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Proton Mini Ajax Kit Review: Test Results Are In
Product intro and specs
The Proton Mini is the latest box mod from popular vape manufacturer Innokin. Innokin is famous for making really good beginner level products like the old Endura kits and the CoolFire mod series. Recently they’ve been a little down, releasing quite a few so and so pod systems, but their mods have typically been great.
The Proton Mini is a smaller version of the dual-18650 Proton, which was one of the best mods of 2018 and still is a solid choice in its category. The Mini is an internal battery mod rated for 120 watts with a nice large screen, and comes in a kit with Innokin’s new Ajax sub ohm tank.
Price: $59.95 (Here)
Colors: Green Demon, Black, Nebula, Crystal Blue, Pink Chrome, Sunset
Specifications:
- Battery type: internal battery
- Battery capacity: 3400 mAh / 3.7V
- Wattage range: 6-120 watts
- Maximum voltage: 7.5 volts
- Tank resistance: 0.16 ohms (50-80 watts) / 0.35 ohms (30-55 watts)
- Tank capacity: 2 mL / 5 mL
- Cut-off time: 3-18 seconds
- Max. output current: 35 amps
- Resistance range: 0.01-3.5 ohms
- Thread type: 510
- Charging current: 2.0 amps
Kit Contents:
- 1 x Proton Mini box mod
- 1 x AJAX sub ohm tank
- 1 x User manual
- 1 x Warranty card
- 1 x Micro USB cable
First impressions
When I first got this mod, I liked the design a lot. It’s nearly identical to the original Proton, except in a smaller package and with the battery built in. There is a large color 1.45-inch TFT screen on the front and it has the same joystick controls and firing bar as the original. The tank in the kit is their new Ajax tank which offers two coil options and it best used in the 50-65 watt range. Not bad for an internal battery mod, but would have preferred them in the 30-40 range for better battery life. Still, a lot better than many similar mods that come with 70+ watt tanks. Overall, I really liked the kit from the start.
Build quality and design
The Proton Mini feels solid and not cheap or flimsy, but it’s not something I’d want to drop due to the large screen and the joystick. Its size is what you’d expect from a single-18650 mod more or less. It uses a firing bar, which I love and haven’t seen on many of the newer mods for some reason. It became popular back in 2016 with the SMOK Alien but has kind of died down since. You just squeeze the mod to fire it and, with its symmetrical design, it can be used in either hand. One thing worth nothing though is that one of the two units I tested had a sticky firing bar. I’ll ding them for that, but it seems to just be an exception and not the norm.
The mod features a front facing large 1.45-inch TFT color screen which is very clear and bright enough. You can download their software to load your own backgrounds on the screen, which is a cool feature. The 510 pin is great and gave me no issues with any atomizer. It’s also centered and can fit atomizers up to 26 mm without overhang. I mainly used the Crystal Blue mod which is a teal-ish color and comes with a matching tank, white accents, and a color fade panel on the back. I also tried the Nebula, which is a royal blue with a galaxy picture on the back. The paint job is solid and shiny, and looks to have a thick clear coat on it. Really nice color options here. Branding was kept simple with just a “Proton Mini” print above the screen and an “Innokin” one on the bottom of the back panel. There is also no button rattle on this mod at all either. All in all, the Proton Mini mod is built and designed very well.
Features and functions
Same as the original Proton, the Mini is packed with features and modes. You have Power mode (no preheats), Temp Control (SS, Ni200, Ti, and TCR), Watt Curve Mode (VPC), and Bypass Mode. It uses a standard TCR as well, which is fully adjustable in TCR mode but not adjustable in the presets. It has pretty much every mode out there a vaper would need without being overbearing. It also has three memory slots where you can save your settings, which is very useful if you like to switch back and forth between atomizers. This way you don’t need to reset everything when switching—you can just load the profile from memory mode, which is a handy feature.
Using the Proton Mini
As far as the menu goes, it’s the same as the original Proton. Below is a quick rundown.
- Three clicks of the fire button to turn on and off.
- Three clicks of the joystick to enter the menu.
- Use up and down on the joystick to scroll through the menu and click it to accept.
- When in power mode, hold up or down on the joystick until the power blinks, then use left and right to adjust power.
- When in temp mode, hold up on the joystick until the temp blinks, then use left and right to adjust it.
- When in temp mode, hold down on the joystick until the power blinks then use left and right to adjust it.
The menu may need a little bit of getting used to at first, but it is very intuitive and makes good use of the joystick.
