Our Sai Buyers guide will equip you with everything you need to know about the Saionara vaporizer and all of the potentially overwhelming options, the best Sai coils, mods, batteries - and of course how to use it. We’ll go over each and every option below!
Table of contents
Who is the Sai for?
The Saionara is perfect for anyone looking to vape load-as-you-go concentrates away from home, without carrying around a full sized dab rig. Whether you’re looking for that big dab rig hit, or a slow and smooth pull, the Saionara vaporizer can deliver it anywhere, anytime.
This Buyer’s Guide will give you a head start to using and customizing your Sai. If you feel a little lost, take a couple minutes to read our Saionara Review to the basics down first.
What is the Sai?
The Saionara, or Sai for short, is a modular oil vaporizer made for portable dabs! It’s the closest you can get to an actual dab rig that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s fully customizable, so you can choose from more than a dozen different coils for your favorite hit, and personalize your Sai with different colors and battery options.
Why the Sai?
For about the same price of a standard vape wax pen, which may be built with questionable materials and battery, the Saionara brings top shelf performance to the masses. The Saionara uses only high-quality, pure materials (we sent the coils to the lab and tested them!), without glues or solder, ensuring your extracts taste better, and your vape lasts longer.
Customize your dab
By changing your coil and power level, you're in complete control, whether you like to chase clouds, savor the flavors, or dial in your perfect balance.
Flexible power options
The Sai can be purchased with the EzSai battery, or attached to any standard box mod. The EzSai combo includes a matching stainless steel battery, four easy-to-use modes, and two of the most popular coils.
More coils for more styles
The Saionara is a modular device with dozens of coil options and upgrades. Each coil offers a slightly different experience or advantage. Water bubbler options and the Top-Airflow cap are also available to enhance and improve the vapor.
Saionara Buyer's Guide: Glossary
Dab - This term is slang for a single dose of concentrate, usually vaporized on a hot “nail” made of titanium or quartz, and hit through a bubbler to soften the blow. Dabs can be any size, but are usually meant to be used up all at once.
Dab Rig - The tools used to take a dab. Basic rigs include a glass bubbler, a nail (this is the coil on the Sai), a ‘carb cap’ to cover the nail, and a torch to heat it up. E-nails use electricity to heat up instead of a torch. The Sai uses a battery for the power source, the coil for a nail, and a mouthpiece instead of a glass bubbler.
Wattage Mode - often referred to as Power Mode. In Wattage Mode you pulse the power button to manually fluctuate the power and dance around your ideal dab temperature. Select the desired wattage on your box mod, press the power button, and that exact wattage is delivered to the coil for as long as you hold the button. If you don’t hold the power button in long enough you’ll get weak vapor; hold it in too long and it can burn your concentrate.
Temperature Control (TC) - in Temperature Control mode, you select the coil material, the power level and temperature, and the box mod automatically turns the power on and off to keep a consistent temperature. You can long-press the power button and not worry about burning your concentrate!
Atomizer - Semantics can be complicated. To keep things simple we’re referring to the entire Saionara, minus the battery, as the atomizer. The atomizer consists of three major parts. The base, the coil itself as the heater, and the dome/top-cap.
Coil - the heart of the atomizer. The coil is a replaceable heater that threads into the atomizer base. This is where you load your extracts.
Battery / Box Mod - a small battery used to power the Saionara atomizer. Atomizers screw onto the box mod, which has a screen, buttons, and built-in software to tweak and refine the power settings of your atomizer.
Which Sai is right for you?
Already have a box mod?
You’re halfway there! As long as your box mod has adjustable wattage (7-28 watts) and is sub-ohm capable (check the manual) with a minimum 75 watt rating, it will work with the Saionara. To get the most out of the Sai, use a mod that has Temperature Control mode.
The Sai atomizer is available in three different stainless steel colors (stainless steel, black, or gold) to match your mod or personality, and one titanium version that’s about half the weight of the stainless steel!
Keeping it simple - EzSai
If geeking out on different coils, box mods and power levels isn’t your thing, the EzSai takes the guesswork out of it for you. It comes bundled with two popular, but different, coils and a matching battery with four settings already programmed for you.
