We’ve got a really interesting little device in for review here with the Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit!
Aspire are a huge brand and one of the most recognisable names in the vaping industry. Coming to prominence with the release of the Nautilus and Cleito tanks and they now boast a product range that caters to any type of vaper.
We’ve taken a look at a couple of products Aspire have released this year such as the Veynom LX kit and the Gotek II pod kit. Now let’s take a look at what the Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit has to offer!
What Can We Expect From The Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit?
Well, this is a bit of a departure from some of the products that Aspire have released recently. With the Nexi One Pod Kit they are looking to redefine the cigalike to produce a device that closely mimics the draw of a cigarette, in an easy-to-use package.
The Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit is made up of the Aspire Nexi device and the PB (Powerbank)
The main device is a cigalike (in the shape of a cigarette) device that uses different flavoured refillable cartridges and has a 60mAh battery.
The Aspire Nexi One PB powerbank has a 400mAh rechargeable battery capable of replenishing the Nexi One device battery up to six times.
You can pop your Aspire Nexi One into the PB when not in use and have it recharge your device easily thanks to Magnetic Pin Charging. The Nexi One PB can be recharged via USB-C to keep it topped up!
There’s different tobacco-based flavours available to purchase, which can be slid in and out of the Nexi device easily. The pre-filled pods are filled with 1.2ml of e-liquid and you can choose between 20mg nicotine salt or 12mg freebase nicotine versions.
Many thanks to Vape Club for sending the Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit over for review. Let’s have an in-depth look at this kit!
As always, all views are my own…
Kit Contents
- Aspire Nexi One Device
- Aspire Nexi One PB (Powerbank)
- 1x Nexi Pre-filled Pod
- User Manual
- Type-C cable
Specifications
- 93mm x 25mm x 12mm dimensions (Nexi One PB)
- 9mm x 62mm dimensions (Nexi One Device)
- Draw activated device with millisecond firing speed
- Mouth to lung vape similar to the draw from a cigarette
- Very compact vaping kit
- Innovative magnetic charging pin technology
- Various different flavours available
- 1.2ml pre-filled pods
- 1.6ohm nickel-chromium coil
- Fixed 3.6V output
- 12mg and 20mg nicotine strengths
- 60mAh battery (Nexi One Device), 400mAh battery (Nexi One PB)
- Nexi PB can be recharged via USB-C
Design & Build Quality
Starting off with the Aspire Nexi One Device, this very much resembles the look of a cigarette and the size of one too, with dimensions of 9mm x 62mm.
At the top of the device, you can screw in a refillable pod which has a small opening for vapour to come through. On the pod you have a band that displays the flavour and the nicotine strength.
At the end of the device is a magnetic charging point, as well as a light that illuminates whenever you take a puff.
The Aspire Nexi One PB is the powerbank that comes in the kit, featuring a flip top cover for the Nexi Device to slide into. This features a built-in rechargeable 400mAh battery with a USB-C charging port on the side.
At the base of the PB is the button to activate the charging function.
On Aspire’s website, there are four different colours advertised for the Nexi One Pod Kit (Green, Black, White and Blue). But at present Vape Club are only stocking the Black kit.
It is a very discreet little kit that slides into my pocket easily and once there it is barely noticeable. It does look pretty smart too, almost like an old-school cigarette case!
Quick Start Guide
Before getting up and running with the Aspire Nexi One Device, you’ll need to insert one of the pods. You get one included in the kit and it simply screws in and out of the top of the Nexi One Device. There’s a draw activated system used that automatically fires virtually instantaneously when you take a draw.
Charging
You can pop the Nexi One Device into the Nexi One PB to recharge it. Simply open the flip top cover on the PB and slide the Nexi One Device in.
Though, at first, I was a bit bemused as to why it wasn’t charging automatically! Then I read the instruction manual and realised that you need to push the button on the base of the Aspire Nexi One PB five times to activate the charging function and the LED will let you know once it has finished.
Aspire have designed this so that accidental charging is minimised and it’s good to see that they have safety at heart there.
Recharging the Aspire PB is done via USB-C and a cable is included in the kit. This charges at a rate of 1A, charging the built in 400mAh battery quite quickly.
Flavours
You get a single 1.2ml pre-filled pod included in the kit and replacement pods are available to purchase in packs of three. You can choose from 12mg and 20mg nicotine strengths.
On Aspire’s website, I can see some hints of different fruit flavoured Nexi refill pods. But I’ve had a look around online and I can’t see anything other than the tobacco-based and menthol flavours for sale in the UK. So maybe different flavours will be hitting the market soon!
Anyway, Vape Club sent me the Aspire Nexi One device along with the Classic Tobacco, Vanilla Tobacco, Bluemint Tobacco, Menthol Tobacco, Fresh Menthol and Caramel Tobacco flavours.
Now, these aren’t complex multi-layered blends, so I’ll keep my thoughts on them quite short and sweet. But simple tobacco based flavours designed to appeal to people looking to quit smoking and in all honesty after trying these, I think they might just do the job there.
Classic Tobacco
Classic Tobacco is a smoky, rich tobacco flavour that also has a pleasing amount of throat hit. I could definitely pick up on it whenever I took a puff and I found that to be quite satisfying too.
This is more of a straight up tobacco that will likely appeal to someone looking to vape something that is as close to the taste of an actual cigarette. But as we know with vaping there isn’t really anything available that does that, which is a good thing!
