When I heard that the latest box mod from Smok, the Alien, was winging its way to me I was a little apprehensive as to what would be in the box!

Update: If you like the look of the Alien Mod then check out the latest SMOK Morph kit. Excellent device.SMOK Alien Kit review

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the hardware Smok releases I do actually like. Take the H-Priv for example. A very good but sadly underrated mod.

Table of Contents

The Alien Kit by SMOK – As Good As Reviews Suggest?

The only qualm I have with some of Smok’s devices is that they all look very similar. The X-Cube Ultra, H-Priv, you get where I’m coming from!! It’s what I call the 3B’s syndrome, Big, Bulky and Boxy!!

So, when the SMOK Alien Kit arrived and I opened the box the first word that entered my head was ‘Wow’!

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What’s In The Box

  • Alien 220 Mod
  • TFV8 Baby Tank
  • 1 x V8 Baby – Q2 Core 0.4ohm dual coils (Pre-installed)
  • 1 x V8 Baby – T8 Core 0,15 ohm octuplet coils
  • USB cable for charging / Upgrading
  • Replacement glass tank section
  • User’s manual
  • Bag of spares

Features

  • Alien 220 Mod
    • Size: 85 x 44 x 28.4mm
    • Power Range: 6.0 – 220W
    • Voltage Output Range: 0.35 – 8.0V
    • Resistance Range: 0.1Ω-3Ω (VW) / 0.06Ω-2Ω (TC)
    • Temperature Range: 200-600°F / 100°-315°C
    • Minimum Kanthal Resistance: 0.1 – 3.0ohm
    • Minimum Temperature Resistance: 0.06 – 3.0ohm
    • Supports Nickel, Titanium, and Stainless Steel wire types
    • Intuitive OLED Display
  • TFV8 Baby Tank
    • Stainless Steel With Glass Tank
    • 22mm in diameter x 53mm tall
    • E-liquid Capacity: 3.0ml
    • Standard 510 Threading

Build Quality & Design

The outer casing of the Alien mod is constructed from a zinc alloy, which provides a robust & weighty feel to the device.

The casing is coated with a spray applied black satin paint finish. Around the outer front & rear faces of the mod there is a metallic accent which encloses the front facing OLED screen and rear carbon fibre effect panel.

This accent is a available in six different colours (silver, orange, champagne gold, red, gun metal and blue) SMOK Alien Vape mod colours

Overall, the curved lines and smooth finish provided a very comfortable feel in the hand.

At the top of the Alien mod there is a standard 510 stainless steel connection for atomizers complete with a spring loaded brass centre pin.

03-alien-kit

The front face of the devices comprises of the OLED screen, the “+” & “-” buttons and a micro-USB port. The OLED screen has a clear and bright display and provides a wealth of information:-

  • Wattage / Temperature (in °F or °C)
  • Working Effect (Soft, Normal, etc) / Coil type (Ni, Ti, SS)
  • Battery life
  • Volts, Ohms, Amps
  • Wattage Mode / Temp Mode
  • PCB Temperature / Working Wattage
  • Puff Counter
  • Vape duration (in Seconds)

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On both front and rear panels of the Alien mod there are 2 sets of 6 vent holes, presumably to assist with battery venting and to keep the board cool.

The “+” & “-” buttons appear to be constructed from zinc alloy and have the same black satin finish as the mod.

Both buttons are slightly raised from the face of the mod and are positioned at an angle to match the metallic accent.

Both buttons were easy to use and provided a good positive click when pressed.

A micro-USB port has been provided on the front face of the Alien 220 mod for charging and firmware upgrades.

As with all of my previous reviews I would only use the USB for firmware upgrades, battery charging is best done externally in a suitably protected charger.

With regards to the Alien 220 firmware, when I initially received the Alien kit the firmware on the device was version 1.1.3.

I had noticed that on the odd occasion the mod would mis-fire, i.e. when I pressed the fire button nothing would happen, but as I said, this was on the very odd occasion.

I did a little investigation on the SMOK website and found that there was a firmware upgrade (v1.2.2) which addressed the mis-fire issue and also incorporated a couple of refinements for temperature control.

Having upgraded the firmware the mis-fire issue appears to have been resolved but I will report back on this if this is not the case.

If you do decide to upgrade the firmware on your Alien 220 mod, please read the instructions on the support page first. Follow them to the letter otherwise you could end up with a useless piece of metal.

