Centaurus Quest BF Kit by Lost Vape

Review by Jen_Turista

Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit – One Compact Squonker!

What’s happening, my fellow vapers! I have come out of my cave and resurfaced with, yes, another hardware review, but this time of a squonker! That’s right, we are going to be looking at the Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit today and how it performs.

This device was kindly supplied to me by Sourcemore.com for review purposes. Sourcemore is one of the biggest vape retailers based out of China. They sell pretty much everything you could ever need for vaping, and they run awesome promotions from time to time (not an exaggeration, I’ve taken advantage of these myself!). Additionally, the code QBFK gets you a cheeky discount off this kit at Sourcemore.com. So be sure to check them out for your vaping supplies!

So, it appears that this is my first ever review of a Lost Vape device! After over 50 or so hardware reviews, I didn’t quite believe it when looking back at my reviews, but here we are. Lost Vape has been around in the industry for a long time now, and is probably most well-known for their Orion series of pod kits from 3-4 years ago. They pulled the use of the DNA chip into a pod device which made the Orion releases very successful globally. Since then, they have released several variations and iterations within their Orion series of pod kits; and truth be told, I couldn’t even keep up!

That’s not to say that all they produce are pod kits, they have also created popular DNA and non-DNA mods that have a firm following within the vape community. This following has been well-earned by the company with the reliable quality of devices they have manufactured, coupled with well thought out aesthetics and engineering. With the release of the Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit though, it would seem Lost Vape is branching out a little with this kit’s squonk mod and their very first rebuildable atomiser in the Centaurus Solo RDA.

And so, without further ado, let’s get cracking with this review! As always, I will be reviewing this mod as an average vaper, as most of us in the community are.

Packaging and Contents

I was sent the retail version of the Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit, the packaging of which contained:

• Centaurus Quest BF Box Mod, which runs on a single 18650, 20700, or 21700 cell.
• Centaurus Solo RDA which comes with the squonk pin by default.
• 18650 battery adaptor.
• 9.5 mL squonk bottle in a plastic frame, preinstalled.
• An extra 9.5 mL storage bottle in a plastic frame (with no squonk slot) for when using the mod to store E-liquids (more on this in a bit).
• Spare 810 drip tip that curves inwards and upwards.
• Baggie of spares with o-rings, flathead post screws, and 510 contact pin (for when changing the RDA to a non-squonker).
• User manual and warranty card.
• USB-C Charging cable.

Salient Features of the Mod include:

• Marketed as a 2-in-1 mod, where should you not wish to squonk, just swap out the squonk bottle to the storage bottle to take extra e-liquid anywhere.
• Power goes from 5W to 100W which round-robins. Wattage goes up/down in 0.1W increments at below 20W, then at 0.5W increments above 20W.
• Measures about 86 mm x 32 mm x 53 mm. Although the depth says 32 mm, bear in mind that these are measured at the mod’s widest. The off-centre 510 platform can take up to 26mm diameter atomisers without overhang in my opinion.
• Runs on the Quest 2.0 chipset with modes such as Power, TC (SS, Ti, Ni), VPC, Voltage, Bypass.
• Output Voltage of 0.7 to 8.0 V.
• Supports coils resistances from 0.1 to 5.0 ohms.
• Bright, coloured 0.96” TFT screen.
• Has a USB-C port for charging (highly recommend you use an external charger though!).

Salient Features of the RDA include:

• A base diameter of 24 mm.
• A single-coil deck with two posts.
• Channelled side airflow via 2 cyclops slots on the side of the RDA.
• Uses standard 810 drip tips.
• Made of stainless steel.

Impressions and Experience

The kit came in a tidy white box, with printed coloured photos of the device on the outer sleeve as well as kit features, package contents, warnings, and manufacturer information written around it. Inside the box, the kit sits on a plastic tray which also has another plastic tray underneath it which neatly organises the kit accessories.

The Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit comes packed with accessories and almost everything you will need to get started. And I did say “almost”, as I did wish Lost Vape included a coil or two as well as some wicks to get the vaper started out of the box. I didn’t mind so much that it didn’t come with tools as most rebuildable atomisers will do, because these mini tools are practically unusable most of the time (invest in a good tool kit, vape fam!). However, having the components needed to build the RDA off the bat would have been awesome. This is Lost Vape’s first time releasing a rebuildable though, so I hope they will take this into account for (hopefully) future rebuildable releases.

Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Box Mod

A. Aesthetics and Ergonomics

I have to say that this is one pretty and exquisite mod! Made with zinc alloy, it just looks stunning and especially in the gunmetal Ukiran leather design I received. All components are machined and put together smoothly. For a squonk mod that boasts a 9.5 mL bottle and 21700 battery capacity, this mod is quite compact and fits well in the hand. I have no doubt that it will fit your back jeans pockets or purse as it really isn’t as bulky as one would expect. The mod also has minimal branding that is done tastefully; it looks and feels like a premium mod!

The ergonomics of the mod are done amazingly well, and it feels comfortable whether I thumb or finger fired the mod. The leather actually does feel like genuine leather, and it continues almost seamlessly with the carbon fibre textured panel beside it. The buttons are located in places comfortable to reach, and so operating the mod one-handed will not be an issue at all. The only comment I have about the build quality is the very slight (and I mean VERY slight) fire button rattle, which you’ll only really notice if you shake the mod rigorously. Other than that, and from a physical perspective, this is another quality mod from Lost Vape!

The platform having the 510 connection is screwed into the frame of the mod which lends an impression of durability. On one side of the mod is a big and tactile fire button, and the space underneath this is where the squonk or storage bottle slides into. At the bottom, you will find the battery door that threads into the frame as well as the bottle cap for the squonk and storage bottle. The battery door has vent holes for safety and does thread into the mod smoothly. There are also clear indications of battery orientation which are again pros for this mod. Now, some may not like the battery door design, but for me, this is absolutely perfect as it presents a very convenient way of swapping out batteries. This type of battery door (cap) is also more durable in the long run versus those that slide in/out of the mod frame. Everything is flush against the mod’s base, so the mod doesn’t wobble at all when standing upright. Very clever engineering and design again from Lost Vape here!

The “front” of the mod has the screen, adjustment and selection buttons, and USB-C port. And with the screen information shown and layout, this reminded me of a DNA chipset screen if I’m being honest! The screen displays a lot of things but everything is easily readable (for me) and clear. You’ll see the ohm load, battery life in percentage and bars, mode, power/temperature, puff duration, user setting saved, soft/norm/hard setting, puff counter, as well as “settings” to allow you to go into the mod’s settings.

B. Mod Operation

Operating the mod may seem complicated at first, but it really isn’t. The main principle to remember is to move the colour block which acts as a cursor to the setting you want to adjust.

• Fire button five clicks to turn the mod on/off.
• Up + down buttons pressed together will lock/unlock these buttons.
• Use up and down buttons to move the “cursor” to the setting you want to change, then press the middle selection button to select that setting. Pressing the up and down buttons whilst in a setting will present different options, and another press of the middle selection button confirms that selection. For example, to increase the mod’s power level, move the “cursor” to the wattage displayed using the up/down buttons, press the middle button to select, press up to increase wattage, then press the middle button to confirm the changed wattage level.

The settings area opens the door to more control over the mod. It has:

• Atomizer: where you can have the mod measure the ohm load and where you can also adjust the soft/norm/hard puff setting.
• Screen: where you can adjust screen brightness.
• Color: where you can choose the colour palette of the display; there are 6 options to choose from.
• User: where you can save up to 3 presets. So in this context, “user” just means “preset”.
• Reset: to allow you to reset the mod.
• Lastly, an About menu section to tell you about the software version installed.

Again, it may sound complicated but once you get used to it, it becomes really operationally intuitive. I am really digging this chipset as it allows for more control over the vape experience to my liking. Settings such as soft/norm/hard customise the hit I get from each puff, and the user presets give me a shortcut of settings to apply when I swap out builds or atomisers.

C. Squonking and Mod Performance

The slot for squonking is easily accessed on the mod, and the squonk bottle is quite responsive and sensitive to squeezing. Refilling the squonk bottle (and the storage bottle too) is quick and easy: you can fill it from the bottom with the squonk bottle still installed, or you can detach the squonk bottle from the mod prior to refilling. I’ve refilled it both ways and did not experience any leaking at all. The squonk bottle latches onto the mod securely, and I’ve also not seen any evidence of leaking during squonking. The squonk hole itself is large enough to easily squonk, and so a couple of squeezes sets me up just fine for several flavourful puffs on the RDA. Lastly, the squonk bottle is quite easy to clean and maintain as it can be disassembled without any need for tools.

The squonk and storage bottles are secured into the mod via a rail system, and so as a tip: make sure that you do this properly when swapping out bottles to avoid any leaking issues. You should hear a click when the bottle is installed correctly. And for the storage bottle, it is actually quite a nifty idea from Lost Vape here and I have had no issues using it. In fact, it saved me the trouble of taking a shortfill bottle with me on short trips. The only comment I have about it is the silicon tip. Perhaps a more elegant solution can be fashioned in future, but as it stands, the bottle tip is closed via a crude silicon stopper that is attached via a thin strip of silicon to the bottle. Should this strip snap or should the silicon stopper be lost, one would need to find another way of sealing the tip to continue using this storage bottle.

