If you do not own an iStick 100 Watt, you should! Why? The iStick 100 Watt is a (parallel) dual-18650 variable voltage/wattage mod that is extraordinarily simple to use with plenty of power. It’s ergonomically designed to feel comfortable in the hand, it looks good, and lastly, but far from least, it costs under $40! Nope, that is not a typo!!!
Let’s take a look…
As I said in my introduction, this box mod is super simple to use. It’s an iStick after all. It functions just like the other iSticks. The main difference with this one and the other VW/VW iSticks is that it’s got loads of power and the user provides the batteries.
Here’s a quick rundown of the features and how to use them:
That’s it! Hell, I never use or pay attention to any of those ‘features’ except to turn on the damned thing. It’s one of those mods that all you need to do is to take it out of the box, pop the batteries in, click the button five times and choose your atty.
It’s built really well when you factor in the price. Don’t expect it to be built like a high-end mod, and I wouldn’t dare drop the iStick, but to be frank, I’d think Eleaf could’ve gotten away with charging 2x as much for this—and even at that price it still would’ve been cheaper than most others at this power range and build quality.
It feels relatively sturdy and solid, but it does have a pretty significant button rattle that you barely even need to shake the mod to hear. But at this price, that rattle should just remind you of all the money saved!
Lastly, the iStick 100 Watt mod has one of the best battery doors for these types of mods! Having just reviewed the Sigelei 150 Watt TC, I can say that this battery door is markedly better than the Sig’s. The iStick 100 Watt’s battery door is held on by two small pair of extremely strong, circular magnets. These magnets are like little bullies! Seriously. The battery door snaps into place like it’s gotten pimp smacked.
Note: I am aware that the battery door or the Sigelei 150 Watt TC weighs more than the iStick 100 (about 33 grams to 20 grams), so it’s not an apples to apples comparison, but even still, the magnets ought to be as strong as they need to be to keep things firmly intact. The iStick 100 Watt has that in spades. The battery door will *not* accidentally come off!
In the signature rounded-body style of the iStick series, the iStick 100 Watt is of course larger than the rest, but just as comfortable to hold as all the other iSticks. No hard corners; it fits in the hand perfectly! If I had one complaint, it’s that the mod can feel a tad bit like it will slip right through your grip (just like with the other iSticks). That’s partly because of its shape and partly because of its satiny, smooth finish. I don’t necessarily think Eleaf should add any grip pattern to the body, but the finish of the device could have a bit more tack.
A size comparison between the iStick 50 Watt and the Sigelei 150 Watt TC.
What I like about the overall aesthetics of the device is that it is not tripping over itself to look hip. I think too many mods are designed to look ‘cool’ and, not only end up missing the mark but, end up looking downright ugly. This mod keeps it simple, and while it may not make anyone drool, it also won’t make anyone want to vomit!
The Eleaf iStick 100 Watt currently comes in two colors: shimmery silver and matte black. I don’t like the shimmery silver, but for this price, I wouldn’t care if it was glittery pink…okay, that’s a lie.
The top of the mod is a bit over 22 mm, but it’s so slight I don’t even notice it. This could be a good thing for those that have atties in the 23-24 mm range—I can only guess that those would not have any hang-over, or would have very little.
Like all the iStick mods, both the top and the bottom of the mod are chrome (truly mirror-like; I guess it’s cool to see your mouth and nose while you vape?). But here, instead of being more oval shaped like in the older models, now it’s slightly hour-glassed shaped. A subtle change and it looks good.
I don’t have any equipment or knowhow to test these kind of aspects of a device—all I have is my atomizers, drip tips and my sense of feeling. For what I can tell, whatever watts I have set on this device feels the same as on my other devices set to the same power.
Note: No issues with my atomizer reading high or low.
The screen is very well lit. It’s brighter than the other iSticks and I don’t have any issues reading it in bright lighting. It’s the same layout as the other iSticks and if I had to gripe, I’d say that the atomizer resistance readout is a bit small. But honestly, I don’t too often need to read that (or the screen in general) because after I put my atty on and see that everything is checking out, I set it and forget it.
No “round-robin” as Pbusardo says, but holding down the adjustment buttons will get you to where you want at a decent-enough speed, unless you want to go from 5 watts all the way up to 100 watts, in which case it will take you over 23 seconds. I imagine that most people won’t be making those kind of jumps though.
