The smoant Battlestar Baby looks very much like a bigger Voopoo Drag Nano. Similar shape, similar size, similar design.
I don’t really know of Smoant, I’ve heard of them but I couldn’t name any of their devices.
At a quick glance of their website, I noticed a few of their devices looks very similar to devices from other brands. For example, the Battlestar Mod looks like the WisMec reuleaux.
The Pasito Pod system looks like a rebuildable Lost Vape Orion (although a few brands brought out similar looking devices). So it might not be a great surprise the Battlestar Baby Pod looks similar to the Drag Nano.
According to the Smoant website their target audience is vapers… all of us. Cloud Chasers, Flavour Chasers and even “Tootle Puffers” and “Mod wompers” … whatever they are.
Let’s take a look at the pod itself.
What to Expect From the Smoant Battlestar Baby?
My first expectations are set by Smoants target audience, so I’m looking for big “clouds” (vapour production), very prominent flavour, but to satisfy the entire target audience, it must also be able to handle high nicotine liquid, high VG liquid, 50/50 liquid, Direct to lung vaping and mouth to lung vaping.
I suppose it’s a lot to ask! All of those things from one device. But with changeable coils (which the Battlestar Baby has) or different pods, it’s achievable.
Something I’ve never really seen before is the charging cable and lanyard. Yes, I’ve seen a lanyard and Yes, I’ve seen a charging cable… but in this case they are the same thing, but we’ll look at that closer later on.
The USB is USB-C (The latest in USB technology), which leads me to say, Smoant advertise the system is “Fast Charging”, they also go on to specify that the system fully charges in 45-60 minutes.
The system is button-less, meaning it only fires on Draw Activation, but that also suggests it doesn’t have variable power output. And it doesn’t, although the Wattage is different depending on which coil is in the pod.
This device was sent free of charge for the purposes of review. As always my view are my own.
See The Battlestar Baby In Action
In The Box
The TPD contents is same as the standard contents. Although they are stated separately on Smoants website.
- 1 x Battlestar Baby System
- 1x USB-C charger/ Lanyard
- 1x 0.6ohm Mesh coil -Pre-installed
- 1x 1.2ohm Ni80 coil
- 1x pod
- 1x user manual
- 1x warranty card
- 1x certified card
Specs
- Size= 72 x 45 x 15mm
- Weight = 78g
- Battery Capacity = 750mAH
- Power output = 10/15W
- Charging= 5V/0.8A
- Charging port =USB-C
Features
- 8 second overtime protection
- Short Circuit Protection
- Anti-Leak Design
- Ant Chip
- CPR design Material
Design and Build Quality
I’ve already stated the obvious, the system looks similar to the VooPoo Drag Nano, but let’s look a little bit closer.
The Body | Battery
I have to say it does look good in every colour variation. (I’m not suggesting the VooPoo doesn’t). I think with resin stickers (which are used a lot at the moment), they often don’t fully match the devices colour but in my opinion Smoant have colour matched really well, with all 6 colours.
The biggest difference between the Battlestar Baby and the Drag nano is the size, the Battlestar baby is bigger, thicker and heavier. Even the LED Indicator is bigger.
Overall the device feels pretty durable, the front and back stickers are well placed and well glued.
I did notice in low light you can see the LED indicator through one side of the sticker. It’s not a big deal you can see it from a meter away, and you can’t see it during the day, I just thought I’d mention it.
It fits in the hand nicely, it isn’t too heavy to have on a lanyard (to be fair at 78grams its pretty light).
To be honest I’m struggling to find fault with the systems design and build quality.
CPR Materials
On their website Smoant boast that CPR was used as a design material for the Battlestar Baby. Finding out what CPR is, isn’t a simple task, I asked Smoant via email and as I expected, they didn’t help much.
But Oleophobol CPR is a liquid used on things like mobiles, glass and ceramic surfaces to create an oil, fingerprint and stain resistant surface that is impervious to dirt, dust, oils, and other particles resulting in a surface that is easy-to-clean and maintains a cleaner surface longer than untreated products/materials.
