It’s easy to strike comparisons with the Smok Rolo or the Suorin Drop when you look at the Smoant S8.

But when you have it in your hand and vape it, you see that it’s rightfully its own device and a stylish one at that.

The S8 has a nice rounded mouthpiece compared to the awkward one on the Rolo, and it’s incredibly slim and pocket-friendly.

The ‘piano paint’ finish does give it a classy look, but that leads to it being a bit of a slippery fingerprint magnet.

The shape of the S8 helps it to fit in the hand and is a delight to hold and vape on.

I struggle to see Smoant’s design comparison with a Ferrari La Ferrari or Lamborghini Reventon! Although I will say, this is a great looking, well-designed device.

The S8 is one of the more stylish looking pod mods available. It’s sleek black piano paint finish, and tinted pod gives it a real premium look. However, that does lead to it being an absolute fingerprint magnet.

There’s very minimal clutter or branding on the S8, and even the simple logos present are gold adding to the overall classy styling.

This is a well-built device with no glaring gaps or sharp edges; it’s smooth to the touch with a nice weight to it.

The pods fit into the device perfectly and are held in place by strong magnets and a little friction. However, due to the zinc alloy build with a glossy finish, it is a slippery little bugger.

An extremely portable pod mod, even with it having a little bit of weight it’s barely noticeable in your pocket.

As it’s so slim and not very tall in its design, I can easily slide it into my pocket alongside my wallet without really any extra bulk. Just make sure you don’t have any loose change in there to chip and ruin that lovely paintwork.

It’s also incredibly comfortable to hold in your hand and vape on.

This really is a simple to use device which is void of many fancy features – but that’s what you want from a pod mod.

It has a satisfactory auto firing switch when you inhale, that doesn’t require your lips to turn blue to activate it – it’s responsive and smooth.

It also has a respectable 370mAh internal battery, which lasts longer than you’d expect.

It comes included with a short Micro USB cable which you can plug into your computer or spare phone charger.

The S8 only charges at 0.5A, but as it’s such a small internal battery, it does charges fairly quickly, topping up from dead in about an hour. It also supports vape while charging if you are caught short.

Battery level is indicated while charging through the side LED lights.

The Smoant S8 has two very subtle LED lights that are positioned where the pod connects, they glow through the side edges of the device and ever so slightly through the tinted pod.

The state of the device is indicated as follows through the LED lights:

The S8 Pods have a 2ml juice capacity, and it’s an open system which means you can easily refill those pods.

The S8 pods look great with their tinted design when paired with the battery, but that does lead to remaining liquid level being difficult to see.

The pods connect to the battery seamlessly with strong magnets and have a nice rounded mouthpiece which feels super comfortable in the mouth.

However, the best thing about them is they are a damn site easier to refill than some of the other pods on the market.

The pod contains a 1.30ohm coil, and the 370mAh internal battery can power between 7w and 12 watts when fully charged.

The coils had no issues keeping up with 70/30VG liquid, and Smoant even recommends using a slightly thicker liquid, as they state anything 50/50 may cause leaking.

I did have the S8 pod slightly leak on me once, but this is when I was testing it with 50/50 liquid (which Smoant advises against).

You will at times notice condensation build up between the pod and the battery; it never hindered performance, and Smoant say the board is waterproofed – so that should give you extra peace of mind.

Ordinarily, I find refilling this style of pod mod a bit of a pain, as you have to remove a flimsy rubber bung that you can barely grip and then you there’s the tiniest hole to put your bottle tip into.

However, the S8 is probably one of the best I’ve come across. The rubber stopper is anchored solidly to the pod and is easy to grip and remove. The fill hole is also large enough that I was still able to fit a chubby gorilla tip inside and have a small air gap.

To make things even easier, Smoant include a small 10ml bottle with a needle tip.

The only issue with refilling is due to the tinted pod; it’s hard to see the liquid level.

Smoant advises each pod can be used for 5 refills, which is a respectable amount. As usual with any pod or coil, it is slightly dictated by the type of juice you are using.

I was actually able to get 6-7 refills out of the 2 pods I had before it was time to replace them, so I was pretty happy with that.

The S8 surprised me from the first hit.

It has super smooth airflow, even though it is on the looser side of MTL, and it gives a really good throat hit.

It’s able to produce really decent flavor and respectable clouds for such a small device – I’m constantly amazed at how these pods mods have progressed over the years since I started vaping.

The battery life is above average for a pod mod, and it’s a compact, stylish looking device.

There really isn’t much more you’d want from such a device.

The airflow from the S8 pod mod is surprisingly smooth when compared to some others on the market. It is an MTL vape, but it’s not as tight as something like the Phix.

It sits in the middle somewhere on the MTL draw for a pod mod. But that’s where I like it and as I said it’s a smooth airflow, which helps it produce respectable clouds for a pod mod.

The S8 produces some really good flavor for such a small device.

It’s obviously not going to compare to an RDA, but I would safely say it competes well with some of the top pod mods on the market – open or closed.

It gives full on flavor, with a really decent throat hit.

The battery life of the S8 is pretty solid, which is impressive considering it is only has a tiny 370mAh battery inside.

I’ve found I can easily get about 8 hours from mine it, which is basically a full day of vaping. However that was using Nic Salt e-liquid and not chain vaping, but that’s what these devices were designed for.

It’s getting to a point where I am trying a new pod mod system every other week!

However, that does make it easier to know exactly what makes an exceptional pod mod.

It needs to be portable, convenient, affordable, produce good flavor, and be easy to refill.

The Smoant S8 nails of these things with ease, and in an incredibly stylish package.

It may be a competitive market, and this may be Smoant’s first attempt at a pod mod, but they’ve just entered right at the top.

The S8, in my opinion, is one of the best refillable pod mods currently on the market.