Eleaf is not the first company that comes to mind when I think of stylish, different looking mods. But as soon as I took the Tessera out of the box, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it a lot smaller than I imagined, but it’s also far better looking.

The Tessera is extremely hand and pocket-friendly with its rectangular shape and curved edges, and only measures in at 42mm x 30.5mm x 82.7mm.

The version we have is ‘Dazzling’ according to Eleaf; I prefer to say rainbow in color. However, it does still come in the more traditional colors of black, green, red and silver.

One thing to note, and it may just be on the rainbow color version, is it has incredibly smooth panels on either side which are really slippery in the hand. One of which acts as a firebar…more on this later.

On the rear of the device is a nice plastic raised polygon pattern, which provides extra texture to help with the grip. There’s the same effect on the front with the larger polygon shape overlaying the 1.45inch TFT color display.

And what a display it is…

I can’t remember any previous Eleaf devices that came with color screens (although there are a couple of Joyetech ones), and for a first attempt, it’s excellent. It’s colorful and bright enough to see in daylight, and the layout and fonts have been well thought out to make it super easy to use. The display shows the mode, battery life, wattage, temperature, amps, resistance, time and date – all in a clean, organized fashion. You even have the option to make the time the main centerpiece, if you like that kind of thing.

Eleaf has also given you the option to customize the colored accents on the display, but I think the standard green one is the best. All in all the screen, menu and layouts are very nicely done – Good job Eleaf.

The Tessera has a centered 510 connection on the top which is capable of fitting 25 mm atomizers with no overhang. The threading on the 510 connection is smooth, and there’s a spring-loaded, gold plated 510 pin. I’ve had no issues with the Tessera reading any atomizers I’ve placed on top.

On the bottom of the mod, there’s no battery panel or door as the Tessera comes with a sealed 3400 mAh internal battery. Which can be charged via USB with 2amp charging – and it is lightning fast. Also on the bottom of the device, there’s a recessed reset button, which can be pressed using a paperclip in case you need to reset it.

No more random button combinations to navigate the menus!

Eleaf has not only changed up the display and menu system from previous devices but has also included a mode/function button for easier navigation. The triangular shaped up, down and mode button are all neatly positioned in the bottom right-hand corner on the front of the device. Each is perfectly clicky with a small throw and very little rattle.

The Tessera seems to be showcasing a lot of firsts for Eleaf in a mod, the final one being the inclusion of a firebar instead of the traditional button. The firebar is on the left-hand side (if the screen is facing you) and it is integrated seamlessly. In fact, if you just look at the device, you can’t even tell it’s a firebar. It can be activated by pressing almost anywhere along the bar, even the bottom seems to work, and it’s got the perfect amount of clickiness. This makes it super easy to fire in either hand with just a squeeze.

Eleaf has done an excellent job not only with the design of the Tessera, keeping it modern & clean looking but also with the new menu and navigation.

Eleaf has always put practicality for their users first, but this time they seem to have brought a little style to their game.

The Tessera comes with Eleaf’s proprietary chipset which is capable of firing up to 150 watts.

It has a full temperature control suite including SS, Ni, Ti, and TCR with three memory slots. All with the usual temperature range of 200 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.

It can fire down as low as .05 ohms in TC mode and .1 ohms in power mode.

Eleaf’s new menu system is pretty intuitive, and you should be able to navigate around in no time.

• 5 clicks of the fire button to turn the mod on and off.
• 3 clicks of the fire button to enter the main menu screen.

Once in the main menu screen, you have four circle icons that represent the different sub-menus.

• To navigate these sub-menus use the up and down buttons, and the function button to select them.
• Inside each sub-menu, use the up and down buttons to make your adjustments and the function button to confirm them.

On the main screen:

• Quickly press the function button once, will switch the screen off for stealth mode.
• Holding down the function button will scroll through the different modes & materials.
• Holding down the plus and minus button will lock the keys. (The device will still fire while the keys are locked).

