Hi ECF members, in this review i take a look at the Smoant Cylon 218 mod. The Cylon was kindly supplied for the purpose of this review by Kristy from Smoant.
http://smoant.com/cylon-218w-color-scree...index.html
In the Box
Contents:
1X Smoant Cylon Mod
1X Usb charge & Update cable
1X User manual
1X Warning card
Aesthetics and Ergonomics
I opened the nice Smoant packaging to be met by an high end looking device, it really does look and feel very high quality. Its slightly bigger than the average size duel battery device and has quite a bit of depth to it (with the centred 510, large tanks will fit no problem). It also has a bit of weight to it, yet despite this and it's size, due to it's very curved sides (no edges whatsoever) it feels great ergonomically (A good all rounder, will equally make a good desktop mod but it's comfortable feel makes it a good out and about device). Looking at the front of the Cylon the outer 20% both sides still has the leather which is on the sides of the mod due to it's curved nature. The centre 60% of the front has a grooved effect which is broken up by the screen section. The centre of the front has a large cut-cornered square which houses a very nice square 1.35 inch TFT colour screen. The very top of the front has Smoant branding and then moving to the bottom there are the up and down buttons shaped like eyes, with the USB port being positioned to look like a mouth. Both sides of the device are leather with one of the sides housing a rectangular fire button at the top. Again on the back of the device the centre 60% is grooved with the sides being leather. Towards the top of the back is a round badge which i thought may light up but it doesn't (but the blue in the badge really glistens when it catches the light), and finally on the back the word "CYLON" is written vertically. The top of the device houses a very nice spring loaded 510 which sits centrally on a very large 510 plate. The bottom of the device has safety stamp and battery door. The sample versions of the Cylon have had improvements made as reports have come back from reviewers, i'm pretty certain the device i received is the last version before retail as a couple of issues that were raised in the first couple of reviews are now fixed, one was the battery door was a bit loose although their is play while it's open i'm pleased to say mine fits tight and secure no issue at all. The device i received is Black and looks very nice but it's also available in Tarnish which in my opinion looks even better.
Cylon Specs:
1. Compact size: 47mm(L) X 32mm(W) X90mm(H)
2. Takes 2X 18650 battery
3. Display: 1.35 inch TFT color screen
4. Output range: 1 – 218 W
5. Output modes: VW / VW Curves / Temp (Ni, Ti, SS) / TCR / TC Curves
6. Resistance range: 0.05 – 2.0 Ohm for Temp / TCR mode / TC Curves
0.1-5.0 Ohm for VW / VW Curves
7. Temperature control: 100 – 315°C / 200 – 600°F
8. Two different UI available to choose
9. Firmware upgradeable
10. Reverse protection/ Over-heating protection/ Low voltage protection/ Overload/Short-circuit protection/ Over-time protection
11. Materials: Zinc Alloy & Leather
12. Efficiency: 95%
13. Color: Black, Tarnish
The Cylon's Display
The device allows you to have 2 different styles of main screen, Style one is where you can choose to have wallpaper, there are 9 different ones to choose from which is both great (there are some nice ones) and a bit disappointing you can't upload your own as a lot of people would love to have things like the crest of their football team, rock band logo, pet or picture of a loved one as their background. Hopefully a near future firmware upgrade will allow for this. Style two is a speedometer which is very nice and the needle moves as you vape. Both styles give you the same information it's just how it is presented with the speedometer is in keeping with the speedometers looks. Their is also two choices of screensaver which the screen switches to after a period of inactivity (you can set how many seconds), first their is a very nice watch face and the second is to have the chosen wallpaper. These settings are mix and match it doesn't matter what style you use for your main screen you can choose watch or wallpaper as your screensaver. The display is top notch with everything sharp and crystal clear also the pictures are high quality.
Navigation
The menu system is almost app style in nature which allows for the device to have a lot going on yet keeping it simple and quick to navigate around. Yes it's the 5 clicks job to turn on and off and to enter the menu system is 3 clicks. The menu screen displays four icons, VW, TC, Settings and Wallpapers. Sometimes choosing something in the menu system takes you straight back to your main screen but with that item now selected, for example if when in the VW menu i choose normal it takes me back to the main screen but norm is now activated. In the temp control menu when you select your wire type it again takes you back to the main screen but now the display is temperature rather than wattage. When you are in a temp control mode pressing the up and down buttons together locks the resistance and down and fire together allows you to alter the wattage. If whatever you choose in the menu system doesn't take you back to the main screen which is usually when choosing something which gives you further options then holding down the fire button takes you back. All navigation in the menu is done by using the up and down button with the fire button being select. Back to the menu, if you select VW icon it gives you choices of min, norm, max or custom curve. Selecting TC gives you your various wires, TCR and temperature curve. Choosing settings allows you to adjust the brightness, the time, whether you want Speedometer or Wallpaper, Screen timeout or Screensaver mode (watch face or picture). Finally choosing Wallpapers gives you nine very nice pictures to choose from.