Value shopper
Want to get started with the cheapest possible combo? Pair the standard Sai atomizer in your favorite color with the Pico 75w in black or silver. This kind of performance and flexibility for CAD$100 is off the charts!
New dabber
The Sai is great for beginners as well as seasoned vaporists. If box mods are confusing and you just want to hit the ground running, pick up the EzSai. The installed titanium coil pairs perfectly with the EzSai temperature control modes for clean taste, and the kanthal coil is great for bigger hits. No fidgeting, just dabbing.
Microdoser
Get the most out of your material by using smaller amounts. Most of the coils work fine with small amounts, but the single-coil varieties are the easiest to load and produce a little more clouds with the smaller dabs. Pick up the Pico 100 and a Sai TAF with both the Miracle Barrel A and Stainless Steel Single Quartz coils.
Flavor chaser
Looking for intense flavor? Enjoy your premium sauces and budders with the ceramic donut coil. Gently preheat the donut coil before loading and your dab will gently melt on top of it like a sweet, gooey frosting. Pick up the Pico 100 and a ceramic donut coil!
Stealth dabber
Blend in with the e-cig vapers while sneaking away for your dab. The Saionara already looks the part on top of a mod. Pair the Sai with the Wismec Rx Mini for the smallest and tightest form factor and a ceramic donut for tasty hits.
The Weekender
Friends coming over to chill? The EzSai Poseidon Bundle comes with the Poseidon bubbler and a baseplate that helps the whole rig stand up. The EzSai set up is noob friendly for a quick and easy ride to the moon.
All-day dabber
Staying medicated with the Saionara won’t be a problem. Stick to a mod with more batteries so you’re not left stranded. The Wismec RX GEN3 packs three 18650 batteries for nonstop globbing. The Top Airflow Cap and titanium bucket coil offer the fastest reloading and lowest downtime between dabs.
Megadosing & cloud chaser
Looking to pull the biggest clouds and rip the biggest dabs possible? The Sai normally works best with rice-grain sized dabs, but the larger kanthal coil handles globs and larger dabs better than the others. Paired with the Wismec RX GEN3 and straight bubbler to cool the vapor, you’ll blow clouds for days.
Dab in style
Toss the torch and stick to the Sai! The beautiful Snowwolf paired with the Poseidon bubbler provides smooth, bubbly dabs with a sturdy base and plenty of power. Or add the Reverse Banger if you have an extensive glass collection.
Top airflow (TAF)
The Top Airflow Saionara has an air intake above the coil in addition to the standard bottom air intake. This additional intake can be used with any coil, but is required for the titanium and quartz bucket coils.
Getting started with the Sai
Joining Team Sai is easy. You’re either going with a box mod or the EzSai.
The EzSai Kit keeps things simple. Everything you need is in the box and you don’t need to do any math before using it. The battery and the atomizer come in black, or perfectly matched stainless steel. It’s a sleek and easy to use device that comes with a couple great coils. The EzSai battery can power every Sai coil except the ceramic donuts and bucket coils, but it works best with the included kanthal and titanium coils. Plus, if you decide to upgrade to a box mod you’ll already have the atomizer and coils.
Sai + Box Mod gives you full freedom and flexibility
Upgrading your Sai to box mod power unlocks the full potential of the atomizer. The recommended box mods offer more control of your power settings and give you the ability to fine tune your dab experience with every coil option available.
While the EzSai battery can only operate in temp control accurately with titanium coils, box mods also have temperature control modes for nickel and stainless steel coils.
Better for bubblers
In addition to having the keys to the castle in terms of temperature control, box mods are also more stable with a bubbler attached.
Glass Bubbler options for the Saionara
There are a few great water pipe options to use with the Sai. Adding a bubbler will cool the vapor and add a little bit of moisture to it, making it more comfortable on your throat and lungs.
The Poseidon Bubbler
The Poseidon Bubbler turns your Sai setup into a little micro-sized dab rig. The Poseidon replaces the top-cap of the Saionara atomizer and leaves the coil open and exposed for quick and easy reloading. The included dabber magnetically attaches to the carb cap.
