iJoy Shogun Jr Kit Review | It’s A Love Hate Relationship…

Hitting you with the iJoy Shogun Jr Kit review today.

Now, I’ve always been something of an iJoy fan, simply because some of my earliest favourites, when I first got into vaping, were from this popular Shenzhen brand. Devices such as the Captain PD270 and the iJoy Combo RDTA 2…both of which were simply winners when it came to ergonomics, performance and long term endurance.

More recent additions to iJoy’s inventory of winners is the iJoy Shogun UNIV Mod (father of the mod I’m reviewing in this kit review today) and the affordable iJoy Mystique Kit, which I reviewed a couple of months back.

What Can We Expect From the Shogun JR Kit by iJoy

The Shogun JR kit is a looker for sure. A gorgeously classic looking 126W box mod and sub-ohm tank combo that features a 4500mAh on board battery and interchangeable decorative resin panels.

OK.. Let’s dive straight in..

This device was sent free of charge for the purposes of this review. As laways my thoughts are my own.

In The Box

• iJoy Shogun JR mod
• iJoy Shogun Sub-ohm tank
• MESH 1 Coil x 2 (1 pre-installed)
• Replacement glass
• USB Cable
• User manual

Features

Mod

• Size: 50x26x80mm
• Battery: Dual internal batteries (4000mAh or 4500mAh – not specified on iJoy website – varies between vendors??)
• Output: 1-126W
• Material: Zinc Alloy and Resin
• Resistance range: 0.5-3ohm
• Temperature Range: 300-600℉/149-316℃
• Display: 0.96in
• Modes: Power (VW), Pod, Pmode and Temp
• LED indicator
• Double sided replaceable resin panels
• UNIV chipset with 0.013s fire speed
• No overhang with 28mm tanks

Tank

• Size: 57.7x28mm
• Capacity: 2ml / 6ml
• Coils: X3 / DM and MESH coils
• 510 drip tip
• Top fill
• Adjustable bottom airflow

Design and Build Quality

Mod

I was lucky enough to receive the RC Hellfire version of the Shogun JR kit. This version features a brushed copper look, zinc alloy chassis, with red, turquoise, black and pearl coloured swirly resin paneling, stainless steel adjustment and power buttons to match some of the SS detailing on the tank.

Because of the weight of the onboard battery, one could easily mistake this for a solid copper mod. The site lists a zinc alloy chassis, which came as a surprise, so convinced was I by this copper finish (I’m actually still unsure of whether this REALLY is zinc alloy, lol!).

The Shogun Jr mod has that classic rectangular box mod shape that we see on dual 18650 boxes like the Voopoo Drag 2…it’s also roughly the same size, if not a little bit smaller.

Control Panel | Fire Buttons

The control panel and the opposite side both have decorative grooves running down either edge, which gives the mod a more sculpted look and makes it more ergonomic by shaving away the sharp edges.

Buttons are round, textured and super clicky. The fire button is perfectly thumb tip sized and the adjustment buttons, which sit one above the other below the OLED screen, being about a sixth of the size.

There is a micro-USB port below the adjustment buttons.

There are 5 small ventilation holes arranged in a curved line on either side of the base of the mod.

Atop the mod is a centralised 510 connection in an SS seating disk, with a deep, spring loaded 510 pin.

iJoy Shogun Jr Panels

Thumb tabs at the bottom of each metal framed and backed, resin side panel allow for removal and replacement, though you will have to purchase extra panels separately.

The thin metal frame of each panel has a little lip at the top, where the metal frame is widened, to accommodate the discreet iJoy and Shogun Jr brands, iJoy one side and Shogun Jr the other side. There is no other branding anywhere, save on the metallic flip side of either panel.

Now I want to rant. As beautiful as the resin paneling is, I actually prefer the beautiful brushed metal finish on the inside of both decorative panels are. Makes me wish I could turn the panels around! Sadly, the strong magnets repel when the panels are reversed!!!!

This makes me sad…and I don’t want to be sad!

Anyway…the mods sides with the panels removed are finished in a beehive textured black plastic on the one side and a beehive pattern printed, silver and black sticker or film on the other.

The mod is ergonomic and feels reassuringly heavy, which also gives the air of quality.

I seriously like the looks of it too, except for the non-reversible panels, but one can’t have everything, stupidly.

OLED Screen

The standard, rectangular OLED screen is super-bright, even in the glare of sunlight and it goes to sleep almost instantly when you put the mod down, to (we hope) conserve battery life.

The screen displays:

• Wattage
• Mode
• Voltage
• Resistance
• Puffs
• Dual pictorial representations of battery life, indicating that this mod contains not one but two Lipo cells.

Battery Compartment

The Shogun Jr has a built in Lipo battery, which I believe is actually 2 built in batteries,, given the dual battery representation on the screen and the fact that, at times, the one indicator shows a bar more than the other.

Tank

The Shogun tank is beautiful looking, simple and clean with no knurling or branding.

The tank is finished in the metal finish matching your mod, so mine is that brushed copper.

The base ring, which also features a cyclops style airflow with a humongous 12 x 2 mm slot on either side, stands about 6mm high, with a ring of SS visible below and above.

The top cap screws off easily to reveal two huge sausage shaped fill slots.

