VAPORESSO XROS 3 NANO Review: What’s New?

Product intro and specs

The XROS 3 NANO is the latest VAPORESSO pod vape, and a follow-up to the XROS NANO, which was a squared version of the XROS 2—and should probably have been named the NANO 2, in hindsight. All that makes my job a bit more complicated, but I’m sure it will all be forgotten soon with the XROS 4 and the XROS 4 NANO.

So, what’s new here? The new NANO has a slightly different design and comes with a metallic lanyard. I’ll admit I haven’t had the chance to try the original NANO, but on paper, everything else seems the same. The battery has the same 1000 mAh capacity, the device takes the same pods (although this one comes with the 0.6-ohm pod and an updated 0.8-ohm pod), and it has an airflow slider. With the exception of the airflow, which should be a bit looser on the 3 to accommodate RDL, all the specs seem unchanged.

Keep reading to find out if the XROS 3 NANO is more than what you see on the spec sheet.

Price: $23.99 (at Element Vape)

Colors: Silver, black, navy blue, olive green, rose pink, magenta red, lilac purple, lemon yellow, vital orange, bondi blue.

Build quality and design

The build quality of the XROS 3 NANO, and all recent VAPORESSO products, to be honest, is stellar. The sides are made of hard plastic, held in place by front and back metallic panels. They overdid it with the branding, in my opinion (large logo on one side, VAPORESSO printed all over the other side), but it is laser-etched and semi-transparent since there’s no color and it’s visible at certain angles.

Some of the color options are uniform, and others come with two colors, one for the sides and one for the metallic panels. I love the looks overall, and especially the dual-colored Bondi Blue and Lemon Yellow versions, which, unfortunately, I didn’t receive.

The magnets hold the pod tight in place with no wobble, the airflow slider is sturdy, and even the lanyard hatch looks good on it. They include a metallic lanyard in the box (which is, for some reason, mentioned on the box as well), and even though I’m not a fan of lanyards, I did use it while walking the dog.

Good stuff overall, and zero complaints about build quality and design.

Getting started

Performance

Back when I reviewed the XROS 3, I was very impressed by coil performance. The NANO is pretty much the XROS 3 with a different shape, so there are only a couple of things to discuss here. How it does RDL on the 0.6-ohm pod and the overall performance of the 0.8-ohm pod, which wasn’t included in the XROS 3 package.

Using the 0.6-ohm pod for RDL, the results were similar to the XROS 3. It needs to be slipstreamed since the airflow is pretty tight for RDL, in my opinion, and I had better results using it for MTL with the airflow closed. It’s a loose MTL, but the flavor is great. If you like a very restricted DL, it may do the trick with the airflow all the way open, but I really wish they had either given it more airflow, or less airflow for a proper MTL.

The 0.8-ohm pod is great in MTL. It is noticeably tighter, flavor is great, and it’s probably the best option of the lineup for freebase juice or low-strength nic salts. I tried it with 20 mg hybrid salt/freebase juice, and it actually felt a bit too strong. It was great with my 7 mg freebase, and I believe it would perform great with 20 mg salts. It’s like a pod made for the TPD, so if you are in the EU, don’t hesitate to give it a go. As for coil life, I finished my 10 mL bottle, and it still vaped well. That juice is kinda harsh on coils, so coil life seems to be great.

Battery life and charging

Battery life of the XROS 3 NANO is great. It comes with a 1000 mAh battery, and I managed to go through 4 mL on a charge. It did feel pretty weak for the last mL, so I’d say that you should expect to go through 3-3.5 mL before charging.

There is an LED line that pulses in various colors while you vape but shows the battery level when your puff ends.

I timed a full charge at 55 minutes. They list the charge rate at 1A, so either the battery is a bit overrated, or the charge rate is a bit underrated. In any case, the device charges pretty fast for the battery life it offers.

Pros / Cons

Gallery

Verdict

The XROS 3 NANO barely does enough to be considered an upgrade over the original, in my opinion. Without having tried the original NANO, the only potentially meaningful update seems to be the RDL capability—although I wouldn’t recommend it for RDL vaping, unless you like it pretty tight. But it is a better-looking device, and, eh, it comes with a lanyard?

In any case, if you don’t have the XROS 3 or the original NANO, the 3 is pod vaping at its finest. Excellent flavor, great battery life, long coil life, airflow adjustment, stylish, and easy to operate. The COREX tech coils are best in class, and it will be a hard one to beat in 2023. As far as square pod vapes go, this is my favorite.

Highly recommended.