The Poseidon’s removable mouthpiece makes cleaning, filling, and traveling very easy.
The Straight Glass Bubbler/Hydrotube
The Straight Glass Bubbler mounts directly onto the Sai mouthpiece and stands taller than the Poseidon. This glass bubbler has a bigger and wider mouthpiece similar to old school beaker water pipes. Since this bubbler mounts directly onto the top cap, both the water pipe and the top cap need to be removed to reload.
The Reverse Banger
The Reverse Banger attaches to a 14mm male glass rig and allows you to use your Sai with traditional glass pipes without risky inversions.
Saionara coil guide
Navigating all the coil options can be tricky, with so many variations and materials. Traditional coils are a metal wire wrapped around a small rod. The rod materials and the metal wires vary, as does the number of rods, which all create subtle differences in the vapor.
Saionara coils are available with different metals, rod materials and configurations that produce subtle differences in taste, clouds and battery life. We recommend trying each one so you can experience the difference for yourself.
Black Ceramic vs Quartz
The two materials used for rods are black ceramic and quartz. Black ceramic is porous with more surface area while quartz is smooth and non-porous. Black ceramic coils will wick and vaporize more oil than quartz, for a denser vapor that you’ll feel in the chest and lungs. Quartz coils have marginally less vapor, but with a more pronounced flavor. A black ceramic hit starts out terpy and finishes cloudy, while a quartz hit stays more consistent from start to finish.
2mm vs 4mm
Some of the coils are available in two different sizes of quartz and black ceramic rods. The larger 4mm coils will hold and vaporize more oil, but require a slightly higher power setting and a little bit longer heat-up time.
Titanium vs Stainless Steel vs Kanthal
Kanthal coils heat up quickly and produce big clouds with big flavor, but are not compatible with temperature control modes, so you’ll need to pulse the button yourself to control the temperature.
Stainless Steel and Titanium coils are both intended for use in temperature control mode. Titanium heats up and cools down slightly faster than stainless steel, which makes vapor production respond more quickly to the fire button.
Stainless steel heats up slightly slower while retaining the heat more, and is less responsive to the power button. Sai Clapton coils are made of stainless steel and work in stainless steel temperature control modes.
Titanium/Quartz Bucket vs Ceramic Donut
The Ceramic Donut coil and the Ti/Quartz bucket coils look and function differently than the rest of the coils. The buckets are extremely quick and easy to clean and load because they’re simply a cup shape, however it takes about ten seconds to really heat up. The ceramic donut is more tedious to load and maintain, but it heats up quicker. You might prefer the ceramic donut coil for its favorable balance between flavor and clouds, but it’s harder to clean.
Bucket coils are more aggressive, producing big clouds with great flavor. They heat up slightly slower than traditional coils and work best with a five to ten second pre-heat. The Titanium and Quartz cups are only compatible with Top Airflow setups.
The bucket atomizers are very easy to load - just wipe your dab in the cup, while the ceramic atomizers are slightly more involved.
How long do Sai coils last?
With moderate use you can expect your Saionara coils to last six months to two years. Heavy users can expect half that.
Know your coils
Kanthal coils
Look to kanthal coils for big cloudy hits without a lot of sacrifice on flavor. Kanthal coils only work in wattage/power mode so you’ll need to pulse the button and adjust your wattage to dial in the perfect dab.
The Quartz rod versions of the kanthal coils are brighter and purer in flavor than
the ceramic rod versions. The ceramic rod kanthal produces more vapor and a hit you can feel in your chest.
Both quartz and black ceramic versions of the kanthal coil are available in 2mm and 4mm. The 4mm coil will hold and vaporize more oil, but heats up slightly slower and requires more power.
Stainless steel coils
Stainless steel coils provide a consistent and even vapor without the titanium taste. The stainless steel coils may take a few extra seconds to start producing vapor, but they can be used in temperature control mode so you don’t need to worry about pulsing the button.
