Eleaf Melo 3 Mini Review

As the name suggests the Melo 3 Mini is the third in the series of tanks from the evergreen and hugely popular vaping company ELeaf.

The ‘Mini’ in the name comes from it only having a 2ml juice capacity.

What CAn We Expect From The Eleaf Melo 3 Mini

Whilst looking very similar to the last model the striking design difference with the Melo 3 Mini is the cleverly designed ‘hidden’ adjustable airflow at the base of the tank.

The lack of air holes or slits on view really does give this tank a very slick and sleek appearance. As to whether this is a designers gimmick or a vaping breakthrough I’ll tackle later.

Having not tried the earlier models, personally, so I won’t be drawing any comparisons to its predecessors though by all accounts they were both extremely well received by the vaping community.

Although you can read the Original Eleaf Melo review here.

So let’s take a look at the Melo III Mini tank.

In The Box

The Box Contains:

• 1 X Melo 3 Mini Sub-Ohm Tank
• 1 X 0.3 ohm Kanthal coil
• 1 X 0.5 ohm Kanthal coil
• 2 X sets of coloured tank seals

As to the packaging it’s a simple enough box with a nice bit of info and contents on the back as well as the obligatory ‘scratch n check’ security code – well worth checking just in case you’ve been sold a fake.

The Melo III Key Features:

• 22mm Diameter
• 2ml Tank Capacity
• Top Fill System
• 0.3 ohm Kanthal coil – 30 to 80W
• 0.5 ohm Kanthal coil – 30 to 100W
• Invisible Airflow Control
• Heat Insulated Drip Tip
• 55mm high x 22mm wide

Build Quality and Design

The Melo 3 Mini looks to be designed for use with the ELeaf iStick Pico – however like many of the tanks on the market these days – it can stand alone and would sit nicely on most mods – and is indeed sold separately.

As I mentioned earlier the lack of obvious airflow holes or slits gives this a tank a seriously nice profile.

It has a dulled stainless steel finish that looks and feels well made as fans of ELeaf products have come to expect.

However fitting your first coil may be an issue for the less experienced.

Now I’m the last person you’d call technical – I break things then get a real man in!

So putting in my first coil had me scratching my head for a while – there were no clear instructions however I eventually felt a little give just below the air hole ring and voila it was off.

I did of course screw the coil in upside down at first – like I said not the most tech savvy bloke around.

Once I’d got it back together – quite easily if I say so myself – the 22mm width means it sat atop my CoolFire IV TC with no overhang. However there was a slight gap at the base – but nothing too noticeable.

I’m not a fan of stainless steel drip tips – however I was pleasantly surprised by this one and it gave off little if any heat vaping at a higher wattage.

Should you need spares ELeaf do supply replacement tanks and of course the coils are readily available.

Kanthal Coil Heads

The Kanthal coils have four generous holes on view giving plenty of room to soak up your favourite e-liquid.

Top Fill

Filling is a cinch as like many of today’s tanks it’s a top loader. Simply unscrew the top to reveal x2 generously sized ‘juice holes’ and away you go.

The Eleaf Melo 3 Mini is simple enough to load up – however, it is a thirsty beast. I got through my first full tank of e juice within an hour and a bit steadily vaping at 55 watts.

Cleaning

Given I seem to have a ‘cleaning bug’ I was pleased to see this is yet another tank that comes apart so each piece can cleaned – as well as meaning you can swap out the coloured tank seals to match your mod.

With a range of 30 to 100 Watts the tank is suitable for most levels of vaping and looks capable of some serious sub ohm vaping.

How Does The Eleaf Melo 3 Mini Perform?

I test vaped between 50 and 80 watts using an 80/20 PG and VG mix.

This is obviously a Mouth To Lung [MTL] tank however as you’ll see in a moment – with the air inlet turned to its lowest the draw is tighter than any cig-a-like e cigarette I’ve tried.

The main selling point of this tank appears to be the hidden airflow – twist the base ring clockwise to open up the air and obviously counter clockwise to tighten up the airflow.

• Fully closed and this tank is one heck of a tight draw – warm too – and produces barely any vapour. It’s as tight as sucking on an empty pop bottle – two sucks and my face began to turn purple – three and I was getting that faint headed feeling!
• Halfway open made it feel like more like a sub ohm tank and vapour production was reasonable.
• Fully open – as I prefer my tanks – and the draw was light and airy and even at 55 watts the cloud production was good.

I cycled through my mods gears through 60 watts at 5 watt increments up to 80 watts and never once got any spit back or burning taste – indeed the flavour of the e-liquid I was using was good throughout.

I don’t think this is a cloud chasing tank as the clouds whilst good were not impressive.

Even at 80 watts and really giving my lungs a workout – whilst the taste remained with just a little warmth – the clouds were just OK.

Final Review Verdict

At around the twenty quid mark the Melo III Mini is a decent buy – however I have a feeling vapers will only be queuing up to buy this to replace the one they got with the ELeaf iStick Pico.

It vapes OK – can’t honestly say it blew me away or let me down.

I had no leaks – no spit-back and it kept a good flavour profile even at higher wattage.

Cloud volume and production was reasonable – but nothing to write home about.

Pros

• Design looks great
• No leakage
• No spitback
• Holds its flavour
• Size means it fits snugly on most modern mods

Cons

• Taking it apart was tricky – but that could just be me
• Coil can only be replaced when tank is empty
• It’s a real thirsty tank and gets through the juice quickly