Fresh Menthol
OK, so a straightforward no-frills menthol here that has quite a fresh and crisp minty flavour to it on the inhale. It isn’t quite strong enough at the peak for me, the flavour seems to die down quite quickly.
It’s a bit lacking on the exhale here, with no real flavour to it at this point. Plus there’s no throat hit with this one to speak of.
Menthol Tobacco
This tastes like a combination of the Fresh Menthol and Classic Tobacco flavours. Don’t expect a menthol cigarette flavour here!
I get the crisp mint from the Fresh Menthol mixed with the smoky notes from the Classic Tobacco. The smoky tobacco notes take over on the exhale as the initial menthol hit dies down.
Throat hit is a bit reduced here compared to what I got with the Classic Tobacco flavour and I would imagine that the menthol is taking the edge off a bit.
Bluemint Tobacco
On the inhale there’s a very weak note of blueberry and an almost imperceptible note of mint too. I expected a bit of a cooling effect but I didn’t get that at all.
I felt that the tobacco flavouring was quite weak here too, it just seemed like a very generic and subtle tobacco flavour was present.
There’s a very little tickle at the back of my throat but that is about it when it comes to throat hit!
Vanilla Tobacco
There’s quite a strong scent of vanilla here when I pop one of the pods out of the packet, which is quite a pleasing and inviting smell.
Vanilla is definitely the most dominant flavour here, with a smoky tobacco note in the background. It does taste like a vanilla bean flavour and it’s very smooth as well.
There’s no throat hit here that I could pick up on, just smooth vanilla tobacco flavour all the way!
Caramel Tobacco
This one did not smell pleasant at all when I took it out of the packet!
However, the flavour when vaping this is somewhat better than the smell!
I get a nice, creamy caramel flavouring mixed in with an earthy and rich tobacco flavour. I felt that the caramel complimented this one well.
There’s a small but pleasing throat hit to Caramel Tobacco too.
How Does The Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit Perform?
Aspire have aimed to replicate the draw of a cigarette with the Aspire Nexi One Device. It’s been 11 years since I smoked a cigarette myself but this is pretty much how I remembered it to be! That means I get a very tight mouth to lung draw and a very discreet amount of vapour produced.
To replicate the cigarette styled draw, inside each pod is a 1.6ohm nickel-chromium coil and the Device has a fixed 3.6V output. I’m a bit of a nicotine fiend and I did find this a little on the weak side to really satisfy my nicotine cravings. But Aspire are quite limited by the TPD regulations only allowing a maximum nicotine strength of 20mg.
I noticed that there is a 50mg nicotine strength version available for non-TPD markets and I would imagine that would do the job just fine when it comes to getting a swift nicotine hit!
Given the resistance of the coil and the fixed power output of the Nexi One Device, the battery does last quite a surprisingly long time. I could get a good few hours of puffing away on this before needing to pop it into the Nexi One PB to recharge.
And as the PB can recharge the device up to six times from a full charge, you only need to recharge the PB every other day or so. Obviously if you are puffing away on this quite frequently you will need to recharge it more often!
On the packaging for the pods it states that you can get up to 1200 puffs (from the three included pods combined!) – so up to 400 puffs from a single pod. During testing, I got 121 puffs from a single pod, taking long and slow inhales on it.
Pros
- Mimics the draw of a cigarette
- Good selection of tobacco-based flavours along with menthol
- Small and discreet vaping kit
- Very easy to use for beginners
- Handy powerbank recharges your device when not in use
Cons
- Output power is a little on the weak side for a satisfying nicotine hit
- Appeals to a limited section of the market
- Device battery doesn’t last long before needing to be recharged
- Tight, cigarette-styled draw won’t be for everyone
Final Verdict
I’ll admit that this review was a tough one for me at first, as I haven’t used a cigalike-type device for many years now. In all honesty, I thought this segment of the market had all but disappeared. But whilst reviewing this I had to think about who this device is actually aimed at.
Now, if you like your refillable pod kits or devices that kick out the clouds, this obviously is not going to be a device for you!
The target market for a device like this is really going to be someone who is finding it hard to quit smoking and craves that cigarette type experience, which most pod kits don’t actually deliver. Aspire’s Nexi One kit certainly does in terms of the looks and the draw. It may also tempt users of heat-not-burn devices over to vaping too.
A case in point here is that after I had finished with the kit, my wife gave it along with the unused pods to one of her work colleagues. The colleague had struggled to quit smoking and didn’t like using pod systems. They are still using it a week later and haven’t touched a cigarette!
I do have my reservations about the strength of the device and the nicotine hit that it delivers. But in all honesty Aspire are quite hamstrung on this due to the laws around nicotine containing products. Increasing the output power would probably be beyond the limitations of a device like the Aspire Nexi One.
If you are after a kit that mimics the looks and draw of a cigarette, then you aren’t really going to get better than this. It also boasts some pretty decent tobacco based flavours and you can handily reuse this over and over again. The powerbank comes in really handy too for keeping your Nexi One device recharged on the move!
Many thanks to Vape Club for sending the Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit over for review. This is available from them for £18.99 with spare pod packs available for £5.99 each!
What are your thoughts on the Aspire Nexi One Pod Kit? Do you still use cigalike devices to vape? Let us know in the comments below!
