Product intro and specs
The UWELL Caliburn X is the latest product in one of the most popular lines of pod vapes. Since 2019’s Caliburn, UWELL has divided the line into sub-lines, each coming with distinct features. The A line caters to the beginner vaper, the G line offers more advanced options, and there’s also the KOKO line which comes in a different shape altogether.
With the Caliburn X, it seems that a new line comes to play. The X is a slightly larger device that comes with an OLED screen and full wattage adjustability, two features that we’ve never seen in a Caliburn before. It also houses a larger battery than previous Caliburn devices (850 mAh) and takes larger pods (3 mL). What stayed the same are the coils, as the X is compatible with the Caliburn G coils, with three options currently available.
Price: $27.99 (at Element Vape)
Colors: Matte black, ink blue, ribbon red, lake green, lilac purple, moonlight silver.
- Weight: 46 grams
- Output Power: 5-20 watts
- Battery capacity: 850 mAh
- Materials: PCTG / AL 6063
- Dimensions: 107.4 mm x 27.5 mm x 15.6 mm
- 1 x Caliburn X pod
- 1 x FeCrAl UN2 Meshed-H 0.8 ohm CALIBURN G coil (pre-installed)
- 1 x FeCrAl UN2 Meshed-H 1.2 ohm CALIBURN G2 coil (spare)
- 1 x Type-C cable
- 1 x Manual
Build quality and design
Measuring 107.4 mm x 27.5 mm x 15.6 mm, it seems that the X is breaking the Caliburn mold. It is significantly thicker than previous products of the line, but it’s still a compact and lightweight vape. And while the thicker mouthpiece falls in place with the design, I still prefer the mouthpiece of the A2 or even that of the original Caliburn.
What’s also setting the X apart from the rest of the line is the black-and-white screen that’s on the front of the device. It shows charge, wattage, volts, resistance, and puffs, all in an easy-to-read font. The screen is the biggest departure from previous Caliburn designs, and something tells me that future Caliburn X products will all come with a screen. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that I’m expecting a color screen on the X2.
Overall, the X feels very well-built. It comes with a smooth matte finish for the most part, with a reflective shiny panel surrounding the button and the screen and matching with the pods. There’s nothing to complain about here—outside the slightly loose airflow adjustment slider that I may have accidentally moved once or twice.
Getting started
The X may be the most advanced Caliburn to date, but it’s not a very complicated device to set up and use:
- Prime your coil by dripping 4-5 drops of ejuice in it.
- Push the coil inside the pod (make sure that the cutout under the pod lines up with the bottom of the coil).
- Insert the pod into the battery.
- Remove the mouthpiece by pushing at its flat side.
- Fill the pod with e-liquid (use the red marked hole).
- Give it five minutes to allow the wick to saturate.
- Adjust the airflow using the slider.
- Press the button or inhale on the mouthpiece to vape.
And here’s a rundown of button operations:
- Press fire five times to turn the device on/off.
- Press fire three times to adjust the wattage (wattage will start blinking).
- (While wattage is blinking) raise the wattage by pressing fire.
- Press fire two times to lock/unlock the fire button (auto-draw still works).
My only complaint here is that I wish the wattage were automatically set when inserting the pod, which is something that most devices are doing nowadays. I couldn’t remember the wattage range of each coil, so I had to look it up every time, which can be a bit annoying. Other than that, it’s a set-it-and-forget-it kind of device, and seasoned vapers will find it pretty easy to use.
Performance
With the X using the Caliburn G coils, its performance isn’t much different than that of the Caliburn G and the Caliburn G2. The main difference here is that the X offers full wattage adjustability, so it allows for some fine-tuning. If you want to find out how the coils perform, make sure you check the Performance sections of these two reviews.
To sum it up, overall performance of the G coils is great, and coil life ranges between 20 and 25 mL. Out of the three available coils, the X comes with the 1.2 and the 0.8-ohm. The 1.2-ohm coil (9-13 watts) is great for mid-strength nicotine salt juice, while the 0.8-ohm coil (13-18 watts) can do regular nic as well as lower-strength salts. You could even do some RDL with both coils if you open up the airflow, and they can handle up to 70VG without any struggle.
There have been some comments from people complaining about leaking from these coils, but I can’t say that I’ve noticed anything out of the ordinary. I actually repeated the experiment I did with the G2: I filled up one of the devices and left it aside for around five days, and found no juice around the contacts. A drop or two would appear during regular usage, but that’s par for the course with pod vapes.
The auto-draw sensor is very sensitive, so much so that I’ve stopped using the button altogether. Lastly, I got some atomizer short errors, but taking the pod out and in again fixed them. The problem seems to be with a specific 0.8-ohm coil, as the others never gave me any issues.
Battery life and charging
The Caliburn X comes with an 850 mAh battery and charges through Type-C. I was hoping it would be closer to 1000 mAh since it is noticeably larger than the G2 (which has a 750 mAh battery,) but it’s still a large battery for a pod system. Using the 1.2-ohm coil at 12 watts, I managed to go through a bit over 6 mL of juice before having to recharge. The vape was a bit too weak for the last mL or so, but that's still a lot of battery life.
I timed a full charge at 52 minutes, which is pretty fast for the size of the battery. It seems that the device charges faster for the first 80% of the charge and then slows down, but that’s according to the charge bars on the screen and may not be very accurate. In any case, anything under an hour is good enough. Finally, the Caliburn X has passthrough charging, so you can vape while it is plugged in.
Pros / Cons
Gallery
Verdict
The Caliburn X is a solid pod system that takes great coils. It offers more than most of its competition; it comes with a screen, full airflow and power adjustability, and its battery lasts long and charges pretty fast.
I would be a bit hesitant to recommend it as a first vape, especially since you can get similar performance from simpler devices, like UWELL’s own Caliburn A2 and the impressive VAPORESSO LUXE QS. But if you are past the beginner vape stage, and you’d like to make use of the extra features and fine-tune your vape, the X is a device I can recommend.
Have you tried the Caliburn X? What do you think of the features it introduces? Let me know in the comment section.
