I was lucky enough to get my grubby little paws on the Chi-You mechanical mod from Vape King. They very kindly sponsored the prizes for the cloud chasing competition at the Jhb Vape Meet yesterday.
This pic shows the fully assembled Chi-You, with KF3.1 on top, and the kick ring, lying above it.
As promised I have assembled a quick review on this mod.
After getting my hands on the Magneto first, and then the Nemisis, I had a mental block towards getting any other mechs, for the time being, on the basis that I had the two I liked the most, and that until something new and better came along, I would be content with what I had. In any event I now had a Reo, and would have no need for anything outside of the Reo and the other two very popular mechs - which were surely the best out there?
Well I guess I was wrong, because this Chi-You clone is actually better than the nemesis clone I have, at least in my view, and it comes damn close to knocking the Magneto off its perch as well.
First up the build quality is fantastic. The fabled 'buttery smooth threads' everyone always talks about are present on every connection in this mod. The engraving/etching is well produced, and the stainless steel is nicely polished, just enough to bring out some shine, without being a full blown fingerprint magnet.
The Chi-you ships in a brown box, with smokey type design on the cover. The packaging is on par with the Magneto's box.
Here is a pic of all of the components that make up the mod, laid out in order.
This mod has a lot of options. Aside from a kick ring, which means you could run a kick in full 18650 mode, you also get a fully adjustable center pin for your atomiser connection, and an independently adjustable positive pin, and adjustable negative pin at the bottom. This means you can not only adjust the switch's throw, but also accommodate a flat/button type cell, without making the mod longer or shorter, as would happen if you used a button top in the magneto. Ok I agree, the difference in length on the magneto is tiny, but when I use mine with a button top I can see the edge of the threads, whereas with a flat top I don't see any threads.
In addition, you get an airflow adjustment ring, which rotates up and down to cover the 4 airholes, in a similar manner to the aerotank from Kanger. Because this is threaded, the ring is alot more reliable than the adjustable airflow on the nemisis, which is basically either open, or closed, and can easily move unintentionally.
The locking ring has grooves machined out of it to assist grip when locking or unlocking, and like wise, there are similar grooves on the airflow adjustment ring. These grooves give the Chi-You a very distinctive look in the market place compared to the all flush design of the Nemesis.This mod is distinct. She also feels very solid in the hand, and quite well balanced with the KF3.1 on top.
Trying this out with a freshly charged batt and the KF3.1, this mod has a great kick to it. She puts out almost all of the battery power, with the voltage drop, by my measurement, being 0.02 volts. Pretty solid stuff. I think the postive and negative contact points for the battery could benefit from a little sanding, and this is something I will look in to doing.
Here are some more pics to show off:
Battery going in with switch assembly:
Battery, with kick ring.
The 510 connector. The larger nut is the positive pin adjustment point. The smaller nut is the 510 connector pin
The airflow adjustment ring, all the way down. You can just make out one of the airholes.
So coming down to it, I think the Chi-You has edged the Nemesis out of second place in my books, but I still prefer the Magneto, although it is such a close, close call. Why do I still prefer the Magneto? One simple reason, and that's the switch assembly. The switch on the magneto is unrivaled in my opinion, and although the Chi-You is good, it can be a little sticky, and does crunch if you apply pressure from a slight angle. The Magneto switch is smooth, and responds to being pushed from the wrong angle absolutely perfectly.
I suspect that the Chi-You switch crunchiness will calm down when the mod has been used for a little while, and inspection of the components in the switch shows that the crunch comes from micro-ridges left over from the machining process.
So the Chi-You emerges as a rock solid, well engineered, excellently built mod, which for the same price as the Nemesis, is actually much better value for money. Going up against the Magneto, the Chi-You is on an equal footing regarding build quality (except for the switch) and wins on features, as the Magneto doesn't have adjustable airflow.
Take a moment to consider that the Chi-You comes in at 60% of the cost of the Magneto and it becomes clearer that this mod punches well above its price range, and I am actually thrilled that I was able to get one of these, which will now be used as a daily carry instead of my Nemesis.
As this actually goes for the same price as a Nemesis clone, I think this is a much better mod, but obviously, the many Nemesis fans will be quick to argue the point.
-----------------------------------
Mod: Chi-You Clone
Supplier: www.vapeking.co.za
Link: http://www.vapeking.co.za/chi-you-mechanical-mod-clone-ephcyou.html
Price: R460
Thanks again to @Gizmo and @Stroodlepuff for sponsoring the prizes for this competition
This pic shows the fully assembled Chi-You, with KF3.1 on top, and the kick ring, lying above it.
