Anthony Vapes: Desire Rage Squonk Mod Tech Review

[SirRichardRear]

Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Desire Rage Squonk Mod. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links.

Introduction:
The Desire Rage Squonk Mod is a newer mod from Desire Design and fills a much needed niche in vaping that has been mostly ignored which is a dual 18650 squonk mod. Desire mostly known for their RDAs in the past have been getting into the mod game lately as well with releases like the Cut squonk, X-mini, mad mod, and of course the rage i’m reviewing today. It was designed in collaboration with ohmboyOC and i honestly have no clue who he is. It’s available in 5 colors, Black, Gunmetal, White, Red, and Purple. Looking around online prices for this mod vary quite a bit ranging from 60-100 USD.

Manufacturer's Specs:

• Designed by OhmboyOC in conjunction with Desire Designs
• Battery 2 x 18650
• Outer Body Constructed with Kirsite (Zinc Alloy)
• Weight: 8.5oz (243G)
• Size: (81mm tall X 49mm X 40mm)
• Output Power 5-155w
• Output Current 40 amp Max
• Temperature limit 200F-600F
• Resistance range 0.08-3 Ohms
• 7mL Juice Capacity
• Silicone Bottle
• Knurled Top Cap
• Twist-&-Pull EZ Removal Ring
• Magnetic Battery Bay Door
• Back-Loading
• Gold-Plated Contacts
• Voltage Range: 0V – 8V
• Temperature Mode, supports, Nickel (Ni200), Titanium (Ti), Stainless Steel (SS316), TCR Adjustment
• Bypass Mode
• 69" OLED Screen
• Front-Mounted Micro USB Port
• Firmware & Charging Capable
• Max. Charge: 2A
• Passthrough Capable
• Stainless Steel 510 Threads
• Spring-Loaded Gold-Plated Squonk BF Pin
• Safety Protection: High/Low Voltage, High/Low Amperage, Short Circuit, High/Low Resistance, Puff Cutoff

Included in box:

• 1 Rage 155W Box Mod
• 1 Micro USB Cable
• 1 Instructional Manual

Picture Album
album



Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this Mod, I was pretty impressed with the size and shape and weight of the mod. For being a dual 18650 squonk mod it’s on the small side of mods but has some real weight to it. It’s a solid metal mod. The part that goes against your hands has a curved like “flask” shape to it making it really nice to hold making it perfect for someone like me who is right handed and prefers a thumb fire. The squonk is in a nice spot as well as i can squeeze it with my middle finger even while firing the mod. It just feels really nicely designed in the hand. Overall I was pretty impressed with the design and comfort of this mod, now let's get into the details

Watt Mode Performance (chart and spreadsheet in picture album)
Now let’s get into some data. I ran my normal testing. I used Sony VTC5A batteries for the testing. Testing resistances were done at .12, .15, .2, and .6 ohms. wattage points were max (155), 125, 100, 75, 50 and 25. At .12 ohms it maxed out at 148 watts and 35 amps. For the rest of the testing it struggled a little on the low side which is not uncommon for mods at this resistance hitting low 6-12 at 75 or more but only 1 watt low at 50 or less. At .15 it maxed out at 163 watts. The rest were pretty good hitting slightly high across the board, At 100 or more it was 5-8 watts high, but under 100 1 to 4 watts high. For the .2 test it maxed out at 167 watts. Again pretty good but a little on the high side. For 100 or more it was 7-12 watts high but under 100 2-5 watts high. For the .61 testing it maxed out at 98 watts and 7.679 volts. For the rest of the testing 5-13 watts high. The volts shows there is no boost circuit in this mod like most dual battery mods on the market however the 7.679 was very high for a non boost circuit mod. I believe the highest i’ve come across personally for that test.

