Innokin Endura T20 kit: One of the Best for Beginners

Do you remember the T18? It was a discreet, portable starter kit from Innokin, launched at the end of 2015. It has a special place in my heart as it was my first ever vape. So I was very excited to hear that Innokin had a sequel in the works…

The T20 is a similar creature to its predecessor, with some modifications. It packs a 1500 mAh internal battery, 2 mL tank capacity (as described in the specs – in reality it’s about 1.2 mL), and 1.5 ohm coils for a distinctly mouth-to-lung vape. Innokin have tweaked the drip tip design, going for a tapered look reminiscent of the Nautilus series. And to top it off, (pun) the T20 comes with a removable cap that doubles as a base stabilizer.

With this kit retailing for around $25, and a 5-pack of coils for $10, beginner vapers are well catered for. Let’s check out the T20 and see if it has something special to offer in the flavor department.

“Flavor. Redefined” boasts the packaging of Endura T20 kit. With their hi-def images and bold black text on white backgrounds, Innokin’s packaging reminds me of an Apple product. Opening the box, the first thing you see is the slick quick start guide by Jimmith, another welcome feature of Innokin products. The kit comes with 2 spare drip tips, as well as the obligatory extras – o-rings, USB cable – but curiously, no extra coil. As we speak, Innokin only produces one type of coil for the T20, with a fixed resistance of 1.5 ohm.

For this review, I’m vaping Butterscotch at 12 mg/mL, a now-defunct e-liquid from Belfast-based JustMist (thanks to the TPD and prohibitive testing costs). It was the first e-liquid that I vaped with the T18, so I thought for this review it would be worth going down memory lane.

One of the best features of the Prism coils for the T18/T22 was the vast surface area exposed to e-liquid in the tank. The T18 coils (T18E in the EU) were huge enclosures with 20 (9 in the T18E) juice holes. The coil housing comprised the chimney inside the tank itself. For a starter kit, the Prism coils were a great way to get hooked on flavor! Even if they looked like a robot’s Queen T…

The T20 coils are completely closed-off except for 4 large juice inlets at the base. These new coils are said to be equally adept at wicking higher-VG e-liquids as well as lower-VG blends more typical for MTL vaping. Interestingly they have the same dimensions as the T18E coils, and are actually cross-compatible. Don’t like the T20 coils? If you can get the T18E ones, they’ll work in the T20 too. Whether intentional or not, this offers great flexibility for vapers.

The T20 performs just like a starter kit should – a single firing button is all you get in terms of a user interface. No adjustable airflow, no variable wattage. These would be major gripes for a more advanced device, but for a starter kit, Innokin gets it just right.

For an MTL vape, vapor production isn’t bad – expect different results based on your PG/VG ratio. The T20 is a fairly stealthy device and you’d be hard pressed to cloud up a room with it. Temperature is somewhere in the middle. You could push the coils up to 20 W if you wanted, but 13 W seems about right for coil longevity. Innokin says you can expect 1 – 3 weeks depending on usage.

Make no mistake: flavor is great on the T20. A high-nic e-liquid really has punch using the Prism coils. I would still give a slight edge to the T18E coils for flavor though. But since they’re cross-compatible, I don’t see any problem here. Both the T18 and T20 are among my favorite MTL tanks for flavor.

The draw is tight, comparable to the Juul, more restricted than the Bo One. Compared to the T18 I’d be splitting hairs to describe the difference – perhaps a tiny bit airier. The bottom line is (and this is important for a starter kit) it feels close to a cigarette. Considering that you’ll probably be using the T20 to vape lower-VG liquids with some nic content, this is an MTL vape worthy of anything out there on the market. The coils wick quickly, and I’ve experienced no spitback or flooding.

What made the T18 such a great transitioning device was the drip tip. It had the same diameter as a cigarette filter, and you could modify your draw in a way that felt very cig-like. The T20 has gone for a tapered look that reminds me of the Nautilus series. The kit comes with two replacements, great for the hygiene-conscious or forgetful. In any case, they’re 510 drip tips, so easily replaceable if you don’t like them.

The T20 uses a top-fill system that is almost a no-brainer. My only gripe is that is easy to overfill as the top-cap threading extends a good 5 mm into the tank. Although capacity is listed as 2 mL (including on Innokin’s own specs sheet), to avoid spills you can only get away with 1.2 mL, tops. A couple of times I’ve had to wipe off excess e-liquid that has seeped out the top. It’s best to only fill to the top of the tank glass.

To change coils, you need to unscrew the tank base, taking care to hold it upside-down. This is straightforward and easy to do for a beginner – the base screws into place, holding the coil in position. The only neg here is that your tank needs to be empty, otherwise e-liquid will flood the mouthpiece and drip out. Unfortunately, that’s the price you pay for a coil system with an inbuilt chimney.

The T18 was notoriously wobbly, thanks to the USB charging port located at the base of the device. A swiveling metal flap concealed the port, but always looked like it could be easily damaged. The T20 makes some sensible advances here, by relocating the USB port to the side of the device, and adding a cap. This functions much like a marker lid, protecting the drip tip for pocket hygiene, and doubling as a base. The cap surface is rubberized, making the T20 less accident-prone. A word of caution: I dropped mine, and the lid snapped. I fixed it with some tape and it fits better on the device than before!

Although tank capacity is 1.2 mL, for many beginner vapers this will last them the best part of a day. With its internal 1500 mAh battery, the T20 ought to see you through a full day’s usage at 13 watts. From a drained battery, the device took round about two hours to charge completely.

In many ways, the T20 starter kit is a logical progression for Innokin, updating the feature set that was already present in the T18. The T20 offers a superior battery, side charging port, and a rubberized stand – all features that enhance the ergonomics of the T20.

While flavor is certainly on point for a dedicated MTL device, the flavor gains over the T18 are negligible in my opinion. The saving grace may be that the T20 coils are built to handle even high-VG juice. That begs the question why you would vape high-VG juice in an MTL setup however.

Some vapers will baulk at the lack of flexibility in this device – no adjustable airflow or wattage. But considering this as a starter kit for the transitioning smoker, it works like a charm.

Even experienced vapers will find something to like in this device. Both the T18 and the T20 are up there as two of my favorite MTL vape pens on the market.