The original Mi-Pod – and especially the Mi-Pod Pro version – ticked a lot of the boxes vapers are looking for in a vape pod system, with a simple layout hiding a powerful and capable vaping platform. But the folks at Mi-Pod have been working on an update, with the version 2.0 featuring a bigger, 1,250 mAh battery, an improved system for tracking remaining battery life, a physical switch for turning it off and on, and plenty of other additions along the way. It costs $44.99 for the kit – but is it worth the purchase? We’ve taken a look at the device for our Mi-Pod 2.0 review to find out.
Is the Mi-Pod 2.0 worth buying?
The Mi-Pod 2.0 improves on the original by boosting the battery life, pumping up the performance and arranging the airflow differently, while still keeping true to the core formula. The result is a high-performance pod system that is simple enough for new vapers while still having enough to offer even more experienced vapers. This is definitely one to try out if you’re looking for something straightforward to vape with.
Mi-Pod 2.0 Review
What You Get
The Mi-Pod 2.0 comes in a kit containing the device, two pods, a micro-USB charging cable and a brief manual for the device. The box it comes in is pretty fancy, there’s a two-piece internal box (underneath the sleeve) with a foam insert holding the device up proudly when you pull the top piece off. It’s all flash, admittedly, but it does make what you’re opening feel pretty special. But the actual content is solid too, with the two pods included giving you all you need to vape for a month or more (aside from e-juice).
Mi-Pod 2.0 – The Design
Appearance
The Mi-Pod 2.0 feels like a natural evolution of the original Mi-Pod design, with the same mini-box-mod form, except a little taller and less wide than the original. They offer a total of four color choices, each with a different design too: the Vortex (swirling designs and a purple coloring), Merkaba (black color and a star design), Seed of Life (pictured – silver coloring and an overlapping circle design) and Lotus Flower (pink with a flower design). They’re all covered in patterning, but it works well and makes the device stand out a little. The front panel with the row of four LEDs, the switch and USB port also looks cool, adding to the mod-like element of the design. Overall it looks great while still being portable and easy to find your way around.
The Pods
The Mi-Pod 2.0’s vape pods have a rectangular profile, with a wide mouthpiece and a thin body. They hold 2 ml of e-juice, which is pretty much standard for a pod system, and it has the usual silicone plug system for refilling. The flap pulls up easily and you can twist it off to the side so it doesn’t get in the way when you’re trying to refill. The pod is designed so it can only fit in one way, with one of the sides being a little higher at the base of the mouthpiece, making it impossible to insert it the wrong way around. The airflow system also works through this side of the mouthpiece, with a small channel running down the side which is fed by a hole on the inside of the battery section. Overall the pods are very user-friendly and still have some nice little innovations to make the performance excellent.
LED Indicator Lights and Power Switch
There is a line of four LED lights on the front of the Mi-Pod 2.0, which give you an indication of your remaining battery life. The system is pretty straightforward: each light represents a quarter of the total battery life. So four lights means between 4.05 and 4.2 V, three means 3.8 to 4.05 V, two means 3.55 to 3.8 V and one means less than 3.55 V. This is good in that you get a fairly detailed indication of the remaining battery, and the LEDs illuminate whenever you take a puff too. This could admittedly have been achieved with a single multi-color LED, but the line of lights does make it intuitive to read.
The power switch is a simple square button which moves up and down on a little track. You flick it up to switch the device on (the LEDs light up to confirm it’s happened) and down to switch it off. This is great for carrying the Mi-Pod 2.0 around because it makes it impossible for it to be activated accidentally. However, the switch itself is a little unreliable: if you knock it down slightly from the “on” position it registers as off. This isn’t a huge deal because you just push it up a bit and it’s fine, but it’s an occasional source of annoyance when you’re vaping with the device, especially because it doesn’t even have to be noticeably moved down.
Overall
The design of the Mi-Pod 2.0 is great. It looks cool – with plenty of design options too – and it’s easy enough to use even for brand new vapers.
Mi-Pod 2.0 – In Use
Performance
The Mi-Pod 2.0 is a hard-hitter in terms of performance. The vapor production is great for a vape pod system, whether you’re using nicotine salt or regular e-liquids, thanks in part to the ample airflow through the pod. It has 0.9 ohm resistance pods, which work well for a pod system, especially for nicotine salt juices. The vapor production is much better than you’d expect for a somewhat high resistance, though, and there are certainly many vape pens and basic mods that don’t perform as well as this. It’s also very quick to get going, with substantial amounts of vapor coming from just a few seconds of puffing.