One thing that did catch me out was adjusting the power when in temp control, this is not down from the main screen. Instead, you need to go to the ‘set’ sub-menu, select ‘power’ and adjust the wattage there.

There are a lot more adjustments and tweaks you can do in the main settings menu, but this should get you started. It’s a refreshing menu system and easy device to use.

We’ve actually covered the ELLO tank before in our review of the iStick Pico 21700; it’s a decent sub tank that Eleaf like to include with their high wattage devices.

It features an easy slide top fill system, and comes with two glass chambers; one short 2ml (TPD compliant) and a 4ml which can be used with the included chamber extension.

It uses the Eleaf’s HW series coils which consists of a good range and all perform well on both the flavor and cloud front.

There is a little bit of extra styling to the ELLO TS tank over the standard one, with the same triangular accents to make it pair perfectly with the Tessera.

It’s a well-machined tank, with smooth threading and an easy to turn airflow control ring. The airflow is nice and smooth, and on the whole, it’s a solid sub-tank that’s good to come as part of the kit.

Tessera MOD Features and Specs:

• Size: 42 x 30.5 x 82.7mm
• Battery: 3400mAh
• Display: 1.45-inch color screen
• Output wattage: 1-150W
• Output voltage: 0.5-8V
• Output mode: VW/RTC/TC(Ni/Ti/SS/TCR)
• Resistance range: 0.05-1.0ohm (TC modes)/0.1-3.0ohm (VW/RTC mode)
• Maximum charging current: 2A
• Thread: 510

Ello TS Atomizer Features and Specs:

• Size: 25 x 46mm/ 25 x 54mm
• Capacity: 2ml/ 4ml
• Thread: spring-loaded 510 pin

So the Eleaf Tessera has scored well on the design and feature front, can the same be said about the performance?

Well in power mode – yes.

It seems to fire pretty quickly and is very accurate on the power, quite probably capable of hitting the 150 watts. Eleaf does like to keep it simple, so there are no power curves, but there are pre-heat settings where you can set the duration of the initial power, and it works well. So in wattage mode, it’s a thumbs up.

Temperature Control, on the other hand, is another story.

Firstly I slapped a beefy SS fused Clapton in my Dead Rabbit set it to TC mode went to fire it and it popped straight-backed to power mode…..what? I tried again, and low and behold the same thing. So I decided to change the coil and try a standard Clapton, and finally, it stayed in TC mode. However, after about 20 minutes of use (and I must say the coil was getting quite hot), it jumped out again.

Even while it did stay in TC mode, it was the same regular performance I’ve come to expect from Eleaf with temperature control, which is the not the smoothest experience.

The Tessera is firmware upgradeable, so who knows maybe there will be a firmware update that will iron out some of the kinks, and maybe the regular jumping out of TC was just with my device.

But if you’re a temp control fan, then this mod is not for you. For everybody else, however, it is a very impressive little kit, and probably the best all-around package that Eleaf has released.

Remeber the Tessera has an internal 3400 mAh battery, so it’s not going to last as long as a dual 18650 device.

I did find the battery depleted pretty quickly when I was using low ohm coils, but that was to be expected I guess.

On the plus side, the 2 amp charging is really fast. And for vapers that don’t want to mess with separate batteries, but want a small, good looking and decent performing device then the battery life is acceptable (as long as you not a power hungry vaper).

I genuinely enjoyed my time using the Eleaf Tessera. I think they’ve done an exceptional job on the design and build quality front; I really like the new menu navigation and firebar, and it’s an extremely comfortable device to use.

The ELLO TS is a decent sub-ohm tank and pairs perfectly with the device, and I think most would be happy to have it as part of the kit.

I actually don’t have much bad to say about it, except one vital thing for me – it’s not very good at temp control. And that’s a real shame, if Eleaf just got their act together with TC we could’ve have been looking at the complete package.

Nonetheless, if your a vaper that only vapes in power mode, and wants a small, light and comfortable device with an internal battery – the Tessera is an excellent choice.