By Lee Williams

Update: The Mini Volt has now been discontinued. You can shop alternative vape mods here.

The sleek looking, ultra-compact Mini Volt battery is perfect for people looking for a back up device or who prefer to vape discreetly.

As its compact (it can fit in your pocket without you noticing it) it’s perfect for nights out, and the tiny size means it won't draw unwanted attention to you.

Although a small device, the power range goes from 5 to 40 watts, and can produce a lot of vapour with a sub ohm tank. An intuitive LED display means it’s easy to use, and should prove an easy upgrade for vapers moving up from a regular starter kit or ego-tank. With a regular tank on it, it would be great for all day use.

If there’s one drawback (although one to be expected with such a small device), it’s the low battery life. At 40 watts, you can expect about two hours of use of it.

Handily, though, the device automatically turns off after 10 minutes of inactivity. This helps extend time between charges and preserve coil life.

Contents

• What's in the box
• CE5/ETS Compatibility
• Design
• Functionality
• Ramp Up Time
• How to Flip Screen
• How to Charge the Battery
• Tank Compatibility
• Troubleshooting
• What We Like
• What We Don't Like
• Update: What's New with Version Two

What’s in the box:

• 1 x Council of Vapor Mini Volt Box Mod
• 1 x Micro USB Cable
• 1 x Manual

Important Note: CE5/ET Compatibility

Please note this if you wish to use with a regular CE5/ET clearomiser, you will need to purchase a 510 Ego adaptor separately.

Design

The Mini Volt is small and sleek with a diamond carbon fiber effect finish with a rubberised body and an LED screen on top with a USB pass-through port on the bottom. It comes with a large, well placed stainless steel fire button, and power up and down adjust buttons.

Functionality

As usual, press five times to turn the device on, 5 times to turn it off. The battery will automatically shut off after 10 minutes to conserve battery life and stop accidental firing in your pocket.To adjust the voltage, you need to hold down the fire button and then hold the up button for 2 seconds. You will then see the wattage starting to flash. From here you can use the up and down buttons to adjust the wattage.

Ramp Up Time

One of the more unique features of the Mini Volt is the ability to change ramp up time to suit your preferences.

What is ramp up time?

Ramp up time affects the speed that your coil heats up. The faster your coil heats up the quicker you get vapour.

In a non-temperature control mod like the Mini Volt, the temperature of the coils are mostly affected by:

• the power supplied by the battery
• the amount of airflow over the coil

Imagine you have two coils with the same resistance but different wire diameter. The thicker wire will take longer to heat up to the same temperature because there is more material to heat up.

The benefits of using the lower gauge (thicker) wire is a larger coil with more surface area. However, because it takes longer to heat up, it will take longer to produce vapour.

The Mini Volt's ramp up mode can help you to match the power delivery from your battery to your coil.

Increase ramp up time and you will reach the voltage you require faster. Slow it down, and you’ll get a slower, softer start to the vape with no e-liquid popping!

How to use the Mini volt’s ramp up feature

The options are:

Soft: The battery takes twice as long as usual to reach the desired power level.

Standard: Powers up as usual.

Power: Ramps up to your desired wattage twice as fast as standard mode.

To adjust these all you will need to do is hold down the fire button and then hold the down button for 2 seconds. You will then see standard starting to flash. From here you can use the up and down buttons to adjust the ramp up setting.

How to flip the screen

To flip the screen press the down and up buttons for 2 seconds.

How to charge

Charging this device uses the same method that applies to most of our batteries. Plug the USB cable into a USB appliance or use our 5v 1amp plug. It also features pass-through functionality.

Tank compatibility

This will work with sub-ohm tanks such as the Atlantis but bear in mind the battery life will be reduced. Sub-ohm tanks that require a lot of wattage would not work well with the device. For good performance and better battery life we recommend smaller tanks such as the Mini Nautilus and the Triton Mini.

Troubleshooting

Atomiser short: Means that the tank is not screwed in properly, or that the coil is defective. Resistance low: If display says resistance too low, you need to use a coil that has a higher resistance.

What we like

• Super-stealth size
• Build quality
• Different finishes on the body
• Solid, well-made buttons
• Great power to size ratio
• Fires down to 0.2 ohm
• Affordable
• Auto shut off after 10 minutes to conserve battery

What we don’t like

Battery will only last a couple of hours at 30/40 watts. (Updated: now lasting longer with the improved battery life of the version 2).

Update: What's New with the Mini Volt v2

Since this post was last updated, the Mini Volt V2 has been released.

In looks and feel its virtually the same. Council of Vapour have, however, been working on the battery life and when we were testing this it certainly seemed to last a long time!

Charging time has also been improved, and a new switch screen function allows you to flip the screen by holding (+) and (-) buttons.

Summary

A compact and robust device packing a lot of power for its size! If you're upgrading from an ego kit or simply looking for a portable back-up/second device for nights out the Mini Volt could be perfect.

Available now from E Cigarette Direct

Price: £34.99