Innokin Podin AIO Review: Warm and Flavorful MTL

The Innokin Podin is a pod-style AIO for the MTL vapers out there. It is a pocketable device that comes with 2 mL pods and takes replaceable 1.3-ohm Kanthal coils. The fact that you replace the coils is what sets it apart from Innokin’s previous compact pod vapes, like the EQ/EQs and the DV—and actually what makes it an AIO instead of a standard pod vape.

It’s noteworthy that Innokin is also releasing editions that come with an adapter to use the Podin with JUUL or myblu pods—the adapters are also available as a separate purchase. That’s a great idea, but I don’t have any of those, so I won’t be discussing them in this review. What I am going to be discussing is how the Innokin Podin performs, and if it is worthy of a purchase. Keep reading to find out.

This product was sent to me directly from Innokin for the purpose of this review.

Price: $29.95 (kit), $6.99 (pod with two coils), $9.95 (pack of five coils)
Colors: Black, black marble, red marble, green marble, blue marble, white marble

Innokin sent me three of the six available colors—black, black marble and blue marble. The black is fully black with a metal frame, and the others come with resin style bodies and black or white-gray panels. Out of those, I preferred the ones with black elements on—not a big fan of the gray-white panels. But that’s certainly up to taste.

I measured the device at 61 mm x 46 mm x 16 mm (with the height going up to 77 mm at the top of the mouthpiece) and weighed it at 86 grams with a full pod on. That makes it a compact and lightweight vape and the flat shape means that you can easily throw it in your pocket. It’s also pretty short, so I consider it a stealthier kit than the DV and the EQ/EQs.

From a build quality perspective, there’s not much to fault the Podin for. It has some heft to it considering its size and looks like a product that will easily survive a drop here and there. The mouthpiece is flat-shaped but rounded and feels very comfortable in the lips. I also really liked the fact that the lanyard doubles as a charging cable. I don’t use lanyards, but those who do will sure find it useful.

One thing I didn’t like was the fact that the pod release button is rattly. It’s not one of these super annoying rattles, but it is there, and it may bother some people. At first, I was also under the impression that the button is useless, as you can remove the pod without pressing it at all. But then Innokin informed me that it is there for the JUUL/myblu pod adapters. As I mention in the intro, I haven’t had a chance to try these adapters, but I’ll take their word for it.

The pod will arrive with a coil in it, but I suggest priming before first use. To do that, just rotate the base of the pod counterclockwise and pull. This way you can remove the base of the pod, where the coil is screwed on. Drop 3-4 drops of e-liquid inside the coil and make sure that the O-ring is still on your coil (they have a tendency to slip). Then place the base back on the pod at an angle and turn clockwise to secure it in place. Remove the plug from the side and fill the pod with e-liquid. Before placing the pod back in the battery, you can set your airflow using the lever at the side of the pod near the base. It is tiny, so you’ll need to use your fingernail to set it where you want.

When replacing a coil, make sure you screw the new coil in tight—I had to empty a pod once due to the coil not making a good connection. Note that removing the base will let juice escape through the mouthpiece, so make sure that the pod is almost empty before changing coils. The Podin’s pods are dark tinted, but you can see how much liquid they contain even when they are inside the battery.

Three clicks turn the device on and off. To change the power setting, turn the device off and keep the fire button pressed. A LED light under the fire button will scroll between purple (8 watts) and green (9 watts). Once you have everything set, you can start vaping. The Podin operates both in auto draw and in button mode—I will be discussing this among other things in the performance section of the review.

There’s only one coil available for the Podin, and that’s a 1.3-ohm Kanthal coil rated for 8-9 watts. The coil wicks great with everything up to 60VG, but I found that it started to struggle with 70VG and above, especially when chainvaped.

Coil life has been all over the place for me, ranging from 3 to over 10 mL. Higher VG seems to take a toll on coil life, as do higher strength nic salts. I got the best results with 60VG regular nicotine, which is in the pod I am currently using. I have refilled it five times and it still works, but I will need to change the coil soon. A coil used with 35 mg 50/50 nic salts lasted around 7 mL, and 70VG salts killed a coil soon after one refill. There’s not enough sample size here to make definite statements, but coil life could certainly be longer. Thankfully the coils are cheap at around $10 for a pack of five.

I had a bit of flooding occasionally, but thankfully no leaking. The airflow inlets are placed on the top of the pod right under the mouthpiece, so leaking on the battery connection shouldn’t be an issue—I’ve only had minimal liquid accumulation there, probably after a sloppy refill.

I used the Podin both in auto-draw and button mode, and the sensor is working like a charm. But you do get a significantly warmer vape in button mode though, and I found myself using it this way more often.

The draw on the Podin is MTL across the board. I also found that Innokin managed to strike a perfect balance with airflow adjustment. All the way closed it is a tight MTL, and all the way open it is still MTL but quite loose. It is not a huge difference between open and closed, but it seems that they placed the airflow adjustment range at the right spot, if that makes sense. Simply put, the airflow will satisfy most MTL vapers out there.

The device seems to be providing constant output, and I didn’t notice any drop in performance up until the battery was almost empty. As for the power levels, I found 8 and 9 watts to be very similar. There is a small difference, especially when using higher strength salts. But in most cases I don’t think I’d notice it if I accidentally changed it. But regardless of the power level, the Podin produces vapor that is surprisingly warm, making it a great device for both nicotine salts and regular nicotine. I usually vape 6 mg regular nic in my MTL tanks, and I really enjoyed the Podin with 9 mg. I could go as high as 12 mg, but not more. As for salts, 35 mg was the limit for me, and I had to go with 8 watts for that. Most of the time I was content with 20 mg and 9 watts of power.

The warm vape helps a lot with flavor and throat hit, and I can honestly say that the flavor I get out of this tiny device is comparable to the flavor production of a stock coil MTL tank. I wouldn’t put it next to the Zlide, but it’s not far from it, and that’s impressive for a pod style AIO. Sometimes with these tiny coil devices, I am not even sure what juice I have in there. Not with the Podin. I get a surprisingly flavorful, saturated vape with a defined throat hit. As far as compact devices go, the Podin is certainly top tier when it comes to vape quality.

The Podin houses an 800 mAh battery, which is about average for a pod of this size. Battery life is not bad, but nothing to write home about either. Changing between 8 and 9 watts, I managed to go through one and a quarter of a pod before having to recharge. Depending on the power level you go with, you can expect to get anywhere between one and one and a half pods on a single charge.

The Podin charges through a micro USB port that’s placed at the bottom of the device. The three lights under the firing button function as a battery indicator.

• One light: 0-20%
• Two lights: 20-60%
• Three lights: 60-100%

I timed a full charge at 1 hour 12 minutes, which is rather slow considering the capacity of the battery. At this point, I’d expect a device like this to need much less than an hour to charge—1-amp charging would have been enough to accomplish that.

The Innokin Podin has a lot going for it. It is compact and easy to use, and outside of a wobbly pod release button, it is a very well-built device. The options in airflow and power levels may seem limited but allow you to fine tune your vape and get a satisfying MTL exactly the way you want it.

But the best thing about the Podin is that it produces surprisingly warm vapor, making it possible to use regular nicotine or something like 20 mg salts on it. For a vape as warm and as flavorful as this, I am willing to look past the listed cons. I wish its coils would last longer, and that they could handle 70VG better. But if you are planning on using it with up to 60VG, it is a device I can highly recommend.

What do you think of the Innokin Podin? Let me know in the comment section!