Dubbed the most expected vape mod of 2016, the Sigelei 213W, a dual battery operated mod, has been taking a lot of heat lately. On the surface, everything looks great – it’s a beautifully designed mod and the specs seem too good to be true! However, reports from early buyers started coming in just as I was ready to write up this review and they were not boding well for Sigelei. So what has gotten the vaping community so upset about this one? If you want to find out continue on to the Sigelei 213 review!
Is it worth picking up?
As much as I like Sigelei 213 build and quality of make, the myriad of issues that plague it is more than enough for me not to recommend it. It does have some things going for it such as the new power up feature and great looks but people forking out that amount of money expect more in terms of functionality and performance, as they absolutely should.
If you need a new mod there are definitely better options out there than the Sigelei 213, and you can probably have money left over to buy a decent new tank too. This one, unfortunately, is only for people who have a real penchant for good looks or are Sigelei fan boys – if there are any left.
The most depressing thing about the whole thing with Sigelei 213 is how the company is side-stepping the problem and offering no solution to people who bought their merchandise. I’m still waiting for a response to my email a week later. Sadly, I think they will lose a lot of business over this and that it’s going to be hard for them to recover from this blunder.
Full review
I’ve been using my Sigelei 213W box mod for a couple of weeks now and before I sat down to write this review I did very little research on it. I’ve read the specs and watched a few reviews but I didn’t really dig into it. Doing so a few nights ago was a shocker. Don’t get me wrong, I did notice a few glitches with the device that I will go into in more detail but the issues with vaping in TC mode weren’t as noticeable to me. Now that I’ve had a chance to test it thoroughly I must say that most buyers are angry with reason so this changed my opinion about the mod considerably. That said – it’s not a bad mod per say, it is just that the bad advertising and the company’s inability and unwillingness to deal with the issues is grating and frustrating.
The Packaging
I like the Sigelei packaging. It’s clean-cut with emblazoned Sigelei 213 sign in red that looks impressive on a black surface. The back of the box has the usual warnings on it – not intended for minors, or people with a heart condition and so on. A lot of manufacturers fail to address that straight on the box so it’s nice to see that Sigelei puts the safety of their customers first.
Inside you will find your mod. There are two different variations when it comes to the color of the aluminum alloy that houses the buttons and goes over the top and bottom edges of the mod – gun metal and golden. The rest of the mod is done in grayish black colors that are intertwined, giving the mod a somewhat webbed appearance.
For the purpose of this review, I got a gold-trimmed Sigelei – I’m not complaining but I do think that the gun metal one has more gravitas and looks more imposing. But again, tastes differ so to each their own.
In the package you’re going to receive:
- Sigelei 213W mod
- USB cable
- Security code instructions
- Warranty card
- Manual
Some vendors are actually throwing in double batteries as well but that’s going to depend on where you order from. Originally, Sigelei 213 sold for over $115 so it was not a cheap mod; more of a solid investment really. After its flaws became apparent, however, the price drop and the mod can now be found for anywhere between $75 and $90.
Sigelei 213W Box Mod specifications:
- Dimensions 88mm/44mm/29mm
- Wattage 10W – 213W
- Voltage output 1 V to 7.5 V
- Handles resistance from 0.1ohm to 3ohm
- TC for Ni200 coils
- TC for Ti coils
- TC for SS coils
- Wattage mode for Kanthal coils
- Proprietary Power Up functionality
- Carbon fiber, aluminum, and zinc alloy parts
- Operated by dual 18650 batteries
- TFR mode
- New SGL16055V1.5 chipset
- 510 connection
- OLED display
- Angular buttons – prevent accidental firing
- Light and ergonomically designed
On the face of it Sigelei 213 mod looks like a winner, right? And it is in some respects – if you’re not buying everything that is being said by the company and you want to use it only in variable wattage mode. The kinks in TC mode will likely put off more serious vapers, most of which were counting on Sigelei dominating 2016 with this one – at least when it comes to dual battery box mods with TC capabilities.
Aesthetics and Design
Regardless of the fact that I’ve got it in gold, I still very much dig the Sigelei 213 look. It looks sturdy and well made, and it actually is! A good part of it is owed to carbon fiber casing. Now, I’m not sure how much carbon fiber there is actually there but the surface coating looks cool and is resistant to scratches – always a plus since I really get wired up when I damage a mod. If you’re like me, you’re going to like this.
Carbon fiber also makes Sigelei 213 box mod extremely light – in my experience, it has to be one of the lightest dual battery mods I’ve ever held in hand. To be fair, not everything on the mod is made from carbon fiber. The casings around the top and the bottom of the mod are both made from aluminum and zinc alloy as far as I can tell, as well as the casing around the buttons and the screen (again, I’m saying aluminum and zinc but I’m not sure – there is no info online about the materials used in the manufacture of this mod, at least I couldn’t find it).
