SMOK TFV8 Review

The TFV4 proved a huge hit for Smoktech, the three versions – TFV4 – TFV4 Mini – TFV4 Micro – all offered huge performance from the numerous coil options that were available.Following on from the recent release of the Smok H Priv 220W box mod the SMOK TFV8 is a tank that has been made to operate at the high wattage this mod is capable of.

The TFV8 is being aptly named the Cloud Beast! You have to love the description SMOK have for the tank, only the Chinese manufacturers could come up with this:

“The ancient volcano, Mount Vesuvius, is a cloud beast entrenched into the earth. Although calm, the 2,000 foot diameter crater fills with steam; a formidable, gasping lion. Once awakened, she erupts lava into an ominous sky, and the earth trembles with her great power.

Since writing this smok have a new tank! Check out what we thought with our hands on SMOK TFV16 review.

Now, SMOK brings you this magnificent power, completely changing your vaping experience. The TFV8, is the ultimate sub-ohm atomizer.

The TFV8 utilizes 4 unique, patented Turbo Engines: V8-T8 (6.6T), V8-T6 (6.0T), V8-Q4 (5.0T), and the V8 RBA (4.0T-X). These add up to make the TFV8, a real Cloud Beast!”

Pretty dramatic hey! So.. Is the SMOK TFV8 a Cloud Beast? Does it have the magnificent power of a volcano?

SMOK sent us the TFV8 for the purposes of this review, all views, as always are our own.

In The Box

The TFV8 kit is well thought out and offers the following:

• SMOK TFV8 Tank
• 1 X V8-T8 0.15 Ohm Octuple Coil Head
• 1 X V8-Q4 0.15 Ohm Quadruple Coil head
• 1 X V8 0.28 Ohm Turbo RBA Head
• Replacement Glass
• TFV8 User Manual
• Various spares

Features

• 5.5ml – 6ml Capacity
• 24.5mm Diameter / 50mm height
• Dual 14mm diameter airflow
• Top Fill Swivel cap
• 510 Thread
• Large adjustable airflow

Design & Build Quality

The TFV8 sub ohm tank is available in black and stainless steel. I have the latter for review.

First thing to note is that this is a big tank! The TFV4 was a big fella but this latest release has increased in size again to accommodate new features. The diameter of the base is 24.5mm but still sits well on most of my mods.

The glass tank increases to 25.5mm but the increase in size isn’t all that noticeable.

The build quality is excellent, a very solid piece of gear.

Starting at the top we have the wide bore delrin drip tip and the same swivel top cap for easy juice filling.

Owners of the TFV4 will notice that the refill hole has increased in size to around 14mm and the central air chamber has also increased in size.

Moving down to the base of the sub ohm tank there are two large airflow holes, these can be adjusted easily with the help of three raised notches on each side.

The TFV8 is also an improvement in the looks department, the addition of the raised grips to the top and bottom of the tank give it a heavy duty appearance.

Of course, as would be expected, the tank can also be broken down for easy cleaning and maintenance.

Coil Heads

There are three coil head options (One RBA) that come in the SMOK TFV8 kit. Keeping up with the rest of the tank they are beasts in terms of size, making the TFV4 coils look average!

This is what this tanks all about, the performance.

The new features on the tank such as the increased size of the drip tip, central chimney, airflow slots and coils all make for a tank that really does pump out the clouds on a fog machine level!

The coils themselves, or at least the ones in the review kit, don’t have the ‘model’ number on the coil.

They do have the resistance and the recommended wattage so all the info you need but if they release the number of coils they did with the TFV4 and you decide to buy them all it could get confusing.

The TFV4 coils are also not compatible with the new TFV8.

How Does The SMOK TFV8 Perform?

V8-T8 Octuple Coil Head – 0.15 Ohm

As the name suggest the V8-T8 Octuple coil head has 8 coil heads. The coil design allows for plenty airflow with the base of the coil being wide open.

The V8-T8 is rated for use between 90-250W but for best results SMOK recommended using between 120-180W.

Ignoring SMOK’s advice I though I’d start a little lower at 75W. This actually provided a nice vape with good clouds and flavor.

Quickly moving upto 100W the vape was a little warmer but flavor improved as did the clouds. Which are starting to get pretty hefty.

The tank has started to heat up as would be expected but nothing too bad at this point.

At 120W, SMOK’s recommended starting point and the vape is warming up nicely, the flavor is excellent and the clouds are huge.

150W was the max I went to. At this wattage it’s great for vapers that want a harder hitting, rich warm vape. The flavors are excellent and yes… You guessed it the clouds are big.