Performance
I'm finding it almost impossible to fault the Cylon so will need to be scraping the bottom of the barrel of pickiness, so here goes. When putting the batteries in although the orientation is marked it could be more clear as it's raised black on black. I have other Smoant devices 2 bought myself and find them to out perform and be better quality than a lot of devices that are priced higher. Don't be fooled by their quite low price tag Smoant make very good devices. The Cylon is the best to date it's not just it's good looks, feel and features but it is great to use. It hits hard and accurate and just never misfires the claimed delay is just 0.015 secs and i can believe it. I really like using the custom curves on this device, they are done particularly well. It has very good efficiency and gives as good battery life as any other duel battery device i have. The other issue that was pointed out in just one early review was the fire button needed to be pressed at the top to activate, to make sure this was fixed i made a conscious effort to vape pressing the fire button at the bottom and can confirm it works great. The last thing to mention is the size of tank you can fit on the Cylon, you can fit up to 30mm with absolutely no overhang.
Likes
Great looking
Great performance
Good build quality
Very nice display
Custom Curves
Temp Control
High Wattage
Good battery life
Customisation
Easy menu system
Up to 30mm tanks without overhang
2 Main screen modes
Wallpapers
Dislikes
Battery orientation could be clearer
Please Smoant work on an upgrade to allow for uploaded images.
Conclusion
I've read this review back and must admit it comes across as a Cylon loving, but i make no apologies for that because i really did fall in love with this device (just want to make clear not the same sort of love i feel for my wife, i'm not a weirdo). The Smoant Cylon TC 218W Mod is a seriously good device.
I would once again like to thank Kristy from Smoant for sending the Cylon TC 218W Mod for the purpose of this review.
http://smoant.com/cylon-218w-color-scree...index.html
http://smoant.com/cylon-218w-color-scree...index.html
In the Box
Contents:
1X Smoant Cylon Mod
1X Usb charge & Update cable
1X User manual
1X Warning card
Aesthetics and Ergonomics
I opened the nice Smoant packaging to be met by an high end looking device, it really does look and feel very high quality. Its slightly bigger than the average size duel battery device and has quite a bit of depth to it (with the centred 510, large tanks will fit no problem). It also has a bit of weight to it, yet despite this and it's size, due to it's very curved sides (no edges whatsoever) it feels great ergonomically (A good all rounder, will equally make a good desktop mod but it's comfortable feel makes it a good out and about device). Looking at the front of the Cylon the outer 20% both sides still has the leather which is on the sides of the mod due to it's curved nature. The centre 60% of the front has a grooved effect which is broken up by the screen section. The centre of the front has a large cut-cornered square which houses a very nice square 1.35 inch TFT colour screen. The very top of the front has Smoant branding and then moving to the bottom there are the up and down buttons shaped like eyes, with the USB port being positioned to look like a mouth. Both sides of the device are leather with one of the sides housing a rectangular fire button at the top. Again on the back of the device the centre 60% is grooved with the sides being leather. Towards the top of the back is a round badge which i thought may light up but it doesn't (but the blue in the badge really glistens when it catches the light), and finally on the back the word "CYLON" is written vertically. The top of the device houses a very nice spring loaded 510 which sits centrally on a very large 510 plate. The bottom of the device has safety stamp and battery door. The sample versions of the Cylon have had improvements made as reports have come back from reviewers, i'm pretty certain the device i received is the last version before retail as a couple of issues that were raised in the first couple of reviews are now fixed, one was the battery door was a bit loose although their is play while it's open i'm pleased to say mine fits tight and secure no issue at all. The device i received is Black and looks very nice but it's also available in Tarnish which in my opinion looks even better.