Right, now back to the Alien 220 mod!

Firing the mod is very similar affair to the SMOK H-Priv, as one side of the mod has been fitted with a fire bar.

However the bar only operates when the top section is pressed. The bar was extremely easy to use and provided a good positive click when pressed.

In addition to firing the device, the fire-bar also provide navigation the the Alien’s menu system:-

  • 5 click of bar turns the mod ‘ON’ / Locks & Unlocks the device when on
  • 3 clicks of bar enters menu system

The menu system appear to be very similar to that of the H-Priv :-

  • Mode – Wattage & Temperature Control
  • Puffs – Puff counter
  • Settings – Screen Time, Screen Lock, Contrast, Adjust Ohms, Download (Firmware)
  • Power – Turn device off

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The battery door is located at the base of the Alien 220 mod and access to the compartment is easily obtained by sliding the door towards the back of the device allowing the door to unlock and the swing open to reveal the battery compartment.

On the inside face of the door are two brass battery contacts each identified as positive (+) and negative (-). The Alien 220 is a serial device and batteries must be installed as indicated on the mod.

There is no mention anywhere within the user manual or the packaging as to what safety features are built into the mod so be careful when installing those 18650’s.05-alien-kit

The SMOK TFV8 Baby Tank

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The SMOK TFV8 Baby is a sub-ohm tank, the smaller sibling to the TFV8 Cloud Beast Tank and for all intents and purposes a scaled down version of the Cloud Beast.

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Tank capacity is approximately 3ml and is filled through the swivel top cap which incorporates a standard 510 compatible black Delrin wide bore drip tip.

Inside of the tank we have our coil head which appears conical in shape and contains 5 vertical elongated juice ports which SMOK refer to as the  “Turbo Engine Coil Structure.”

SMOK have produced a good variate of coil heads for TFV8 Baby which are available seperately to buy:-

tfv8-baby-cores-01

tfv8-baby-cores-02

At the base of the tank we have our adjustable airflow ring which comprises of two air slot on opposite side of the tank.

These measure approximately 13mm x 1.5mm each and provide an extremely airy draw more suited to a direct lung style of vaping.

The AFC ring can be rotated very easily and will remain in the desire position of your choice.

08-alien-kit

Finally, on the base of the TFV8 Baby there is the standard 510 threaded connection which has a non-protruding, non-adjustable silver plated centre pin.

How Does The SMOK Alien Kit Perform?

Overall, performance of the SMOK Alien 220 Kit was very good.

There was the issue of the mod misfiring on the very odd occasion, but this was resolved with the firmware upgrade and has performed flawlessly without any issues whatsoever ever since.

For its size, the Alien certainly packs a punch with its whooping 220 watts of power at your disposal.

Battery life I would say is probably average for a device of this type and taking into account that all the coils for the TFV8 Baby are rated between 30 to 90 watts for best performance.

You’ll probably get anywhere between a day to half a days usage out of your batteries depending on your style of vaping.

With regards to the TFV8 Baby tank, this was an absolute delight to use. It produced very good flavour and if clouds are your thing it’s very capable.

It’s also simple to use and fill and most importantly easy to clean.

What I Liked

I thoroughly enjoyed using the Alien Kit. It was easy to setup and use. Menu navigation was intuitive making it simple to switch between different modes.

Refilling the TFV8 Baby tank could be achieved in seconds. There was no leaking, no spit-back and no more misfires.

02-alien-kit

Aesthetically, the Alien Kit is a really good looking piece of vaping hardware and a very welcome change to the previous format of SMOK’s high wattage devices.

Since receiving the Alien Kit I have found myself using it more and more to the extent that it has quickly replaced my old everyday setup!

SMOK have definitely pulled out all of the stops with their new Alien 220 mod.

What I Dislike

My first issue with the Alien kit is that there is no mention anywhere on the packaging, user manual or the SMOK website of what safety feature have been incorporated into the mod.

In my mind this is a little strange to say the least but possibly a genuine oversight by SMOK.

Secondly, the battery door has a tendency to open of its own accord, but this is only when there are no batteries installed. Nonetheless, a little annoying each time you pick up the devices.

Final Review Verdict

The Alien by SMOK is an excellent kit and I would not hesitate recommending it to fellow vapers!

