Attractive design but poorly responsive touchscreen
Even if it is bigger (30.5 mm width) than any other regular boxes of the same power, its shape ensures a good catch in hand. Its heavy weight (229 g) remains acceptable, given the built in consequent 5000 mAh battery.
The Fire switch is on the front, the mini-USB connector is on the opposite side. The 510 connector is on the top while the jack connector to plug in a headset is underneath. It is not the most convenient place because once the battery is inserted, you have to lay the box.
The touchscreen is on the side. With its 1.68 inch (4.27 cm) diagonal, it is not very large and will put into trouble those who have the thick fingers because icons on the display are very small. Take care to lock the touchscreen with the locker symbol otherwise a risk of dry hit exists if the settings are changed inadvertently.
Inevitably, the touchscreen is in competition with those of our smartphones and the comparison is not flattering for the Ocular. Another perceived shortcoming is the lack of responsiveness and its poor resolution.
Technical review
The technical features of the Ocular are:
- Dimensions: 30.5 x 43 x 86 mm
- Weight: 229 g
- Display: TFT/CTP (Capacity Touch Panel) Color Touchscreen 1.68 inch (4,27 cm)
- Screen resolution: 320 x 240 dpi
- Vaping modes: VW/Bypass/VT (Ni, Ti, SS316)/TCR
- Variable power:1 – 80 W
- Range of resistance: 0.05 – 1.5 Ω in mode VT/TCR; 0.1 – 3.5 Ω in mode VW/Bypass
- Variable temperature: 100 – 315°C
- Internal memory: 2 Go
- Battery capacity: 5000 mAh
- threaded 510 in stainless steel
- Recharge & upgrade via USB
- 3.5 mm jack connector
- Colors: Silver, Grey or Black
Joyetech Occular’s packaging contains:
- One electronic box Joyetech Ocular 80 W,
- One micro USB cable
- User manual
- Waranty card
To vape or to listen to music, you have to choose
Upgrades and transfers of music and pictures are achieved through Joyetech’s VT software. The Ocular can cope with up to 100 jpeg pictures (in 240×320) and 50 songs (in mp3), only one upload at a time. The transfer is long and painful. The name of each file must not exceed 12 characters and, unfortunately, the box doesn’t allow its user to vape during this operation.
Joyetech already stored 5 classical songs that can be browsed on the touchscreen. The same pictogram allows adjusting the volume, using + and -. As soon as the Ocular is used to vape, the music stops; you need to run into the menu to select Music and resume your favorite song. Here again, vaping and listening to the music cannot be simultaneous; a severe limitation to its use and a mp3 player function rather seen as a gadget. The same applies to pictures. Will forthcoming firmware upgrades fix this issue?
A pedometer allows you to determine the number of steps you did. Once again this function is a gadget, not very precise since it counted 25 steps although I didn’t move from my seat.
The first contact with the Ocular is disturbing because navigation is via the touchscreen. Settings Menu is reached by scrolling down with two fingers. There a Wireless Mode enables the connection of the Ocular with Joyetech’s App on a Smartphone. In Vapor, the Stealth Mode can be activated. Time and Date can be set in Time Set. Display gives access to brightness and enables a screensaver (image or clock) and a wallpaper. The last line (Reset) resets the box to factory settings. Always keep in mind that the autonomy is reduced when the Bluetooth connection is on.
Let’s now turn to its real function: vaping. The Vape function gives access to many settings and to Mode selection. To change the Mode, slide your fingers horizontally. The reactiveness is good. In Power Mode, the power can be adjusted with the + and – controls. It would have been fun to set the power by scrolling up and down directly on the screen but this version of the firmware is not compliant with such gestures. Puff is a puff counter and gives the number of puffs you made since the last time it has been reinitialized.
In VT Mode, it is possible to operate the Ocular in temperature control mode and the desired temperature is selected with + and -. To adjust the power, click on W. The resistance value is locked by clicking on Ω. Settings are very intuitive.
The TCR Mode is similar to VT. The heating coefficient is entered manually. I admit that it is an asset compared to traditional boxes that operate mechanically for the settings.
The Fire switch poses problems but the programmation brings ease of use
On the Ocular specimen I received for testing, the Fire switch has been a major weakness since it could get stuck after release. It happened a few times during this test. In addition, the Ocular does not always activate when pressing the Fire switch and it requires to do it again. The rest is
The Wireless Mode, in Settings, enables the connection between the Ocular and a Smartphone Android or iOS via a Joyetech App. With this function, your smartphone becomes a remote controller for the Ocular and shares with it the same functionalities: changing the vaping Mod, adjusting power, temperature, brightness, etc… The App also counts puffs and estimates the volume of liquid consumed as well as the number of tobacco cigarettes that have been avoided. You also have access to yearly, monthly or weekly summaries of your vaping behaviour.
Joyetech’s App also has weaknesses because of frequent failures in the synchronization with the box that affect the reliability of the statistics. In addition, all statistics features require to be connected in Bluetooth, which reduces the autonomy of the electronic box.
A complex system
One might wonder how Joyetech sees the evolution of its boxes. On paper, the concept is pleasant, but when the box is in you hands, you realize that most of these exotic features are not functional. In addition, most of these fonctions are already part of a basic smartphone that stays in our pocket all day long. In contrast to electronic boxes, smartphones have more power dedicated to media and also more storage, a bigger screen and a better definition. With a smartphone data transfer is easier and fast and I don’t even talk about the reactiveness of the screen.
In fine, what is essential in this electronic box, vaping, is even not improved. It is just the opposite.
The statistics window may be interesting to vapers who want to monitor their performances. Why not, when it works well? Joyetech should rather focus on the vaping quality of their products. Here, the quality is clearly below what has been produced those last few years. The research on new types of resistances should be more pertinent in this domain.
In summary
The “+”:
- Good catch in hands
- Usability of the touchscreen that makes navigation easy
- Good autonomy
- Performant chipset
- Stat function for monitoring vaping behavior
The “-“:
- Lack of responsiveness for the touchscreen
- Lag time after pressing the Fire switch
- Erratic functioning for the Fire switch
- Dry hits occur when the touchscreen is not locked
- Fuzzy names for some functions
Conclusions
Rating of 2.5/5. Joyetech’s Ocular lease us with doubts. The new functionality are not convincing. The touchscreen is perfectible, the podometer useless, media functions lack usability. And most of all, the Fire switch was defective on our test specimen. The principle of tactile navigation is intuitive, especially in the Vape menu where it is very performant despite the lack of responsiveness and precision of the touchscreen. Our expectations is that some of the defaults will be erased with firmware upgrades. In our opinion, the Ocular is an expensive electronic mod that overextends towards domains where Joyetech doesn’t have supremacy.
