Waidea Idea 60W Review

The Idea 30 & 60W are internal rechargeable battery variable wattage vape mods made by Waidea Times, who is the same manufacturer who made the 1:1 Vaporflask clone that I most recently reviewed. Waidea Times created the Idea 30/60W vape mods to compete with the likes of the Eleaf iStick 30w and Eleaf iStick 50w even more affordable price point. As a note, the idea 30/60 was previously known as the Waidea Storm U30 &60

The Idea 30w and 60W vape mods featured in this review were provided by Waidea Times for the purpose of this product review. The Idea 30 retails for $22.70-$25.88usd, and the Idea 60 for $34.46-$52.99usd. Both the Idea 30 & 60W are packaged in branded zip carry cases, and include a USB charge cord.

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Where to Buy Waidea Idea 60W/30w:

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IDEA 30/60W SPECIFICATIONS:

  • Brand: Waidea Times
  • Type: variable wattage vape mod
  • Material: aluminum and stainless steel
  • Connection threading: 510 (spring loaded)
  • Battery compatibility: internal rechargeable battery (idea 30 – 2200mah) (idea 60 – 4400mah)
  • Diameter: 21mm- idea 30, 22.5mm- idea 60
  • Height: 75mm- idea 30, 86.5mm idea 60
  • Weight: 91grams- idea 30, 186 grams- idea 60

FEATURES:

  • 3.0v-8.0v output
  • 7-30W (idea 30) 7-60W (idea 60)
  • Fires .30-4.00ohm resistance
  • OLED display
  • Short circuit protection
  • Low battery protection
  • High temperature protection
  • USB charge port

BUILD QUALITY

Let me start out by stating that I have never handled or seen an Eleaf iStick, so I will not be able to make any substantive comparisons between the Idea vape mods, and the iStick beyond how they compare on paper.

The Idea 30W is an itty, bitty little mod, and while I was expecting it to be small, this is the tiniest mod that I have ever held in my hands. It is about the size of a Bic lighter, and twice its width, so the Idea 30W is super pocketable. The Idea 30W is constructed of an anodized aluminum body with stainless steel top/bottom plate which is secured phillips head screws. The Idea 30W is available in silver, black, red, and blue.

The idea 30W houses an internal rechargeable li-polymer batter with a 2200mah capacity. The USB charge port is on the bottom of the mod, and it recharges at a rate of 1A. The overall feel of this mod is surprising solid feeling, and is what I would consider good quality.

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The style of the Idea 60W moves more in the direction of Flask while keeping the anodized aluminum finish and button style which is similar to the iStick 50W. When I first saw the Idea 60W in mock ups and promotional photos my feeling was very “NO” however, once I had the actual device in hand my feelings changed quite a bit.

The Idea 60W is not quite as large and wide as it may appear in photos, but what really changed my perception of it is how much sense the shape, and the button and 510 placement makes “ergonomically” speaking. Even as most of us are not used to center placed 510 connections on our APV/Vape mods, in my opinion it makes sense for the same reason that a straw in a the center of a slurpee makes sense. And unlike the Hcigar HB40’s button placement which plays better to right handed users, the Idea 60W has the same feel in both the right and left hand.

The only aspect of the design and style that I do not fancy very much are the color and finish choices, which are very generic in my opinion. Those things aside, the idea 60W feels well constructed and of good quality. The Idea 60W houses an internal 4400mah capacity rechargeable battery, and also has its USB port on the bottom of the device.

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Below you will see a size comparison between the Idea 30 and 60W, and also the Idea 60W and the 1:1 Vaporflask clone.

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The 510 connections on both the idea 30 & 60 are spring loaded with gold plated center pins. Out of the package I found both spring loaded pins to be rather stiff, and both needed to be broken in order to really get a flush mount with some of my atomizers.

Now the idea 30W being only 21mm in diameter kind of takes it out of contention as a device that can compete with the iStick 30W which has a 23mm 510 connection. I feel it was a mistake to not create an atomizer seat that is at least 22mm in diameter because it limits atomizer compatibility, and I know that many vapers are OCD about flush mounted set ups. That being said, the degree of 22mm atomizer hangover is not egregious.

