ANARCHO-VAPE Review: Sigelei J150

Welcome to the first review from ANARCHO-VAPE. I don't have a banner yet (working on it when I get home), but in the future, expect a banner splash up here instead of this measly text. But, let's not get stuck on why I don't have a fancy picture up here. Onward, ho!

Hey guys, it's Andrei Chira here for ANARCHO-VAPE vapor reviews. Today, I'm going to be doing a device review on the new Sigelei J150. We got them in a few weeks ago at work, and I had a chance to purchase one last Friday. Since then, I've been using it almost exclusively, so I've got a few days worth of usage out of it to base my review on.

First things first. The Sigelei J150 is a dual-cell, Li-Po internal battery device. It boasts two, 2,000 mah cells and can power up to 150 watts (as the name implies). It also has a temperature control for nickel, titanium, and three different grades of stainless steel wires, along with five different presets for TCR and TFR respectively. It also sports a pre-heat adjustment feature that allows you to run your coil at a higher wattage for a certain amount of time, before the device reverts back to your normal wattage or temperature setting. It can handle fast charge via a 2 amp charger. Put simply, it's an advanced internal battery vaping battery device.

The packaging is basic Sigelei fare. I wouldn't even mention it, except I put it in the picture, so I suppose I'll spend a second or two talking about it. It ships with an instruction manual, a warranty card, and an authenticity card. It also comes with a USB cord. Standard fare, nothing fancy, but I will say this: the manual is easy to read and pretty concise. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was, essentially, a copy of the Sigelei and Fuchai 213 manuals with a different picture (it references a removal battery in an internal battery device).

THE GOOD

With the Li-Po cells in the device it has some heft to it, but the weight is entirely acceptable. I haven't weighed it on a scale to get a precise measurement, but based on the good ol' two-hands test, it has about the same weight or slightly more than my Sigelei 213 with two batteries in it. Given that it does 150 watts, I'd say the weight is within limits, given that any device trying to push that much power is going to have at least two batteries in it.

It's also extremely comfortable to hold in the hand. All of the edges are rounded, but the front face has a curve to it facilitated by two angular sides toward the buttons above the screen. It's very easy to hold onto, and it fits comfortably in my palm. The angular front face is actually exactly as wide across as the middle knuckle of my finger, which makes it extremely easy to form a fist around it. Your experience may vary (I like to think I have average size hands), but altogether it's easy to hold onto.

The device is extremely well-built based on my experience with it. Nothing feels loose, thin, or cheap. The exterior has a satin finish with a texture similar to the second-generation Sigelei 150, but a little smoother. It gives it a smooth feeling in your hand, but it provides enough of a surface to have positive control over. I've never felt like it was going to slip right out of my hand. The buttons on the device are all crisp and well-built. I didn't experience any travel play or dead spots when I tried to make adjustments or hit the fire button, and nothing got stuck. Granted, I didn't throw it around or play field hockey with it, but this isn't a torture test either.

It has an on and off switch! Strangely enough, this is pretty much a first for the industry (I know it's not, but seeing as this is the first mod in the last year and a half I've seen with one, it bears mentioning), but I've found it really useful. I don't have to click the fire button five times to cut it off; all I gotta do is thumb it to the on position and I'm good to go. It's got some resistance as well, meaning it won't accidentally cut back on in your pocket or purse. It's not a deal breaker for me, but it is a nice little thing to have, and I'm glad Sigelei included it.

The display is clean, easy-to-read, and bright. My biggest gripe against the Kanger Topbox mods is that the bubble glass, while designed to make the text appear larger, distorts it unless you're looking at it dead on. The J150 uses the same display window as the Sigelei and Fuchai 213s, and it uses the same chip. Numbers are clear, sharp, and it's exceptionally easy to read everything at a glance. The inclusion of both a battery bar and a voltage meter for the internal battery (the small number on the far right, just above the battery bar) also gives you multiple ways to keep track of your battery usage.

THE BAD

For a two-battery mod, the battery life is lackluster. Maybe I've been spoiled with my Sigelei 213 or the Wismec RX200 before it, but the battery life was meh. I charged it to its full 8.4V capacity overnight the first night I got it and used it that Saturday, vaping on it consistently. Now, granted, I work in a vape store and I vape constantly while I'm at work, but two LG HG2 batteries in my 213 will last me a full 24 hours, including my 10 hour shift at work. The J150 made it from about 8:45am to right around 4:45pm. That's a whopping eight hours. I only bump up my wattage to about 45 watts, so it's not like I'm running it into the ground. I will say that Sunday, when I wasn't at work and wasn't vaping nearly as much, I managed to get about double the use out of it vaping only intermittently, but it was still well below my expectations.

The temperature control settings suffer from the same problems as the Sigelei and Fuchai 213 temp control settings do. The RX200 and RX200S did it right; they allow you to adjust both the temperature and the wattage of your vape in temperature control mode. I really don't use it a whole lot, but I do have stainless steel coils that I run in my RDTA and RTA. The resistance lock feature is nice for the temperature control, but otherwise running it in TC isn't really all that fantastic. You can set the temperature, but it automatically cycles through wattage/voltage across a pre-set power curve. It pales in comparison to the temp control functionality of the RX200.

Image Source: ElementVape.com

The color options are abysmal. Despite the fact they advertise the J150 as having two colors, Sigelei has decided that black and red really mean two-tone. Regardless of which one you get, it will be a two-tone black and red monstrosity that just looks bad. I understand adding some flare to the device, but they really should have considered doing something like Wismec did with the RX series, with different color combinations of backstraps and face plates. I hate to keep comparing to the RX200, but really, it set the bar for mods and Sigelei really should have taken a page out of their play book. The only reason I have an all-black one is because I unscrewed and swapped out base plates with another guy I work with; he has an all red one now, and I have an all black one. Which makes way more sense.

TO SUM IT UP

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

The Sigelei J150 is an excellent mod, but it's not without its flaws. The J150 is a solid device. It's well-built, easy to use, crisp, and fits well in the hand. It has some weight to it, but that should be well within anyone's expectation of a 150 watt mod. The on-off switch on the side is an excellent device addition which I would like to see on other mods, and it works well. Nothing on the box feels cheap, and it's well worth the $89 price point we sell in our shop and elsewhere I've seen online. However, the battery life is subpar given the Li-Po batteries inside the device. The temperature control functionality is also subpar, owing to its adoption of the Sigelei and Fuchai 213 temperature control programming. While it is a purely aesthetic issue, the color schemes that are available are essentially no different from each other, and the lack of solid colors hurts it.

This is going to be a good box to replace the aging CoolFire IV Plus. It's batteries last a bit longer than that device, and its much more accessible and capable. However, compared to other 18650-battery powered devices, it's out of its league. If you're looking for an internal battery device, the J150 is definitely the way to go. If you don't mind having a device with removable batteries, I'd suggest something else.

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Andrei Chira is a vaper, voluntaryist, and all-around cool dude. Formerly a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, he now spends his time between working at VapEscape in Montgomery County, Alabama, contributing to Seeds of Liberty on Facebook and Steemit, writing short fiction, and expanding his understanding of...well, everything, with an eye on obtaining a law degree in the future.