Pros

  • Looks great
  • Excellent Performance
  • Upgradable Firmware

Cons

  • No mention of device safety features
  • Battery door randomly opens when no cells are installed
  • Have been complaints paint job does wear after a while
Mike murphy
Mike Murphy

Smoker for 25 years but now a seasoned vaper of four years. Started my vape journey on Cig-a-likes before moving very swiftly onto CE4's and Ego’s, which were to remain my preferred vaping hardware for a considerable length of time. When the infamous Nautilus clearomizer was released I move completely away from my beloved CE4 and also dumped my Ego for a tube type variable wattage device. Shortly after this I was on to RTA’s, RDA’s, VW mods and rebuilding. Recently I discovered the joys of Squonking and have become completely hooked.

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Alien Mod Build Quality
Alien Mod Design
Alien Mod Ease of use
Alien Mod Performance
TFVB Baby Build Quality
TFV8 Baby Design
TFV8 Baby Ease of Use
TFV8 Flavour
TFV8 Baby Vapour Production
Alien Mod Likelihood Of Replacing If Lost Or Damaged
TFV8 Baby Likelihood Of Replacing If Lost Or Damaged
SUMMARY
The SMOK Alien mod paired with the TFV8 Baby tank is a wining combination. An an excellent kit that I would, personally, highly recommend
5
OVERALL SCORE
Mike Murphy
Smoker for 25 years but now a seasoned vaper of four years. Started my vape journey on Cig-a-likes before moving very swiftly onto CE4's and Ego’s, which were to remain my preferred vaping hardware for a considerable length of time. When the infamous Nautilus clearomizer was released I move completely away from my beloved CE4 and also dumped my Ego for a tube type variable wattage device. Shortly after this I was on to RTA’s, RDA’s, VW mods and rebuilding. Recently I discovered the joys of Squonking and have become completely hooked.
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smok-alien-kit-reviewThe SMOK Alien mod paired with the TFV8 Baby tank is a wining combination. An an excellent kit that I would, personally, highly recommend

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23 COMMENTS

  1. Hi ya.
    I’m completely unable to find the “firmware upgrade” for my Smok Alien AL85. Have followed your link below… This page does not exist!
    Have searched “firmware” “update” and even “Alien”… 0 results!
    Now what?
    Regards Emil xxx

  2. I’m in the market for a Smok Alien mod as I bought a Stick Prince recently and it does not seem up to driving the TFV12 tank and available pre-built coils, which last for about 10ml of juice at a time, the RBD last longer but taste is underwhelming, defo needs more wattage (about 165 I reckon) I’m seeing a lot of the lasting for around 3 – 4 months and dying stories everywhere.

    It was also my experience with a KBOX Mini kit I got off eBay because I wanted a non TPD tank, which of course you can still do if you want to. I believe one train of thought advised to me by local vape shops.

    ALWAYS pair batteries for life, charge them together on proper regulated charger and always use them together on the same mod.

    Avoid charging them with the mod USB connection and never use the pass-thru to vape while charging (I did, usually while driving as I travel for work).

    Also paying 20 -30 more at a local vape shop is more economical than replacing a mod kit every 4 months. And NEVER buy batteries online you never really know what you are getting.

    Also vaping is so subjective what works for one does not for another, like coil building you just have to persevere with trial and lots of error (like life). I’d pretty much guarantee nothing works as you would want out of the box.

    PCBs are stamped out for fractions of a cent by robots that care about your vaping experience about as much as robots can care. I think the clue is in the name “mod” so get the kit that allows you to do as much customisation as you can, but this is from a guy that re-soldered connections on his PlayStation main board and added a 512gb memory module to his iPhone and whos 10yr old laptop still outperforms modern ones!

  3. I’ve ordered a baby beast tank due to a recommendation. Will this be compatible with my coolfire battery? And are tanks any good? I’ve seen conflicting reviews

    • Hi Alexander,

      Not sure which of the CoolFire Mods you have, if you have the CoolFire 4 then you may want to think about upgrading to a more powerful device as this is only capable of a maximum of 40 watts. If you could come back to me with which CoolFire device you have then I can be more specific with answering your question.

      As to the Baby Beast Tank, I personally have several of them and can’t say that I’ve had any real problems with any of them!! I normally run mine with the 0.4ohm Q2 stock coils as I find these give the best flavour.

      Good luck with your purchase and if you want to come back to me on the CoolFire I’ll be happy to answer your question.