Like the kanthal coils, the quartz rod versions produce brighter flavor and more of a mouth/throat hit while the ceramic rod will produce bigger clouds and a bit more of a chest Hit.
The 4mm versions will blow some bigger clouds, but take longer to heat up than the 2mm.
Titanium coils
Titanium heats up very quickly and produces vapor within seconds of hitting the button. Temperature control maintains your perfect dab temp and prevents the titanium and your precious oil from overheating.
These coils are available in both quartz rod and black ceramic rod varieties. You’ll get brighter flavor with the quartz coils and bigger hits from the black ceramic.
Dual vs Triple - The triple coils require a bit more power to heat up and will produce more vapor than the double coils. The triple coil is harder to load with gooier extracts.
Titanium/Quartz Bucket
The bucket coils produce big, bold, dab-like hits and are the easiest to load and maintain.
They need a five to ten second pre-heat to really get going. Inhale slowly or your material will splash all over the inside of the atomizer. You can reload and dab five to ten times before it needs a q-tip cleanup.
These coils require the Top Airflow cap, and if you plan to dab multiple times in a row, we highly recommend the heatsink so your mod and atomizer don’t overheat.
Ceramic Coils Barrel A & B
The ceramic donut coil is the fastest and tastiest of the ceramic coils, but also the hardest to load.
The Ceramic Barrel A and B coils are used with runnier concentrates and smaller doses. They’re effective and efficient with distillates and honey oils, but they don’t work very well with the more solid varieties.
Barrel A can be used with wax or oil and produces small, but very smooth, hits. Barrel B works best with runnier extracts.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the differences, use this handy chart as a cheat sheet to select and reference the different Sai coils.
Saionara Coil Chart
| TC (Temperature Control) | Power | Options | |
| Kanthal Black Ceramic 4mm | Wattage Mode Only | 14-28w; Best: 26w | Biggest clouds, less taste, quick heat up |
|
Kanthal Black Ceramic 2mm |
Wattage Mode Only | 15-25w; Best: 23w | Big clouds, less taste,Quicker heat up |
|
Kanthal Quartz 4mm |
Wattage Mode Only | 14-28w, Best: 26w | Big clouds, more taste, quick heat up |
|
Kanthal Quartz 2mm |
Wattage Mode Only | 20-25w; Best: 23w | Big clouds, more taste, quicker heat up |
|
Stainless Steel Black Ceramic 4mm |
SS: 360-400F | 20-25w; Best: 20w | Good clouds, good flavor, slightly slow heat up |
|
Stainless Steel Black Ceramic 2mm |
SS: 350-400F | 17-25w; Best: 20w | Good clouds, good flavor |
|
Stainless Steel Quartz 4mm |
SS: 360-400F | 20-25w; Best: 20w | Good clouds, great flavor, slightly slower heat up |
|
Stainless Steel Quartz 2mm |
SS: 350-400F | 17-25w; Best: 20w | Good clouds, great flavor |
|
Titanium Quartz x3 |
Ti: 420-460 | 20-27w; Best: 23 | Good clouds, great taste, fast, consistent Slightly more vapor and slower than x2 |
|
Titanium Quartz x2 |
Ti: 340-400 | 15-25w; Best: 22 |
Good clouds, great taste, fast, consistent Slightly faster heat up than X3 version |
|
Titanium Black Ceramic x3 |
Ti: 420-460 | 20-27w; Best: 23 | Big clouds, good taste, fast, consistent |
| Ceramic Donut | Ni: 300-380 | 15-25w; Best 18w | Good clouds, great taste |
| Ceramic Miracle Coil A | Wattage Mode Only | 11-12w; Best 12w | Made for thinner oils |
| Ceramic Miracle Coil B | Wattage Mode Only | 11-12w; Best 12w | Made for thinner oils |
| Quartz Bucket | Ni: 380-440 | 25-35w; Best 32 | Great clouds, great taste, slow heat up |
| Ti Bucket | Ni: 350-440F | 25-35w; Best 32 | Great clouds, good taste, slow heat up |
| Clapton | SS: 300-400F | 15-25w; Best: 20w | Good balance of taste and clouds |
| Crushed Clapton | SS: 300-400F | 15-25w; Best: 20w | Big clouds, quick heat up, less waste |
Choosing the right box mod
With practically a million options, and new variations popping out every few months, box mods can be intimidating! Don’t worry, we’ve chosen a few solid options for you.
