Well I have a brand new shiny shiny from Innokin – meet the new Innokin Arcfire kit!
This is a pod kit, which is something Innokin do very well indeed – for instance the excellent Sceptre and Sceptre 2 instantly pop into my mind.
What To Expect From The Innokin Arcfire…
This is a pretty basic pod kit with 2 main components – the battery section (or “Mod”) and the tank section (or “Pod”).
The Pod is where the e-liquid and heating element (coil) reside and the coil is not removable. When the coil either starts tasting burnt or the taste / performance declines, you will need to replace the pod.
There is no getting soggy with e-liquid during coil changes, as you replace the whole pod component.
This is much less wasteful than a disposable vape as you keep the battery section and only replace the pod!
You refill the pod with your own e-liquid through the side fill port. The pod will hold up to 3ml (as standard) or is reduced to 2ml to comply with the TPD regulations.
There are two pod options available.
- 1.2ohm Mesh (included in kit)
- 0.8ohm Mesh (available separately)
On the packaging Innokin state that the Arc Coils will last apparently 3x longer? Not sure what they are comparing to but they are made of a mesh material which usually promises longer coil life – so I can believe this.
The battery component is designed to be super simple. No screens or adjustments to confuse you! There is an On/Off button and to vape it has auto draw – meaning just inhale on the mouthpiece and it will fire automatically.
Three LED’s live on the panel on the side and these will display your battery capacity remaining. Another Oval LED lives on the base of the device which illuminates when vaping.
Inside the mod is a 650mAh battery and you charge this using the included USB Type C cable at a 0.75A charge rate.
There are 6 colours to choose from: Cosmic Pink, Galactic Silver, Green Forest, Nebula Grey, Ocean Horizon and Stellar Black.
Kit Includes
- Innokin Arcfire Device
- Arcfire 1.2ohm refillable pod
- USB Type C cable
- Instructions
Innokin Arcfire Specs
- Size: 22.5×18.2×112.9mm
- Battery: 650mAh (internal)
- Display: LED indicators
- Output: 3.4V constant
- Type C USB charging – 0.75A charge rate
- Resistance range: 0.8ohm minimum
- Pods – Compatible with Arcfire pods – 1.2ohm & 0.8ohm
- Pod Capacity: 3ml (Standard) / 2ml (TPD)
- Side fill port
- Draw activated
- On / Off button
Thank you to Innokin for sending this over for review! I will report back honestly on my experience with the device supplied.
Innokin Arcfire Design and Build Quality
I received these in every colour variant – 6 in total!
My favourites were the Cosmic Pink and Green Forest versions which I used for this review.
Three of the devices have a colour fade pattern – the two I am using plus the Ocean Horizon.
The Nebula Grey, Galactic Silver and Stellar Black are all one colour, but still have the same Metallic finish.
Packaging wise – this is all good with the usual Innokin eco-friendly all Cardboard / Paper packaging.
The only rogue bits of plastic are the tamper proof sticker sealing the package and the protective strip on the Black side panel.
Once those are removed the rest can go in the recycling!
You do only get one pod (boo) which is a shame – especially in a starter kit, as a rookie error could burn out your only pod.
But you do also get a USB cable which many kits do not supply.
Instructions are really good apart from the fact there is no mention of any safety protections. As this device has not hit the Innokin website yet there are no online instructions to point you to.
Innokin Arcfire Mod
When you look at the side panel of this, it reminds me of the original “iStick” range.
There is a Black Plastic side panel which houses the On/Off button, airflow inlet and LED indicators.
As mentioned above there are 3 Bluey / White LED indicator lights and the combination of illuminated lights informs you of the battery charge remaining. Oh and they also do a pretty dance when you switch the mod on and off.
The lights are not visible when they are not lit up!
Around where the base of the Metal and Black Plastic meet is an Oval LED indicator. This seems to only light up in White and illuminates when vaping, inserting/removing pod and when the battery conks out. You can even see it when vaping as it is bright and well placed.
Wrapped around the mod body is a “C” shaped moulding made of something Metallic – I would assume Zinc Alloy / Aluminium. This is where you get your colour and finish.
On the front the text “Arcfire” is etched in and the rear has the “Innokin” logo.
The base of the mod is Concave with the USB Type C port in the centre. This design should mean less chance of muck getting in or damage to the USB Port. It also allows the device to stand up well – apart from when charging.
4 magnets located in the pod port pull the pod in firmly. Due to the design the pod can only be inserted one way around. It simply will not fit the opposite way.
The side panel stops where the pod meets the contacts which means you get a view of the e-liquid level via the side of the pod. This is a bit dark but if you move things about a bit you can just about see the e-liquid.
