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Council of Vapor Tempest Mod Review

Introduction

Council of Vapor is an American vape hardware designer & manufacturer their product base ranges from miniature box mods all the way to drippers; and everything in between. The Tempest mod we’re looking at today is their flagship mod and their most powerful mod to date.

Thoughts

I have been using the white version of this mod and my initial thought was that the rubberised finish would pick up dirt just by looking at it. Having used it as my daily mod for over a month now I am amazed how well it is holding up. The mod itself is made very well and the finish is perfect there is no manufacturing imperfections on it at all. It's very comfortable to hold especially considering its size. It’s big even for a triple 18650 mod it's big, but its ergonomic asymmetrical shape means it fits the contours of your hand perfectly. Its clearly designed with right handed people in mind however I find it just as comfortable to use in your left. The OLED screen is precise and easy to understand, one issue I have had with it is the mirrored finish over the top means it can be hard to read in bright sunlight but I haven't found it much of a problem due to the fact that you set the settings then leave it.

The Tempest features a fantastically well designed and thought out battery door. It has a latch which when pulled releases the battery tray out the bottom (the best way i have found to describe this is like a magazine in a gun). Pushing the tray back into place is as easy as it gets, just slide it in and with a satisfying click it is secure (I haven't had any issues of the battery door releasing its self) there is also no rattle from the door or the buttons with or without batteries in it.

On to the features of the Tempest, personally I only really use power so i can't comment on the temperature control side of things but from what I’ve heard is it works well but isn't anything groundbreaking. You have a setting for Nickel, Titanium, and Stainless Steel and that is it. Which to be honest is perfectly acceptable for 99% of people however it does lack TCR modes for those who use it. The menu and adjustments have a bit of a learning curve to them, but once it is learnt (which could be sped up with a more comprehensive user manual) it is easy. Your power mode is based around three memories which you change to suit the tank. Personally I think five memories would be nice but three is fine as I rarely have more than three tanks on the go. So I set up each memory for a specific tank and just change the memory when changing tanks, and in that sense the menu system for the tempest makes perfect sense and is a lot quicker and easier to switch between them than any other mod I use. It performs solidly in power mode and have had no issue running it between 18w and 140w it steps down perfectly with no hint of overpowering and no wobble on the other end on the scale in the higher wattage range.

The 510 seemed a bit tight at first but has loosened up over time and is smooth as silk now. The spring loaded positive pin I've found sits up fairly high and have found that with atomisers with a protruding pin on the bottom (such as the COV Royal Hunter X) need to be pushed down then screwed on. Again not such an issue as I've only had the issue with the atomiser mentioned above which has a very long pin on it.

The Tempest doesn’t have a micro USB port therefore not supporting in mod charging, but then again I wouldn’t recommend that on a multiple battery device anyway. As a result of the lack of a USB port also means no firmware upgrade ability which does put it behind other mods it the same category but the software on it is faultless anyway so again, not a big deal.

Likes:

  • Great design and comfortable to hold
  • Solid performance in power mode
  • Battery door
  • Durable finish (even in white)
  • Quality of manufacturing

Dislikes:

  • Could do with more memory modes
  • 510 a little tight when new (may have just been mine)
  • No firmware upgradability

Final Verdict

Overall I have really enjoyed the Tempest at first I was a little confused by the menu system but picked it up after about a day of playing around with it. It performs very well in the mode, and power range I use. With the battery life lasting me a good full day of use at 120W (using Sony VTC4s) or two borderline three days using my nautilus 2 at 21W. it is very well built and I have had no issues with it at all. Its very well designed and is a fresh design which I haven't seen implemented before. I would recommend this to anyone in the market for a triple 18650 mod or looking for their first high powered mod.