Home Mini E Cig / Cig-A-Like Reviews iKarno X Mini 50W TC Mod Reviewed

iKarno X Mini 50W TC Mod Reviewed

August 24, 2017

Now, iKarno is what I’d call an Unknown brand, nevertheless the do describe themselves as world leaders in the industry on their website.

They’ve been specializing in technology partnering, providing chipsets, circuitry, software and production services to other vaping brands…though I’m afraid I’d have a hard time naming any of their ‘partners.’ But let’s not send them to the dog house yet, there’s always room for more vapes!

Introduction – The X Mini 50W TC Mod by iKarno

As far as their own releases go, I can really only name their IKTC 60 and 100 watt box mods (which I had never heard of before researching for this article) and the little guy I’m covering in this review, namely the iKarno X Mini 50W TC Mod, with its 1500mAh built in battery.

Marketed as a mini box mod for beginners, the little fellow supports all of our TC Modes, Ni, Ti, SS316 and good old VW. It’s recommended for 0.2 – 3.5 Ohm coils (most mini sub-ohm tanks should do the trick) and, of course, the TC would suggest that it’s a good pair with your teenie RDAs as well.

This all remains to be seen. Let’s take a closer look at this rather mean looking mini mod.

What’s In The Box

1 x iKarno X Mini TC Mod
1 x USB Charger
1 x User Manual (with the smallest print you have ever seen, or not seen, in your life)

Features

Size: 62 x 41 x 22 mm
Wattage Range: 6 – 50 W
Resistance Range 0.2 – 0.35 Ohm
Built In1500 mAh Battery
Temperature Control Mode support Nickel, Titanium, Stainless Steel, VW
TC temperature range: 150-315C
S510 Spring Loaded Thread
Fast 5V/1A Charge
USB Charge
Weight: 156g(It’s heavy!)
Low Resistance Protection
Overheating Protection
Colors: Green, Blue, Black, Red and White>

Build Quality & Design

The iKarno X Mini 50W TC Mod

On receipt of the incredibly neat, high quality black box, I opened it up to find a nano sized rectangular block of a mini mod with rounded corners and various decorative indentations which give it a mini bad-ass look.

Adding to the appeal is the two tone zinc-alloy finish, I have the brushed metallic and black finish. The iKarno logo dresses the one flat site and the X-Mini logo, the other.

On the top I see a fairly decent looking, spring loaded 510 connection, surrounded by four prominent screws.

The narrow side below the 510 pin has a forefinger tip sized hexagonal firing button, which doubles as a 3-push on or off. This device will show an Off sign on the little horizontal rectangular OLED screen, which is positioned below the fire…so you’ll never get confused.

Below the screen are two tiny, rather uncomfortable but clicky adjustment buttons, they dig into sensitive fingers but luckily mine aren’t that sensitive.

Underneath the adjustment buttons is a micro USB port for charging.

On the base of the mini mod are 12 ample battery ventilation holes, arranged in a bunch, along with some more screws…in case you were thinking of dismantling your iKarno X-mini.

The device weighs 156g, a massive amount for such a little thing, it feels super solid in hand and by all means, far heavier than it looks.

Opening up the instruction leaflet to learn more about the controls…which I can already tell are not quite the usual. I’m able to see various black dots, arranged in neat lines. On closer inspection, these appear to be written words but there is simply no hope of reading them without a zoom lens, thanks guys.

How Does The iKarno X Mini 50W TC Mod Perform?

Well, the first thing I did was go and gather all my tanks with coils that met the 0.2-0.35 Ohm resistance range and were either 22 or 24mm. A 24 mm RDA doesn’t look too bad on the device, a bit of an overhang though.

I tried a 22mm Kanger Toptank Mini because it had just the right 0.2 Ohm resistance to really make the most of this mod and the little guy did it proud at 40W.

Then I screwed on the new WOTOFO Flow 24mm tank which looked a little odd but really purred at 35W and a 0.3 Ohm resistance. I’d recommend using any mini tank that has coils designed for a 30-50W vape.

I also tried the SMOK Baby Beast and the Melo III Mini from Eleaf, on 0.25 and 0.3 Ohm coils, both of which also offered a very decent vape on this mod.

I got a 35-50W, cool and true to Wattage vape on all of the above but I did notice that this mini takes time to get those coils going, a 3 hit run up at least. Also…a 40-50W vape will see your battery draining very, very quickly indeed, 3 hours or so.

I also tried out the tiny Utank from the Digiflavor Ubox mini, it’s a good example of a 30W tank and I wanted to run a tank that was made for those lower wattages. The result was excellent and it delivered as good a 30W vape as the Utank’s native mod.

The iKarno X Mini allows for a nice long draw and the well vented battery means I experienced no overheating at all.

Resistance reading is very accurate and no atomizer detection seemed faultless.

When I went in to test the TC I ended up settling for the Inderemix from Jaybo (the smallest I could muster), with SS and then Nickel Claptons, reading at 0.2 and 0.3 Ohms respectively. Calibration was a simple affair for both, though I’m not big on my TC. Coil types and temps are all easily adjusted and the outcome seemed rather accurate as far as I could tell.

The maximum wattage delivers what definitely feels like a decent 50W, with that little extra warm up time at the start. Ramp is nothing special but then again, this mod is only a little bigger than a match box and you can’t expect more from a 1700mAh battery.

One thing that concerned me was that at one point I had a little juice spill with one of the RDAs I fitted, I saw no liquid pouring down the side of the mod but when I lifted it I found little liquid drops on my desk, in the shape of the battery vents. I dried it off, didn’t get any more liquid coming through but I’m still not 100% sure whether that 510 connection has a proper seal on it, only time will tell.

You’re not going to be cloud chasing but if you want a decent 50W on a very, very small box mod then you’re good to go here, just not for very many hours.

Battery Life

Okay, the 1700mAh on board battery will last a maximum of four hours at 40W on and off vaping. 30W will get you a little more. One thing I can say is that battery charge is lightning fast at 5V, which makes the quick drain a little easier to stomach.

If you are using a mouth to lung vape tank, however, battery life will improve dramatically.

Controls

The controls are a little odd, partly because of the teeny screen, partly because of those really teeny buttons… but you’ll get used to them quickly.

3 clicks on or off
From standby mode, holding the + & – buttons will enter you into TC options where you can chose your coil or return to power through the P option.
Once in TC, holding either + or – will make the temp reading flash, at which point you can adjust it up or down
When In Wattage mode, hold the + or – until the W reading flashes, then you can adjust the setting.

What I Liked

Great solid structure and looks, I love the two tone finish and the decorative designs on the box and the mod has a really good weight that gives it a quality feel.
The iKarno X Mini Delivers an honest 50W vape and is conveniently sized for your smaller tanks, great for a stealth vape or a beginner.

Controls are simple and readings are all accurate and it has a very fast charge.

What I Dislike

Very quick battery drain when operating above 40W.

I’m not 100% sure about integrity of the the 510 seal, I detected a little liquid around my battery vents at one point.

Requires a bit of warm up on most coils, after which ramp is fair.

Final Review Verdict

Well, if it’s a mini mod you’re looking for, for a sub-ohm vape below 50W, this is a great candidate.

It’s solid, with accurate TC and sweet looks. The battery may not last forever but if you’re a beginner, light or stealth vapor then I’m confident you’ll enjoy the convenience of the iKarno 50W X-Mini TC Mod.

Pros