Beyond Vape Centurion Review

For this review, I am going in depth with the Beyond Vape Centurion. The mod was provided by directly by the great folks over at Beyond Vape for the purposes of this review. At the time of this review, it is currently selling for $69.99 and is available here.

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Where to buy the Beyond Vape Centurion Mod:

• Buy for $69.99 – Same version reviewed, Ships from the USA.

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In The Box

When I opened the box, I was greeted by the Beyond Vape Centurion in all it’s glory. The mod came cradled in the traditional protective cellular foam to keep it from getting damaged in transit. Below the foam is a cardboard divider where the rest of the kit was located. After removing the sleeve, I noticed the white Brillipower box, which contained a Brillipower 3500mah, 60 amp, 26650 battery. For versatility and backup, along with the Brillipower, there is an 18650 battery adapter, identical to the one I received with the Vapor Flask Stout. To go with the battery adapter, there is also a 22mm tank “adapter” which is intended for use as a beauty ring for “smaller” 22mm tanks to give them a cleaner look on the mod. While the 22mm adapter isn’t necessary to use the smaller tanks, it is a nice aesthetic touch. Also included is a cheap “self winding” style USB cable. To round out the contents of the box are a nicely printed user manual and warranty card.

Specifications

• Designed by Beyond Vape, manufactured by Wismec
• 22mm to 30mm attys or tanks
• Decorative 22mm beauty ring
• Spring-loaded 510 connection
• Trigger-style, fire button
• OLED Screen
• Micro USB cable included (for firmware upgrades, not recommended for charging)
• Single 18650 battery sleeve adapter for use with 18650 batteries (max output 75w)
• Cell Type: Single High-Discharge 26650 (above 35A)
• Will read kanthal, nickel, titanium, or stainless steel wire
• Temperature control for NI, TI, SS, and manual TCR
• Output Wattage:
  • 26650 Battery: 1-100w
  • 18650 Battery: 1-75w
• Resistance Range: 0.05-1.5ohm for TC modes – 0.1-3.5ohm for VW/ Bypass mode
• Temperature Range: 100-315C/ 200-600F (TC modes)
• Stealth Function
• Resistance Lock Function
• Wattage Lock Function
• Adjustment Button Lock Function
• Left/Right Screen Mode
• Temperature Protection
• Weak Battery Alert
• Short Circuit Protection
• Temperature Alert: If the internal temperature of the device is over 70C, the output will shut off automatically and the screen will display, ‘Device too hot.’

Initial Impression

Beyond Vape sent me the full “kit”, which came with an included 26650 battery. This thing is HUGE. I thought the Vape Forward Vapor Flask Stout was big. The Centurion is substantially larger and heavier than most of my other mods, including the aforementioned Vapor Flask Stout.

The styling is somewhat reminiscent of the Vaporesso Target, although significantly larger to account for the battery size. It’s got nice clean lines, no sharp edges and a nicely rounded grip. There is a large fire button, a small but usable screen, up and down adjustment buttons, and a bottom mounted USB port. With a 30mm top deck that has a spring loaded 510 connector, it’s nice that they thought about how a standard 22mm tank would look on it and included a beauty ring to account for that.

The finish on it is a very nice matte black color. It arrived flawless, not a mark on it anywhere that I could find. The screw off battery cap seems to be made of stainless steel, and is almost the same color as the mod itself. I say almost because it is every so slightly different in shade, and a little glossier than the rest of the mod, but not enough to look bad. In fact you have to really look to see the difference in color.

Fit And Finish

As touched on already, the finish is a beautiful matte black color. The attention to detail in the finish is exceptional, even the 510 connector is finished in black steel. The only part of the mod that isn’t black is the tastefully done, small white Beyond Vape logo on the bottom left edge of the mod and the writing on the battery cap. The logo itself is inconspicuous and the writing on the bottom doesn’t detract from the overall look of the Centurion. The finish also has an ever so slight texture to it that helps with keeping a good grip on it. If a mod this size and shape had a glossy finish, it would be very slippery and potentially difficult to hold onto under certain conditions, like if you spill a little juice on it.

