The latest but is the Smok TFV12 Prince Cobra Edition different to all the other TFV12’s?
Now, there’s not an experienced vaper on the planet who isn’t familiar with the Smoktech brand. These are seasoned players in the game, from Shenzhen, who made a name for themselves with the incredible SMOK Morph box mod, back in the day, not to mention their hard-hitting TFV12 Cloud Beast and TFV8 Baby Beast tank range.
But the brand’s hits didn’t stop there, with their T-Priv, I-Priv, G-Priv and Mag mods, Smok continued their successes…with one or two misses along the way, for good measure.
They have actually just released the latest version of this tank. You can see our hands on SMOK TFV16 review here.
What Can We Expect From The TFV12 Prince Cobra Edition By Smok
Recently, they launched their new wave of cloud chucking flavour tanks, the TFV12 Prince range. Now, I’m the proud owner of more than one of these tanks and let me tell you, as a go-to, large capacity, all day tank…it doesn’t get much better than the Prince.
The TFV12 Prince Cobra is an alternative take on the tank that features a mesh cleeve in the tank and a new set of coils.
Is the all-new TFV12 Prince Cobra one TFV12 tank too far?
Find out with our hands on review.
This device was sennt free of charge for the purposes of review. As always my views are my own.
What’s In The Box
- 1 x TFV12 Prince Cobra Edition Tank
- 1 x V12 Prince Strip Coil 0.15 Ohm (Pre-installed)
- 1 x V12 Prince Mesh Coil 0.15 Ohm
- 1 x V12 X2 Clapton 0.4 Ohm
- 1 x Replacement Acrylic Bulb Tube
- 1 x Replacement Acrylic Drip Tip
- 1 x User Manual
- Spare Parts
Features
- Material: Stainless Steel
- Size: 28x63mm
- Weight: 60g
- Capacity: 7ml
- 510 Threaded
- Top fill and hinged, locking top cap
- Huge bottom adjustable airflow
- Unique Cobra Mesh helps prevent dry hits
- Available in colour changing red or blue to white, as well as green, red, purple, black, 7 colour, stainless, prism blue and gold
- Huge bottom adjustable airflow
- Unique Cobra Mesh helps prevent dry hits
Build Quality & Design
There’s nothing sleek about the SMOK TFV12 Prince Cobra Edition, it’s busy from 510 pin to drip tip and is clearly made with flash-monsters in mind, that said…it’s still a damn fine looking piece of sub-ohm tank.
The tank is 63mm high, including the drip tip and the base and top cap are both thicker than average.
Starting at the base, you have that standard, Smok 510 connection.
The base is a full 1cm thick and contains a massive airflow ring with strange, staggered ‘cobra-style’ knurling which is a little difficult to describe so I’m afraid you’ll have to rely on the photos I took.
The ring contains two slit-eye airflow slots that, at a centimetre in length and having more of an eye shape, are considerably smaller than the dual slots on the standard Prince tank. This is definitely a good thing though, since the massive airflow on the Prince is actually what they call overkill.
The knurling is very effective when it comes to gripping that airflow ring and twisting and the machining allows for just the right amount of pressure and give.
Above that is your 7ml tank and, while both the acrylic and glass bubbles are the same size as the bubble glass on the Prince, you are losing a ml of capacity due to the inclusion of a feature Smok is calling Cobra Mesh…which I dare say maybe a little more decorative than functional, but we will see.
Cobra Mesh
The mesh is basically an stainless steel tube that sits around the coil, it is perforated with little diamond shaped holes, which is supposed to improve heat dissipation and juice absorption, locking the juice in those little diamond-shaped holes.
I can understand that this mesh might assist in dry hit prevention but, truth be told, it’s going to be difficult for anyone to accurately review the other supposed benefits.
What I can say is that is that it has a very clear decorative function and makes the tank look the absolute bizzness and the aesthetic effect is pretty badass indeed.
Above that is an 11mm high top cap, complete with a bottom ring of that same strange knurling, interrupted by a small Smok brand, with that patented, hinged and locking cap above that. This feature works brilliantly, with the little lock button and really excellent machining.
The juice port, which is accessed by opening that topcap, is accessible and large and the hinge mechanism has improved by leaps and bounds since we first saw this feature on Smok tanks.
The V2 resin drip tip is really high quality and the section that fits inside the topcap, where the o-rings usually are on the driptip, is made of SS so that you won’t experience the chipping issue which some people have had with Smok’s other snake print tips.
The acrylic, bell-curved drip tip is super flashy and totally psychedelic when used with the matching acrylic bulb tube but unfortunately, I’ve found it impossible to push this tip in properly, it just wont make the last 1 mm as it’s not correctly sized and even removing the o-rings, the fit is still a little too tight.
That didn’t stop me using the tip though, I really like the mouthfeel and still think it’s pretty…and pretty over the top…even though I can’t push it in all the way.
Accessories
I’m very pleased with the fact that I have no less than 3 coils to play with, as well as psychedelic acrylic bulb and an extra acrylic drip tip, nice…even with the imperfect fit on the acrylic drip tip.
