VooPoo Vinci X Pod Mod & RBA Base Review.
The team over at VooPoo got in touch, and very kindly sent over the Vinci X for me to try out and review.
I find the evolution of Vaping fascinating, for years we had, basic Ecigs, which everyone started on, and then progressed up to a tank and separate mod. And then with TPD developments we were introduced to the Pod Culture, these small, leakproof, low capacity , low wattage devices. Which left a void between the pod and the mod, a void which was quickly filled be the clever manufactures like VooPoo, who managed to design a device, with the convenience and ease of use of a Pod System, with the performance of a mod and tank, delivering a sub ohm tank performance from a pod style system, and with this creation the Pod-Mod was born.
Nearly every manufacture in the market place have developed a Pod-Mod tyle device, moving away from the standard 510 connection, and replacing it with an AIO (All-in-one) style, where the tank/pod is an integral part of the device, and is designed to only fit that single device.
VooPoo seem to have cleverly taken this Pod-Mod genre, and created their our series of devices, and with this the Vinci Series was born, ranging from Vinci Air all the way up to the X
Smart and portable are the soul of the VINCI series New generation GENE.AI with visual concept implanted and retain the traditional MOD's big cloud and adjustable power make it smaller, easier to operate, and safer to use.
For this review we will be having a closer look at the Vinci X.
The Vinci X is the big brother in the Vinci Range, the only device in the range that is powered by a standard 18650 battery, compared with the built in battery in the Vinci Air and R . This 18650 battery allows it to fire up to 70w, a full 30w more than its siblings.
So what’s in the box?
The Vinci X comes neatly packaged, and comes complete with all you need.
- 1 x Vinci X Device
- 1 x 5.5ml Pod
- 1 x 0.3Ω PnP-VM1 Coil
- 1 x 0.6Ω PnP-VM4 Coil
- 1 x Warranty Card
- 1 x Gene Chip Card
- 1 x USB Cable
- 1 x User Manual
Specification and Features.
- Size: 117×29.5×25.3
- Battery: Single 18650
- Material: Zinc Alloy Body. PCTG Pod.
- E-Liquid Capacity: 5.5ml (TPD Version 2.0ml)
- Output Voltage: 3.2-4.2v
- Suitable Resistance: 0.1Ω-3.0Ω
- Charging: Via Micro USB.
The Vinci X comes in a selection of colours and finishes.
Build Quality & Design.
I have been super impressed with the VooPoo Vinci X build quality, it has a really high end finish. If Apple made Vaping devices, I think it would be very similar to the Vinci X. The body of the device has seemlessly curves wrapping around the edges, with no hard edges. And beautiful finished. My was finished in a high gloss gunmetal, with embedded carbon fibre panels on either side, which has an almost holographic pattern, which shimmers gracefully as it catches the light.
Although the main body section is square, they have a slight curve to it, which means it sits really well in the hand, if not a little slippy. Would have been nice to have had a bit of texture embossed into the side panel, or possibly a thin rubber strip, running down the side.
The slightly curved back panel, has some subtle branding running down it. With a lightly etched VOOPOO, and The chipmset branding towards the base.
The high gloss front panel, houses the smooth set round fire button, which is easily found, due to the fact it Protrudes out a couple mil.
Just below the fire button, is the hidden screen, which vanishes into the blackness when it is not lit.
The screen is one of the nicest I have seen on a device of with size, it is bright and well laid out, giving you all the information you will need. And the colour coding allows you to see what mode you are currently in. It’s worth noting that the screen, is shared across the whole Vinci Range.
The display shows the battery life, wattage, puff count, puff time and coil and voltage.
The Vinci X is super easy to use, with no complicated menus, and can be operated with just a few simple click combinations.
- 5 Clicks of the Fire Button turn the device On & Off.
- Press and hold the Fir Button and + Button lock 🔒 the whole device.
- Press and hold Fire and – Button will reset the Puff Counter.
- Press and Hold + – Button – Opens the Puff Information
VooPoo have also made the Puff count a real feature. And pressing and holding the positive and negative buttons at the same time takes you into a graph, that shows you puff count each day, over the last 14 days. Not quite sure why, you would want to track your puffs. But if you do it is there.
