Monday, April 8, 2013

The EHPro Phoenix V4 Clone

Phoenix V4

The EHPro Phoenix V4


A Clone with No Name


Our latest vape mail included a little Chinese dripping atomizer, the EHPro “Phoenix V4.”  The quotes are because the original Phoenix is made in the Philippines, and this is a clone.  Or, more accurately, the original Chinese version of this atomizer was a clone; it has changed significantly in the revisions since. It’s really a bit of a shame that nobody’s bothered coming up with a proper name for this little dripper, because it’s got quite a bit going for it.


As we mentioned, this is a dripping atomizer. There is no tank to hold juice, so using it involves putting a few drops into the well to soak the wick, taking a few draws, then dripping again.  It’s a somewhat high-maintenance method of vaping, but much easier to set up than most tank-style atomizers, and the flavor of the vape is often very good.


The “Phoenix” V4


The EHPro Phoenix V4 is a very small atomizer. As you may be able to tell from the photo, it has a smaller diameter than even a slant-top PV like the eVic it was attached to when we photographed it. While this makes it a bit too small to look good on a large PV, it is small enough to look right at home on an eGo style battery, particularly when used with a thread ring.


Phoenix V4 Uncapped

Phoenix V4 Uncapped


We were rather impressed with the heft of this little atomizer. It feels heavy in the hand for such a small atomizer, giving it a feeling of quality not always common with Chinese-made products. It is built from stainless steel, with a brushed finish, and includes the drip tip pictured, which we also found to be of much higher quality than we expected.  The opening of the drip tip is sufficiently wide to allow easy dripping into the atomizer without removing it.


Inside the press-on cap of the atomizer can be found a fairly typical dripper setup: two posts, topped with tiny Phillips-head screws for attaching the coil wire.  The Phoenix V4 ships with a 2 ohm coil and wick preinstalled (ours measured between 2.1 and 2.3 ohms), though we highly recommend rebuilding the wick and coil right out of the box. We have two reasons for suggesting this: the first is that the wick provided is very short, as shown in our “uncapped” photo. It will not absorb a lot of juice, which can make dripping a bit more tedious than it needs to be.  The second is that the atomizer appears not to have been well-cleaned before shipping, and vaping from the preinstalled coil tastes a lot like machine oil.  Not only is the taste pretty awful, but it’s questionable how healthy it is.  After we boiled and then re-wicked the atomizer, flavor was very good.


The Scores


Build Quality: 8/10


We were very impressed with the quality of this little clone. The press-on cap fits snugly, the posts are straight and sturdy, and it features an adjustable center pin to allow it to easily sit flush with your PV. The materials are solid and heavy, and the finish is consistent.  Even the included drip tip exceeded our expectations.


Looks: 8/10


The Phoenix V4 clone is a nice-looking little dripper. Though at 15mm in diameter it’s too small to really look at home on a large PV, it’ll compliment smaller ones quite nicely.


Flexibility: 7/10


The Phoenix V4 clone is a standard two-post, single-coil dripper.  Nothing fancy here, but certainly enough to get the job done.


Performance: 7/10


Flavor and vapor production of our test units was very good. We did have to discard the included wick and coil to get rid of a machine oil taste, but that’s not particularly unusual for a new atomizer.


Price: 10/10


We’ve seen this atomizer selling for under $10 retail.  Considering the build quality of this atomizer, not to mention the included stainless steel drip tip, we find the price on this to be a steal. Also included is a tiny screwdriver to be used when setting up the coil.


If you’re looking for a dripper, definitely pick up one, or a few, of these.  We don’t think you’ll be disappointed.


Overall Score: 8.0



The EHPro Phoenix V4 Clone

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