Teslacigs Punk 86W Mod Review – Sexier Nunchaku??

The Teslacigs Punk 86W mod is the newest device in the “Punk” range. Other devices include the very pretty Punk Nano 120W, Punk 220W and the Punk 85W.

Instead of the typical box mod styling the Punk 86W is a tube mod which is regulated and has a 0.49in OLED screen. This seems to follow the recent trend for regulated tube style mods such as the Uwell Nunchaku, Ehpro 101 Pro and the iJoy Saber.

I own the Uwell Nunchaku kit so I will obviously be making comparisons between the two devices as they are both targeted to a similar market.

Using a single 18650 battery the maximum output is 86W and you can choose from Variable Wattage or By-pass user modes.

I am a huge fan of all the Punk mods and own the Punk 85W which I think is still one of my prettiest devices.

There are 4 colours available – Gun Metal, Stainless Steel, Antique Brass and Antique Copper.

I received the Teslacigs Punk 86W mod for review purposes and I will report back honestly with my findings on the device in my possession.

What’s In The Box

• Teslacigs Punk 86W Mod
• USB cable
• User manual

Features

• Size: 28x104mm
• Battery: 1× high rate 18650 (discharge current should be above 40A??) (not included)
• Output: 7-86W
• Modes: Power (VW) and Bypass
• Material: Brass and Stainless steel
• Resistance range: 0.1-3ohm
• Display: 0.49in OLED

Build Quality & Design

I received the Teslacigs Punk 86W Mod in the Gun Metal version.

First up this is really really beautiful!

The patterns on the metal casing are 3D and the metal finish is stunning.

Getting this out of the package I noticed 2 things… 1) this is heavier than I was expecting and 2) there is a massive “rattle” somewhere…

So I initially dismissed the rattle – which I thought would go away when a battery was installed.

I also didn’t see any branding anywhere – no “Punk 86W” and the only indication of who is was made by is on the underside of the mod base!

Top Of Mod and 510 Connection

The top of the mod is pretty plain with a spring loaded 510 connector.

The specs state the diameter of the mod is 28mm however this does taper down just before the top and with a crappo ruler I got the top diameter to be around 25-26mm.

I tried a few tanks on here. My favourite for “prettiness” was the Gun Metal Freemax Mesh Pro. But this tank does need to run at over 70W so the Punk with its 86W max will be guzzling up the battery life!Also the Gun Metal Fireluke Mesh looked pretty good on here too.

My main tank at the moment is the Eleaf Melo 4 with the mesh coils and that is 22mm diameter and looked sadly very silly on here!

However the Melo 4 tank only needs 55-60W to run nicely so this is more suited to the power output of the Punk 86W.

Main Mod

The main body of the mod is really robust and quite heavy.

There is a large single fire button which sadly is the source of the annoying rattle. It works perfectly and super responsive but wave that mod about and it rattles like a badly built fairground ride.

Further down the mod is the small but functional screen which has a dark display with light blue text.

The display shows:

• The mode selected
• The power selected
• Coil resistance
• Battery voltage
• Battery capacity graphic.

The screen cover is very small and is basically only the extent of the text – so at certain angles the edges of the cover distort the text slightly.

Above the screen are the adjustment buttons which are slightly hard to press as they are tiny and don’t protrude much from the mod body. But they don’t rattle at all.

On the top at the rear of the mod is the USB port. Not ideal as if you did use this for charging it would keep tipping the mod over.

Battery Compartment

The battery compartment is a screw on cap at the base of the device.

Phew – I am pleased with this. The reason being if you could see how much arsing about it takes to install the battery in the box style Punk 85W and its terrible battery cover you would understand!

The screw threads are lovely and the inside of the cap is the negative terminal. Would be nice if somewhere it notified you of this.

Look inside the mod and you will see a + sign and this shows you that the positive terminal is on the inside of the mod.

I do find once the battery is installed you do have to push on the battery cap whilst screwing it on to get it to start tightening. There is a decent amount of grip on the battery cap though so that helps.

On the underside of the battery cap is the very discrete “designed by Teslacigs” and the legal symbols. The cap also has 3 good size vent holes.

Set-up Guide

The mod arrives well packaged with a good instruction leaflet.

However there is no battery in the package so you will need to install one, plus a suitable atomiser and away you go!

Basic operation

• Turn on / off = 5 quick presses of the fire button.
• Vape = press and hold the fire button.
• Lock / Unlock = Hold down both adjustment buttons at the same time to lock and unlock.
• Adjustments = use the up and down adjustment buttons.
• Power mode selection = press the fire button 3 times to toggle between Variable Wattage or Bypass user modes. “W” displayed = Variable Wattage Mode and “B” displayed = Bypass.

