Quantum Reel Reviews

[FishTank]

The last review I did was for Lew's.  So Quantum is up next......

 

This journey with Quantum started with a conversation I struck with a guy in May of this year when I was out fishing in my kayak.  He saw that I had two rigs with me, a Shimano Curado G and a Shimano Core.  Short version, he was convinced that Quantum was the best reels ever and was willing to make me a bet.  At first I thought he was just crazy and an overzealous fan but ended up being a nice guy.  So the bet.... he gave me a brand new Accurist with his info and said to fish it as long as I like and give him my honest opinion.  If I didn't love it, I would return the reel to him and he would give me $40 but if I did like it, I gave him $40 and kept the reel.  I thought well why not.  

 

Needless to say, the Accurist was not a good reel for me.  It started out pretty well.  But after a few hours of use, it started to make a grinding noise and would cast inconsistently (backlashing and the thumb bar was not engaging).  The receipt to Tackle Warehouse was in the box so I called them and they sent me a new reel.  The same thing occurred.   I then called the guy that gave me the reel and told him the story.  He was not the least happy but was still trying to convince me to try another Quantum.  So for a day (about 6 hours), I fished his Quantum Smoke HD with a Smoke rod.  This was a nice setup and did change my mind about Quantum.  I then took his $40 and invested it in a Quantum Icon I got new off of eBay for the $40.  Which leads me to the following.......

 

 

 

Icon >  Simple, easy to use, definitely a step above the Accurist, not the smoothest nor does it cast the farthest but it gets the job done.  I have fished this reel hard for about 40-50 hours and no complaints at all.  It's a keeper.

 

The Vapor PT >  Ebay again.... This reel kind of feels cheap and plasticky in hand but is as smooth as any reel I have fished.  It's light weight, casts well and has enough power to bring in some nice fish.  One thing on this reel...  I had to get 3 different side plates and another reel from Quantum (great service by the way) to get this reel to function correctly.  The first and second plates did not fit the reel properly and one was the totally wrong part with the same part number.

 

The Smoke and Smoke HD > way different from anything I have seen from Quantum.  Great reels.  Both solid, strong, smooth, and cast well.   If you are looking for a reel outside of Daiwa and Shimano this would be a good one to look at. 

 

 

 

I guess in the end,  I think Quantum has come a long way from my past experience serval years ago, which was real bad, but there still remains a few quality issues with these guys.  I got the sense when talking to their customer service, many times, that they care immensely about their customers and want to make things right but are subject to what their factory does and have little control of what comes out, both good and bad.  I do think they have great customer service and engineering departments though.  I hope that one day they can put it all together.   I think the Icon, Vapor and Smoke have made great additions to my fishing arsenal. 

 

On a side note, Quantum's customer service was a breath of fresh air compared to my past experiences with Shimano and Daiwa.   I always felt like Shimano and Daiwa were overwhelmed and that I was just another number. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DSTN]

My only Quantam experience is with an Icon PT and I like it.  If I didn't bite on the new Tatula then I'd probably have another by now. 

[swhit140]

I tried a Quantum many years ago when I was fairly young. I had a $40 Daiwa & a $60 Quantum when I first starting fishing. The Quantum died just over a year. The Daiwa is still working after 15 years and no problems. I understand at the time it was what I could afford and it got me on the water. All I have now are Daiwa reels and have never had a issue with them. I like to stick with Daiwa or Shimano.

[FishTank]

13 minutes ago, swhit140 said:

I tried a Quantum many years ago when I was fairly young. I had a $40 Daiwa & a $60 Quantum when I first starting fishing. The Quantum died just over a year. The Daiwa is still working after 15 years and no problems. I understand at the time it was what I could afford and it got me on the water. All I have now are Daiwa reels and have never had a issue with them. I like to stick with Daiwa or Shimano.

 

I was in the same boat but I sort of went all in with the Quantum reels several years ago, 2 Energy Baitercasters, 2 Energy Spinning Reels, 2 Tour PT Baitcasters, and two others I can't remember. All of them were dead after a year or earlier.  I also was not a fan of the Hot Sauce.  We will see how this round goes.  Out of all of them, I think the Smoke is a no brainer and Quantum actually got this one right. 

 

[OG Crankster]

I have 4 Vappr PTs and 2 Smoke HDs. I fished them all last year and I fish 5 days a week after work.  All are smooth, never had any issues and would reccomend them to anyone . You can definitely score them for cheap on Ebay.

[GReb]

The story has always been the same with Quantum. Several models are absolutely amazing and bullet proof.  The rest are junk. 
 

I have two Energy e600 that have been workhorses for 15+ years. 

[PhishLI]

2 hours ago, FishTank said:

The Vapor PT >  Ebay again.

