Pioneer4You IPV4 Review

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I know I’m a little late to the party on this one, considering how fast the vaping industry moves, but this is a seriously great device that I think will keep people happy for a long time. The Pioneer4You IPV4 is a 100-watt device that supports temperature control for nickel wire. It’s upgradeable to 120 watts and the upgrade adds support for titanium wire.

Gearbest.com sent me the Pioneer4You IPV4 for the purpose of doing a review and I’m really happy they did. I’ve been enjoying this one a lot. After reviewing the Smok Xcube II, I’m glad to get back to something that’s a little (or a lot) more basic.

What’s In The Box

The IPV4 comes in a basic, but nice box. The box says that there are Black, Silver, Blue, Red, and Gold colors available, but Pioneer4You only made the silver version. They launched with only the silver version in April 2015 and claimed to have plans to bring out the other colors later, but there’s no telling if they still plan on it.

The box includes the IPV4 mod, a lackluster user manual, a firmware upgrade cable, a three-month warranty card, and an inspection certification card.

Pioneer4You IPV4 Specs:

  • Price: $56.40 from Gearbest.com
  • Output Power: 7w – 100w – the firmware update takes it up to 120w
  • Output Voltage: 1.0 volts – 7.0 volts – The max voltage will limit how much wattage you’re really getting based on the build of your atomizer. Using this Ohms and Joules Law calculator from theecigshop.com, I figured out that to get 120 watts at a max of 7 volts, my atomizer needs to be built at 0.4 ohms or lower.
  • Input Current: 1.3 amps – 40 amps
  • Input Voltage: 6.4 volts – 8.4 volts
  • Resistance: 0.1 ohms – 3.0 ohms
  • Chip: YiHi Sx330 V4S

Features

  • Low voltage protection: Won’t let your batteries drain too low, causing them to permanently die
  • Low resistance protection: Won’t let your atomizer fire if built below 0.1 ohms
  • High input voltage warning
  • Output short circuit protection: If your atomizer fails or if it’s not built correctly, the device won’t fire
  • Reverse battery protection: It will not turn on if the batteries are installed backward
  • Temperature overheat protection: If the device gets too hot, it will not turn on
  • Software upgradeable: There is currently one update that increases max wattage to 120w and adds titanium temp control support
  • Temperature control: Nickel support out of the box, but titanium support with firmware upgrade

The Pioneer4You IPV4

The quality seems nice. At first I thought the IPV4 was made of cheap plastic, which turned me off a bit, but then I realized that it’s actually a high-grade aluminum. This explains why it’s so light. It’s well constructed and clean.

It feels very comfortable the hand. The buttons are in a great place and I don’t have any issues fumbling around with the firing button with I’m using it. The rubber-ish grip is okay, but it’s a little slippery. I don’t think the grip works well.

The battery cover is nice. It’s secure and doesn’t move around. It attaches to little metal bearings on the mod and clicks right into place. The one thing that I don’t like about the cover is that it’s stiff and thin. If you put too much pressure on it, there’s a good chance it could snap in half.

There are plenty of vent holes on the bottom of the IPV4 in case the batteries vent.

The IPV4 has also a charging port so that you can charge your 18650 batteries while they are in the device, but I don’t recommend using this. The IPV3 from Pioneer4You had safety issues regarding the charging port and many vendors did voluntary recalls. This could be why Pioneer4You didn’t include a charging cable with the IPV4. Pioneer4You released a video showing that there is no danger with the charging port, even if it gets wet, but I would still recommend buying a separate battery charger. I have the Nitecore D4. If you still decide to use the charging port, you should only buy the charging cable directly from Pioneer4You. Using unsupported charging cables with any vaporizer can be dangerous.

Pioneer4You IPV4 Functions

Menu: There are only three buttons on the IPV4; the firing button, and the plus and minus buttons. Pressing the fire button 5 times will turn the IPV4 on and off. The plus button works the five different memory settings, while the minus button allows you to adjust the wattage of each memory. In “adjustment” mode, you can move the wattage up and down with the plus and minus buttons.

