VAPORESSO GEN MAX & GEN SE Review: Great Kits All-Around

Design & Build Quality

The GEN MAX and SE both have clean and simple designs but they still look high-end. VAPORESSO did a great job of making these devices attractive without over-complicating the designs.

The GEN MAX, being a dual battery mod, is the larger of the two but only the width is a noticeable difference. Both the GEN MAX and GEN SE are 88.2mm tall, but the GEN MAX is 49.9mm wide and 28.4mm deep. The GEN SE is 35.4mm wide and 26.2mm deep. They’re great sized devices for 18650 battery mods.

They’re both surprisingly light as well. At 205g for the GEN MAX and 124g for the GEN SE (with batteries installed), neither one is too heavy.

Both are available in the same seven colors: Storm Blue, Dark Black, Arctic Silver, Ice Blue, Gradient Purple, Platinum Gold, and Hot Pink. The first three colors are neutral and professional, while the other four are colorful and stand out. There’s a nice choice of colors here.

The corners and sides of the GEN MAX and GEN SE are rounded off to make them more comfortable to hold. And they are quite comfortable in the hand, with both devices feeling natural to use.

The battery doors are magnetic and boy are they strong. It takes a lot of force to remove the battery door and you can feel how strong the magnet is when you go to reattach it. The battery door snaps back into place with a strong click from the metal door securing itself to the metal frame. The battery doors have a large VAPORESSO “V” logo which is cleanly engraved onto the door.

Both devices feature a physical locking switch; a feature that I find very convenient. This switch locks the entire device, pretending accidental firing or wattage adjustments.

Here’s where the design similarities end between the two devices as each one takes a different approach for the controls and display.

The GEN MAX features the more unconventional controls of the two. The power button here is a large, protruding circular knob that is located on the side of the device. This power button also doubles as an adjustment knob which can be rotated to increase or decrease the wattage, as well as scroll through the menu options.

This knob sticks out quite a bit from the side of the mod but it feels good to use. The button is responsive when pressed and rotating the knob makes a subtle click, which you can also feel. 

The controls for the GEN SE are “standard” and like what you would find on many other vape mods. It has a fire button, as well as two adjustment buttons. All of the buttons feel good and work well. If you’ve ever used a vape mod before, it’s easy to figure out how to operate the GEN SE.

The displays are also a bit different between the two devices. The GEN MAX has a large, circular window which houses a 0.96” full-color TFT display. There are also two curved LED bars, one on either side of the display.

The GEN SE has the same 0.96” full-color TFT display as the GEN MAX but, like the controls, it’s presented in a more “standard” and normal way. The display is located below the power button and above the adjustment buttons, neatly set under a glass panel.

Features & Functions

The UI for the displays on the GEN MAX and GEN SE are different from VAPORESSO’s previous mods and interestingly, there are three different themes to choose from. These are a ‘normal’ theme, a football theme, and a UFO theme.

No matter which theme you pick, they all display the same information: a battery indicator at the top, your mode, wattage, coil resistance, and a puff counter.

What changes, depending on the theme that you pick, is the icon and animation on the screen. The ‘normal’ theme has a pulsing circle, the football theme has a soccer ball, and the UFO theme has a spaceship. The color of the theme also changes, with the regular theme being blue, the football theme being yellow, and the UFO theme is purple.

The GEN MAX is a dual battery mod and so it can pump out a lot more wattage than the GEN SE; 220W vs 80W. Other than this, both mods have identical modes, features, and functionality.

Both mods come with the following modes: F(t), Pulse, ECO, and Variable Voltage. There’s no “regular wattage” mode, which can be confusing for beginners, but F(t) mode and Pulse mode are essentially improved wattage modes. Allow me to explain each mode.

F(t) mode is a wattage mode which changes the output voltage and heating rate while you vape in order to produce better flavor. It makes small adjustments as you draw, which you won’t notice, but which smooth and improve the flavor.

Pulse mode is another improved wattage mode which pulses the wattage (again, unnoticeably) every 0.02 seconds to smooth out draws and improve flavor. 

Whether you use F(t) or Pulse mode will come down to your personal preference but I found F(t) mode to be better because it’s like an improved pulse mode which does a bit more in the way of adjustments on the fly and the draws just feel that little bit more smoother.

ECO mode is as close to a regular wattage mode as you get with the GEN MAX and GEN SE. This mode doesn’t do any adjustments or pulsing and so the battery will last longer while using this mode. This is the mode to use if you want a plain-Jane vaping experience, or if your batteries are running low.

Variable Voltage allows you to vape based on the output voltage rather than a set output wattage. While I wouldn’t call this an advanced vaping mode, it’s best used if you have some experience with coil building, and a good knowledge of battery safety and Ohm’s Law.

Three presses on the fire button will take you into the menu where you can change modes, themes, and access the settings menu. In the settings menu you can adjust the brightness of the screen, reset the puff counter, turn SMART mode on or off (this automatically adjusts the wattage based on the coil that you install), or turn on/off the LED bars (only on the GEN MAX).

