Joyetech Exceed Grip Review: AIO/Pod System with Dry Hit Protection

Joyetech is back with a boxy little vape called the Exceed Grip. It’s both an AIO and a pod vape that comes in an array of snazzy colors and mismatched panels, or in subdued and minimalist single-color options.

The Exceed Grip is sold in a kit with two pods that look alike, but one should be considered a cartridge because it takes replaceable coils. The other pod is disposable with a non-removable coil. The cartridge holds a hefty 4.5 mL and the pod has a 3.5 mL capacity.

Both the pods and cartridge use mesh coils. The pods are billed as appropriate for nic salts and MTL, and the cartridge has a restricted lung hit. What’s interesting is that the pods are said to have dry hit protection. My interest was piqued! I always look forward to seeing how dry burn protection can work out in a beginner device. Fingers crossed.

Joyetech sent me this device free of charge for the purpose of this review.

Price: $23.95 (at Elementvape)
Colors: black, mystery blue, rainbow tattoo, skull stone, white, blue

I think it’s a sweet looking device. I first saw it earlier this year at IECIE in Shenzhen. The ones with the mismatched panels jumped out at me first. What Joyetech sent me happened to be the one I liked most. It has one side with a colorful and abstracted rendering of a sugar skull, and the other side is a simplified black-and-white geometric pattern.

The glossy and hard plastic panels sandwich a brushed aluminum battery case and side-mounted cartridge/pod housing. I’ve dropped mine accidentally a few times on a hardwood floor and saw no signs of damage. The overall device is sturdy and made well. All the seams are consistent and I see no mishaps from the manufacturing. It fits in the hand nicely and its got a responsive and clicky button.

It measures 40 mm x 21 mm x 74 mm, and it weighs 79 grams with a full pod. It’s shorter and lighter than something like the Geekvape Frenzy, but a tad thicker and wider. Also different from the likes of the Frenzy, the Exceed Grip has a replaceable 510 delrin drip tip and the pods feel much more secure though they’re basically held in the same way.

As stated, the Exceed Grip comes with one AIO cartridge and a pod. The cartridge takes EX-M mesh 0.4-ohm heads that have a restrictive lung hit. And the pods also have mesh heads with a 0.8-ohm resistance, and those have a loose MTL draw with dry hit protection.

Both the pod and cartridge are filled the same. There’s a small rubber refill plug on the bottom back side that gets partially removed when it’s time to refill, and the port under it is wide enough for most drippers. I haven’t had any leaking from the plug, and the whole refill system is simple and basically mess free.

Swapping coils for the cartridge is a little less straight forward though. To change out the coil, you have to flip the cartridge upside down and turn the square metal piece. It’s the base of the cartridge and what holds in the coil head. That metal piece is a little flimsy though. It gets removed and the coil gets screwed into it, then placed back in the cartridge to be turned and locked. If you get juice on your hands when swapping that coil, it can a little fumble-y to handle.

Inserting the pod and cartridge is relatively straightforward. They get inserted refill-side first, then they slide into a track and are held in snuggly. They’re removed simply by pulling on them, but if you’re not paying attention, you might insert them in backwards. The fit isn’t as nice, but they’ll still work even if on backwards.

Although I wish the device had a strict MTL, I liked my initial time with it. When I first tried it in China, I liked it… but that was less than 15 minutes with at a vape show. Spending time with a device makes things a little clearer. I’ll break down my experience with the cartridge and pod separately.

Cartridge: This was the first one I tried. The 0.4-ohm coil has a quick ramp and it wicks quickly. The draw is not quite tight enough to call an MTL. It’s basically a restricted lung hit. The vapor is plentiful for a small AIO, and the flavor is okay.

The big problem with these coils is they die super-fast. I’m not sure why this is the case, but I got a steep decline in flavor after just a milliliter or two of juice. When I went to replace the coil, I could see that the wick was almost black. And this was using only a lightly golden colored juice that isn’t that sweet. I’ve refilled one Moti pod with that same juice over a dozen times!

Pod: I had high hopes for these pods. The 0.8-ohm mesh pods have dry hit protection that should allow you to enjoy a more consistent vape while not having to worry about a bad hit. They wick quickly as well and put out decent flavor and vapor.

And the pods’ dry hit protection does work! I can attest to that. But it’s far too aggressive in regulating. The first hit is decent albeit a bit too cool, then the power starts to taper off until the light flashes, which means the coils is dry. But all that happens after just four or five consecutive hits. If I want another hit, I have to wait for the wick to be more saturated. Granted, that only takes a few minutes, but by that time I’ve picked up another device and moved on.

I mean Joyetech no disrespect, but these coils and pods simply aren’t up to snuff. It should be noted that I’m not speaking about subjective matters. The replaceable coils I was sent died far too quickly, and the dry hit protection on the pods is too aggressive unless you only vape a couple hits every now and again. If Joyetech believes that my experience is a one-off deal, I would gladly try another batch to see if there was just something wrong with these. But I can only go off of what I have.

Most sites including Joyetech’s say the battery is 1000 mAh. My user manual says 1100 mAh. Whatever it is, from what I can tell, it’s a good battery. You can check the charge status by clicking the fire button. When the charge is over 20%, the light will be red. Under 20% and it’ll be red. That leaves a lot of room in the middle, but I guess that’s a minor issue.

The charger is supposed to have a 1A charge rate. I haven’t been able to drain my battery all the way down to see how long it charges though. The two replaceable coils didn’t last long enough, and the dry-hit protection pod isn’t worth me using enough to drain a battery with this much mAh. I imagine it’s a long charge on the device, but it has pass-thru charging.

The Exceed Grip has been a letdown. I do love its looks and size, and I also appreciate how much was included in the kit. The extra coils, the liquid capacity, battery capacity, and the overall build quality makes the Exceed Grip look great on paper (and in person). But in the end, performance is what it’s all about, and none of the atomizer options worked well at all. The replaceable 0.4-ohm coils started out fine but weren’t even able to make it through a full pod before dying. The disposable pod is a decent vape if only taking a hit once every now and again — otherwise, if you try and vape it with consecutive hits, it can’t keep.

I’ll keep the Exceed Grip on hand in case Joyetech wants to send me different coils to test. I can only hope they would work better than these. But because I can only assess what was sent, I cannot recommend the Exceed Grip.