timwis Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Hi Vapor Talk members, In this review i take a look at the Unico Pod Kit from Univapo. The Unico Pod Kit was supplied for the purpose of this review by Rebecca from Univapo. Introduction This is where on this occasion i need to be introduced to Univapo as they have passed me by but on hearing the Unico was being sent i did a bit of research to find they have actually been around a good while and have released some very well received products in the past. The Unico is a pod mod much in the same style as the RPM40 and Vinci etc but i wasn't just pleasantly surprised when testing it but shocked at how good it was and the superior features it has over these more hyped devices. We have dual PCB protection, full view of your liquid inside the pod, side-fill which doesn't require the removal of the pod, adjustable airflow that actually works great (it gives anything from a semi-restricted draw with wide open airflow with one of the DL coil heads right down to a cigarette type pull with one of the MTL coils), good range of available coils and get the drum roll going! I haven't had a drop of leakage!!! Coming in 7 Colour/design options the Unico might just be the pod mod you should of got, let's check it out! ___________________________________________________________________ In The Box Contents: 1 Unico Device 1 Replaceable cartridge (pre-installed) 2 Replaceable evaporators 0.3 / 0.6Ω (one pre-installed) 1 lanyard 1 User Manual 1 Micro USB Cable 1 Warranty card ___________________________________________________________________ Aesthetics and Ergonomics The Unico came in cardboard sleeved packaging with the device with installed pod on the upper level within it's own compartment and all included accessories in the bottom. I received the Gold version, the options are Red, Gold, Darkred, Camouflage, Line, Ink or Carbonfiber. Up top we have the protruding rounded pod with a Delrin arch that goes from just above the fill port at the front over the top to meet the device at the rear, we also have a central drip tip which is part of the same moulding. I will briefly describe the device leaving much to the photos starting with the face of the device has a Black panel which houses a protruding square fire button top, rectangular protruding navigational buttons bottom and a large colour screen central, below the panel is the micro USB port. Both sides have a swirl effect Golden pattern and we have a Gold panel at the rear which actually has carbon fiber effect. The sides are rounded very much like a tubular device with flattened face and rear given it a different form factor over the other very squared form factors of most of these style of devices. There is no rattle from the device although the buttons are plastic and have quite a cheap feel but this is out of character to the rest of the device and pod which is extremely well made. The Unico with it's Aluminium frame is slightly lighter than it's competitors and with rounded sides has an ergonomic advantage! Just to point out i described mine but there is some really nice side panels on some of the colour choices including leather or leather effect done very well (not sure which), they look very nice! ___________________________________________________________________ Unico Specs and Features: Dimensions: 106 x 27.6 x 27.35mm Case material: plastic + Aluminium Power: built-in 1500mAh Available Coil heads: Mesh: 0.3ohm 30 - 43w, 0.6ohm 18 - 25w Regular: 0.8ohm 17 - 20w. 1.2ohm 9 - 13w Output power: 5 – 49W Voltage range: 0.0 – 4.2V Supported resistance: 0.3 – 2.0Ω Protection: against low / high resistance, from overheating, from short circuit, from overcharging / over-discharge Connector type: magnetic Colour Screen: 0.96" Micro USB port 1A charge rate Colours: Red, Gold, Darkred, Camouflage, Line, Ink, Carbonfiber ___________________________________________________________________ The Pod The pod i really like, it has an aesthetically pleasing rounded shape and is smoked but lightly, so perfectly transparent. As mentioned earlier we have a delrin arched roof with integrated drip tip which leaves the rounded sides of the pod to give clear visibility of your juice level as only the base section of the pod sit's in the device. We have a silicone strip which sits either on the face or rear depending which way round you install the pod which allows filling without the removal of the pod. The silicone strip lifts from it's left edge and stays attached on the right revealing a large enough fill port for air to escape with inserted nozzle for a quick, mess free fill. Looking at the base we have a magnet to each corner and an opening with threading for the coil head with base assembly to screw into, the standard pod capacity is 4ml while the TPD version is 2ml. ___________________________________________________________________ Available Coil Heads The Kit includes 2 different