A really stunning looking mod with the beautiful paintwork and classy styling.
Innokin Arcfire Pod
Blimey these pods are chunky chonkers – they feel huge!
Like the mod they have the same Oval profile but have a protruding edge (as arrowed in photo below) which fits into the viewing gap on the device. Therefore you can only insert the pod one way around.
Sadly as I have the 2ml TPD kits there is an ugly Silicone bung stuffed in there to reduce the capacity.
Not only are the pods chubby but they are tall too – 35mm to be exact! Half of the pod is obscured when inserted into the mod – but you can still see the side edge of this area due to a gap in the side panel. The difficulty in viewing the e-liquid level is made worse by the bloody Silicone capacity reducer.
The always comfy “Duck Bill” style is used for the mouthpiece and the pod has a smoked effect.
On the rear of the pod is printed the “Innokin” & “Arcfire” logo, pod capacity and resistance in a Gold colour.
The front of the pod houses the large fill port. This is in quite an odd position – horizontally across the centre of the pod.
A nice cut-out is provided to hook your nail under the well advertised fill port cover opening tab and with a bit of effort you can rotate the cover out of the way.
Note: If you do rotate the cover, make sure both sides are pushed in firmly before installing the pod into the device. If they are slightly protruding the pod will not fit.
A very generous fill port is provided which measures approximately 6x4mm in an Oval shape. You do have to tilt the pod around a bit to get it to fill fully and not pour out of the fill port. But I had no air locks or issues like that.
I am using both the 1.2ohm and 0.8ohm pods and have had no leaks at all.
Innokin Arcfire Quick Start Guide
The pod is already installed but you will need to fill it and remove the isolator sticker from the base to get it to work.
There are no adjustments, simply turn on and away you go!
Basic Operation
- Power On/Off = Press the On/Off switch 3 times
- Vaping = Just inhale on the mouthpiece to trigger the auto fire system, the LED on the base will light up when vaping.
- Battery indicator = When vaping, the number of LED’s illuminated display the remaining battery charge – 3 lit = over 65%, 2 = 15-65% and 1 = less than 15%. You can also press the button to view battery level when not vaping.
- Battery indicator when charging = As above but the LED’s will turn off when fully charged.
Protections
- Low Battery: Base LED flashes 8 times and device stops working. Charge device.
No other protection / fault conditions listed in the user manual.
How To Charge The Battery
The charging rate is specified as 0.75A.
- Using a USB type C cable, connect the small end into the USB port on the mod.
- Connect the large end of the cable into a suitable USB outlet.
- The LED’s will cycle from 1 to 3 and turn off when fully charged.
The charging time for me using a mains charging plug was around 1 hour 10 mins.
How To Fill the Pod
- Remove the pod from the mod.
- Open the fill port cover.
- Fill the pod through the fill port. You may find you have to tilt the pod a bit to make sure you get as much e-liquid in as possible without it coming back out of the fill port.
- Push the fill port cover closed firmly.
- If first time use or a new pod leave this to stand for 10 minutes for the e-liquid to soak into the wicking. Failure to do this will result in the vape from hell (Dry Hit).
- Plus you can take a few dummy vapes on the pod before you insert it into the mod to help the e-liquid flow through.
How Does the Innokin Arcfire Perform?
I mix my own e-liquid using the IVG Bubblegum Concentrate to 20%. I add this to 50% VG and 50% PG base liquid. This is the ideal ratio of VG/PG for a low powered pod kit.
The flavour ratio I use is quite high, which can sometimes be a coil killer, but I love a lot of flavour!
I add nic salt to approx 6mg strength.
If any of these terms are over your head – have a read of our handy guides below!
- MTL V DTL V RDL – A Guide To Vape Styles
- VG and PG in E-liquid – all you need to know
- Beginners guide to E-liquid
- Nic Salt E-liquid
Arcfire 1.2ohm Pod (Included In Kit)
This pod is designed for a smother vape – which is especially useful when using strong nicotine strengths to take the edge off the throat hit.
The first few vapes made me a bit sad as there was no flavour. However after vaping around half a pod full the flavour kicked in.
As this is a higher resistance and lower power pod the flavour is a bit more muted but it is extremely smooth.
My usual 6mg e-liquid didn’t really suit this pod so I decided to try the Doozy Mix Salts Bubblegum which has a 20mg strength. I feel this pod is designed to be used with this style of e-liquid.
The vape isn’t as warm as the 0.8ohm pod and there is a lot less vapour – but this is to be expected with a 1.2ohm.
