Twelve Juno Review: Another Pod With Nic Salt

The Juno is the creation of Buffalo-based company Twelve Vapor. It’s a diminutive, draw-activated, closed system pod mod which lends comparison to the MyJet and Von Erl. The starter kit ships with three pre-filled 1.6 mL pods. Equipped with a 380 mAh internal battery, the Juno is easily charged via the micro USB port situated in its base.

The Juno comes in a smooth black matte finish and lacks the hard edges of competitors Juul, Phix or MyJet. At the moment replacement pods are only made by Juno: the Elements line features 4 standard flavors, and the Signature series brings 12 further options to the table, named after the signs of the zodiac. The starter kit sells online for $34.99, and a pack of four replacement pods goes for $16.99. Let’s take a closer look at the Juno and see what’s up.

The Juno starter kit comes with three pre-filled pods from the Elements range. For the price point, I think that’s a fair deal. Ours all came in the standard Menthol flavor at 36 mg/mL. The product packaging is less flimsy than some other pod mods I’ve seen, and the pods come with their own silicone coverings. A nice touch, because unfortunately all the pods are slightly leaky at the base. At least this way you won’t get your fingers covered in e-liquid when using them the first time.

The Juno, like its doppelganger Von Erl, opts for a micro USB port and cable to get the recharging done. Measured from end to end, the cable is a measly 15 cm long. You’ll probably end up using your own cable.

The device’s look is strongly reminiscent of the Von Erl. The Juno is a little bit boxier though,which might make it easier to grip. The mouthpiece is slightly beveled, supposedly to help with spitback. A tiny LED indicator located 10 mm from the bottom of the device fires green when the battery is between 100 – 16%, yellow between 15 – 6%, and red when you’re at 5% or less. This is hard to see without crossing your eyes some, but at least it’s further down the shaft than on the Juul or Bo One.

The pods themselves click satisfyingly into place. Of the three we received, there haven’t been any problems with tolerances. A four pack sets you back $16.99 for 6.4 mL of e-liquid. That works out at $2.65 per mL. However, the pods don’t look too difficult to refill, if you prefer to DIY.

Juno uses a salt-based nicotine. As such, you’d expect a throat hit similar to the Juul, although the nic level is a third lower. The coil resistance is rated between 1.3 – 1.5 ohm, so we are in classic MTL territory here.

The draw is fairly restrictive and almost identical to the Von Erl, perhaps a little bit tighter. The Juno produces surprisingly little vapor, less than almost all the other pod mods out there. This may be an advantage for someone looking for a stealthy device. In terms of throat hit, the Juno hits pretty hard – close to, but not quite as strong as the Juul. The temperature of the vape a little cooler than the Von Erl.

To get a decent amount of vapor out of the Juno, you have to inhale a lot deeper on it, almost as if you were taking a direct lung hit. This is confusing, since it’s supposed to be an MTL device. But inhaling like this always leads to e-liquid coming up through the chimney and onto the mouthpiece. To avoid that you’re restricted to shallow hits that produce little vapor and flavor.The Juno battery lasted a long time, and the device was fully recharged via USB in 35 minutes.

The first pod kept leaking e-liquid in my mouth – not a pleasant experience with 36 mg/mL nicotine! The flavor was underwhelming, and the menthol pods weren’t cool on the throat and sinuses. At best, I would describe it as a mild mint flavor.

Opening up the Juno pods is almost as easy as those from Von Erl, and the construction is similar. Four tiny holes are visible just above the base of the pods, where the coil head and wick connects to the internal chimney. Using a pair of elbow tweezers, gently push the black base of the coil away from the pod through these holes. That should give you enough leverage to pull the base out.

Refilling is straightforward. You could use a syringe, but a unicorn bottle worked fine for me. With the base of the pod removed, fill into the cavity of the pod, making sure not to go over the rubber housing at the point where the chimney meets the coil head construction (when they are connected). If you go over this point, you might end up with a chimney full of juice.

The coil itself has 6 wraps and an internal diameter of 1.5 mm. It’s supposed to be stainless steel. The coil can be jimmied out of the positive and negative pin sockets, but it’s damned hard to force a new coil down into the tiny slots without bending the metal out of shape. The Juno uses cotton as wicking material. It looks much easier to rewick than to rebuild the entire coil.

Juno’s salt-based e-liquid has a taste that lingers, so I would recommend refilling with similar e-juice flavors. Spitback continues to be a problem, which seems to be consistent across all the pods I’ve used. For my money, I’d much rather hack and refill the Von Erl.

In reviewing the Juno I was reminded constantly of the Von Erl, and to a lesser extent the MyJet. With so many closed system vapes out there, what you choose will boil down to a few important considerations.

If you’re looking for hard-hitting nicotine in a stealthy device, the Juno isn’t a bad choice. It offers a restrictive, MTL-style draw and uses salt-based nicotine in its pods, at a lower price point than the Juul.

On the other hand, the pods tend to leak, and the flavor range is limited in comparison to the Von Erl. I personally prefer more flavor and an airier draw, even in a pod mod. Juno’s pods are only available in two nic strengths, 18 and 36 mg/mL, which further limits your options.

If you want a pod mod but still want lots of vapor, I think you should stay away from the Juno. It’s a stealthy device, and drawing on it long enough to produce vapor also lands e-liquid in the user’s mouth.

I don’t like the Juno enough to recommend it. There are other systems out there that are more open and better suit my vaping preferences, such as the Bo One (richer flavor) and the Von Erl (wider range of flavors).