Hotcig R150 TC Mod

The package from GearBest, was sent using FedEx express shipping and arrived in 5 days from the time the order was placed.
Despite the adequate packing & bubble wrap used by GearBest, FedEx thought it would be a good idea to play football with our parcel & while the mod & DripTip themselves were fine, their containing packaging was not.

First the Drip Tip, this comes in a fancy glass vial, with some shredded bamboo (at least we think that is what it is) packing inside it, to prevent the DT moving around & smashing the glass, it is then capped with a cork stopper. Unfortunately, we can not show you a photo of this, due to FedEx's rough handling of the package, so instead here is a picture copied from the GearBest product page.

Below that shows the condition the one we received arrived in. As you can see GearBest had wrapped this in 3 layers of protective foam, which should have been good enough under normal transporting conditions.

Next the R150 Mod, again, GearBest had protected this, using sufficient bubble wrap protection for normal transportation conditions, the fault is not GearBest's for the condition that these items arrived in.
We place the blame squarely on FedEx's shoulders for the rough handling during transport, no package can be bubble wrapped enough for if the transport company workers decide to play football with your package.
The R150 Mod comes in a rather unique wood (possibly bamboo or balsa) gift box, this would make a nice decorative box for storing small parts or something, if you wanted to & if yours arrives in better condition than the one FedEx delivered.

Credit goes to Hotcig, that the mod itself survived & was undamaged, the way it was packed inside the box ensured that rough handling during transport did not see it arrive DOA. We are also confident, the material (wood) of the box itself probably played a part in protecting the mod, a cardboard or plastic box may not have fared so well.

After cleaning the loose glass & other debris, the contents inside the box could be finally revealed. Inside you will find the R150 mod, a warranty card, a user manual & a rather nice braided, gold flecked USB cable - the picture does not do the cable justice, it is one of the classiest looking USB cables we have seen.

The Abalone shell on the sides of this mod & on the matching Drip Tip just ooze class!
For the price this pairing can be picked up for (under $100Au, on sale), it is a a steal, this device looks every bit as good as, some far more expensive, high end mods.

The R150 boasts a waterproof chip but Hotcig warn not to use the mod when wet.
Unlike mods that have a waterproof housing, the R150's chip (we suspect the entire PCB) is waterproof, which means if it gets wet, it is not going to hurt the electronics on the main chip board but this does not mean it won't cause problems if the mod is wet & you try to use it.

Photo taken By HotCig during their own testing.

For example, water in the battery compartment is likely to cause a short circuit between the batteries, this could be very dangerous.
What this feature does though, is it ensures that should ejuice get onto the chip, from a leaky atomiser etc, then the mod is going to continue to function fine. Ejuice on electronics is not a good combination, just like other electronic devices & any liquids, they don't mix & will likely damage your device. With this waterproofing feature, Hotcig engineers have put some thought into protecting the device from the possibility of leaking ejuice.

The R150 has a Wattage mode, Ni, Ti, SS & Ww Temp Control modes. Exactly what Ww mode is, is not explained in the user manual or on the Hotcig site, some other experienced users have speculated that this is a Tungsten TC mode, for use with ceramic coated Tungsten coils.
When you get the mod & install batteries, it will be in Wattage mode, which has a range from 1W up to 150W.

This is the mode the majority of testing was done in & in this mode it functions like many other VW devices. If you hold either of the up/down buttons the wattage increases in 0.1 increments & scrolls very fast, much faster than practical for general use. The best way to adjust the wattage is to scroll close to your desired setting then click the up or down button several times to dial it in.
Holding both the up & down button at the same time will lock the wattage, so when you accidentally click the up or down button, the wattage will not change when locked.

The instructions in the manual are not very clear (throughout in fact), on how to get into the TC modes but you need to lock the wattage, then hold the up botton for a few seconds, then rapidly click the up button & you will see the different modes come up on the screen, when you see the TC mode or Wattage (Power) mode you want, click the fire button & the device will be in that mode. This will be confirmed when you look at the screen, as you will now have either a wattage display or a temperature display, with the mode the device is in lit up below that.

When you first put a new atomiser onto the mod & try to fire the device it will ask you if it is a new or old coil.
This is great if you are using TC modes, though it isn't needed for using the mod in Power mode but it isn't a big deal, just press the up or down button & then the device will fire. If you don't click up or down buttons, you will not be able to vape until you do.

The battery sled on this mod, is our least favorite feature of the device.
First, a WARNING - make sure you put your batteries in the correct way into this mod!!!
Thankfully, the positive & negative terminals are clearly marked, with the springy terminals at the negative end, where you would intuitively expect them to be.

Unfortunately though, this mod does not appear to have reverse polarity protection, so there is a good chance that if you install your batteries incorrectly, that you may short out the electronics or damage your batteries. Hotcig has put a warning inside the mod's sled about this.
Clearly marked inside the sled is "Warning parallel", this does not mean install your batteries in parallel, this mod is designed to use batteries in series & if you look at the terminal markings it is clear which way to place your batteries into the mod.

There is no ribbon to help you remove the batteries when they need recharging, instead both the side panels of the mod are removable & held on by 4 magnets each, one in each corner. To lift the panels, slide your thumb nail into the bottom edge of the side panels and lift up or you could use a small screwdriver or knife etc if you have no thumb nail.

With the panels off, there are 2 cut outs that allow you to push the batteries out from the back to the front, be careful not to push too hard & have you battery drop onto the floor, placing your other hand over the front of the battery compartment is a good idea.

The batteries are held in place on the negative terminals with dimpled springy clamps. These work fine for making connection but when removing your batteries, they will cause damage to the protective wrap on your battery.
This is a brand new battery, after being removed once, which had never been used except for the first time in this mod.

As you can see, after just one use in this mod, there is already signs of damage, this may be a huge con for some of you. However finding new wraps for your batteries is not difficult and it pays to keep some around for if/when needed. Although it must be said, Hotcig could have used a better battery sled design, with better positive & especially better negative terminals.

Also there was some play in the batteries, when shaking the mod about, not really rattle but we could sometimes feel the batteries shift inside. This was easily solved by using a thin strip of foam packing material, which GearBest had provided, wrapped around the Drip Tip bottle.

Simply cut a piece the width & length of an 18650 battery & after placing one cell into the sled put the foam in then insert the other cell. After applying this fix, the batteries are held in tight & do not shift around.