In short, The Smoant uses “CPR Material” to give a better quality finish to the Battlestar Baby, giving it a high gloss finish that is wear resistant and less of a fingerprint magnet.
Charging cable & Lanyard
I’m sure I’ve seen this idea before but for the life of me, I can’t think where…
The lanyard, which attaches through a lanyard hole on the system, is also the USB-C charging Cable.
Although I like the idea, it is rather gimmicky, and it makes me wonder how durable it is.
Lanyards often get tugged and pulled. Is the cable inside the lanyard strong enough to endure that without breaking?
It’s not that much of a big deal though, the system accepts standard USB-C so it would be easy and inexpensive to get a new charger, if it does break.
The “charging lanyard” is over 80cms long, I know this because on one side of the lanyard is an 80cm ruler. Which originally I thought, “wow that’s cool, it’ll help measure wire when you’re building coils”… It wasn’t long after I remembered the system isn’t rebuildable, although it makes my point a bit redundant, I still think it is cool and could be useful.
The other side of the lanyard hosts Smoant logos, which is to be expected.
LED Indicator
The LED indicator is on the side of the system, it’s quite big, measuring at 3mm.
It is covered by a translucent white plastic, which lights up sufficiently when the light is on and is easy to see even in direct sunlight.
Pod
The pod for the device is pretty big, measuring at 42.5 x 20.5 x 10mm.
Although, quite obviously, the part of the pod that protrudes from the top of the system to form the mouth piece is significantly smaller measuring at 15 x 12 x 5mm. Which is quite a nice shape and size for a mouth piece.
The pods are a clear black which allows us to see quite a lot.
Inside, just off center of the pod, is the coil. Here is where it gets interesting, at the side of the coil is a much smaller airflow tube.
The smaller airflow tube goes to the bottom of the pod and has a rubber ring around the bottom which helps it fit and seal onto a pin inside the pod port on the system. This pulls extra airflow directly through the system and into your mouth.
Now this would make the vapour smoother, as you’re pulling more “pure air” but I speculate, that this is apart of the “leak proof system”.
More About Airflow
Moving on from the strange “smaller airflow tube”. The pods pull in the air from the side of the pod, right at side of the fill hole bung, which goes inside of the system… So inside the pod port of the system there is an “airflow channel”.
When you take a puff, the air goes in through the top of the system, down the side of the pod, into the pod, then down into the bottom of the pod, then up through the coil.
I agree, that does sound like a lot of effort just for airflow, but I’m certain that this is also a part of the leak proof design.
Regardless of where the air comes from and goes to, the system has quite loose airflow and can quite easily be used for direct to lung (DTL) vaping.
If you are wondering about adjustable airflow, you’re out of luck, it doesn’t have it.
Pod Connection
The pod only fits into the system one way and is held in by 4 magnets, which are placed in the system, rather than on the pod.
At first I had a problem with the mod connection, it seemed like the magnets weren’t strong enough to hold the pod down onto the spring loaded terminal pins.
Due to the terminal pins pushing the pod up, the pod kept losing connection. It wasn’t so severe that it was a constant issue, I just had to make sure the pod was in fully whenever I picked it up.
But after a day or two this stopped happening, I suppose it just needed a bit of “Breaking in” like a pair of new shoes.
The system has interchangeable coils, which is always nice to see, especially while the world is trying to cut down on plastic waste.
Using The System
As with most pods, it’s super simple to start. With the Battlestar Baby all you really have to do before you start is fill the pod.
How To Fill Battlestar Baby Pods
Smoant warn, take extra care not to spill any liquid into the main device.
- Remove the pod from the system.
- Open the fill hole on the side of the pod by lifting the rubber plug
- Fill the pod with liquid
- Replace the rubber plug
- Place the pod back into the system
The pod goes in to the system with the fill hole facing the same way as the LED indicator.
