I have in my possession the stunning VZone Cultura mod – I have secretly (or not so secretly) been craving this and the VZone Graffiti mods as they just look amazing!
So you can imagine how happy I was when it arrived!
What Can We Expect From The Cultura from VZone
The VZone Cultura is a single battery mod and you can use either a 20700 or 18650 battery in this. With the bigger battery you will get a maximum output of 100W. With the smaller battery it will be less.
The funky looking body on the Cultura is down to “In Mould Labelling (IML)” – which is apparently a way of injection coating on aluminium alloy for a better finish and wear resistance.
Inside the mod is a HW board 1.0 chipset – which is the same as used in the Graffiti and eMask twin battery mods.
After using this I found a lot of similarities to some of the Tesla mods – the Wye and the Punk. I looked around and it appears some of the Tesla mods use the HW chipset too. The “KA” mode for VW was what made me think of Tesla.
You get an OLED screen and user modes including Variable Wattage, Temperature Control, Taste Modes and Curve Memory Modes.
VZone went a bit crazy with the design on this range and the four colours in the range each have their own style. You can choose from the Skull like Gun Metal, the very shiny Blue and Silver SS model, the super bright 7-Colour and the self-explanatory Camo.
So will my love at first sight with this be an enduring love or just a bit of a fling? Let’s get it fired up and find out!
What’s In The Box
- VZone Cultura Mod
- USB Cable
- 18650 battery adaptor
- User Manual
Features
VZone Cultura Mod Specs
- Size: 89x38x30
- 0.91in OLED screen
- Powered by single 18650/20700 battery (not included)
- TC range: 200 – 600 °F / 100 – 300 °C
- Wattage range: 7 – 100W
- Thread: 510
- Resistance: 0.1 – 3.0ohm (KA Mode), 0.05-1.0 ohm (TC/TCR)
- Output Mode: KA / TC (SS316, Ni200, Ti) / TCR
- Maximum output voltage: 8.5V
- Maximum output current: 32A
- Taste mode: Norm, Soft, Hard, User
- Memory Mode: M1, M2, M3
Build Quality & Design
Upon opening the box which is just oozing quality on its own – I find the mod has a plastic wrapping all the way around – so the mod arrived in perfectly shiny pristine condition.
I got the Stainless Steel version which has mirror blue panels. Oh god I hope it stays looking like this as it is absolutely beautiful!
This mod looks like such a quality item – the buttons on the front have the sort of machined swirls on the face of them and even without a battery installed there isn’t a single rattle.
However a couple of very minor build flaws were apparent – see my pics below. The silver panel on the side of the mod has some weird dents/cut outs where it meets the top panel of the mod, the gaps in where the blue panels meet this are uneven and the battery door has a slight over hang. But that is being very picky.
My main mod is usually the Wismec Sinuous P80 as I really love a single battery mod which can use 25mm tanks – and guess what this little Cultura is very very similar!
Here are a few size comparisons to show you where the Cultura sits in the size league. Left to right – Augvape V200, Cultura, Wismec Sinuous P80, Vaporesso Revenger Mini and Smok X-Priv Baby.
After a few days of use I found a feature I hadn’t even noticed! When you press Fire there are light up branded displays on the side of the mod. Hidden behind the black side panels! I love this!
The 510 connector is offset.
My Fireluke Mesh resin tank looks amazing on here and that is 24mm in diameter. You are getting very close to overhang territory with this so I don’t think a 25mm diameter tank would look very good.
On the opposite side to the screen is a textured grip area.
So far for a new brand I think VZone are knocking it out of the park they really are!
In The Hand
How Does the VZone Cultura Mod Perform?
Basic operation
The controls consist of a fire button and 2 adjustment buttons. The screen is sat between these.
Below the adjustment buttons is a USB port – mainly for software upgrades when these are available. I have not seen any firmware upgrades on the VZone website yet. It is not recommended to recharge removable batteries in the mod.
