When is a squonker not a squonker? When it utilizes a smart siphon system.

There’s no getting away from the fact that Asmodus’ innovative choice to use a juice pump instead of a standard squonk bottle is going to be polarising. But even though it does have some minor flaws, it is extremely well executed.

As for the rest of the design on the Spruzza 80W, it’s exactly what you’d expect. This includes high-quality stabilized wood door panels, a solid centered 510 on a comfortable chassis and an improved feature-rich touchscreen.

There’s something about the look and style of Asmodus products that are fairly unique, which I really like.

The stab wood door panels and branded concave fire button give it a particular premium look and are also incredibly satisfying to use.

The one glaring eyesore on an otherwise excellent looking device is the lever for the siphon system. Even though it’s surrounded by a curved indent on the door panel which softens the appearance, the gaps either side of it slightly ruin the overall look. But I guess this can’t be avoided, and in some respects, it’s more subtle than a huge hole for a squonk bottle.

As for the internal layout of the device, I like the fact they have kept the squonk box and battery in separate compartments.

However, I find it a slightly odd decision to have the micro USB charging port hidden behind the door panel on the same side as the squonk box. It would’ve made more sense to have it on the same side as the battery and would prevent any stray juice from reaching the port and shorting the board.

Also, you can only see your remaining juice level by removing the door panel.

The build quality of the Spruzza is second to none. The stabilized wood door panels are smooth with excellent magnets on the back that allow it to connect strongly to the device; there’s no wiggle or play.

The panels do protrude a little from the mod, but you will not accidentally knock them off.

The body of the Spruzza is black coated stainless steel and has some curved accents to make it slightly less boxy, and the coating has withstood some extreme knocks without even a hint of a scratch.

The fire button, 510 connection, and screen are also all exceptional in their build quality.

The Spruzza is only a single 18650 device but does sit a little larger than it’s competition and is more akin to that of a 20700 or 21700 device.

Nevertheless, I wouldn’t describe it as a cumbersome mod as it measures in at 83mm x 55mm x 28mm, and only weighs 158g.

It’s great to see some genuine innovation from Asmodus with the Spruzza. They’ve not been afraid to take a serious risk of trying something new with a squonk mod, and for the most part, it is an excellent system.

We may have seen the refillable box before on something like the Billet Box, but having a smart siphon or pump system to bottom-feed the juice is unquestionably something new.

The Spruzza mod is a feature-rich device, with a very good board.

It’s capable of firing up to 80 watts in power mode and 60 watts in TC mode and has a maximum continuous output of 35 amps.

The Spruzza uses the proprietary Asmodus GX-80-HUT chipset, which is essentially a revised version of the Minikin V2 board and is the same one used in the Colossal mod. It is also firmware upgradeable.

There’s a full temperature control suite on this board, capable of doing TC in Ni, TI, and SS. There are also features for TCR, TFR, and Curve modes.

In wattage mode, the Spruzza has three preheat settings of soft, normal, and hard.

To access the menu system or make adjustments on the device you first have to swipe down to unlock, just like on the Minikin V2. Then it’s just a case of swiping or tapping to access different parts of the menu.

To navigate the menu when unlocked:

• Swipe left to right to scroll through the different modes.
• Swipe bottom to top to scroll through the different preheats.
• Press and hold on the part of the screen or setting that you want to adjust. Then when in the sub-menu, use the on-screen plus and minus buttons to make your adjustments.

It’s a very intuitive and easy to use menu system, and I actually found the responsiveness of the touchscreen to be better than on the Minikin V2.

Asmodus make some of the best touchscreens on the market, backed up by a super easy menu system. It doesn’t take much to learn, and with 10-15 minutes you’ll be able to navigate it like a pro.

The smart siphon system consists of a removable hard plastic box with a plexiglass window and stainless steel pump.

The pump goes up through the tank and attaches to a spring with a lever and an adjacent nozzle. The nozzle then connects to a white plastic tube which hangs down from the 510 connection of the device.

Tha tank is supposed to have a 6ml capacity, but I’ve been reluctant to squeeze more than 5ml of juice in due to the nature of how you refill it.

Asmodus advise that you should remove the tank from the device in order to refill. But I think it’s easier and less messy to do it with the squonk box still connected to the device.

Just place the device horizontal with the plexiglass facing you, then simply slide the plexiglass towards the lever.

At the first attempt it might be a little stiff, but once there’s a little juice inside it’s really easy to slide. With the plexiglass window open, simply squirt your juice into the tank. You can use any type of bottle to fill the box, which is good.

Once filled, slide your glass back into place, and you’re ready to start pumping.

If you do want to remove the tank from the device, you need to maneuver it at a slight angle. The same applies when reconnecting it. It still a surprisingly simple affair, and far less messy in my opinion than using super soft squonk bottles.

The tank and pump fit into the device nice and tight, it’s been well thought out and performs great. Except there is one minor flaw when it comes to using it.

Anytime you are refilling the juice box from empty; you need to pump it approximately ten times to get the juice to go into the pump.

Asmodus even include a little card to advise you of this on first use.

Then it’s a case of figuring out how many pumps are required to feed the appropriate amount of juice into your RDA. I found that 2 pumps are enough for a small RDA like the Wasp Nano, but an RDA with a larger juice well like ONI One included or a Dead Rabbit, require a few more.

This is something that you need to get right because the big issue with this system compared to traditional squonking is there’s no suction of excess juice back into the pump or tank. So once you’ve pumped/squonked, that juice will remain in the RDA, and potentially flood out if you overdo it.

