With the Topside, Dovpo has reinvented the BF box, with a unique system of bottles that works particularly well. It offers multiple advantages, such as great e-liquid and battery capacity, and a great vaping experience.
Awesome!
The Dovpo Topside is quite a big BF box, at least a bit wider and taller than most single-battery boxes. Even so, it is compact if you take its characteristics into account: a 21700 battery and a 10ml bottle!
The main features of the Dovpo Topside
| Type of kit | BF electronic mod |
| Dimensions | 92 by 54 by 27mm |
| Battery | 1×21700/20700/18650 |
| Charging | USB |
| Power | 5 – 90W |
| Temperature control | Yes, after updating |
| Bottle | 10ml |
| Weight | 189g |
Technical review
There really is absolutely nothing to complain about in terms of manufacturing quality and the finish. It’s flawless. The box is mainly made of aluminium, which makes it robust but still a very reasonable weight (189g). A quick glance over the thickness of the walls around the bottle sets the tone. The 2mm thick aluminium is not about to bend. It’s the type of box you try not to drop to avoid cracking the floor tiles!
It has great ergonomics. The rounded shape around the bottle fits well into the hand, the large fire button is easy to find and the opening over the squonk bottle is sufficiently wide. The box takes atomizers up to 25mm in diameter without any overhang, which makes it compatible with the vast majority of drippers on the market. In a nutshell, the Topside is nice to use and inspires confidence.
What’s in the box?
Topside (x1), bottle (x2), USB cord (x1), 18650 adapter (x1), user manual (x1)
A fantastic BF
The great advantage of the Topside is its BF bottle system, which is as innovative as it is practical. You access the bottle via the door on the bottom of the box, which also allows you to change the 21700 battery. It is easy to operate and the mechanism is sturdy, including with the 18650 adapter provided.
The bottle is impressive. The first thing to notice is its size, quite similar to the battery, allowing it to hold 10ml of juice for ideal autonomy. Then comes the design. It is housed inside a rigid plastic casing with a metal top section. The big advantage of this is that you can get it out of the box and put it back in without pressing on the bottle at all, avoiding any leaks.
The metal top section can be unscrewed if you want to clean the bottle thoroughly, but this is not usually necessary as it has two large openings for filling. And, yes, you don’t even have to remove the bottle to fill it! On top of the box, next to the 510 connector, there is a cap that you simply unscrew to have easy access to the inside of the bottle without touching it at all.
The cap itself is also metal and is in two parts. The top, visible on the outside, is wide and easy to grasp thanks to its textured relief. The inside is spring-mounted to ensure no leakage. To fit the cap, simply make sure that the two tabs on the cap are lined up with the two holes for filling the bottle, press and screw. To fill the bottle, unscrew the cap and remove it to have direct access to the inside of the bottle. It’s just brilliant.
The electronics are efficient
I must admit, I was a bit worried the first time I used the Topside. The ergonomics are excellent, it is flawlessly made and its ease-of-use is unique for a BF box. The electronics just had to deliver. I would have had a pity party for at least a fortnight if it had ended up on the shelf because of an average vape.
It was a nice surprise to find that the screen is particularly clear with great contrast and good sized characters. Even in direct sunlight and with failing eyesight, everything is clear. The power is adjusted in half-watts, which is much more functional than the tenths of a watt that is still all too common.
You access the menu by pressing the fire button and “-” button simultaneously. From here you can then control the power, access a bypass mode and temperature control with all the wires, including direct adjustment of the coefficient. Navigation and settings are intuitive and comprehensive.
In power control mode, the box is precise and does deliver the power it says it will. The signal is smooth and constant, and vaping is pleasant. The signal on the oscilloscope chart at 20W is surprisingly wide without this having the least practical impact. The Topside also offers excellent responsiveness with only 10ms between firing and voltage stabilisation. At high power, it can indeed deliver the 90W stated with a signal that is just as clean. You can use it in power control mode without any second thoughts, in whatever vaping style you want.
In stainless steel temperature control mode, it passes the dry cotton test with flying colours, cutting off the voltage quickly. The assembly comes out immaculate, even in the total absence of liquid. In normal operation, vaping is ideally constant after the first second of the puff. However, the response leaves a bit to be desired. The first half-second of each puff is a bit sluggish and conversely is followed by another half-second that is slightly more powerful than intended. The temperature control is not perfect, but it is far from being bad even so. The vapour takes a while to arrive, but it’s only really obvious with very large assemblies that take their time to heat up on the whole.
In summary
What we like
- The robust construction
- The finishes
- The ergonomics
- The great BF system
- The 21700/20700/18650 compatibility
- The pleasant vaping experience
What we don’t like
- The first half-second of vaping in TC… if you’re picky about that kind of thing.
