When I heard that I was receiving the Hotcig Kubi refillable pod for review my initial thoughts were “here we go, another pod system”. There’s no denying we’ve seen a saturation of pods on the vaping scene over the past year or so.
The saving grace was the brand, Hotcig. Since 2013 they have been delivering some pretty sexy mods with very reasonable price tags and even had a great success at using a DNA board in their DX200 mod.
With this heritage in mind, I was eager to see what they could bring to the world of pod systems.
So can the Kubi give us something we’ve not seen before…Let’s find out.
On opening the pack I was stunned. This certainly appears to be the little black dress of pod systems.
As for pocket friendliness, the Kubi is slimmer and only slightly taller than a 10ml e-liquid bottle. This makes portability a massive plus and I barely notice it in my shirt pocket.
Being so small, the battery size is a minimal 550mAh, this is offset by the very respectable 1.7ml refillable pod.
The pods themselves appear to use a single core micro coil, mounted horizontally. This give a traditional vaporisation of eliquid, not something I’ve regularly seen on pod systems.
There are 7 colour ways currently available. I was sent the black version.
I was sent the Hotcig Kubi free of charge for the purpose of this review. As always, the opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.
In the Box
- 1 x Hotcig Kubi Refillable Pod Starter Kit
- 1 x Extra Cartridge
- 1 x USB Cable
- 1 x User Manual
- 1 x Lanyard
- 1 x Warranty Card
- I was also send a pack of 4 replacement pods. These are sold separately
Features and Specs
- Size: 16 x 16 x 87mm
- Battery type: Built-in 550mAh (Battery Chip: 13350)
- Material: PCTG
- Capacity: 1.7ml (refillable)
- Ceramic Coil resistance: 1.8ohm
Quick Start Guide
The box comes packaged with 2 disposable ceramic coil pods, once the coil has ended it’s life span the whole pod is changed out.
I’m over 2 weeks in and with using the Kubi pretty much every day I’ve still not seen a drop in flavour. However, I have only been using in on a short commute to and from work. So with heavier the coil life would be less.
My battery came with a decent amount of charge. So I filled the pod with some Far Neon Green 20mg Nic Salt vape juice, tilting it at a 45 degree angle (as recommended) and gave the cotton about 10 minutes to properly soak up the liquid before vaping.
The Kubi pod is draw activated and with no power or settings buttons, life couldn’t be simpler!
Design and Build Quality
Picking up the Kubi pod mod and holding between my thumb and fore-finger, I was impressed. The soft-touch, rubberised, outer to the battery is smooth and and soft to the touch.
Removing the pod is a straight-forward pull to separate from the battery. The pod fits in both ways and is held in by pressure and what appears to be a magnetic ring.
The USB charge port is located on the base of the battery which is flat, allowing you to stand the device upright when not charging.
The Kubi has a small LED indicator that lights up when the user takes a draw. Apparently, it will also flash if there is a fault or error. However, mine worked perfectly and I didn’t get to see this happen.
For me the most stand-out feature of this gorgeous little device has to be the mouthpiece.
With an internal diameter larger than a regular 510 mouthpiece, the draw form it was really fulfilling. That, coupled with the delivery from the coil, made the Kubi pod mod a true pleasure to use.
How Does The Hotcig Kubi Refillable Pod Perform?
How To Fill/Re-Fill
- Remove the pod from the battery
- Unplug the rubber bung on the side of the pod
- Fill carefully at a 45 degree angle
- Replace the bung
- Leave for 10 minutes to allow the coil to soak up the e-liquid.
Draw
The draw for me was just the right balance of restriction and looseness which made for a very satisfying mouth to lung (MTL) draw. You can get a restrictive Direct to Lung (DLT) hit, but it wasn’t designed for this, especially not with high-strength nic-salts (cue coughing fit!).
Further Reading: What is the difference between MTL and DTL vaping?
Some people may prefer a slightly more restrictive draw on the their MTL device. But with so many pod systems out there and at such a reasonable price you could have a pod mod for whatever mood you’re in.
For me, relaxing in the garden with the Kubi and a beer was the perfect setting and set-up.
E-liquid PG/VG Ratio Test
Having been sent 4 spare pods I thought I’d see how they stood up to different ratio’s of VG/PG vape juice. As mentioned earlier I started, as I do every pod review, with a FAR NS20 e-liquid (Neon Green Slushie).
You can tell straight away this e-liquid has been designed for kits like the Hotcig Kubi. The wicking was perfect at handling the 65VG:35PG ratio and the delivery was spot on.
In my second pod I went for a 70VG:30PG Flavour Boss e-liquid (Dictators Lemonade). The flavour here was as perfect as it has ever been with my DTL setup. But I did find that chain vaping put a bit too much stress on the wicking material.
My recommendation would be to go slightly thinner in your ratio’s for the Kubi.
Battery Life
Out of the box the battery appeared to have a good amount of charge on it. To be honest, after using it to commute for 3 days and having an evening supping in the garden. I only really charged it because I thought it must be getting to the end of its charge. This would be one of my only downsides, it needs a battery indicator.
Pros
- Perfect form factor
- Wide mouthpiece
- Really nice texture
- 1.7ml capacity
Cons
- No battery indicator LED
Final Verdict
Now Mouth to Lung (MTL) vaping and pod sytems in general aren’t my go to style of vaping. But each time I keep coming back to review an MTL setup I get surprised how much better keep on getting.
The wider bore mouth-piece (which looks a similar size to a cigarette) is what made it so enjoyable to use for me. The tiny little slots you get on most other pod kits just don’t give me the mouth feel or vapour flow that I’m looking for.
The pods just keep on giving in terms of life span. My e-liquid has had filled my first pod 5 times now and there hasn’t been a sign of flavour drop.
The interwebs tells me that in Mandarin, Kubi means cool/awesome. I think that says it all…
I live in the United States and loved my Kubi until it died on me. I’ve looked “everywhere” and can’t find it here. Does anyone out there know where I can get another one? I can’t afford to pay for shipping overseas.
Wow really should’ve proofread my comment before I hit post stupid talk to text🤦♀️
I meant to say this vape is hands-down my favorite!
Really very happy with this product, I bought it as I had left my usual DTL device at home, so needed something cheap for the day. I ended up switching to it, for the 10£ usual retail price, this is an absolute steal, I would recommend this pod system to anyone, esp first time users as it’s similar to cigarette, in size, draw experience etc, great flavour, great battery life . A real All rounder
Been using my Kubi for a few weeks now.
The battery life on it is insane, it just never seems to run out and I usually end up charging it when I think it must be getting low (same as the reviewer). It also charges REALLY fast!
Again, I have been using it over 3 weeks and use the two supplied pods for 2 different flavours of Nic Salt juice so I can swap and change, I have not had to replace either pods yet and no sign of flavour loss or reduction in output.
The lanyard is brilliant! It features a smart little (faux) leather case for the device and doesn’t look out of place and is very secure.
Overall I am thrilled with this little kit. For this price point it is fantastic and I am happy running it as my daytime workhorse while returning to a full size DTL device in the evening when at home.
It is perfect for Nic Salts and 50/50 juice but will run 60/40 and prob 70/30 without too much sacrifice however I prefer small hits of 20mg salts as opposed to bigger clouds of standard 3/6/12mg standard 60+ VG juice as you just don’t get that lovely nicotine hit.
Great device!