Today we’re looking at the Espion Infinite kit from Joyetech, which pairs the Infinite mod with the ProCore Conquer subtank. Joyetech Espion Infinite Review

Although the name suggests a continuation in the Espion legacy, this kit is anything but stealthy. We’re looking at a dual 21700 battery mod (with size and weight to match), and a subtank which looks very much inspired by SMOK’s TFV12 Prince – turrets and all!

But probably the most memorable feature of this kit is the shallow “window” covering one face of the device, behind which sit a mirrored surface and two LED frames. The overall effect is very boogie nights – and if you’re into light shows on the mod, you’ll be able to configure everything from the colour cycling to the RGB value of the lights themselves.

Previous versions in the Espion line include the Espion Solo and the original Espion mod, both of which were very good indeed.

For the purpose of this review, we’ll be looking at the Infinite kit in its red outing, we also have a couple of shots of the rainbow version.

Disclaimer: We received the Espion Infinite kit for the purpose of this review. All opinions are based on my own experience and road-testing.

What’s in the box:

  • 1 x Espion Infinite Mod
  • 1 x ProCore Conquer subtank
  • 1 x ProCA coil head
  • 1 x ProCD coil head
  • Spare glass tank
  • 2 x 18650 battery sleeve
  • Micro USB cable
  • User manual
  • Warranty card
  • Warning card
  • Spare partsJoyetech Espion Infinite kit contents

Unboxing

From the initial pictures I saw online, I was impressed by the look of the Joyetech Espion Infinite.

But nothing could really prepare me for the face-to-face. I am a fan of the original Espion mod, all pinstriped glamour and generous screen size (not to mention that classy clock face). The Infinite feels like Joyetech fired their original design team but kept the name.Joyetech Espion Infinite Espion Comparison

The kit comes in a generous wide box, which opens to reveal the mod alongside the subtank. An additional box contains the micro USB charging cable, extra coilhead, spare tank glass and extra o-rings.

Although the Espion Infinite is marketed as a dual 21700 mod, the kit comes with two silicon battery adapters for 18650s as well. I’ve been using the kit with double wrapped 20700s (EC 27Bs) which works just fine, although you do feel a minute amount of battery rattle.

Specs and Features

Infinite Mod:

  • Size: 89 x 49.5 x 33 mm
  • Battery: 2 x 21700/20700/18650
  • Screen: 0.96 inch OLED display
  • Output modes: VW | VV | Bypass | CPS | TC Ni | SS | Ti | TCR M1 | M2 | M3
  • Wattage range: 1 – 230 W
  • Voltage range: 0.1 – 9 V
  • Temperature: 200 – 600 F | 100 – 315 C
  • Resistance parameter:0.05 – 1.5 ohm (TC mode)
  • 0.05 – 3.5 ohm (wattage mode)
  • Continuous firing time:10 seconds
  • Max output current: 50 A
  • Charging: Via micro USB
  • Max USB charge: 2 A
  • 510 connection: Spring-loaded gold-plated 510 pin

ProCore Conquer Subtank

  • Height: 51.5 mm including drip tip
  • Diameter: 25 mm – widens to 29.5 mm at the tank
  • Pro CA resistance: 0.4 ohm
  • Pro CD resistance: 0.15 ohm
  • Coil wattage range: 40 – 80 W
  • Coil material: Kanthal
  • Adjustable bottom airflow
  • Push and slide topfill
  • Drip tip height: 13 mm
  • Inner drip tip diameter: 13 mm, narrows down to 8.5 mm at base
  • Outer drip tip diameter: 16 mm
  • Capacity: 5.5 mL
  • Threading: gold-plated non-adjustable 510 pin

Available colors: red | blue | green | gold | black | rainbow

Build Quality

Build quality seems decent on this kit. The mod features the familiar side-mounted, solid fire button that we saw in the original Espion mod.

Joyetech Espion Infinite Fire ButtonThis button is clicky but also quite stiff and has a rather long throw. Up and Down buttons are mounted on the top of the mod and are significantly smaller. This will limit the size of the atomizer you can use, although I’m happy to report that 30 mm attys fit without overhang.Joyetech Espion Infinite 510 Mount

The 510 mount is gold-plated and spring-loaded, and the ProCore Conquer fits without gap issues.

The plastic window covering the screen comes fitted with an adhesive scratch protector. This is so perfectly attached that it takes some work to remove it! This window will be a definite scratch and fingerprint magnet, so watch out. I also notice a bit of play when running my fingers over the screen.

The battery door slides to open and latches closed. 18650s in their adapters and 21700s fit without problems.

Joyetech Espion Infinite 18650 battery sleevesAs mentioned, if you have 20700s that are double wrapped, these will fit acceptably too. Joyetech Espion Infinite 20700 batteriesCharging batteries can be achieved via the micro USB cable, and Joyetech offers 2-Amp (balanced) charging on this kit. The USB port is situated very high, on the back just underneath the 510 mount, which makes me worry about leaking tanks and short circuiting chips.

