First Look: Kangertech KBOX 160
I appreciate a low learning curve. And that’s what I got with the brand new Kangertech KBOX 160. It’s still only available for pre-order, but should be shipping pretty soon. The KBOX 160 is the latest in Kangertech’s growing line of temperature control mods. It joins the KBOX 70, 120 and 200 along with all of the KBOX editions that are named for their size rather than their max wattage output.
Back in December 2015 Kangertech sent a KBOX 200 to Seven Report for review. That was one of the first temperature control mods that would operate in TC mode using coils made of Nickel 200, Titanium, Stainless Steel and Nichrome. Up until then you could only use Nickel 200 or Titanium coils in temperature control mode.
The new Kangertech KBOX 160 continues to allow vapers to use all four of those coil types in TC mode as well as using standard coils in variable wattage mode. It has a wattage range of 7 – 160 watts with changes in 0.1 watt increments. In TC mode the range is 200° F – 600° F and 100° C – 315° C with adjustments in single degree increments.
The KBOX 160 will fire Nickel 200, Titanium, and Stainless Coils with a resistance of 0.05 ohm or higher, and Nichrome coils with a resistance of 0.1 ohm or higher. It has a spring loaded 510 connector.
The Kangertech KBOX 160 is powered by two external 18650 batteries, not included, and Kanger recommends 30A or higher batteries. The batteries can be charged while in the mod via the micro USB port located on the front of the KBOX 160, but Kanger does not include a charging cable. Kanger recommends using batteries with a minimum output of 30A.
The KBOX 160 has what Kanger refers to as a “new design PCB” which monitors the resistance of the attached coil 1,000 per second to provide an extremely accurate temperature output. Other than that, it operates pretty much like its big brother, the Kangertech KBOX 200, and it’s identical in size.
Turn the unit on or off with five clicks of the fire button, located at the top of the front of the mod. Once it’s turned on you scroll through the options for the type of coil you’re using by clicking the fire button three times to reach each option Nickel 200, Titanium, Nichrome, or Stainless Steel. The final option is variable wattage mode. Nickel 200 coils are not suitable for use in variable wattage mode, only use Nickel 200 coils in temperature control mode.
To adjust temperature or wattage settings click the “+” or “-” buttons, located below the display on the front of the mod. They’re not marked, but the upper most button is the “increase” button. Temperature settings are in single degree increments and wattage settings are in 0.1 watt increments.
When you first attach a new coil the KBOX 160 may display, “new coil?” Press the “+” button if it is, the “-” if not, this will allow the device to calibrate the resistance of the coil. If you don’t get this display when attaching a new coil and the mod doesn’t fire, remove the tank and hold down the fire button displays “Check Atomizer.” Then put the tank back on and hit the fire button again.
You can flip the orientation of the display by 180° by holding in the “+” and “-” buttons simultaneously. To change the backlight of the display, hold in the fire button and “+” buttons at the same time. Once you’ve found your temperature or wattage sweet spot you can lock the settings by holding in all three buttons at the same time. Unlock the settings by doing the same thing.
In temperature control mode the LCD display will show battery meter, resistance, maximum wattage, selected temperature setting and coil material and temperature scale. In variable wattage mode the display shows battery meter, volts and selected wattage setting.
I put two fully charged batteries in the Kangertech KBOX 160 and attached a Kangertech Subtank Plus Black Edition with a Nickel 200 coil. I started vaping at 375° F and was very happy with the vapor and flavor output. At 425° F the results were even better. Then I attached a SMOK TFV4 with a standard triple coil and tried the KBOX 160 in variable wattage mode at 72.5 watts. Again, very satisfactory results. Then I switched back to TC mode, selecting Nichrome as the coil material at 425° F. Vapor and flavor output were even better than using the Subtank, but I credit that to the SMOK triple coil.
So far the only potential downside to the Kangertech KBOX 160 I see is that the Metallic Silver finish is really going to show fingerprints. I’ll be using the Kangertech KBOX 160 pretty extensively over the next week or two and then will publish a full, in-depth review. If you follow Seven Report on Twitter or Facebook you’ll find out that way when that review is up.
Kangertech lists the KBOX 160 at $57.90, but I’ve seen it for pre-order for slightly less in several places. One of our advertisers and review product suppliers, DirectVapor, will have it available for pre-order soon. When they add it to their website I’ll post a link. Thanks to our friends at Kangertech for providing the KBOX 160 for a Seven Report review.