Introduction
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Smoant, from the first mod that I owned – the Charon TC218, to the Naboo, Battlestar Squonker and Pasito – I’ve enjoyed their products a lot.
So, when Smoant offered me the chance to review their latest 1100mAh pod system – the Santi, of course I said yes please.
First impressions
There’s nothing revolutionary about the aesthetics of the Santi – zinc alloy body, smoked pod, screen on the front and a fabric pad on the back. It all feels well put together and nice in the hand.
One thing that could have been improved with the package, would have been to include more than one coil – this seems to be a trend with a few companies recently, that I don’t like. Unless there is a huge range of coils (such as the VooPoo pNp range) it would make sense to put the entire range in the box, so consumers can discover their favorite, without having to pay for multiple packs of coils.
Coils and RBA
S2 – Mesh 0.6ohm 18-25w. This coil is supplied with the kit. Like all of the other Santi coils, this coil performed well with all airflow settings, I took it down to 15w and even with the airflow fully open, it gave me a great vape. The flavor is in line with similar coils from Vaporesso and VooPoo.
S1 – (optional) Mesh 0.4ohm 30-35w – I didn’t actually notice huge differences between the S2 0.6ohm coil that comes supplied with the kit and the S1. Sure, you can push it harder (more on that later), but they both offer a quite similar restricted DTL vape. However, the S1 gave me a problem – after leaving it overnight, I came back to find that it had started to leak. To be fair, the mod worked flawlessly afterwards and I haven’t been able to reproduce this fault with other S1 coils, so this might be a one-off problem. Also, while testing I tend to push the coils beyond their recommended ranges, this might have something to do with it.
S3 – (optional) Mesh 1.2ohm 7-12w. This is the Santi’s MTL coil and for me the star of the show. It didn’t matter what juice I threw at this coil, it just performed really well throughout the power and airflow ranges. My personal favorite was at 8.5w with the airflow 50% open. Obviously at 8.5w, your battery and juice are going to last forever. This coil gives excellent flavor and a nice throat hit, it was nice enough to keep me away from my favorite MTL atomizers for a few days.
S-RBA – (optional) Firstly, this thing is tiny! If you have issues working on smaller atomizers, this probably isn’t for you. It is however a quite standard build procedure, there are no special techniques required, just good eyesight or a pair of glasses. Don’t let that put you off though, my eyesight is terrible and I managed to build on it without too many issues.
I tried a few builds on the RBA, all with 2.0mm ID coils – 28g and 26g round wire, 28g clapton, 30g MTL fused claptons and they all worked without issue. The wicking is simple, you just have to juice up the wicks before putting them into the recess.
All of the coils and the RBA require an adapter to fit into the pod, you unscrew the adapter from the previous coil, screw it onto the new coil and then push into the pod.
How is it to use?
Chipset – the ANT chipset offers a little more than I’m used to on most small pod systems, with a power curve function. That’s not something I’ve ever used on a pod system, but it’s nice to have something new.
Screen – the screen is clear and bright, with a choice of five color schemes. Battery, power, ohms, volts puff counter and hit time are all shown.
Airflow adjustment – for MTL vapers especially, the airflow adjustment is good. You can close it down so much, just as tight as most of the MTL atomizers in my collection. Fully open, it gives a restricted DTL draw.
Pod – while I like the magnet system on the pod, there are a couple of things that I don’t like quite as much. The pod is quite dark, you can still see the juice level but it’s not that easy. You have to remove the pod to refill the juice, again this isn’t a huge annoyance but not having to remove the pod would have been nice.
Drip-tip – unlike a lot of similar pod systems that I’ve used recently, the drip-tip is an integral part of the pod. It’s comfortable to use and has given me zero issues.
Battery – the battery charges quickly with a type-C USB cable and the battery life is good, especially with the very low power MTL coil and high ohm builds on the RBA.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
As a small pod system, the Santi is decent – but there are many decent pod systems on the market.
Where it comes into its own, is with the MTL performance and the optional RBA – as an MTL device, it’s excellent.
Disclaimer
The Santi was sent to me by Smoant for the purposes of this review.
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Smoant, from the first mod that I owned – the Charon TC218, to the Naboo, Battlestar Squonker and Pasito – I’ve enjoyed their products a lot.