The Idea 60W is 22.5mm in diameter around the 510 connection, and so it fits well with all of the atomizers that I have mounted to it. Both mods also have deep cut air channels into the 510 connection for any atomizer that receives its air from the 510 connection.

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FUNCTION

Both the Idea 30 & 60 have OLED display screens which monitor the battery charge level, atomizer resistance, voltage output and wattage setting. The PCB boards have the following safety features:

  • Power lock — 5x click
  • 10S shut off
  • Short circuit protection
  • Low battery protection (below 3.2v)
  • High temperature protection/shut down
  • Pass through capable
  • .30-4.00 ohm firing resistance
  • 3.0v-8.0v voltage output

Interestingly enough, the OLED display is actually larger on the tiny Idea 30W than it is on the Idea 60W. The OLED display is also much brighter on the Idea 60W, which also made it a challenge to photograph. The atomizer resistance is displayed as “9.9” when there is no atomizer attached. I would have liked to see the resistance zero’d out when there is no atomizer attached.

The firing voltage is only displayed when the fire button is engaged. The OLED display only remains lit for 5 seconds after the fire button is released, which is fine with me during normal use however, this also made capturing the display screen extremely difficult for me. Being that the Idea 30/60W cannot be powered off, and only locked, flash memory is a non-issue.

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PERFORMANCE

The one difference that I noticed between the Idea 30 and 60W straight away is that the Idea 30 reads all atomizers .10 higher than the Idea 60W. Being that the resistance display only uses 2 decimal places, atomizer resistance is always rounded up. So a .76 ohm atomizer will be read as.80 ohms, as is the case in the photos below.

Both the Idea 30 and 60 have a flat DC signal output as verified by my inline voltage meter. Based on feeling alone during real world use, both PCB boards have a smooth output. I was totally satisfied by the “feel” of both devices while in use, and neither felt under or overpowered, even as the Idea 30W does read atomizer resistance .10 over the actual resistance.

Below you will see the voltage output of both devices being fired at the top of their wattage range with a .76ohm atomizer. Both devices are pretty accurate in terms of voltage output throughout their wattage ranges, with the Idea 60W being smack on accurate in voltage output at 10, 30, 50, and 60W. While both the Idea 30 and 60W are spec’d for 3.0v-8.0v output, I was able to fire the Idea 30W as low as 2.96v, and the Idea 60W at 2.81v.

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Going back to what I had stated earlier in this review about the “generic finishes” of the Idea 30/60, I took the liberty of wrapping the Idea 60W with a 3M vinyl adhesive that gave it a more stylish appearance. In the future I would hope that Waidea would take the finishing of their original products a little further to set them apart from their competition.

I enjoyed the hand feel of the Idea 60W a lot more once I wrapped the body. The fire and wattage up/down buttons of the Idea 60W do not rattle or have any play in them, while the buttons on the Idea 30W do rattle a tiny bit if you shake the device. All in all the Idea 60W is the device that I enjoyed using the most, and will most likely continue to use once this review is done.

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OVERALL

In the end it is my opinion that the Idea 60W is the one that can realistically compete with the iStick 50W even as I can only compare them on paper. The solid build quality, smooth chip feel, and bumped up wattage capacity of the Idea 60W does make it a legit contender in my book.

However, I feel that the Idea 30W falls a bit short of its intentions to compete with the iStick 30W. In order to compete with the iStick 30W the Idea 30W mod must at least match the offerings of the iStick, if not exceed them. Due to its 21mm diameter, and slightly inaccurate resistance meter, the Idea 30W fails to do that.

That being said, I would not discard the Idea 30W mod altogether because it does pack a good amount of power into a very small package. While I probably would not choose the Idea 30W as an all day device, I most certainly would grab this for a night out in the city, or pack it into my bag when traveling.

