaluation 10
(Internal/External, battery capacity, recharge time)
Flavor Production: Weight 10, Evaluation 7.5
(Depth of flavor, full/rich vs. hollow taste)
Vape Production: Weight 6, Evaluation 8.5
(Cloud size, volume, thickness)
Coil Performance (0.2 Ohm): Weight 10, Evaluation 9
Coil Performance (0.3 Ohm): Weight 10, Evaluation 9
(Lifespan, dry hitting, chain vaping, compatible coil resistance range)
Build Quality: Weight 10, Evaluation 10
(Durability, quality, leakage, reliability)
Efficiency (0.2 Ohm): Weight 10, Evaluation 7
Efficiency (0.3 Ohm): Weight 10, Evaluation 8
(Juice consumption)
Size: Weight 3, Evaluation 9
(Comfort, pocketing)
Visual Appeal/Style: Weight 7, Evaluation 10
(Schmexiness)
Versatility: Weight 5, Evaluation 8
(Options, Ohm range, salt nic vs. freebase)
Recommendation: Weight 7, Evaluation 9
(Would I pick this as the kit I'd rave about to another vaper?)
- Overall Rating -
Compared to other mod+atomizer kits: 8.5 - 9
(I love reliability, quality, innovation, and 217's!)
Final note:
I hope you enjoyed the review and/or learned something about this device to help with an informed decision or comparison. The Innokin Kroma 217 Z-Force Kit can be purchased from their website here at
Innokin.com and various other outlets.
Happy holidays! Don't forget to set some cookies out for
me - I mean Santa!
Cheers and happy vape hoarding.
Comments, questions, and feedback are always encouraged!