coil heads which are the pre-installed 0.3ohm mesh coil rated between 30 - 43w and the regular 0.8ohm coil head rated between 17 - 20w. Also available is the 0.6ohm mesh coil head rated between 18 - 25w and the regular 1.2ohm coil head rated between 9 - 13w. The resistance and wattage range is etched onto the coil heads but no material given, all coil heads are available in packs of 3. ___________________________________________________________________ Fitting The Coil Heads The coil head needs screwing into the base section which in turn screws into the pod with an o-ring completing a very good seal. This base section as an AFC ring but also helps to make the device much more leak resistant than having the coil head exposed as we see on other similar devices. ___________________________________________________________________ Fitting The Pod Looking into the pod bay we have a raised magnet to each corner to line up with the magnets on the pod and the Gold plated, spring loaded contacts on a black raised surround. The pod snaps into place very securely leaving no movement, cracking job! ___________________________________________________________________ The Airflow The device front and back has a "U" shaped cutout to the edge similar to what we sometimes see on build decks to rest a coiling rod. The pod has protruding sections front and back that interlock into these cutouts but leave a good sized gap to the bottom, these gaps are for letting air get to the base of the pod. As mentioned previously before installing, the coil head gets screwed into a base and this base has dual, fully adjustable airflow slots which adjusts with perfect tolerance. The slots are quite narrow but also quite elongated to give much more precise adjustments, very impressed! (it makes the airflow rings on the RPM and RGC pods of the Fetch Pro i reviewed look very substandard in comparison). ___________________________________________________________________ Dual PCB Protection I'm not really up on the real technical stuff but one of the main features of the Unico is the setting of an extra IC on the PCB. Most regulated devices rely on on the software programming for the protections to work as they should and this dual PCB protection means if the software fails for whatever reason you are still safe. I was sent diagrams of various of the most hyped pod mods showing they lack this extra protection and was encouraged to take the device to bits to check for myself but as someone who has never took anything electrical apart in my life and it still work after reassembling, and the fact i really wouldn't understand what i am looking at i gave it a miss. Safety should always be the number one priority so this feature is great to see and please if anyone has more of an understanding which will be helpful to other readers please comment! ___________________________________________________________________ The Display The Unico has a large, sharp, bright display with good use of colour and all the information you require on show. Top left we have a Green padlock and then top right the battery status bar. Underneath within Grey shaded areas we first have the puff count followed by the duration of your last puff. Absolutely bang in the centre of the screen we have the wattage which is followed within Green shaded areas by first the voltage and then the resistance, finally we have "UNIVAPO" at the very bottom. ___________________________________________________________________ Operating The Device The Unico is a simple adjustable wattage only device so very simple to navigate and suitable as a first device. The device is the usual 5 clicks to turn on and 5 clicks to turn off and once on we do have a few combination button press features. Both navigational buttons pressed together locks and unlocks those buttons but the device will still fire, alternatively long pressing the right button together with fire locks and unlocks the whole device. Apart from resetting the puff counter which is left and the fire button together that's it, so very simple! The wattage adjusts from 5w to 49w in 1w increments dependant on the coil which is installed because the device has a smart wattage feature. When installing the 0.3ohm coil it adjusts to a recommended 35W but will allow adjustments from the full 5 to 49w range. With the other available coil heads the device when first detecting the coil adjust to it's lowest recommendation and will only allow the device to adjust to that coil head's maximum recommendation and not the full 49w although there is no lower limit. The device has all the safety features you would expect which work fine displaying a message on the screen when one kicks in! ___________________________________________________________________ Protections Overcharge Protection Over-discharge Protection Over-current Protection Short Circuit Protection High Temperature Protection 10 seconds Cutoff Protection ___________________________________________________________________ Charging The Unico has a 1500mAh battery which is par for this type of pod mod with in-built battery and i'm pleased the USB port is on the face of the device rather than base so the device can be stood up while charging. If the port was Type C this would be much better and the charge rate of 1A for 2020 is a bit sluggish taking around 1.5 hours to charge. The device does give good feedback while charging though displaying both a status progress bar and the charge on the battery given as a percentage, it also supports pass-through. ___________________________________________________________________ My Experience Using The Unico And Thoughts! I have found the Unico to be a far better device than the RPM40, Vinci and other more hyped competitors with the main two reasons being how well the airflow control works giving anything from a semi restrictive direct lung draw right through to a cigarette type draw and the fact i have had absolutely zero leaking. I also like how i only need to remove the pod to change coil head as it gives really good visibility of the juice level and can be filled mess free without removing the pod. I received all available coils but will concentrate most on the two which are included. I'm quite neutral about the smart wattage as it's good because it means you are not going to fry your coils but with all the coils i found i needed to adjust the wattage down anyway as this gives a very warm vape with the coil head so close to the mouth and found the ratings too high on all the coils. the 0.3ohm mesh coil despite the 30 - 43w rating i found great and plenty warm enough at just 20w with the airflow 2 thirds open for a restricted lung hit but closing down just a little more it also gives a very good loose MTL. Like with all the available coil heads despite the 0.8ohm and 1.2ohm having smaller wicking ports i found they worked great with either 70VG or 50/50. You can get a semi-restricted draw with airflow fully open and close down for a much tighter draw but there are better coils in the range for a tighter MTL vape. The 0.8ohm regular coil rated between 17 - 20w i found i preferred at just 10w which gave a surprisingly strong vape and cloud production with airflow fully open for a restricted direct lung hit but was great using in conjunction with the airflow control giving the full MTL spectrum right down to a cigarette type draw. The 0.6ohm mesh coil behaved much as the 0.3ohm coil did but at even lower wattage and the 1.2ohm regular coil head can go even tighter than the 0.8ohm and i found this great when trying with some nic salts at just 7w. The flavour from all the coil heads are very good and i haven't needed to crack open a second of any of the coils as they still give full flavour so no skeleton in the closet when it comes to coil head longevity. Of course the device can be improved and obviously an 18650 version with Type C USB would be better and one of the cons for me is the 1.5 hour charge time which i would like cut down to an hour. The device does support pass-through though and with not needing to throw wattage at any of the available coils it gives good value fot it's 1500mAh capacity. The only other con i have for the device is although the drip tip is comfortable enough i wish it had a standard 510 fitting giving me the option of using my own! ___________________________________________________________________ Likes Very good build quality 7 nice colour/design options Ergonomic and light Dual PCB Protection Very good visibility of e-liquid Fill mess free without removing pod Pod fits very securely Excellent adjustable airflow Can get from semi restrictive lung hit right down to tighter than a cigarette pull with this device Good range of available coils for restricted direct lung and MTL vaping Very good flavour and longevity (all available coils) Use 50/50 or 70VG liquids 1.2ohm coil head ideal for high nic and nic salts Includes a 0.3ohm mesh coil head and 0.8ohm regular coil head Included lanyard although i didn't mention it Smart Wattage Very warm vape All coils give good flavour and satisfying vape at low wattage's Smooth airflow Bright, sharp, colourful, informative display Puff Counter Lock either just navigational buttons or whole device Experienced Zero leaking Good charging feedback given Supports Pass-through Cons In-built battery (an 18650 version would be great!) Not Type C USB 1A charge rate (1.5 hours to charge) a bit slow Integrated drip-tip (although comfortable enough) Buttons plastic with cheap feel (out of character with the rest of device which is made well) I would once again like to thank Rebecca from Univapo for supplying the Unico pod Kit for the purpose of this review, thanks for reading and stay safe! ___________________________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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