How Does The Smok TFV12 Prince Cobra Edition Perform?
The TFV12 Prince on steroids. I was a fan of the original Prince and now I’m a fan of this, I find the airflow somewhat improved, although it was excellent before.
This is a little more restricted and, combined with these outstanding coils…a lot more flavorful.
I’ve definitely noticed that when my eliquid level gets low, I don’t experience any burning or dry hits without a concerted effort to suck the juice out of those little diamond holes in the cobra mesh. The cobra mesh actually does prevent dry hits, who knew?!
This tank looks amazing and it vapes amazing.
The top cap mechanism and the airflow ring are perfectly made and work a charm.
I’ve experienced leaking only once and I soon discovered that it was because I hadn’t screwed my coil head into its seating tight enough, otherwise no issues whatsoever.
There is a very slight whistle and a loud airflow noice throughout the restriction range with this tank.
So with this tank, which otherwise operates much like the traditional TFV12 Prince, it’s all about the coil performance…and I’ll get to that in the coils section!
How To Fill
- Press the little lock/unlock button on the topcap
- Swing open the hinged top cap
- Fill through the slot
- Replace the top cap, and press it down for the last push, so that it clicks locked
How To Change the Coil
- Unscrew the glass from the base
- Unscrew the coil head from its seating
- Replace the coilhead
- Prime it
- Refit the glass
Stock Coil Performance
While the Prince Tank, bought separately, includes the Q4, X6 and T10 coils in the box (review for those here)…the Smok TFV12 Prince Cobra Edition features the flavour punching V12 Strip and Mesh coils, which are both 0.15 Ohm coil heads, as well as the 0.4 hm V12 Prince X2 Clapton head, which would be my least favorite of the bunch.
I was using an 80VG flavour from the Fuggin Vapor range of e-liquids.
Now, I’ve had prior experience with both of the mesh and strip coil heads, when I reviewed the I-Priv kit from Smok. However, the problems I had with the strip coil during that review certainly didn’t happen again…find that review here.
V12 Strip Coil
So…given that I must have gotten a bad piece of strip mesh in my first example of the coil, I may as well review it again and this time, there will be no cons.
This coil has a range of 40W to 100W and a recommended range of 80 to 90W…it consists of a perforated steel strip, as opposed to a mesh strip but it is very similar.
One thing it has in common with the mesh is flavour, out of control, through the roof, extraordinary flavour with vapour that’s a near match. Our reviews of the Horizon Falcon and Freemax Mesh Pro are prime examples of this.
This is my favourite coil ever from Smok (this fully functional version of it) as I don’t recall experiencing this kind of flavour and cloud from a pre made coil before.
I fully agree with Smok’s recommendation on the wattage and found my sweet spot right at 85.
PS: this is a juice-thirsty mofo. You will be refilling your tank 3-4 and maybe even 5 times a day of you vape heavy like me but hell, it’s worth it. I need to get my hands on that big globe glass extension that the brand is selling separately for this tank.
V12 Mesh Coil
The V12 Mesh coil has a 40-80W range and 60-70 recommended wattage and once again, I found Smok’s recommendations pretty darn accurate and like to vape this coil just below or on 70W.
This coil absolutely chucks clouds and I’d put it slightly ahead of the strip in cloud factor and slightly behind it in flavour. That doesn’t mean it’s not insanely flavourful though.
This coil, which is also thirsty AF, comes in at a close second. Yum, yum and yum again.
The X2 Clapton Coilhead
My least favourite of the crew, this coil has a range of 40-80 W and vapes best between 70 and 80. Now, it being my least favourite of the included coils here doesn’t mean it isn’t a flavour and vapour punching wonder-coil.
It’s all that, with outstanding vapour production for this wattage and resistance range and just a little more flavour than you get off the V12 Q4, which had the same resistance and came with the original Prince tank.
Pros
- Great looks and build
- Improved airflow, with a better restricted hit
- Easy top fill with smooth locking mechanism
- The cobra mesh looks hot and prevents dry hits on an empty tank
- Outstanding flavour and vapour from the V12 Strip and Mesh coils
- Really fun, colourful accessories with a ton of hard hitting coils
Cons
- The curved acrylic drip tip doesn’t fit right, it’s a little too big
- Slight whistle and a loud noise
Final Review Verdict
Well, well, well. The Smok TFV12 Prince Coba Edition, with its large capacity, ease of use and improved dry hit prevention system, would make the perfect tank for a newcomer to the sub-ohm game or a seasoned pro who is too lazy…or busy to use a rebuildable.
Off the charts flavour on the mesh and strip coils, with above average performance on the X2 and outstanding all round performance on the tank, with solid airflow and, of course, pretty stand out looks make the Cobra Edition a sweet purchase for just about any kind of sub-ohmer. Nice one!
And..
Would I buy the SMOK TFV12 Prince Cobra tank if I lost/broke the device? Absolutely, got my eye on the rainbow/7 colour version!
Have you used this tank? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
