The SMOK R200 is a 200 watts temperature control vaporizer from the world known Chinese manufacturer SMOK Tech. There are plenty of these high powered devices to choose from nowadays, but what really sets the SMOK R200 apart from other high powered mods are its small compact size, unusually light weight and very competitive price point. Although the R200 comes in the usual packaging as expected from SMOK, the contents of this kit are particularly different. The R200 is available in 4 colours, black, silver, white, and red.
Price
The R200 retails at only around $40 USD, one of the cheapest prices you can find for a mod which has an output of up to 200 watts! However, let us see if the R200 could really perform on high power wattages.
Features
One of the things that I found unusual was the contents of the kit, whereby in the package, it comes with a mod, a micro USB upgrading cable, a safety warning card, user manual, and a backup kit for the TFV4 Mini sub ohm tank. For users that already own a TFV$ Mini tank, the backup kit allows them to swap the original TFV4 coil heads with two shorter size ones, as well as the tall glass tube with a shorter one. SMOK claims that by swapping over, it will help to decrease liquid consumption, something that the TFV4 tank family is famous for.
The R200 has all the features that a regulated mod is expected to have such as :
- Temperature control (supporting nickel and titanium and stainless steel)
- 0.3 ohm to 3.0 ohm resistance range
- Injection Molded Magnetic Battery Door
- Short Circuit / Over Heating / Low Battery / Intelligent Atomizer / Puff Monitoring / Protection
User Experience
Let me start off with the design of the R200. It is very similar to the SMOK r80, and in turn the SMOK r80 is identical to the SMOK M80 temperature control mod. This goes to show just how far SMOK has upped their game, and with each new release, there is always something better. The 200 watts version is only half a millimeter taller and one millimeter thicker than the M80, making the difference almost invisible. The only other visible differences between the two devices are the lack of a rest button on the SMOK R200 and the addition of a battery door on the bottom, as the R200 works with two separate 18650 batteries, while the M80 has built in ones. As both devices are very similar in shape and size, there is not much to say about.
One major difference from the R80 and the R200 is that SMOK has removed the built in batteries feature due to users complaining, and thus the R200 has to run on removable batteries. This will be counted as an improvement for advanced vapers, while intermediate and beginners will find it inconvenient and less appealing. For the SMOK M80 and the SMOK R80, the main selling points were the built in batteries with high capacity, and only uses a USB to charge it. Despite being an advance vaper myself, I personally would prefer built in batteries as it reduces the hassle of having to buy batteries separately as well as a smart charger for external charging. The USB port at the bottom of the R200 is used only for firmware upgrades in the future.
Let me get started on the battery door style which SMOK has implemented on the R200. As it uses a sliding magnetic cover, it locks firmly into place and doesn’t wobble or rattle at all. However, what frustrates me is that it is on the bottom of the device, and tilting the device upside down may cause tanks to leak, which made me appreciate side doors a lot more.
The buttons, display, and menu of the SMOK R200 are exactly the same of the R80, so there is not much to mention about them. For those who wants to know more about it, you could check out my review of the R80 for more details. The buttons of the R200 are nice and clicky, and no rattling sound, which is a major irritation for users, as some mods have buttons which rattles a lot. Build quality has evidently improved from the R80 a lot.
The one feature that I did not find useful was the time and date setting, which resets every time you take out the batteries. If I were to say, I would say SMOK used the same board as the R80, and did not bother taking out this feature. Anyways, its just a secondary function and has no relation to vaping at all, so I would not even count it as a con, just thought I’d mention it.
Alright lets go to performance! The SMOK R200 is a beast in terms of power. I have not actually used it all the way up to 200 watts, very rarely anyone uses 200 watts in fact. I did however, made some test builts down to 0.15 ohms, and tested it at an average of 140 watts to 150 watts. The device performed great, firing beautifully without any issues. Like all new generation SMOK vaporizers, it has five special draw effects, min, soft, norm, hard, or max to choose from. This is a cool feature which I really like, as it allows users to customize their vaping experience.
For advanced vapers, temperature control is one of the most important features a mod can have these days. I am glad to say that the SMOK R200 successfully passes the burnt cotton test, whereby some regulated mods with temperature control still results in the cotton getting burnt.
Overall
As I myself have tried every single device that SMOK has launched, I can say without a doubt that the SMOK R200 is their best product yet. It looks small and compact, yet packs a punch with 200 watts of output! It is in fact quite light, despite housing 2 batteries. The small flaws with it does not affect the performance of the mod whatsoever, and can easily be addressed in a future version.
Lastly, the price for this 200 wattage mod is just crazy, costing only about $40 USD, and it does temperature control too! I would definitely recommend this to users who are looking for something cheap yet powerful and high quality!