Oddly, the removable resin drip tip, which is very pretty, is actually a 510…with a thick, down and outward tapering wall, which makes it appear like an 810.

The tank breaks down really easily for cleaning and coil replacement.

Top Fill

• Screw off the top cap
• Fill through one of the massive slots

How Does The iJoy Shogun Jr Kit Perform?

Okay, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me, as I found performance of the UNIV chip to be excellent…but I had some issues with the coil heads and the battery life.

Firstly let’s cover the good things.

As far as fitting other tanks to the mod, I had no trouble whatsoever, with instant and accurate resistance readings.

I didn’t use the POD mode, since I don’t have the POD adaptor, which that mode is designed for.

I did make use of the power mode, where I found the mod performed superbly (except when it came to battery drainage) throughout the range, with no overheating and excellent heat distribution.

Temp mode is accurate and very effective for Ni and SS, while power curves were easy to toggle and effective as well. The preheat function also works perfectly.

Ramp time is freaking instantaneous.

I really think this is an outstanding chip, with performance on-point throughout the range of functions I tested.

The tank is, for all intents and purposes, a great tank. Airflow is massive, if that’s what you’re into and, in spite of the weird choice of drip tip, it’s actually comfortable.

However, the tank is insanely loud and sounds like a bloody freight train….but I’m a bit of a loner so this doesn’t bother me.

Flavour | Vapour

0.2 Ohm Mesh 1 Coil – 40-80W

So, the two included Mesh 1 coils, with a 0.2 Ohm resistance and a listed range of 40-80W…where to start?

Look, these coils have awesome, full flavour and excellent vapour production…for a few days and… provided you stay below 50W.

Burnt Flavour

Above 50W and every few hits (in quick succession) I get the dreaded burn.

By my 6th day on each of the two coils, I’m tasting burn, not necessarily all the time, but at least 5 or 6 times a day, even at 50W…so I am forced to shorten my draws and take breaks in the middle of my chain vaping sessions.

Removing my first coil after about 8 days, with a mind to clean it, I am met by cotton so black that it’s clear to me it’s both unclean-able. Definitely a result of dry hits happening regularly, blackening everything, including my lungs.

I do use a heavy flavoured, dark coloured juice but I strongly suspect there is an issue with the coil heads and it isn’t my juice’s fault, since I have reviewed numerous coils with this same juice and experienced no such issue.

Inspecting the coil, I think I have found the culprit…iJoy has placed one mesh strip in a cylinder shape in the middle, with cotton wrapped around it, then there is another mesh strip enclosing that…with cotton around that strip again.

While this creates great flavour and vapour production on short burst, low wattage hits, what it also does is absolutely toast the cotton wrapped around the inner mesh ring, since it’s getting heat from both sides, allowing it to dry very quickly.

I can verify this because I clearly see that the inner section of cotton is much blacker than the outer one.

The picture of the first burned coil head, below, was taken after much of the blackness had already been rinsed out, under a hard running tap.

So by 8 days the coil was THAT toasted, although I always kept the wattage at 50. Here’s what it looked like before:

Less than a week and the second coil is tasting like toast at least every now and then…so these coils are not made for high wattage use…or for chainvapers like me.

I would have liked to have vaped these coils at 80W for you, since that is supposedly the top of the range for these coil heads but unfortunately, I do not have lungs of steel.

It’s really a pity, as the flavour that came through otherwise was really rich, as was the vapour production.

Battery Life

Ugh…bad news.

Now, given the weight and size of this mod, one would expect a battery life on par with dual 18650s however, that is, sadly, not the case.

Firstly, charge time is well over 2 hours, actually approaching 3.

Secondly, at just 50W (given I’m a heavy vaper) I get about 4.5-5 hours of vape time off this built in battery, which means it’s not viable for me to take with when I go out.

It has the weight of a dual cell mod and so I expect dual cell battery life…plus 4500 mAh is damn close to dual cell capacity…however the drain is abnormally fast, in spite of screen sleep and low wattage use.

I am very disappointed in battery life on this device.

Pros

• Great flavour while the coils last
• Good vapour production while the coils last
• Excellent performance from the UNIV chip
• Instant ramp
• Accurate temp control
• Ergonomic design
• Gorgeous good looks and quality finishes

Cons

• Coils dry burn in their listed upper range
• Coils dry burn when you chain vape
• As a heavy vaper, my coils only last a week before they taste burnt almost all the time
• Battery life is poor, if you are a heavy vaper like me
• Battery life is poor for high wattage vaping
• Tank vapes loud AF

Final Review Verdict

The iJoy Shogun Jr. Kit has so many good things going for it. The UNIV chip, great build quality and good looks, swappable features and flavour that is really awesome for a little while.

I would love to love this device, because the good features are so good. Sadly, however, the battery life and coilhead endurance really let this kit down for me as a heavy, higher wattage vaper.

I can only recommend this kit (with these specific coils) to users who will be vaping these coils at, say, 40-45W or not chain vaping at all. Or for light users who won’t be to demanding on the coils and battery.

For light vapers who can cope with the battery life, the good news is that there is a veritable flurry of coils available from iJoy which are compatible with this tank.

So, I really think you could have a better experience with some of the other coils in the range, which don’t have this double mesh wrap design.

Have you used the iJoy Shogun Jr? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.