All of these box mods offer full temperature control for qualifying Sai coil options.
Wismec RX Mini
The Wismec RX Mini is an ultra-small box mod with an ergonomic, five-sided shape that gives the vape a glove-like fit in any palm. The Stealth uses an internal battery and is available in black and silver.
Pico 75w
The Eleaf iStick Pico 75W TC Box Mod is our most affordable box mod and has a tried and true track record with the Sai. It’s powered by one removable 18650 battery, and its width also perfectly matches the width of the Sai.
Pico 100w
The Eleaf iStick Pico 21700 100W TC Box Mod is an extremely popular mod to pair with the Sai. The Pico has all the needed Temp Control options and a removable battery while remaining compact and reliable. You can even upgrade to different firmware! Best of all, the Pico 100w works with 18650 and 21700 batteries.
Wismec Reuleaux RX GEN3
The Wismec is a powerhouse! The RX GEN3 packs three 18650 batteries - enough power for a weekend of heavy dabbing. The Wismec’s larger footprint makes a great base for the Poseidon bubbler.
Snowwolf 200W-R
The Snowwolf is our must-have for the stylish, but power hungry. Underneath the one-of-a-kind resin panels is a massive 235 watts of power, more than enough for the Sai or anything else, for that matter. The Rainbow/Azure model has a rainbow reflective finish on the sides that looks great with the Gold Sai Atomizer!
Upgradeable firmware
All of our recommended box mods, with the exception of the Snowwolf, can be upgraded to use an improved software, such as Arctic Fox. Arctic Fox is a replacement firmware developed by passionate enthusiasts that adds several features to improve the vaping experience, including:
- Eight Custom Profiles - No more trying to remember your favorite settings for different coils and concentrate combos! Arctic Fox allows you to save eight of your favorites and quickly change between them
- Customize display screen and menus
- Adjust power cut-off times
- Settings can be adjusted on your computer when connected with USB cable
Battery options
The 18650 is the gold standard in replaceable, rechargeable batteries, with the 21700 battery coming on strong. Uncle Ben was right - with great power, comes great responsibility. These batteries are powerful and they need to be treated with respect. Your battery will last a year or two with normal, daily use.
Always keep your battery in a protective case while traveling or storing. Never carry the battery loose as it may short and cause serious damage. Replace the battery immediately if its protective covering is damaged, exposing the metal. Never overcharge your battery and always keep it stored away from extreme heat.
These batteries are easy to counterfeit so its important to buy from a reputable vendor. Avoid Amazon and lean towards trusted battery vendors such as imrbatteries.com, illumn.com, or grab a battery we’ve picked out.
- Samsung 25r - The Samsung 25r is a tried and true battery with good performance and a great price. It may not be the best in this list, but it’s probably better than most OEM batteries.
- Samsung 30q - Buy batteries like you buy wine - find the cheapest and go one step up. The Samsung 30q is slightly better than the 25r. The number went up, the letter went down.
- Sony VTC5A - The Sony has slightly better reviews than the others and is a very popular high-end battery.
- Lg hg 2 - The LG HG2 has been one of the highest rated and most recommended vape batteries for a couple of years now.
- Avatar AVB 21700 - The future of power! 21700 batteries are slightly larger than 18650’s, but have a lot more capacity. One of these in the Pico 100w seem to last forever.
Dab tools
Everyone has their favorite dab tool, although most prefer to have multiple tools for the variety of concentrate consistencies and coil configurations.
Flat Tipped Tools are great for shatters, sugars, and sauces. The flat edge makes it easy to cut and carve your perfect dose and wipe onto your Sai’s coil. Plus, flat tools are perfect for scraping every last bit of material from your container or parchment.