Battery and charge rate
They list 2-amp charging on this mod and a 3400 mAh internal 3.7-volt battery. I tested this with a USB in-line charger. The max charge rate I got was 1.93 amps, so their rating holds up. For battery size, I got 3283 mAh. It is slightly overrated, but not by enough for me to ding them or get upset. Most of the internal battery mods I’ve tested are overrated by 300-500 mAh—like the Aegis Mini for example, which tested about 400 mAh under the specs. The Proton Mini is overrated by only 100 mAh, so pretty good there. It charges fully in about 2 hours and 10 mins, but gets to 95% in just under 2 hours. That’s fast considering the battery size. The USB port is on the bottom of the front, right under the joystick.
Power mode performance
The Proton Mini features the latest Proton series chip. The previous edition of this chip (the Aethon) was one of the best in vaping, so let’s see how this holds up.
They list the specs at 120 watts, 7.5 volts and 35 amps. During my testing, the max achieved wattage was 127, so excellent rating at 120 watts, if not a little underrated. The amp limit I got was 31, which is good for an internal battery mod, although it is slightly below the listed spec. The average for internal battery mods is around 25-30 amps.
The volt limit I got with a 0.62-ohm coil was 7.889, which is slightly above their 7.5-volt listed spec. The mod adjusts in 0.5-watt increments under 100 and full-watt increments over that, but you can also hold the joystick to scroll quickly. It works great overall, and I’m happy they used 0.5 over 0.1-watt increments.
During my testing the mod did a great job of not getting hot. All in all, it is a pretty accurate mod. It struggled a little at 0.1 ohms but performed great between that and 0.62 ohms when it starts to hit a little high. Overall, a really good performer and you can see the full test results in the chart above.
Temperature control performance
Using SS316L Wire in SS mode, I tested 4 builds.
- One simple round single coil
- One simple round dual coil
- Two fancy wire single-coil builds
The Proton has the full 120-watt limit available in temperature control. I tried it in TCR mode set at 92, as well as the preset SS316 mode. Sadly, I couldn’t get this mod to perform as it should—it was very inconsistent. I kept getting a weak vape no matter how high I turned it up, and when it hit temp, it would throttle hard and not provide a smooth vape. It also wouldn’t vape consistently. Some hits were much different than others. Not up to the standard of what temp control should be, so I have to fail them here. The Proton Mini is not a good mod for temp control vaping.
Ajax tank rundown
The Ajax tank comes with a 5 mL bubble glass and they include a spare as well. The coils are easy to remove and replace by unscrewing the base and just pulling them out. The drip tip looks good and fits very nice, and I used other 510 tips as well with no issues. The threading is nice and smooth on it and the fill method is the slide top-fill that we see on most tanks these days. Not my favorite because you’ll want to remove the drip tip to fill when using certain bottles, but it works well. It has one large fill hole for juice. The airflow control ring is smooth and easy to adjust and on a stopper.
The Ajax comes with two coil options and both are “Plex3D” coils—which is Innokin’s version of mesh coils. The pre-installed one is a 0.16-ohm Plex-3D Matrix coil rated 50-80 watts and the other included is a 0.35-ohm Plex 3D coil rated 35-55 watts. I started with the 0.16-ohm coil and found it best around 60-65 watts. Flavor wise it was decent. Not bad, but I’ve also had much better, especially in that watt range. I then tried the 0.35-ohm coil. I found it best around 50 watts. I like the lower watt requirements of this coil, but it performed slightly worse than the 0.16-ohm one.
Overall, the Ajax is a well-built tank with mediocre coil performance. Nothing to write home about, but not so bad that it should be avoided.
Pros / Cons
- (+) Great build quality
- (+) Six color options
- (+) Accurately rated for watts
- (+) Accurately rated for volts
- (+) Good power mode performance
- (+) Nice centered 510 pin
- (+) Handles 26 mm atomizers without overhang
- (+) Affordably priced
- (+) High amp limit
- (+) Watt curve mode
- (+) Nicely laid out and easy to use menu system
- (+) Excellent large color screen
- (+) 2-amp charging that is accurately rated
- (+) Included tank is nicely built and designed
- (+) Customizable screen via software
- (+) Excellent paintjob
- (+) Nice firing bar
- (+) Good rating on battery capacity
- (+) Large battery for small internal battery mod
- (-) TC performance is not good
- (-) Ajax tank performance is just decent
- (-) One of the two I used had a sticky firing bar
- (-) Slightly overstated amp limit
Verdict
Overall, Innokin did a good job with this kit. I can’t say a great one because the tank has decent performance and temp control didn’t work well. It also bugged me that one of the two mods I used had a sticky fire bar. But if you don’t use temp control and just want a small and easy to use mod with great battery life, the Proton Mini is a solid option. I wouldn’t bother too much with the kit, but the mod alone is an excellent choice if you are looking for a new internal battery mod to use in wattage mode.
Let me know what you think in the comments and thanks for reading!
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Article Written By: Anthony Victor
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