The Nfix is one of the latest pod systems from prolific vaping company Smok, mixing the classic, Juul-ish pen-style design with the option to set your own wattage and high-performance coils. The aim is to combine the benefits of a pod-style device for new vapers with some of the features that longer-term users have come to expect. If you’re looking for a first rechargeable device, the simple design paired with an in-built 700 mAh battery makes it a tempting choice, but is it worth the $29.99 price-tag? How does it compete with the multitude of other pod devices on the market? We’ve taken a look for our Smok Nfix review.
Is it worth buying?
The Smok Nfix has a simple, user-friendly design and performs impressively well for such a beginner-friendly device. You can find more capable and longer-lasting pod systems, but if you’re just making the switch over from smoking, it strikes a great balance between simplicity and performance.
Smok Nfix Review
What You Get
The Nfix comes in a compact kit, but you get everything you need to start vaping other than e-liquid. It comes with the battery section, two pods and a USB-C charging cable. This is really all you need to get started and to keep vaping for the first month or so (depending on how often you vape and how well you look after the pods), and is a great offering overall.
Smok Nfix – The Design
Appearance
The Nfix has a pen-style design, with a long battery section that opens up at the top for the pod-and-mouthpiece combination to attach. The body is roughly oval-shaped, but angular so the front face is flat and there’s a neat space towards the bottom for the OLED display screen and small multi-function button.
The device measures just 110.5 mm tall and 13 mm wide, and combined with the 32 g weight makes it a very portable device and a comfortable fit in your hand. It comes in a total of 12 colors (although availability depends on the vendor), with options such as a basic black, silver or grey right through to two-tone options like red-gold and silver-blue. Overall it looks great, simple but well-designed and right in line with what you’d expect from a pod device.
OLED Display
The OLED display is quite small, but manages to give you all of the information you need in that compact space. The majority of the display is taken up by your wattage setting, with the resistance of the pod and the operating voltage beside it, and a percentage remaining battery display and a puff-counter on the far right. Despite not taking up much space, it tells you everything you need to know and in more detail than many vape mods with much larger screens.
The Pods
The pods are right in line with the industry standard, with a 3 ml capacity (or 2 ml on the EU version), a small silicone flap to cover the filling hole and a magnetic connection system so you just drop it into the space at the top of the battery to connect. The pod is transparent, so you can see your remaining e-juice level easily, and there’s a minimum fill line clearly visible on the front of the pod so you know when you need to refill. The mouthpiece section tapers in a little at the top so it fits comfortably between your lips, with a (non-adjustable) airflow hole running up from the bottom of the pod to the mouthpiece and drawing air in from the sides.
Both pods have a 0.8 ohm resistance, but you either get one regular pod and one mesh option with the kit or two regular pods. These are ideal for nicotine salt e-liquids (or ordinary vape juices in 50/50), but it also works well with higher-VG e-juices because of the sizable wicking holes.
USB-C Connection
The Nfix has a USB-C connection, which is on the bottom of the device and is completely flush with the base so it stands up easily when not charging. There isn’t much to add here, but it’s a great thing to have on the device because it notably speeds up the charging process.
Overall
The Nfix does an awesome job of blending the traditional elements of a basic vape pod-style device with some additional capabilities, keeping the overall design simple and cool while not skimping on what it can do.
Smok Nfix Review – In Use
Variable Wattage up to 25 W
The Nfix beats out most basic vape pod systems in terms of features in one swoop, offering freely adjustable wattage between 1 and 25 W. The pods included with the kit have a recommended power range of 15 to 25 W, so admittedly the lower portion of the range isn’t likely to be useful, but the impressive level of control makes it easy to tailor the performance to suit your preferences. You adjust in 1 W increments, first activating the option by pressing the main button three times, and then pressing as many times as needed to cycle through the available wattages.
Performance – Vapor Production
The Nfix performs really well when it comes to vapor production, putting out more vapor than many vape pens and on par with basic mods even at relatively low power settings. If you’re making the switch over from smoking, you’ll be more than satisfied with the output and the throat hit from the Nfix, and it works “mouth to lung,” so you inhale just like you would from a cigarette. For longer-term vapers used to mods, you should know that this isn’t a device for huge clouds, but unless that’s a major factor for you, the Nfix does more than enough in this department.
My kit didn’t come with the mesh pods, but based on the performance of the ordinary options, you can rest assured that they will improve things even further.
Performance – Flavor
The pods for the Nfix also do a fantastic job when it comes to flavor. The standard 0.8 ohm pods are claimed to be the best options for flavor, and it’s easy to believe because every tone from your e-liquid comes through clearly. They’re wicked with cotton, and the airflow is well-designed, so it’s not much of a surprise that the flavor really pops from the pods. This is hard to fault even in comparison to sub ohm tanks, it’s about as good as it gets when it comes to flavor.
Ease of Use
With pod systems being largely targeted at new vapers, ease of use is a crucial factor for any pod device. The Nfix meets this need really well, with everything from the simple filling system – just open the flap and fill up through the hole – and the magnetic connection system for the pods making it as easy as possible to use. The automatic operation also really helps with this, because it’s about as intuitive as it gets for a smoker: all you need to do is fill up, wait a few minutes for the liquid to soak in, and then puff away just like you would from a cigarette. Overall it’s perfectly set up for new vapers.
Responsiveness
The fact that the Nfix works automatically is great for new vapers, but there is always a risk of some issues with the sensor with automatic devices. However, the Nfix responds really well, activating as soon as you start your puff and staying active throughout too. It also seems pretty efficient in terms of starting vaporizing your e-liquid, producing vapor basically right away and staying consistent as you continue your draw. No complaints at all.
Battery Life and Charging
The Nfix has a 700 mAh battery, which isn’t as big as some of Smok’s more mod-like pod systems (such as the RPM series) but still beats out many of the simpler options on the market. How long this will last you depends a lot on how much you vape, but if you’re using high-strength nicotine salt e-liquids, you’ll comfortably get a day’s worth of use out of the device. If you’re vaping ordinary liquids, you’ll need to puff a lot more and will probably need to charge in the evening if you start the day on a full battery. Roughly speaking I got through a pod of juice per charge.
Combined with the USB-C fast charging, though, even less than a day’s worth of use isn’t a big issue. It goes from completely dead to recharged in about an hour, and even gives you a readout of the remaining charging time in minutes. This seems like a little thing but it really shows how far things have come – with the percentage as a countdown and a literal countdown for charging time, you’ll always be well-informed about your charge status.
One criticism, though: the readout for the remaining battery is kind of misleading. You’ll think you’re sitting fine at 30%, but then after it starts to fall more you get a “Low battery” warning and it plummets to basically nothing. It makes sense to not let the battery drain right down, but it makes the readout completely unintuitive at low charge levels.
Build Quality
Based on our testing for this Smok Nfix review, it seems really well put together, with high-quality materials used throughout (including PCTG plastic for the pods) and a good connection between the pods and the battery. The charging port is also solid, with no wiggling or looseness when you make the connection. Overall it feels high-quality and you can tell they’ve put care into the design.
Conclusion
Overall, the Nfix is a great option if you’re looking for a pen-style pod device with more on offer than the most basic devices without sacrificing simplicity. This combination makes it one of the best options if you’re just getting started with vaping, and the price is pretty reasonable too considering what it can do. The battery could possibly be a little bigger, but Smok’s decision to focus more on portability isn’t a bad one, it’s just something to keep in mind if you’re going to be away from a charger for long periods of time. Pair it with some nicotine salt e-liquid and you won’t be disappointed.