We all know that imitation is the highest form of flattery right? Well this kit that I recently got from Buybest obviously had a particular design in mind when it was created which I’m sure some of you will immediately recognize. The company is called Artery and the device is the Artery PAL. I realize it’s been out for a little while now and they’ve even launched a newer Pro version but it wasn’t until now I was able to get a hold of one. Here are my honest thoughts on the Artery PAL c/o Buybest.

Package contents:

1 x PAL Kit

1 x Extra coil

1 x USB Cable

1 x User manual

1 x Glass replacement

1 x o-ring

1 x Warranty card

1 x QC Certification

Listed features and specs:

Size: 91*47*19.4mm

Material: Aliminum 6063

Voltage: 3.2-4.2V

Battery capacity: 1200mAh

Eliquid capacity: 3ml

Packaging and contents:

The kit comes packed in a nice cardboard box with an image of the mod in several colours on the front and some basic cautions and model information on the back. I wouldn’t have minded seeing the contents listed as well as some basic features but it’s presented nicely enough. Inside the kit you get the Artery PAL device, an extra 0.7ohm coil, a micro USB cable, a replacement glass door, a replacement gasket for the glass door, a user manual, a warranty card and a QC card. It’s a very simple kit but it still comes with everything you’d need to get started as well as some much needed extras like the spare glass door and gasket.

The Mod:

The mod if you haven’t guessed from the images looks an awful lot like the famed Billet Box mod from Billet Box Vapor. About a year or so ago they were all the rage and because of their limited availability it was for some time quite a coveted item. Since that time clones have come out from China which basically crippled that little niche market but the concept of the billet box mod still lives on. Enter Artery with what I’d call more of a tribute then a direct ripoff. It shares the same basic shape and layout but it’s a little bit smaller and a little bit simpler with a built-in 1200mAh battery instead of a regulated single or dual battery mod like the original Billet Boxes. It’s direct output meaning it’s unregulated and whatever is left in the battery is what it will output. I would have liked to see at least some basic regulation or even some basic power presets like high, med and low but as it is it’s pretty much like an unregulated pod device. It’s a compact rectangular mod that is only 91mm tall, 47mm wide and about 19.4mm thick. At the top it’s got a pretty standard delrin 510 drip tip that fits in to a threaded connection that serves two purposes. Not only does it hold the drip tip in place but when screwed in it locks the tank in to the mod. The kit comes with a neat little coin that says ‘Lucky 168’ on it that’s meant to be used for screwing/unscrewing that locking nut. With my actual Billet Boxes I tended to use the handle of my tweezers but the lucky coin is a nice little addition to the kit. Also unlike the originals the Pal does not appear to be made from a single billet of aluminum.

Aside from the drip tip the mod is pretty inconspicuous. It’s got a single button on one face, a small air vent on one of the sides and a micro USB port with a tiny hole above it for the LED to shine through. You can take off both the front and back panel and the panels come in a variety of colours but it doesn’t look like they’ll be available for sale on their own. The back panel which is on the same side as the button is pretty much bare save a hole cut through it for the button. On the front panel on the inside the panel has a groove cut in to it which I assume is to help direct airflow but Artery has made a slight tweak to the tank and airflow system which I believe makes that groove in the door obsolete. Instead air is fed to the tank through the little air vent in the side of the device which Artery claims will also help reduce condensation build up, a well known issue with the original Billet boxes. Unfortunately because of the placement of the air vent it’s pretty common to accidentally cover it with your hand when vaping. It’s not a huge deal and you get used to shuffling your fingers so air can pass but it’s one of those things that should be mentioned. On the bottom of the device it’s got some little vent holes in case anything goes amiss with your battery along with some basic CE markings.

There’s no screen on the device and no means of regulating it’s output so it’s basically a direct output device meaning whatever the internal battery is putting out is what you’ll get. The list the working range from 3.2V up to 4.2V and with the internal 1200mAh I found I’m able to get a full day of vaping out of it with the included 1.8ohm ceramic coil. The 0.7ohm coil however was a little more power hungry and it didn’t last quite as long but still gave me most of the day without needing to recharge. You can turn the device on and off with the usual five clicks but aside from that it really doesn’t include any other functions other than firing.

The tank:

The tank system on the PAL also looks familiar and is almost identical to the system used on the original Billet Boxes. It uses a white plastic tank and a borosilicate glass door and is usually referred to as a boro tank. The one that comes with the PAL is a little bit slimmer and a little more closed off on the bottom to direct the airflow out the side of the device as opposed to inside from under the tank behind the front panel. It means you won’t need to buy a condensation plug, an accessory which most Billet Box owners eventually found necessary to prevent condensation build-up inside around the tank. It holds only 3.5ml of liquid but since the coils are high resistance it tends to last a long time. Another thing to note is the tank will accept Nautilus coils natively as the included coils share the exact same profile but it doesn’t appear possible to use any of the other accessories from the original Billet box so no rebuildable atomizers for this thing. As a Billet Box owner you come to accept that the device requires a little bit more maintenance than the average device and it’s no different with the PAL. Once you have a coil installed and the tank inserted in the device you can easily fill it up by just sliding the glass door open a tiny bit and squeezing your juice in to the tank, once filled just slide the glass door back up and you’re ready to go. However replacing the coil requires that the tank be pretty much empty which can be mildly inconvenient. To service the tank you need to remove the locking nut at the top using the lucky coin, once you’ve removed that nut the tank will just slide out. From there you can slide the glass door open to access or replace the coil.

The Coils:

The kit comes packed with two different coils, one is a 1.8ohm coil meant for high nic salt liquids which gives a fairly restrictive mouth to lung hit with some modest flavour. It’s definitely not the most flavourful but if you’re using it with the 1.8ohm coil and some salt nic I find it’s about on par with a lot of pod mods out there. The clouds are of course modest with such a high resistance coil but I found it pretty satisfying with some 50/50 45mg salt based liquids. The 0.7ohm coil that it also comes with is much better suited to more standard liquids but I wouldn’t exactly classify it as a direct lung coil either and I tested it out using salts which it was able to handle fine. It’s got a slightly airier draw than the 1.8ohm coil but not by much and I found it too is pretty much meant for mouth to lung only. The flavour from the 0.7ohm coil was pretty much on par with the 1.8ohm but it handled the thicker 70vg juice I ran through it with ease. I normally don’t like to talk about longevity of coils as personal vaping habits, liquids used and QC on the coils tend to have major impacts on how long a coil will last but with the 1.8ohm coil I got a full week of steady vaping from it before the flavour started to go and I’m about a week into the 0.7ohm coil and so far it’s still going strong. While a week on the ceramic coil seems a bit short remember that the Artery Pal also takes conventional Nautilus coils which I personally have had much better results with. One thing to note with the Pal and coils is there is no means to adjust the airflow so you pretty much get what your coil allows for. You can block off the air hole on the side of the device with your hand to manually adjust it but it’s not exactly ideal.

Likes:

Compact size

Looks

Build quality

BB like form factor

Battery life

Dislikes:

Can’t use BB accessories

No power adjustment

No airflow adjustment

Have to empty tank to swap coils

Overall:

The Artery Pal is a nice little tribute to the Billet Box, while it doesn’t have all the functionality of the original it still gives a similar experience at a much more affordable price. I like the fact that it uses Nautilus coils and is even a bit slimmer and lighter than the original. While I do lament that I can’t use any original accessories with it I still think it’s a pretty well put together little kit that might be a good alternative for folks who aren’t quite ready to commit to the real thing. Now if I can just get my hands on the Artery Pal Pro!!