SirRichardRear
AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Member For 3 Years
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Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Smoant Karat Pod Kit, please see the bottom for disclaimers and links. Note this is marked as a sample version.
Introduction:
The Smoant Karat Pod is the latest and first Pod Kit from popular vape manufacturer Smoant. They have been doing a great job making mods over the past few years including the newest 2 the charon mini and the naboo as well as bringing a new dual battery squonker i’ll be reviewing next month so let's see how their fare with their first pod system. The Karat is a flat style AIO Pod system like a zero, motiv 2 or innokin EQ with a built in 370mah battery and is inhale to fire. It’s available in 5 colors Black, Rainbow, Gunmetal, Bronze Blue and Gradient Blue. Looking around online i see it pretty cheap 20 is less out of china and around 20-30 in the US.
Manufacturer's Specs:
album
Kit Rundown
The SMoant Karat is a flat short style AIO (all in one) Pod kit, meaning there isn’t a separate mod or tank that can be used with anything else. It does have replaceable pods so you can carry spares. It’s a slightly larger size pod kind of similar to the renova zero, Wismec Motiv 2 and innokin EQ, but not quite as small as them. It earns the name Karat from it’s diamond cut like styling. It’s a nice looking device but a bit on the big side for the size battery in it. There is no adjustable air on this device which would have been cool but not a big deal as most this style don’t have adjustable air. It’s a MTL vape. Not super tight but also not as loose as some other pods. It has a good capacity of 2 ml. The battery is listed at 370mah so again kind of a small size battery for the size of this pod system. It features built in USB charging where they list a limit of .5a charging. I tested this twice with an inline USB charger and for the charge rate it held steady around .41a so close enough for the .5 amp rating. Same goes for the battery where it was between 342 and 349 mah so good rating there as well. Nothing way overstated form what they list it as which is all i’m looking for. It does have passthrough vaping as well which is great. The drip tip is proprietary and part of the pod itself. The Karat is very nicely build and feels solid and heavy with no rattle and the coloring is really nice and shiny but also a fingerprint magnet. It’s a solid metal body as well. No plastic here at all hence the weight.
The Pod itself is somewhat easy to fill. It comes with an empty pod and the coils are built into the pod like the Wismec Motiv 2 or rincoe Ceto. The pods attach to the battery via magnets like the renova zero and are easy to get in and out and fit really well so good job there. To fill them it uses a standard rubber plug you remove to fill and the fill holes are large enough to use with a fine tip bottle easily. I found it’s best to remove the plug completely since you need to really insert the bottle tip into the hole which will give it an air outlet on the other side. The rubber plug can be hard to remove as it is recessed into the pod with nothing to grab on. Probably easier if you don’t chew your fingernails like i do. I had trouble gripping it and just wound up using a screwdriver to get it started so i can pull it out. The pods have 1 option which is a 1.3 ohm “quartz” coil as they call it which just appears to be a mesh like coil.
Usage is pretty easy. It’s a simple inhale to fire device. It does not have a single button. It’s a fixed output device at 3.4V with a cutoff of 3.3V so you won’t notice any difference in the vape until it’s pretty much dead and needs to be recharged. There is a tiny hard to see LED in the karat logo part on the top of the body in the middle. It’s on when firing and is blue all the time but then just turns red when it’s dead and needs charging they list it that it turns red at 30% or less so it’s blue most of the time and by the time it turns red you are pretty much out of luck. You only get a few puffs from when it turns red until it shuts off. They battery meter should have been done better and been easier to see. Poor design choices there.
Coil Performance and details
The Smoant Karat Pod comes with 1 pod which is disappointing. All kits should always include 2 pods. There is only 1 pod option which is a 1.3 ohm quartz coil. Thankfully they sent me extras so i got to use 3 in total. The pods are also tinted way too dark so it’s hard to juice your juice level. I still don’t understand why this is a thing or how many times i have to say it. Performance wise though i used all 3 i was sent (the 1 included and 2 spare). I used all 50/50 nic salt juices 20-30 mg nicotine. Flavorwise the performance was pretty good for a pod system. Not the best i had which would be like a tier one this one would be more like a borderline bottom tier 2 or top tier 3 meaning it’s good but not great. No complaints on the flavor though and it’s more than acceptable. Coil life however wasn’t very good. I got between 6-8ml per coil which is below the 10ml i usually look for in a pod system and a number many others have met and surpassed. It’s wasn't’ terrible but again wasn’t good. Overall i consider the pod performance mediocre i’ve had much worse but i’ve also had much much better.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this POD AIO or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, but this one leans towards the no for me. It’s not a terrible device i’ve had a lot of terrible pods but it’s also not a good one. I could see someone who hasn’t used a lot of pods liking or recommending this one but with all the pods i’ve used i can't think of a reason to recommend this one personally. I can get a faster charging, longer lasting battery, longer lasting pod device around the same price point with a similar style and more then 1 option for that quite a few actually, so I won’t be adding this to my spreadsheet of recs which is linked below.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Smoant
Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadsheet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 so far list here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Smoant Karat Pod is the latest and first Pod Kit from popular vape manufacturer Smoant. They have been doing a great job making mods over the past few years including the newest 2 the charon mini and the naboo as well as bringing a new dual battery squonker i’ll be reviewing next month so let's see how their fare with their first pod system. The Karat is a flat style AIO Pod system like a zero, motiv 2 or innokin EQ with a built in 370mah battery and is inhale to fire. It’s available in 5 colors Black, Rainbow, Gunmetal, Bronze Blue and Gradient Blue. Looking around online i see it pretty cheap 20 is less out of china and around 20-30 in the US.
