The SMOANT Charon Mini is another vape mod from one of our favorite vape manufacturers. But is it any good?
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Longtime readers of VapeBeat will know that I am a HUGE fan of SMOANT.
They make great hardware at great prices.
And the SMOANT Charon Mini is the latest offering from the company, and as the name suggests it is a smaller version of the existing SMOANT Charon.
Well, I say that… but to me, it doesn’t really look anything like the original Charon mod.
But I digress…
The SMOANT Charon Mini has been very popular with punters; SMOANT tells me there were 40,000 pre-orders for the device.
That’s A LOT – but whether it makes it onto our Best Vape Mods Guide is another thing entirely!
I just spent two weeks testing it, what follows are my usage notes and overall conclusion.
SMOANT Charon Mini Design
There are two, big design features present on the SMOANT Charon Mini: 1) the jazzy back panel and 2) its large, colorful display.
The mod itself, in terms of looks and feel, is fairly straightforward: it’s a box mod with angular edging that looks smart and will fit anything up to 30mm on top of it.
You have a fire key, with an etched pattern on it, located on the left-hand side, a power rocker below the display, and a nicely implemented 510 bang on top of the mod.
The entire back panel comes off too; this is how you access to batteries. And, for me, this is the weakest element of the SMOANT Charon Mini’s design.
It just doesn’t feel like the magnets will hold up long term; the connection isn’t strong and it doesn’t install confidence.
I could be wrong, of course, but I have known this to happen before on mods, so it is definitely something to keep in mind (and an eye on).
I do really like the pattern SMOANT have used on the back panel, it’s eye-catching and ties together the design nicely. Ditto the minimal branding.
My only real issue is that nothing about this vape mod really excites me; it just seems very pedestrian. And this is bizarre because SMOANT is usually a little more exciting in the design department.
There’s nothing wrong with it, and my perceptions are, of course, subjective, but I just couldn’t quite get “in to” the SMOANT Charon Mini.
Coming from the GeekVape AEGIS, it just felt like a bit of a comedown.
And I think a lot of this has to do with me not really digging the overall design and finish.
SMOANT Charon Mini Specs & Features
The Charon Mini packs in plenty of specs and performance (more on this in a bit though). It features TC modes, programmable curve options and all the usual safety bells and whistles.
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I’ve listed the biggest and most important specs for the Charon Mini below for the sake of brevity:
- Dimensions: 45mm(L) X 29mm(W) X89mm(H)
- Battery: 2X 18650 battery
- Display: 2.0 inch TFT color screen
- Output range: 1 – 225 W
- Output modes: VW (Min, Normal, Max)/ VW Curves / Temp (Ni, Ti, SS) / TCR / TC Curves
- Resistance range: 0.1 – 2.0 Ohm for TC mode / TCR mode / TC Curves
- Temperature control: 100 – 315°C / 200 – 600°F
- Center 510 connector
- Two different UI available to choose
- Pass-through available
- Firmware upgradeable
- Reverse protection/ Over-heating protection/ Low voltage protection/ Overload/Short-circuit protection/ Over-time protection
- Color: Black, red, gold and rainbow available
SMOANT Charon Mini Performance
When it comes to performance, the Charon Mini DOES NOT disappoint. It fires instantaneously and the power is consistent and stable. Even with lower powered batteries.
The software is also beautifully implemented as well and makes for easy navigation through its menus and modes. Honestly, I wish all mods used software and menus as good as SMOANT’s.
You have a max output of 225W, not that you’d ever use that much, but it’s always nice to have plenty of poke under the hood just in case.
For me, the big USP of the Charon Mini is how it delivers power; it’s like a VooPoo mod – it just smashes it out as soon as you depress the fire key.
I also like that SMOANT has included a full TC vaping suite, alongside support for programmable curve modes (both TC and Power Mode). I don’t ever use things like this, but it is a nice feature to have for those that do.
They all work great. As I said: I’m not much of a fan of fiddling around with my mods. I just use power mode and go, but TC and the curve modes worked great when I tested them.
There also REALLY easy to setup too, so even if you don’t care much for that sort of thing, you can still dip your toe in the water and see what’s up.
Overall, the Charon Mini is a very solid performer. In the two weeks I used it, it didn’t miss a beat.
Performance is reliable and very consistent. You just simply forget about things like misfires or glitches with this mod. And it seems to play nice with pretty much every style of tank you can think of.
I ran RTAs, RDAs and Sub-Ohm tanks on mine and it excelled with each.
SMOANT Charon Mini Battery Life
The Charon Mini runs two 18650 cells and battery life is pretty much what you’d expect – solid enough (but it largely depends on what you’re running on it).
With a dual-coil RDA running at 90-110W, you’re looking at a solid 6-8 hours. This is with heavy usage too. Sub-ohm tank performance is similar.
With a single coil RTA, something like the Serpent Mini, you’re looking at around the 10-12 hour mark with moderate usage.
This is what I tend to vape with, so I always get pretty decent battery life from my mods.
In addition, the Charon Mini doesn’t appear to have the same battery-drain issue that affected the SMOANT Cylon.
All in, very good stuff.
SMOANT Charon Mini – Would I Buy It?
Ahhh… this is such a hard decision to make because the SMOANT Charon Mini is a real, solid performer in pretty much every regard.
I just don’t care for the way it looks (and, yes, this is super subjective), so please DO NOT be put off by this, as it is a great, all-around mod.
Power delivery is exceptional, the menus are simple and easy to use, it has a brilliant display, and it’ll comfortably house and style of tank your throw at it.
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