The device also desiplays the Date and Time. Which very annoyingly you have to enter every time you change the battery, which could have been easily fixed, by adding a small internal battery, or even better take the date and time off the device.
Hidden Feature
There also seems to be a secret setting, that doesn’t seem to be listed in the instructions, whilst using the device in standard mode, the chip set will dectect which coil is installed, and will then only allow you to vape up to the permitted wattage of the coil installed, to prevent you from burning the coil.
The 0.3Ω PnP-VM1 Coil will allow up to 40watts.
The 0.6Ω PnP-VM4 Coil will allow you to vape 30 watts
And you may we’ll be asking what about the 70watts that are stated on the box. Well this is the seemingly secret setting.
Press the fire button four times in quick succession, and it will switch on RBA mode.
Once in RBA you can set the Wattage to what ever you want, from 5w all the way up to 70watts. I my understanding is that the RBA mode is to be used when using the RBA PnP base, that can be purchased separately, and allows you to build your own coils, which I will show you later.
The Pod Tank.
The pod section of the Vinci, is of a classic crude like design, which features an integral mouth piece, which is perfectly shaped, to fit you lips comfortably.
The square design of this pod, gives you a clear view of your juice level, to many manufactures make the mistake in pods of hiding the tank away, or making it frosted or so tinted you can see how much juice is in the tank, which makes them virtually unuseable, in my opinion.
The beauty of this design is the total simplicity of it, the coil press fits underneath the pod. No threading, no caps etc. It just push fits, and up till now I have had zero leakage issues, not a drop.
The tank is held firmly in place on the top the battery section, by four strong magnets, simple, no threading, and less to go wrong, less to break. As a lot of the time the threading, or joint between the tank and the body, always seems to be the weakest link. As it’s only held in place with magnets there’s nothing to break. Clever stuff.
Filling the Vinci.
Filling the pod couldn’t be easier. Just remove the pod, and on one side, you will find a small long rubber flap, that cover the fill hole. The flap is just large enough to be able to grab it with your nails, even my stumpy excuse of nails, managed to grab it and give it a little pull.
Another nice feature, although small, is the fact that you can rotate the flap out the way, so you can easily gain access to the port.
I’m glad to see that VooPoo have made the fill hole large enough, to allow for the juice to go in, as well as the air to come out. So many pods are ruined by making the fill holes to small, meaning that it becomes so hard to fill, without juice going every were , Well done VooPoo.
Airflow.
The airflow system is the only thing that slightly lets the device down, it is made up of 3 small holes on either side of the devices neck, channeling the air through under the pod section.
The only adjustment of the airflow, is achieved by removing and rotating the pod, as each side has different air channels, give you wide open airy draw, to a slightly more restricted, but by no means a restricted MTL. It’s either lose or loser. Would have been nice to have had some kind of slider on the side, to allow for fine tuning.
Battery 🔋
As we said at the beginning of the review, what makes the X the X is the fact that it is powered by a removable 18650. Meaning that when it goes flat, you can simply swap out the cell. Plus the other benefit of the 18650 powered device, is the fact that the life span of your device isn’t denoted by how long the batter lasts. As we all know that the battery is normally the first thing to fail on any electrical device, wether it’s a vape Mod or a phone.
Entry to the battery compartment, as with the rest of the device, is not over complicated, VooPoo have just gone for a threaded battery cap, nicely designed and manufactured with recessed sides and a slot in the middle, to allow easy access to you battery, with either your fingers or a coin, if needed.
VooPoo Vinci X Performance .
Well what can I say, I have been super impressed with the Vinci X, that’s coming from someone who couldn’t see the point of using a mod/pod. I have been using it as my every day work vape for the last few weeks. And have been really enjoying it, due to it running at a relatively low wattage, I find that a single 18650 battery will last me all day with ease. And the juice seems to go so much further, as I’m not feeding to massive Clapton coils. Plus my work trousers are still in good shape, with no ejuice stains, from any package leakage. And whilst talking about pockets, it nice to take a vape to work, that you can just slip in your pocket with out it pulling your trousers down. Lol.
Flavour wise, I would say it’s on point, for what it is. It’s never going to match the flavour I get from my dripper and Squonker. But it’s a good level of flavour, generating a super Tastey vape. Especially with the ability to turn the wattage up on the RBA base.