Manufacturer's Specs:
- Dimensions - 88mm by 48mm by 12mm
- Integrated 370mAh Rechargeable Battery
- Constant Voltage Output: 3.4V
- Coil Resistance: 1.3ohm
- Coil Material: Quartz
- Pod Capacity: 2.0mL
- Magnetic Pod Connection
- Draw-Activated Firing Mechanism
- LED Indicator Light
- Superior Zinc Alloy and PC Materials
- Short Circuit Protection
- Low Battery Protection
- CPU Protection
- Charging Protection
- Overuse Protection
- Overheat Protection
- Micro USB Charging Port
- 1 Smoant KARAT Pod System
- 1 Micro USB Cable
- 1 Warranty Card
- 1 User Manual
- 1 Certificated Card
album
Kit Rundown
The SMoant Karat is a flat short style AIO (all in one) Pod kit, meaning there isn’t a separate mod or tank that can be used with anything else. It does have replaceable pods so you can carry spares. It’s a slightly larger size pod kind of similar to the renova zero, Wismec Motiv 2 and innokin EQ, but not quite as small as them. It earns the name Karat from it’s diamond cut like styling. It’s a nice looking device but a bit on the big side for the size battery in it. There is no adjustable air on this device which would have been cool but not a big deal as most this style don’t have adjustable air. It’s a MTL vape. Not super tight but also not as loose as some other pods. It has a good capacity of 2 ml. The battery is listed at 370mah so again kind of a small size battery for the size of this pod system. It features built in USB charging where they list a limit of .5a charging. I tested this twice with an inline USB charger and for the charge rate it held steady around .41a so close enough for the .5 amp rating. Same goes for the battery where it was between 342 and 349 mah so good rating there as well. Nothing way overstated form what they list it as which is all i’m looking for. It does have passthrough vaping as well which is great. The drip tip is proprietary and part of the pod itself. The Karat is very nicely build and feels solid and heavy with no rattle and the coloring is really nice and shiny but also a fingerprint magnet. It’s a solid metal body as well. No plastic here at all hence the weight.
The Pod itself is somewhat easy to fill. It comes with an empty pod and the coils are built into the pod like the Wismec Motiv 2 or rincoe Ceto. The pods attach to the battery via magnets like the renova zero and are easy to get in and out and fit really well so good job there. To fill them it uses a standard rubber plug you remove to fill and the fill holes are large enough to use with a fine tip bottle easily. I found it’s best to remove the plug completely since you need to really insert the bottle tip into the hole which will give it an air outlet on the other side. The rubber plug can be hard to remove as it is recessed into the pod with nothing to grab on. Probably easier if you don’t chew your fingernails like i do. I had trouble gripping it and just wound up using a screwdriver to get it started so i can pull it out. The pods have 1 option which is a 1.3 ohm “quartz” coil as they call it which just appears to be a mesh like coil.
Usage is pretty easy. It’s a simple inhale to fire device. It does not have a single button. It’s a fixed output device at 3.4V with a cutoff of 3.3V so you won’t notice any difference in the vape until it’s pretty much dead and needs to be recharged. There is a tiny hard to see LED in the karat logo part on the top of the body in the middle. It’s on when firing and is blue all the time but then just turns red when it’s dead and needs charging they list it that it turns red at 30% or less so it’s blue most of the time and by the time it turns red you are pretty much out of luck. You only get a few puffs from when it turns red until it shuts off. They battery meter should have been done better and been easier to see. Poor design choices there.
Coil Performance and details
The Smoant Karat Pod comes with 1 pod which is disappointing. All kits should always include 2 pods. There is only 1 pod option which is a 1.3 ohm quartz coil. Thankfully they sent me extras so i got to use 3 in total. The pods are also tinted way too dark so it’s hard to juice your juice level. I still don’t understand why this is a thing or how many times i have to say it. Performance wise though i used all 3 i was sent (the 1 included and 2 spare). I used all 50/50 nic salt juices 20-30 mg nicotine. Flavorwise the performance was pretty good for a pod system. Not the best i had which would be like a tier one this one would be more like a borderline bottom tier 2 or top tier 3 meaning it’s good but not great. No complaints on the flavor though and it’s more than acceptable. Coil life however wasn’t very good. I got between 6-8ml per coil which is below the 10ml i usually look for in a pod system and a number many others have met and surpassed. It’s wasn't’ terrible but again wasn’t good. Overall i consider the pod performance mediocre i’ve had much worse but i’ve also had much much better.
Pros:
- color options (5 total)
- good 2ml capacity pods
- good build quality on battery
- nice looks
- small size for easy portability
- inhale to fire worked good with no misfires
- Passthrough Vaping
- accurate ratings for battery size and charge rate
- good enough flavor for a pod system
- pods are easy to remove and install
- tinted pod is hard to see juice level
- 1A charging would have been nice
- coil life should be better
- small battery for such a large device
- battery meter could have been done better
- comes with only 1 pod only
- LED is hard to see to make it usable when vaping
- rubber plug to fill is hard to remove
So with all that said, do I recommend this POD AIO or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, but this one leans towards the no for me. It’s not a terrible device i’ve had a lot of terrible pods but it’s also not a good one. I could see someone who hasn’t used a lot of pods liking or recommending this one but with all the pods i’ve used i can't think of a reason to recommend this one personally. I can get a faster charging, longer lasting battery, longer lasting pod device around the same price point with a similar style and more then 1 option for that quite a few actually, so I won’t be adding this to my spreadsheet of recs which is linked below.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Smoant
Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadsheet of Recommendations here
Best of 2018 so far list here
Best of 2017 list here