That being said, I thought it was going to be a bigger issue than it actually turned out to be. In practical use, once you get accustomed to how many times to pump to saturate your wick in your RDA, it’s just case of pumping the same amount each time. In some respects, it’s more consistent than squonking.

However, it would’ve been great if it could draw the excess juice back in, but naturally, that would’ve required an entirely different design.

The smart siphon system also isn’t as straightforward to clean as a traditional squonk bottle.

Firstly there’s no way to take the pump apart, although it can be removed from the box.

The simplest way is to give it a good rinse and then pump some water through it to clean out the old juice, and just leave it to dry.

Longevity is not something we normally take into consideration with squonk bottles or squonk systems. But as this is using a mechanical process to bottom feed the juice, there is a chance the dedicated pump mechanism might fail.

As for how long the system will last, I’m fairly confident it will hold up well, as I’ve had no issues whatsoever. Still, it is a factor to consider when comparing to a traditional squonker.

Asmodus have also made replacement pump systems and boxes readily available and in a variety of colors.

The new RDA that comes as part of the kit with the Spruzza is the ONI-One RDA.

It is a 24mm single coil RDA with a smooth black finish that pairs nicely with the Spruzza.

The top cap of the RDA is one piece, and on the inside chamber has little ridges which are supposed to act as a hit shield and help prevent spit back. It also comes with a wide bore drip tip.

Asmodus also includes 2 x 0.37 Ohm Fused Clapton Ni80 coils, which is great for a single coil, single battery kit.

Previously the Spruzza only came included with the dual coil Fonte RDA, but I feel the ONI one is much better suited to a single 18650 device.

The ONI-One build deck has two posts with for post holes so that you can wrap your coils either way, and there is plenty of room for some large coils.

The coil legs are then secured by tightening Allen screws from the top of the deck. It’s an incredibly easy deck to build on, and it even has two little notches to guide you when placing your coil.

It also has quite a substantial juice well, with a juice splitter in the center to help evenly disperse the juice when you squonk.

The ONI-One RDA has bottom airflow holes which are in both the posts; they are angled upwards so that the air can travel up underneath the coil. It also helps minimize any leaking from over squonking.

It has extremely smooth airflow and is capable of producing some nice dense clouds for a single coil RDA. However, the airflow can get a little noisy if you shut the air holes off a little.

To adjust the airflow, it’s just a simple turn of the top cap.

For an RDA that comes included as part of a kit, the flavor the ONI-One produces is very good.

It’s not quite on par with some of the top single coil RDA’s available, but I was pleasantly surprised with just how well it performed.

I don’t think anybody will be disappointed getting the ONI-One included.

The Spruzza genuinely does impress when it comes to overall performance.

The easy to use touchscreen and improved chipset seem to make a difference, and it’s certainly not lacking in features.

As for the pump system, it’s very good. Actually far better than I perceived it might be before using the device.

You quickly get used to it, and although it doesn’t draw back excess liquid, the usability of the device is not it affected. It’s also really easy to refill on the go.

My only reservation is the longevity of a mechanical pump system.

All the preheat heat settings seem to make a difference when applied, which is not always the case on some mods.

Using the curve mods is a little fiddly on the touchscreen, but again it’s a welcome feature.

As for the power output, it seems to be spot on, which is something Asmodus mods have always been good at. A really dependable performing device in wattage mode.

The new GX-80-HUT chipset seems to have brought some improvements to TC mode; it feels a lot smoother than on previous Asmodus devices.

It’s still not up there competing with the likes of DNA boards, but I would say overall the performance is good.

The one issue I did have in TC mode was it reading the resistance of the coil in my Wasp Nano. To set the resistance in TC mode, you have to navigate to ‘ohms’ in the submenu and select it to read the resistance. Not so much of an issue, by for some reason I found myself having to re-read the resistance to get my Wasp Nano to fire.

Now that might have just been an issue with the 510 connection with the RDA because that’s the only RDA I had the issue with, the ONI-One was absolutely fine. However, it is worth mentioning.

The ONI-One is a more than adequate RDA. It produces good flavor and nice dense clouds.

The biggest pro is that it will be easy for novices to use, as it has a really simple to use build deck.

The Ni80 coils that come with the RDA are another big plus, and at 0.37 ohm don’t require much power and heat up instantly giving a great vape experience.

The battery life was not really any better or worse than other single 18650 devices I’ve used. So it’s truly going to come down to the builds that you put in your RDA.

That’s why I think the ONI-One is a far better RDA to have included in the kit over the Fonte. It’s only single coil, and with the right coils (like the Ni80 ones included) you’ll get far better battery life, than if you are vaping at a constant 60 watts.

As an avid squonker, I honestly thought I was going to dislike the Spruzza…..I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The pump system works far better than you’d expect and quickly becomes second nature. The touchscreen is easier to use than any other I’ve tried and responds well to swipes and clicks.

The board has all the features you need and works well in both wattage and TC modes. The stabilized wood door panels look great and give the device an elegant look and feel.

Even the ONI-One RDA is a really decent single coil RDA for simplicity to build on and the flavor it produces.

Yet, I still find myself struggling to recommend the Spruzza kit over some other regulated squonk mods due to its price. If budget isn’t a concern for you, then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed giving the Spruzza a pump.

While the smart siphon system is innovative, and I applaud Asmodus for that, I can’t see it revolutionizing squonking. However, this is in theory, just version one….so I guess we’ll see what else they have in store.