FEELM Wicking Technology Review: No Cotton, No Coil

Intro

Last year, a new type of ceramic wicking was brought to the market called FEELM. It's made specifically for pod vapes and nic salt. After just a short time being available, FEELM appears to be the popular choice for OEM! After attending the 2019 IECIE Shenzen vape expo, I saw the words "FEELM Inside" branded on (what seemed to be) dozens of new pod vapes.

FEELM is made by FEELMTech, a China-based subsidiary of Smoore Technology, which happens to be the parent company for Vaporesso. Although this is a ceramic type of wicking, it’s not the same ceramic CCELL coil used by a number of Vaporesso devices.

FEELM ceramic wicking promises a cleaner flavor, consistent temperature, and no leaking. Unfortunately, I can't test the wicking on my own juices because — I believe — it's dedicated to prefilled devices. The device I was sent is an unbranded pod vape with prefilled flavors. It's just a tester (although it looks exactly like the Dot Vape kit).

Performance

The FEELM wicking and coil design are unique. It’s a little porous block of grey ceramic that looks like it could go on a circuit board. Two wires stick out of the bottom of the ceramic block for the connection, and the heating element is an s-shape metal film embedded in the bottom of the block. Juice is fed down through a black plastic gasket that sits on top of the grey ceramic. There’s no cotton or actual coil in this design.

Aside from its novelty factor, there are two important questions to answer: Does it outshine a typical coil design wicked with cotton? And does it deliver as promised?

The FEELM wicking performs well. The flavor is really clean, comfortably warm, and the throat hit is solid. There was no leaking, spitting, or popping whatsoever! It’s also a super silent vape. But, being prefilled limits how I can judge the wicking tech vs. others (considering I can't use my own juice). I hacked a pod but was unable to get a good vape off a refill (I think the heating element got damaged.) Also, because the pods I received are only 2 mL, there’s no way to judge the longevity of FEELM. What wick can’t handle two mL?! I’ve finished about six pods or more on this device, and while they did perform really well, I got a few dry hits that seemed to come out of nowhere. Other than that, I really like the performance.

Verdict

Based on my time with this (a month or so), I’m comfortable recommending a device with FEELM as a wick. It’s been a reliable vape for me for the majority of the time I used it. The flavor is solid, the hit is exactly what I want from nic salts, and I love that it vapes so quietly. For many of the standard cotton/coil designs in pod vapes, and even CCELL ceramic coils, FEELM can hold its own. My only two hopes are that the occasional dry hits are eliminated, and one day FEELM can come in a refillable device.