SMOK GX2/4 Kit Review

SMOK are releasing so many products that I can barely keep up with my excitement.

Not so long ago, I was looking at SMOK GX350 and thinking how amazing that device is, well today I’m trying new SMOK GX2/4 with TFV8 Big Baby Beast tank – a “transformer” mod, much like Wismec Reuleaux RX2/3, except that GX2/4 that can be used either with 2 or 4 batteries, reaching maximum power output of 350W.

What’s In The Box

• GX2/4 Mod
• 2 battery door
• 4 battery door
• TFV8 Big Baby Beast tank (2ml EU edition)
• V8-Q2 0.4ohm coil
• V8-T8 0.15ohm coil
• Micro USB cable for updating firmware

Performance

SMOK GX2/4 offers whopping 350W of power when in 4 battery mode, and whether that’s useful is up to the way you use it.

The problem with it is that the vape mod still only supports coils down to 0.10ohm, and it’s difficult to build something yourself to be able to fire it at such high power, while still staying above 0.1ohm.

There are some coils for SMOK TFV12 that allow vaping at high wattage, and there’s a curious tank that I’ve got to use for a short period of time – Envii Terra RTA, rebuildable octuple coil tank.

I vaped it at around 300W and I can’t say I would recommend that experience to anyone.The highest I was able to run GX2/4 at was around 180W, with 0.095ohm framed staple coils. It is a pleasant surprise that mod allowed me to fire a coil that war reading slightly lower than the limit. Devices like RX2/3 start to complain when you get anywhere near 0.1ohm.

The best part about having a 4 battery mod is the battery life you get out of it. With the 0.4ohm coil that was included, vaping in the evenings, one set of batteries lasted me a full week.

With just the two batteries and the same coil, taking frequent breaks at work it easily lasts two full days.

TFV8 Big Baby Beast

I’ll start by saying that in my previous reviews I’ve been praising the Baby Beast and that I prefer it over Big Baby.

That doesn’t mean that I find Big Baby terrible, it’s still a pretty neat little tank. I just don’t see much of an improvement over Baby Beast.

Flavour is pretty comparable, but it doesn’t offer better airflow. Using the 0.15ohm coils, I often had to run it at lower wattage than I usually would, simply because I found airflow a little too restrictive.

Features of the TFV8 family aren’t anything new. The Big Baby beast has convenient top fill system with the top cap sliding off to the side revealing rather small fill hole. It’s fine for glass droppers and bottles with small nozzle, but isn’t too practical for large twist off nozzles.

This kit unfortunately doesn’t include the RBA section, but it is possible to buy one separately, and they are generally pretty good. Not as good as the RBA for the Cloud Beast, simply because of it’s size, but you can still put a decent build in there if you aren’t satisfied with the stock coils, of which there are plenty. The Big Baby and Baby Beast have the same type of coils. And with the TPD regulations, they both now have the same capacity of 2ml.

The only advantage over the Baby Beast, is again my *stupidest tiniest* personal preference of the wide drip tip over the 510 drip tip. I did lose the standard black delrin drip tip somewhere and gladly replaced it with a custom resin drip tip. Something I couldn’t do with *small* TFV8.

Overall I enjoyed using this tank with 0.4ohm coils just as much as I did like the Baby Beast. E-juice consumption is a pleasant surprise, I only filled up the tank twice, sometimes three times a day. Flavour is a very big improvement over the Cloud Beast, and to be honest, it’s much better than I remember it ever being when I last used the Big Baby Beast a few months ago.

Form Factor

Four batteries aren’t for everyone, the mod becomes very bulky and practically impossible to carry it around. I personally only use 4 batteries at home, where the advantage of having a lot of battery life becomes conflicting.

I’m home so I have my charger close by as well as a few pairs of charged batteries, so I don’t need a 4 battery mod there. Where I would like having huge battery life is when I’m on a short trip somewhere, but again, it’s not a “back pocket of jeans” kind of mod.

