Our Lost Vape Orion DNA Go review takes a look at the first pod system sporting the DNA Chipset from Evolv. Offering up to 40 W of power spread across three settings and a 950 mAh internal battery, it looks great on paper, but how does it vape in practice?
Is it worth picking up?
The Lost Vape Orion DNA Go is a great pod device, with performance that puts it right up to the top of the field and still a pleasingly straightforward user interface.
The price is a little high, at £64.99 (and $64.95 from US-based sellers – currently on-sale from the regular price of $79.95), but when you consider the quality of the device, if you’re serious about making the switch to vaping and you’re looking for a pod system, it’s a great option.
Even for longer-term vapers, if you’re in the market for something to use with nicotine salt in, it’s one of the best things on the market.
Full review
As pod systems continue to surge in popularity, it isn’t much of a surprise to see some of the big names of vaping get involved. But what you might not have expected is a pod system with the famous DNA chipset on-board. Better known for high-power, feature-packed box mods the DNA chipset has a reputation for only the best quality vaping devices, and is widely respected in the vaping community. So while Lost Vape’s decision to put out a pod system isn’t much of a surprise, the fact it’s a DNA device should be enough to make even longer-term vapers stand up and take notice. But is the device as good as you’d be expecting? Is it worth the £64.99 price tag? Our Lost Vape Orion DNA Go review aims to find out.
What You Get
The Lost Vape Orion DNA Go comes in a basic box, with a plastic insert in the top containing the device and a couple of boxes underneath with a 0.25 ohm pod, a lanyard and the USB charging cable. The kit also includes a warranty card and a manual, which is quite thick but only because it covers 10 languages. The kit gives you everything you need to start vaping with the device apart from e-juice, so it does all you can really expect from a starter kit.
Lost Vape Orion DNA Go Review – The Design
Appearance
The Orion DNA Go has a pretty cool look, like a mini box mod, with carbon fiber paneling on the front and back. The device comes in a range of colors, including black, stainless steel, gold and blue, as well as with an “ocean scallop” design instead of the carbon fiber, depending on where you pick it up from. All these look great, but the range of options gives you plenty of choice when it comes to getting your ideal appearance. The coloring only affects the frame around the paneling and the front and back edges, with the pods always having the translucent black coloring and the silver detail for the airflow ring and filling port.
The Pods
The pods for the Orion DNA Go have a rectangular shape with a little cut-out section along the bottom edge to match up to the body of the device. They connect by lining up the connection points on the bottom of the pod with the ones on the device itself, and then swinging it down into place using that point as if it was a hinge. To lock it into place, you have to pull down the catch on the front of the device and then push it back up when the pod is connected.
The fill hole on the pod does a great job of being both simple and reliable. There’s a metallic cap that completely screws off to reveal the filling hole, which is nice and big so you won’t have problems filling up with any type of e-juice bottle. It holds 2 ml of liquid, and is split into two sections, with the coil on the back half below the mouthpiece and the open space between serving as a chimney. Overall they have a really straightforward design that does everything you need it to while still keeping everything easy to use.
Airflow Control and Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece on the Orion DNA go isn’t replaceable, but it has a big enough diameter to allow for good airflow, and is paired with a simple airflow control system around the base. It’s a slot-style airflow, with an outer, ridged ring that rotates so you can close off or open up the two small slots to suit your preferences. It allows for quite a bit of flexibility in the sort of draw you get, especially considering the much smaller slot than you’d get on ordinary tank systems.
The Front Panel
The front face of the device is where most of the action happens, but again it’s really simple to use even if you’re brand new to vaping. There are four main parts on the front, with the catch to remove and attach the pod, a circular fire button beneath it, a small secondary button used to cycle through the available power settings, and a multi-color LED light that displays your remaining battery life, shows your current setting and illuminates as you vape. Lost Vape has done a great job of getting a lot of functionality into a really simple system.
The USB Port
On first look at the device, you might notice that there isn’t a micro-USB port visible. This is because there’s a flap on the front bottom corner of the device that you remove to get access. The port is mounted just on the bottom of the device, and it’s easy to access by sticking your fingernail underneath the flap and pulling it downwards. This is a really neat design feature because it gives you easy access for charging without impacting on the overall appearance of the Orion DNA Go.
Overall
The design of the Orion DNA Go strikes a perfect balance between looks, functionality and ease of use. You’ll be right at home with it whether this is your first vaping device or your 50th.
Lost Vape Orion DNA Go Review – The Features
Power Settings
The inclusion of the DNA chipset on the Orion DNA Go means that there are more features on the device than you’d usually get on any pod device. The pod device only has three power settings, indicated by white (low), blue (medium) and red (high) LED colors, with the red setting operating at up to 30 W continuous and with a four-second boost to a maximum of 40 W. From the factory, the lower setting is 11 W, the middle setting is 13 W and the top setting is 15 W, each with a boost at the beginning of your draw.
With the Escribe software, you can adjust these settings to suit your preferences. Even though the standard selection – in combination with the two options of both 0.25 and 0.5 ohm pods – covers plenty of ground, this allows you to increase the wattage up to the maximum the device supports (30 W continuous, 40 W boost).