Spring-loaded copper 510 pin. Some of my atties sit flush and others don’t (I think that is because the 510 has an ever-so-slightly raised collar). But the atties I have that don’t sit flush only have a hairline gap—nothing to whine about.
It’s on the bottom of the mod. And when I say “bottom,” I don’t mean it’s near the bottom, it’s on the bottom—meaning under the mod. That’s incredibly goofy to put it there, but anyway, I am not sure why anyone would want to charge a dual-18650 mod via a charge port when it has replaceable batteries. I guess if you are out and about it may make sense (if you don’t have any back-up batteries), but I’ll likely never use it.
Three aspects of this device made me confident to use it even after the debacle with all the auto-firing iStick 50 Watt mods (and I was one that had that issue).
This should be just my ‘beater’ device, but I use it because I love it! If it weren’t for the location of the charge port, I don’t see any real con to this device that has much of an effect on its usage—and even that is hardly a real con. Look, I am not an Eleaf fanboy by any stretch of the imagination, but I am a fan of this mod! I am quite pleased with it and thing you’d be too. And if you don’t like it, you’d only be set back by the price of most chuff tops.
just picked up the silicone case for this mod; total elimination of any rattle.
Thanks for the heads up Darius, interesting feedback! Where did you get it from?
Picked up the case from eBay 🙂 Although most of the sites I have seen sell them dirt cheap as well.
Great, thanks!
This mod is perfect for anyone with a TFV4 who wants a cheap, well powered mod. Running the triple coil at 96W and the rba around 0.7 ohms between 30-35W. It sits on there perfectly and the finish matches the silver iStick. Very nice combo for those who aren’t interested in temp control.
Maybe that’s why I like it soooo much–I have no interest (anymore) in TC. Plus, as you said (and I recently found out), it fits the TFV4 perfectly with no hang-over! Thanks for the reply.
It does look great on there indeed. TC is all well and good but it’s hardly necessary. Powerful mods with more capacity for battery life is definitely what I want to see improve over time.
Have a good one mate.
Any recommended RDA’s for this mod? (Hoping to follow the trend of low price) And what kind of build would you use for a 100w. Would a dual coil 26 gauge 6/7 wrap work well for 100w?
I was mostly happy with this except for the wonky button (much like the 50w) until the spring under the pin broke. Zero warranty coverage for this. I’ve had the 30w, 50w, now 100w and of them all the 30 gave me the least trouble. I’ll never buy another Eleaf product.
I was mostly happy, too, and would you believe it, the EXACT same thing happened to me a week (or so) ago. If you have an Allen key that will fit, take off the top plate and push up the center pin from the bottom and screw it back on. But know that if you screw on another device, the pin it will be pushed back down again and you’d have to do that whole thing over again. I am not happy about it and will amend the review soon.
Hey it could be worse, on mine the wires fell off the pin because the poor excuse of soldering fell off. I read this earlier and checked it out because two days ago the ohms started bouncing. Carefully removed the top, one wire has the solder chunk on it, the other looks like it was never soldered. So, it’s pretty much a floor model now since I don’t have a soldering iron. Other than that I loved my 100w.
That’s no good, James!
I am done with Eleaf, unless they REALLY change the quality of their products! Reading this review kinda sickens my stomach now because I ‘vouched’ for this. I won’t make that mistake again, at least not with Eleaf.
I’ve had to do this recently as well. It certainly doesn’t feel like a spring-loaded pin, just one that moves and tends to stick down when used with anything other than a flush atomizer pin. Good job us vapers tend to have those keys laying around!
Mine is now sitting on my desk in pieces. Just a cool litle project now to learn about how a mod is put together (and maybe how it should NOT be put together!). Oh well. It was cool while it lasted. But looking at the comments, I see this mod did not last long at all! Yeah, that;s a pretty big con. I promise I will ammend this review just as soon as we get finished with some behind-the-scenes stuff for the site (like very soon!).
Mine is disused now, also. I may put one of my older RDA’s on it and never remove it so it doesn’t require constant fixing, but it’s more likely to go on the x-cube or vtc mini.
Hi guys . I just got my iStick 100w and I would like to ask if the Tugboat v2 RDA will fit on this battey. Thank you!
For sure.