As I mentioned in the design section of this review, both devices feature a physical locking switch. This switch locks the entire device, including the power and adjustment buttons. There’s no way (at least from what I could find) to lock only the adjustment buttons.

iTank T

The iTank T comes included with the GEN MAX and GEN SE kits. It differs from the iTank 2 by utilizing top-to-bottom airflow as opposed to bottom airflow, and it also features a push-back top cap as opposed to the push-button to swivel top cap on the iTank 2.

The iTank T will hold either 3ml of ejuice with the straight glass or 6ml of ejuice with the bubble glass. The straight glass comes preinstalled with the GEN SE kit, while the bubble glass comes preinstalled with the GEN MAX kit. Both of my kits came with extra 6ml bubble glasses, but I’m unsure if all production kits for the GEN SE will also include this bubble glass.

The top cap on the iTank T pushes back to reveal a large fill port with a silicone membrane. It’s easy to fill by simply pushing a bottle nozzle into the port, which will then self-close when the nozzle is removed. The top cap takes a reasonable amount of effort to push back so it feels secure from being accidentally opened.

The airflow control ring is located just below the top cap. It’s knurled, which makes it easier to operate, and it rotates freely and smoothly. However, it’s stiff enough that it will stay where it is placed.

The airflow control ring has numbers near the slots, from 0 to 4. I like this because it will make it easier for me to describe where I have the airflow set in the performance section of this review! It’s also great for discussions about where you personally like the airflow best, so leave me a comment!

Most hardcore vapers will balk at the idea of a top airflow tank as they’ll say that it isn’t as flavorful as a bottom airflow tank, and I can’t argue with that reasoning. However, the iTank T takes the airflow from the top of the tank and directs it to the bottom of the tank where it passes from the bottom of the coil to the top of the coil, before finally exiting out the drip tip. 

So while it’s not a true bottom airflow tank, it’s a nice compromise for leak-resistance.

The iTank T takes VAPORESSO’s line of GTI coils, which are the same coils that are used by the iTank 2. Two coils come with each kit and those are the GTi 0.2Ω Mesh Coil and the GTi 0.4Ω Mesh Coil. There are two other coils available as well; a 0.15Ω mesh coil and a 0.5Ω mesh coil.

Coils are easy to install and only require you to unscrew the base of the tank. This base also serves as an eliquid catch so even if there is any leaking, it won’t find its way out of the tank.

With the base of the tank removed, the coils easily push into the tank. Removing them however isn’t as easy and really puts a strain on my nails. It’s easiest to remove if I use a coin, flathead screwdriver, or even the battery door works to remove the coil more easily.

Performance

For this review, I used both the GEN MAX and the GEN SE in order to get a good understanding of how well they perform, as well as how long-lasting and flavorful the GTi coils are when used with the iTank T.

I used one coil in each iTank T but swapped the tanks at times between the two devices. I mainly used the 0.4Ω coil with the GEN SE because of its maximum 80W output, which nicely suited the 50-60W recommended wattage of the coil. With the GEN MAX, I mainly used the 0.2Ω coil which is rated at 60-75W. Both coils can be used effectively with either device, this is just how I tested them out for this review.

Performance wise, there’s no difference between the GEN MAX and GEN SE. Both mods are able to put down the power needed for the coils and both mods perform great in all of the modes that they offer. I liked using F(t) mode the most because it’s VAPORESSO’s newest mode and I like the idea of small micro adjustments to improve the vapor.

Flavor from both coils is good, as is vapor. However, I didn’t find the iTank T to be as flavorful as the iTank 2 and this is probably because of the top-airflow design. While the directing of the airflow from the top to the bottom of the tank certainly helps the iTank T to outperform other top-airflow tanks, it’s still not as good as a true bottom airflow tank like the iTank 2.

The iTank T and the GEN MAX and GEN SE are made for direct-lung vapers. Even when set to 1 on the airflow ring I get a slightly restricted direct lung draw. The airflow set to 3 on the ring felt the best for me but I think that the whole range of airflow is really good, it’s just a matter of what you think is best.

Coil life has been good and I’ve still been using the same two coils throughout my testing, which started over two weeks ago. I’ve had no instances of leaking to report, which is always a good thing.

Verdict

The GEN MAX and GEN SE are great mods for direct lung vapers. The GEN MAX will be better for those who like vaping at wattages higher than 80W, while the GEN SE will be better suited for mid-wattage vapers.

The only disappointments with these mods is that there’s no temperature control mode, and also there’s no way to lock only the adjustment buttons. The lack of TC mode is understandable because it’s a rarely used feature these days but the locking switch could use some customization options in the menu.

The iTank T isn’t as good as the iTank 2 due to the top airflow but it’s definitely better than most other top airflow tanks out there thanks to the top-to-bottom airflow direction. Still, not a bad tank to get with a kit.

If you aren’t a temperature control mode vaper, the GEN MAX and GEN SE are two great mods that you should look into.

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