Review: Noisy Cricket II-25 by Wismec

The original Noisy Cricket by Wismec, designed by JayBo, has become quite a popular mod. It's a quite simple and effective mechanical box running two 18650 batteries in series, which means you need to know what you're doing when you're using it. If you don't know Ohm's law and understand how to use it to calculate the current drawn from your batteries given the resistance of your coils, forget about it. In fact... if you don't understand this, forget about mech mods all together or you risk creating a pipe bomb that will hurt yourself and people around you. The new version of the Noisy Cricket, II-25, do have some protection circuits making it safer, but you still need to know your Ohm's law and you need to know the limits of your batteries. If you don't know these things, or if you feel the urge to push these limits, you either need to do some reading up or just forget about this mod. If you on the other hand do know these things, please read on and join the fun. I said it in my last review of a JayBo designed device (the RX 2/3) as well, one mode of operation just isn't enough for JayBo at the moment.



In the box

• The Noisy Cricket II-25
• A warning card telling you not to use batteries with torn wrapping
• A user manual (or Quick Guide as they call it

Specifications

• 87 x 48 x 25 millimeters
• Uses two 18650 batteries (should be rated for 25A discharge)
• Atomizer Protection, Short Circuit protection, Low voltage protection
• Voltage regulating switch/wheel
• Can be run in series or parallell mode
• Direct output or constant voltage mode if you run it in series
• Battery life indication

Look and feel

I do like the simplistic look of this mod. It's got a nice brushed/satin finish, the
Wismec log on top on the black plate and a JayBo logo on the switch. It feels really solidly built and fits very naturally into your hand when you're using it. The button is nice and clicky and doesn't rattle too much. I mean there is some rattle there but not enough to annoy me at least. Actually it feels a lot more expensive than it really is. The only thing that looks kind of cheap is the plastic voltage adjustment wheel. They could have made this look and feel cooler.

In use

This is a quite simple mod to use to be honest. As I've mentioned before, you NEED to know your Ohm's law and make sure you don't push the limits of your batteries. Other than that, read the manual and you'll be up and running in no time.

The mod can be used in parallell or series mode as I've mentioned earlier. Either way you insert your batteries with the positive end first, so that the negative ends make contact with the battery lid at the bottom of the mod. To switch between parallell and series mode there is a plate kind of inside the battery lid that you just flip around. If you see two "P"s on the plate you're in parallell mode and you can only guess what mode you're in if you see two "S"s.

5 clicks on the fire button will turn your mod on or off, and you will see the indicator light behind the switch flashing 5 times to indicate that you managed to count to 5. This will also light up when you fire the mod, and when you release the fire button the light will either stay lit or start flashing at different speeds to indicate your how your batteries are doing. If it stays lit that means you have 60-100% left on them, flashing slowly means 30-59%, moderately is 10-29% and quickly means 0-9% and "go charge your batteries now".

When in series mode you can choose between direct output mode, which means you fire the mod with the voltage that your batteries are at, or constant voltage mode, that enables you to use the voltage adjustment wheel to regulate the voltage from 2-6V. To switch between these modes you need to turn the mod off (if its not already off) and then press the fire button until the light flashes three times and changes color. If it's white, you're in direct output mode, if it's red/orange you're in constant voltage mode. There is no indication on the wheel telling you what voltage you're on, it just says 0 on 100. At least on my mod 0 means full throttle (6V) and 100 means... well minimum throttle (2V). The wheel is also a bit difficult to turn. I see some people can't do this without using screwdrivers or pliers or whatever, but it's not really that hard. Stick your thumb nail in the middle and twist. One thing I noticed about the series mode is that it seems to always be in constant voltage mode if you've taken your batteries out and put them in again. Or just taken the lid off and put it on again  for that matter.