Overall I felt the performance of this mod was good especially in a category where it lacks much competition. It does struggle a bit with a .12 ohm build but once you get to .15 ohms or more it hits a little high so remember to adjust accordingly and start a few watts lower then you normally would. I was able to get 167 watts max, so I consider it to be accurately rated at 155 watt, even a little underrated. The 7.679 volt limit shows there is no boost circuit. Their site lists the max Volts at 8V implying no boost circuit which is correct and the 7.679 i got with a .6 ohm coil was close. Going with a higher ohm build could get me even closer to that 8. I consider it pretty accurately rated there as well. They list an amp limit of 40 amps. The most i got was 35 with a .12 ohm coil but it was capped off by the watts as well. It’s possible it could have gotten closer to 40 with a lower resistance build. I consider the 40 rating close enough and the 35 i got to be good enough. The mod never got warm when stressing it at 150+ watts and handles it very well.

Simplified TLDR Power Performance summary
Mod performance is really good. Mostly hits just a few watts off on the high side at .15 ohm or higher, Hits a little weak with a .12 ohm coil. Accurately rated for watts (167), No boost circuit, decent amp limit of 35. Volts tested at 7.679 so no boost circuit but close to the 8V listed

Temperature Control Performance
Using SS316 wire and both SS mode and TCR mode, I tested 6 builds. 1 simple round spaced single, 1 simple round spaced dual, 2 large fancy single coils builds, and 2 large fancy dual coil builds. The mod performs decent with the right settings but not as a default. The SS mode hits way too weak and needs to be used around 550F for a warm vape. Feels about 100 or so degrees off. Using TCR mode with 92 as a setting, i got the same performance so i figure the TCR is correct for SS wire. I found using a TCR of 130 works much better. Around 450-470F is where i get a warm vape so maybe like 10 or so degrees low but not a big deal and it’s a nice round number. The ramp up is great and you can adjust watts to the full 155 (after you select your mode it’ll let you choose watts next or if you select TCR you set your TCR first then watts) which changes the ramp up. You can also set your resistance by holding up and down but it didn’t make any difference and isn’t needed as the mod asks for new coil anyway and locks it in. The dry hit protection is decent at best and a bit inconsistent. Doesn't do a great job running the coil dry but also at times can overpower and not throttle back enough. Mostly though the throttle is nice and smooth and not choppy but again inconsistent. Overall not a good TC mod asa whole but decent enough i guess since options are limited. It’s more like power mode with training wheels, but i recommend only using TCR mode with the TCR at 130 if you need to, but in general i’d stick to power mode for this mod.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Other Usage Notes
The mod uses a 5 click to turn on and off. The menu system is basic but does the job. Not a ton of options on it but no complaints. You use 3 clicks to enter the menu. IN the menu there are 2 options “work mode setting” and “hands mode setting” You use up and down to cycle and fire to accept. “Hands mode setting” just lets you flip the screen and that's it. Work Mode Setting allows you to change modes. It has Power, Ni, Ti, SS, and TCR mode as well as bypass and that’s it. No preheat or watt curve or anything. As i said it’s a simple mod. The cool thing about bypass mode is it reads live voltage so you can check the charge of your batteries by switching into that mode since the little battery bar is a bit small. It also will show you actual output when firing so you can see the sag of your batteries. I’m not a fan of bypass mode personally but used this to check my battery charge at times. The mod also adjusts by full watt which is great. I wish all mods did that. It also round robbins which is very nice and i wish all mods did that. The wattage also round robins.

