Arcfox Kit by Smok

Review by Jen_Turista

Smok Arcfox Kit – I can’t believe this is Smok!

For today’s review, my fellow vapers, we will be looking at the Smok Arcfox kit! This was kindly supplied to me by Sourcemore for the purposes of a review, which I sincerely appreciate (thank you, Joyi!). Sourcemore is one of the biggest online vape suppliers out there that also provides other services to businesses including wholesaling and drop-shipping. They have been operating since 2009 and are located in the vaper paradise of my dreams, Shenzhen in China! They sell all kinds of vape gear and run serious promotions from time to time, so be sure to check them out for your vaping needs. I have made a few personal purchases myself from them, and each time the despatch was quick as well as delivery. One week from China to the U.K. is pretty damn impressive!

So, onto the kit, you have clicked on to see: the Smok Arcfox Kit!

This set-up is one of Smok’s recent releases, and as far as first impressions go, this one is truly a beauty!

Before we get to it though, I do need to acknowledge the elephant in the room for the majority of vapers. Well, there’s quite a few but in my opinion, this is the biggest one: we need to talk about the brand and the perceptions surrounding them.

The next biggest elephant? If you’re a vaper that has used/is using the Geekvape Aegis Legend kit, this will be pretty obvious: does the Arcfox look too much like the Legend?

Smok has been around yonks (as we would say) and have produced A LOT of devices: of all types, sizes, but most controversially, quality levels. I do own quite a few Smok kits myself, mostly pod kits including the RPM40, RPM80, different iterations of the Nord, to name a few. From my personal experience of the brand’s products, it’s been a mixed bag, to be honest. Every time I faced an issue, a quick Google search that I’d do throws up pages and pages of complaints, especially about the coil quality. Now, any decent company will listen to legitimate concerns raised by their market, and seek to improve on their products going forward. So, is Smok’s Arcfox Kit proof of their better understanding of their market? Do read on!

As always, my review will be from my own experience of using the device as a regular vaper, as most of you vapers buying this device will be.

Packaging and Contents

I was sent the retail version of the Arcfox Kit (non-TPD) containing:

• Arcfox mod, that is shock, water (IP67), dustproof.
• TFV18 Tank. It’s ginormous (see features in this review), seriously, and holds a whopping 7.5 mL of e-liquid!
• A meshed 0.33 ohm TFV18 coil that is preinstalled.
• A dual meshed 0.15 ohm TV18 coil. Yes, both of these coils are also huuuuge!
• Replacement Bubble Glass.
• User manual.
• Spare o-rings.
• A USB-C charging cable.

Salient Features of each main component are below:

TFV18 Tank

• Dimensions at 66.3mm x 31.6mm. Yep, told you, it’s freaking huge!
• Has a small button that, when pushed, allows the top cap to swivel, exposing the top fill hole. This feature makes the tank superbly childproof.
• Although there is only one fill hole, it is really large in size. No air pressure and escape issues to be had here.
• Replaceable Delrin drip tip. This drip tip is arguably one of the longest ones I’ve ever used, measuring over 10mm from top to bottom. It’s definitely for direct lung vaping, and despite its size, it is actually not uncomfortable to use.
• Adjustable bottom airflow with 3 slots and hard stops.
• Compatible with TFV 18 coils (of course!) and TFV 16 coils, expanding the choices of coils for this tank.
• 510 threaded

Arcfox Mod

• Dimensions at 88.25mm x 55.6mm x 30mm. Harking back to one of my points in the review introduction: the Arcfox mod is actually a little smaller and slimmer than the Legend Mod! Interesting, eh?
• Ranges from 5W-230W in power.
• Needs 2 external 18650 cells/batteries.
• Weighs 145g, which is relatively lightweight as far as dual 18650 mods are concerned.
• Made from metal, stitched leather, and silicone which Smok describes as non-slip and scratch-resistant. And indeed, the use of silicone instead of rubber is a nice touch as it doesn’t attract pocket lint like a magnet!
• Has 2A fast charging.
• Input voltage of between 6.4V to 8.4V.
• Reads 0.10 ohm to 2.5 ohms in power mode, and 0.05 ohms to 2.0 ohms in TC mode.
• Temperature range between 100 C to 315 C/200F to 600F.
• Has a coloured 0.96 inch TFT screen.
• The usual vape device protections like over-discharge, over-temperature, battery reverse, and so on.

Impressions and Experience

A. Packaging

The packaging is colourful and bold. I think it is just right for what the kit is and doesn’t appear tacky, overdone, or cheap. Around the packaging will be found the specifications of the device and package contents, as well as the usual warnings. Nothing misrepresented: what you see is indeed what you’ll get!

B. Tank

As you can probably tell, my first impressions of this tank were centred around its size. It is the biggest sub-ohm tank I have ever used! Everything about it is BIG, like the coils, bubble glass, and the drip tip. Getting over the size quickly though, refilling it is a breeze with the large fill hole. The top-cap swivel system also works very smoothly, and it always clicks back into place. The o-ring tolerances are perfect for each part. There is branding around the tank although again, not overly done which appeals to me. The tank is on the heavy side though. Paired with the Arcfox Mod, the size and weight of it is very complementary. However, if you will be using this tank with smaller mods, take note of its size and weight as it may look awkward with an overhang, or could tip over because of the weight.

Can I just say though, how happy I am not to see resin on the drip tip? Yes! I am one of the strange ones who’s gotten a little too tired of seeing resin everywhere! But yes, for resin lovers, you can of course get a resin drip tip as an additional purchase.

The bottom airflow is smooth and very easy to control. It is very airy when fully open, as expected. I am able to achieve the RDL vape I like with two-thirds of the airflow closed. But no, you cannot (and you really shouldn’t with this kit) restrict the airflow for a MTL type draw. This tank is made for DL!

Coil replacement was also very easy. At the base of the tank, there are five braces for effective power transfer to the coil. At least, this is what Smok says. Having used the tank though, I am inclined to believe that this is true given the coil performance and consistent flavour (but more on each coil later in this review).

I have not experienced any leaking with this tank, to my delight! One thing I must also note, and by no means is this a con, is that this tank guzzles juice like no one’s business! This is a nature-of-the-beast type of observation though given the large coil size together with flavour and vapour quality. I am not at all bothered by this, but I know there are some vapers out there that may want to take this into consideration.

As a last note: there is an RBA available for this tank, for the rebuilding enthusiasts out there.

C. Mod

As spectacular as the TFV18 tank was, for me the star of the show is the Arcfox Mod. It looks like nothing Smok has ever released before. No sign of resin or stab wood-like finish anyway- I bloody love it! There is some branding around the mod as expected, but it is done tastefully. Dare I say, it actually does feel like a premium, outdoor vaping product!

The Mod is water, dust, and shockproof. The silicone material wraps around the mod very nicely and in the useful places where we grab our mods. The fire button/bar is big and clicky, located on one side of the device. It is very hard to miss! On the opposite side of that is the stitched leather; I might be wrong but I do think this is genuine leather and not some leather-like material.

Up top is an exposed 510 plate with 3 screws (very sturdy, me likey!). Now, because it is exposed, I am not too sure if this makes the mod any less waterproof. Without opening up the mod myself, I would imagine though that there is some sort of material underneath this 510 plate to keep to the IP67 waterproof rating of the device.

In front of the mod are the up and down buttons which do have a very slight play, and the TFT coloured screen. The screen will show you typical vaping data like battery life, the mode selected, wattage or temperature, ohm load, voltage, puff counter and time of puff. Kudos to Smok here for having the battery life presented in both bars and numeric percentage. Huge plus again!

The screen colour can also be changed as you desire, limited to the palette options preset in the mod.

But here is where I think an improvement can be made if you look at the photos in this review. There is about 25% of space between the bottom of the screen and the adjustment buttons. With the size of letters and number on the screen, I feel like Smok could have put in a longer screen to maximise the space for the screen. That way, the screen information can be presented in bigger numbers and letters.

Another room for improvement is the screen brightness as it is a little dim. The information is still visible but in a very bright light, it may be problematic to see.

With batteries inside, there is absolutely no rattling to be heard, which to me means that this mod is well put together. The battery door is very similar to that of the Aegis Legend. It is at the bottom of the mod and is spring-loaded with a slide-to-release button. The door doesn’t have a lot of play and has some vent holes for the batteries. This part of the mod appears to be very sturdy, my only issue with it, which is probably subjective, is that I need to push down on the battery door extremely hard to get the battery door to close.