So, when Smoant offered me the chance to review their latest 1100mAh pod system – the Santi, of course I said yes please.
First impressions
There’s nothing revolutionary about the aesthetics of the Santi – zinc alloy body, smoked pod, screen on the front and a fabric pad on the back. It all feels well put together and nice in the hand.
One thing that could have been improved with the package, would have been to include more than one coil – this seems to be a trend with a few companies recently, that I don’t like. Unless there is a huge range of coils (such as the VooPoo pNp range) it would make sense to put the entire range in the box, so consumers can discover their favorite, without having to pay for multiple packs of coils.
Coils and RBA
S2 – Mesh 0.6ohm 18-25w. This coil is supplied with the kit. Like all of the other Santi coils, this coil performed well with all airflow settings, I took it down to 15w and even with the airflow fully open, it gave me a great vape. The flavor is in line with similar coils from Vaporesso and VooPoo.
S1 – (optional) Mesh 0.4ohm 30-35w – I didn’t actually notice huge differences between the S2 0.6ohm coil that comes supplied with the kit and the S1. Sure, you can push it harder (more on that later), but they both offer a quite similar restricted DTL vape. However, the S1 gave me a problem – after leaving it overnight, I came back to find that it had started to leak. To be fair, the mod worked flawlessly afterwards and I haven’t been able to reproduce this fault with other S1 coils, so this might be a one-off problem. Also, while testing I tend to push the coils beyond their recommended ranges, this might have something to do with it.
S3 – (optional) Mesh 1.2ohm 7-12w. This is the Santi’s MTL coil and for me the star of the show. It didn’t matter what juice I threw at this coil, it just performed really well throughout the power and airflow ranges. My personal favorite was at 8.5w with the airflow 50% open. Obviously at 8.5w, your battery and juice are going to last forever. This coil gives excellent flavor and a nice throat hit, it was nice enough to keep me away from my favorite MTL atomizers for a few days.
S-RBA – (optional) Firstly, this thing is tiny! If you have issues working on smaller atomizers, this probably isn’t for you. It is however a quite standard build procedure, there are no special techniques required, just good eyesight or a pair of glasses. Don’t let that put you off though, my eyesight is terrible and I managed to build on it without too many issues.
I tried a few builds on the RBA, all with 2.0mm ID coils – 28g and 26g round wire, 28g clapton, 30g MTL fused claptons and they all worked without issue. The wicking is simple, you just have to juice up the wicks before putting them into the recess.
All of the coils and the RBA require an adapter to fit into the pod, you unscrew the adapter from the previous coil, screw it onto the new coil and then push into the pod.
How is it to use?
Chipset – the ANT chipset offers a little more than I’m used to on most small pod systems, with a power curve function. That’s not something I’ve ever used on a pod system, but it’s nice to have something new.
Screen – the screen is clear and bright, with a choice of five color schemes. Battery, power, ohms, volts puff counter and hit time are all shown.
Airflow adjustment – for MTL vapers especially, the airflow adjustment is good. You can close it down so much, just as tight as most of the MTL atomizers in my collection. Fully open, it gives a restricted DTL draw.
Pod – while I like the magnet system on the pod, there are a couple of things that I don’t like quite as much. The pod is quite dark, you can still see the juice level but it’s not that easy. You have to remove the pod to refill the juice, again this isn’t a huge annoyance but not having to remove the pod would have been nice.
Drip-tip – unlike a lot of similar pod systems that I’ve used recently, the drip-tip is an integral part of the pod. It’s comfortable to use and has given me zero issues.
Battery – the battery charges quickly with a type-C USB cable and the battery life is good, especially with the very low power MTL coil and high ohm builds on the RBA.
Pros
- Nice size, weight and feel.
- Coils give good flavor, especially the MTL coil.
- Good battery life.
- Airflow control is good, especially for MTL.
- Optional RBA performs well and is flexible.
- Nice screen and chipset.
Cons
- One coil leaked on me.
- Kit only comes with one coil.
- Juice level is hard to see.
- Pod needs to be removed to fill with juice.
Conclusion
As a small pod system, the Santi is decent – but there are many decent pod systems on the market.
Where it comes into its own, is with the MTL performance and the optional RBA – as an MTL device, it’s excellent.
Disclaimer
The Santi was sent to me by Smoant for the purposes of this review.