      Mike

  4. I’ve only had my smok alien for less than a week and the screen has already gone dark I don’t know how to fix it, it’s a real bummer I really liked it until this happened it’s still vaping though but i has been reading a lot of reviews and I see that this is a big problem

    • Hi Candy,

      There is a contrast setting on the SMOK Alien which adjusts the level of brights to the screen. I would check this first. It’s located under the device settings menu. If this is set to low, like at about 10, the screen on your device is going to be very dim. Try adjusting this to a more suitable level. I normally have mine on about 100.

      If this doesn’t work then I would consider returning the mod back to the place of purchase requesting a refund or replacement, especially as yours is less than a week old. Most reputable retailers shouldn’t have an issue exchanging or refunding faulty goods.

      Keeps us informed of how you get on!

      Mike

      • I’ve had the AL85 for less than two months, it never got dropped and it always sit on my office desk. picked it up today hit the fire button and it worked about two seconds and died, I have no screen nothing. changed batter, plugged it into my PC just to see if i could get it to light up and still nothing. I got this as a kit with the baby beast tank and i loved it, but now i’m not to sure after seeing all the reviews online of all the people saying there screen went black.

    • I’ve had 2 over the past 9 months the first one started having issues after 90 days it randomly rebooted then finally went dead after swapping batteries. I bought a replacement and the screen is flickering and going dim. I adjust the contrast to 100% and also verified both were authentic using Smoks own tool on there web sit to verify. Do a search on Smok Defect its not just a few of there mods that have issues. While some may be fakes/clones many are not as Mike may want to think. If you are within the warranty send it back for repairs as many have done. Unfortunately both of mine are past warranty I will never buy another Smok product.

  5. bought a smok alien and my son bought the same absolute rubbish both broke went totally dead after 6 weeks don’t buy smok

    • Hi Louise,

      I’ve been hearing this a lot recently but I have also been hearing quite a lot about fake/clone ‘Alien’ mods which only work for a month or two and then completely stop.

      If yours are authentic then it’s worth contacting SMOK to see if they are willing to help! It’s a long shot I know and it may be a long process but its definitely worth giving it a try!!

      Good luck and let’s us know how you get on with SMOK!!

  6. I have this mod for a few months but it died already!
    At first great vape until the screen suddenly disappeared (still vaping though)
    Half a day later it seized to be at all…. no screen, no vape, no nothing! 🙁
    Note: it wasn’t on stealth, firmware update didn’t work
    ** I don’t understand why there would be any update anyway – seems to me that such things are completely nonsense for a well produced product. In other words: the thing wasn’t good in the first place?**
    Anyway, I tried to reach the customer service of Smok but they do not reply (well, hardly… they replied in questions which I already answered in my first mail to them…)
    Long story short: I’m very disappointed, I will NEVER buy a Smok in the future!

    • Hi Ivo

      Sorry to hear about your problem with the SMOK Alien!

      I have heard of this happening before, but it is a very rare issue with the device. If you consider how many of these devices they actually make this happen to a very small percentage of them. So don’t let it put you off buying other SMOK products as they do make some really good bits of vaping hardware.

      The firmware update happen very rarely and are mainly to resolve technical & performance issues, so it’s always worthwhile updating to the latest release!

      Sorry I can’t be of any help fixing your Alien, but it might be worth trying to contact SMOK again to see if they can help you!!

      Mike

    • Hi Valerie,

      The latest version of the SMOK Alien Firmware is v1.2.11. You can find the SMOK Firmware Upgrade Guide page here – *Page removed as no longer available*

      Read through the brief guide then there is a link to the firmware download at the bottom of the page.

      It’s relatively straight forward to upgrade the firmware but if you have any issues please feel free to message us back!

      Mike

    • Hey Ed, we haven’t actually used the asMODus Minikin 2. By all accounts though it’s supposed to be an excellent mod.

      Sorry I couldn’t be more help on that.

  9. Can you use the regular beast tank on this mod… I tried mine yesterday and it wasn’t firing… Other than that love the mod…

    • Hi Derek,

      Yeah you should be able to.

      You might want to check the connections are clean on both the tank and mod. Sounds like you may have a short/connection issue.

      Let me know how you go.

    • Hey Kwiny,

      We had a misfiring issue but this was solved by updating the firmware (v1.2.2 at the time of review).

      Try updating if you haven’t already.

      Let us know if that fixes the problem!

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