SmokTech SiD Review – Simple Variable Wattage

The SmokTech SiD is another entry in the variable wattage category. I remember a time when variable wattage advanced personal vaporizers were kind of exotic. Now you can get your e-cigarette with variable wattage in almost any form factor and price point imaginable. SmokTech has a new model out aimed and the budget-minded vaper. Let us review the SiD and find out if it’s a good solution, or if you should save up for something else.

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	Product name	Smoktech SiD Variable Volt Mod
	Available from	VaporAlley
	Price	$54.99
	Voltage/Wattage	3-6V / 3-15 W
	Competing products	Vamo, ZMax
	Who’s it for?	Budget-minded vapers. Vapers interested in stepping up to advanced personal vaporizers

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SmokTech SiD Design

For those of you familiar with Joyetech’s programmable wonder, the eVic, you may have noticed some striking similarities. Even the name SiD seems a little bit similar to the eVic. And no, I don’t know what SiD stands for.

The SiD features a two-piece design. The head houses the electronics and can be removed from the top of the battery tube. There is no USB port on this PV, however, it’s pretty much a basic design. Atop the head sits a removable cone.

There is enough space between the cone and the eGo threaded battery connector to allow most CE4 and 5 style tanks to fit correctly. However, my Kanger EVOD didn’t want to work.

The SiD’s head, like its body is made of metal, aluminum in this case. The battery connector section is press fit, but it doesn’t appear to be at risk of separating.

Overall, the design is somewhat subdued compared to some other models out there. There’s a few ridges in the general area where the button is located. The button itself has a stylized VW logo emblazoned on it. For some reason the button spins freely, so maybe it actually says MN.

The OLED screen is located immediately above the single button. Menus are accessed via a number of button presses: 3 presses to get to the menu and then 1 press each to cycle through each option. After a second you enter the menu item and can use the button to adjust settings.

Settings include things like power up and down, switching from variable wattage to voltage and changing the display. If this all sounds familiar to you, there’s a reason. The SiD uses the same circuitry as SmokTech’s ZMax.

Unlike the Z, there doesn’t seem to be a dual battery mode, since extension caps aren’t available. This model then must be strictly 18650. None of that fancy telescoping stuff.

Speaking of battery tubes… The endcap on this thing is, in a word, horrible. It just has a lousy turning action like it’s full of sand or something. I found it easier to unscrew the head and drop the battery in that way. The threads around the head are much easier to deal with.

Other than the endcap, build quality is pretty decent. There’s no odd gaps or things like that though there is a tiny gap between the body and screen. The aluminum body is also amazing light which makes it feel perhaps a little less sturdy than it actually is.

Using the SmokTech SiD

The SiD is a fairly middle-of-the-road sort of device. It’s like the e-cigarette world’s sensible sedan. It performs well enough, though it isn’t going to push any high amp loads. Like most other gear in this category, it’s amp limit is in the 2.5-3 amp range.

I wasn’t able to get a good read on the voltage most of the time because if its pulse modulation. When I could get a solid reading, it stayed reasonably close to the set voltage.

I ran a wide variety of tanks and cartomizers around 10 watts on the SiD. Performance was admirable with no unexpected variation. A straight forward experience through and through.

As you might expect, it performs the same as a ZMax in single battery mode. That’s not a bad thing. I did, however, detect a voltage drop as the battery got to the end of its charge life.

That sort of works like a de facto battery charge indicator. Like its sister, you can set the SiD’s display to show battery wattage, power setting or resistance when you activate the fire button. Seems like a good idea, but in practice I never bother swapping those around.

It seems that with the technology it would be easy to stick two of the readouts on the same screen or something. But then again, more entry level variable wattage devices tend to have less expensive components like lower resolution screens.

What you get for the price is a fairly simple device focused on providing reliable performance without a lot of bells and whistles or outrageous styling cues.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

The SmokTech SiD is a reasonably priced variable wattage device based on the ZMax. Its style likely won’t turn any heads. The features were once exotic, but now are fairly commonplace. This device makes an excellent basic big battery variable wattage personal vaporizer. You can pick one up from VaporAlley.

Pros: