Finally!!! A small regulated mod that puts out crazy power (up to 260 watts). The Variant is in my opinion the best regulated mod on the market at this point. It is small, feels great in your hand and its just a good looking mod. It uses LiPo(lithium polymer) batteries, which I think has been a game changer in the vaping industry. The power that the 1200 mah LiPo battery puts out is insane! On my previous regulated mods I would run between 60 ~ 80 watts dripping. 40 watts on the Variant feels like 80 watts on a regulated mod with 18650 batteries. When I would use my Atlantis tank on previous mods I would run between 30 ~ 35 watts. Using the Atlantis on my Variant, 15 ~ 20 watts seems to be the sweet spot. Bottom line, with the LiPo batteries the power is right there from start to finish. There is zero ramp up time.

The pros:

- It will handle builds down to .15 ohm

- You can switch between volts, watts or pulse mode, with the press of a button (triple tap the center button).

- There is a stealth mode option. (press and hold the center button while triple tapping the fire button) This will shut the screen off but still allow you to vape.

- Floating 510 pin, every atty sits flush for me so far, even the Dark Horse. I'm pointing this out because I had the SMY 260 and some of my attys did not sit flush.

- The display shows you everything you need to know. It tells you what wattage, voltage(you are using when you press the fire button) , resistance, battery life in %, puff counter and last but not least how many volts the battery has left. The Variant will shut down before the battery hits 6.1 volts (this is a good thing). It does not display the temp of the unit. So far I haven't really missed that feature.

- The LiPo batteries take about an hour to fully charge!

- Pressing and holding the center button will shut the Variant off or turn in it on. No more tapping the firing button 5 times to shut it off, so you can stick it in your pocket.

- The original Variant had issues with slow battery drain even when the mod wasn't being used. The buttons on the front of the authentic would rattle/seem to be loose. The clone doesn't seem to have those issues.

- The clone is a fraction of the cost. The authentic is made out of titanium which is part of the reason why it is so expensive. The clone is made out of stainless steel. I kind of prefer that to be honest. Although for how small it is, it is kind of heavy. Not a big deal.

The cons:

- Loading the battery takes a little finesse. It is a tight fit but it can be done quickly once you get used to it. Some of our customers have dropped down to 1000 mah batteries, some have dropped down to 800 mah batteries to make it less cramped in there. I tried putting a 1300 mah battery in mine, ten pounds of @#$% five pound bag! I was able to close the battery cover, but not something I would want to deal with on a daily basis.

- The battery compartment and battery cover have sharp edges. You need to be extremely cautious when loading/unloading a battery. Make sure you do not cut into one of the wires and cause a short. One of our regulars took matters into his own hands and sanded down the sides of his battery cover. I gotta say it was a night and day difference. I only recommend you do that if you know what you are doing. If you do not sand it properly it could make matters worse.

- If you are dripping or you are just vaping alot, buy extra batteries. At the very least have one backup battery. I say this because with my SMY 260 and God 180 I could make it damn near all day without changing/charging my batteries. If I'm dripping/vaping heavily using the Variant, I go through two or three battery packs in a day.

- Buy a good charger! The charger that comes with the Variant kit works just fine but you need to keep an eye on your battery while it is charging. As soon as the battery is done charging you will want to disconnect it. This will help prevent damage to the battery. Higher end chargers will automatically shut down once the battery is charged. Do not leave your battery(s) on the charger over night. LiPo batteries are a completely different creature compared to 18650 batteries.

The Variant is not something I would recommend to someone new to vaping. However it really is a fantastic mod and it is built really well, minus the sharp edges on the battery cover and compartment. If you are handy or know someone that is, that issue is easily fixed if the edges bother you. If you are dead set on getting the Variant make sure you educate yourself on LiPo batteries, even if you are a veteran vaper who uses primarily 18650/26650 batteries. Now with that being said if you are familiar with RC cars/trucks you probably already know what I'm talking about.

Bottom line, I absolutely love this mod!!! Oh, before I forget. I've been using the Mutilator RDA lately. I have to say it is so much better than the Dark Horse. But I'll talk about that another time.

It's juice give away time! We are giving away a 30ml bottle of juice. Just post what juice/blend you would like and you are entered. One entry per person please. The winner will be announced Monday the 9th @ 6pm. If you would like a random 15 ml sample add to your post how long you smoked analog cigs before making the switch to vaping.

Good luck!! 

Mark P, is this weeks winner of a 30 ml bottle of juice!! Congrats!

Mark, please email dino@madtownvap.com with your address.

Thank you all for participating. Stay tuned, we will be giving away more juice next week :)