The mod itself is build solid with no rattle on the fire button but minor rattle on the up and down, and is pretty heavy. You could probably break a car window with it and it wouldn’t get damaged. The Battery door is a standard magnetic backplate. It fits nice with no play on it, and is easy to get on or off with the large indent on the side of the mod. The battery door is solid metal. It’s easy to get batteries in and out without damaging wraps and takes 2 18650 batteries. The batteries stick out enough from the side of the tray that it doesn't need a ribbon. You can just easily grab them from the sides and pop them out. Really nice battery tray. The paint looks nice and doesn't scratch off, and i have no visible wear. The fire button is nice and clicky but a little on the small side, I would have liked a bigger one. It’s a black smooth concave circle. It works well though It never gets stuck or anything though which is as it should be. The 510 pin gave me no issues and every atomizer i used on it worked great with no gaps, but is off centered so it only handles 25mm atomizer flush. Anything bigger will overhang. The screen is a small .69 inch black and white screen that is nice and bright and easy to see. Even in sunlight it’s pretty visible but i would have liked to see a larger and better screen personally. Also for branding while the mod itself is pretty nice overall and not heavily branded (just a desire logo above the bottle cut out engraved in) they also included an “ohm boy” logo on the top that is kinda overdoing it and cringy to me. I would have preferred had that been on the bottom of the mod instead. It’s really the one visual flaw in an overall beautiful mod. They list 2 amp balanced charging as well but i don’t recommend charging internally in your mods.

Squonk System
Ok so last but not least, let's talk about the squonk system. The mod loads in the bottle from the bottom similar to the feedlink but with no bracket around the bottle. You don’t need to remove batteries to change the bottle like the gbox S200 however since batteries are side loaded. It does use a proprietary bottle system so you can't just sub it out and it doesn't come with a spare. My bottle it came with had all sorts of issues sadly. The bottles have a latch on the bottom you open and close for grip (like the battery door on the geekvape aegis) but my stock bottle was too tight to even get it to open and close. It also didn’t fit well causing leaks. Apparently there was some bottle issues that were fixed. They sent me 2 spare bottles because of this and the spares work great with no issues. To remove them pull out the latch then twist and pull out. To fill you just unscrew the top which has nice threading and fill the 7ml bottle then put the top back on and to reinstall push up and twist until it locks into place then close the latch so the mod can sit down flush. It works and outside the stock bottle i have no complaints but would have liked to see a more standard bottle system personally. The bottles are pretty nice. They are silicone but a bit firm. I would have liked a little bit of a softer bottle personally but they aren't near as firm as plastic ones and they return to shape quickly.

Pros:

• Build Quality (solid and heavy)
• color options
• awesome ergonomics
• Power mode performance
• Accurately rated for watts
• batteries are easy to get in and out without damaging wraps
• full watt adjustment
• easy to use menu system
• nice battery trey and magnetic backplate
• close to accurately rated for volts and amps
• bypass mode can be used to check battery voltage
• can refill bottle without removing batteries

Cons:

• preset SS mode is off, best used in TCR at 130 for SS316 wire
• temp mode performance still not great
• my included bottle was defective
• poor branding on the top of mod
• lack of modes/options (no preheat, no power curves)
• small screen
• minor button rattle with the up and down buttons
• proprietary bottle system

Conclusion
So with all that said, do I recommend this mod or not? I don’t like to do the yes or no, but for this I will have to lean a bit towards the yes. It’s not a killer mod by any means but outside of really expensive custom or 3d printed DNA mods there really aren’t many dual battery squonkers on the market. As far as i know only 3 others that exist and that’s the rage, gbox s200, and the Mach On3 so choices are pretty limited and the rage despite my quirks with it is still a solid power mode driver that’s very comfy to hold, nice build quality and looks mostly great. I’d love to see a V2 in the future address some of my concerns but for now i’ll be adding this to my list of dual battery squonkers as a power driver.

This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.

Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Desire Design

Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.

Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 200 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.

Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here

Youtube Channel here

Spreadhseet of Recommendations here

Best of 2018 so far list here

Best of 2017 list here

 

[Hanson]

I got a check battery warning a few days ago and been intermittent eversince. Until i found this link http://www.desiredesign.com/index.php/support/lists/catid/37.html containing a new firmware update. So I updated the firmware and it is back to normal now. Had not i founded that link I was prepared to swap the chip to DNA250.


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