timwis Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 Hi Vapor Talk members, In this review i take a look at the Fetch Mini Pod Kit from Smok. The SMOK Fetch Mini Pod Kit was supplied for the purpose of this review by Ella from Sourcemore. Introduction Smok haven't been quite as prolific of late but have recently brought out a few devices including a couple of pod mod devices. the Fetch Mini is really just the RPM 40 Pod Mod but in a mini box mod form while also introducing a classy 2.5D arc edge glass finish. The pod mod with screen and fully adjustable wattage is the way i believe the market will go in regards pod/AIO devices in 2020 with the market reaching saturation point when it comes to the smaller, simple pod devices. The Fetch Mini has adjustable wattage which can be adjusted up to 40W, a display that can be customised and comes with 2 different pods/cartridges, one which accommodates replaceable RPM coils and the other accommodates Nord coils so the available coil options are multiple. With a 1200mAh in-built battery, an RPM RBA available and coming in 10 colour options, let's give it a look! ___________________________________________________________________ In The Box Contents: 1 x SMOK Fetch Device (1200mAh) pre-installed empty 3.7ml RPM Pod (2ml TPD) 1 x Nord Empty 3.7ml pod (2ml TPD) 1 x SMOK RPM Mesh 0.4Ω Coil 1 x SMOK Nord Regular 0.6Ω Coil 1 x USB Cable 1 x User Manual ___________________________________________________________________ Aesthetics and Ergonomics The Fetch Mini comes in cardboard box packaging and on opening i was met by a classy looking mini pod mod. I received the Dark Brown glass version device but it's available in various plain and Acrylic versions with 2.5D arc edge glass panels both sides and the colour/design beneath uses combined AG Process and AF optical coating so the overall effect is different texture and shades showing through the glass as the light catches from different angles. The device is very box shaped with one top corner being completed by the protruding section of the pod. The face of the device has a protruding large clicky square fire button towards the top and towards the bottom navigational buttons which combined form an horizontal pill shape. Between the fire and navigational buttons we have a large colour TFT Screen, and at the very bottom of the face a micro USB port. The device is a nice weight for it's size and has a quality feel about it, plenty of branding is on show which will not appeal to everyone and it needs mentioning it's one hell of a fingerprint magnet. The Fetch Mini gets swallowed by the hand and is very comfortable to carry about. ___________________________________________________________________ Fetch Mini Specs and Features: Size: 76mm x 42.8mm x 18.4mm E-juice Capacity: 3.7ml (2ml TPD) Battery Capacity: 1200mAh Output Voltage: 0.5V - 4.1V Output Wattage: 5W - 40W Charging: 1.2A Max Supports RPM and Nord coil heads Resistance Range: 0.3-2.5ohm Firing Time: 0.001s Screen: 0.96" TFT Screen Charging Port: Micro USB Charging 2.5D arc edge glass on both panels Variable wattage support up to 40W With dustproof and waterproof functions 0.96" TFT Screen display to show you specific vape data Easy bottom filling design Colours: Black, Green, Orange, Blue, Dark Brown, Acrylic Fluid Purple, Acrylic Fluid Green, Acrylic Fluid Blue, Acrylic Fluid Gold, Acrylic Fluid Red ___________________________________________________________________ 2 Different Pods/Cartridges You receive 2 different cartridges and while they both appear to have the same dimensions each house a different family of coils which itself must change the pod/cartridge capacity. Both Pods/Cartridges are 2ml with the TPD version although i don't see how they can have exactly the same capacity as the RPM coils are bigger than the Nord which surely reduces capacity. With the standard version the Pod/Cartridge that accommodates the RPM family of coils has a capacity of 3.7ml (really slightly less due to size of coil) and can be identified by being a tinted pod/cartridge with a Red fill bung which says "RPM" on it. The pod/cartridge that houses the Nord coils also have a 3.7ml capacity and can be identified by having a frosted but much more transparent finish and a Black fill bung which says "NORD" on it. Although the RPM pod/cartridge has a tinted appearance there is no issues with seeing the e-liquid inside, with both pods/cartridges the coils get press fitted with attached base section into the pod/cartridge. ___________________________________________________________________ The Pods/Cartridges The pods are a rectangular shape with fixed plastic top section that includes a cylindrical mouthpiece and i have already explained the differences between the 2 pods/cartridges you receive. On