Generally speaking, the lower settings and higher resistance pod are better for salt nicotine e-liquids or stronger e-liquids, with the higher settings and lower resistance pod working better for standard and low-nicotine juices. You change settings by pressing the secondary button. One press shows your current setting (by the LED color), and subsequent presses cycle through the available settings. So it’s really easy to use and there are more than enough power options to suit your tastes.
Battery Life Indicator
Pressing the fire button twice gives you a display of the remaining battery life in the device, with the color scheme running as follows:
- Blue: 95 to 100%
- Green: 70 to 95%
- Yellow: 30 to 70%
- Red: 15 to 30%
- Flashing red: 10 to 15%
The indicator system works during charging, too, so it’s easy to know how far along the process is too.
Upgradable Firmware and Escribe
Being a DNA device, the Orion DNA Go offers upgradable firmware and can be configured using the Escribe software on your PC. The Escribe software is pretty easy to use, with the main settings for the device appearing on the home screen, split into settings for the DL (direct to lung) and MTL (mouth to lung), with fields to fill in whatever wattages you want for each of the settings. Firmware updates are automatically detected by the software and you can update the device through there – a blue link shows up at the top of the home screen you simply click to update the device. Since this is a Lost Vape Orion DNA Go review, we won't go into more detail about the software here, but you'll pick it up pretty quickly regardless!
Lost Vape Orion DNA Go Review – In Use
Performance – Vapor Production
The DNA Go puts out plenty of vapor to keep you satisfied, even at the lowest setting. Of course, it depends on the e-juice you’re using and your airflow setting as well as the power you’re operating at. However, even testing on a higher-PG salt e-liquid at low settings, the vapor production is easily on par with vape pens. If you switch a higher setting and a higher VG e-liquid, you’ll get performance that anybody but a dedicated cloud chaser would be more than happy with.
Of course, this does vary based on the pod you’re using, with the lower-resistance, DL option included with the kit offering the best vapor production but the MTL version still standing up pretty well too. Overall, you won’t be disappointed with what it can do.
Performance – Flavor
The flavor from the pods is also pretty impressive. Especially in comparison with other pod-style devices, all of the different flavor notes of your juice really pop out and come through really clearly. The performance in terms of flavor works well with both PG and VG-based liquids, but as always part of getting the best flavor is finding the ideal setting for the juice. The stock power settings work well enough for this, but of course you have finer control over the performance you get if you open up the Escribe software and dial in a specific setting.
Overall, though, the flavor is great in any situation, and you have plenty of options to tailor it to your preferences.
Battery Life and Charging
The Orion DNA Go has an in-built 950 mAh battery. This might not sound like too much in comparison to traditional mods, but even in comparison to vape pens this is a substantial battery life, and compared to other pod-style devices it’s excellent. Thanks to the generally low-power operation, you don’t get through your charge as quickly with pod-style devices, and the Orion DNA Go’s internal battery will comfortably get you through a whole day of vaping.
Charging is a very quick process with the included USB cable, advertised at 45 minutes but consistently being less than an hour in practice, even when you make a bit of use of the vape while charging functionality on the device. Again, the LED color scheme works during charging as well, so you have a constant indication of how far along you are.
Ease of Use – Refilling and Changing Pods
As a beginner-level device, ease of use is really important when it comes to the Orion DNA Go. The good news is that it does really well in this department. The refilling system is about as simple as it gets thanks to the simple screw-cap system for the filling hole: just unscrew it, fill up and screw it back in place. Of course, the pod itself is translucent so you can easily see how close it is to being full. Replacing the cap also doesn’t affect the level of the juice so you can fill it right up to the top without spilling.
Changing the pod is really easy too, just pull down the catch on the front and pull the front section upwards. Replacing the pod is the reverse process, line up the contact points, pull down the catch and swing the front section down into place, pushing the catch back into place when you’re done.
And as mentioned earlier, the simple system for the front controls makes it really easy to dial in your settings and go through the normal vaping process.
Comfort and Portability
The small size of the Orion DNA Go means it fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and you quickly adapt to holding it so your thumb falls naturally on the fire button. The boxy shape means it isn’t perfectly comfortable to grip firmly, but it’s small enough that you can easily hold it anyway. As for portability, it’s really compact and you can easily slip it into a pocket or a bag.
Does the Orion DNA Go Leak?
As with most pod system devices, the Orion DNA Go does a great job of removing the possibility of leaking thanks to the effectively closed system design. The only way you’ll end up with a leak is if you miss the – admittedly pretty large – filling hole for your e-juice. I haven’t even noticed any issues with condensation during vaping.
Orion DNA Go vs. the Orion Q
The DNA version of the Orion has a lot of similarities with the Orion Q. They both have a 2 ml pod, 950 mAh internal battery and the same basic design. The major difference is the chipset on the DNA version, and the Orion Q doesn’t have power settings or the secondary button to control them. The space where it’s found on the DNA Go is the spot for the micro USB charging port on the simpler version. The performance from both is good, but the flavor and vapor on the DNA Go is notably better than on the Orion Q. Overall though, both are pretty solid devices, and the Orion Q is substantially cheaper if you’re on a budget.
Build Quality
Lost Vape has done a great job with the manufacturing on the DNA Go. The pod connection is snug and secure, and although you do have to make sure the pod is securely pushed down and move the catch back into place, once it’s done there is no chance of the pod accidentally disconnecting. The buttons all work as intended, and the cover for the USB charging port works really well too. Overall there are no complaints in this department.