Kylin M AIO by Vandy Vape
The Kylin M AIO is a feature packed pod/mod/aio that promises a lot in terms of diversity. Taking cues from the Billet Box with a pod/tank system that can use stock coils as well as mesh strip & hand/premade coils. Many thanks to Newvaping for providing this for review.
In the box
Well packaged in a sleeved box, the colour of the supplied Kylin M AIO is shown on the front picture. The rear has the contents listed, and it’s not a short list. One side has the usual scratch & verify & the other shows the prebuilt & stock coil options.
Package Content:
1 x Kylin M AIO Device
1 x Kylin M AIO DIY Pod (2ml/5ml non TPD)
1 x Kylin M AIO Pod (2ml)
1 x Kylin M AIO Coil (.3 Ohms)
1 x Kylin M AIO Coil (A1 M – .2 Ohms)
1 x Kylin M AIO Coil (SS316L M – .15 Ohms TC)
1 x Kylin M AIO Coil (Dual M – .15 Ohms)
1 x Kylin M AIO Coil (Ni80 M – .15 Ohms)
1 x Triple Fused Clapton Coil (.23 Ohms)
1 x M Wire Rod
1 x Lead Guide
2 x Cotton Laces
5 x Steel Wires
1 x Wire Heating Tool
1 x Accessory Bag
1 x Usage Guide
1 x Instruction Manual
1 x Type-C USB Cable
Specifications:
Size: 100mm x 46.5mm x 24.5
Output Power: 5W – 70W
Battery: 1 x 18650 (not included)
Operating Voltage: 3.2-4.2V
Output Voltage: 0.5-5.5V
Charging Input Current: 1500mAh
Operating Mode: VW/VV/TCSS
Maximum Output Current Protection: ＜30A
Capacity: 2ml Rebuildable, 2ml Pre-Built Coils
Coil: M Coil .3 Ohms (35W – 45W) Single Meshed
Opening the main box reveals the mod with the rebuildable pod installed, stock coil pod, rebuilding tool & a pack of VV mesh strips. Under the top tray are the manual, accessory bag, 0.3ohm coil, steel wires, cotton laces, USB type C lead & a mini coily tool. There’s more stuff here than you can shake a stick at but VV should be commended on supplying all the bits needed to start with & not being on a cash grab selling the RBA parts separate.
The mod
The mod is a zinc alloy body with the PCBA waterproof board. A magnetic panel covers the small but simple screen, below which are the +/- buttons. The pod fits above the screen & a single 18650 battery compartment sits to the left. A ribbon aids removal of a battery as it is a tight fit with the firm positive pin spring. On the left side is the fire button, which is nice & positive with no excess travel or rattle. The right side has a cut out so you can see the juice level & the back has a rather large Kylin logo. The base has, what appear to be, battery vent holes but these are directly below the PCB not the battery. The removable panel has gloss inset with various patterns depending on which colour/style you choose. There are 4 finishes to choose from, silver moonlight or polar phantom with a grey body & fantasy forest or wormhole with the black body.
The adjustments for the device are as follows:
- Clicks five times to turn on/off
- Click three times to change modes
- Click the up/down to change settings like wattage, temperature
- Click the fire button and down button at the same time to flip the screen
- Click the fire button and up button at the same time to lock
The screen, although small, is easy enough to read as there’s only watts, volts or temp, resistance & battery shown. Six levels of protection are provided, Over temp, Open circuit, Over current, short circuit, 10 second cut off & low battery
The pods
The Kylin AIO comes supplied with2 pods. The stock coil pod accepts VVs Kylin AIO 0.3ohm coil & is a push fit. This limits juice capacity to 2.5ml due to its size & airflow channels & at present there are no other options. Filling on both pods is via the fill port on the front covered by a silicon flap/bung. The airflow is via the top cap through a honeycomb inlet adjusted by twisting the top cap. Both caps have a removable 510 drip tip should you want to use a favourite.
