Innokin iTaste VV4 Review

The iTaste VV/VW V3 was one of the first variable voltage devices I tried a number of years ago and was a great e cig. Now 2015 is here it’s amazing how much the e cig market has developed.

New brands have seen competition in a market – that at one point was dominated by Kangertech and Innokin – bring new innovations and designs to suit all budgets and vaping levels.

Innokin it has to be said have looked a little on the stagnant side over the last year in terms of clearomiser and device innovation.

Yes, they gave us the MVP2 which is still a great product as well as the recently release MVP3 but I personally would have liked to see a little more from a company that I’m a big fan of.

Maybe it’s a case of if it aint broken don’t try an fix it which is fair enough and that mantra brings us to the iTaste VV4, the latest update to the super popular iTaste VV3. Anyway enough talk, lets have a look at the product in question!

This product was received free of charge for the purposes of this review, this won’t sway my opinion which of course are my own.

In the box / Presentation

The now standard compact perspex box with cardboard sleeve contains the following:

In this kit you will find the following:

• 1 1000 mAh Variable Voltage/Variable Wattage Battery
  
• 1 Instruction Manual
  
• USB Charger

Battery/Responsiveness

If you have been a user of the previous version then the first thing you will notice is that while the form factor is pretty much the same the screen is vastly improved. After using for a while it is definitely one of the clearest screens I have used when comparing to similar devices.

The only other aesthetic change is the new branding points, one raised ‘iTaste’ and the punched pin hole ‘Innokin’. Both tonal to the colour of the e cig and look great. The 510/EGO threaded connection remains the same.

The other improvement is in the battery capacity, increased from 850 mAh to 1000 mAh. While not a massive improvement every little bit counts and Innokin have kept the size the same as the previous model.

They do also have a 750mAh version and while I haven’t seen it in ‘the flesh’ I would guess that it is slightly smaller in length.

The iTaste VV4 also powers from 3V to 6V adjustable in 0.1 increments and 6W to 15W in 0.5 increments.

Battery performance

The 1000 mAh battery does it’s job really well, as a moderate vaper using a 10.5W setting the VV4 could see me through a full day no problem. This will change slightly depending on your voltage/wattage setting and more so on your vaping habits.

Charging is by way of the USB cable which also acts as a pass through so you can vape while the e cig is charging which is always important and useful especially for those sat at a computer.

New Screen/Functions & VV/VW Settings

As mentioned the big change in this e cigarette is the screen. It’s really clear and displays everything you need to know in an intelligent way.

Pressing any button will bring up the following details on the screen:

• Voltage or Wattage setting
• Battery level
• Resistance (Ohms) of the clearomiser/tank you have on top. VV4 works with a minimum 0.8Ohm coil head.
  
• And if the power button is pressed the output of the battery in volts or Watts (the opposite of what you have selected) Will show in the bottom left hand corner.

If the + and – button are pressed together the screen shows the following details:

• The puff count (top right)
  
• Resistance of clearomiser (top left)
• Power left in the battery in volts (bottom left)

Changing between Volts and Watts

• Press power button and + together for 2 seconds to select Watts
• Press power button and – together for 2 seconds to select Volts
• To change the Volt/Watt setting press + or – button for two seconds. Once current setting flashes you can then use the +/- buttons to move through the settings.
• Once the VV setting is on you can press the “-” or “+” button, this will show the puff count then the voltage. When the voltage shows on the display use the + or – buttons again to adjust to the required voltage setting. You will be able to choose between 3.3V and 5V.

The final function accessed by pressing buttons is the on/off function. It is a simple 3 power button presses for  on or off but where it does differ from other devices is that it actually tells you on the screen that you have turned the device on or off. Sounds simple but it’s a nice touch!

Now, if you are new to this kind of e cigarette then the above will likely sound super confusing! Don’t let it put you off though, it will seriously only take a few minutes of playing around before it all becomes clear!

Other iTaste VV4 Battery Features

There are a host of other safety features:

• Auto battery cut off when the power button is pressed for 10 seconds.
• Battery capacity indicator. Power button light will change colour. Green for 100% – Yellow 50% – Red Low power recharge needed
• Low voltage warning
• Short Circuit Protection
• Over discharge protection

The only thing that bugged me a little with this was when wanting to change your voltage/wattage up or down you need to hold one of the +/- buttons for a couple of seconds before you can change settings. I suppose this is just to avoid any accidental changes and it’s no big deal. Just being impatient!

Overall

The iTaste VV4 feels nice in the hand with a good build. The 1000 mAh battery works well as expected and the new OLED screen makes function selection clear and simple. No real downsides at this point.

Vapour / Flavour

If you don’t have a clearomiser or e-liquid be sure to add these at checkout as the itaste VV4 as standard comes with neither. 

For this review I was using the Aspire BDC and JAC Vapour SMOKING e-liquid.

The BDC is a solid performer with a keen price to match. 

If it is your first time using a VV/VW device then start off your volt or watt settings low and work your way up until the juice flavour and vapour is something your happy with. If the flavour start to taste like it’s deteriorating then notch back down a setting or two. Just because you can got upto 15W or 6V doesn’t mean you should!

My sweet spot with the vape juice I was using was around 10W and on the volts setting 4.3. This hit the flavour just right and provided a good amount of vapour.

The only thing worth a mention here is that while the smaller EGO tanks generally look good on the VV4 body, 510 devices don’t sit to well due to the lack of of a beauty ring/collar to cover the big gap in between the clearomiser and battery. A bit of a surprise they didn’t include one as they have with many of their other e cig products.

Overall

Not much I can say here as your results will differ depending on what clearomiser/tank you use. to get your head around initially but once you have played around with the settings and maybe even different clearomisers you will soon find the right setup to get the best flavour out of your e-liquid.

The only negative is that 510 tanks can look crap on top.

Final Verdict

The Innokin iTaste VV4 is a solid performer and a great device for new vapers or those stepping up from cig-a-likes or Vape Pen style e cigs.

Here are the good point summarised:

• Good build quality
• Superb, clear display screen
• Intelligent function controls
• Battery lasts a good amount of time and performs well

The not so good

• No collar to improve the appearance when a 510 tank is attached
• May be a learning curve for brand new vapers.
  

Final iTaste VV4 Review Verdict:

Excellent: Highly Recommended By www.ecigclick.co.uk