The controls will be familiar to anyone who has used a Tesla mod. If you are not familiar a quick run down of the operation is below.
- Switch on/off = 5 quick presses of the fire button
- Lock/unlock the adjustment buttons = press hold fire button and down button
- Adjust settings = up and down buttons
- Select/confirm = fire button
- Enter menu = 3 quick presses of the fire button
When you enter the “menu” mode – different parts of the screen can be highlighted, use the fire button to select the value you want to alter and the up and down buttons to adjust. Once finished press the fire button.
- Select the resistance value to lock the resistance or fine tune it using the up and down buttons.
- Select the “Norm” icon to select the taste mode, Norm, Hard, Soft or User. If you select User you will be taken into the power curve setting screens. Each bar of the graph is 1 second of firing. You can then adjust how much power is sent per second. You can then store this in the Memory slots.
- The “KA” icon will take you to the power modes. Select KA for Variable Wattage or select the coil materials for temperature control functionality. You can also select and enter TCR settings on this screen too.
- Select the “M” icon to scroll through the memory slots and you can select a saved setting.
- Select the battery icon to display the mod info – Firmware etc.
How To Install The Battery
Make sure to remove the 18650 battery adaptor and isolator spongy things from the battery compartment!
- Turn the mod upside down and slide the battery compartment cover in the direction of the arrow.
- If using a 20700 battery install this into the mod observing the polarity marking on the battery door (minus at the door end!)
- If using a 18650 battery – install the battery first into the adaptor and then into the mod – again observing the battery polarity markings.
- Close the battery cover and slide closed.
The battery door can be a bit temperamental to close. You have to push the door past the catch before it will close and then slide it shut.
VZone Cultura Performance
From the second I installed the batteries this just fired up and worked.
The menu system is perfectly functional but after using large screens with big icons this does feel slightly old fashioned. But it does work fine.
Performance wise the output seemed to me to be accurate with the vape tanks I know and use on other mods – I found I was setting the wattage to similar levels.
As the VZone Cultura appears to use the same chipset as a lot of Tesla mods use I think you will find the operation and performance very similar too if you are familiar with them.
The Tesla mods with this chip include the Wye 85W and 200W, Nano 120W and the Punk 85W and 220W and are well loved for their performance.
Battery Life
This can take different batteries – either the 18650 or 20700. Sadly a 21700 just will not fit – I know cos I tried!
Also each type of battery can vary and the settings you run the mod at will all impact the battery life you get. So I can give you a guide to the life I got with my batteries.
With the 20700 battery (3100mAh, 30A Max) at 60-65W I got 7 hours of vaping.
With the 18650 battery (Samsung 25R) at 60-65W I got 5 hours of vaping.
Pros
- Beautiful to look at
- Quality feeling
- Excellent packaging
- Great size and weight – so practical
- Wonderful performance and good battery life
- Appears to have the same chipset as some of the popular Tesla mods
Cons
- Menu system and display seems slightly outdated in the era of big colour screens and menu icons etc.
- Fire button wasn’t super responsive, sometimes would take 7 or 8 clicks to turn on and off.
- Few very small flaws in build quality.
Final Review Verdict
I love how the Vzone Cultura looks, it really is a beautiful device. It is mega shiny so a total finger-print magnet! Trying to take photos without showing myself in the reflection of the mirror finish was a challenge!
It is super practical, big enough for a 20700 battery but small enough to be hand and handbag friendly. I find dual battery mods a bit too big for out and about so this is perfect. It is similar in size and performance to my much loved Wismec Sinuous P80 which is my most used mod.
The screen design is slightly old fashioned – remember I have been using the great big colour screens on the likes of the X-Priv Baby, Vaptio Super Bat etc so this is not as easy to see or navigate.
But it does the job and does it well. Users of Tesla mods with the HW chip will feel right at home with this mod. Plus some people might see the simple screen as a Pro as it is less to drain the battery!
A few weird gaps on the body only slightly detract from the looks and quality of this mod. But performance wise I have not been able to fault it at all.
