The Hcigar Aurora squonk mod is from a brand that always adhere to the product design idea “Fashion, innovation and quality”, their brand is very popular and can be found in outlets all over the world.
Some of the Hcigar product list include Wildwolf 235W, T80, Warwolf Box Mod, Aeolus atomizer, Fodi 24 RDTA, Maze V2 RDA, No list would be complete without mentioning one of the best mods I have ever used, the Hcigar VT250 DNA.
I’m real excited today to be taking a detailed look at the Hcigar Towis Aurora 80w Squonk Mod! Is my excitement justified? Let’s find out…….
This mod was sent to us for the purpose of this review. As always my views are my own.
HCigar Aurora Squonker Video Review
In The Box
- 1 x HCigar Aurora 80W Squonk Mod
- 1 x USB Cable
- 1 x Spare Plastic Black Bottle with sealing cap
- 1x Spare Straw
- 1 x Manual
- 1 x Warranty Card
Main Specs/Features
- Size: 58*27.5*92mm
- Screen: 0.96 inch TFT Screen
- Shell Material: Aluminium Alloy
- SS 510 Connection
- Output Mode: VW 5-80W, TC 100-315°C/200-600°F
- Chipset XT80c
- Battery Type: 1 x 18650/20700/21700
- Wattage Range: 5.0W ~ 80.0W
- Squonk Bottle Capacity：7ml
- Colour’s Available: Black, Red, Silver
Design and Build Quality
For those interested “Towis” are the team of designers behind the HCigar Aurora 80w Squonker.
The Aurora 80W Squonk Mod comes in a very hard wearing gift box, btw the box has no thumb spaces so you end up shaking the box a lot to open it!
My Aurora is a beautiful full black brushed metal; first look at this mod the design is ergonomic making the mod very comfortable to hold in the hand, the build quality is of a high standard, the body of the mod is made of an Aluminium Alloy and comes with a white silicone e-liquid bottle installed.
510 Connection Port
The 510 threading is stainless steel that is fairly shallow, and sits under a square stainless steel plate. The sides are chamfered to match the body lines and is connected to the top of the squonk mod with Allen screws, the 510 Squonk pin is made of gold plated SS and sits on a silicone pad.
Fire button/ Screen / Adjustment buttons / USB
The fire button located on the front of the device is designed for easy operation it has a nice click to it. The Aurora features easy to read 0.96-inch TFT colour screen and runs the XT80c chipset. The Aurora also supports the various working modes of VW and TC. The triple adjustment buttons allow you to alter your various settings and enter the menu function.
The micro USB port can be used to charge your battery – although not recommended by me, there is nothing in the manual that states firmware can be upgraded and there is no option via the menu system.
Front Battery door / Squonk Bottle
The front battery door has a nice large squonk hole for you to push your bottle; the door removes and reveals your battery and bottle compartment, the inside is very clean,
When the mod came to me I really had to look hard to find the battery orientation for my 18650 battery, there is a very small + at the bottom being it is the same colour as the mod it’s almost invisible, I would have liked to see the + in a contrasting colour.
The juice bottle fits into the sled and is held by the plastic straw connecting to a metal rod, the juice bottle is 7ml and there is a spare plastic black bottle in the box.
Backdoor
Like the front the backdoor removable and reveals a unique slide that if slid back will allow the unit to except a 20700 or a 21700 battery. 
Taking a look inside the battery compartment again you will now see that you have very clear white battery orientation markings, the connection points are made of gold plated SS.
Magnets
Both doors are held on by magnets, connecting to the magnets on the body of the device, 4 magnet on the front door and 6 on the back door although 2 of these are redundant, it is my opinion that the magnets are not of a sufficient strength as there is a lot of movement to both doors once in place.
Branding
There are no markings what so ever on the outside body of the Aurora, which I find kind of strange, however when you remove the backdoor in clear white print they have printed Hcigar and Aurora as well as the normal CE markings.
Although not clear when you remove the front door at the top of the mod you will see Aurora molded into the plastic of the wire cover.
A quick how to guide
- Fill your squonk bottle with your favourite e-liquid carefully screw back on the cap and straw, place the bottle into the mod, connecting the metal rod to the plastic straw.
