First Look: Kanger SUBOX Mini

By Jerry R in First Looks Hardware Kangertech Hardware Reviews May 25, 2015

Several months back Kangertech (best known for its growing lines of tanks like the EVOD, the Aerotank and Subtank), introduced its very first box mod, the KBOX. The KBOX is a variable wattage unit with seven preset wattage options from 8 to 40 watts. The mod was met with a lukewarm reception, thanks in large part to the presence of other, more powerful mods from Eleaf and Innokin occupying the same price range.

Kanger went back to the drawing board and into deep stealth mode (apparently, the first time I heard a whisper about the SUBOX was when I received an email from Kanger telling me they’d shipped two of them to me for review) and came back with not only a new version of the KBOX, the KBOX Mini, but a new way to package it; they included a color coordinated version of their hugely popular Subtank Mini and market it as the SUBOX Mini Starter Kit. Suddenly Kangertech was generating major buzz again.

The SUBOX Mini, which will be available beginning June 10, comes in white and black. The KBOX Mini is still only variable wattage, but it’s a true variable, from 7 to 50 watts, gaining an additional 10 watts over the original KBOX. The unit itself has been totally remodeled and now is much slicker looking. As the “Mini” moniker implies, this KBOX is smaller than the original. Its curved sides and rich colors leads me to believe that this design may have been influenced by the looks of the Eleaf iStick 50 Watt. The KBOX Mini is about as tall as the iStick 50, but not quite as wide.

The KBOX Mini is powered by an external 18650 battery (not included) which can be charged in the unit while vaping with the included micro USB cable, but Kanger did not include a wall adapter for the USB cable. It will fire coils down to 0.3 ohm and can still manage an output of 50 watts with coils up to 1.6 ohm.

Tanks attach to the KBOX Mini via the fixed 510 threaded connector. The OLED display, micro USB port, fire button and the wattage increase and decrease buttons are all on the side of the unit. The OLED display shows battery level, voltage, ohms of the attached atomizer, and wattage. The display is sharp and bright.

The Subtank Mini that’s included in the kit is color coordinated with the KBOX Mini, white or black. It includes most of what you’d get if you purchased the tank separately, except an extra Pyrex tank and extra O-rings. It does come with Kanger’s OCC (organic cotton coil) heads, one rated at 0.5 ohm and the other at 1.5 ohm. In previous versions of the Subtanks the second OCC was rated at 1.2 ohm. Also included is an upgraded version of Kanger’s RBA Mini deck, called the RBA Mini Plus. This RBA boasts improved juice flow ports. The kit also includes a mini screwdriver, a couple of screws. a package of organic Japanes cotton and two pre-wrapped coils in addition to the one already in the RBA.

The Subtank Mini has the latest version of Kanger’s variable airflow system. There are airflow holes on two sides of the base of the tank and you adjust them from a very small hole for an extremely tight, warm draw, to a larger hole and then to wide open for a very airy and cool draw.

The OCC coils seem to have slightly larger juice flow ports as well, at least that’s how it looks to me when I hold them up to some of the OCC coils I already had on hand. And with these coils Kanger has really pushed the limit of how much text you can etch into the side of a coil. They detail optimum wattage range for flavor based on the VG mix of your ejuice. Using the 0.5 ohm OCC they recommend a range of 15 – 40 watts for an ejuice that’s 80 -100% VG, 15 – 50 watts for a 50 – 70% VG ejuice and 15 – 60 watts (though the KBOX Mini is only capable pushing 50 watts) for an ejuice that’s 20 – 40% VG.

The SUBOX Mini Starter Kit has everything you need, except the battery and a bottle of ejuice, to vape happy. My first day with the unit has been very enjoyable, and I haven’t noticed any major problems. If anything the Subtank and the OCC coils, with their apparently larger ejuice ports, haven’t given me any of the juice seepage issues I’ve experienced with other Subtanks, but I’ve only been using this for a little more than 24 hours.

I’ll be using the SUBOX Mini exclusively for the next week or so to get a full picture of how well it performs and to see if any issues develop. Then I’ll come back with a full, in-depth review. If you follow Seven Report on Twitter or Face Book (and I hope you’ll consider doing so if you don’t) you’ll be notified that way when the full review has been posted.

Kangertech has the SUBOX Mini available for pre-order on their website for $82.90. It should be available on June 10. Links to the Kanger website for both the black and white versions of the SUBOX Mini are below. Kangertech provided both the white and black editions of the SUBOX Mini for Seven Report to review.