SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast Review

The TFV-8 Cloud Beast Tank is the 800-lb. gorilla of Chinese manufacturer SMOK’s extensive and nearly exhaustive line of “Taste Furious” (TF) sub-ohm tanks and RTAs. See my review of SMOK’s TFV4 Micro Tank for a rundown of the complete TF family of tanks.

Featuring an installed 0.15Ω Octuple coil head — yes, eight coils — rated at an incredible 50-260W (and an ideal target range of 120-180W), the TFV8 package includes two other heads: a 0.15Ω Quadruple coil head rated at “only” 50-180W (with a target range of 90-150W), and a Turbo RBA head that comes with dual Clapton coils preinstalled (resistance of 0.28Ω and a rating 50-140W), ready to be wicked and vaped. Even the cotton is included. Also available as a separate purchase is a 0.2Ω sextuple coil head rated at 50-240W (best at 110-150W). SMOK has left no stone unturned in its intention to fulfill the wish of expert vapers for extreme performance.

Design of the TFV8 is thoughtful and refined, with precise and robust build quality. For instance, the patented swiveling cap top fill of the TF-series — already one of the best top fill methods on the market — has been improved by increasing the size of the eliquid slot. The TFV8 is another very well-made offering from SMOK. In my opinion, it’s the best built tank in SMOK’s entire sub-ohm clearo tank and RTA lineup.

As far as I’m concerned, the main criticism of the original TFV4 sub-ohm clearomizer tank was its tendency to go through eliquid like there was no tomorrow. Sure, it produced an impressive vaping experience with intense flavor and dense, saturated vapor, but the tank had to be refilled every time you turned around.

The TFV8 tank takes that to new heights (or depths). We could jokingly assert that the TFV8 tank is more like an RDA dripper, but rather than having to re-drip 15 drops of eliquid every five minutes, you have to refill the tank with 5ml of eliquid every half hour. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but to suggest that the TFV8 is a thirsty tank is an understatement.

The factory heads are huge, and whether there are 4, 6, or 8 coils inside (quadruple, sextuple, or octuple), eliquid consumption will be corresponding, which is to say, a lot — a whole lot.

OK, the tank goes through eliquid like crazy. So what? Quarter-mile funny car dragsters use nitro for fuel and burn through about 20 gallons per run. The same inefficiency applies to an M1A2 Abrams military tank. Such vehicles are designed for power, not good mileage. So it is for the TFV8. People who buy and love the TFV8 know going in that they’ll need a 120ml bottle of eliquid by their side to keep the tank fed, and they don’t care.

In a way, the TFV8’s profligate consumption of eliquid is not a con, but rather a badge of honor — confirmation that this is one beast of a tank.

The tank was designed with cloud chasers in mind, of course — basically the TFV8 is for vapers who want the maximum possible vapor production; thus the tank’s SMOK nickname: Cloud Beast. Surprisingly, though, the TFV8 is quite versatile. Sure, it’s built to handle insanely high wattage, but the power range is actually very wide, and the tank vapes well at “lower” wattages, too. No, I wouldn’t recommend it for 50-60 watt vaping, but if 80-90 watts floats your boat, then the TFV8 is actually worth considering.

Dense, room-filling clouds are a given with the TFV8. The real question is: How’s the flavor?

For me personally, the flavor is very good — surprisingly so. Some fog machine atomizers are a bit shy on flavor. Not so the TFV4. The key word for both vapor production and flavor is “dense,” but words like rich, deep, or saturated also apply. No, the TFV8 won’t produce full flavor at 50-60 watts with any of the three multi-coil factory heads. Those huge heads require 70+ watts to get tasty. From 80W on, however, you’re pretty much home free.

In fairness, the flavor I get from the TFV8 is not significantly better than the flavor produced by many other sub-ohm clearomizer tanks. Compared to the TFV8, the flavor provided by a Uwell Crown tank, to use an obvious example, is just about the same, at least to my palate. The TFV8 might win by a nose, but it’s essentially a photo finish. And if we compare the TFV8 to the best of the current generation of RTAs or a good flavor RDA (I still love the Magma, even after two years), it’s not as close. The RTAs and RDAs still win for purity, clarity, and depth of flavor.

No, the TFV8’s métier is in-your-face intensity. The tank is designed to provide an over-the-top vaping experience, and it delivers that very well.

I’m not generally a fan of RBA decks for sub-ohm clearomizer tanks. Too often, they’re cramped, cheap, and cheesy. The Turbo RBA deck included as a stand-alone coil head with the TFV8 is very different, however. First, it’s well-made, with nicely machined Velocity-style posts for horizontal dual coils. Second, the deck is large, relatively speaking, and easy to build.

With its preinstalled dual Clapton coils and more moderate 0.28Ω resistance, this is the best RBA deck I’ve ever used for a sub-ohm clearo tank. It’s much more like an RTA. If I end up adding the TFV8 to my regular rotation of PV/Tank setups, I’ll probably use it with the Turbo Deck. The vape quality is terrific, and, as a dual-coil deck, it’s not as thirsty as the quad or octuple coil heads. This is my preferred way of arming the TFV8 for battle.

I don’t feel that a recommendation is necessary for the SMOK TFV8 Cloud Beast Tank. The target market for the tank is vapers who love extremes, and they already know that nothing else available among sub-ohm clearo tanks even comes close. That said, the potential market may prove larger than high-wattage cloud chasers, since the TFV8 vapes very well even at less than 100 watts.

So, rather than a recommendation, I’ll close by congratulating SMOK on pushing the envelope this far. The SMOK TFV8 may not be for everyone, but it’s really something.