The seams all fit together well, and the edges of the Beyond Vape Centurion are smooth and don’t cut into your skin during extended vaping sessions. My only complaint with the build quality of the mod is the beauty ring. It is a poorly designed ring that doesn’t fit well on top of the mod. The only thing that holds it in place are two little nubs on the bottom side that fit into the air channels of the 510 connector to keep it (the beauty ring) from spinning. On the one I got the nubs are so small that they don’t hold well, and I suspect would wear off over time and extended use of the mod. I think Beyond Vape would have been better served with a different design for the part, it feels more like an afterthought than an integral part of the Centurion.

On the top of the mod is the spring loaded, black stainless steel, 510 connector. The connector has airflow channels for use with all of your old school, bottom airflow tanks. At the top of the front face of the Centurion is an angled large “trigger” style firing button. While it can be fired with your thumb, it is clearly designed to be most comfortable when fired fired using your index finger. Below the fire button is the small, but very useful OLED screen. The two line display provides a battery indicator, coil resistance, set temperature or wattage (depending on mode), coil type and Fahrenheit or Celsius indicator. Below the display are the positive and negative (plus and minus) adjustment buttons. The buttons are all “clicky” and well designed to provide positive feedback, with no button rattle. On the bottom of the mod is the USB port, for use with firmware updates only, it is not recommended to use this port for charging the mod, but you can if you absolutely must.

The battery chamber is large, and the included 18650 battery adapter fits perfectly into the sleeve. When installed, there is no movement inside the mod like there is with the Vape Forward Vapor Flask Stout. The battery cap is stainless steel and painted black to match the mod. The threads are clean and smooth, screwing in and out easily. They are a little “shallow”, so they may become problematic over time. Painted on the cap is a circular logo that says “Designed by Beyondvape” as the top of the circle and “Manufactured by WISMEC” as the bottom half. Cutting directly through the center of the circular logo is the word “CENTURION”.

Usage

Much bigger and heavier than the Vape Forward Vapor Flask Stout, but with the increased width in the front face, the Centurion feels a bit nicer in my hand. It is also somewhat ergonomically shaped and is, at least for me, a lot more comfortable to hold over the course of the day. The VF Stout is no slouch, but the Centurion is better. I don’t like the screw in battery cap as much as the hinged Stout design, but that isn’t a bad point, simply an observation and personal preference. I am a touch concerned that the threads on the battery cap will wear out over time, but that remains to be seen.

Beauty ring is temperamental (at best) to get it to properly align with the top of the Centurion, only held in place by 2 tiny nubs that fit in the slots of the 510 connector air flow channels to stabilize it. It does not feel like an integral piece of the design, it rather seems like it was more of an afterthought once they realized how diminutive a 22mm tank looked on it. If you get it properly aligned though, it does look really good. I wish that Beyond Vape had used a couple of small magnets to hold it in place, instead of the silly little nubs on the bottom of it.

The included 18650 battery adapter does not slide around in the battery tube when installed, unlike Stout. In this mod, the length of the battery cap actually seems to be sufficient to make up for the shortness of the adapter tube and keep it from shifting every time you pick the mod up.

Using the mod is pretty straight forward, 3 clicks to enter the coil selection mode, where you can choose from the following options:

• Wattage
• Bypass
• Temperature NI for Nickel Coils
• Temperature TI for Titanium Coils
• Temperature SS for Stainless Steel 316L Coils
• Temperature M1-M3 for Custom Coils with manual TCR settings

In Wattage mode, the plus and minus buttons do exactly what you would expect, they change the wattage up and down. In Bypass mode, none of the buttons do anything other than fire the mod, dumping full battery power to your atomizer. This is much like a mechanical mod, only with some very limited protection features from the regulated chip set.

Temperature Control

The Beyond Vape Centurion performs very well in temperature control mode. The vape is very consistent and seems to be in line with my expectations for a Wismec/Joyetech chip set. The SS-316L default is great, and seems to be spot on, but if you are using something else, you can set a custom TCR for it. It would be nice if they had included a TCR chart for the most common values (NI, TI, SS-304, SS-316L, SS-317, SS-430, etc.), but these are easy enough to find on-line.

