Smok Fetch Mini Kit Review – Does This One Vape As Good As It Looks?

The new SMOK Fetch Mini vape kit could be called a pod mod / All In One [AIO] crossover.

Whatever it is, it certainly looks stunning – as to how it vapes…we shall see.

For almost a decade and over 80 million consumers later, SMOK continues to provide vapers with a vast array of devices, ranging from the likes of the SMOK Stick 80W vape pen to the ergonomic MAG P3 vape mod and one the the best selling series of sub ohm tanks, the SMOK TFV16.

It seems they never take their eye off the ball.

Another week, another tank…another tank, another coil.

So it was inevitable that they would be opening the door of the pod market and stepping inside to take a closer look.

It didn’t take long for the SMOK Nord and the RPM40 pod mod to gain mass popularity among vapers of differing degrees of experience.

The Fetch Mini is almost a celebration of those two devices and the chance for anyone unfamiliar to get the best of both worlds as you’ll find out by reading on.

Before we go any further let me fetch my typing glasses.

What Can We Expect From The Smok Fetch Mini Kit?

The Fetch Kit is available TPD compliant – as in 2ml max capacity – which is the version I’m using, as well as manufactured for use outside the EU.

The two pods in the latter are shipped with 3.7ml capacity.

Other than that both versions are identical.

This is an open pod system – meaning it can be refilled – so expect complete versatility.

In fact it means double the versatility thanks to the inclusion of two independent pods that have already hit the market.

Both have additional coils available including Mouth To Lung types.

There are five colour schemes available: green, orange, blue, dark brown and black.

The main body of the Fetch kit is made of toughened, high end glass that is reported to be scratch free with an ergonomic design.

A bright 0.96″ colour screen allows you to fine tune adjustable power output up to a range of 40W.

Compatible with both free base and nic salt e liquid, expect to find your sweet spot with the included Nord or upgraded RPM coils provided in the kit.

This product was sent in free of charge for the purposes of review – thank you.

The following material is based upon my own observations and may differ from your own experiences of the device.

What’s In The Box?

• Fetch Mini Device (1200mah)
• Fetch Mini empty RPM Pod (2ml)
• RPM Mesh 0.4ohm coil
• USB cable
• Fetch Mini empty Nord Pod (2ml)
• Nord regular organic cotton (DC) 0.6ohm coil
• User manual

Specifications

• Size 76mm Height. 42.8mm Width. 18.4mm Depth.
• Weight 105G
• Output power 5W – 40W
• Input voltage 3.3V – 4.2V
• Output voltage 0.5V – 4.1V
• Charging voltage 5V
• Charger output 5V 2A
• Overcharge voltage 4.3V
• Charging current 1.2A (Maximum)
• Resistance range 0.3ohm – 2.5ohm

Features

• 1200mah internal battery
• 0.96in TFT colour screen
• E liquid capacity 2ml refillable
• Interchangeable Pods (RPM/Nord)
• Compatible with RPM40 coils and Nord coils
• Oil and dust proof PCTG Pod material
• 2.5D arc-side high end transparent glass
• Fast charging cycle (55mins)

Design And Build Quality

I had to chuckle to myself when I unboxed this kit.

My first impression was that it was a dinky little box mod!

On closer inspection I began to realize just how immaculately SMOK has put the Fetch kit together.

They’ve certainly used a toughened and polished glass on the main body and the design etching looks cool and “fetching”.

Curved sides make it comfortable in the hand.

However, it takes seconds for those fingerprints to appear.

There’s ample battery venting on the underside together with another logo to let you know who designed it.

The fire button, situated above the main screen feels tactile and clicky but there is movement within its housing.

This makes it look a little off kilter at times but that’s a minor gripe.

Menu buttons sit below the screen and although close together work very well indeed.

Wehey! We have another built in battery kit that allows table top charging.

You can find the USB charge port below the menu buttons for ease of access.

NB: This device allows pass-through charging in standby mode.

Screen Display And Functions

The 0.96mm TFT colour screen is fantastic in my opinion.

It feels very easy on the eye with just the right amount of contrast. Rounded edges to the text and numerals help reading the display that little bit easier.

That’s enough gushing over screen quality. Let’s take a look at what it’s showing us and how the kit works.

Smok Fetch Mini Quick Start Guide

• Lock/unlock mode and battery strength indicators
• Current output power in watts
• Puff time
• Resistance of installed coil
• Current output voltage (Only available during use)
• Puff Counter
• Selected colour scheme

Menu Functions

• Press the fire button five times within two seconds to power up. (Do the same to power the device down).
• Press and hold the fire button to vape. Auto cut off after 8 seconds.
• To Lock and unlock the device press the fire button three times in close succession.
• While the screen is unlocked use the left/right menu keys to adjust wattage output.
• Hold both menu buttons to lock or unlock the desired wattage.
• Hold the fire and left menu key together to clear puff count.
• Press the fire and right menu key together to change colour scheme.

NB: Curiously, I was only able to clear the puff counter and change the colour scheme while the pod was detached from the device.

How Do You Like Your Kit? One Pod Or Two?

The Fetch Kit comes with the RPM pod pre installed.

Its fill port tab is colour coded red to coincide with the included RPM 0.4ohm mesh coil.

A system that screams “pod design for dummies”  but will be appreciated for those that need a quick fix.

This colour coding is extended to the Nord pod with its black silica seal.

To further clarify things the coils are clearly marked too.

The magnetic contact panel is very strong.

When the pod is placed within the device there’s a reassuring snap – it’s going nowhere!