Temperature Control: The IPV4 supports nickel wire out of the box, but an upgrade adds support for titanium wire. In my first wick burn test, temp control didn’t work at all. I later found out that I had to calibrate the coil by pressing the plus and minus buttons at the same time. This made temp control work just fine. If the cotton is dry, the IPV4 will display “Dry Coil. No Liquid.”

ipv4-dry-coil

It might toast the wick just a little, but it won’t burn it. There are five memory modes in TC mode which control Joules; 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. These are equivalent to watts. From what I understand, this controls the wattage ramp-up time, until it reaches your desired temperature, which is when temp control kicks in.

Battery life: Battery management works great in the IPV4. The batteries seem to last a long time even when vaping at max wattage, which is what I use pretty much at all times. I only have to charge my batteries every 2-3 days.

The Cons of the IPV4

Charging port Location: If you want to use it, it’s nice that it’s not on the bottom so that you can keep it upright. I don’t like that it’s right beneath the atomizer because there’s potential for e-liquid to get in if an atomizer leaks. Pioneer4You says that it’s safe, but I wouldn’t risk it.

Memory Mode only: The memory mode is handy, but it would be nice if there was an option to turn it off and use the normal power mode that most vaporizers have. You can only navigate wattage by using memory mode. You can go up and down in wattage for each memory mode, but it’s not ideal.

The 510 Threading: It can be hard to account for the threading of all atomizers that are ever made, but on a few I’ve tested, the threading seems to stick on a couple of them. I’ve switched out various tanks and atomizers, all authentic and all that thread fine on other mods, but on the IPV4, a couple didn’t want to go on without a little force. I worry that I could strip the threading on the IPV4 or the atomizer.

The Wattage Doesn’t Round-Robin: With 120 watts of power, it’s a little annoying not being able to round-robin from 120 watts to 10 watts, or vice-versa.

No Device Lock: The only way to lock the device is to turn it off entirely from the menu. It’s only one extra button click than typical mods, but it would be a nice feature to have. The user manual says that you can lock the device by holding +/- at the same time, but this only calibrates the coil for TC mode. It’s not that big of a deal because the buttons are not easily pressed. I haven’t had any issues with accidental button clicks in my pocket or backpack.

Wobbly Base: The base isn’t very sturdy. It’s a little wobbly when I set it down and I’ve had it fall over on me several times. It’s not exactly light when it has batteries in it and I sit at a glass desk, so I’ve been scared a few times 😉

Flimsy Battery Cover: The battery cover feels like it could break if you put too much pressure on it. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m not going to test it!

+/- Buttons Reversed: The +/- buttons seem like they should work opposite of what they are doing. For example, the plus button should be on the far right of the screen and the minus button should be on the left of the plus button. It’s confusing the way it’s set up.

The Charging Port Is Not Reliable: Pioneer4You claims that the charging port is safe, but given the history of the IPV3, most people are not willing to risk it. I wouldn’t either. Get a quality external battery charger like the Nitecore, Luc V4, or Xtar instead.

Removable batteries: This is pro for anyone familiar with battery care and safety, but for someone who has never used external batteries, this can be a con. You have to buy batteries, which are cheap, but still an extra cost (about $10-$20 for a pair of 18650’s depending on the quality). You’ll need to learn battery care and safety (don’t let the batteries touch metal. They will short and can explode!), and you need to buy an external battery charger, which can cost anywhere from $30 to $50 for a quality and safe charger.

Final Thoughts

ipv4-vape-cloud

You can get the IPV4 from Gearbest.com for only $56.40, which is a great deal for a device like this. The original price of the IPV4 was around $90-$100 so to pay close to half of that is awesome. 120 watts and temp control for only $50? Hell yes! I love how far the vape industry has come. You would have paid $120-$150 or more for something like this even just a year ago!

I’ve been using the IPV4 pretty much exclusively since receiving it nearly a month ago and I love it. It’s a quality mod and it does exactly what I expect it to do. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in a powerful device.

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