Cylon Specs:
1. Compact size: 47mm(L) X 32mm(W) X90mm(H)
2. Takes 2X 18650 battery
3. Display: 1.35 inch TFT color screen
4. Output range: 1 – 218 W
5. Output modes: VW / VW Curves / Temp (Ni, Ti, SS) / TCR / TC Curves
6. Resistance range: 0.05 – 2.0 Ohm for Temp / TCR mode / TC Curves
0.1-5.0 Ohm for VW / VW Curves
7. Temperature control: 100 – 315°C / 200 – 600°F
8. Two different UI available to choose
9. Firmware upgradeable
10. Reverse protection/ Over-heating protection/ Low voltage protection/ Overload/Short-circuit protection/ Over-time protection
11. Materials: Zinc Alloy & Leather
12. Efficiency: 95%
13. Color: Black, Tarnish
The Cylon's Display
The device allows you to have 2 different styles of main screen, Style one is where you can choose to have wallpaper, there are 9 different ones to choose from which is both great (there are some nice ones) and a bit disappointing you can't upload your own as a lot of people would love to have things like the crest of their football team, rock band logo, pet or picture of a loved one as their background. Hopefully a near future firmware upgrade will allow for this. Style two is a speedometer which is very nice and the needle moves as you vape. Both styles give you the same information it's just how it is presented with the speedometer is in keeping with the speedometers looks. Their is also two choices of screensaver which the screen switches to after a period of inactivity (you can set how many seconds), first their is a very nice watch face and the second is to have the chosen wallpaper. These settings are mix and match it doesn't matter what style you use for your main screen you can choose watch or wallpaper as your screensaver. The display is top notch with everything sharp and crystal clear also the pictures are high quality.
Navigation
The menu system is almost app style in nature which allows for the device to have a lot going on yet keeping it simple and quick to navigate around. Yes it's the 5 clicks job to turn on and off and to enter the menu system is 3 clicks. The menu screen displays four icons, VW, TC, Settings and Wallpapers. Sometimes choosing something in the menu system takes you straight back to your main screen but with that item now selected, for example if when in the VW menu i choose normal it takes me back to the main screen but norm is now activated. In the temp control menu when you select your wire type it again takes you back to the main screen but now the display is temperature rather than wattage. When you are in a temp control mode pressing the up and down buttons together locks the resistance and down and fire together allows you to alter the wattage. If whatever you choose in the menu system doesn't take you back to the main screen which is usually when choosing something which gives you further options then holding down the fire button takes you back. All navigation in the menu is done by using the up and down button with the fire button being select. Back to the menu, if you select VW icon it gives you choices of min, norm, max or custom curve. Selecting TC gives you your various wires, TCR and temperature curve. Choosing settings allows you to adjust the brightness, the time, whether you want Speedometer or Wallpaper, Screen timeout or Screensaver mode (watch face or picture). Finally choosing Wallpapers gives you nine very nice pictures to choose from.
Performance
I'm finding it almost impossible to fault the Cylon so will need to be scraping the bottom of the barrel of pickiness, so here goes. When putting the batteries in although the orientation is marked it could be more clear as it's raised black on black. I have other Smoant devices 2 bought myself and find them to out perform and be better quality than a lot of devices that are priced higher. Don't be fooled by their quite low price tag Smoant make very good devices. The Cylon is the best to date it's not just it's good looks, feel and features but it is great to use. It hits hard and accurate and just never misfires the claimed delay is just 0.015 secs and i can believe it. I really like using the custom curves on this device, they are done particularly well. It has very good efficiency and gives as good battery life as any other duel battery device i have. The other issue that was pointed out in just one early review was the fire button needed to be pressed at the top to activate, to make sure this was fixed i made a conscious effort to vape pressing the fire button at the bottom and can confirm it works great. The last thing to mention is the size of tank you can fit on the Cylon, you can fit up to 30mm with absolutely no overhang.
Likes
Great looking
Great performance
Good build quality
Very nice display
Custom Curves
Temp Control
High Wattage
Good battery life
Customisation
Easy menu system
Up to 30mm tanks without overhang
2 Main screen modes
Wallpapers
Dislikes
Battery orientation could be clearer
Please Smoant work on an upgrade to allow for uploaded images.
Conclusion
I've read this review back and must admit it comes across as a Cylon loving, but i make no apologies for that because i really did fall in love with this device (just want to make clear not the same sort of love i feel for my wife, i'm not a weirdo). The Smoant Cylon TC 218W Mod is a seriously good device.
I would once again like to thank Kristy from Smoant for sending the Cylon TC 218W Mod for the purpose of this review.
http://smoant.com/cylon-218w-color-scree...index.html
). As always I enjoyed the read. Appreciate your straightforward style.