Choice of Coils.
The other great thing with the VooPoo Vinci Range is the amazing choice of coils that come in the PnP Range. As previously stated the kit comes with a choice of two coils.
The 0.3Ω PnP-VM1 Coil which will allow you to run up to 40watts.
Recommended wattage stated is between 32 and 40w, when you install the Coil, it will automatically set to 35w
This coil puts out a good amount of vapor, and very good flavour, I think out of the two, this would be my favourite coil.
The 0.6Ω PnP-VM4 Coil will allow you to vape 30 watts
Recommended wattage is between 20 and 28w, and with this coil installed the smart chip, sets the wattage to 24w, which gives you a similar experience to the 0.3ohm coil, although the flavour is similar, it definitely produces less vapor.
The beauty of the PnP coils is the vast selection of coils to choose from.
- PnP-C1 1.2ohm: Ceramic 1.2ohm coil (best for nicotine salt) (nicotine≤20mg) (10-15W)
- PnP-M1 0.45ohm: Mesh 0.45ohm coil (nic salts) (28-35W)
- PnP-M2 0.6ohm: Mesh 0.6ohm coil for pure e-liquild (nicotine≤12mg) (20-28W)
- PnP-R1 0.8ohm: Regular 0.8ohm coil (best for nicotine salt) (nicotine≤20mg) (12-18W)
- PnP-VM1 0.3ohm: Mesh 0.3ohm coil for pure e-liquild (nicotine≤10mg) (32-40W)
- PnP-VM3 0.45ohm: Mesh 0.45ohm coil (25-35W)
- PnP-VM4 0.6ohm: Mesh 0.6ohm coil (20-28W)
- PnP-R2 1.0ohm: MTL (10-15W) (nic salts)
And for those of you who to build your own set up they do PnP RBA, which allows you to set your coils, and which them to set.
PnP RBA Base
The RBA base allows you to stick you own build in, and wick it to suit.
The kit it’s self comes with everything your going to need. Including spare o-rings, small flat head screw driver, coil and cotton. Coiling rod.
The RBA base is small, as you can imagine, and can be quite fiddly to build on.
First of all you need to work out how long the coil tail needs to be cut, as there is no guide, you just need to judge it by eye, and if anything, cut it a bit longer. As you can always trim it again if needed.
You can place the coil on the rod, to stop it deforming when installing it.
Back the small screws off, just enough to be able to insert the coils.
Then just place the coil on the deck, and tighten the screws back down. The only issue I found was the post holes seem to be set wrong for the coils they supply, and you coil ends up being off set the wrong way. I could not work out if wrapping the coil the other way would allow it to line up better.
With the coil placed the way it was, it does mean that you need to twst the coil so that it aligns with the juice well.
Once twisted you just need carefully respect the coil.
Unfortunately there is no way to dry burn the coil, it would have been nice if they had supplied you with an adapter to allow you to pulse the coil, to remove any hot pots, similar to the adaptor that comes with the Augvape Narada Pods.
Once you are happy with the coil placement, you can thread the cotton, you don’t need much, as tiny juice ports, and you don’t want to over pack it,
So give it a good comb out, and then carefully poke the cotton, down into the holes,
Then juice it up, and screw the top section on. And then the coil can be inserted into the pod, as you would do with any normal coil. The juice it up. I must admit that to start with I had the take the coil back out, as I kept getting dry hits, so I re,over some of the cotton, so it was literally just covering the holes, and then reinstalled it, and from then on it was just fine.
Performance of the PnP RBA base
Final Thoughts on the VooPoo Vinci X.
- Clear easy to see tank.
- Easy to fill tank, with no air locks.
- Bright screen.
- Ability to run in RBA mode to have full control.
- Smart Selection, for newer vapours. Recommending the correct wattage for each coil.
- 18650 battery, for all day Vaping.
- Option of RBA Base.
- Wide range of popular coils to choose from.
- Very well made, and premium feel.
- Comes in wide range of colours and styles.
Negatives
- No fine tuning of Air flow.
- No way to dry burn or pulse coils on RBA, due to no adaptor.
- Silly date and time feature that you have to keep entering.
- No use puff calendar.
