Our Sigelei Fuchai 213 Plus review takes a look at the high-power, TC-equipped, dual-18650 box mod from the widely-respected manufacturer. The price of $44.95 is definitely tempting, but does the device live up to expectations?
Is it worth picking up?
The Fuchai 213 Plus takes what was great about the original Fuchai 213 and adds a prettier display screen and a better-functioning TC mode, removing issues with auto-firing that plagued the previous incarnation.
The result is a capable and dependable dual-battery mod, that does everything you need it to in style without adding unnecessary complications. For less than $45, it’s a fantastic deal for a great mod that you can rely on as your main device, which can easily last you through more than a day of vaping when paired with high-capacity batteries.
It might not be the perfect mod, but it’s a fantastic option that’s well worth considering.
Full review
The Fuchai 213 from Sigelei is a widely-recommended mod, but the updated Plus version improves on the original’s offerings through a color OLED screen and improvements to the TC capabilities. But TC-equipped box mods are very common these days, and even the high 223 W maximum power rating doesn’t set the Fuchai 213 Plus apart from the competition. The question is: does the Fuchai 213 Plus have enough to offer to put it above the huge number of capable box mods on the market? We’ve tested the device out for our Sigelei Fuchai 213 Plus review to see what it can do.
What You Get
The Fuchai 213 Plus comes in a fairly basic box that includes the mod, a silicone sleeve to cover it, a USB charging cable, a fold-out manual and a warranty card. The box itself just has the name of the mod on the front and some basic specs on the back, and the USB charging cable is individually-packaged in its own box. You don’t really get too much, but as long as you have an atomizer and some e-juice to use, it’s all you need to start vaping.
Sigelei Fuchai 213 Plus Review – The Design
Appearance
The Fuchai 213 Plus looks pretty much the same as the older version of the mod, with a rectangular shape with rounded corners, a compact display screen on the front face of the device, two adjustment buttons above the screen and a fire button on the front edge. The mod comes in a range of colors – blue, black, green, red and orange – and the rest of the device is a dark gray color. The silicone sleeve really changes the look of the device, covering everything on the mod aside from the display screen and the top and bottom sides. Personally I think the device looks better without the silicone covering, but it works well visually in either case.
The Fuchai 213 Plus is a dual 18650 battery mod, but it’s still fairly compact and fits comfortably in your palm. It is quite heavy, but the compact size and comfortable design more than makes up for this, and all dual-battery devices are fairly heavy anyway.
Display Screen
The display screen shows your settings, as well as all of the key information about your coil and batteries, and this is one of the main improvements from the previous version of the device. The screen is a multi-color OLED, measuring 0.91 inches, which puts it head and shoulders above of the screens of most vape mods on the market. Your main setting is displayed in the top left of the display screen, with the resistance of your coil, the firing voltage and the current draw shown in the middle column and the voltages of both individual batteries shown on the right column. Below this, there is a puff counter on the bottom left and a timer for each individual puff on the bottom right. A battery level indicator stretches up the far right hand side. The color makes the screen more vibrant and easy-to-read, but realistically doesn’t add too much to the overall functioning of the device.
Battery Compartment
The battery compartment on the bottom of the Fuchai 213 has a basic design but it gets the job done well. To open it, you simply pull the door directly outwards and then swing it open. On the inside, the gold-plated contacts are clearly labeled with a positive and negative symbol to show you the correct polarity for the batteries. You close the battery door by swinging it back up and then pushing it horizontally inwards towards the body of the mod, and a magnetic system helps to hold it in place. With batteries inserted, you need to keep some upwards pressure applied to keep everything in place, but when the door is locked it stays firmly in place.
Fire and Adjustment Buttons
The two adjustment buttons on the Fuchai 213 Plus are located just above the display screen, oval-shaped and oriented diagonally. They are positioned just around from the fire button, so they’re in a good position to reach when you’re holding the device to vape, and give a satisfying click when you push them down. The fire button is rectangular in shape, except with a diagonal bottom edge, and pushes down easily. Again there is a click to give some feedback when you push it down.
510 Connection
The Fuchai 213 Plus features a 510 connection for your atomizer, so it’s compatible with the vast majority of tanks and atomizers on the market. The 510 connection is gold-plated and spring-loaded, so you won’t have any issues with connectivity, and it’s surrounded by a circular metallic section for your tank or atomizer to sit on.
Overall
The design of the Fuchai 213 Plus is fairly straightforward but it gets the job done and most vapers will feel right at home with the layout. It also looks pretty cool, whether you prefer it with or without the silicone case.
