Featherweight and long-lasting
Tony B’s original design for the Vandy Vape Pulse range of bottom feeder boxes is instantly recognisable. What’s surprising is just how light it is! At first glance, all that clear plastic makes it look fragile, even a bit cheap.
Any impression of it being fragile disappears as soon as you pick it up and start noticing the details. It’s light but sturdy, and feels great in your palm.
The removable front and back panels are thick and solid, and the magnets are strong. There’s no play, the settings are brilliant, and the panels stay perfectly in place. Vandy Vape has delivered a beautiful finish, and we wouldn’t expect anything less.
Technical specs
| Dimensions | 92.5 x 52.5 x 26.2mm |
| Weight | 112g |
| Battery size | 18650 / 21700 |
| Charging | USB-C, external charger |
| Maximum power | 95 |
| Max. atomizer diameter | 26 |
| Modes available | Watts, Temperature control, Bypass |
| Bottle volume | 7.8 |
What’s in the box?
- Mod
- USB cable
- BF bottle
- User guide
Waterproof Vandy chipset
The Vandy Vape comes in a vast array of colours – transparent, dark, and opaque – so everyone will find one they like. Vandy Vape has also really focussed on ways to personalise your vape, and is planning to offer removable, replacement panels for this box. They’ve hinted at the variety of colour combinations they’ll offer and how mod fans will be able to design and buy custom panels.
They’ve also announced that the box will take atomizers of up to 26mm, but just be aware that the flat 510 connection plate is only 22mm wide – any bigger and your atomizer will jut out around the sides. The protective metal strip above it is only 20mm wide. Any atomizers over 24mm in diameter will jut out, although the way that looks won’t matter to some people.
When we took off the front panel that protects the screen, we saw that they’d gone to the trouble of making the electronics in the Vandy chipset waterproof.
The manufacturer has added a waterproof cover, guaranteed to reassure anyone new to vaping. If you’re not used to bottom feeders, you might squeeze the bottle too hard and your e-liquid might overflow. This is a real plus point!
The three buttons (“+”, ” -“, and fire) are also waterproof, pleasant to press and don’t move around. There are also no nasty noises, even if you shake the box.
The colour TFT screen measures 0.96″. The interface is easy to use and you can configure/personalise it, so you only see the information you need, whichever way you use the box.
At the top, where the battery is, the centre of the screen clearly displays the puff count and the power level. The coil value, voltage in real time and the length of the last puff are all shown on the bottom right of the screen.
Three quick clicks on the fire button highlight the vape mode (power levels from 5 to 95 W / temperature from 100 to 315°C / voltage / bypass) and let you select from your chosen display options. Out of the box, the only mode displayed is power, in Watts. That means you can’t select the wrong thing by mistake.
Holding the “+” and “-” buttons down at the same time opens the configuration menu for the box, even when the settings are in locked mode. This menu lets you select which vape modes you want to see in the quick-start vape mode menu (3 x fire), and you can also change the display colour, reset the puff count and adjust the screen brightness.
To lock your settings, hold down the fire and “+” buttons. The settings also allow you choose whether you want the fire button to stay active when the box is in locked mode. Just select “fire” in the first part of the menu.
Using the Pulse V3 with a 21700 battery gives a decent battery life at power levels up to 95W. It also comes with an adapter for an 18650 battery.
If you need to recharge it, use the USB-C port on the front and the mini cable provided. We’d recommend using an external charger to charge the batteries in any case.
New BF bottle format
The Pulse V2 featured a little hatch under the bottle that you could unscrew, letting you fill the bottle from underneath without taking it out of the box. This option was less practical than it first seemed and has been dropped from the V3.
The Pulse V3 comes with two bottles that hold a comfortable 7.8ml. There’s a tab on the top of the bottles for re-filling on the fly, and it’s wide enough to use with a standard 60ml e-liquid bottle.
You can also fill it by unscrewing the bottle top a quarter turn clockwise once you’ve taken it out of the box. That gives you a wider opening and also lets you give it a good clean.
The shape of the bottle fits into the space beside the battery perfectly. This makes it easier to control exactly how much pressure you use so you get enough liquid, but only just enough.
The material the bottle’s made of means you can insert and remove it with confidence – there’s no risk of it leaking.
Summary
What we like
- Featherweight
- Battery life
- Waterproof
- Can be personalised
- Very practical rectangular BF bottle shape
What we don’t like
- The screen’s behind the coloured panel
- Narrow atomizer plate