The base of the tank isn’t too hot to touch but if you’re brave enough to chain vape at this wattage though be prepared for things to heat up. There still feels like there is plenty of room to increase the wattage here though.

I couldn’t vape at 150W for long, a bit too heavy going for me. I personally prefer a cooler vape and the flavor around the 90W mark with the V8-T8 was good for me.

V8-Q4 Quadruple Coil Head

The V8-Q4 has an outer chamber with 12 juice flow slots. There is lots of cotton packed into this. This coil head also has a resistance of 0.15 Ohm and is rated for use between 50-180W. For best performance SMOK recommend using between 90-150W.

Straight up to the recommended 90W and things improve a lot in both flavor and vapor volume.

The flavor was very good bringing the fruit notes out in my Wick Liquor e juice really well.

Ramping things up to 150W the vape was warm but manageable. The flavor very good and the clouds dense, really dense. The tank didn’t get too hot and there was definitely room to increase the wattage from 150 no issue.

SMOK describe this coil as offering a smooth and silky taste like Hookah. I have to agree this is exactly what the V8-Q4 provides. The higher wattage’s give an almost velvety vape.

It has to be said I only had 3mg nicotine available and at 150W this was starting to hit me hard!

Maybe it was the coffee I was drinking while reviewing. Either way both pretty much a school boy error on my part, I should have got some 1.5mg for this review and a pint of water 🙂

If you are new to this type of high powered tank just keep your nicotine strength in mind. The higher the wattage the more of a nicotine hit you will get. It does however mean that you shouldn’t need to vape quite as much as you would at lower settings.

After vaping this coil for a while I actually enjoyed and settled at around the 80W range. Still lots of vapor, not as dense than higher wattage’s but perfect for my personal preferences.

Everyone is different though and your preferred wattage will likely be more or possibly less.

V8 RBA

The build deck on this is BIG! As are the juice wells and airflow coming into the RBA.

The V8 RBA has an 18mm deck with pre-installed dual Clapton coils with a resistance of 0.28 Ohm. SMOK recommend use between 50-140W.

The pre-installed coils look the business. The overall performace, I found, was also excellent here.

The deck is a 2 post Velocity style and easy to build on, if you are newer to building your own coils the V8 RBA offers a good place to start due to the room you have with the deck.

Other Coil Heads Currently Available

V8-T6

It’s likely Smoktech will release more coils for the TFV8 in the not to distant future. As I write the only other coil available is the V8-T6 which is a sextuple coil rated at 0.2 Ohm.

This is rated for use between 50W-240W but recommended for best results to be used between 110-150W.

Pros

The build quality of the SMOK TFV8 is excellent.

SMOK have designed this to pump out the clouds and it certainly does this. But not at the cost of the flavor. The TFV8 hit the mark here as well and not just at the high wattage SMOK recommend. The increased airflow gives a nice airy draw and some smooth vaping.

Both coils gave excellent results with the V8-Q4 my personal favorite.

For vapers reading this that have a high powered mod, this is an easy to use tank that will allow you to test the higher end of the wattage spectrum. Not my personal style but the TFV8 performs well at many levels.

The kit includes 2 pre-built coil heads and a huge RBA deck with some sexy looking dual clapton stock coils. It’s an easy deck to build on so if you are new to RBA’s this is a good deck to tinker on.

Last but not least I didn’t experience any leaking or dry hits with the TFV8.

Cons

It was no secret the TFV4 is one of the thirstiest tanks on the market. The SMOK TFV8 matches, if not beats, the TFV4. Not that it’s a competition I want it to win!

Just be prepared to go through some e juice. It’s to be expected with coils this size and the power that they operate at.

Also, this isn’t a tank all vapers will be able to use unless of course you have a mod with enough power. If you are reading this and have a 50W box mod then you will need to upgrade to get the best from the Cloud beast! Not a negative necessarily but keep that in mind.

And just another thing to add, this isn’t a tank that is designed for use when you’re out in the pub. So just exercise a bit of vaping etiquette if going for this tank.

Final Verdict

What can I say, this is an impressive tank and a definite improvement over the TFV4.

The SMOK TFV8 isn’t going to be for everyone, however. This is a tank that excels at 70W+. If you have the mod to match the power though, such as the SMOK H Priv 220W mod, then this will help you get the most from the TFV8.

You can count on this being an actual Cloud Beast, the name fits well. The good thing is it delivers on flavor as well.

We all have different wants when vaping so it’s for you to decide if this fits your needs.