First Impressions of Smok's G-Priv 3: A Comprehensive Review
Hey guys! Welcome back to the blog, where I write about issues relevant to vapers of all ages! A few days ago, I wrote about my beloved TFV12 tank. Even though it’s definitely older than some of the newer tanks and mods released by Smok, it’s still one of my favorites. The only kit that ever came close to making me part with the Cloud Beast King was Smok’s newest creation, the G-Priv 3!
OVERALL APPEARANCE
My first reaction to the G-Priv was delight, purely because of the new color choice that was available: chrome magenta. The smooth and deep color caused me to fall in love with the device before I even had it in my hands. Smok is famous for having bright and attractive colors with all of their devices, and the new G-Priv was no exception. There were quite a few improvements to both the tank and mod, which I’ll go over in the next few paragraphs. Let’s dive right in!
MOD
We’ll start off with what I loved about the mod. The entire G-Priv lineup became famous for their large interactive touchscreen. There were quite a few customization options on the touchscreen, such as a passcode. I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly having people borrow my vape to try out which flavor I have in the tank, many times without asking. Now with a passcode, you can discreetly let people know that you vape is off limits! If you happen to forget your passcode, simply answer two numerical security questions to reset it.
There’s also six theme colors that you can choose from: sky blue, royal purple, canary yellow, bright red, soft white, and calming teal. The chipset is extremely interactive, allowing you to switch between four personalized modes, also known as “My Modes.” One of my favorite features for this part of the menu was the ability to add in your preferred nicotine level (3MG), current flavor (P.O.M. by Nude. I just put P.O.M. for pineapple, orange, and mango), and preheat setting (normal, and sometimes hard for a harsher throat hit). The puff setting I left alone because I like seeing how many puffs I take in a day (first day was already at 100 because I couldn’t keep my hands off the device!).
I don’t really use the TC mode, but I scrolled through the options just to check it out. The VW mode was great because you could set preheat options depending on the type of throat hit you wanted. The mod itself goes up to 230W, and I ended up putting my TFV12 tank on just to say I maxed out the wattage. Man, let me tell you, that was one hot breath of clouds and flavor!
One thing that was slightly annoying was the secondary key (a little black button right above the firing pin). Since I’ve been vaping for several years, I’m used to pressing the fire key several times to lock the screen. The secondary pin turns off the screen to save power as soon as you touch it but unlocks once you hold the key down for 2 seconds, the device is unlocked. Of course, you could still lock the mod with three quick clicks of the firing pin, but Smok tried to simplify this 3 second process with a tiny button. I kept accidentally pressing the secondary key and locking my device, so it was more annoying than functional for me.
I absolutely loved the new USB port that Smok updated with the new mod. Located on the bottom of the mod was a USB type-c port, the same type of port as my Note 10 Android phone. Granted, placement wasn’t the most ideal, as I had to lay the mod down or perch the mod on an edge to charge while standing up, but it charged extremely quickly. It was also nice to not have to switch cords constantly when using my phone and vape as charging cables.
Finally, I loved the marble shell that came on the back of the device. It coordinated smoothly with the color of the kit. For example, my Purple Red mod had a shiny pink and purple conch shell design that matched very nicely to the actual color. The actual mod color options are available in Prism Gold or Silver, Black, or Purple Red. The purple red is more of a magenta color and is one of the prettiest colors Smok ever produced. Now that we’ve checked out the mod, let’s dive into the hardware of the tank!
TANK
This tank has so much to offer, even though It’s called the TFV16 Lite. There is actually a full-size TFV16 that you can purchase separately, but Smok felt that the Lite version was better suited for the G-Priv Kit. As the newest in Smok’s famous TFV lineup, I was expecting a much higher wattage due to the inclusion of “16” in the tank’s name. However, the coils are only rated for 60-90W. I was a bit surprised to see such a low wattage in comparison to the TFV12’s powerful 200W atomizer capacity.
But Smok felt like that was the way to go, so I proceeded to fill up and admire the rest of my tank. The glass of the tank is designed to be discrete yet can hold up to 5mL of e-liquid. The bulging design of the glass allows for less surface area on the tank and creates a smoother sleeker look. Right below the glass, Smok designed two large airflow slots to deliver maximum airflow, thus presenting bigger clouds and stronger flavor. I personally thought the airslots were a bit too thin, but they were definitely placed higher up on the base to allow a better airflow. The base of the tank was easily swiveled to give me a tighter pull, and locked when the entire base was rotated counterclockwise.
One of the most unique parts of the tank was the O-ring. Smok redesigned the o-ring to be located underneath the swivel top instead of dead center. Many vapers complained that the o-ring would tear and cause e-juice to leak down the base of the tank; Smok listened and updated the o-ring to sit snugly underneath the top, thus avoiding constant wear from e-liquid refills.
But one of my favorite parts of the tank was the drip tip. The marble resin drip tip was crafted to mimic the shell of the mod. The magenta drip tip was drizzled with crisp white, calming pink, and royal purple. It fit snugly into the top of the tank and actually rested on a little platform right above the chimney, different than other drip tips which are simply an extension of the tank. Overall, I loved the design, color, and craftsmanship of the entire G-Priv 3.
WHY I DIDN’T KEEP IT
Now I’m sure you’re dying to pick up one of these bad boys for yourself, and I don’t blame you. I actually had to return mine to the manufacturer because of an o-ring malfunction on the top. Remember how I told you that Smok changed the placement of the o-ring to keep tank leaks at a minimum? Somehow, my tank decided that it wanted to be difficult and add some frustration into my life. A mere two weeks after I had bought the G-Priv 3, the o-ring got caught on some sharp part of the swivel top. The o-ring was tugged from its flush position underneath the drip tip and ended up falling into my hand. I spent a good 15 minutes trying to poke the o-ring back in place, but the poor piece of rubber had been stretched too much to fit back properly.
Thankfully, I had a spare still available in the original packaging, and that one went in just fine. I filled up my tank, snapped the locking mechanism in place, and went about my day. A mere 24 hours later, the same thing happened again! Frustrated, I reached out to the manufacturer and requested a replacement of the faulty merchandise. They quickly sent me a return label and I anxiously waited for my replacement to be shipped out. Unfortunately, the beautiful Pink Red mod I had fallen in love with was out of stock. I was offered store credit, which I grudgingly accepted.
While I’m sure the Pink/Red color is now back in stock (as this happened over a month ago) I’m a bit miffed at my first experience with the G-Priv 3. It was fantastic when I first had it, but the annoyance of having low wattage coils, the frustration of having a faulty o-ring, and the fear that I’d somehow crack the all-glass touchscreen made the G-Priv less exciting than I had expected. For now, I’ll just hold onto my current outdated setup (I’m using the Smok I-Priv and the TFV12) until Smok releases something again that I can get excited about.
If you’ve had a similar problem to my experience, let me know in the comments! Which vape setup are you using? Do you feel like the new products coming out are superior or inferior to what you’re currently using? I’d love to hear from you! For now, enjoy those sweet and puffy clouds coming out of your tank! Check out our next article called, “Help! My Teeth Turned Brown After Vaping This One eJuice!”