The battery lid is also kind of a tight fit and you need to use some force to get it on and off when you have batteries in there. I see some people complain about this, but I don't think it's a problem. If you struggle a lot with this you should consider working on your finger strength :)

Performance

There is not much to say about the performance of this mod I think, other than ... it t delivers. It really comes down to what you put on top of it. I've run it mostly with my Goon with different builds. In parallell mode you can run pretty low ohm build and get decent battery time. In series mode you can play around with higher ohms and really big-ass coils, blowing huge clouds of vapor. It's really a fun mod to try out different builds on and as I said, it delivers. And again, if you don't understand Ohms law or want to save money on cheap batteries with fake amp-ratings... don't get this mod.

Pros and cons

+ Great performance
+ Fun fun fun to play around with
+ Good price
+ Looks good except...
- The voltage adjustment wheel


Conclusion

I've already had lots of fun with this mod, and I don't think it will stop here. I think you can get it around $40 most places (499,- at pgvg.no), which I think is a makes it pretty cheap fun actually. Totally worth it ... again, if you know what you're doing. And I'm not only concerned about safety when I say that (although it's very important), but you'll also get much more out of it if you can safely play around with different builds.


Thanks a lot to Michael at pgvg.no for sending me the device for review. He also provided a discount code for my readers: pgvg2016 (10% off)

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.

Review: Theorem by Wismec

Wismec is certainly one of the most innovative companies in the vaping industry. Many of their products, especially those designed by JayBo, have become immensely popular taking the vaping world by storm with a combination of new designs unlike anything we've seen before and very competitive pricing. People have praised the Indestructible atomizer, the Noisy Cricket mech mod and I don't think I can even get close to my local vapeshop without seeing someone using a Reuleux RX200. The subject of this review, the Theorem, is no exception to this. It's definitely an innovative product designed by JayBo and inspired by SuckMyMod and kind of a cross between a dripper and a genesis style tank atomizer ... or a Dripper Tank Hybrid as Wismec calls it.

In the box

• The Theorem Atomizer
• Single and Dual Airflow Control rings
• Spare glass sleeve
• Spare Stainless steel lined glass sleve
• 2 NotchCoils with cotton
• 3 spare o-rings
• 4 spare screews 
• Hex Key
• User manual

Specifications

• Pyrex and Stainless steel
• Top Filling
• Diameter: 22mm
• Length: 46.25mm
• Dual or single airflow control rings
• NotchCoils

Look and feel

The Theorem looks, well like no other tank or dripper out there to be honest. I really can't make up my mind whether I think it looks cool or not. It is a bit cool that you can actually see your coil all the time, maybe even more so for those who's into coil porn. I guess I'll end up on weird. It's weird looking. Feels pretty well built though. It doesn't have a gazillion parts and nothing that can really break save the glass sleeve. The o-rings, of course, comes in Wismec's signature color ... whether you like it or not :)

In use

Looks pretty cool with
a driptip matching the o-rings.

Even if the deck of the Theorem is kind of on top of the tank like on a good old genesis atomizer, building is pretty straight forward like a dripper. It's quite easy to build and mount your coils and you have a decent amount of space. Now I haven't really tried dual coils in it yet but from the looks of it there should be enough space to build dual vertical coils in there as well. When building single coil on it I prefer bending my leads before I attach the coil to make sure it's centered. You might be able to force it into center position after mounting as well, just make sure that your leads are long enough to do it. The pre-wicked NotchCoils that come with the Theorem (and can be bought separately as well I think) already have the leads bent so it will be centered.

The wicks that they have put in the pre-wicked NotchCoils are in my opinion way to long though. When it comes to wicking the Theorem I prefer to cut the wick so it barely touches the base on each side, and enough cotton to fill the wicking slots on the side properly. You can use the pre-wicked coils as template to see how much cotton that is, but you can also manage with less in my experience. On the build I have now I use a 3mm diameter clapton coil and a pretty tightly rolled wick to be able to squeeze it through the coil. That seems to work very well for me at least.

