As far as mouth to lung based products go in the rebuildable side of things, Cthulhu have definitely shown that they indeed very much know what they are doing. So what happens then when a company like this decides to build their own AIO?
Let’s find out as we take a look at at the Cthulhu AIO and the CM Tank!
A Closer Look At The Cthulhu AIO.
The box you receive your AIO in is a nice simple design with a simple title of what is inside the box on top and some basic information on the back. There is also l a little color indication sticker on the top of the box to show you what color you've got inside the box. In this instance I have the Royal Blue version but there are plenty of different colours to choose from.
Inside the box itself, you get an instruction manual complete with various illustrations inside, A sticker for the inside of your Cthulhu AIO, A Nautilus coil adapter, A 510 pin adapter to aid building on top of your standard mods, A spares bag full of O-rings, gaskets, and a little baby blue screwdriver, A USB C cable, an assortment of airflow pins ranging from 0.8mm up to 2mm. And then of course we have the device itself.
Straight away the first thing I thought seeing this AIO was “God do I love this color”. The royal blue color is extremely vibrant in colour and the finish is of a proper high quality. Zero in the way of a single sink or scratch anywhere so high props tops to Cthulhu for this. The power button is nice and clicky. On top there is a stainless steel drip (unfortunately I’m not overly keen on this) with the nut underneath that holds the boro’s and bridges in the device itself. You can pretty much tighten the nut up with a fingernail on this one because the ridges on it are large enough to allow this. Turning the device onto its side here we have the USB C charging port there, On the other side we have nothing and on the bottom also nothing. On the panels there are little grooves on the underside of each of them that will help you to get the actual panels off of the device.
On the inside front side of the AIO, Down the bottom there is two nice clicky little adjustment buttons here and your little screen down here which is genuinely a nice a visible little screen even in brighter conditions. This is also where you will pop your 18650 battery that also includes a battery ribbon which in my opinion is the simplest yet most appreciated part of any battery compartment.
When you’re ready to turn the Cthulhu AIO on its 5 clicks. The time for the screen being on to look at everything details wise is a little short but no big deal. On the screens display up top you have your resistance, In the center is Voltage, At the bottom the amps that your battery is using and a battery life bar, and just above this you have an indicator of what power mode you are using and the wattage or actual power you’ve chosen. Inside the power button you do have a little LED in the button here, but if you press the up and power button at the same time, you can turn the the LED off if you prefer to use it this way. Pressing the down and power button at the same time will turn the screen off so it basically puts it into stealth mode. 3 clicks will give you the ability to change the mode that you are using. Regarding the modes you've have power, you've got your voltage, you've got bypass, then you've got your temperature control functions. The materials you've got in this model are nickel, stainless steel, titanium and you've got a TCR mode there as well. I usually keep my devices on Power mode for wattage so I will use this the same way as not to break habit.
That is it. There really isn't anything else to show you on the board itself. It's actually quite nice and simple with the added bonus of having the temperature control functions on there for the ones that want to use it.
On the other side of the device you can see, There is a nice little logo or branding on the panel which acts as the airflow outlet and of course this will be the side your Boro’s and Bridges will go.
A Closer Look At The CM Tank.
Now we are on the correct side to do so we will now take a look at the CM Tank which is included with this device as part of the kit. Taking the CM Tank out and taking a direct look at it you will see you an adjustable airflow wheel on the bottom of the boro and CM tank itself. The airflow wheel sits on the bottom of the bridge perfectly well enough with zero o-rings needed and will be held there when inserted back into your device to change the airflow as you please.
With this bridge being slightly smaller than the 520 plus, I can imagine that your capacity is slightly improved which can only ever be a plus. Removing the rubber plug at the front reveals a nice sized filling port there for you. You'll have no problems with shortfills or your 10ml smaller bottles at all.
To get this bridge out of here, all you have to do is pop this bottom off of the boro itself and it'll all come out together. There is no branding around the entire of the outside of the chimney section which is actually quite a nice sight and has a slightly “high end” look to it due to this.
At the top of the chimney section there, it's a slightly smaller diameter than the 520 plus so you'll get a slightly more restrictive hit from this. This is kind of what this CM tank is aiming more towards anyway more towards a restricted direct lung or mouth to lung vaping experience.
On the bottom of the bridge there’s a nice threaded section that screws into your 510 adapter to go on top of your device for building and at the VERY bottom here, is a part that just pulls out which is held in by a little o-ring. Once this is removed that is where you drop your airflow pin into directly under the deck. On the included airflow pins you have a section just at the end that is threaded you screw into that removed part of the bridge to them simply push back in the change your pins, So nice and simple. Looking at the deck itself it's not a very large build deck but it doesn't need to be due to what this bridge is aiming to achieve in terms of vaping experience.
The deck is just about wide enough for you to fit a 2.5mm coil in. Where you want the coil to be sat is just in line with the top of the build deck there for the best experience. Your coils are held in with two Philips head screws which leaves two spaces on either side of the deck So your coil legs can go on either side. You won't be able to fit any majorly exotic coils in, So your best bet is to properly stick with some mouth to lung based coils. Your two wicking slots on either side are rather generously sized, So you can pack a fair amount of cotton into these if and when required.
The way I've been wicking this is by not overly fluffing out all of the cotton where it’s sitting and just very lightly fluffed out the end. Quick tickle on the sides and drop it straight in and there you go. Easy to build and easy to wick up, With the bonus of being able to use stock coils if you are wanting to with the Nautilus coil adapter. Pros all round!
To Summarise the Cthulhu AIO and CM Tank.
I must say the time I have spent with this Cthulhu AIO has been a flawless experience to say the least. A wonderfully simple to operate board with all the information on there you need. Not to mention that this chip is both accurate AND fires up fast. Being made of aluminium it also has a nice quality feel to it as well for something that is actually meant for the more budget friendly hunters of AIO devices. And the fact you get everything to get you started included in the kit is a huge bonus too! Plus… It’s absolutely TINY!!
The CM Tank itself is a breeze to use and my experience with it was a simply enjoyable one. It isn’t game changing, but the flavour on it is good… Just not QUITE as good as Cthulhus own 520 plus bridge, But only very narrowly misses the mark on being the exact same performance wise but changed to being aimed more towards a RDL or MTL experience than the 520. But this it does very well indeed.
The kit as a whole I really cannot fault as being a complete thing to get you started from the off, and the quality of everything included in the box is second to none. I highly recommend this to those seeking a smaller pocket friendly AIO that performs well AND stays within a decent budget. Small AND mighty! You have nothing to lose, But a lot to gain!