Fish,

 What's your opinion on the ACS 3.0 brakes in this reel? Any quirks? I've had my eye on the Smoke S3 PT  for a while. It uses a similar braking system. I'm more enthus'd about trying Quantum since my brother got his Monster 300 earlier this year. He's fished big baits hard with it and it's still smooth. He picked up a second one because he was happy with the first, and because it was 57$ on Walmart online. He also has a Tranx 400, 300, and a Lew's 300 super duty, so he has some good points of reference. I finally put in a good session with mine over the weekend. Solid as a rock with an aluminum frame and side plates. I was chucking baits, like the 8" Trash fish and 5" Bucca Bull Gill, a mile. Couldn't be happier, especially with the TW clearance price.

[Fishin Dad]

I jumped into a Quantum Smoke S3 last year to try.  I own a bunch of Daiwa, Lews, Okuma, etc.   I didn’t get a chance to use it a lot since it is an 8.1:1.  I did buy it because it has a high IPT for Flippin.   I tried it Flippin, pitchin, and casting a little.  It performed very well.  Fit my hands nicely and seemed easy to dial in.  I liked the handles as well. Seems like a very quality reel.  I hope Quantum can get a following.  It is always nice to generate competition and spawn new ideas.  I don’t consider myself a reel snob, so I am not totally brand specific.    I will get a little more use out of it this next season.  A lot of ice time here first. 

[FishTank]

25 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Fish,

 What's your opinion on the ACS 3.0 brakes in this reel? Any quirks?

 

I haven't had any issues yet but I have been chucking mostly big crankbaits with it.  I found, for me, that a setting of 3, 4 or 5 works best.  

[zeth]

I have about 25 smoke reels. All have been great.  Been using the smokes since they came out and I got on board with Quantum. I also had maybe 10 or so Energy reels. Not this newest version but the previous version. I no longer have a single one. None made it more than a few months before becoming problematic. The Smoke and the Tour (basically same reel) have been bombproof. 

I do wish they would ditch the line size indicator. It does not work. It moves, gets bumped and changes etc. Also doesn't cover line sizes I often use. 

[A-Jay]

My Quantum casting reel arsenal has changed a bit over the years.

These EXO PT & Tour PT's have been solid performers for me. 

In fact, several are about to be sent out for service. (next week)

Clearly improves longevity.

A-Jay

[Birdman2136]

I have Quantom rod and reel, both are the Vapor series spinning models. 
 

7’2 MH and 2500 reel.. I’ve used both for I believe two seasons now. I think they both fish great, not the most sensitive rod ever, but they have both been very reliable to me. 

[DomQ]

I love quantum reels, I had 4 energy PT, 2 team kvd, 1 accurist PT, 2 gen1 smokes, 3 gen2 smokes, 1 gen3 smoke, iron PT. All were great reels but I have parted with some after getting my hands on higher end reels from the big 2. 

[nascar2428]

Love my icon pt.

[Run2jeepn]

I have this Quantum and love it. It's not made anymore, but it's been flawless for me.

 

[Mbirdsley]

I like my Quantum’s.  I have a quantum Accurist Pti spinning reel I bought for 80 bucks in 2012.  Before my boat was given to me as wedding present I spent a lot of times fishing rivers and drowning that reel.  I think it is finally starting to break down.  I’m going to tear it apart shortly and see what is going on with and if it can be saved. 

2 years ago I purchased a quantum accurist Pt baitcaster and so far it has been one of my favorite baitcastersbefore I bought my new carbon light 2.0 so far knock on wood I have had zero issue with it.  I use it for t-rigging, pitching, flipping and punching. 
 

I would buy more quantum’s in the future if I need of a reel and not feel bad about it 
 

 

[Diggy]

I bought an Energy last year (has flippin switch) for about $80 and a Monster 300 size swimbait reel for $53 shipped, both new.  I def can't complain for the price. I haven't used them as much as my other reels, but I can't say they are "trash" like a lot of reviews that I've read. I would probably buy a Tour MG if I can find one in LH at a good price. 

 

 

[Topwaterdude]

I got one quantum smoke upgraded the bearings love that reel.

[bholtzinger14]

I bought 3 exo pt reels when cabelas had them marked down from $299 to $99. They were always and quickly became my favorite reels. I talked to several people that cleans reels and they all said the same thing. They said they were junk bc the insides were all plastic. I still loved them.

After fishing them for about 3 years i had a problem with one. Quantum said to mail it in and they would get a new Smoke sent out to me at no charge. Cant beat that.

When it was time to buy a new reel i went with the Tatula 100 to try it out. My tatula is out to Daiwa to get fixed after i cought my first fish on it.

I really think i am going back to more Smokes when i buy my next reels.