The ready to vape sub ohm tank craze has firmly taken hold in 2015 with a whole host of products hitting the shelves from the big brands. One such brand, SMOK, have a number of these tanks including the one I’ll be taking a look at today. The SMOK VCT A1 Vapor Chaser.
Can it compete with the likes of the Aspire Atlantis 2 and Kanger Subtank Plus? Lets take a look.
As always with these kind of tanks. If you are new to Sub Ohm vaping please take a minute to check out this beginners guide to sub ohm vaping as well as our guide on the best batteries for sub ohm vaping. These tanks don’t run off any old e cig or battery.
OK… On with the review.
SMOK VCT A1 Vapor Chaser Kit
The VCT comes in a neat cardboard presentation box with the following:
- SMOK VCT tank
- 2 X A1 0.5 Ohm coil heads (one pre fitted)
- 1 X Spare Pyrex Glass Tube
- Spare O rings
VCT A1 Set Up
The first thing of note is that while the quality is good it doesn’t seem as solid as the Aspire Atlantis 2 of Subtank Mini. If you take into account the price difference then this is understandable.
The design of the tank is nice, clean and simple yet effective with a 3.8ml capacity. Which for me is OK with a little top up required through the day depending on how high a wattage I’m vaping at.
The airflow control is a different design to many I’ve seen with two slightly smaller holes that can be partly closed. Compared to the size of the Subtank and Atlantis airflow holes this one seems pretty small. This doesn’t however effect the performance as I’ll touch on below.
The drip tip is a decent size allowing for plenty of vapour to get through and the tank itself is easy to dismantle for cleaning. So far so good.
Performance
The SMOK VCT A1 comes with two 0.5 Ohm coils, one of which is attached, first impressions look good, the juice flow hols on this are huge and there are four of them.
SMOK do have a few coils available though and I will do my best to explain.
- A1 (Coil Included with this tank) – This single vertical coil has a unique feature in that it has a sleeve that can be screwed up and down to leave the juice flow holes fully open or part covered. This helps control the flow of juice into the coil. This coil is good for all types of e-liquid viscosity and is available in 0.5 Ohm and 1.2Ohm resistances.
- X1 – This is a single horizontal coil with airlaid paper and has a fixed juce flow rate
- X2 – Dual horizontal coil that has a longer life
- Ni-200 – These are more advanced coils rated at 0.2Ohms that feature Nichrome wire that gives greater resistance the more the coil heats. This should only be used with devices that have temperature regulation functionality.
- SMOK VCT RBA Deck – A plus point for those wanting to build, this can be purchased as an extra and comes rated to 0.4Ohm with two coils, O rings and cotton.
Whether that means anything to you I don’t know?! But don’t let all those coils confuse too much, the VCT comes with the A1, if you want to experiment further down the line then by all means go for it. The A1 is a great starting point and will likely be all you need, the four holes on the coil head are big and let the juice in to provide a fantastic vape.
I was vaping Decadent Vapours Orangella and the flavour and vapour volume was spot on. It did seem to take a little while to get going though but once the cotton was fully soaked I had no problems at all.
Overall – Final thoughts
The SMOK VCT tank was a little bit of a slow burner but the more I used it the better I found it got. While not quite at the same quality as the Subtanks and Atlantis in terms of build, for those on a smaller budget this is a great option but for me not up there with the Innokin iSub G tank.
Here are the takeaway points.
The Good:
- The A1 coils performed really well producing good flavour and plenty of vapour volume.
- Airflow control is smooth to use and works well in providing airy/tighter draws.
- Option to buy an RBA deck as an add on.
- Plenty of other coil options
The Not So Good:
- Build is not quite up there but that is only when comparing to more expensive options.
- The 3.8ml capacity may be restrictive for some. Not so much of an issue for me personally.
