In this review, I will tell you about a fairly old, but still interesting X CUBE MINI kit from SMOK.

The kit of the X CUBE MINI battery block and the MicroTFV4 tank began to be manufactured by SMOK back in 2015, then production ceased, and a couple of years later its support ended. But in less than 10 months, so many of these kits were manufactured that they are still being sold. And in some places they are even in demand, and all thanks to several very interesting features. At the time the kit entered the market, it somehow passed me by (there was a high-quality transition from e-cigarettes straight to mechanical mods), then I was not particularly interested in the boxes with boards either, and the device was discontinued, and therefore did not make it into the review. And now, seven years later, almost a miracle happened: in the 3AVape store they found a box of these X CUBE MINI in the far corner of the warehouse, and then put them up for sale at a ridiculous price. A month of waiting, a short trip to the post office and “greetings from the past” in my hands. Let’s explore this “time capsule” and think whether a seven-year-old mod is relevant in mid-2021?

Packaging

The SMOK X CUBE MINI kit arrived in a simple black cardboard box (at least the Chinese version, and I got it, which is clearly visible from the sticker with hieroglyphs). moti vape From what can be understood without an online translator, I will only note the logo on the lid, certificate icons on the back and a sticker with an authenticity verification code on the side.

What’s in the box

The delivery set is not the largest, but sufficient: a mod, a tank with two evaporators, instructions in English and Chinese, a card with QR codes for downloading software to a smartphone and another card with warnings about the mandatory presence of a protective coating on the batteries.

Design

The design of the X CUBE MINI is brutal in its squareness, weight and overall monumentality. More than 200 grams of net weight (and this is without a battery!), flat panels on all sides and a complete, at first glance, absence of any buttons, screens and other decorations. Despite the word Mini in the name, the dimensions are also impressive, there are quite a lot of mods for 2 * 18650 of a smaller size, and here there is only one can inside. The complete tank is generally somehow lost against the background of the design, even in white, which makes it visually smaller, and in black it looks unreasonably small. Of course, it wasn’t without decorations: firstly, the name of the mod is on the side panel, secondly, the characteristics are at the bottom, and thirdly, two long lines of LEDs under the FIRE button, which here occupies one of the side edges (that’s right, right under two thick slits, which are clearly visible in the photo).

Battery pack

I have already told you almost everything I could about the basic design of the battery pack, all that remains is to tell you how it fits in your hand – surprisingly, it is very comfortable: the rounded edges do not interfere with the grip, and the FIRE button is full-height, allowing you to press it with any grip and anywhere (which will be discussed below). What is slightly annoying at first glance is the feeling of the “Chelyabinsk rattle” – the mod is both weighty, but something constantly rustles, rattles and rattles in it when used and shaken.

All controls are concentrated on the top panel. First of all, let’s focus on the screen, or rather, on a parody of it. Not only is it tiny, dim and absolutely uninformative, but it is also located exactly in the place where the liquid from the evaporator will flow in any emergency situations. There are two buttons nearby, also small, they are responsible for half of the extraneous sounds from the mod, or, to put it simply, they frankly rattle with any movement of the hand. Well, the question of tightness still remains open. On the other side of the screen we see a 510 connector with a spring-loaded positive pin and slightly recessed into the depth of the case (hello, scratches on the paint from the evaporator). The strip on the side is nothing more than an air channel for clearomizers, which take in air through a 510 connector (there were really a lot of them at one time).

At the bottom there are holes for cooling and exhaust gases, several obligatory inscriptions and a microUSB port for charging and reflashing (unfortunately, there are no legs – hello again, scratches).

The FIRE button takes up the entire surface of the side. It can be pressed anywhere, at least from above, at least from below, at least entirely in the center or in any of the corners with a skew. It is convenient to use, but only in the vaping mode, but in the mod setup mode, pressing FIRE as a confirmation of your actions is no longer very good. And in addition, this button has a peculiarity of creaking when pressed, this is where the second half of extraneous sounds come from. I will not write anything about the LEDs under the button, well, they light up, well, they are configured, so what? This is not a Christmas tree, is it? Fortunately, you can turn it off.

The battery compartment cover is held on by friction and two pairs of magnets, it also wobbles and rattles slightly, but against the background of other sounds, you do not particularly pay attention to this. Inside there is a compartment for one 18650 battery with a flat contact marked as “+”, and the same flat, but strongly spring-loaded with the mark “-“. When I say strongly, I’m not kidding, the ribbon is here for a reason, when pulling out a discharged can, you will definitely damage the insulation the second or third time.

The mod is controlled in two different ways: through the interface on a tiny screen or through an application on a mobile phone. Both methods are not very convenient, fortunately, the settings only need to be done once and you don’t need to return to it for quite a long time.

So, the Smok X CUBE MINI mod turns on and off… No way. More precisely, it is always on, and after quickly pressing the FIRE button five times, only a lock occurs. After the first turn on, it will always be in temperature control mode (this was once fashionable and progressive, but considering that the evaporators in the kit were ordinary, why this was done is absolutely incomprehensible).

Personal impressions

Cool. There is nothing more to add, and that is only because of the ability to control via Bluetooth from a mobile phone. The mod is too massive to carry around, and it is better to throw away the complete tank right away. The only use I can imagine for the kit is as a home MTL system, when neither the heavy weight nor the low power play a special role. On the other hand, the Smok X CUBE MINI Kit still has its own certain charm and is strikingly different from most modern and sometimes too futuristic vapes, so if you want, you can still buy it. And for ridiculous money.