As always, leave the pod for 5 minutes to allow the liquid to soak into for the coil (especially if coil is new/unused).
Changing The Coil
Leaking: When you remove the pod from the system, look into the pod. You see where the coil (silver and metal) meets the airflow pipe (clear black plastic). While the pod is upside down whatever liquid is above this joint will leak.
- Remove the pod from the system
- Turn the pod upside down
- Lift and remove the old coil from the base of the pod
- Insert the new coil into the pod and press it tight
When inserting the new coil, it will only fit while the white lines are pointing to the narrow sides.
After inserting the new coil, fill the pod and leave the liquid to soak into the coil for 5 minutes.
LED Light Indications
If you’ve seen the Smoant website or any official images you might have seen the image below that talks about the LED indicator.
It accidentally suggests the LED Indicator might gradually change colour, That’s not the case, It goes straight from one colour to another.
While using the system the LED Light will light up in a colour that corresponds to the battery level.
- White = 100-60%
- Blue = 60-30%
- Red = 30-5%
While charging
- Red Light breathing = 5-30% Charged
- Blue Light breathing = 30-60% Charged
- White Light breathing = 60-95% Charged
- White Light Constant = Charging complete
LED Light warning indicators are
- White Light 1 flash = Pod just connected
- Red Light 5 flashes = Overtime protection(8 seconds cut-off)
- Red Light 3 flashes = Short circuit / Poor pod connection
- Red Light 10 flashes = Battery too low (less than 3V)
Using The Lanyard / Charger
To turn the Lanyard into a charger press the buttons on either side of the lanyard clasp and pull the clasp away. This will release the USB connector and the USB-C connector
You may notice the USB doesn’t look like a normal USB. That’s ok, it’s supposed to be like that.
If you look into a USB plug ‘socket’ you will see a little block (usually white, black or blue) and a similar sized gap.
The USB plug goes into the gap of the plug ‘socket’ with the little gold pins facing the gap.
If it’s anything like mine, it is a little bit tight. It will go, just be careful and gentle but firm.
To convert the charger back into a lanyard, put the USB-C and USB ends together, with the ‘buttons‘ facing away from each other. And push them into the clasp until the buttons on either side clip into the holes.
How Does The Battlestar Baby Pod System Perform?
In short, very well!
At the time of writing this there are only 2 coils available for the Smoant Battlestar Baby pods, both of which are included in the kit, so we’ll have a look at both. They are rather strange shapes… They’re quite long and narrow.
I spent the vast majority of my time with the Battlestar Baby using it with Cherry Fizzle Riot Salt, a Riot Squad Nic-Salt which is sweet rich cherry with sour fizzy notes (50VG/50PG).
Mesh Coil 0.6ohm (pre-installed)
The system will fire the 0.6ohm coils at 15W.
I using this coil Mouth To Lung (MTL) and (DTL) Direct To Lung, and with both it was perfect.
While using the coil MTL it can produce a cloud (yes, a cloud), and obviously DTL produces even more of a cloud. In fact using this coil and system DTL it produces as good of a cloud as some small sub-ohm tanks. But bare in mind its a 15W pod, don’t expect a 80W size cloud.
Flavour production, is awesome!
I’ve also being using this liquid on my Dripper (RDA) and let me tell you there isn’t a great deal of difference between the flavour.
Obviously the dripper firing at 180W is providing more flavour (and vapour), but the very fact that I’m comparing them shows just how good the flavour production from the Smoant Battlestar Baby is.
So did I prefer DTL or MTL? It’s hard to say, but personally I preferred MTL.
Just because when I vape DTL, I want a lot of vapour quickly. But honestly, I don’t think one is better than the other, it will be interesting for me to see what other people prefer.
Regular 1.2ohm Coil (Ni-80)
The system will fire this 1.2ohm coil at 10W.
I have to say this coil isn’t much different to the 0.6 coil. Everything seems the same except from the vapour production, which is lessened.