When you're happy with your wicks, just put some e-liquid on it to make sure it stays in the slots when you slide your glass tank over it. I like this solution as you don't need to push your wicks into tiny holes. The double o-rings at the bottom are tight enough to keep the glass tube in place and no leaking there.

Filling the Theorem can be a bit of a hassle to be honest. To fill you need to remove the top cap with the plastic "regulating component", as Wismec calls it. This part serves two purposes actually. It has a plug at the bottom that will close the filling hole and it has an air-channel inside that will lead the air to the side of your coil (depends on how high you mount it of course) when you use the air inlet at that side of the Theorem. The problem is that the plastic tip of a typical juice bottle won't reach all the way down to the fill hole. You need to use a glass dropper bottle or a unicorn bottle with a long thin plastic tip to fill it.... or one of those horrible needle tip bottles that I hate cause the protective rubber thingy you put on the tip always breaks and you have needles sticking out of your pockets, backpack or whatever. Then again, if you have the right kind of bottle, it's no problem to fill this thing either.... the top cap comes off easily having just one o-ring keeping it in place. It actually feels a bit loose when you take it out and I was a bit nervous that it would keep coming off in my pocket, but I haven't had that happening even once. Since you don't have a lot of juice capacity in this tank you might as well invest in some suitable bottles straight away or this filling thing will make you mad.

Cleaning the Theorem is very easy and once you have the glass tube off there is really no inaccessible corners you can't clean.

Finally, some words about the airflow control system. The Theorem comes with two airflow control rings, one single and one double. This is used to control how air flows through the two air holes in the top cap, one on the same side as the coil that will blow air kind of downwards on the coil, and one on the opposite side that will make the air flow through the "regulating component" hitting the coil from the side. Using the single ring will of course block one of the holes completely, but you can choose which one. To adjust it you need to unscrew the top ring and twist the airflow control ring to align with the hole(s) in the top cap, and then tighten the top ring again. I've seen some complain about this system and I can agree that it's a bit fiddly. Then again, once you get the hang of keeping the airflow control ring in place with your thumb while tightening the top ring it's not a big problem in my opinion.

Performance

In my opinion the Theorem performs very well. It produces a lot of vapor if you like that and it tastes fabulous. All of this of course depends on how you set it up, and it's pretty versatile when it comes to this as well. With both air holes fully open you get a lot of air through it and you can set it up to produce huge clouds, but you can also limit the airflow and maybe get more flavour. Personally I like it best with a single clapton coil and the air flowing through the "regulation component". That gives me loads of flavour and decent vapor production and I don't have to hit it with that much power either. 30W is enough for me for this setup (like .45 Ohms on the Clapton) but it can handle and wick through a lot more and some might prefer even less that 30W.

The NotchCoils are not bad tasting either. Some have complained about hot legs on them, and I have noticed that has happened as well, but not that often and they taste pretty good as long as this doesn't happen. Then again, put a clapton in this thing once and you probably won't go back to the NotchCoils to be honest. I don't think the NotchCoils is a bad idea, but I think some more research and development is needed to perfect them.


Pros and cons

++ Great flavour
+ Great vapor production
+ Easy build and clean
- Juice capacity
- Fiddly filling and airflow control

Conclusion

The Theorem is in my opinion absolutely worth trying out. It performs very well and tastes just awesome if you set it up right. Some might find the airflow control and the filling a bit to fiddly, but in my opinion, once you get used to it and get hold of a bottle suited for the task, it's not really something I think a lot about. Which means the performance of the Theorem kind of makes me forget about it. A great, innovative product from Wismec that is absolutely worth the $20-30 you have to pay for it. Pricing varies quite a lot on it actually so it's worth checking out a few shops before you buy. For us Norwegians it's priced around NOK 300 before you use any discount codes (299,- at damping.no).

Thanks a lot to Ramzy at damping.no for making this review possible.

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• This review does not contain affiliate links.