Mi-Pod by Smoking Vapor | Review

The Mi Pod is a simple yet unbelievably compact device. It’s so small you can easily conceal it in the palm of your hand.

That might not sound all that impressive, but when you factor in that it has a 950mAh internal battery and 2ml capacity refillable pods, then you release it’s quite a remarkable design feat.

The Mi Pod is flat and square in its form, with the replaceable pod acting as the mouthpiece. It’s not your traditional style mouthpiece; it’s rectangular in shape just like the pod with an ever so slight curve to it.

The pod’s slot into the front corner of the device via a press fit and can be a little tricky to remove (if you don’t have fingernails).

One the front of the device is the micro USB port for charging and a small power button.

The power button is notably small at just under 4 mm in width and about 1.5 mm in height. Which is understandable as it’s such a small device.

Unfortunately, the button only protrudes a tiny bit, so it’s a pain to press. However, as the Mi Pod is draw activated you probably won’t be switching it on and off too often.

Sometimes a new device just comes out of left field when you least expect it, and the Mi-Pod is a prime example of this.

It’s a complete break from the norm of vape pens and cylindrical pod mods, a minuscule little box that looks more like some kind of mini Bluetooth speaker instead of a vaping device.

Smoking Vaping has done a great job with colored and material options as well. Whether you prefer the slightly more expensive all metal or the digital collection, there’s plenty of choices for style.

The only reservations I have about the Mi-Pods design are the mouthpiece feels kind of awkward and definitely takes some getting used to, the power button is so small and difficult to press it almost becomes pointless, and the LED indicator lights shining through the pods are also not the best.

So guess for me it’s a mixed bag, I love the originality in the Mi Pods form factor, it’s incredibly lightweight frame and portability, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

The Mi Pod isn’t a device that’s going to fill you with confidence of its robustness.

It’s such a small and light framed device that I worry about its longevity. That being said I’ve dropped it several times (which is so easy to do because of it barely noticeable weight), and I’ve only got one small scratch to show for it.

The Blue Digital collection version we have in for review has it’s decal sticker already peeling off, it’s a common problem that lots of people mention in forums, so it might be worth opting to spend a little more on the metal collection.

The pods fit into the device with a really snug press and click fit, but they are incredibly difficult to pull back out. I wouldn’t say they have bad build quality, but I would like to have seen a different connection type or slightly more forgiving tolerances.

When it comes to auto-draw pod systems, they don’t come much smaller and lighter than the Mi Pod.

It measures 51mm vertically 50mm horizontally with a 14mm width, and it weighs just under 45 grams. This thing is tiny!

Also, the inclusion of a lanyard loop is great. I’ve seen many a vaper at expos with Mi-Pods hanging around their chest. It really doesn’t get much more portable than this.

One of the aspects that have led to the Mi Pod being so small and light is their custom-made 950mAh built-in battery.

Smoking Vapor claims the Mi Pod features a patented OAS (Oil and Air Separated) system. I’m not sure about all the technical info on all this, what I can say is it still baffles me how something so small and light can have a 950mAh battery inside – amazing.

The Mi Pod has an output voltage of 3.0-4.2V with a maximum current of 15A.

It features all the safety protections of overcharge, over discharge, short circuit and 10 second cut-off.

Even though the Mi Pod does feature a small button, it’s just to power on the device. It features an auto switch for firing which is activating when inhaling.

To power on or off the device, it’s 5 clicks of the fire button.

The Mi Pod also features a stealth mode, which can be activated by holding the power button for 5 seconds. It also supports pass-through vaping.

The LED indicators sit beneath where the pod connects and shine through the pod.

In dim light, it’s easy to identify the colored light shining through, but outdoors it can be a little tricky.

The battery status is shown while charging and vaping, and is as follows:

• Blue = full power
• Purple = half power
• Red = low power

The Red light flashes when the device is switched on and off.

The Purple light will flash when the unit is placed into stealth mode

The Red light will flash 10 times for; low voltage and overuse protection. And will flash 4 times for; short circuit, low resistance and overheat protection.

