I finally have it! The first Thermovape to hit the Indian shores! I have never been so excited since the Solo was launched. I received the package a couple of days back but refrained from posting before I could get a hang of the device, to avoid uneducated untested claims. I am not new to vaping, have been exclusively vaping daily for more than 2 years now, have tested over a dozen vapes and own 7 of them ATM. There is a lot going on for this device and in my opinion, the TV is on its way to set a new higher benchmark for all vapes in the future. But it definitely needs some things worked out before it becomes a runaway success IMO. Following are my initial impressions of the TV:
PROs:
Design: This is the part where I think the TV is breaking all grounds and setting a new standard in the world of vaping. The TV is probably the only vape I have seen where the creators are deeply concerned about the day to day issues with using vapes. From the moment you hold it in your hands and then go ahead to disassemble it, the device feels like it was designed with a lot of thought going into the problems of everyday use and how to solve these problems. Most vaporizer designers are focusing primarily on the most optimum vapor production, which is good, but the TV team seems to have not stopped at that. They have gone ahead and looked at every (ok most) aspects of how the device feels, behaves and interacts with your everyday life and in quite a few places, waled a lot of extra miles to make it great.
Durability: This is demonstrated well (even over the top i would say) in the video demos. The TV is built like a tank, while it doesn't weigh like one! This is important, not because i would be going to war with it, but because I need my vapes to be as reliable as possible. Something that will not give up on me. The TV has got to be one of the most durable and sturdy vape out there, in terms of both the materials used and in terms of design. It screams of reliability and ensures yours trust in it. This also makes it the most portable vaporizer I have tried. Essentially it lets you stop worrying about the vaporizer and only focus on the vapor and its effects
Modular componentized architecture: This will probably be my favorite feature of the TV and I think its the key to the great design and impending success of this vape. The TV is in no way a 'simple' device. And most complex vapes in todays world are sealed boxes with everything in them, untouchable by the user. That is understandable. But the TV shatters that norm by being a transparent collection of simple components that come together seamlessly (literally seamlessly) into one tight package. The only other devices with a similar philosophy that comes to my mind are the Golden greek nicotine vaporizers. (Those who know about the elite legacy of the GG will agree that this is a huge complement to the TV) And even the GG requires hours of video watching and tutorial reading to pull one apart and put it together again. The TV on the other hand is dead simple to put together. And the most beautiful aspect is that this componentization is done without any compromises to form or function. I consider that a huge achievement. This has 2 major advantages to us the consumers of the TV: 1. Its transformable and upgradable as the team churns out newer components. Again I have seen this work extremely well and satisfy the users of the GG in the ecig world and have no doubt that the same will happen with the Thermovape family if the creators intend it (and I think they have explicitly stated that they do). 2. Its repairable by buying partial components. I have seen that the TV has been taking some flak due to its 3 month warranty on its heating core and due to the fact that they have called it a consumable. I think its brutally honest of them to do so. Every electrical vaporizer here has a coil. Every heating coil possibly made degrades over time to its eventual point of failure. Most vaporizers would have to be thrown away when that happens. Most vapes don't feel like educating the customer about the same. But the TV not only comes out in the open with the facts, they device an easily replaceable module and start selling the module from day 1 so that the users feel comforted that they could be using the TV for the rest of their lives if need be and be able to replace the key parts that can fail. This strategy might cause some initial discomfort to buyers as they are going to feel "oh this vape has a consumable part!" and perceive it as a downer, but eventually the world will realise that all vapes should have their coils as user serviceable and replaceable parts. The coil is only as good as the material that's used to make it and from OF's feedback it seems they have used the best available metal in it. These of course are my partially educated guesses, only time will tell the actual life of the coils and the thermo cores.
Great air path: All vapes I have tried have a unique smell or taste some acceptable, and some downright nasty. Even if they claim to have an all glass air path. The TV has none! All you taste is what your herbs are supposed to taste like. The simple and straight forward vapor path design puts very very little between your herbs and your mouth, resulting in great flavor and also a feature thats always been my pet peeve...
Ease of cleaning and maintenance: If you have followed my previous reviews and discussions, you would know that one of the most important features I look for is ease of cleaning. I am a heavy vapor user (about 6 to 12 bowls a day) and the daily chores of cleaning these devices is what I hate the most about vaping. Maybe its the herbs I use or get in this side of the world, but I seem to be gunking up my vapes far more than most people here at FC. The TV seems to be one of the easiest to clean vapes I have come across. Just remove the batteries, take the components apart, and boil everything barring the batteries or toss it in an ultrasonic tank. (Though you should hardly need to clean all the parts, I am thinking only the top cap and the thermo core should do it) This again should be credited to its use of durable materials and its componentized design. I obviously have yet to gunk it up enough to actually validate this, but its ease of cleaning seems to be quite apparent to me.
Uses standard batteries: Coming from the NO2 and the Solo, its a welcome relief to see that the TV uses a standard and highly popular battery format the RCR123a. Battery tech evolves faster than vapes and power ratings keep going up over time. By using a highly popular standard battery format, the user is open to upgrade to a better compatible battery as soon as one comes out in the market. Also batteries are probably more of a consumable than the heating coil and usually the first thing that fails / degrades. Being half way across the globe from its manufacturers, its reassuring that I could procure the batteries locally as its a standard format. The other great thing about the batteries is the choice of the battery brand that the TV team has gone with. Tenergy makes great batteries, and their charger is really good too. It uses the CC, CV charging format and is dual channel, thus allowing you to charge 2 batteries of unequal charges simultaneously. I have been using a lot of Tenergy batteries, both the LiFePO4 and the Li-ion 123as for some time now and had zero issues with them. The Tenergy batteries are probably only second to AW in terms of quality. The only drawback right now is that I have looked hard and not found a 4 channel 3.2V LiFePO4 specific charger out there, and the TV needs to have one desperately. This of course will be solved by the market sooner or later, and the TV team won't have to do anything about it.
