Vandy Vape Pulse 80w Review – Does it Live up to the Hype?

Today we are looking at the Vandy Vape Pulse 80w Box Mod, which is a collaboration betweeen Vandy Vape and Tony B from VaporTrail.

Now, if there’s any device on the market that most vapers have heard of, it would be the Pulse 80w. Mainly due to the events surrounded by the potential collaboration between Vandy, Tony and VooPoo. But we won’t go into that again. And because of all the drama that surrounded the people involved, it created a hell of a lot of hype for the release of the Pulse 80w that you couldn’t escape from on social media.

But does the Pulse 80w stand up to all that hype? LET’S FIND OUT!

The Vandy Vape Pulse is an 80w regulated device, powered by a single 18650 or 20700 battery and uses the Vandy Chip to control it all. Complete with a 8ml squonk bottle, resin panels and many different firing options, this may make it the best regulated squonker on the market!

This device was sent to me for the purpose of this review. And as always, my opinions are honest and my own.

What’s In The Box

• Pulse BF 80w Box Mod
• 8ml Squonk Bottle
• USB Charge/Update Cable
• 18650 Battery Adapter
• User Manual

Features:

• Size: 82 x 56 x 27mm
• Power output: 5-80w
• Resistance range: 0.05-3ohm
• Battery: 1x 20700 or 18650 cell (not included)
• Juice Capacity: 8ml Squonk Bottle

Vandy Vape Build Quality & Design

510 Connector:

The 510 connector is offset towards the front of the device above the buttons and has stainless steel threading as well as a gold plated hollow positive pin.

The threads on the 510 are smooth and the positive pin has a small amount of throw to it.

The Buttons:

The buttons are on the front of the device. The fire button has a slight grippy texture to it and is quite clicky. I personally think that it feels quite cheap.

Below the screen are the + and – buttons. They are a little less clicky, but still have the grippy texture and cheap feel to it.

Screen & User Interface:

Before we start, I have upgraded the Pulse 80w to Firmware Version 0.0.6.

On the front of the device there is the LED display screen, and it is pretty easy to read in all lighting conditions.

On the left hand side you have the firing profile and applied wattage/temperature. On the right half there is the resistance, voltage and battery bar.

Press the + and – buttons at the same time to get into the menu system. In here you can select different options as well as add or remove firing profiles.

Press the fire button 3 times and it lets you scroll through the different firing profiles. You have Wattage, Bypass, Voltage and TC Ni/Ti/SS which pretty much covers all bases!

Internals & Externals:

So on either side of the Pulse 80w there are resin covered doors that are held to the main body via magnets.

Two of these magnets attach to the battery. I personally don’t like this as the metal of the magnet could possibly wear through the battery wrap in time which isn’t overly great for battery safety. Nevertheless, they do stick on rather well and I personally haven’t had any issues with the doors falling off. Although I have heard that others have.

Opening up the battery door, it reveals the 8ml squonk bottle.

It has a unique filling system so that you don’t end up squeezing e-liquid out when you’re undoing it.

As with all squonkers, there is a gap in the door to let you squeeze the bottle.

You also have the battery tray that has the polarity clearly marked.

And gold plated contacts.

On the inside of the back, we have some Tony B branding.

At the back of the mod, we have some Vandy Vape branding, too! Just in case you forgot!

The Pulse 80w Mod Design – Overall:

Overall, I think that the Pulse 80w looks quite good. But I think that it feels quite cheap and plasticy. Almost like it needs a little more weight to it. I personally think that the squonk bottle and the 510 connector would have been better situated towards the back of the device rather than the front, just so it’s easier to squonk without moving your hand.

How Does The Vandy Vape Pulse 80w Mod Perform?

Wattage Mode Test:

I have mainly been using the Pulse 80w at 48w in wattage mode using the Wotofo Recurve RDA and it has worked absolutely great!

It fires on the button with literally zero lag in between pressing the button and the atomiser firing.

Temperature Control Test:

Although I didn’t test TC in my review video, I will here. So I have a 0.55Ω spaced SS316L build and I have locked the resistance by pressing the fire and + button. I’ll be firing it at 50w in the stock TC-SS Mode.

• No Cotton (250c): No temp protection, but fires at about 1w after 2 seconds.
• Dry Cotton (250c): Sticks to 1w – Slight yellowing – Wick still usable
• Dry Cotton (300c): Sticks to 2w – Dark Browning – Wick unusable
• Wet Cotton (300c): E-Liquid heated and sticks to 2w when dry.

In conclusion, I would say that the TC works OK-ish. It could do with a little more work and possibly have a ‘TEMP PROTECT’ message appear when it is activated.

The Pulse 80w Mod Performance – Overall:

The performance of the Vandy Vape Pulse 80w has been a little up and down for me. On some atomisers I have had the resistance jumping around like mad and resetting to 25w without warning. And yes, all the builds were double checked for any loose parts.

The battery life for me is also a massive con. Half a day MAX from a 0.45ohm build on a 3000mAh 20700. Not good.

The only thing I really like about how it performs is how instant the firing is. Other than that, it’s nothing to write home about.

Pros

• Looks Nice
• Fires on the Button
• Screen Easy to Read and Navigate
• 8ml E-Liquid Capacity

Cons

• Feels cheap
• Battery Life Poor
• TC could do with some work

Final Review Verdict

Ugh, this has been a hard one for me because of the massive amount of hype the Pulse 80w received in the build up to its release. But for me, it has been a bit of a disappointment.

If we put it down to black and white and asking if it brings anything new to the table, then no, it doesn’t. Yes the chip is a new thing and it works really well, but nothing is new and makes me go ‘WOW’… It’s just another 80w regulated box mod.

How would I improve the Vandy Vape Pulse 80w though? For me, I would get rid of the squonk bottle, make it dual 18650 and release a 150-200w device in the same style.