Tests and review: Pro S by Pipeline ~ Le Vapelier

Commercial characteristics

Sponsor having loaned the product for the magazine: Pipeline
Price of the tested product: 249 €
Product category according to its selling price: Luxury (over 120 euros)
Mod type: Variable power electronics and temperature control
Maximum power: 80 W
Maximum voltage: 11 V
Maximum intensity: 22 A
Minimum resistance value for a start: 0.05 Ω

Reviewer comments on business characteristics

The release of a new Pipeline mod is always an event. Whether you are pro or anti high-end does not matter in this case since each vintage brings its share of novelties which justify its presence in the economic circuit of vaping.

With the Pro S, Pipeline offers us a single 18650 battery box, powerful 80 W in a mini format. It has several operating modes, a variety of settings that make it compatible with all categories of atomizers on the market and the proven reliability of the Pipeline chassis / chipset combo.

As usual, it is the German manufacturer Dicodes who is in the driver's seat for the design and manufacture, a guarantee of quality as much as of loyalty, which is quite rare in vaping.

As usual too, the price is up to par since the Pro S will be offered at 249 €. This price is justified by very concrete factors:

A two-year warranty, parts and labor, unknown to any other manufacturer.
An exceptional finish.
A semi-artisanal production.
The quality check of EACH chipset implemented.

Everyone will see noon at their door on this subject. As for my personal opinion, which is not all that important, is that the box is worth them when you have a passion for vaping. Like a Porsche is worth its price when you have a passion for the car. And I drive a Twingo, Gégé, don't bother with that!

There is a lot to say about the Pro S and I plan to keep it short (Editor's note: once is not customary 🙄) because I want to spare you any eye or brain fatigue. I therefore suggest that you move on to the rest of the menu without delay.

Physical characteristics and felt quality

Product width: 36.7 mm
Product thickness: 23 mm
Product height: 75.5 mm
Product weight: 84 g
Material composing the product: Stainless steel / Aluminum / Cupro-beryllium
Form factor: Box mini
Decorative style: Classic
Quality of decoration: Excellent, it is a work of art
Is the coating of the mod sensitive to fingerprints? No
All the components of this mod seem well assembled? Yes
Fire button position: Lateral near the top cap
Fire button type: Mechanical metal on contact rubber
Number of buttons making up the interface: 2
User interface button type: Mechanical metal on rubber contact
Quality of the interface button (s): Good, not the button is very responsive
Number of parts making up the product: 2
Number of threads: 2
Quality of the threads: Excellent
Overall, do you appreciate the quality of manufacture of this product with regard to its price? Yes

Vapelier's note on quality feelings: 4.5 / 5

Reviewer's comments on physical characteristics and perceived quality

The box is devilishly small! This is what jumps out at the discovery. Everything that is small is said to be cute, which hardly suits me 😕… And yet, here it is. We have a sober box, which fits perfectly in the hand, even in boxer's legs and which will suit both female and male appendages, for those looking for a discreet, nomadic and easy to store object.

The weight is quite marked without however being disturbing, the price of the use of real steel for the top and bottom caps and not of an alloy which is certainly lighter but also more fragile.

The Pro S borrows the form factor of the typical boxes of the manufacturer, in double juxtaposed rifle barrel, which is a large plus for an easier handling and which is for much in the aesthetic success of the mod. Elegance, sobriety and quality of materials… the strike for the discreet class.

The finishes are, as usual, very close to perfection. Each edge is chamfered to avoid any sharp roughness. The threads are remarkable, both on the 510 connection and for the battery hatch. The 510 positive stud is made of cupro-beryllium, an alloy of copper and beryllium, offering the best mechanical resistance and perfect electrical conductivity.

The surface treatment of the aluminum body is a marvel of fine and solid anodization (already proven by many drops on a previous Pro Side), black in the copy I am holding but also available in the colors below :

And in the future, blue, silver and purple

The top cap will accommodate your atomizers up to 23 mm if you want to have a perfectly tuned set-up but it will also accept 24 mm atomizers if your vision can be satisfied with a tiny gap that does not interfere in any way, nor aesthetically. nor mechanically. We find the Pipeline logo engraved on it. As usual, it's precise, surgical, worthy of watchmaking.