Flavors also come through impressively powerfully from the device. The organic cotton wick and mesh coil perform great, bringing out the various notes of your e-juice with every puff. The flavor stays strong through the whole pod too, with the wicking ports being low enough down that you don’t have problems when your juice level gets low. Overall it does really well when it comes to performance.
Airflow and Draw Tightness
The airflow for the Mi-Pod 2.0 is fixed, so you don’t have the option to adjust it for different draw styles. The level is ideal for a pod device, though, with enough resistance to your draw to vape it mouth-to-lung, but not tight so it’s difficult to get a lot of vapor. If you’re looking for a direct-to-lung vape, pod systems probably aren’t the best choice for you, but there are options (such as the VaporLax Athenaz) which give some control over airflow and work better for airier draws.
Puff-to-Vape System
Like many pod devices, the Mi-Pod 2.0 is a puff-to-vape (aka “automatic”) device. This is ideal for smokers just switching over to vaping, because you use it in exactly the same way you’d smoke a cigarette. The system is dependable too: it responds right away when you take a puff and there are no issues with it activating and deactivating mid-puff. This is exactly how it should work, but these systems aren’t always reliable so it’s a big plus-point for the Mi-Pod 2.0.
Battery Life and Charging
The Mi-Pod 2.0 has a 1,250 mAh internal battery, which is pretty huge by the standards of pod systems and approaching the level of e-liquid vape pens and mods much bigger than it. This means if you’re vaping with nicotine salt e-liquids, you’ll be very impressed with what it can do. During testing, I would get through around two pods worth of juice per charge, so about 4 ml of e-liquid vaporized. In combination with nicotine salt e-juices, this is easily good for over a day of vaping, and for me it lasted around two days between charges.
Of course, if you’re using lower-strength vape juices this would be a different situation, and you’d likely need to charge before going to bed if you started when waking up. But even though the pods can take the e-juice, the overall style of the device is more suited to high-strength nicotine salt vaping.
Recharging is pretty quick with the included USB cable, taking around three hours from empty to fully charged. And you can also vape while charging, so you can keep getting your nicotine if it’s your only device. This does slow down charging (understandably) but at least you can do it.
Ease of Use
The Mi-Pod 2.0 is really easy to use, thanks to the simple refilling system and the foolproof pod connection. To fill up, you just remove the plug from the fill hole and drip your juice in. You have to tilt the pod sometimes to get the juice to trickle through to the other half of the pod but it still works really well. Changing pods is as easy as it can be: pull your current one out and push the new one right in. Other than this and the on/off switch, there’s nothing else you have to do. There’s a manual but almost nobody will actually need it.
Power Output
The power output of the Mi-Pod 2.0 is dependent on your charge level, going from 3.7 V on a full charge down to a minimum of 3.1 V as you reach the end of the battery. It doesn’t drop immediately, though, because the consistent 3.7 V runs until the battery drops below this level. This means that you’ll have the same power output until you hit two lights on the battery level indicator. When you pass this point, you might notice some drop-off towards the end of a charge, but really it still offers more than enough power until the battery is nearly dead.
Comfort and Portability
Version 2.0 is a little bigger than the original Mi-Pod, but it’s still a very compact platform, and it’s thinner than the original which makes it a little easier to slip into a pocket. This makes it perfect for vaping out of the house, even if you’re low on pocket-space, and it’s also easy to conceal if you ever need to.
The Mi-Pod 2.0 has a rounded edge at the back, which makes it more comfortable to hold than if it had been completely square-sided. But the main benefit when it comes to comfort in-use is the small size. It’s easy to hold in your hand loosely, although the rectangular shape isn’t ideal if you have a tight grip. Overall, though, you won’t have an issue in terms of comfort.
Build Quality
The Mi-Pod 2.0 is both beautifully designed and well-built. It feels generally sturdy and the pod connection is secure and tight. Really the only issue I’ve encountered in terms of build is the aforementioned problem with the power button, and even that generally works fine.
Conclusion
The Mi-Pod 2.0 builds on the success of its predecessor perfectly, offering an improved version of the same user-friendly platform with a bigger battery and great performance. It’s still missing a few things other vape pod systems offer, such as a choice of power settings, but if you’re just looking for something intuitive to start vaping with, it’s a fantastic choice. The $44.99 price-tag might be higher than some, but the battery life is hard to beat, it works as well as anything on the market and it comes with two pods as standard.