In this post, we’re going to take a closer look at Joyetech’s recent tank – the Cubis. It’s been around for a while now and it’s only fair to give you our take on it. Right now, it really hangs in the balance when you consider popular opinion. Personally, I’ve had issues with Joyetech’s equipment, especially their tanks but their rather bold claims about the Cubis merit an inspection. So without further ado, let’s dive into Joyetech Cubis tank review.
Is it worth buying?
All things considered, I guess that the Joyetech Cubis showed to be a good contender in its price range. Joyetech is definitely pushing the envelope when it comes to design and making things easier for vapers. Its biggest selling point is the clean top fill and clever cup-style tank design.
Smaller kinks such as airflow control, small print, and adding a cage to protect the glass could be easy to resolve should Joyetech decide to really revamp this tank. But even as is, this tank will provide a decent amount of vaping joy to many vapers out there. If you’re not really set on getting the taste just right and you can live with a few shortcomings on Cubis’, you might have just found yourself a perfect new tank!
The Packaging
Not much to say on this front. Joyetech has always paid great attention to their packaging, in that they’ve always made sure that any equipment you order comes intact and without a scratch. The same applies to the Joyetech Cubis. It’s stored away in a nice little plain white box. On the face of it, you will see a depiction of the Cubis. The one shown there is always silver – for example, mine is completely black. On the back of the box, you will find a couple of words about the Cubis, what you can find in the box, and your serial number.
The tank is protected in a foam insert that fits it snuggly and lying next to it you will see an additional drip-tip. At the base of the box, you will find a small Joyetech box containing your coil heads and a tank cap.
The Joyetech Cubis atomizer package includes:
- 2 X Cubis mouthpiece (one black or silver and the other one clear/transparent)
- 1 X Mouthpiece base
- 1 X Vent ring
- 1 X Vent pipe
- 1 X Atomizer tube
- Screw-on cup cap
- BF SS316 0.5ohm coil
- BF SS316 1.0ohm coil
- BF Clapton 1.5ohm coil
- Warranty card
- Coil reference card
- User manual
Basically, you’re getting the tank, the coils, and very little in extra equipment. A spare glass would definitely be a nice addition, seeing how this design leaves the prospect of breaking the tank easily wide open.
Here’s a quick list of the tank’s most important features – props to Joyetech for pushing the boundaries when it comes to top fill – the Cubis is really special in that respect.
Joyetech Cubis Cupped Design Features:
- Dimensions: 2-3/8″ x 7/8″
- 22mm Diameter
- 510 Threaded
- 5ml tank capacity
- SS construction
- Pyrex glass
- Innovative top fill
- Cup design
- Top airflow control
- Stainless steel and Delrin drip tips
Design and Quality of Make
I guess that the Joyetech Cubis is what you would call a minimalistic tank. It offers very little in terms of bells and whistles and attractive design features but it does have a clean look to it that some vapers will appreciate. As for myself, as much as I do appreciate a great-performing, clean tank I do like most my tanks to be stunning lookers – call me superficial!
But all in all, from a design standpoint, the Joyetech Cubis doesn’t really disappoint. It’s a smaller tank with a capacity of 3.5ml and you won’t have any doubts about how much juice is left inside. The glass is practically uncovered – what stands in for a cage are two small straps of metal that run down on both side of the tank providing an appearance of protection. Personally, I don’t feel that they are enough. I’m a bit clumsy so I drop my equipment on a regular basis. With the glass being so open and exposed I fear that it might crack sooner rather than later.
But that aside, all parts fit snuggly and Cubis does look as if it was built to last – at least in the hands of vapers who are more careful with their gear than yours truly.
Now, while everything fits great on the Cubis atomizer tank I’m expecting things to get a bit loose eventually. The drip tips and the coil mount don’t wiggle just yet but it would have been mighty nice of Joyetech to include some extra O-rings in the package. As things stand now I’m going to have to order the O-rings separately once these stop being usable.
Cup-Style Design
At the risk of going against the grain here, I’m perfectly comfortable with calling Cubis a top-fill tank. Basically, it’s just that and probably more so than other tanks that advertise the same feature. With other tanks, you have to fiddle with slots and droppers. It’s less messy than with bottom fill tanks but can still get pretty slippery.