Joyetech Espion Infinite ProCore Conquer TFV12 Prince Comparison
SMOK TFV12 vs ProCore

The ProCore Conquer tank looks every bit the TFV12 Prince’s apprentice, with a similar turreted aesthetic, “cobra” style wide 810 drip tip, and even colour-coordinated bubble glass (as standard!) Tolerances on all parts feel acceptably smooth and well-machined. A little innovation is the push and slide top-fill.

I like this, because fewer moving parts. On the other hand, will it come loose and leak in my pocket?

Hand Feel

I suppose anyone who invests in a dual 21700 mod knows that the product isn’t going to be small. However, everything on the Espion Infinite feels supersized, from the fire button, the detailing on the mod, to the subtank itself. The kit is bulky in the palm of my hand and feels more like a stay-at-home device.joyetech espion infinite rainbow

The centre-mounted 510 mount is a smart idea, allowing larger atomizers to fit without looking ridiculous.

My biggest gripe is setting the Up and Down buttons on the top of the mod. This complicates the ergonomics of the device, and also limits available real estate.
Because of the screen’s orientation, as a leftie I can fire the mod with my thumb and see everything clearly. If you’re right-handed, you may find yourself firing with your forefinger.

Feature Set

The Espion Infinite offers variable wattage up to 230 W or 9 V, whichever comes first. Temperature control is available for stainless steel, nickel and titanium, with a further three memory settings for manual input TCR values (for more information on this, check out Steam Engine’s comprehensive resources).

A nice little upgrade is the minimum resistance parameter of 0.05 ohm as standard for both VW and TC modes. Pre-heat function is available in VW mode and can be defined for up to 2 seconds in duration. However, other functions such as power curves and variable voltage are missing from this device.

Although the mod offers 2-Amp fast charging, I recommend always charging your batteries in a dedicated external charger. Besides, the screen gives you no information on the current voltage of your batteries while they charge. The Espion Infinite also offers some smart protections, such as balanced output.

If the output voltage of the batteries differs by more than 0.3 V, the mod will automatically power down, prompting you to charge your batteries.

Menu Functionality and Firmware Upgrading

The Espion Infinite may look flashy, but behind the façade we have a puny (for the relative size of the window) 0.96 inch OLED screen that crams a lot of information into limited space.espion infinite screen red

The brightness of the menu interface isn’t editable and can be hard to see in full sunlight. Colours can be changed, but only from a choice of four (yellow, green, red and blue), while the subpara text remains the same cyan tone.Espion Infinite Screen Display

The mod turns on and off with five clicks to the fire button. The only key combination I can see is holding Up and Down simultaneously for 2 seconds, which locks those buttons. It’s easy to accidentally change wattage in the process though.

Three clicks to the fire button brings you to the first menu, from where you can access Mode, Settings, LED, and Exit.

Mode: toggle between Power (VW), TC, TCR and RTC (real time clock) settings. In their respective submenus, you can choose wire type, TCR value, memory settings, and your choice of analogue or digital clock face.

As far as I can see, RTC can only be accessed in variable wattage mode. So for those TC users who also want to know the time, you’re out of luck!

Under settings, you can access Coil, Power, Stealth, Subpara, Clock, Preheat, Timeout, Info, Color, and Exit.

  • Coil: locks the resistance of the coil in TC and TCR modes.
  • Power: sets the desired wattage, also only applicable in TC and TCR modes.
  • Stealth: turns off the OLED display (but not the lights)
  • Subpara: here you can choose what you see under the main display, out of the puff counter, amps, and time (which looks similar to the puff counter, but isn’t).
  • Clock: allows you to change the date and time. Note that you use the Up button to toggle values upwards, and Down to shift between them. Confusing! Also, the date is arranged month/day/year and this order can’t be edited.
  • Preheat: for use in VW mode. Set the power output, and duration up to 2 seconds.
  • Timeout: set the menu timeout, from 5, 10 or 15 second options.
  • Info: under info you can see the current resting voltage of both batteries, as well as your hardware and firmware versions.
  • Color: change the dominant colour of the OLED display – your choice of yellow, blue, green or red.
  • Under the LED submenu, you have the following parameters: Switch, Mode, and Bright.
  • Switch: choose when the LEDs light up – whenever the screen is active, only when you fire the device, or always on.
  • Mode: under Mode, you have an impressive amount of control over how the LEDs look and behave. These different settings have names like Moon, Fire, Wheels, Spe3, Spe7,
  • Glow, Morph and Random. I won’t go into full detail here but I personally like Morph the most as you can see subtle transitions between each RGB value (and it looks pretty at night).
  • Bright: this allows you to set the brightness of the LEDs from 100% all the way down to zero.

If any of that has you confused, I would add that the submenu has an automatic 10 second timeout, and if you hesitate too long, you’re back to the main interface again.

One more feature that has me confused is two clicks to the fire button: this automatically changes your LED setting to Random, and thereafter to Moon.

Firmware upgrades are available on Joyetech’s website, and are both PC and Mac friendly. However, V1.0 (which the device ships with) appears to be the only available firmware version at the moment.ESPION Infinite mod firmware upgrade

Aesthetics

Gosh – I’m not sure where to start. The bulky form factor is a problem for me, as are the flashy lights. Perhaps more importantly, the OLED display is a downgrade from the original Espion’s larger screen, and indeed the touchscreen of the Espion Solo. joyetech espion procore x handThe small screen-inside-a-screen feels like a massive missed opportunity here.