Unfortunately, the buttons are made from third-grade plastic and while they don’t rattle on sight I’m sure that with enough use they’re going to start to. I can’t understand why manufacturers spend ton of money making a great-looking mod and then ruin it by cutting corners on the most noticeable thing. Potentially rattle-y buttons are luckily only one of the two things that Sigelei did wrong with the design of the box.
The second is the battery cover. While I fully appreciate the fact that it’s difficult to use a magnetic cover on a dual battery mod (and have it look good) the clip thingy that they have going on the bottom of this mod just doesn’t cut it. I’ve opened the battery cover two dozen times and already it’s popping open all on its own occasionally.
New Chipset and TC
This is the area where things start to fall apart, unfortunately. While I was using the Sigelei 213 I’ve noticed that I wasn’t really getting the power I was hoping for, especially at higher wattages. I chalked it up to the fact that I have limited experience with high-brow, dual battery mods and I left it at that.
However, there seems to be more to that than just my inexperience. So far, numerous users have reported that the output power is nowhere close to 213 W that is advertised – the best that users can hope for is 150 W. This isn’t low by a long shot but it’s kind of annoying that the company would put out a device that can do what it’s advertised to do. Or worse yet, blatantly lie about the device’s performance.
Also, temperature control is seriously off with Sigelei and the device poses a serious health hazard for vapers who vape in TC mode. Remember, temperature control is there to protect you as overheating those nickel and titanium coils can have detrimental effects on your health. A firmware upgrade could possibly resolve these issues but Sigelei has already released a statement stating that no firmware upgrade is in the works.
Instead, they’ve released Fuchai 213 mod that looks the same as Sigelei 213 but apparently has those issues sorted out (although various reviews on the web are less than kind to it). It’s made from cheaper material and costs half as Sigelei 213. This is a small consolation for Sigelei 213 buyers who’ve already spat out a lot of cash for their mod.
The Power Up Mode
One good thing that Sigelei 213 managed to bring to the table is its pre-heat mode, called the power up mode here. Essentially, it allows you to set the wattage higher for brief moments of time.
Let’s say you’re vaping at 70 W with a 0.2ohm coil. You set the power up function to fire at 100 W for 1 second whenever you hit the fire button. This extra power allows you to enjoy better vapor and flavor for a brief moment of time, maximizing vaping pleasure – at least for me! It then settles back to whatever setting you are vaping on.
This is one function brought about by the Sigelei 213 that I hope more manufacturers adopt or at least explore in their future releases.
Screen and Menu Functionality
The OLED display is very bright and you get a ton of information on it. Among the more interesting readings are battery life – shown separately for each individual battery and also for the overall health of batteries – and Amps, which is great for monitoring battery safety.
I’m not a huge fan of 0.1 increments for adjusting the wattage and temperature. The scroll just flies by and it’s difficult to adjust it to your preferred setting if you’re not really concentrated on it. Most of the time I miss the mark and wattage adjustment takes a frustrating few minutes to get right – it keeps flying off to either side. The plus side of this is that it increments rather quickly compared to other 0.1 increment mods.
The menu is fairly uncomplicated and the user manual explains how to set everything up quite nicely – it’s all a combination of up and down buttons and the fire button. Sigelei 213 supports the bypass mode, variable wattage mode, and various assorted TC modes for Ni200, Ti, and SS. However, since TC is quite jumbled chances are that you will be using this mode mostly in variable wattage mode, if you decide to buy it.
There is one more thing that gets often mention – the screen can sometimes superimpose images one over another. I’ve tried to replicate this but wasn’t successful – however, it seems to be a common occurrence as a lot of vapers are complaining about it.
Battery
Battery life will depend on what setup you use but it’s safe to say that Sigelei 213 is not a juice guzzler as such. I only went up to 80 W with it and I would comfortably vape the whole day without draining the batteries.
The battery slot is at the bottom and as I’ve already mentioned it could be a bit better. The clip isn’t secure enough and it occasionally pops open when you expect it the least. The batteries themselves are not included and I recommend you buy quality ones from established manufacturers such as Sony or LG – they only cost a couple of dollars more but are far more secure.
Even though it’s possible to charge Sigelei 213 using the USB cable provided, I recommend you buy a battery charger and always take out the batteries when you need to charge them. It’s also smart to pair two batteries together and have them charge and discharge at the same time.
Vaping Experience
Not really much to say here that hasn’t already been said. Sigelei 213 performs great in VW mode but falls short in TC mode – an unfortunate occurrence that the company doesn’t seem eager to rectify – actually, they can’t because the chipset is not connected to the USB and there is no way to upgrade the firmware.
I’ve tested the TC mode to the best of my abilities and my findings concur with those of other reviewers – early adopters got cheated with this one. Also, the power output is constantly lower than what the screen shows so if you want to push it up take into account that you will have to set it to 80 W to get 70 W.
Also, Sigelei 213 has an issue with misclicks, which extremely odd for a mod in this price range. This is one of the first things I’ve noticed about it and while it’s not as universal I did come across it on the forums and other vapers have posted about it.