Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition Review – An AIO Favourite Returns

The Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition is exactly that, a kind of tribute to a hugely popular AIO pen style vape kit.

Indeed this ‘new‘ release has no changes internally whatsoever, the only difference is the new fancy gradient design and colour combos.

Oh, and the x on the end is now a capital X…makes all the difference apparently 😉

I reviewed the original Aspire Pockex AIO back in 2018 and at the time rated it quite highly, especially as a starter kit for smokers looking to quit by switching to vaping.

After that review it was given to my heavy smoking sister who absolutely loved it – and it certainly did its job, for a while anyway lol – no willpower that one…

So given there’s no internal changes, this is pretty much going to be a rehash of the original Aspire Pockex review.

Saying that, it will be interesting to so how and if the Pockex or PockeX stacks up 3 years on in a vape market filled with pod kits.

What Can We Expect From the Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition?

Nothing has changed, so we’re looking at a pen style AIO design with a top fill.

There’s no airflow control or indeed wattage to worry about, it’s all done automatically.

There’s a quite large 1500mAH internal battery and that should give you quite a lot of vape time, and you can vape whilst it’s charging – always a bonus with vaping starter kits.

As I’ll probably keep saying, the only change is externally with this fancy gradient style.

OK, the Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition vape kit was sent to me by the UK Aspire Vendor – thank you – and as always my thoughts and opinions are not swayed by freebies.

Inside the Box

• 1X PockeX AIO (0.6Ω Atomizer Pre-installed)
• 1X Replacement Atomizer(1.2Ω)
• 1x Micro-USB Cable
• 1x User Manual
• 1x Warranty Card

Specs and Features

• Battery capacity – 1500mAh
• Tank capacity – 2.0ml
• Atomizer resistance – 0.6ohm
• Dimensions – 19.7mm x 117.07mm

Key Features

I’ll try not to repeat myself too much during this review, but really all that’s changed with the Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition is the colour combos…

And those colours now feature a funky fade look in either: Red Gradient – White Gradient – Pink Gradient – Grey Gradient and Gold Gradient.

There’s still a 1500mAH internal battery and the option of switching between sub ohm and mouth to lung vaping by swapping the coil.

The kit comes with the 0.6ohm coil for DTL vaping and the 1.2ohm for a tighter MTL draw – read more on the difference between MTL and DTL vape styles.

The Aspire Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition is a top fill – more on that later – and fires using the fire button – also more on that later!

No matter where you are in the world you’ll be getting a 2ml capacity and the kit is compact making it ideal to slip into a pocket or pop into your bag.

Design and Build Quality

The main device is built very well indeed – it’s got a bit of weight to it and feels solid in the hand.

Despite being a pen style AIO, the Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition stands up very well indeed and takes a bit of force to topple it over.

Therefore you can charge whilst it’s standing up – always a bonus as there’s less chance of leaking…more on that in a moment.

The original Aspire Pockex had one niggling issue and that was the rattling fire button.

I’m afraid it’s the same with the Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition – the fire button rattles and moves around, however, the throw is decent enough with a nice click.

Design wise and hey it’s a pen style kit so there’s not a lot you can do to ‘jazz it up‘.

I do like the fade look and the Red Gradient version I received is very eye-catching.

The only design feature I don’t like is the filling method and we’ll look at that next.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition – Quick Start Guide

• x5 clicks of the fire button on and off
• To fill remove the top cap and fill to line
• To replace coil screw into top cap
• Press fire button to vape

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition LED Colours

• Base of device is red when charging – green when fully charged
• Fire button Blue means battery is above 30%
• Orange light means below 30% – time to charge

How Does the Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition Perform?

I reviewed the original back in 2018 – a different time in very many ways.

So in effect, this is the 3rd anniversary of its release – not really a milestone in the scheme of things…

Pretty much all vape companies release follow-ups to popular kits, with at least some making little tweaks to improve on the original.

As I’ve stated, that’s not the case here – everything remains the same except for the colours.

It’s now 2021 [well spotted me] and yes the original was a good kit at the time – especially for brand new vapers, but the vape industry, has moved on.

So I can only judge the Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition based on today’s market.

How does it fare against the plethora of pod and other similarly styled vape kits out there right now?

