Vandy Vape Pulse X Kit Review — Pulse X 90W Mod & Pulse X RDA

The latest addition to the Pulse family has arrived; the Pulse X. While sporting a look that is almost identical to its predecessor, the Pulse 80W, the Pulse X brings a myriad of new features to the table. For one, it brings support for 21700 batteries, and will fire at up to 90W. It also includes a new menu system, as well as the previously seen “Hard Mode” that can boost wattage by an additional 10W, effectively making it 100W.

Also included in the Pulse X Kit is the 24mm Pulse X RDA. This dual coil RDA features a unique X-shaped build deck, and uses a truly genius way of delivering juice when you squonk. The Pulse X RDA has six holes for airflow that are fully adjustable, and even includes a frosted PMMA cap.

I’ve been busy testing and vaping with the Pulse X Kit, and I’ve gotten very comfortable. So in this in-depth review, I’m going to go over everything you need to know about the Pulse X Mod and Pulse X RDA. Let’s start with the box.

This item was sent to us for the purpose of this review. This does not in any way affect our opinion or ratings of the device.

Pulse X Kit Review — Vandy Vape Pulse X RDA & Pulse X 90W Mod

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

The box that I received has some sample labelling on it, so it won’t be the same as the one you’ll get. But the packaging is very neat and high quality, and keeps with the blue theme of previous Pulse mod packaging. Open up the box and you’ll find:

• 1 x Pulse X 90W Mod
• 1 x Pulse X RDA
• 1 x 8mL Juice Bottle
• 1 x QC USB Cable
• 1 x 18650 Battery Adaptor
• 1 x 30ML Refill Bottle (Optional)
• 1 x Trimming Device
• 2 x Prebuilt Coils
• 1 x Accessories Package
• 1 x Instructional Manual

SPECIFICATIONS

Pulse X Mod Specs:

• Size: 82mm by 56mm by 28mm
• Vandy Chipset
• Powered by a Single High-Amp 20700 or 21700 Battery
• Power, Temperature Control, Voltage, & Bypass Modes
• Wattage Output Range: 5-90W
• TC from 200°-600°F
• 0.91” OLED Display

Pulse X RDA Specs:

• 24mm Diameter
• Stainless Steel Construction
• Dual Coil RDA
• X-Shaped Build Deck (Four Terminals)
• 2ml Deep Juice Well
• Six-Hole, Adjustable Airflow

DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY

Pulse X Mod

If you feel like you’ve seen this mod before, well, it’s because you have. The Pulse X 90W mod looks almost identical to the Pulse 80W. The only aesthetic difference is the matte-finish/frosted door panels, which remind me a bit of the original mechanical Pulse. Like its predecessors, the Pulse X remains very light weight; even with a 21700 battery inserted. The plastic body also has a nice texture to it that helps reduce slippage.

On the Pulse X’s front door panel there is a small magnet with Pulse X branding. On the reverse, the battery door panel of the Pulse X has a frosted translucent cutout that allows you to see your battery. There are also five raised lines, which I’m assuming are for grip, but they mainly serve to differentiate the Pulse X aesthetically from the Pulse 80W.

For those of you who are curious, these panels are interchangeable with the resin panels from the Pulse 80W. Personally, I love the look of the resin panels, and have had them on my Pulse X almost since the day that I got it.

Located on the front of the device and next to the squonk cut-out, you’ll find the familiar heartbeat/pulse logo. On one side of the device, you have VANDY VAPE engraved. On the other, you’ll find three buttons: one large fire button, and two smaller adjustment buttons. There’s also a Micro-USB port.

The squonk bottle included with the Pulse X is the same 8ml bottle that is included with the Pulse 80W. So if you already have one, you can swap  the two bottles without a problem. The bottle is very nice, and made to be leak proof. It has a knurled metal cap with a metal attachment around the mouth of the silicone bottle. This ensures that you can get a grip as you refill, without squeezing and spilling your bottle of ejuice.

The fire button on the Pulse X is large and circular, and has a nice texture that both looks and feels high-quality. The placement is also just right, and is comfortable to fire with either your index or thumb. The adjustment buttons are smaller and circular as well, with the same type of high quality look and feel. The buttons work with a satisfying click, and take the perfect amount of pressure to push.

The display on the Pulse X mod is 0.91 inches, and is very crisp and easy to read. The brightness can also be adjusted in the menu. By default, the Pulse X will display your wattage, coil resistance, voltage, and battery level.

Improving on the Pulse 80W, the Pulse X adds support for 21700 batteries, but will take 20700 batteries as well. You can also use an 18650 battery by using the included adapter sleeve. Even with a 21700 battery installed, the doors sit flush and there is no rattling. Overall, the design and build quality of the Pulse X is fantastic, even if it’s not entirely new. I’m giving the Pulse X 90W two thumbs up in this department.

DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY

Pulse X RDA

We’re at a point in the vaping market where a lot of RDAs are trying too hard to stand out. From crazy barrel designs to impractical airflow systems, we’ve seen it all. The Pulse X RDA however, interested me from the get-go. Its clean looks and understated lines give it an air of sophistication, and the design is detailed without being overdone.

The body of the Pulse X RDA is 24mm in diameter, and constructed out of stainless steel. PULSE X is engraved on the stainless steel body and it’s very well machined, and looks very clean. As part of the Pulse X Kit, you also get a frosted PMMA cap with a non-removable drip tip that is rather nice. We’ll test it out a bit later.

One downside to the Pulse X RDA is that it only comes with one drip tip. Not that there’s anything wrong with the one that is included, I personally like the drip tip. However, most RDAs these days are including a second drip tip of either a different material, or a different style. I would have liked to see a second one included, but you can’t have it all.

The drip tip that you do get is 810 and wide bore. It’s a rather short drip tip, which is only a problem because the body of the Pulse X RDA can get pretty hot. But that’s my only complaint with this one, as I rather like the feel and style of the drip tip.

The top cap on the Pulse X RDA features six notches along the edge, and this helps with adjusting the airflow. Unlike some other tanks, it’s actually rather easy to turn and adjust. There are six small airflow holes on either side of the Pulse X RDA, and these airflow holes are well positioned to hit the coils directly. This should help to enhance the flavor.

By turning the top cap, you can adjust the airflow to any setting that you want. You can have just the top three holes open, or just the bottom three holes open. You can have 1 hole open, 4 holes open, or 5 holes open. I’ve been having fun experimenting with the different airflow settings, but I found all six holes open to be the best for me.

Also with the intent of enhancing flavor, the top cap of the Pulse X RDA has a conical design that is becoming almost standard with new RDAs. The airflow cutouts in the top cap are also slanted downward to funnel air more directly to the coil.

Most intriguing about the Pulse X is its build deck. When I first looked at it, I found myself thinking “What the hell?”. But upon closer inspection, I realized the genius in the build deck design. First of all, the posts are shaped like the letter X, with the positive and negative posts stacked vertically on top of each other. There are four large terminal openings that will accomodate complex dual coil builds, and there is ample room to build and access the screws. Because of this X shaped post arrangement, when you drip, juice hits the top of the build deck and is funnelled onto your coil and wicks.

But the best part about the Pulse X’s build deck is its squonk mechanism. When you squonk, juice travels up the center of the “X”, out two holes at the top, and onto the coils. Excess juice is then sucked back up by small drain holes on the bottom of the X. This drainage is not only smart, but necessary as well because the Pulse X RDA has a shallow 2ml juice well. I really like this design, but practicality will be tested a little later in the performance section of this review.

FEATURES & FUNCTIONS OF THE PULSE X 90W MOD

The Pulse X is a single battery squonk mod, and utilizes a single 21700, 20700, or 18650 battery (using the adapter). The Pulse X is powered by the updated Vandy Vape Chip that will fire at up to 90W, and also brings a ton of new features to the board. For starters, the device turns on or off by clicking the fire button five times fast. You can also lock the controls by holding the + adjustment button and the fire button simultaneously.

The Pulse X is packed with a ton of different modes: Power, Temperature Control, Voltage, and Bypass modes. It also has support for custom curves in both Power and TC modes, which is great. The new Vandy Chipset will fire at up to 90W in Power mode, from 200°-600°F in TC mode, and supports Ni200, SS, and Titanium wire. To change modes, click the fire button three times fast.

Interestingly, the Pulse X has a feature called “Hard Mode”. This mode can be found in the settings menu, and will give you a boost of roughly 10W for a preset amount of time (this was already available on the Pulse 80W, by the way). This boost will taper off after your preset time, and return to your displayed wattage.

To turn on Hard mode, enter the menu by holding the + and – adjustment buttons simultaneously. You’ll see an icon with “H” & “N”. Select it by pressing the fire button, and you’ll see an H replace the P on your main screen. If you press the fire button four times fast while in Hard Mode, you can adjust the boost and length of the boost. To exit this menu, hold the fire button.

To lock the device, hold the + button and fire button at the same time. To open the menu, hold the + and – adjustment buttons simultaneously. Here, you’ll find numerous options and settings:

DIY Mode: 5 adjustable custom curve modes. Once in DIY, click the fire button four times to change your curves.

Hard/Normal Mode: A 10W power boost for a few seconds. Explained a little bit earlier. Also select this mode to return to Power mode from DIY.

ID: Your Vandy Chip ID

Version: Your software version. This can be upgraded.