Now, I am not the most physically strong in most situations in life, that is true, but this battery door needs some serious power to get it to close! I’d say though that it is par for the course for a waterproof mod as the seals need to be super tight to keep water out.

Battery polarities are also very clearly marked inside the mod and on the battery door which, I must admit, made me smile! Lately, I am finding more and more mods are missing battery polarity marks. You can argue that these mods are meant to be used by experienced vapers (and would therefore know better), but still, I don’t think this should be missed by any manufacturer.

The USB-C charge port, located near the Arcfox logo, is covered by a rubber bung that doesn’t protrude very much from the mod but is also quite easy to remove and replace.

The mod is very responsive and fires super quick without any lag that I can discern. In power mode, you can adjust the wattage in one-watt increments. In TC mode, the adjustments go by 5 degrees in Celsius and 10 degrees in Fahrenheit.

It is very easy to use, and praise needs to go to Smok again for keeping the mod operation very simple. Three clicks of the fire button/bar allow you to switch vaping modes (wattage or TC of Ni, Ti, SS). Pressing both adjustment buttons at the same time locks and unlocks the wattage. The fire button/bar plus up button changes the screen colour, and the fire button/bar plus down button allows you to reset the puffs.

All in all, it is a sleek and classy looking mod for something that is meant to withstand knocks. The mod performs as expected and very well!

D. Coils

First up is the 0.33 TFV18 ohm meshed coil (80W-140W, best between 100W-110W) that is preinstalled in the tank. I gave this coil a lot of active priming in all the wick holes and in the chamber. I also let the coil sit in the liquid for about 20 minutes before I used it. Call me over-cautious, but nothing grinds my gears more than dry hits! My method has worked beautifully though, as this coil gave me great flavour and clouds even at the low side of its wattage range. I did find my sweet spot for flavour and clouds at 90W; taking it up to 100W and 110W didn’t really improve the flavour for me. It can keep up with chain vaping as well, no dry hits experienced at all!

I do admittedly prioritise flavour over clouds. This coil gave me a fantastic and consistent flavour. I can taste the different notes of the e-liquid, and the vape was warm enough for me. I’d rate the flavour at 8/10 for this coil, with cloud production at 7/10. However, we all know that increasing the wattage will influence cloud production, so if you are a cloud-chaser, crank the wattage to 110W, which this coil can handle comfortably, and you will be in cloud town!

The next coil I tried is the 0.15 TFV18 ohm dual meshed (80W-140W, best between 100W-110W). My experience with this coil didn’t really vary that much with the previous coil. At a stretch, it has a marginally better flavour, likely down to the dual mesh employed in this coil. I found this coil to perform to my preferences at 100W. Flavour is at 8-8.5/10 with cloud production at 7.5/10.

I talked about my priming method (which let’s face it, is probably not very unique anyway) because both coils have an immense amount of cotton for the liquid to get through. You really need to make sure you prime your coil properly to avoid dry hits and maximise coil life.

And as mentioned earlier in the review, these coils will go through your liquids quickly, but this is in exchange for great flavour. So keep this compromise in mind when using these.

The photo gives you a perspective of how big these coils are: on the right is a Freemax M Pro coil which is pretty big for most sub-ohm tanks out there. It is easily dwarfed by the big and beefy TFV18 coil!

Unfortunately, I did not get the RBA to test, but I am hoping to do so in future as I am quite impressed with the TFV18 tank!

Overall: Yay or Nay?

No question, this is a Yay for me! The tank is phenomenal in performance, I get great flavour from a stock coil, and the mod is cleverly designed. Sure, there is room for improvement as I pointed out in the course of this review, but the positives with the Smok Arcfox kit far outweigh these in my opinion.

This kit is for the intermediate to experienced vaper, with the TFV18 tank exclusively for DL vaping. Of course, the tank isn’t shock, dust, and waterproof, but the mod definitely is. For a mod made for rugged use, it sure looks magnificent!

So cast your perceptions of Smok aside and consider this kit in isolation, as it is truly a good kit to have and a worthy alternative to the Aegis Legend. It is a beautiful kit that will surely stay in my vape rotation!

My sincerest thanks again to Sourcemore for sending this kit to me for the review! To pick up the Arcfox kit by Smok, head over there and check them out.

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This review was written by jen_turista who is very active within the vape scene. You can go give her a follow on Instagram and Twitter.