Lost Vape Drone BF [DNA 166] Mod Review – What Are My Pro’s & Cons?

For today’s review we are looking at the Lost Vape Drone BF (Bottom Fed) which is a 167w device (advertised as 166w).

It houses dual 18650s and an internal 11ml juice bottle. It utilises the DNA 250 board from Evolv that has been down-throttled to achieve maximum efficiency.

Lost Vape have already released such high quality devices such as the Triade, Skar and Therion.

Keep Scrolling For My Hands On Video Review

7 Best Squonk Mods 2022 – Plus Bottom Feed RDA’s & Squonking Guide

What’s In The Box

• Lost Vape Drone BF Device
• Micro USB Charge/Upgrade Cable
• Instruction Manual
  

  

Features

• Wattage Output Range: 1-167 Watts
• Voltage Output Range: 1-6 Volts
• Temperature Range: 200-600F
• Min Kanthal Resistance: 0.1ohm
• Min Temperature Resistance: 0.08ohm
• 97% Output Efficiency
• Bottom-Feed Juice Design
• Squonk-Ready 510 Pin
• Centered Stainless Steel 510 Connection

Build Quality & Design

The Lost Vape Drone BF has an extremely solid feel and has as nice weight to it. Nothing looks or feels flimsy or cheap.

Overall, a beautiful looking device.

On the top of the Drone BF is the 510 connector which is surrounded by a brushed stainless steel panel.

The 510 positive pin, located in the centre of the device, is springy and hollow so it can accept bottom fed atomisers. You can still use ordinary atomisers if you wish.

You can fit up to 40mm atomisers on this device with minimal overhang. I used the Mason 40mm RDA on top of this for a good few days. And it looks absolutely great on there!

On the front is another stainless steel panel which houses the OLED display, fire button, +/- buttons as well as the Micro USB charge/update port.

The fire button has a soft, faint click, whereas the +/- buttons have a stiffer, sharper click.

I can’t seem to find any source of cooling or venting ports across the device, which I thought was strange, considering the Triade DNA200 had slots on either side of the front panel.

The battery door is at the rear of the device, which is secured with strong magnets at the top and a clip at the bottom.

It has a cut out on one side which allows the user to squeeze the internal squonk bottle.

Behind the battery door you have 3 sections, two for the batteries which have the polarity clearly labelled as well as a separate compartment for the squonk bottle.

There is also a Lost Vape branded battery tab to aid in removal of the batteries.

How does it feel in the hand?

The Lost Vape Drone BF is extremely ergonomic, it goes nicely in your hand whether you’re a left or right handed vaper.

The fire button is easily reachable no matter what hand you use, and with a small movement of the thumb you can adjust the wattage and presets.

One slight downfall is the location of the squonk bottle.

If you’re a right handed vaper, your hand covers the cut out for the squonk bottle, so you have to adjust the positioning of your hand to squonk the device.

For left handed vapers, this is easier as the bottle is in the correct location for your fingers to reach.

How To Turn On, Adjust Wattage and Change Presets

• 5 clicks on/off.
• To adjust your wattage, simply press the +/- buttons on the device.
• To access the presets, hold the +/- button for a second or two, then scroll through the presets with the + or – button. Confirm your selection by pressing the fire button.

Button Actions and Combinations:

• Wake device from power off state: Tap the Fire Button
• Lock the device: Pressing the fire button five times
• Stealth Mode: With the device locked, holding the fire and down (-) buttons together for five seconds
• Power Locked mode: Holding down both the up (+) and down (-) buttons for two seconds
• Resistance lock: With the device locked, hold both the Fire and Up (+) buttons for two seconds
• Temperature Adjust: With the device locked, holding down both the up (+) and down (-) buttons for two seconds. Use the up (+) and down (-) buttons to adjust the temperature. To save temperature setting and exit, press the Fire button.
• Wattage Adjust: Simply press either the +/- buttons on the device.
• Preset Change: Hold the +/- button for a second or two, then scroll through the presets with the + or – button. Confirm your selection by pressing the fire button.

How Does The Drone BF Perform?

Variable Wattage Mode

You have a usable wattage of 1 to 167w on the Drone BF. I personally use it around the 50w to 100w as this is the most comfortable range for the coils I use.

I did use it at around 120w with the Vapergate Mason 40mm, and it performed incredibly well and fires more or less instantly.

Temp Control

The temperature control on this device seems to preform extremely well and passed the dry cotton burn test with flying colours whilst using a SS316L build on an RDA.

Lost Vape have included TC Presets to the the Drone BF with an assortment of wire profiles which include:

• Ni200 (No Preheat/Relaxed/Hot/Preset 1/2)
• SS316
• Ti

The above can be customised and chopped and changed through the Escribe software.

Battery Life

With average use at around 50w with a 0.5Ω build, the Drone BF lasts me between one and two days.

Obviously at higher wattages and lower resistance, it will last less.

This is normal for me and dual 18650 devices, so no complaints whatsoever with the battery life on this.

See The Drone BF In Action With My Video Review

What I Like

The Drone BF is a beautiful looking device. The black paint and brushed stainless steel panels go extremely well together and give it that premium look and feel.

• It feels great in the hand. The triangular shape goes nicely in the hand and you haven’t got any sharp edges digging into your palm.
• The Escribe Software allows the user to tinker around and customise most things from the speed the wattage scrolls at, to the fire presets, to the screen display, as well as adding custom boot logos to make this device truly personal.

What I Dislike

There isn’t much to dislike about the Drone BF, but there are one or two things I would like to address that bugged me whilst testing this device.

Squonk Bottle Location – It’s completely in the wrong place for a right handed vaper. It would have been better located at the rear of the device so that squonking would be easier for any vaper.

Squonk Bottle Toughness – Damn this bottle needed breaking in! I took it out to London with me for the day, and I must have pushed about 30ml through the bottle in the space of a few hours. And even after that, the bottle hadn’t softened up enough.

It took me roughly 3 or 4 days of full use to create a soft spot on the bottle to make squonking a bit easier.

Final Review Verdict

Overall the Lost Vape Drone is a great device, packed with power, functions and features.

It looks beautiful, is bottom feed ready and you can fit up to 40mm atomisers on it!

There are one or two little negatives which take getting used to, but other than that, it’s a pleasure to use!

If I lost or broke this device, would I go out and buy the Lost Vape Drone again?

Yes and no.

I like it, but not enough to get another. If you can overcome the awkward squonk bottle location, then it’s pretty damn good, but some people might find this a bit awkward.

Another thing is the price. It is a little bit pricey.

But I believe that this is mainly down to the Evolv DNA250 board. Those things aren’t cheap!

For a similar device with a generic 150-200w chip in, you’d probably pay around half the price.

But it all comes down to personal preference. The Evolv DNA chip allows a great amount of customisation and unrivalled efficiency, which I doubt any other chips on the market offer.

So, I believe that the price is justifiable given the quality of the device as a whole

Pros

• Fits nicely in the hand
• Escribe software for customisation
• Looks awesome
• Easy to use

Cons

• Price
• Squonk bottle location
• Squonk bottle break-in time
• No spare squonk bottles