the base of the pod/cartridge we have a large horizontal T shaped bung that can be pulled out via the top of the T leaving the bung still attached to the pod/cartridge. The fill port like on the RPM is one of the biggest i have seen on a pod/cartridge and you can fill it very quickly and absolutely mess free, my only issue is with the bung itself which does seal very well but is not the easiest to pull out or fix back in place. Looking at the base of the pod/cartridge with installed coil you can see the round central positive and negative surround. The pods/cartridges have no adjustable airflow but if you look at the pod and device air enters the pod both at the top on the opposite side to the mouthpiece (this gets directed internally eventually feeding the bottom of the coil) and at the bottom on the opposite side so plenty of air gets to the coils so airflow will be solely dictated by the bore of the coil head. Also either side of the fill bung we have large magnets which are used for securing the pod in the device, these magnets though contribute to the awkwardness of removing and securing the bung in place, i really wish the pod/cartridge had a top-fill method. ___________________________________________________________________ The Coils You get 2 coils included neither of which are pre-installed in the included pods/cartridges. We get the RPM 0.4ohm Mesh coil with a recommended wattage of 25W and the Nord regular 0.6ohm dual coil recommended at 20W. Being able to use both RPM and Nord coils gives plenty of available options: ___________________________________________________________________ RBA Available If you spotted it bottom left on the picture of the available coil heads you would of noticed there is an RPM RBA head available which will spark an interest i'm sure. The RBA comes with wire and cotton to do a 0.6ohm build and when doing other builds you need to make sure the minimum resistance is 0.25ohm, it's a real shame this isn't included in the kit. ___________________________________________________________________ Fitting The Pod/Cartridge Looking inside the pods bay we can see the positive and negative Gold plated, spring loaded contacts in the lower section and a QR code in the upper. We can also see how everything is well sealed and indeed it is both a waterproof and dustproof bay which is a big pro just in case there is a build up of liquid. The inside of the bay like the rest of the chassis is Zinc Alloy and we have the already mentioned large magnets on the base of the pod/cartridge which give a very good play free, secure fit, A really good job! Although the pod fits very securely it can be easily grabbed and pulled free which is a good job really as to see your juice level you need to remove the pod which for me is a big con. ___________________________________________________________________ The Display The colour display is very bright and impressively sharp with all the information needed on show. Top left we have a padlock and then top right we have the battery status bar. Underneath we have the wattage and below this a wavy line. Underneath the line positioned centrally we have the time of your vape which stays displayed until your next puff is taken. Next we have resistance followed by voltage and then your puff count. Bottom left we have a painting pallet icon followed by 6 different coloured squares in an horizontal row. The main information is in white but added icons and the mentioned wavy line can be customised to be one of 6 colours. ___________________________________________________________________ Navigating The Fetch Mini The Fetch Mini may have a pod/cartridge that fits to the device but the device operates just like any other variable wattage regulated device. The device is the usual 5 clicks to turn on and 5 clicks to turn off and once on the wattage can be adjusted in 1W increments from 5W to 40W, it doesn't round robin. We do have a number of combination key press features which include pressing fire and left together resets the puff counter and fire and right together moves to the next colour option if you want to change the colour of certain items on the screen, the colours to choose from are Red, Orange, Blue, Magenta, Green and White. Pressing the fire button 3 times locks the whole device so it will not fire, alternatively you can lock just the navigational buttons by pressing them both at the same time. Finally as expected the device has the usual safety protections and if one kicks in a message is displayed on the screen. ___________________________________________________________________ Protections: High-Temperature Protection 8 Seconds Cutoff Short Circuit Protection Low Voltage Protection ___________________________________________________________________ Charging The