My first “proper” 18650 vape mod was an iPV2 which I still have in my collection. Apart from a very tight lower resistance limit it was (and still is) a good, usable device.
But “tempus fugit” and we now see the iPV400, a dual 18650 device from Pioneer4You.
iPV400 by Pioneer4You
The packaging is a fetching graduated grey with the device name and image on top, the logos and a colour checkbox on the sides.
On the reverse we find contact details for Pioneer4You, a product image and a very large “This is not a Toy” warning. The iPV400 is available in silver/blue, silver/black and silver/purple finishes.
Inside the Box
Removing the lid, we find the mod, wrapped in a translucent plastic bag and held in a foam insert. Underneath the mod is a QA certificate.
Lifting out the foam tray we find the user manual, warranty card and a micro USB cable.
Design and Build Quality
The iPV400 is, for a dual 18650 mod, fairly petite. As you’ll see from the photo, its 88 x 42 x 28mm size means it barely crosses my palm and it only weighs 124g (without cells).
On top we have a recessed 510 connector with no bottom feed air-slots. The centre pin is, despite appearances, sprung and not screw adjustable.
On one edge we have an ovoid firing button.
And the other a USB port for charging/firmware updates above the Pioneer4You logo. 
On the front side we have two up/down adjustment buttons and a fairly small 20mm x 5mm OLED display.
Underneath we have a press & slide battery door concealing clearly labelled base contacts and if you look carefully you’ll see the all-important balance charging pin.
Looks wise. It’s ok, but maybe not as polished or slick as others.
What’s definitely not slick is the paint over the silver casting. On mine it has bubbled and lifted away with just normal, fairly light use leaving the box mod looking pretty poor.
The metal finish to the body and buttons also appears to be soft, they’ve started to look worn already.
Also not good are the two cross head screws adjacent to the 510 connector which have already started to corrode, looking rusty.
Not the best place to put screws to start with and certainly if you did you’d want to make sure it’s a corrosion resistant piece.
How Does The iPV400 Perform?
5 Clicks wake the device into its default power mode, the up/down buttons smoothly scrolling all the way from 10W to 200W, with a good level of acceleration kicking in if the button is held down.
Pressing another 5 clicks turns…. Ah, wait no, it doesn’t turn it off, this takes you into the options menu.
This sees P4Y take a turn I just don’t get and for me makes the mod counter-intuitive.
To move between the menu options, you press the fire button and choose an option by pressing either the up or down button… AAgghh!
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve pressed the up/down buttons in error only for the mod to shut down….
If you switch from power to Joule mode (as P4Y call temperature control) you gain further options such as coil type, coil temperature, TCR etc.
Temperature control include support for Ni200, Ti, P4Y’s own SX Pure coils, TCR and unusually SS304.
It’s not a biggy, I have some SS304 (which incidentally works quite well in TC mode as the TCR of SS304 is bigger than SS316) and it performed well.
I guess when the Ipv400 was being dreamt up perhaps SS304 seemed likely to be the big kahuna…
But setting the TCR for 316L wasn’t hard and with all the metals I tried the TC performed well, although I prefer TC modes where the temperature and not the Joule level is controlled.
The device doesn’t get particularly warm when charging and the display shows the target and actual voltage while it charges.
It doesn’t show the cells separately so you’ll need to use an external charger to ensure the batteries are ageing the same.
The charging also doesn’t support pass through use.
The other use for that USB port is, of course, firmware updates.
However, despite the iPV400 having been released in June 2016, there don’t appear to have been any updates released.
Which is a shame as they could have made the control method a bit more usable and switched SS304 for SS316.
Battery life seems on par with other good mods and doesn’t appear wasteful.
The box mod feels good in the hand, the light weight and small dimensions meaning it doesn’t dominate your grip. The firing button fits nicely under thumb or forefinger.
Final Review Verdict
If you forgive the odd control method and the finish issues the iPV400 is a good, capable, low cost and very dinky dual battery mod.
That said, the paint finish is quite poor, even at the low price point.
Temperature control is good, although I’d prefer temperature rather than Joule control. In terms of electronics the iPV400 is a very good reliable piece.
Design wise however it’s seriously lacking. For me it looks dated and the attention to detail with the rusting screws and peeling paint are very disappointing, as is the very small if bright OLED display.
It’s a good mod but Pioneer 4 You need to buck their ideas up when it comes to finish.
I might replace it if I lost it, but not ahead of my other usual devices.
Pros:
- Light and petite
- Good temperature control
- Good 510 connector
- Good battery cover
Cons:
- Odd control method
- No USB passthrough
- Poor paint finish
- Corroding screws