The bottom cap, on the other hand, accommodates a USB-C charging port, very practical in nomadic mode, which will allow you to vape even with a wire on the leg while recharging your battery. Of course, it is more reasonable, in sedentary mode, to use an external charger to keep the longevity of your batteries intact, even if the charge monitoring made by Dicodes is particularly efficient and balanced.

There is also an unscrewable battery hatch with two holes in the event of degassing. It is therefore easy and safe to install an 18650 in the housing provided. However, provide a battery with a CDC (Constant Discharge Current) between 20 and 25 A not to restrict the mod. A Samsung 25R or another Sony VTC5 A, not at the end of its life if possible 😖, will do the job perfectly.

Still on the bottom-cap, we see torx screws indicating that the mod can open and is therefore not crimped, like a majority of the current production. This is always an advantage for the user even if opening it during the warranty period is strongly discouraged in the event of a problem. Normal. Also avoid playing baseball with it, surfing with it, rolling over it with a backhoe loader if you want to be able to call on after-sales service without being sent to ball. Again, normal.

The buttons, switch and interface buttons are very qualitative, do not move a micron in their respective housings and are responsive by making a reassuring little click. They surround the screen very visible on a flat on the front of the object.

The whole is graceful, functional, of an irreproachable quality.

Functional features

Type of chipset used: Owner
Connection type: 510
Adjustable positive stud? Yes, through a spring.
Lock system ? Electronic
Quality of the locking system: Good, the function does what it is for
Features offered by the mod: Display of the battery charge, Display of the resistance value, Protection against short circuits from the atomizer, Protection against reverse polarity of batteries, Display of the current vape voltage , Display of the power of the current vape, Display of the vape time since a certain date, Temperature control of the atomizer coils, Display brightness adjustment, Clear diagnostic messages, Adjustable power boost, Check of the quality of the battery
Battery compatibility: 18650
Number of batteries supported: 1
Does the mod retain its configuration without batteries? Yes
Does the mod offer a recharge feature? Charging function possible via USB-C
Is the recharge function passthrough? Yes
Presence of air flow regulation? Yes
Maximum diameter of compatibility with an atomizer: 23 mm
Accuracy of the output power at full charge of the battery: Excellent, there is no difference between the requested power and the real power
Accuracy of the output voltage at full charge of the battery: Excellent, there is no difference between the requested voltage and the actual voltage

Vapelier's note regarding functional characteristics: 4.8 / 5

Reviewer's comments on functional features

It would be futile to try to list here all the features offered by the Pro S. Unless you have a dictionary format, this is definitely not possible.

What you should know, however, is that our beauty of the day offers far more than you might expect. Geek box assumed by destination, there are nuggets of personalization of his vape or the operation of the object. Let us quote pell-mell:

THE TRENDS :

Variable power from 5 to 80 W.
Variable power WITH protection against an excess temperature of the resistance to ensure continuous control of the quality of the vape.
Temperature control in NiFe, Ni200, Titanium, SS316… not to mention the possible manual implementation of the heating coefficient.
Fully adjustable power boost
Power Boost Dyn mode which allows, during the vape, by simultaneously pressing the [+] button, to add additional power to the puff.

USEFUL FUNCTIONS:

Automatic check of the internal resistance of the battery used to verify its compatibility with the required power.
Battery wear rate diagnostic tool.
Settings for the remaining battery voltage before shutdown. By default at 2.7 V, you can without fear gain autonomy by lowering this value to 2.5 V.
Adjust screen brightness.
Adjustment of the scrolling speed of the menus.
Setting the number of clicks required to access the menu.
Number of puffs, vaping time ...

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALITIES:

Charging via USB-C port.

I will ignore the many variations such as the possibility of deactivating the extended menu for those who are not very receptive to complex settings… But as we are in the Christmas period, I will link you to the Manual so that you get a clear idea of it all. Yo Ho Ho! 🎅

You might think it is a gas plant, that it is complex to manage or that the water is wet ... The truth is that you will only have to make these adjustments once and then the Pro S is will take care of everything on its own. Kind of like a new TV. At the beginning, we have our nose in the doc and after, it becomes natural since all that remains is to press the channel access buttons or the volume ...