Great Aesthetics - Looks great, good to hold, easily pocketable: Its Simple shape and the lack of arbitrary protrusions makes it really easy to pocket. The TV looks sophisticated enough to not look absurd when you are pulling at it in public. I am a heavy e-cig user and own several mods. To an untrained eye, the TV is nearly indistinguishable from an ecig mod, which for me, serves as a great stealth / disguise feature.
Now with all these Pros I must be sounding like this vape is godsend for me, and should have become the only vape I need to have. Unfortunately, thats not the case yet. I have some glaring issues with the TV which is nearly making it a deal breaker for me. So much so that I am absolutely sad that I am unable to take benefit of all of the above mentioned goodness. So here come the
Cons:
Just not enough vapor!!!: Now a vaporizer can be good in a hundred aspects, but if it doesn't produce enough vapor, then everything else stops mattering. I waited for some time for the TV to ship to me so I had enough time to read through every experience, tip and review here. I am aware of learning curves and being experienced enough with vapes, I have tried every stated technique in the last 2 days, controlled the draw from being non existently slow, to gradually increasing to strong draws, stirring after every 2 hits, extremely fine grinds, but just not enough vapor. And I am not only talking about visible clouds, I am talking about enough vapor to satisfy my needs. Visible vapor is probably lower than even my VG, and not even comparable to my Solo or NO2. One possible reason for this could be because of the kind of herbs I am using. Though I use the best and most expensive herbs available in my city, its no where close to potency of the herbs available in the US. Even though the herbs are dry, The first 3 to 4 hits nearly has no effect, and the 5th hit onwards, the vape gets too hot to handle (i'll come to this point next). I am not saying that my herbs just don't vape as exactly the same quantity of herbs in the NO2 produces clouds for at least 8 - 10 hits, usually more. I think the herbs I use need to get heated up amply before they start vaping.
The device gets hot. I mean really really hot! I am in no way extra sensitive to heat, but The TV quickly gets so hot that I cannot hold up the switch. Just in 2 days, I have already developed a blister on my thumb with the TV and I am sure it will get worse if I use it regularly. Moment my herbs are hot enough to provide vapor and flavor, the device gets uncomfortable and soon impossible to hold. Either I have a defective device and some how too much heat is being conducted to the body or its a design issue, I don't know. Maybe I am facing this as the ambient temperature in here is high and most of you have cold winters going on (We do too, but the coldest it gets around here is 17 degrees Celsius
). I had originally bought the TV for my wife as she doesn't like any of the vapes I have, and still keeps going back to combustion. Even if I can somehow use my Yogic powers
to hold on to the hot vape, she is not going to be touching it in that state! Even the Mouth piece gets incredibly hot too, but I am guessing I could mitigate that by using some longer drip tips made of less conductive materials. All of this happens within 10 hits and only 1 set of batteries. I am not chain vaping it by continuously swapping batteries. Infact, you cannot swap batteries immediately once you are done with 1 set, as the device gets so hot that the delrin sleeves spin freely and turning the threads to open up the battery chamber becomes really difficult. Not to mention the fact that it burns the whole palm of both your hands to even try. The switch mechanism makes things worse here, you have to keep your thumb pushed onto the hot metal to vape. Its funny that the point where there will be the maximum pressured contact between the device and human skin is left bare and the rest of the device is insulated such that all heat emits out of the switch part! It almost feels like punishment.
The Delrin sleeve design sucks: The sleeve feels like it was an after thought in design. I understand the TV team wanted to make a replaceable sleeve but why does a cylindrical sleeve not have any grooves that slide over bumps on the metal body? Especially when there are two threaded components that require constant twisting and opening? Unfortunately IMO to rectify this, the TV sleeve and the body will have to change, and I don't see that happening soon enough. Maybe Loctite could solve this, but that would ruin the inner aesthetics of the device and if and when I would want to the revolution without the sleeve, it wouldn't be possible. The metal body borrows the design of the Apex Alpha ecigs from Innovapor, To me it feels like TV team just chose to use the same body / switch mechanism for the TV, and when it got hot, they just shoved it into the sleeve.
I have a few other minor irritants with the TV, such as the fact that all my 510 drip tips fit loosely onto the TV out of the box and does not even for am airtight seal, but this could be rectified by using thicker o-rings I am guessing.
I am too heartbroken to look at any minor issues though, as I had fallen in love with the design and philosophy of the Thermovape and really hoped it would be the lifesaver vape I have been looking for. But in this current state, unless the TV team solves my top 2 issues, or provides a replacement warranty for my thumb, the TV is not working for me. I am going to continue testing and modify my techniques for another week, but I am already bordering the giving up line. And I don't give up so easily. I have always been a sucker for portable vapes, and have pre-ordered the stealthvape and have considered the AtmosRaw, but had the highest hope for the TV. Now I am just hoping that my unit is defective in some way and maybe a replacement can fix it as most other users here clearly are not facing my problem. Thank you all for reading through my extremely polarized views of the TV but thats just how I feel now.
but luckily my revolution is still going well I emailed the company and am now waiting for a reply. will keep you guys posted.