Although the vapour production is less with this coil, it’s still a decent amount of vapour.
It’s less of a cloud and most like a cigarette.
This is the first time I have been disappointed in the Smoant Battlestar Baby and that’s due to the airflow. To fully meet all of Smoants target audience, I had hoped that this coil would provide a tighter draw, ideally like a cigarette.
I can’t tell a difference in airflow between the coils, although the 1.2ohm coil might be slightly more restrictive. It is still loose enough to enable DTL vaping.
Despite the airflow, personally I am happy with the coil, it provides impressively good flavour and it has great, smooth vapour production.
If anything I think it has an even better flavour production than the 0.6ohm coil.
High VG
I tested both coils with Bubble Ting Lemon an 70VG/30PG liquid that tastes like … well lemon bubblegum.
Both coils handled the 70/30 liquid amazingly well, the flavour was incredibly good, the vapour production as enhanced (as expected) and I didn’t get a single dry hit… It’s really quite impressive.
Pod Summary
Both pods are very similar but my choice would be the 1.2ohm coil.
This is purely down to the flavour being a little more prominent and the battery lasting longer because of the power it uses. Lets not forget that the 0.6ohm coils as a really impressive vapour production though.
Choosing between the two, makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop!
Coil Life
I’ve used the 0.6ohm coil for 12 days and the 1.2ohm coils for 5 days and they’re both standing strong.
Battery Life | Charging
I’ll remind you it has a USB-C charger, which also doubles up as a lanyard. Just in case you forgot.
Smoant says the Battlestar Baby 750mAH battery charges in 45-60 minutes. And it does, the average charge time, from flat to full, was roughly 50 minutes. Which is to be expected for a 750mAH kit with a 0.8A charge rating.
Using the 1.2ohm coil (10W) lasted me about 10-11 hours a day. And using the 0.6 ohm coil lasted me about 8 hours a day. Which I don’t think is terrible, but I would certainly appreciate a 900mAH battery… but I always want more power!
Mathematically, on a fully charge using the 1.2ohm coil, you can expect roughly 510 x 2 second puffs (1 puff a minute, every minute for 8.5 hours). And using the 0.6 coil you can expect roughly 330 x 2 second puffs ( 1 puff a minutes, every minute for 5.5 hours).
For general use, I don’t think that’s bad, It does make me wonder why they designed the system with such a low charge rating though. Most devices have a 1A charge rating and some have even higher (2A).
Anti-Leaking
All pod systems have a bit of excess liquid and/or condensation. And I often mention it and say it’s no big deal.
But the Smoant Battlestar Baby explicitly says it’s an anti-leaking system, so I’m being a little bit harsh. There has been traces of liquid/condensation around the pod/pod port.
Maybe Smoant don’t include condensation in the “anti-leaking” system. I don’t know, but I’m not a fan of fancy/clever wording.
But I understand I’m being harsh, so I won’t let that reflect in the score too much.
Pros
- Awesome Flavour Production
- Impressive Vapour Production
- USB-C Charging Port
- Lanyard/Charging cable in 1
- Prominent LED Light
- Changeable coils
- Simple to use
- MTL & DTL
- Decent Battery Life & Charging time
- Feels Sturdy
Cons
- No Variable power
- No Variable Airflow
- Doesn’t have restrictive airflow Not 100% Leak Proof
Final Verdict
At the beginning of the review I said to satisfy the entire Smoant target audience the system has to satisfy cloud chasers, flavour chasers, “tootle puffers” and “,mod wompers”.
Presuming Tootle Puffers are the (quite big) amount of vapers that like a tight draw, that replicates a cigarette, Smoant will have failed to satisfy that target audience. Because the system doesn’t provide a restrictive pull like a cigarette.
However, I think just off this one pod, Smoant can satisfy the vast majority of the rest of their target audience. It provides great flavour, impressive vapour and it’s easy to use MTL and DTL.
