Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Kit Review – A Starter Kit With Great Potential

The Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 kit is the latest edition to the popular vape company’s huge range.

Although Eleaf has sub-ohm devices, they are more known to me for their MTL devices.

Eleaf Electronics was established in 2011, and is located in Shenzhen city (China).

Their website currently advertises 29 Kits, 16 of those kits are in the iStick range, which launched in 2014 with the iStick 20w.

The iStick range has become pretty huge, it contains small MTL devices, 150W dual battery Kits and everything in between.

The first thing that comes to my mind when you say Eleaf, is MTL Devices.

When you say, iStick, the first thing that comes to mind is iStick Rim.

The Eleaf iStick Rim kit came out earlier this year, and went down pretty well.

We’ve reviewed a fair few Eleaf devices including the iStick T80 – the iCare Flask – the iJust 21700 – right back to the iStick Pico 25 and even further into their back catalogue!

Read more: Mouth To Lung (MTL) VS Direct To Lung (DTL) Vaping: What’s The Difference?

What Can We Expect From The Eleaf iStick Amnis 2?

The Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 is powered by an 1100mAH battery, which is a fair size for a MTL device, and can also fire up to 23W.

It’s a small vape mod, weighing in at 124grams, it comes with a 1.8ml e-liquid capacity, which can be upped to 3ml with a bubble glass.

The kit comes in 5 different colours.

It’s a really simple device with variable wattage and variable airflow, and Eleaf brags it is ‘ultra-portable’.

With the iStick Amnis 2, I’m looking for it to be light and small (aka portable), but to satisfy MTL vapers.

I expect it to have a fairly tight draw, while providing a decent flavour and a similar vapour output to the smoke from a cigarette.

This might be a good time to mention, I googled what ‘Amnis’ means, it’s apparently a Latin masculine noun meaning ‘River/Stream’.

So let’s hope the flavour flows!

See Harley’s hands on review in this video:

 

Inside The Box

There are 3 different types of buying options.

Basic, Childproof and Special.

I’ve spent a good 10 minutes looking into this and as far as I can see the Basic and the Childproof packages are the same except the Childproof version has a locking top-fill on the GTiO tank.

The special version differs from the other two because it has a different tank and coils (GS Drive Tank and GS Air Coils, 1.6ohm and 0.6ohm).

I received the basic version and inside you’ll find:

• 1 x iStick Amnis 2 – Mod/Battery
• 1 x GTiO Tank
• 1 x GT 1.2ohm Coil (pre-installed)
• 1 x GT M 0.6ohm coil
• 1 x USB-C Cable
• 1 x Lanyard
• 1 x Tank User Manual
• 1 x Mod User Manual
• 1 x Spare O-Rings and key
• 1 x spare glass (bubble glass)
• 1 x Spare driptip

Specs

• Kit Size: 36 x 19.5 x 120mm
• GTiO Tank Size: 20 x 53mm (including 510 connection pin)
• Mod Size: 30 x 19.5 x 70mm
• Weight: 124g
• Mod weight: 84g
• Battery: 1100mAH
• E-liquid Capacity: 1.8ml / 3ml
• Resistance range: 0.3 – 3.0ohm
• Power range: 12W – 23W / 3.2V – 4.6V

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Features

• Battery Level Indicator
• USB-C
• Over Charge Protection
• Over Discharge Protection
• Over-Current Protection
• 10 Second Cut-off Protection
• Short-Circuit Protection
• Adjustable Airflow
• Variable Power Settings

Design and Build Quality

Mod (Battery)

As seen above the iStick Amnis 2 Kit is available in 5 different colours , I received the kit in red and I must say, it does look rather smart.

The sides, top, bottom and buttons feel like some sort of metal, they have a mirror finish in a gun metal colour.

Although, I think the buttons are plastic but they still have the same finish.

The front and back panel are red, with a carbon pattern.

The (red carbon fibre) stickers are well placed and look quite even.

The entire kit is well balanced, meaning it stands up nicely, without falling over every time a slight breeze passes by.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Variable Power

I quite like how the power settings are laid out.

Running down the right hand side of the mod is the power settings.

At the top is the button to change the setting, with the 5 indicator lights below it.

Each indicator has a label below it: Max, High, Medium, Low and Bypass.

Each of the indicators are a rectangle shape, with exception to the circular Bypass indicator.

The indicators are bright and they light up when you fire the system.

Charging port

On the left and side of the system is the USB-C charging port.

I like it for 2 reasons.

The first reason, It’s USB-C!

The second reason, it’s not on the bottom of the device!

I’ve found a lot of Mouth To Lung devices put the charging port on the bottom of the device; probably to keep it out of the way.

But I think putting the charging port on the bottom but the port in danger of being damaged.

Well, that’s not an issue here.

510 Connector

On the Mod/battery, the 510 connector is dead center on top of the mod, which maybe quite on obvious design.

Although the system doesn’t have what I could call a connection plate, it does protrude from the top of the mod, my about a millimetre or so.

It’s just enough to stop the flat bottomed tank from touching the top of the mod and scuffing it.

But not so much that you notice, with or without the tank attached.

I also think it’s worth mentioning the notches in the top of the ‘connection plate’.

The 4 notches in the raised 510 connector, will help prevent the tank getting stuck onto the mod.

Although, that has become quite common practice.

GTiO Tank

I still can’t understand why they would make a version that locks and a version that doesn’t, I really bugs me.

The tank looks okay and it suits the mod quite well but I’m unimpressed.

Most of my frustration is caused by the top cap/top filling system.

First of all, (again) it isn’t lockable and it’s fairly loose.

This has caused it to leak a full tank of liquid into my pocket, a few times.

Nobody wants that!

So, surely if it opens and leaks in my pocket all the time, you’d expect it to be easy to open, right?

Sure it opens and closes easily but the top cap spins freely, for absolutely no reason.

Okay, it’s not that big of a deal and I’m sure someone in the world likes it, but for me, it’s unnecessary and annoying.

I also think it makes it more likely to open in my pocket (when you twist it is seems to move forward and backward a little bit).

Airflow

I often wonder why very few companies use the inner diameter of the coil to determine the airflow for each coil.

Surely that’s the dream solution when designing an All In One device.

Low and behold Eleaf have done just that.

The tanks itself does have adjustable airflow; you can choose between fully open, 4 small holes or fully closed.

However the 1.2ohm GT coil has a smaller inner diameter than the 0.6ohm GT coil, making the 1.2ohm coil have a more restrictive airflow, regardless of the tanks airflow setting.

Quick Start

GTiO Tank

Filling the GTiO tank and changing the coils is super easy:

How to Fill The GTiO Tank

Please note: if you have the Childproof version, you must press the button on front of the device while opening the cap.

• Drip a few drops of liquid into the coil (or down the center of the mouth piece)
• Slide the top cap open, (there is an arrow on the front of the tank, to indicate which way the tank opens)
• Fill the tank, via the newly exposed hole
• Then close the top cap

If this is your first time using the system/coil please allow 4-5 minutes, for the liquid to soak into the coil before using.

Changing the coil

• Drip a few drops of liquid into the coil
• Unscrew and remove the base of the tank
• Remove (pull) the coil out
• Insert new coil
• Replaces the base of the tank

Again, After filling allow 4-5 minutes, for the liquid to soak into the coil before using it.

Mod/Battery

Using the mod is just as easy as the tank.

All you need to know is, how to change the power and about battery/charging.

Lets get on with it!

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 On/Off Switch

Press the fire button (on the front of the device) 5 times within 2 seconds.

The front indicator light will flash 5 times to indicator the device has turned on/off.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 LED Indicator

In this section I am referring to the LED indicator that surrounds the fire button.

When turning the device on/off and while using the device, the colour of the indicator will correspond to the battery level.

• Green = 100-60%
• Blue = 59-20%
• Red = 20% or less
• Flashing red (about 10-20 times)= device is exhausted and needs charge

While the device is charging the LED indicator will be red. When charging is complete the indicator will turn off.

Changing the Power Settings

On the right side of the mod/battery is 5 lights and a button.

They are the lights and button we are referring to in this section.

• If you press the button an indicator will light up, corresponding to the current power setting
• While the inductor is light up press the button again to change the power settings
• Continue to press the button until the correct indicator for the power you want lights up
• Then you can either fire the device or leave it, there’s no need to ‘save’ or ‘exit’ the settings

How Does the Eleaf Amnis 2 Kit Perform?

Flavour and Vapour Production

I had a few issues with the coils for the GTiO kit.

When I first set the system up all was well, the flavour and vapour production was OK.

2 days later it ‘pocket fired’ and burnt out the coil.

So I put the other coil in (0.6ohm) and started again, left it for 5 minutes for the liquid to soak in – and it burned out.

So I’ve bought some new coils and started again.

