Intro

As far as I’m concerned, no other new product release over the past year has been as eagerly anticipated as Uwell’s Crown II (or Crown 2) Sub-Ohm Clearomizer Tank. The expectations surrounding this new version of the highly-rated Uwell Crown have been extraordinarily high within the enthusiast vaping community. Among reviewers and review sites (including this one), after its debut in 2015, the original Crown Tank was consistently rated among the top sub-ohm clearomizer tanks, and frequently as the very best in that category of tanks. I don’t know how much pressure Uwell was under to release a Version 2 of the Crown, but they took their time and were very thorough in the redesign. The Crown 2 Tank addresses a wide range of requests for changes and improvements from both users in the marketplace and designers/engineers in-house at Uwell. Implementations of those changes went through a long period of testing and refinement. Now the Uwell Crown 2 is ready, in production, and being shipped to vendors. While still in pre-order on most vendor sites as of the writing of this review (June, 2016), the tank will soon be widely available. Let’s see if the new Crown 2 lives up to our hopes.

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Specifications

Specifications 510 Threaded

24 mm Diameter

100% Stainless Steel Construction

4 mL Eliquid Capacity

Quartz Glass Tank

Anti-Leaking Top Fill Design (with optional bottom-flll)

Juice Tank Locking Screw

Improved Chimney Design

Dual Adjustable Bottom Airflow Slots

Improved Coil Heads

Conical Positive Connector

Smoother Airflow

Three Coil options

0.25Ω – larger clouds

0.5Ω – balanced clouds and flavor

0.8Ω – best flavor

long lifespan

lower eliquid consumption

Delrin Insulated Drip Tip

Removable Drip Tip

Notable Remarks

Using the Uwell Crown II

I own nine of the original Crown tanks among my large and diverse inventory of sub-ohm clearomizer tanks, so it’s obviously one of my favorites. I was never in love with the aesthetics of the original version; it wasn’t much of a looker. The tank’s performance, however, was (and is) superb, and it was among the earliest sub-ohm tanks to provide an easy top-fill. Besides performance, the original Crown was extremely versatile. The dual-coil stainless steel heads could be used in both wattage and temp control modes, and the heads could be rebuilt as well. In addition, the original Crown gave a great vape over a wide range of power, from 50–100+ watts (depending on the coil head). Aesthetics of the new tank are much sleeker and more attractive than the original. Gone is the triple-ring design for the air intake control and top cap that extended beyond the body diameter of the original tank and made it look a bit clunky. The Crown 2 is definitely cleaner in appearance. Refilling the Crown 2 is even easier than the original. A single counterclockwise turn and the top cap comes off to reveal two large eliquid slots that are larger than the original’s four. I experience no leaks at all after refilling the tank. The air intake control ring has detents, as did the original, but now there are stops at both the fully open and fully closed positions. Nice.

As before, the drip tip is removable (and accommodates any standard 510 drip tip), but Uwell has installed a locking screw under the drip tip inside the top cap. Tightening that screw locks together the three sections of the main tank — base, glass tank section, and threaded top — so that removing the top cap for refilling cannot inadvertently dismantle the main tank section. I never had that problem with the original Crown, but some users did. Uwell listened and, by adding the locking screw, insured that the problem would never occur on the Crown 2. Coil heads for the Crown 2 have been redesigned and are not compatible with the original Crown tank, although they’re similar in size. If, as I do, you have a stock of factory heads for the original Crown, they will not work in the Crown 2. You’ll need to restock for the new version. I presume that the new heads can be rebuilt, as the old ones can, but I haven’t taken one apart to see, so I can’t guarantee that. Heads for the original Crown were very long-lasting. Getting months of solid vaping from a given head was common. I expect the new heads to be just as durable.

Performance

I didn’t expect a dramatic upgrade in performance from the Crown 2 over the original Crown. In fairness, I presumed that any improvement in the vaping experience would be subtle at best. I hoped mainly for better aesthetics and a reduction in the occasional leaking after refilling the tank that marred the original. And that’s pretty much what I got in taking the Crown 2 for a test drive. The original Crown was (and remains) a great tank with superb performance. So is the Crown 2. Having used the new version for some days, one performance improvement I can pinpoint is in the smoothness of the vape it provides. The high power vaping experience (at 80 watts and higher) is essentially the same in both versions, but silkier in the Crown 2. The other difference is that the particular Crown 2 I tested provides a perceptibly fuller experience at lower wattage (50-70 watts). The improvement is mainly in increased vapor production. Flavor is great in both versions, about as good as current technology can provide for a sub-ohm tank using factory heads. Overall, the Crown 2 honors the legacy of its predecessor and improves on it in all the ways we hoped it would.

Verdict

If you own the original Crown and love it, you don’t need to rush out and buy the Crown 2. The original Crown remains one of the best sub-ohm clearo tanks in the marketplace. But I’ll bet that you will buy a Crown 2, anyway, and sooner than later. My best guess is that you won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t. In fact, I’m thrilled. The new version gives a subtle but meaningful improvement in vaping performance and seemingly silences all the small criticisms that the original Crown tank generated among users. The wish list has been fulfilled. The Crown 2 Sub-Ohm Clearomizer Tank deserves and gets my Highest Recommendation.