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition Fire Button

First up that fire button.

The original rattled like hell and so does this one.

You probably can’t see from the photo – but it’s off centre too.

Sure that doesn’t effect it’s performance, it fires on clicking, but it niggles me and my slight OCD.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition Filling

In the original review I praised the easy fill system, but as I’ve said, vaping has come a long way in such a short amount of time.

To fill you need to unscrew the top cap and this also brings out the coil – as you can see from the Quick Start Guide, the coil is screwed into the top cap.

You can stand the top cap upside down so there’s no juice leakage on your desk, lay it on its side and there will be.

You really have to be careful filling the Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition and pay very close attention to the fill level marks.

Failure to do so and as soon as you begin screwing the top cap back on, the juice will displace flooding your coil and leaking everywhere.

A mm or so and it happens, resulting in gurgling and spit back – yuk – so be careful.

Mine hasn’t leaked at all so that’s a good thing – though I have flooded the coil more than once – annoying 🙂

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition Flavour and Clouds

I rated the original quite highly for flavour – so what do I make of this revised version?

Let’s take a look at the individual Aspire PockeX 0.6 Coils.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition 0.6ohm Coil

This one’s designed for sub ohm vapers and is best with slightly thicker e-liquid at 60/40 or 70/30 VG/PG.

There’s no need to worry about wattage, the chip inside sets it for you and there’s no way to alter it.

OK, I used the multi award winning Dinner Lady Lemon Tart in this one and had no issues with it wicking.

The flavour was just about touching the good dial – judged after 3 fills – whilst the vapour was decent and temperature wise, it’s on the cool side.

There’s no airflow control, so this is what I’d call a loose restricted lung hit if that makes sense.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition 1.2ohm Coil

This one is designed for mouth to lung vapers or those coming straight off the cigarettes.

As an aside, I’d like to have seen this coil pre-installed – I’m sure new vapers would be happier…

OK, for the review I used 12 Monkey’s Tropika nic salts – we haven’t reviewed the nic salt variety, but I know this flavour extremely well.

Again, the flavour was close to good, but by no means very good.

In fact it seemed to take a little longer – in this case 4 fills – before the coil bedded in and I got passable flavour.

Vapour as you’d expect was a little less – not by much – and again a very cool vape.

The lack of airflow means you vape what the coil gives you and in this case it’s bang on my preferred MTL style – tight, but not too tight.

Pros

• Dead simple to use
• Easyish top-fill
• Easy coil swap
• Smart new colours
• Great price
• Choice of coil options
• Pass thru – vape whilst charging
• Great battery life – day and a half on full charge!
• Great price!

Cons

• Be careful on the top fill!
• Fire button rattle and alignment
• Dare I say nothing new!!!

Final Review Verdict

First up the elephant in the room – the AIO tank.

The tank part is held in place by an o ring and clamped down as you tighten the top cap with the coil connecting to the base.

I know a lot of vapers had issues with the original Pockex tank coming away or not sealing properly.

I’ve not had this issue with the Aspire PockeX Anniversary edition and it has been in and out of pockets and my rucksack.

The issue appeared to be when filling. So make sure the tank is pushed down firmly and makes the seal, hold it in place until you begin screwing the top cap down is my best advice.

As I said I’ve had no leaks, but can see how easy it could be if you take your eye off the ball.

AIO stands for All In One by the way, and so it’s a bit of a head scratcher as to why the tank section isn’t all in one and secured.

No biggie and Aspire do sell spare tanks/glass for the PockeX should yours become damaged…

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition Overall Performance

Three years ago this was a pretty decent vape kit – especially for new vapers as it allowed both MTL and DTL.

Back then the flavour off the coils was slightly above the average for other kits of its kind, and that’s how its remained.

The flavour is good – but not that good – that has to be down to the PockeX coils.

For an anniversary edition, it might have been nice to see at least a couple of changes, but nope Aspire has just changed the colours.

It may appeal to new vapers or die hard fans of the original Aspire PockeX, but knowing what’s out there now, it’s not one I’d be likely to pick up.

So…

Are you a Pockex or PockeX fan?

How do you find the filling and flavour?

Do let me know in the comments below…I don’t bite…mostly 😉