Usage in Temperature Control mode is slightly different than in Wattage or Bypass modes. In any of the Temperature Control modes, the plus and minus buttons will change the desired temperature in 10 degree increments. 4 clicks of the fire button will allow you to change the maximum wattage for use with Temperature Control. Setting this too high will cause you to hit the maximum temperature really quickly, while setting it too low can cause it to not reach temperature, or take a very long ramp up time to get to temperature.

To set a custom TCR, click the fire button five times to put the mod in standby mode, then hold down the plus adjustment button and the fire button simultaneously. This will bring up the M1 – M3 settings bank. The M1-M3 bank will be highlighted, so use the plus and minus buttons to cycle through M1, M2, and M3 to get to the one you wish to change. Then hit the fire button and the highlight will change to the value field (120 by default), then use the plus and minus buttons to set the TCR value you want. Once complete, wait a couple of seconds and the Centurion will go back to standby mode. Click the fire button 5 times to turn the mod back on, enter into menu mode, and select the corresponding setting for TemperatureM1, M2, or M3.

Performance

Battery life with the included Brillipower 26650, 3500mah battery seems to be pretty good. In my usage and testing, the 3500mah battery seems to last almost as long as my dual battery mods with comparable settings. With an LG HG2, 3000mah battery, the Centurion seems to get about the same lifespan as my 18650 eVic VTC Mini. This is a little surprising as the 500mah difference between the two batteries does not seem substantial enough to account for almost double the run time.

Updates

This may be the mod that Wismec forgot about when it comes to updates, or perhaps Beyond Vape has not contracted for any, I don’t really know how this part works. With the flurry of updates constantly being released by Wismec, I was surprised to see there are no new firmware updates for the Beyond Vape Centurion anywhere that I could locate. On a positive note, the mod works beautifully, so perhaps there will not be any need for an update. I am, however, hopeful that there will eventually be new firmware updates at some point to help future proof the investment in this device, but only time will tell. If nothing else, it would be great to be able to change the font.

Conclusion

There is a LOT to like about this mod, especially if you like the Wismec chipped devices. The Beyond Vape Centurion is one of the best implementations I have seen so far. The Vape Forward Vapor Flask Stout was a good mod, and I really like mine, BUT the Centurion is even better. The styling will be a personal call, for me personally, I like the way it looks. More importantly though, the finish on it is stellar, the buttons don’t rattle, and the display is very usable with all the info you need at a glance. Perhaps most importantly for some, in Temperature Control mode it’s capable of using ANY coil material with the custom TCR settings. Including a 26650 battery with the mod was a stroke of pure genius as this was previously a niche market and this size battery is not very prevalent (none of the dozen or so shops in my area even carry this size battery).

There are a couple areas of disappointment for me though. For starters, it is BIG, easily bigger than most any other mod on the market in it’s class. It is also much heavier without a battery than some of my dual battery mods WITH batteries installed. If I have to find a real fault with it, the 22mm beauty ring is where I would start. In fact, I dislike it so much that I “permanently” mounted my Griffin 25 RTA on the Centurion, because the 25mm tank, without a beauty ring,  just looks tremendously better than a 22mm tank does without the beauty ring (although functionally, they both work well). The other “gripe” I have with the kit actually has nothing to do with the device, rather it’s the cheap little “self winding” USB cable. It’s a great idea because it takes up little space in a kit bag, doesn’t get tangled in other cables and cords, and is really only needed for firmware updates. However, I have had too many of this style cable fail over the years to put any value on this, I would have rather seen a good USB cable included, even if it drove up the price point slightly.

The bottom line, if you are looking for something other than the standard, traditional “box” mod, and can live with 100 watts or less, then the Beyond Vape Centurion may just be what you are looking for. The styling of this device definitely stands out, AND actually feels good in your hand. Be ready to put up with the weight though, it is pretty big and heavy to carry around in a pocket or purse, but if that doesn’t concern you, the Centurion’s performance is stellar.

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Where to buy the Beyond Vape Centurion Mod

• Buy for $69.99 – Same version reviewed, Ships from the USA.

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