Now with the stronger nicotine I get a throat hit but not to the point of it feeling like my Tonsils have been attacked with a grinder.
So again if you are using 15-20mg nic salt strength this is the ideal pod. If using lower than that I would try the 0.8ohm first.
I managed 7 fills and the flavour was still the same.
Arcfire 0.8ohm Pod (Available Separately)
As Innokin kindly sent me some of these too, I thought I may as well review them!
This was the first pod I tested as I usually prefer around 0.7-0.8ohm coil resistances as they suit my style of vaping and my e-liquid of choice.
Initially things were slightly disappointing, the flavour was a bit muted. But please have patience as after around 2 fills the flavour kicked in and it was very tasty.
You get a slightly warm vape which gets hotter the longer you inhale. I prefer some warmth as it does bring the flavour in e-liquid alive.
This is an MTL device so you will never get huge clouds but it had slightly more vapour than I would expect so again nice one Innokin!
After about 16 fills I did find the flavour starting to drop.
Airflow
The airflow sadly is fixed but to be honest I felt it was spot on for the style of device.
It is an MTL device – which is designed to give you a similar sensation to smoking where you need to have a good drag to get the vapour moving.
To try and explain this better I will rank out of 10 – with 10 being like breathing fresh air, and 0 being fully closed.
For both pods I would say this is pretty tight at around 1 to 1.5. You do need a bit more suck than you would to take a drag on a ciggie but it does mean you get plenty of vapour passing through and a great throat hit which a lot of ex-smokers prefer.
If you are a RDL (Restricted Direct to Lung) vaper – nah this device is not for you – I can tell you that straight off. The airflow is way too tight for any of that!
Mod Performance
The auto draw fire is super quick with no lag whatsoever.
I didn’t notice any drop in performance as the battery charge dropped, in fact several times I was caught out when the base light flashed to tell me to charge the battery!
Leaks
Not a drop.
But I did notice after I rotated the fill port cover around to access the port easier there was a tiny bit of e-liquid on the fixed side of the cover (see arrow on photo below).
Make sure to push both sides of the cover in firmly – also if you don’t the pod won’t go into the mod anyway.
I am not sure if rotating the cover caused this issue, but it is hard to access the port unless you can move the cover out of the way?
Battery Life
This is always a variable, it depends on your nicotine strength, pod resistance and your own vaping habits.
As a guide with both pods it varied wildly between 5 to 7.5 hours. Must have been down to how much I was vaping. I didn’t notice any significant difference between the different pod resistances.
Pros
- Really beautiful design
- Lovely colour fade finishes
- Clear and bright LED indicators
- USB port sits in a recess in the base to help prevent damage / dirt ingress
- Extremely simple to use
- Can turn on and off
- Auto draw is super responsive
- Really light in the hand
- Two pod resistances available to cater for different nicotine strengths
- Excellent tight MTL airflow
- Very economical on e-liquid use – long time between refills
- Eco-friendly recyclable packaging
Cons
- Only 1 pod included – which is a shame if you accidentally burn out the pod included you are stuck.
- Airflow is fixed – no adjustment, although the airflow is great it would be nice to add that flexibility
- Hard to see e-liquid level – especially on the 2ml version with the ugly capacity reducer
- Instructions do not list any fault protections and what response the mod will have. For a newbie vaper these are things they need to know.
- Slow charging rate of only 0.75A – most pod devices use 2A charging.
- Airflow too tight for any chance of a RDL vape.
Final Review Verdict
I love the design, especially the colour fade versions.
It is a quality device and super well made.
I dropped a couple of marks in the design due to the lack of airflow adjustment and e-liquid level viewing. I can’t blame Innokin for the revolting capacity reducer crap. Also the charging rate at 0.75A is very low compared to a lot of pods on the market with quick 2A charging.
Ease of use I dropped a mark, simply because the instructions do not include fault / protection information. If for instance the device stopped working and all sorts of lights were flashing, how are you to know what is wrong and what to do to fix it?
My tip is to tailor which pod you use depending on the nicotine strength of your e-liquid. For higher strengths around 15-20mg, the 1.2ohm pod is ideal, plus it will be more economical on e-liquid use and battery power. 20mg is maximum strength in UK, if you are using higher I would still recommend the 1.2ohm pod.
Under 15mg try the 0.8ohm pod if you can. This is definitely the better pod for flavour, vapour and throat hit. But it might be harsh with higher nic strengths. Personally the 0.8ohm was my favourite.
If you are a new vaper or transitioning from Disposable Vapes this is a cracking place to start. The Innokin badge means quality and performance and the Arcfire does not dent that excellent reputation!
Have you used the Arcfire? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