Final photo

PROS

  • ​Price point
  • check
    ​Build quality
  • check
    Chip performance
  • check
    Ergonomics (Idea 60W)

CONS

  • ​Inaccurate resistance (Idea 30W only)

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Where to Buy Waidea Idea 60W/30w

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9 thoughts on “Waidea Idea 60W Review”

  1. Thanks again for a very well constructed and presented review!
    Topnotch! Much better than Ronda Rousey could do…LOL!

    1. Hey Sage! LOL, didn’t know you were a MMA fan! Ya, Ronda could only one up me on Judo throws! :D Thanks dear …

  2. I welcome to the small select club of people who know the joys of having your atomizer sit in the middle of a mod.

    I think it’s sad that not more companies are doing it cause the handling and feel is night and day compared to the regular off-center style.

    That’s it! From now on it should be your civic duty to not only spread vaping but also to popularize perfect symmetry as part of the package.

    1. I agree Gary, but I needed to experience it before I would feel that way. I think we as people tend to reject those things that we simply are not used to. So it’s easy for some vapers to look at a device like this and think its wrong because they are used to something else. Once I started using it though the center placement of the atty and the fire button made perfect sense … just felt natural really.

  3. I’m not sure that the “Inaccurate resistance (Idea 30W only)” is REALLY that much of a “Con”.

    If you rebuild your coils…and want to check the Ω’s of your build…you’d easily (mentally) adjust to the fact that the “Idea 30 (always) reads ALL atomizers .10 higher”.

    But if, like me, you’re too lazy/stupid to rebuild…then the .10 higher Ω’s would be of NO importance (if you’re using the WATTS settings).

    Say I’ve found the “perfect” setting for a topper/juice combination to be X-Watts on one of my other Mods.

    Then I transfer the topper/juice to the “Idea 30W”. When I set IT to X-Watts…it will automatically compute the Volts needed with the “.10 higher Ω’s”…to give me the SAME X-Watts I had found to be my “perfect” setting.

    1. I don’t disagree with your perspective here at all, as I also applied it to my everyday use of this device. Like you, for my own personal use this .10 overture is not really a big deal however, if the discrepancy exists, and I am aware that it exists, then I must state it. The bottom line is that most consumers consider chip accuracy to be a selling point, and any lack thereof to be a potential deal breaker .. Just because I am ok with a .10 discrepancy doesn’t mean that all other consumers will be ok with it.

      Not every consumer in this market is that forgiving, even as you and I may be. ;-)

  4. I will get on the boat with you and Gary; a .10 difference isn’t a significant error, now then if it was .25, .30 difference then THAT would be significant. However like you say Nicole, not all are as forgiving, and any misalignment or discrepancy could definitely be seen as a deal breaker.

    I have an iStick 30 watt device, it is small, about like your description of the Idea 30 it serves a purpose, like when I use my Kanger sub ohm mini, they work well together. But then my newest purchase a Starre sub ohm tank looks huge on my iStick 30 watt, but looks great sitting on my new SMOK XPro M80 with the newest/latest firmware updates.

    As always Nicole, another stellar review, makes me want to hurry and get myself the 60 watt version of this mod. With an iStick 30 watt and an iPV mini which are both 30 watt devices I’m looking for igher wattage devices now. M80 looking at an iStick 50 watt, but now for almost half the price I can get a 60 watt device. Maybe payday..we shall see. Thanks again Nicole, I pray you have a great Memorial Day weekend..

    Remember; All gave some, however; some..gave all. Be well, be safe, God bless, VAPE ON!!

    1. Hi Mark, and Happy Memorial day to you as well! I can definitely see wanting to have a device that has more than a 30W capacity. I don’t go over 30W very often, but I like having the option to do so when I want. I am actually using the idea 60 at 45-50W with a Subverter tank at the moment… gotta try the Starre tank too. Thanks for your comments Mark, have a great weekend!

  5. Just got the 60w version in. The device seems quite solid. I do notice however the top plate doesn’t entirely cover it’s area of the main body, my screen off-centered into the device and out of viewing range, minor rattle of the fire button, threads are a bit beat up and doesn’t seem to welcome some of my RDA/RTAs. Is it possible that I just got somewhat of a dud? I was rather looking forward to the device after the review I saw here, though I’ve seen very little elsewhere.

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