Evaluation of the packaging

Presence of a box accompanying the product: Yes
Would you say that the packaging is up to the price of the product? Yes
Presence of a user manual? Yes
Is the manual understandable for a non-English speaker? Yes
Does the manual explain ALL features? Yes

Vapelier's note on packaging: 5 / 5

Reviewer's comments on conditioning

Sober but elegant. The box is delivered to us in a metal box with the Pipeline logo which contains thermoformed foam to protect the machine. A concise multilingual document makes us aware of the general principles of the company and of the tool as well as of health and toxicological warnings.

That's all.

To get into the bowels of the box, you will have to download the very complete manual, illustrated, in French, which I give you the link HERE.

Appreciations in use

Transport facilities with the test atomizer: Ok for an inside jacket pocket (no deformation)
Disassembly and cleaning facilities: Super simple, even blind in the dark!
Battery changing facilities: Easy, even standing on the street
Did the mod heat up? No
Has there been any erratic behavior after a day of use? No

Vapelier's rating in terms of ease of use: 5/5

Reviewer's comments on the use of the product

There are two types of vapers. Those who haven't tried a Pipeline and those who have tried a Pipeline. The first will tell you that it is expensive, that it is complicated, that it is elitist. The second will be content to vape for many years on it.

Yes, the Dicodes ergonomics are specific and require some experience to understand all the mysteries of the box. This is not a box for beginners or for smokers who want to switch without worrying about technology. It is a box of passionate about the vape, a multitasking and complete tool to shape his personal rendering to perfection. You don't entrust a Ferrari to a young driver, you don't buy an overpriced Makita to screw a frame in placo once in your life. It's the same here.

That being said and understood, the vape rendering is exceptional. With surgical precision, the Pro S, accompanied by a good atomizer, will transcend liquids and make them return to the tiniest aromatic note.

Once the technical handling is done, the box quickly becomes user-friendly. It is very autonomous in view of its size, can drive with equal quality a precision MTL atomizer or a nag DL and is free from mechanical or electronic faults. The finish, the quality of the materials and that of the chipset combine to offer a tool of great precision, which does not heat up, which is quick to fire and which is constantly in action to ensure optimum safety at the machine. user. All with elegance and discretion.

Switch, steam, change the battery when it's time. The rest is just literature.

Recommendations for use

Type of batteries used during the tests: 18650
Number of batteries used during the tests: 1
With what type of atomizer is it advisable to use this product? Dripper, Classic fiber, Sub-ohm assembly, Genesis-type rebuildable
With which model of atomizer is it advisable to use this product? An atomizer or clearomizer 23 mm in diameter between 0.2 and 1.8 ohm
Description of the test configuration used: Corona V8 SC and many others
Description of the ideal configuration with this product: MTL or RDL reconstructable atomizer in 23 mm

Was the product liked by the reviewer: Yes

Overall average of the Vapelier for this product: 4.9 / 5

The mood ticket of the reviewer

249 € is the absolute price for vaping. In good faith, there is nothing above that in the category. I vape most of the time on DNA or Chinese chipsets and I'm happy about it but I know for a fact that they will fail me after a year or two.

For comparison, even if nothing compares, a phone in the same range will cost five times as much. A watch of the same range between ten and thirty times more expensive. A car of the same range between four hundred and a thousand times more expensive. Do you need a big V8 to go to work? No of course not. Do we have to have a Rolex to know the time? No more. Do you have to have the latest iPhone to call Granny, send an SMS or take a lousy selfie. Well, no, actually.

But when the passion is there, when it eats up every neuron, when it atomizes your entrails, we drive at 80 km / h in a Lamborghini, looking at our Omega Speedmaster and consulting Waze on the latest Samsung Fold. This is how. And it is happy. It's called pleasure. It was not me who invented the genre, I even practice it very little but, like everyone else, I know how to recognize it when I see it.

#Jesuisvapoteur

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