The rest of this section is based on the system after getting the new coils.

I tested the Amnis 2 out with Vampire Vape Black Jack at 3mg.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 GT M 0.6ohm coil

Because this coil is under 1ohm it will fire at the following:

• Low = 3.2V – (17W)
• Medium = 3.6V – (21.6W)
• High = 4.0V (26.7W)
• Max = 4.6V (35.3W)
• Bypass = Will use the highest Voltage the battery can offer

The wattage provided in the brackets, is the approximate wattage a 0.6ohm coil will fire at when using the specified voltage (as calculated by an ohms law calculator).

The interesting thing about that is, in the mods specifications, it states the maximum wattage the mod can fire at is 23W…

Anyway…

The recommended wattage for this coil is 10-25W, which I think is a bit broad for a low wattage recommended range.

Unsure where to start, I fully opened the airflow, set the mod to ‘Low’ and took a puff.

There is far too much airflow for MTL vaping so I tried again DTL, it was a little better but there was barely any flavour.

Although when the airflow is turned down, it is nice and restrictive there still isn’t much flavour or vapour.

The ‘Medium’ setting provides a decent about of vapour MTL with restrictive airflow and DTL with the airflow open.

Not Impressed!

But there still isn’t a great deal of flavour… It reminds me of very weak cordial pop.

On ‘High’ power the results are very similar to the ‘Medium’ setting, but with more vapour.

Due to what I said about the power settings at the beginning I expected the ‘Highest’ power setting to be the same as the ‘Medium’ and ‘High’ but I don’t think it is.

With ‘Max’ power and the airflow fully open I received a nice little cloud with an acceptable amount of flavour.

Although I don’t think the flavour really matched the vapour production.

Turning the airflow down, you get a decent MTL amount of vapour with okay, but huge flavour.

I’m not totally impressed.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 GT M 1.2ohm coil

Because this coil is under 1ohm it will fire at the following:

• Low = 12W
• Medium = 15W
• High = 18W
• Max = 23W
• Bypass = Will use the highest Voltage the battery can offer

The recommended wattage for this coil is 1-14W.

Starting with the airflow turned down and the power setting set to ‘Low’ (12W).

There is a bit of flavour but not much to brag about and the vapour production is minute.

With the airflow fully open, taking a long slow DTL hit, you don’t get much flavour and you get the vapour production of just a little bit more than cigarette smoke.

Back to restrictive airflow, I turned it up to ‘Medium’ (15W); which is 1W more than the recommendation.

The flavour production is nice and prominent (finally) and the vapour production is that of the smoke from a cigarette.

With the airflow fully open, a fairly long DTL puff, burns the coil.

However with the airflow fully open a MTL hit is pretty tasteful.

Against recommendation, I turned the mod to ‘High’ and took a restrictive puff, and the flavour is pretty much a full mouth flavour.

But I didn’t stay on this power setting for long; because it’s higher than the recommended wattage which suggests it will burn the coil faster.

Although after 10 consecutive puffs, I didn’t get a dry or burnt taste.

I also pushed my luck and tried the coil at ‘Max’ power setting, at this setting it seemed to struggle bit, the flavour was prominent, but not quite as good as the ‘High’ setting.

After 6 consecutive puffs I didn’t get a dry or burned hit.

Testing with 70VG E Liquid

To test the coils with high VG I used 50 Large, Berry N’ Ice a Dark Berry, Red Berry and Menthol blend mixed at 70VG/30PG.

Okay so I’m shocked.

Having said what I have about the 50/50 liquid, I really didn’t have any expectations for the high VG liquid; to the extent I nearly didn’t test it because I didn’t see the point… but I did and I’m glad I did!

So the 0.6ohm coil isn’t much to brag about on the ‘Low’ and ‘Medium’ settings but on ‘High’ and ‘Max’, the flavour and the vapour was upped a fair bit.

In fact on ‘Max’ with the airflow closed the flavour is impressive – with the airflow fully open the flavour is exceptional for such a small device (both MTL and DTL).

And it’s the same story with the 1.2ohm coil.

The lower settings provide an okay flavour output but ‘high’ and ‘highest’ have a really impressive full mouth flavour production.

Read more: VG VS PG In E Liquid: All You Need To Know

Coil Summary

Long story short using 50VG/50PG liquid I wasn’t at all impressed with the 0.6ohm coil to say the least.

But, and unexpectedly, it performed much better with the high VG liquid, providing a great and enjoyable flavour.

