Review: ONE Mod by Hana Modz

Hana Modz have been around for a while now with their quite colorful regulated box-mods. I've never owned any of the classic Hana Modz boxes, but from what I've know they've all been made from aluminum and from what I've seen on the web it's been pretty solid boxes. Quite pricy boxes as well. But now they've come up with something quite different. Although it's still a regulated box mod powered by the DNA40 chip from Evolv like we're used too from Hana Modz there are some differences, pretty big ones actually. First of all... it's made from plastic (!). This, according to Hana Modz, makes it the smallest, lightest DNA40-mod on the market. Secondly, the batteries are put in a separate case that can be detached from the main unit, and the complete kit comes with two different cases, making it possible to run with either one or two 18650 batteries. The third difference is that, at least for now, the ONE Mod only comes in two different color combinations: Black with white face and white with gray face.

Looks and feel

I have to admit I was a bit of a skeptic, I mean... plastic? And from the pictures it looks kind of ... I don't know ... cheap. It looks a bit like the battery cases don't quite line up and that the gap is uneven. But I do think Hana Modz could have done a better job on the picture cause at least the mod I have lines up quite perfectly. In my opinion it looks a lot better in real life.

When Hana Modz say it's the smallest, lightest DNA40 mod on the market, I believe them. It is extremely light, even with a battery in it. With the one battery case attached it almost feels like it's empty, which makes it really pocket friendly.

There is kind of a rubberised coating on the mod, making it feel less plastic than it actually is. I suspect it might wear off if you keep the mod in your pockets like me. Honestly I don't really care if it does, cause even if it doesn't look bad, it's not a piece of art (like some mods really are). It's made for using, not for looking at :)

There are a couple of issues with the battery cases and the lid that goes on them though. The lids are held in place by some really small tabs that kind of clicks in place. Now these will probably get a bit rounded when you put the lid on and off. On my double battery case my lid kept popping off already on one of the sides. There is barely enough room in there for the batteries so they put pressure on the lid from the inside. I tried to fix this by cutting out just a little of the plastic on the inside, making a bit more room for the batteries and that fixed the problem. However I then encountered a new problem: the battery case doesn't "click in" on one of the sides. I suspect this is because there is now not enough pressure from the inside so I've probably cut out to much plastic. In other words, for it to work properly it needs to be a pretty tight fit, but if it's to tight the lid might start popping off. Hana recommends LG batteries, but I've used VTC4s, and that may (or may not) be causing the problem (maybe the LGs have slightly thinner wrapping or something like that).

I watched another review of this mod and it was suggested there that they could have made this lid out of aluminum instead. Not sure if that would solve the problem though as the case itself would still get worn. Still, even thought it's not clicked completely in it is kind of held in place on the other side, and my single battery case still clicks in perfectly ... for now. I guess it's not that big of an issue, and I'll do some more testing with different batteries, but contacted Hana Modz about it anyway and they offered to send me a replacement lid straight away.


In everyday use

I'm not going to go into detail about the DNA40 features here. This mod of course have all of them. The mod fires quite easily, just a slight touch of the fire button. It even fires if you press below the fire button squeezing the plastic inwards a bit. So it's quite important to remember to click 5 times to lock the device when you put it in your pocket. The adjustment buttons require a bit more force.

I've found myself charging the batteries externally, alternating between the double and single case. The built in charger is a bit on the slow side but it's good to have it there just in case. Also, charging through the USB-port you don't have to take the lid of the battery case so it will probably last longer. In any case I think Hana should add a couple of spare lids in the package.

Despite the issues I described above I've found myself using the mod a lot, and I really like the feel of it. As I said it's really light and small and it is actually the only device I have that I've found myself checking different pockets for.

Conclusion

The concepts and ideas implemented in this mod is great. I love it. And the price is just $109 for the full kit, and I'd say it's worth it. There are however some issues that I think Hana should try to fix. Being made out of plastic is what makes this mod so small and cheap I guess, but it also means it's not as durable as mods made out of metal. Still I think it is worth the money, and maybe Hana Modz will come up with some improvements to strengthen the weak points a bit, making it more durable. I couldn't resist sending them a couple of suggestions on improvements :) Also I would like to see the option of buying extra battery cases.

This has quickly become my most used mod. Recommended!

Use discount code "vapingiraffe" for 5% off

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• The device was sent to me at a discounted price for the purpose of this review.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.