Fetch Mini charged at just over 1A and each time i charged it was completed in just over an hour. While charging we have both a status bar and the charge given as a percentage and it also allowed me to vape while charging. About an hour for a 1200mAh battery device is about par so no complaints there but i feel all devices of whatever kind should now be coming with type C USB. ___________________________________________________________________ How It Vapes and My Thoughts! Like the RPM 40 the device is cracking, it really is much better than i was expecting. I have also been testing the Voopoo Vinci which i bought and am hoping to find time to review and although the Fetch Mini has a completely different form to the Vinci like the RPM 40 it is so very similar. I have also been testing the Vinci X which i will be writing a review for but as far as just the Vinci is concerned reading all the hype i thought it would be much better than both the Smok RPM 40 and Fetch Mini but from trying all devices i have to come to the conclusion it's just anti Smok opinion. Personally leaking pods are a big issue to me with the Vinci and the Fetch Mini stayed bone dry, a big pro. There are so many coil options including an available RBA for the Fetch Mini which should appeal, so in my opinion both the RPM 40 and Fetch Mini are not inferior to the Vinci with both the Smok and Voopoo devices having certain things in their favours making them very close. The Draw using the Fetch Mini is a restricted direct lung with the bore on the coil heads determining just how restrictive, some of the coil heads might allow for MTL but considering the air the pods are getting it's going to be a loose MTL at best and the bore on the mouthpiece is quite large and not really suitable for tight draws. The device fires as quick as any modern regulated device and hit's set wattage instantly, i found it performed excellently and really have no complaints. The Nord coil performed great giving solid flavour although i have used Nord coils in the past so knew what i was going to get but the pick was the RPM Mesh coil which gave really good flavour which lasted for 6 refills before any sought of drop off but even now the flavour is far too good to toss the coil just yet. I was fine with the 20W recommendation with the Nord coil but found the 25W for the RPM coil didn't give a cool vape but just felt a bit more warmth would be ideal, i bumped the wattage up to 30W and this was much better and the coil took the extra wattage comfortably in it's stride, while testing 70VG liquid it even wicked perfectly ok with a bit of chain vaping at 35W. I used both 50/50 and 70%VG juices and both coils handled both well and as mentioned the RPM coil had no problems wicking well over it's recommended wattage. I also like the shape, size and weight of the device it's ideal for a carry about, i feel charging was about par for a 1200mAh battery and supporting pass-through is a pro. Other things i like is the display (including customisation), the amount of coil options available and also having an available RBA head but i really think the Fetch Mini would gain much more interest if this was included. When it comes to battery life it is what it is, about half the capacity of a single 18650 device so if it's your main device vaping at 20+ Watts then obviously it will need charging during the day. ___________________________________________________________________ Likes Nice build quality Glass panels using 2.5D arc edge glass Combined AG process and AF optical coating for nice visual effect Acrylic versions now available Plenty of colour options Portable, ergonomic device Supports Nord and RPM coils Both Nord and RPM pod/cartridge included Large fill port (mess free filling) RBA head available Various restricted DL draws (dependant on coil used) Good flavour (supplied Nord Coil) Very good flavour (supplied RPM coil) Longevity above average both supplied coils Adjustable wattage 5W-40W (1W increments) Puff counter (can be reset) Sharp, bright, colour display Display can be customised Large capacity both pods/cartridges (standard version) 1A charging Supports Pass-through Detected no leaking or condensation inside pod/cartridge bay waterproof and Dustproof bay design Cons Need to remove pod/cartridge to see juice level removing and replacing fill bung a bit awkward No adjustable airflow Not really suitable for MTL (loose MTL at best with available coils) Proprietary Mouthpiece Fingerprint magnet RBA head not included Micro USB NOT Type C I would once again like to thank Ella from Sourcemore for supplying the SMOK Fetch Mini Pod Kit for the purpose of this review. ___________________________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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