The RBA pod has a bigger 5ml capacity & deck designed for mesh & coil fitment. The deck is the familiar clamp style seen in the Kylin M RTAs with the sprung centre to help keep cotton in contact with the mesh. Four holes in the juice wells are for the steel rope wicks. There’s a cap that fits over the deck & to this the airflow/drip tip section fits. A special tool is supplied to allow fitting & dry burning of the mesh/coil on the pod as there is no other way to do this. This tool fits were the top cap would be & lets you fit & remove the pod without disturbing the build or burning ones fingers.
Both pods are fitted with bungs to comply with TPD but are easy to remove.
In use
I used the stock coil pod first & it was a decent performer. Juiced up & left to stand for a few minutes & starting at the low end of the 35-45w range this delivered good flavour & cloud. Airflow was silky smooth. Pushing the watts to the top end & the flavour was still good, if a little too warm for my liking but understandable given the smallish airflow available. It is a more RDL vape that can be closed down to an MTL vape but would be better with higher ohm coils. Coil lasted a good 7-10 days with 70/30 juice swapping between the two pods.
The RDA deck is easy to build on with it’s spring loaded clamps. First, I used the supplied triple fused Clapton & cut the legs at the recommended 5mm leg length & using the supplied tool fitted the pod to the mod & dry burned to eliminate any hotspots. Dropping the 4 steel wires into the juice well holes & wicking with a 3mm lace. With the capillary action of the wire ropes there’s no need to thin the tails, just a good fluff before tucking into the wells. The coil showed at 0.25ohm & started off quite promising but soon highlighted problems with the small chamber. It got quite hot quickly despite airflow fully open & dropping power resulted in a flavourless vape. I swapped it out for an SS316L simple coil build around 0.3ohm & this was far superior & didn’t need loads of power. As this build was in it also gave me the chance to try the TC mode. TCR settings for SS are around 880-920 but this is set at 1100. Resetting to 900 resulted in a hot vape even at 220c. Dropped to 800 & the problem was sorted & vaped fine with no dry hits at around 240c/460f. Power is pre-set to 50w but caused no issues.
On to the mesh next & due to it being almost impossible to differentiate between the supplied SS316L mesh & the Ni80 I used a strip of NexMESH SS316L given both brands are the same size. If you’ve used the Kylin M RTA or any of the Profiles, you’ll be familiar with the process of fitting & wicking. No need to thin the tails again as you need enough in the juice wells to maintain juice flow. I have found this to be more finicky than the Profile RDTA, that also uses wire wicks, & it needed a little tweaking to the cotton to prevent dry hits. As with most mesh decks there’s a little variation to wicking but once you figure it out it’s easy to replicate consistently. Vape wise this is closer to the Unity being somewhat restricted but still delivers a great experience. Fully open & 50w was my sweet spot & flavour was all a mesh RDA/RDTA can deliver. The steel ropes kept up wicking wise until about a quarter tank & I found myself tipping the mod more. A little surprising as this is shorter than the Profile, so juice doesn’t have the same distance to travel.
Summing up
Vandy Vape have to be commended for putting everything into one package, a rarity with the current norm being to offer RBA alternatives as extras at extra cost. The mod itself is well built if a little heavy compared to others around the same dimensions but there’s no rattle from buttons & no unwanted movement from the panel. Finish has stood up to being a pocket/van carry very well. Drip tips are comfortable & airflow smooth on both set ups. Shame they can’t be swapped though as the stock coil did feel smoother & more adjustable but that will be down to personal preference. Menu is easy enough to navigate, screen is small but only displays relevant info & is hidden in use anyway. Being top airflow there has been zero leakage or condensation & filling is easy as there’s no need to remove the pod. Juice levels can be seen through the side window but can be a struggle with darker juices or in poor light. VV mode worked fine in the short testing I did as it’s not normally my way of using a mod.
Lack of diversity in the stock coils does make this kit limited though. Using Claptons & the like didn’t work as well as simple single wire builds for me & the vagaries of the TCR settings will require the user to experiment if TC is to be used.
I do love it when you’re given a comprehensive package straight off the bat. I don’t and will probably never get used to Pod kits, but if I did, this would be the kind of thing I wuld more than likely go for, and I do love the attention to detail they seem to be putting on these little kits.