Regulators! Get out of our way, we're trying to vape safely here!

Having just recently ventured into the world of regulated powerful box-mods I was checking out the data-sheet on the new DNA40 chip by Evolve, comparing it to the DNA30 and other chips. Yeah I know, I'm kind of a geek. Anyway, reading the data-sheet I see that Evolve has put quite a lot of energy into developing a new feature, temperature protection. This is a safety feature designed to avoid the coil getting too hot and hence prevent the wicking material from charring, juice degradation and probably also degradation of the metal in the coil itself, all of which could potentially contaminate your vapor.

So I did some more google searches and found the video by Phil Busardo, where he discusses the new chip with the CEO of the Evolv, Brandon Ward:

It's great to see Evolv putting user safety first on their priority list, and I'm pretty sure they've done a great job with the DNA40. The reason I'm sure of this is the reason Brandon gives us for putting safety first:  

"I was a smoker for 20 years and I don’t want to put myself in danger"

Brandon Ward and Evolv is not doing this just to make money. I'm not saying that they don't want to make as much money as possible, but they are also vapers themselves and genuinely wants to make vaping as safe as possible. The reason these guys got into vaping in the first place was to get rid of the risks of smoking, and what Evolv has realized, and in my opinion this is why they are one of the innovation drivers of the industry: Evolv understands that practically all vapers got into vaping to reduce risks as much as possible. So user safety is important to all vapers, and this means that if they put user safety first, not only  will they protect their customers and themselves from harm, but it will also give them a competitive advantage. It's pretty hopeless for a company based in the US or Europe to compete with China on price, we all know that, so this means they have to compete on other attributes, for example quality, design and of course safety.

If you've watched the whole video you'll notice there is a lot of talk about user safety and how their main focus is to avoid any harm to the user, even if the user does something wrong, like putting in a battery that can't handle enough output without blowing up. Another question they bring up that I find quite interesting is this one: With this new technology, will wicking materials and e-juices now start to have temperature limits printed on the packaging? Now, Phil points out that the juice-companies might not be to happy with this, because that would mean they'd have to start testing their juices. But Brandon says "no-no", they've already talked to some juice companies about it at they are just excited about the new technology. There are several reasons for that. For one thing it is pretty easy to do this testing, and for the e-liquid-companies to put a maximum temperature limit or a recommendation on the bottle would give them the opportunity to protect the customer from harm. Because obviously user safety is also a priority for the e-juice companies. Why? Well, they are usually also vapers and former smokers that got into vaping to avoid harm. They are already testing their juices for harmful substances like diacetyl. And with the focus on vaping safety that's in the media they would be put out of business pretty quickly if their juices turns out to harm the users.

A lot of you have probably heard about Dr. Farsalinos' new study on "Temperature of evaporation, liquid consumption and vapor analysis in realistic conditions". The results of this study I think will be very interesting and very important. As you probably noticed in the video, Brandon is talking quite a lot about how temperature affects wicking-materials, liquid and metals, and the fact that temperature controls flavour, while wattage affects the amount of vapor produced. So I think it's pretty safe to assume that Evolv has done some testing themselves and have some idea what will come out of this study.

Think about it, a lot of people, if not most of them, that are now working in the vaping industry took a chance and quit their old jobs to start working with something they believe will help others quit smoking like they did. It is in all these peoples interest to make vaping as safe as possible. I guess some of you are seeing where I'm going with this, right? What I'm saying, and what I think the DNA40 is a perfect example of, is that user safety is one of the things that companies in the vaping industry is going to have to focus on to stay alive (literally and figuratively). The companies that don't, won't last long. The very nature of vaping, the whole idea behind it, harm reduction, will make safety a top priority for all serious companies that plan to stay alive for a while, because their customers main priority is to minimize harm.

The focus and studies on safety, and the innovation that is done to ensure vaping is as safe as possible is happening without any regulation from authorities. It is in the interest of the industry and the vaping communities to ensure vaping is safe and the majority of them are working in that direction today and will continue to do so, if the regulators will let them. The regulations proposed by WHO and their pharma-friends will work in favor of the only companies that didn't get into the vaping industry to reduce harm, the Big Tobacco companies. These companies do not have the same reasons for being in the industry, and they do not have the same incentives to work for user safety as the independent e-cigarette companies. So if the authorities really want to help smokers, reduce harm and save lives they need to get out of the independent vaping industry's way and go stand in the way of Big Tobacco instead.