Alright the two babies arrived this morning and this time no import taxes, they (Smiss) did the declarations right when Vnice/Flowerwen said they would but didn't in the end, that's a good thing.
The packaging has been updated a little, now it says V5.0 vaporizer (not 5S curiously), there's the new discreet logo and.... tada... 3 temperature settings!
On the side there is a new QR security/authenticity code with a small 'scratch me' zone to reveal a serial number. This should hopefully be a good indicator in the future to tell if you got a genuine version or not (although I imagine someone could fake that sticker too, but nonetheless it's a nice addition)
It says the mouthpiece is "Pyres Glass" with a mis-spelling. The thing is relatively thick, same form factor as the silicone one. But, first disappointment: apparently you can't remove the metal base from it and the apperture on the top is quite small, so I'm afraid I will have a hard time cleaning this stuff in the future. At least the internal ceramic disc that restricted the air-flow is not there anymore, they are listening to our feedback.
Second slight disappointment: there's no spare silicone mouthpiece in the kit. I kinda hoped there would be one, in case I break the glass one... Someone said it's possible to buy those spares online?
Inside the box not much changed, apart that my previous charger had a euro plug adapter fitted on it, now it's directly a euro plug charger. The amp rating is the same and it's still pretty small. Of course and in case you are wondering: no you won't get a euro plug charger if you are outside Europe obviously!
Now onto the device itself: new logo on the sides, apart from that it's strictly the same, with a single button do-it-all operating logic. I just powered one of them and did a very short burn-in, and then put them both on charge as the consensus is that this first charge is of prime importance with Li-Ion batteries (and if it's not, well it doesn't cost much to wait a little longer just to be sure)
So for now the little guys are sun-bathing on my chair with their charger pin plugged in their ass!
During the first burn-in I could smell that trademark robot fart and I'm pretty sure it's due to this silly tape they put around the bowl. I can't stress it enough but people don't realize that ventilation and air flow are of key importance when doing off-gassings / burn-ins! You want to remove those nasty remnants and it's not by letting your device sit on high temp that it's gonna happen.
There needs to be a stream of air to carry the molecules away, so either put the device in front of a fan, or as I did, keep blowing inside it as much as you can. Beware that doing this will make the aluminium body quite hot (if you blow through the mouth-piece that is) so another solution is to blow though the bowl venting holes instead. Yes it's the boring part, if you are not too taste-sensitive you can skip it and use the device directly as the smell is less overwhelming than what the silicone straw had in my first device.
I haven't put any material inside yet, can't comment on the 3 temp settings. I can just tell you that you cycle though them with the single button. Hold it 3 seconds then release, the LED will blink another color and stop blinking once that temp level is reached. It starts blue, then purple, then red, using that plastic light guide, it's pretty... It's quite similar to the Indica in that regard.
Voila! The price difference with the original V version is so small that I see no good reason not to get the upgraded 5S version.