Settings: This last menu option is where the majority of the adjustments are hidden. Here, you have the option of turning off modes that you don’t use. For instance, you can use the adjustment buttons to make the oval under “TC” hollow. Now, when you click the fire button three times to change modes, TC will no longer appear. You can turn on or off TC, Bypass, Voltage, Hard mode.

In settings, you’ll also see an icon labeled “NLS”. This stands for no lift shift, and lets you change your coil without removing the atomizer from the mod. Instead, with NLS enabled, you can click the adjustment buttons twice simultaneously. This will display the “Old Coil or New Coil?” message, and the mod will check your coils resistance.

“ST” lets you change the screen timeout. BRI allows you to change the brightness. Finally, there is an option labeled FIR. This lets you lock the fire button when you lock the mod. If FIR is enabled, the fire button will not lock when you lock the device. I love this feature, because sometimes you may want to lock the entire device, sometimes just the adjustment buttons. Most mods don’t give you the option of choosing, so bonus points for that.

Overall, the Pulse X is quite feature filled, and the adjustment possibilities are amazing. I love that you can lock or unlock the power button. Also, the ability to turn off modes that you don’t use is an underrated feature, and needs to be seen on more mods.

BUILDING ON THE PULSE X RDA

The Pulse X RDA has one of the most unique looking build decks that I’ve seen in recent times, but it’s actually pretty fun and easy to build on.

You’ll want to take one leg of your coil and insert it in a top terminal, and insert the other leg in the opposite terminal at the bottom. You’ll want to position your coils close to the center of the deck. This is so when you drip, the juice will run off the top of the build deck, and onto your coils and wicks. And when you squonk, juice will drip out from holes in the top of the build deck, and onto your coil. With the Pulse X, it’s best to keep your coils tucked in.

Even though the build deck may look strange at first, the design is extremely clever and makes it a breeze to build on the Pulse X.

PERFORMANCE

As a kit, the Pulse X mod and RDA perform very well together in various modes. With a dual coil build coming in at 0.20ohms and the airflow set to fully open, I was hitting it anywhere from 70-90W with Hard Mode enabled and loved it. Similar to the Pulse 80W, the Pulse X fires reliably and near instantly. The DIY mode with custom curves works really well, and I had a lot of fun playing around with it and testing out different curves.

Support for 21700 batteries is definitely a welcome feature, and the extra mAh capacity helps to squeeze out the extra battery life needed for a single battery, 90W device. But if you’re anything like me and vaping a lot during the day at high wattages, you’re going to have to charge your battery every day.

The Pulse X RDA hits great at high wattages, and the flavor that you get is very respectable. At 90W with Hard Mode on (effectively making it 100W), the Pulse X RDA produces some excellent, tasty clouds and makes for an awesome vaping experience. I personally thought that the flavor was well above average and reaching into excellent, and this is an RDA and mod combo that I can see myself using as a daily driver.

The X shaped build deck works great with either squonking or dripping, thanks to its design. The juice distribution works really well when you squonk, as the juice is poured directly onto the coils. The small drain holes at the bottom do an effective job of ridding excess ejuice, and I found it a pleasure to use. Even when dripping, ejuice runs off of the top of the posts, and straight onto your coil and wicks.

Like any RDA though, there are some problems. For one, the stainless steel body gets very hot. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with some hot lips! The second thing is that the ejuice well is very shallow, and so I ended up with eliquid coming out of the airflow holes at times. While it was nothing major, it’s definitely a mild annoyance when you get ejuice on your fingers.

The included frosted PMMA cap was also not the greatest in my testing. I found the flavor was rather mute, and because of the inability to adjust the airflow with that cap, you’re kind of stuck. Personally, I didn’t like it, but you might.

Aside from that, the Pulse X kit performs very well and is a mod and RDA combo that beginners will love, but advanced users will still rate and appreciate.

FINAL VERDICT — PULSE X KIT REVIEW

The Pulse X Kit brings some improvements to the Pulse Mod, but also brings an entirely new RDA that performs rather well. But to answer the popular question: If you already own the Pulse 80W, should you get the Pulse X? Probably not. While the ability to go up to 90W is nice, the rest of the features will be available in a firmware update for the Pulse 80W.

However, if you don’t currently own the Pulse 80W, I would highly recommend the Pulse X. It’s an improved version of one of the best regulated squonk mods currently available, and you can’t go wrong with that. They’ve maintained all of the features that made the Pulse so popular in the first place, while improving the menu and overall ease of use.  

Last but not least, the Pulse X RDA. Definitely worth checking out, as the looks are very appealing and the way that the deck squonks and distributes juice is very clever. While the flavor isn’t the most bangin’ available, for a dual coil RDA it definitely gets the job done.

Until next time, Stay Versed!

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