You get two pods empty pods with the Mi Pod, each comes sealed and has a silicon cover that sits on the bottom half of the pod and reaches around to the mouthpiece.

The mouthpiece is rectangular with 2 small holes, one for the draw and one for airflow. The airflow hole points to the outside edge of the mod, so you do need to be careful not to cover it. But I find your natural hand position is ordinarily clear of it.

Inside the pod, you can see the coil at the base with a small about of cotton, the airflow system and a 2ml chamber for your juice.

There are no markings or indications of the resistance of the coils inside the pods, a quick check on Smoking Vapors website shows 1.2 Ohm. But it would’ve been beneficial to see that on the pods or packaging.

The downfall of many pod style vapes is the filling process.

That’s not too much of an issue with the Mi Pod. The pods have a small rubber seal that is anchored to them, just unplug the seal, fill it up and replace the plug.

Of course, the pods need to be removed from the device everytime you wish to refill them.

The fill hole on the pod is optimal for using a needle-tip or unicorn bottle, you can just get a dropper in there, but you have to be incredibly careful.

One main thing to note, is that occasionally when refilling air bubbles or pockets can form around the coil and wick. So I’ve found you need to give the pod a little shake after filling to make sure the bubble float to the top and don’t cause a dry hit.

There are times when I’ve been extremely pleased with the wicking of the pods and others when I’ve been left utterly frustrated.

They claim the Mi-Pod is optimal with nic salts, but you can technically use any juice containing less than 70% VG.

I’ve tried a range a different consistency liquid, and my findings have been the same with each.

Sometimes they just don’t seem to wick that great, and you are left burning the cotton and ruining the pod. Even when they do wick fine, I don’t think the lifespan on the pods comes anywhere close to rivaling some of the others on the market.

I think it’s a combination of the loose airflow, and the small space for the juice to get to the cotton.

That being said, there are also numerous times when it seems the coils are flooded, and I get a lot of gurgling and spit back from the pods.

You do tend to hear a lot of crackles from the pod while vaping, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the consistency of the performance of the pods just doesn’t fill me with confidence.

When the Mi Pod wicks properly, the vaping experience is great. It produces really good flavor, and a punchy throat hit.

It’s also not shy with the clouds, mainly because it’s not exactly a true MTL device and is quite a loose draw.

The Mi Pod is not a true MTL device, and anybody that tells you it is is not an MTL vaper.

The draw sits on the edge between a very restricted direct lung and a very loose MTL draw. IT’s basically a small MTL style pod for vapers who like to sub-ohm vape.

For me, unfortunately, it is a little too loose. I prefer it to be a touch tighter on the draw, and there’s no way to adjust the airflow unless you try and bung the airflow hole up with something.

I also think a tighter draw would lead to far less wicking issues.

The Mi Pod does give extremely good flavor for such a small device. It’s right up there with the other leading pod style vapes on the market.

However as soon as you start to put sweet ejuice through it, don’t expect that flavor to last you long. I had one pod go from great flavor to a gunked up mess within two days, and it’s a juice I’ve used in other pods with better results.

I’m still amazed at how good the battery life is on the Mi Pod and how they managed to fit such a high capacity cell in there.

You will notice the performance drop off as the battery gets to the lower percentages, but there’s almost enough juice in there to see you through a day of portable on the go vaping.

The 950mAh built-in battery takes about 1.5hrs to charge from flat.

I’ve seen so many vapers and other reviewers rave about the Mi Pod, and I really wanted my experience to be the same – But it wasn’t.

There’s a lot to love about the Mi Pod, it’s an amazingly compact design, with exceptional battery life for a pod.

However, when it comes to true vape experience, I was fundamentally disappointed. The draw is a little too loose for my liking, and it doesn’t give a real traditional MTL experience.

The pods seemed for too inconsistent either losing flavor, burning out before they should do, or they were producing too much gurgling and spit back.

I’m still not going to say this is a terrible kit. I’m sure plenty will like the vape they get from it, and possibly won’t mind paying a higher price than average to purchase the replaceable pods.

Personally, I think there are far better similar pod systems on the market, the new Eleaf iWu being a prime example.