From a performance perspective though, I don’t really have any major complaints about this mod. It fires so quickly, sure to deliver a hit. Battery management of the mod seems to be OK as well but could be better since I noticed that the battery life display lags a little versus actual battery life. What I mean by this is it could display 80% now and then suddenly go down to 65% after a few puffs. Now, this doesn’t mean that the mod is draining the battery inefficiently as I got a decent amount of use with every full charge, just that the display is not accurate at all times.

Overall, I can’t be any happier with this mod despite the couple of things I pointed out. For the price, it really feels, looks, and performs like a premium quality mod!

Lost Vape Centaurus Solo RDA

Simple and effective, is how I would describe this RDA. As mentioned, this is Lost Vape’s first foray into the rebuildable territory and I have to say that they have done quite a decent job with the Centaurus Solo RDA!

As with the mod, the RDA and its parts are machined perfectly. I wouldn’t necessarily describe the branding around the RDA as minimal, but it is done nicely enough so that it doesn’t look garish. There’s a star-shaped symbol on the barrel and “Lost Vape” printed on the top cap. Out of the box, the RDA comes with a straight, smoked 810 drip tip which I found comfortable to use. There is a textured ring at the bottom of the drip tip that did come loose as I used the RDA. I think it was supposed to be glued to the rest of the drip tip, but perhaps Lost Vape can change this into a changeable threaded ring around the drip tip to better secure it, plus it can afford the vaper another channel to customise the drip tip’s look.

The top cap spins to adjust the airflow, and the airflow holes are at the side of the RDA. The airflow adjustment works well and you can restrict it effectively. Fully open though, it’s airy enough for a single coil RDA, with the airflow a little on the loud side but is smooth enough.

At this point, I want to commend Lost Vape here as all the RDA parts fit together nicely, with o-rings having the perfect tolerances! It may sound unbelievable but I am finding this to be incredibly rare these days: they’re either too tight or too loose, and I wind up replacing o-rings before I’d even used the atomiser.

The top cap has cutouts to allow and regulate the airflow. The chamber/barrel has these side channels which direct the airflow to the side and bottom of the coil via aligned slots on the build deck, maximising the flavour.

Now, the build deck. This is a roomy build deck with ample juice wells, especially if we think about 24mm atomisers normally being dual-coiled. But since the build deck incorporates these airflow slots/channels, it could only really be for a single coil, although you can put in coils larger than 3mm ID (maybe 4mm max?).

The RDA chamber locks into place with the deck and doesn’t spin freely, which is another pro in my book as it ensures alignment between the airflow holes and coil/s.

Building on this deck is silly easy, and I mean it. Just unscrew the post screws, slot your coil leads in, tighten them, adjust coil height, and finally trim the excess leads flush. As for wicking, I trimmed my wicks to around 2-3 mm beyond the build deck on either side. I didn’t thin out my wick; I just straightened the cotton fibres and then tucked them in. This method had my wicks touching the juice wells a fair bit but not crowding it out, hence it ensures that the wick absorbs the liquid from the wells.

I did space out the 3 mm ID alien coil I used, but that’s just my preference. I made sure that the coil height doesn’t exceed that of the posts, and that places the coil in the perfect position for flavour. Speaking of, being a roomy single-coil 24 mm atomiser, the Centaurus Solo RDA performed just about as I expected on flavour (6.5/10). It’s not the best I’ve ever had but at the same time, it’s not bad for flavour too. I would think that perhaps if this atomiser was made a little narrower, say 22 mm, that would help amplify the flavour from a single coil. But this RDA has been a pleasure to use especially in this squonk set-up!

Overall: Yay or Nay?

No question, a solid Yay from yours truly! As an everyday set-up, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more compact squonking kit that performs as well as the Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit. The mod performance is amazing with menu options to cater for most vapers’ needs. Sure, the RDA could be better on flavour, but this is a perfect RDA for beginners as it is super easy to get started with. Experienced vapers can use a dual coil RDA if desired- the squonk mod alone is worth the price!

I would recommend this kit for those wanting an RDA-type flavour whilst being on the go (meaning, people like myself!). It is solid, looks classy, is finished with amazing quality, and most of all doesn’t leak! To purchase the kit, follow the links over to Sourcemore at the start of the review.

My sincerest thanks again to Joyi and Sourcemore.com for allowing me the privilege to review the Lost Vape Centaurus Quest BF Kit!

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