Our HorizonTech Falcon II review takes a look at the latest in the Falcon line of sub ohm tanks, testing out the new sector mesh coils and seeing what the tank has to offer vapers.
Is it worth picking up?
Aside from the problems mentioned with the EU version of the tank, the Falcon II is a great sub ohm tank that manages to build on the success of its predecessors while still improving performance and usability.
You can pick up more affordable tanks if you like, but if you want something that puts out plenty of vapor and gives great flavor, all the while being user-friendly enough for even a new vaper, it’s a fantastic tank. You won’t regret picking one up.
Full Review
The Falcon series of sub ohm tanks from HorizonTech has a solid reputation among vapers, with the original raising the bar for sub ohm tanks at the time and both the Resin and King versions improving on what it offered. But the vaping industry is always evolving, and it’s no surprise that the people at Horizon have been working on an improvement since the release of the King. The Falcon II aims to pick up where the previous version left off, improving the coils with the new “sector mesh” options and coming up with a unique re-design incorporating a sliding top cap and a center-piece surrounding the coil. But is it worth the £23.99/$33.99 price-tag? We’ve put together this HorizonTech Falcon II review to give you the full run-down.
Note: We received the Falcon II free of charge from E-Cigarette Direct. However, as always, this review will be an honest appraisal of the tank and what it can do.
What You Get
The Falcon II comes in an octagonal tube, with the tank screwed into a plastic base in the upper section and some extras below it. You also get some spare O-rings and an extra 0.14 ohm sector mesh coil (in addition to the one pre-installed in the tank). This is fairly basic but really all you need for a tank, so no complaints here, and everything is well-presented too.
HorizonTech Falcon II Review – The Design
Appearance
The Falcon II has a similar design to the King and Resin versions of the tank, but with some key differences. The biggest and most notable is the cage-like centerpiece surrounding the coil, with an array of triangular bars wrapping around the coil. This doesn’t really do anything useful, per se, but it does give the tank a very cool look. You can also pick the Falcon II up in a selection of colors: Carbon Black, SS, Blue, Rose Gold and Rainbow (with available options depending on the seller), with mine being the blue version. The coloring of the resin on the drip-tip also matches this (aside from the SS option, where it matches the orange of the O-rings), which really brings the whole thing together. Overall, the tank looks great, and if you choose one to match your mod it’s even better.
The Coils
The coils that come with the Falcon II are both Horizon’s new “Sector Mesh” style, built around a sheet of mesh coil in a conical shape, intended to concentrate the vapor as it approaches the drip tip. The coil heads themselves look basically the same as any other coil, but with the important difference that there is no threading on the base, with the coil heads just pushing directly into the top section of the tank. They’re held in place by O-rings, but don’t actually connect until you screw the base back onto the upper section of the tank.
They also have plenty of information printed on them, including the 70 to 75 W recommended setting and a minimum fill line. The juice ports are oval-shaped and easily big enough to suit even very high VG e-juice, so you’re unlikely to have an issue with wicking. You can also see right into the top when they’re removed, so it’s easy to prime the coils before using.
Adjustable Airflow System
The Falcon 2 tank features a slot-style adjustable airflow system, with three roughly centimeter-long slots around the base of the tank. As usual, you can open or close these to your liking by twisting the outer layer at the base. Having the slots fully open gives you the wide open draw many vapers prefer, but if you like more of a mouth-to-lung style hit you can close it up to get a much tighter draw. In short, the adjustable airflow does exactly what you want it to.
Top Filling System
The top-filling system on the Falcon II is really well designed. An arrow on the metal section above the glass tank indicates the point you need to push to reveal the fill hole, and when you do the top section slides backwards to reveal a large, oval-shaped hole. This is more than big enough to use with any type of e-juice bottle, but the Gorilla bottles that are most common these days work really well with it in particular. Many tanks these days are moving to the same type of system, and for good reason: it’s easy to use and doesn’t open accidentally like some of the earlier top-filling designs.
Tank Capacity and Alternate Tubes
The capacity of the Falcon II varies depending on the glass tube you’re using. For the EU version (like mine), the straight-sided 2 ml option is the only one that’s legally permitted. However, on other versions of the tank you get the bigger (and better) 5.2 ml capacity tube, which bulges out in the middle to increase the size while still fitting in the same slot. There isn’t much to add here, just that there are different tank sizes and if possible, you should try to get the 5.2 ml version.
Wide Bore Drip Tip
Finally, the Falcon II comes with a wide-bore resin drip tip as standard. You can change this easily if you don’t like the standard tip, but it does a great job of supporting the airflow from the tank, as well as matching the rest of the tank in terms of design.
Overall
The Falcon II tank is really well-designed. It looks great and it’s clear that user-friendliness was a big priority when Horizon was putting it together.
Horizon Falcon II Review – In Use
Performance – Vapor Production
The Falcon II is a great performer when it comes to vapor production, thanks to the mesh coils and the ample airflow through the entire device. The recommended wattage range of the coil is pretty narrow (just spanning 70 to 75 W) but it works pretty well below that range too, and to be honest for me the performance is still just what I’m looking for at 60 W. Regardless, you get plenty of vapor however you choose to vape, with thick clouds that won’t disappoint even serious cloud-chasing vapers.
Performance – Flavor
Although clouds are the biggest factor for many vapers, for me it’s all about the flavor, and the Falcon II is really good in this department too. The wicking is great, and the conical mesh is also intended to maximize the flavor from the tank. Whatever the main factor is, the tank produces great flavor from your juice, with every flavor note coming through clearly and the taste not diminishing even after multiple refills. The vapor production is great, but for me the tank really stands out when it comes to flavor.
Ease of Use
The HorizonTech Falcon II is pretty easy to use as far as sub ohm tanks go. Changing your coil is pretty simple, since you don’t even need to screw anything down and the coils just push snugly into the main section of the tank. Of course you still have to screw the base back into the top of the tank, but the system still makes changing coils much easier.
Refilling couldn’t be easier. The top-filling system works really well, with the top cap smoothly sliding off to the side when you push the indicated position on the rim. The fill hole itself is big, and leads directly down into the tank section. Even if you were brand new to vaping you’d be able to refill the tank with no problems even with no instructions.
Problems with the 2 ml Tube
The most frustrating thing about the tank – and really my main complaint overall – is how the 2 ml EU limit impacts the process of refilling the tank. With the cage on the inside of the tank, the 2 ml tube barely leaves any space for your juice to go. It can get there, but the very narrow space means it flows very slowly and you can’t really refill that quickly. If you go too fast, juice will well up through the fill hole, so it overflows easily if you’re not paying attention and leaving time for it to settle down. Even if you’re patient, it still takes irritatingly long to fill the tank and you never feel like it’s quite as full as it could be. Eventually you get into a rhythm with it, but it really needed a bigger redesign for the 2ml version.
Of course, this is specifically a problem with the EU version of the tank. The 5 ml tube has much more space and this will completely remove this problem (although I haven’t been able to actually test this myself). The issue is purely one of space, and so the 2 ml tube really doesn’t work as well as you’d want.
Build Quality
The Falcon II is really well put together. The best example of this is the filling system: as you push back the top cap you get some resistance, but it still glides smoothly from the open to the closed position. It’s perfectly done, making it essentially impossible to accidentally open but still being very easy to open when you want to. The threading, general machining and everything else about the tank live up to this standard, but that really sums up how well it’s been made.