Pointed and Beaded Tools are usually more convenient for precise coil loading. Concentrates are usually extremely sticky and these types of tools have the smallest contact area.
Silicone Tipped Tools have a nonstick coating to make managing your dab easier, but the coating makes the tip thicker and less precise.
Scoops and Shovels are handy for crumbles and other less-sticky concentrates. Just scoop up your ideal amount and dump it onto your coil.
How to use the Saionara
Setup
Attach the Sai atomizer to your box mod or EzSai battery by aligning the male and female threaded parts. Tighten the Sai so it’s snug, but don’t overtighten.
For the EzSai, set the battery to wattage mode for the Kanthal coil or one of the three temperature modes for the titanium coil.
For box mods, Set your mod to the lowest wattage setting required for your coil (check the coil chart above). Put your mod in the appropriate Temp Control mode for your coil - TC-Ni for the donut and bucket coils, TC-SS for stainless coils, and TC-Ti for the titanium coils. Or, choose wattage mode if you’re using the Kanthal coils. Refer to the coil chart above and your mod box user manual, if needed.
If this is your first time using the Sai - Remove the top cap from the Sai so you can see the coil.
Make sure the coil is screwed in tightly - sometimes the coil gets loose in shipping. Turn the battery on with five quick button presses, and hold the battery’s fire button for five seconds to burn off any residual oils leftover from the manufacturing process.
How to load the Sai
Loading the Saionara wax atomizer is simple. With the top cap removed and coil visible, simply place your concentrate directly onto the coil. Aim for the center! A rice-grain sized piece is all it takes.
Advanced loading tips:
To load more concentrate and get bigger hits, or more of them, preheat your coil for a few seconds before loading. With your coil still warm, melt your dab directly into the coils. Now place a bit more concentrate on top of the oiled coils.
Vaping with the Sai
With your coils loaded and the top cover reattached, raise your vape and buckle-up. Hold the power button while inhaling at a medium pace. Breathe in deeply and release the power button a few seconds before you finish inhaling.
Fine tuning your vapor
You don’t need to always hold the button. In either wattage mode or temp control mode, If the vapor feels too hot or too harsh, release the button momentarily to cool the coil down as you continue to draw. Pulse the power button on and off again to control the intensity of the vapor.
Don’t run it dry
Your coil will maintain a better flavor and smoother hits if you always leave a little oil in it. When your clouds and flavor are starting to fade, add more concentrate before completely vaping off the previous load. This prevents the small amounts of leftover from burning and tasting icky.
How to clean the Saionara
Depending on how much of a dab-diva you are, the Sai will need to be cleaned eventually.
For quick cleaning you can heat the coil with the mouthpiece dome removed. When the coil is hot, remove your finger from the button and shake the vape upside down into a paper towel. BE CAREFUL. Old, hot oil will exit the coil onto the paper towel.
For deeper cleanings, you can clean the coil by removing it from the base of the Saionara and soaking it in 91% isopropyl alcohol for about five minutes. Be sure to let the coil dry thoroughly before using or you can ruin it.
To clean the base and top-cap, disassemble it and remove the o-rings. Soak in isopropyl alcohol to dissolve all the gooey oils. When it’s clean, let everything dry thoroughly and reassemble.
Changing coils
One of the best things about the Sai is the ability to change coils quickly. The coils simply unthread from the Saionara base and the new coils thread right in. You can swap out coils to change up your hits as often as you want.
After changing coils, your box mod will detect a change and ask you if it’s a new coil. Use the on-screen instructions to confirm.
Always improving
With a rapidly growing fanbase that loves to fiddle and finesse, the Saionara wax atomizer is an evolving vaporizer. There are always new coils and new accessories coming out for it, and we’ll be here to test and report on them for you.
Like the Sai atomizer, this guide is also an evolving creature. We’ll update our Sai guide with any and all new products and accessories. Bookmark this page or print out the Sai Coil Guide to have handy as a reference.
Have a great Sai tip or yearning question? Hit us up in the comment section down below.
A big thanks to Troy from 420 VapeZone for all the expertise! Until next time, Saionara!
