Innokin Zlide MTL Review: The Best Got Even Better

Product intro and specs

The Innokin Zlide is a mouth to lung tank that’s designed by Phil Busardo and Dimitris Agrafiotis, two guys that are very well-known in vaping circles. It is part of the Platform line of beginner-friendly products, and in many ways can be considered a follow-up to one of the best MTL tanks on the market, the Zenith.

Phil and Dimitris have stated that the Zlide is not supposed to replace the Zenith, and that the Zenith II is already in the works. In any case, the Zlide takes the same coils as the Zenith (and the rest of the Platform products) and comes with some very welcome updates to the looks and functionality of its predecessor.

Colors: Black, stainless steel, blue, gunmetal
Price: $19.99 (at Element Vape)

Build quality and design

Coil installation is the same as it is on the Zenith. Start by dropping 4-5 drops of juice inside the coil. Then unscrew the bottom of the tank, and insert the coil using the notches as a guide. Make sure the bottom of the coil is lined up properly and put everything back together. Let it saturate for five minutes, set your wattage at the lower end of the recommended wattage spectrum and you’re ready to go. The coil also functions as the 510 pin of the tank, which is a great feature as 510s tend to get dirty after long use.

A very important feature of the Zlide, and a great improvement over the Zenith, is the ability to replace the glass tank if it breaks. At the same time, this means that the Zlide can be taken apart for cleaning—although you will need a T2 Torx screwdriver to remove the sliding top cap if you want to be real thorough. Not being able to replace the glass was one of my biggest gripes with the Zenith, and I was very happy to see that this was fixed on the Zlide.

Compared to the Zenith, the Zlide looks like a much more “modern” product. The utilitarian design has been replaced by a curvier and slicker look, the branding is more discreet, and the paintjob feels much better. The O-rings are great and the machining on the tank is excellent all around. All in all, from a build quality and design perspective, the Zlide feels much more expensive than it is.

*Check the kit contents drop-down menu to see all included parts and extras

Zlide coil heads

Compared to the Z-Biip, the Zlide allows for further customization with its four airflow options and the fine tuning that comes with using a mod. I generally enjoyed all coils around the middle of their recommended wattages. The 1.6-ohm coil was excellent up to 12 watts with one hole open, or even a bit higher if you open up one more hole. The 0.8 worked best for me with two holes open around 16-17 watts, and the 0.48-ohm Plex3D coil, which was my favorite, was best at 15 watts with two or three holes open. This one was also good for a very restricted lung hit with all four holes open. I didn’t even test the 0.5-ohm coil on the Zlide as I find it to be the only Z-coil I don’t like using.

The Z-coils are also some of the longer-lasting coils for MTL vaping. Back when testing the Zenith I went through 40 mL of juice on the 1.6 and the 0.8-ohm coils and they were still performing great. The Plex3D is claimed to last even longer, but after using them extensively I found that the 0.8 is the winner when it comes to longevity.

If you vape on high nic strengths, the 1.6-ohm coil with its great throat hit and slightly tighter airflow will be a great choice. From a flavor perspective, I got the best results out of the 0.48-ohm coil, but the 0.8 one was a very close second.

Airflow

One of the Zlides I received was whistling out of the box, but it went away after I took everything apart and put it back together – it was smooth sailing after that. Outside of the barely noticeable sizzling sound of the coils (especially the Plex3D one), vaping on the Zlide is practically silent and there’s no turbulence on the airflow all across the airflow options.

Performance

One concern I had was the lack of liquid flow control that came with the slide-to-open top fill – the Zenith had a built-in liquid flow control which was part of the filling mechanism. I didn’t have liquids with more than 50% PG, but I am happy to report that I had no leaking whatsoever with my 50/50 liquids. The coils also had no trouble wicking 70VG e-liquids even when chain-vaping for long periods. I wouldn’t go higher on the VG content though, just to be safe.

The one and only (nitpicky) issue I had with the Zlide — specifically with the 0.48-ohm coils — was that flavors tended to linger for longer when swapping e-liquids. I believe that the reason behind it is the “complexity” of the Plex3D mesh. Other than that, overall experience was stellar.

A great feature of the Zlide tank (and every product of the Platform line) is the QR code card that’s included in the package. Scanning it will get you to a list of instructional videos presented by Phil Busardo, covering everything from preparing the tank for first use to replacing the glass tank. That’s customer support at its finest and something that’s going to be highly appreciated by beginners.

Pros / Cons

Verdict

If you already own the Zenith, and you don’t care for a cosmetic upgrade and the extra convenience, then you don’t have to run and buy the Zlide. But if you don’t have a Zenith tank, then I can highly recommend the Zlide for MTL vaping. The Z-coils are best in class, and with this price tag it is a no brainer.