Dual battery version on the other hand is a completely different story. SMOK claims that it’s the smallest double 18650 device on the market. Which is not true by the way, an unregulated Noisy Cricket is smaller, but that might be an unfair comparison.

The SMOK GX2/4 with just 2 batteries is smaller than everything else that I own and by quite a margin. Round edges make it pretty seamless carrying it in the pocket, and it’s much narrower than many of my devices.

Even though it’s bulky with 4 batteries, it’s actually not that massive. Compared to 3 battery devices that I have, LostVape Triade or Wismec RX2/3, another transformer mod, the difference is not that great. It’s not even bigger by the full size of an extra 18650 battery that it can carry.

Design & Build Quality

SMOK are giving us a choice of 7 different colour combinations with this device.

I’ve got one in red finish with the matching TFV8 Big Baby Beast tank, which looks absolutely stunning in my opinion. Paint on the mod itself feels a little less impressive, and it actually is quite disappointing in day-to-day use.

My mod arrived with tiny pieces of paint chipped off of the bottom near the button, and after about two weeks there were many more little scuffs all around the mod. Those are especially prominent around the edges where different doors are connected, it’s not the worst out there (Looking at you RX2/3 and SMOK Alien), but it’s still a little heart breaking seeing your shiny toy wear out.

Another thing definitely worth pointing out is the screen.

While paint kind of stays in tact, it seems that SMOK had not invested any time in making the glass scratch proof. I don’t own many SMOK devices, so I’m not sure if it’s a general problem with them, but on my SMOK Q-BOX, a tiny device that gets thrown around in my bags constantly, there isn’t a single scratch on the same kind of screen.

Overall, closing my eyes to unusually quick (in my experience) wear and tear of the device, I find the design very intriguing.

Not many companies choose to use a full-length “bar” firing button on the side in their devices, and SMOK are one of them, since H-Priv if my memory doesn’t fail me. The only other examples I can think of are Eleaf mods, such as Eleaf iKonn and Eleaf iStick 100W.

I thought it was dumb and impractical before I used it, but in reality, the way I hold the mod, especially in 4 batteries setting, it is the most natural way to fire the button that I can imagine – you just squeeze the mod in your hand. It’s a tiny bit more ambiguous in 2 battery mode, simply because of the way I can position and rotate the mod in my hand.

If I go into my nitpicky mood, I could complain about the screws on the top of the 4 battery door, that don’t match with the red paint on my mod. Or the micro-USB port that’s rotated 90 degrees to be positioned vertically. Those are essentially the only problems I can find with the way GX2/4 looks and feels, and I do acknowledge that I sound stupid even pointing them out.

All buttons are nice and clicky, there’s no rattling even with changeable doors – both sit pretty snug, unlike RX2/3. The biggest annoyance in my opinion is the positioning of the 510 connection.

It sits right at the edge, only allowing 25mm atomisers to sit without overhang. I understand that they did it to allow the dual battery mode to be as small as possible. However, while working with the 4 battery version, to utilise 350W potential completely, I’d like to use some massive 30mm atomiser with absolutely ridiculous huge coils in there.

Final Review Verdict

Overall I’m very pleased with what the SMOK GX2/4 offers. It’s not a mindblowing device, but it’s got everything you need. Compared to my old favourite RX2/3, it feels like a much more thought out device, and is just generally much better built. I like the option of having 4 batteries, but I rarely ever use it in this mode.

And finally, would I replace The GX2/4 if I lost or broke it? Perhaps not. I would seriously consider another dual battery SMOK device, maybe a SMOK T-Priv, or maybe something they come up with in the future.

If I had the option, I’d get just the GX2 part of GX2/4.

Did you buy the SMOK GX2/4 Mod? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Pros

• Well build, no rattle, doors are snug
• Dual battery version is brilliant in terms of the size and convenience
• 24mm atomisers sit absolutely perfectly

Cons

• Paint easily chips
• Screen is not scratch proof at all
• Big Baby beast and not TFV12 that actually has coils to experience 350W power
• No charging through USB port