On the Joyetech Cubis, the top part, containing the mouthpiece and the coil head, simply unscrews. What you’re left with is basically a cup that holds the juice without spilling a drop of it. The days when we had to unscrew the tank from the mod to fill it are long gone – finally, so are the days when the top filling was a messy endeavor. There is one annoying thing about all this: screwing and unscrewing the top can be a bit squeaky. The notches are tightly packed to ensure that the tank doesn’t leak when tipped over but this means that it takes a while to sit the top properly to screw it down. Once you manage to do that you will be greeted with noticeable metal-on-metal, high-pitched noise that’s more than enough to make the hairs on the back of my hand stand up.
A great thing about this design is that it’s virtually leak-proof. The bottom part of the tank is completely sealed – there are no joints on there that might give way and leak fluid on to (and into) your mod. That is definitely a huge plus for Joyetech and a bit of innovative design I hope other manufacturers adopt.
However, this type of fill means that you have to be very careful when filling the tank. The tank has a little mark on the outside that says –MAX – and yes, it’s literally that small! Go over it and you will have a tough time filling the tank without it overflowing once you try to close it. This is a bit of a problem on the black Cubis – you see, the writing is also black and it’s very difficult to notice and see. It does take a bit of practice (and a pair of glasses) to get it just right.
Airflow Adjustment
The airflow adjusts on the Joyetech Cubis – although you wouldn’t really say so on the first glance. The airflow adjustment feature is on the top, just below the mouthpiece. The problem with it is that it’s hidden. Joyetech really obviously wanted to make this tank look as simple as possible so the airflow adjustment control is barely visible.
It’s not too big of an issue if you like to vape with the vents fully open like I do. But if you like to tweak airflow constantly and based on the juice you’re vaping, you’ll easily get frustrated with controls on the Cubis atomizer. Since you cannot see the air slots at all, it’s virtually impossible to see to what extent they’re open or closed. The only thing you can certainly know is whether it’s completely open or completely closed – everything else is pure guesswork.
Vaping Experience
This is what makes or breaks the tank for me – a tank can be beautifully designed with tons of great features but if it doesn’t perform then it’s just not doing its job. The Cubis tank performs well, I can’t say it doesn’t but is enough? Sadly, for me, it’s not.
I tested all three coils that come with it and I can’t say I’m completely satisfied with either of them. The first one, SS316 0.5ohm coil, produces a fair bit of vapor but because of very restricted intake slots you’re going to get a fair number of dry hits. In addition, the flavor is a bit off – my favorite juices tasted a bit bland when compared to how they usually taste. So the verdict – wicking spelled doom for this particular coil. On the upside, if you’re a straight to lungs type of vaper then you’re going to prefer this one to all the others.
SS316 1.0ohm coil performed a bit better for me in terms of flavor. It’s richer and requires little power to vape – between 10 and 25W. For me, it worked best on 20W but I guess that’s going to be a matter of preference.
MTL vapers are probably going to enjoy Clapton 1.5ohm coil even though I do find it a bit of a puzzle. The vape is cool and less flavorsome than I would like, though. It’s rated at 20W maximum but the best results are achieved somewhere around 15W.
The overall vaping experience with Joyetech Cubis would be just fine if there wasn’t for one striking issue I couldn’t resolve. I’m talking about spit-back here. I own two Cubis tanks and on both of them spit-back is a major issue. It can be resolved temporarily by drying the vent pipe and shaking out the excess liquid but that is not a permanent solution. Hopefully, the new NotchCoil system will offer some relief for both spit-back and flavor issues – I’m definitely excited to test it out.
Cleaning and Disassembly
The Joyetech Cubis is easy to disassemble and to clean. Thanks to the innovative cup design it’s easy to get rid of leftover juice and to rinse the tank out. The top part also disassembles so if you want everything squeaky clean after vaping (like I do) you’re going to appreciate the ease with which it can be done.
This tank also comes with a transparent top cap you can use to close the tank while you’re cleaning the coil mount and the drip tip. While I don’t foresee using it all that much it does look cool and I definitely salute Joyetech for thinking outside the box with this.