Protections

• Fire cut off = if the fire button is held down it will cut off after 10 seconds to prevent damage.
• Low voltage = when battery voltage is low the device will display “Low Battery”.
• No atomiser = screen will display “No atomiser”.
• Short Circuit = the device will not fire if the resistance detected is below 0.1ohm.
• Reverse polarity = if the battery is installed the wrong way around the device will not fire.
• High resistance = if the resistance detected is too high the screen will display “High Resistance”.

Battery Considerations

This mod uses an external 18650 battery. You will need to remove the battery to charge it.

The instructions state you will require a 40A discharge current rated battery. Hmm I am not sure if one of these actually exist.

I had a look at Mooch’s 18650 battery comparison table and there are a few at 30A or over – so have a nosey to pick the best battery you can. (Tip for viewing the table – save it to your device, open in a gallery and you can then zoom in!)

I have a couple of Sony VTC5A which Mooch rates at 25-30A so I used these in this mod.

Using Fogstar’s battery amp calculator – using this at 70W max means I need at least a 26A output battery. So the VTC5A should be ok.

If using this device at lower wattage you will be able to use lower Amp rated batteries but worth double checking on the calculator. For use at 55W (as with my Melo 4 tank) I needed a 20A battery. That gives you a lot more to choose from – including popular batteries such as the Samsung 25R.

I did find using the Nunchaku with the Samsung 30Q battery it got quite hot. The 30Q has a better capacity but the current output is lower so it wasn’t best suited to the single battery Nunchaku.

It is not recommended to charge the battery whilst it is still in the mod so make sure to have a spare battery and a good quality battery charger to hand. We tell you all about battery safety in our guide.

How To Install The Battery

• If a battery is installed it is best to turn the mod upside down first to prevent the battery dropping out.
• Unscrew the bottom cap and remove battery (if installed).
• Install a new battery with the positive pole going inside the mod.
• Screw the bottom cap back on – this may need you to push the cap onto the mod as well as turn to tighten.

How Does the Teslacigs Punk 86W Mod Perform?

Using this at 55W it seemed to deliver the same power as other mods. I have no sophisticated equipment to test the output accurately but it did feel to give the same output I am used to on the Melo 4 tank.

Fire speed seems pretty quick – not quite as quick as the Yosta Livepor 100W which I have recently reviewed – however that was even quicker than my Voopoo Alpha One – so that was quite unusual!

Using the same battery and tank on my Nunchaku mod – felt exactly the same too. So they appear to be evenly matched on power and firing speed.

Just bear in mind using this at over 65W is going to hammer the battery life and also require a higher output battery. So really this mod is happier with tanks which require 65W or less power. For higher power tanks I would go for a dual battery mod.

Battery Life

There are a lot of variables when giving battery life comparisons, obviously the battery type, power setting and your own vaping habits will impact these figures.

Sadly this does not have a puff counter which I often used for battery comparisons so I will try to use the time I have been vaping.

Using a Sony VTC5A battery which has 2500mAh capacity and vaping regularly at 55W with 0.15ohm coil I got 4.5 hours of vaping.

Comparing this to the Nunchaku which I often felt guzzled the battery life I got 4 hours using the same tank, battery and power level.

So the battery life of the Punk 86W is slightly better than the Nunchaku.

Pros

• Beautiful looking device
• Regulated, adjustable and with a screen makes this very user friendly
• Simple operation – only VW and By-pass – no Temperature control or fiddly menus
• Adjustments move in 0.5W increments so quick to move through the settings.
• Better battery cover arrangement than previous Punk mods
• Apart from the fire button everything feels super robust and well made.

Cons

• Fire button rattle
• Negative battery polarity not marked
• Screen nestled in tightly so at some angles the display looks distorted by the edges of the screen cover.
• Do need to push on the battery cover whilst screwing it in to get it to tighten
• Might be difficult to pick a matching tank / RDA – especially in the Copper or Brass colours.
• Restricted in tank choice for power and size too. Anything under 24mm diameter looks a bit poo and over 65W power requirement will be running the battery down very quickly.
• Would have been nice to have the option of 21700 or 20700 battery – especially in a single battery mod it makes a big difference.

Final Review Verdict

The looks of this mod are just stunning and the latest in the Punk range does not disappoint on that score. I wanted to get my hands on this the second I saw it released!

Design / build wise there are a few niggles. A rattly fire button, the screen view is a bit distorted and lack of negative pole battery marking have made me drop a few points in my scores. However the mod is rugged and feels super well made apart from the fire button.

The main competition for me in this type of category was the Uwell Nunchaku – which is a very similar device with a similar output.

I prefer the looks of the Tesla Punk 86W straight away. The build quality and power delivery on both mods is pretty equal. I find the Tesla feels slightly heavier than the Nunchaku but not by much.

Just make sure to check you are using the right battery for the power level of the tank you want to use with it.

I do think Tesla missed a slight trick as the ability to use 21700 or 20700 batteries in here would have made this a must buy for a lot more people. Plus the higher output available with these batteries would make the mod a lot more versatile and less restrictive on the tank you can pair with it.