The 1.2ohm coil performed fairly well with the 50/50 VG/PG e-liquid and really well with the high VG liquid.

Although I think it performs better above the recommended power settings.

I think (surprisingly) I prefer the 1.2ohm coil over the 0.6ohm coil.

It just seems to give more.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Airflow

The airflow on the the Amnis is pretty much what you would expect from an All In One Device.

On one side of the adjustable airflow is the fully open setting which is pretty generous.

The opposite side consists of 4 small holes, you can set the device to all 4 holes open or just 3, 2 or 1.

The airflow can be fully turned off and when it is it isn’t 100% airtight, but it’s certainly very close.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Battery

Quick math time, lets take a look at what battery life we should roughly expect; mathematically speaking:

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 0.6ohm coil

• Low (3.2V) = 429 x 2 second puffs
• Medium(3.6V) = 339 x 2 seconds puffs
• High (4.0V) = 274 x 2 seconds puffs
• Max (4.6V) = 208 x 2 seconds puffs

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 1.2ohm coil

• Low (12W) = 611 x 2 seconds puffs
• Medium (15W) = 488 x 2 seconds puffs
• High (18W) = 407 x 2 seconds puffs
• Max (23W) = 319 x 2 seconds puffs

Now when you see those figures it doesn’t seem like much, so let me put it into perspective.

Using the ‘Max’ power setting with the 0.6ohm coil will provide you with a 2 second puff every other minute for just under 7 hours.

And over 10 and a half hours with the 1.2ohm coil.

It’s quite a lot.

In Reality

Does it live up to those calculations?

Sure it does.

I haven’t been using it too intensely but on an average day the battery has lasted me between 9 and 12 hours using the 1.2ohm coil with ‘Max’ power and, about 7-8 hours with the 0.6 coil on ‘Max’.

Charging the Eleaf iStick Amnis 2

So I’ve looked about and I can’t find a charge rating in amps – not sure why Eleaf don’t tell us.

However I am here to tell you the Eleaf Amnis 2 takes an input Voltage of 5V and it fully charges in 1 hours and 20 minutes.

So that’s about 1A – which is OK I suppose.

I also find it a bit annoying the battery charging indication is either “charging/red” or ..not.

I’d like it to at least tell me when it’s half way charged.

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Coil Life

So I lost a bit of time (a day or two) doing this review because of the burnt coil situation, that I mentioned earlier, so I’ve ended up using the kit for a little bit longer than I hoped to.

Since receiving the new coils I used the 1.2ohm coil for 7 days and it was still performing as good as the first day and the same for the 0.6ohm coils.

The first 0.6ohm I burned out was my fault, I left it turned on in my pocket.

However, I have no idea what happened to the first 1.2ohm, I’m sure I didn’t pocket fire it, and it wasn’t completely burned but it was definitely burning.

I don’t want to say it, but the only things I can think of is, either I didn’t prime the coils properly or the coil wasn’t made properly; which happens to all manufactures and devices, “a one off”.

Either way, I advise you to make sure you drip liquid into the coil before you place it into the tank and then make sure you fill the tank and wait at least 5 minutes before firing.

Read more: The Importance of Priming Your Coils

Eleaf iStick Amnis 2 Leaking?

I can’t be fully sure about how much the tank leaks in general.

Why?

Because the amount of liquid that leaked out of the top-fill, when it opened in my pocket, which happened a lot!

Other than that, I don’t think the tank leaked any more than any other tank.

Pros

• Can provide decent flavour
• Looks pretty cool
• Simple to use
• Variable power
• Adjustable airflow
• Decent battery
• Battery Level indicator

Cons

• Top cap opens far too easily (basic version)
• Coil wattage recommendations seem to be a bit off
• Could Charge faster
• Charging Indicator isn’t level specific
• 0.6ohm coil isn’t great for flavour

Final Verdict

I’m usually quite blunt when something is bad.

After all I’m not only telling it to the public, I’m also telling the manufactures and designers.

But for some reason, I feel bad for saying it isn’t all that good.

Maybe that’s because it has great potential.

In essence it is a great device.

The mod is awesome, although it could charge faster, the tank provides amazing flavours with the 1.2ohm coil – but that’s where is goes down hill.

The 0.6ohm coil gives less than the 1.2ohm coil and the top cap isn’t lockable and is quite loose (unless you’ve got the child proof version).

I like it, and I want to love it.

But until the top fill / top cap is sorted out and the sub-ohm coil is improved, I’m afraid it’s just mediocre.