As promised I have assembled a quick review on this mod.
After getting my hands on the Magneto first, and then the Nemisis, I had a mental block towards getting any other mechs, for the time being, on the basis that I had the two I liked the most, and that until something new and better came along, I would be content with what I had. In any event I now had a Reo, and would have no need for anything outside of the Reo and the other two very popular mechs - which were surely the best out there?
Well I guess I was wrong, because this Chi-You clone is actually better than the nemesis clone I have, at least in my view, and it comes damn close to knocking the Magneto off its perch as well.
First up the build quality is fantastic. The fabled 'buttery smooth threads' everyone always talks about are present on every connection in this mod. The engraving/etching is well produced, and the stainless steel is nicely polished, just enough to bring out some shine, without being a full blown fingerprint magnet.
The Chi-you ships in a brown box, with smokey type design on the cover. The packaging is on par with the Magneto's box.
Here is a pic of all of the components that make up the mod, laid out in order.
This mod has a lot of options. Aside from a kick ring, which means you could run a kick in full 18650 mode, you also get a fully adjustable center pin for your atomiser connection, and an independently adjustable positive pin, and adjustable negative pin at the bottom. This means you can not only adjust the switch's throw, but also accommodate a flat/button type cell, without making the mod longer or shorter, as would happen if you used a button top in the magneto. Ok I agree, the difference in length on the magneto is tiny, but when I use mine with a button top I can see the edge of the threads, whereas with a flat top I don't see any threads.
In addition, you get an airflow adjustment ring, which rotates up and down to cover the 4 airholes, in a similar manner to the aerotank from Kanger. Because this is threaded, the ring is alot more reliable than the adjustable airflow on the nemisis, which is basically either open, or closed, and can easily move unintentionally.
The locking ring has grooves machined out of it to assist grip when locking or unlocking, and like wise, there are similar grooves on the airflow adjustment ring. These grooves give the Chi-You a very distinctive look in the market place compared to the all flush design of the Nemesis.This mod is distinct. She also feels very solid in the hand, and quite well balanced with the KF3.1 on top.
Trying this out with a freshly charged batt and the KF3.1, this mod has a great kick to it. She puts out almost all of the battery power, with the voltage drop, by my measurement, being 0.02 volts. Pretty solid stuff. I think the postive and negative contact points for the battery could benefit from a little sanding, and this is something I will look in to doing.
Here are some more pics to show off:
Battery going in with switch assembly:
Battery, with kick ring.
The 510 connector. The larger nut is the positive pin adjustment point. The smaller nut is the 510 connector pin
The airflow adjustment ring, all the way down. You can just make out one of the airholes.
So coming down to it, I think the Chi-You has edged the Nemesis out of second place in my books, but I still prefer the Magneto, although it is such a close, close call. Why do I still prefer the Magneto? One simple reason, and that's the switch assembly. The switch on the magneto is unrivaled in my opinion, and although the Chi-You is good, it can be a little sticky, and does crunch if you apply pressure from a slight angle. The Magneto switch is smooth, and responds to being pushed from the wrong angle absolutely perfectly.
I suspect that the Chi-You switch crunchiness will calm down when the mod has been used for a little while, and inspection of the components in the switch shows that the crunch comes from micro-ridges left over from the machining process.
So the Chi-You emerges as a rock solid, well engineered, excellently built mod, which for the same price as the Nemesis, is actually much better value for money. Going up against the Magneto, the Chi-You is on an equal footing regarding build quality (except for the switch) and wins on features, as the Magneto doesn't have adjustable airflow.
Take a moment to consider that the Chi-You comes in at 60% of the cost of the Magneto and it becomes clearer that this mod punches well above its price range, and I am actually thrilled that I was able to get one of these, which will now be used as a daily carry instead of my Nemesis.
As this actually goes for the same price as a Nemesis clone, I think this is a much better mod, but obviously, the many Nemesis fans will be quick to argue the point.
-----------------------------------
Mod: Chi-You Clone
Supplier: www.vapeking.co.za
Link: http://www.vapeking.co.za/chi-you-mechanical-mod-clone-ephcyou.html
Price: R460
Thanks again to @Gizmo and @Stroodlepuff for sponsoring the prizes for this competition