- Place your choice of battery into the mod making sure to follow the battery orientation mark/s.
- Reassemble your doors.
- Choose an appropriate BF RDA (with squonk pin, coils and cotton).
- Slowly press your bottle so that the cotton gets soaked with liquid.
Enjoy your new Aurora 80w squonk mod.
Hang on what exactly is a squonking?
In “basic terms” squonking is a delivery method of liquid to your RDA via a 510 pin that has a hole in it, connected to a mod with a similar 510 pin the liquid gets delivered to your RDA from a small bottle that is placed inside the mod, you press the bottle to wet the cotton and vape as normal. Find out more about squonk mods here.
How does the Hcigar Aurora 80W Squonk Perform?
For this review I have filled the white silicone bottle with Chicken Shop Totally Tropical e-liquid and I will be using my black dead rabbit RDA with the squonk pin installed, I have a dual SS316L coils installed that read 0.14Ω.
Wattage/Power Mode
The Aurora will fire from 5w to 80W in VW mode and wire resistance down as low as 0.05Ω.
50w normal puff strength
Gave me a decent amount of warm vapour, and good flavour! The ramp up time was pretty quick.
Temperature Control Mode
TC 100-315°C/200-600°F and from 5w to 80w the wire resistance limit is the same as above 0.05Ω.
420f 50w power
The resulting flavour was really good; the vapour production was good and warm! The ramp up time again was pretty quick.
Dry cotton test for TC with SS316L wire, left a slight banding on the cotton.
Menu System
The menu system for me was a bit weird until I got used to it!
I’m going to do this in VW mode but the principle is the same for TC.
- To operate the menu press the menu button and the wattage is highlighted
- You can use the two adjustment buttons to scroll the different settings in VW mode
- By pressing the menu button again the setting will change colour and you will then be able to change that setting i.e. puff strength soft, normal, powerful.
- There is a sub menu that allows you to change your screen off, brightness, auto off and language there is also an option for you to see information about the product as well as resetting it back to the factory default.
There is no off option with this mod the best you can do is either pull your battery or set the auto off, the lowest setting is 15mins, You can, however, lock the Aurora by clicking the fire button 5X to lock and 5X to unlock.
The batteries/life
The Aurora will accept 3 types of batteries 18650, 20700, 21700
There is a little play to each type of battery once installed, however I didn’t get distracted by the slight movement.
Battery life disappointed me with 20700/21700 batteries 3.5hrs constant use! The 18650 only lasted me about 1.5hrs of constant use!
Filling the Silicone bottle
Very easy to do remove the bottle from the mod, unscrew the cap (the straw will come away with the cap) fill with your liquid, just over ¾ full to allow for the displacement of liquid due to the straw,
Carefully screw the cap and straw back on to the bottle, and replace into the mod.
It is not unusual to lose some liquid during this operation, if you do don’t fill the bottle as high next time you fill it. There are commercially available squonk fillers available on the internet which you can screw onto your 510 connection on your mod by pressing all the air out of you mod bottle it will then gravity fill your bottle (no mess) I prefer this method myself LOL.
Door magnets
It’s got to be said the magnets for the doors are rubbish, they are far too small and weak. The doors have so much play in them that it feels like they will come off! Although this has not happened to me yet – the noise of the movement is really quite annoying.
Pros
- Design is sound
- Build quality is good
- Ability to accept 3 types of battery
- High quality finish
- 7ml liquid capacity
- Quick ramp up time
Cons
- Door magnets are not strong enough
- Noise of the door movement
- Battery movement
- Battery sled markings for 18650
- Menu system can be weird at first
- No off option
- No firmware upgrade option
Final Review Verdict
Was my excitement at taking a look at the Towis 80w Squonk Mod justified? I’d say yes and no in equal measure, the mod has a few problems which are mainly cosmetic. I have to say though that the mod functioned very well and sailed through all my normal in use tests, it hits hard when it needs to!
Being a regulated box I would be happy to recommend the Aurora to those that are new to the world of squonking!
OK would I buy the HCigar Aurora squonk mod again should I lose or damage this one? If Hcigar changed the magnets for the doors! Yes I would.