Sigelei Fuchai 213 Plus Review – the Features
VW Mode Up To 223 W
The Sigelei Fuchai 213 Plus offers variable wattage vaping at anything from 10 to 223 W. This offers more than enough choice for pretty much any vaper, although there are higher-power mods on the market for anybody who really needs more than this. You dial in your wattage using the two adjustment buttons, and you hold them down to scroll through the available settings more quickly. You adjust in 0.1 W increments for settings below 100 W, and in 1 W increments above that. The color of the setting on the display changes from green to amber to red and you increase your setting, to give you a simple visual indication of where you are with reference to the range supported by the mod.
TC Mode Between 200 and 570 °F
The 213 Plus also offers TC vaping with stainless steel, nickel and titanium coils between 200 and 570 °F or between 100 and 300 °C. There is also an adjustable TCR mode, so you can set up your TC operation to suit your preferences, or tailor it to specific materials or setups as you please. You can store five custom TCRs in TCR mode, and add even more information to adjust performance at different temperatures using TFR mode, again with five memory spots. Finally, you can adjust the ramp-up wattage in TC mode, which is a crucial factor in controlling your TC vaping experience. Overall the TC mode does everything you need it to, so there’s nothing to complain about here.
Safety Features
Like most VV/VW mods on the market today, the Fuchai 213 Plus comes with low resistance, reverse battery, low input voltage, high input voltage, short circuit and overheating protections. It also allows you to lock the keys by pressing the fire button five times in quick succession. This protects against accidental activation, and is particularly important for the Fuchai 213 Plus because the mod can’t be turned off with the batteries inserted.
Siegelei Fuchai 213 Plus Review – In Use
Performance – VW Mode
Most vapers will use the Fuchai 213 Plus in VW mode, and the good news is that the performance is just what you’d expect from any mod on the market. The 213 Plus is responsive and hard-hitting, sending power to your coil quickly and working well with a wide range of atomizers and setups. Although my usual power settings are much lower – rarely over 60 W – it performs well right across the wattage range. Of course the vapor production and flavor you get depend heavily on the tank you’re using, but the Fuchai 213 Plus is well set up to give you the best performance out of any atomizer.
Performance – TC Mode
The Fuchai 213 Plus works well in TC mode, with an adjustable ramp-up wattage ensuring you can get it working the way you want it too. You can lock in the resistance of your coil by pressing and holding both adjustment buttons together, and then selecting “lock” from the options that appear. This ensures consistent functioning in TC mode, and the transition from your set wattage to lower ones as it maintains your set temperature is smooth. This makes TC vaping with the Fuchai 213 Plus a pleasant, enjoyable experience. You’ll notice a slight drop off as it transitions from heating up to maintaining the temperature, but the vapor production is consistent throughout your draw. It’s great, on the whole – it does everything you need it to, and the TCR and TFR settings are there if the performance out of the box isn’t to your liking.
Changing Modes
One of the most common tasks you’ll have to complete on the mod is changing from one mode to the other, and thankfully the Fuchai 213 Plus makes this quite a simple process. Pressing the fire button three times in quick succession takes you to the mode menu, where six options – Power, SS, Til (titanium), Ni200 (nickel), TCR and TFR – can be selected with the adjustment buttons and the fire button. When you select a TC mode, you get a choice between temperatures displayed in Celsius or Fahrenheit, but for power mode you’re just taken straight to the home screen and you can vape straight away. The system for adjusting the TCR values is simple too – you press up to change the currently-selected digit and down to change to the next digit. When you’re done, you hit the fire button to advance to the next screen.
Overall it’s really simple and intuitive to change modes and navigate the menu system in general.
Vaping Out of the House
When you’re out and about with the Fuchai 213 Plus, the size isn’t as much of a downside as you might expect. It isn’t exactly portable compared to single-battery or in-built battery mods, but if you’re considering dual-battery options it actually does really well. It’s quite compact and you can carry it around in a pocket fairly easily.
The biggest downside when you’re out of the house is locking and unlocking the keys. Although you can lock it easily with five quick presses, unlocking it isn’t as easy – the only way I can do it consistently is to press the button closer to ten times. Before I worked it out I’d just open the battery door and close it again to switch the device on and off.
Overall it does a good job for vaping out of the house – striking a nice balance between size and battery life – but I would have preferred a better system for locking and unlocking the keys to avoid accidental firing.
Build Quality
The Fuchai 213 Plus is a fairly basic device in terms of design, but everything is really well put together. The 510 connection is the perfect example of this: well-designed, beautifully machined threading, high-quality materials and a spring-loaded, gold-plated connection that works just as you want to. The battery door is fairly straightforward in design, but it clicks into place really well and doesn’t cause you any issues. Overall there is nothing to complain about here.