The mirroring effect is cool, especially with alternating lights, but I’d much rather have a larger screen, my choice of colours for the interface, and a clock face that is pleasant to look at.espion infinite rainbow lights

If you’re a fan of the SMOK T-Priv, this might be right up your alley though. Having said that, the light show is partly redundant since you don’t see the action while you vape on it. Strictly for impressing others around you (or putting them off vaping!)

The chunky hand feel of the Espion Infinite makes this more an option for around the house, but its problems don’t end there – button placement is illogical, and the fire button’s throw is too long. I also don’t see any useful key shortcuts for quickly accessing submenus.

The menu interface times out quickly, meaning you have to press on that fire button A LOT.

Let’s take a quick look at the ProCore Conquer tank before we wrap up.

ProCore Conquer Subtank

The ProCore Conquer comes with two coils, the ProCA (0.4 ohm) and the ProCD (0.15 ohm). The former is a wide parallel build; the latter is a perforated strip coil.joyetech-procore-Coilheads Both are Kanthal and have a suggested range of 40 – 80 W. Bottom-fed airflow is adjustable via the two giant slots and movement of the AFC ring is smooth. The AFC is stopped at completely open and closed. The coilheads are threaded and easy to install.Joyetech ProCode top fillThe drip tip is a large 810 style affair and makes for an airy vape. Goon-style drip tips generally won’t fit, since the connection uses two o-rings to secure in place. Filling the tank is easy thanks to the slide top filling port.

How Does The Joyetech Espion Infinite & ProCore Conquer Tank Perform?

For this review I’ve been using Throne Liquids The Assassin, a grape flavour from the Malaysian e-liquid manufacturer with a cooling touch. 70/30 PG/VG and 3 mg/mL nicotine content.Joyetech ProCore Conquer coils

ProCA Coil

Firing up the ProCA coil, I find this is an acceptable vape between 55 – 60 W. It’s nothing spectacular, but it delivers in terms of flavour and vapour. It reminds me a bit of the Q2 coil from the SMOK Baby Beast tank.

ProCD Coil

The ProCD coil features a much lower resistance but suggested wattage is in the same range. This feels like an improvement over the ProCA, with a richer, denser flavour range. I try cranking it between 80 – 90 W, but soon notice a dry taste coming on. Powering it down to 60 W, it’s acceptable – but I would expect more from a 0.15 ohm coil.

Neither coilhead has particularly good longevity in my opinion, and both have reduced flavour, and a slightly dry or burnt taste after several tanks. While Joyetech is offering a whole family of different coils for this tank (including an MTL style coilhead with 0.25 ohm resistance), your draw will be limited by the size of the 810 drip tip.

The Espion Infinite does fire pretty fast. So fast in fact that the menu interface struggles to keep up.

It’s common to have a blank menu and a firing mod. It’s also worth mentioning that the slide top fill did in fact open while it was in my pocket, leaking about half a tank of juice while I was out and about. And one more thing – with the tank attached the mod has begun to report a “no atomizer” error. You know things are bad when a mod can’t recognise coils in its own paired subtank.

Pros:

Espion Infinite:

  • Centre-mounted 510 pin allows for larger atomizers (30 mm) without overhang
  • Allows use of three different battery sizes
  • LED light show can be completely optimized, if that’s your thing
  • Inbuilt protections (balanced charging, battery polarity, time-out)
  • Solid build quality for the most part
  • Incredible battery life on two 20700s/21700s

ProCore Conquer

  • Range of available coils
  • Easy topfill, no hinges or latches
  • Bubble glass as standard brings capacity to 5.5 mL

Cons:

Espion Infinite

  • Placement of Up and Down buttons on the top plate
  • Play in the window frame
  • Stiff and long throw on the power button
  • Menu interface is confusing and small, vs the size of the window
  • Bulky form factor
  • USB port mounted too high
  • Looks (subjective)

ProCore Conquer

  • Coil longevity
  • Size of drip tip limits the type of draw
  • Top fill leaks easily (in your pocket!)
  • Looks (subjective)

Final Verdict

It may look impressive from a distance, but come a little closer and all is not roses with the Joyetech Espion Infinite kit.

Bulky form factor, tiny OLED display, stiff buttons, lack of shortcut keys, and a far from intuitive menu interface are just the beginning.

Add to that poor coil longevity, a very airy wide-bore drip tip, and a top-fill port that easily leaks and you have yourself a disco light show you should stay well away from.

Cloud Estate

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Build Quality
7
Design
6
Ease of Use
6
Mod Functions
5
Flavour
5
Cloud
5
Liklihoodof Replacing
2
joyetech-espion-infinite-kit-reviewWhile looks may be subjective, performance isn’t. The Espion Infinite pulls out the bells and whistles to little practical effect. If you’re a fan of pyrotechnics and T-Priv style mods, or desperate for a mod to hold your 30 mm atomizer, the Infinite may be a head turner. For anyone else though, I can’t recommend it.

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