There’s also zero rattle and everything feels solid as a rock.

SMOK tell us the pods are made from PCTG for strength and reliability, being able to withstand the corrosive property of nic salt.

The tinted design also prevents UV rays from altering the chemical properties of nicotine. All good stuff!

Airflow

Smok class this as their Dual Intake Channel which is designed to give better flavour.

Essentially this is your classic bottom airflow design, channeled to allow ingress either side of the coil.

Drip Tip

This has been moulded into the pod itself so you won’t be swapping it for others.

It does, however, mimic that of a standard 510 tip and is extremely comfortable in use.

Very often pod based systems utilise overblown, uncomfortable drip tips.

The one featured here is a welcome addition for anyone used to vape pens or standard starter set ups.

How To Change The Coil

• Find the coil port on the underside of the pod.
• Push the coil up and into the pod with a rotating motion until it slips into place.

It only fits one way.. it’s so easy even I can do it! lol

Tip! It’s always a good idea to prime the cotton of the coils with a few dabs of juice before installing.

I’ve found it helps with the whole wicking process.

Read more: Priming Your Vape Coils

Filling The Pod

• Locate the arrow on the silica tab situated on the underside of the pod.
• Gently lift and pull back to reveal the fill port.
• Ensure nozzle of bottle is inserted into the pod and carefully fill.
• Make sure you have filled to or above the minimum fill level.
• Carefully replace the silica tab ensuring that it has fully resealed.

At this point I would leave the pod, coil and e liquid to settle for 10 minutes before inserting into the device.

This will also allow you to check for possible leaks before vaping.

How Does The Smok Fetch Mini Kit Perform?

I started the flavour and cloud production tests on the pre installed RPM Pod, with the compatible RPM coil.

It has a recommended power output of 25W which is how I vaped.

The choice of juice was WizMix salt range Cherry Bomb with a 60PG/40VG ratio.

Read more: VG VS PG In E Liquid: All You Need To Know

Smok RPM Pod With Mesh Coil

Wowser! It didn’t take too long for the nic rush, proving that the pod is more than capable of delivering the goods on this level.

The cloud production was also much better than I had anticipated and not dissimilar to that of your average sub ohm tank.

Very satisfying.

The flavour from the cherry was replicated very well but was something of a dry vaping experience.

It could have been due to the nic salt e-liquid as I’m not over familiar with it.

Pushing the limits of the coil beyond 25W saw a decrease in flavour quality although no dry hits were presented.

Moving on to Zeus Juice Death By Bunny, with a Max VG ratio.

The response was much better than expected vaping at the recommended guidelines for this 0.4ohm mesh coil.

Clouds for days and a creamy smoothness to the strawberry shortcake.

Flavour wasn’t as good as found on a dedicated sub ohm tank but the RPM pod certainly gave a more than adequate performance.

Smok Nord Pod With Dual Coil

This dual parallel coil, designed for use with the Smok Nord pod is rated at 0.6ohm.

With a recommended power output of 20W I used Vape Alliance Lemon Zing with a 70VG/30PG ratio.

There was an immediate difference between the two coils.

The Nord coil was providing more depth and saturation to the flavour.

Unlike the RPM coil it was bouncing around on the taste buds in a much livelier manner.

For a coil running at 20W I found this to be extremely impressive!

Moving on to Zap! Juice Aisu Aloe Vera with another 70VG/30PG mix containing.

I needed to test it for an icy cold blast.

The menthol content kicked hard!

A very good representation of what the vape juice is capable of and the flavour notes punched through in a very satisfying way.

For such a low wattage the cloud production was phenomenal.

Airflow Performance

I think it’s safe to write that pod based systems are no longer being solely designed for the virgin vaper.

The Smok Fetch Mini Kit has to be promoted as a direct to lung device purely because of the coils included.

You’re not going to be able to adopt a mouth to lung style vape out of the box.

SMOK do provide MTL coils for both the RPM and Nord pod so it would be interesting to see how versatile this kit can be.

As things stand what we have is a restrictive lung hit.

On a personal level it’s by far the best prefixed airflow design I’ve encountered on a pod system.

It really does work a treat, providing awesome flavour and cloud production.

All thanks to those clever dual intake channels.

Pod Performance

I’m not a fan of the “Pull and plug” system that most pod systems carry.

I don’t have the nails to grab hold of the silica stopper and find it far too fiddly a process.

Every time I’m forced to use a pin in order to pry it open.

I also grow paranoid that the seals are securely in place.

The SMOK Fetch Mini pods are no less of a struggle.

Compounding the issue is the fact that these coils drink the juice very quickly.

During the lifespan of a single charge that pin had to pry four times! lol.

The instruction manual goes to lengths to advise of bottle tip sizes when filling the pods.

The exact opening is 5.8mm x 3.8mm.

I found that a nice detail to include for all those used to dealing with larger bottle tips.

To be fair, the RPM and Nord pod openings are larger than many others out there, keeping issues to a bare minimum.

The fill port is also large enough to allow air to escape, again cutting down the chances of juice overflowing.

Missing A Juice Level Window?

Rather annoyingly there’s no way of checking the juice level without removing the pod from the device.

SMOK has clearly chosen aesthetics over practicality here.

The screen reminds you whenever the pod is attached or detached.

Not really a necessity but a feature nonetheless I guess.

Before Negative Neil takes over there’s some good news!

The pods that come with the SMOK Fetch Mini kit, do not – and will not leak.

During tests there were no signs of e liquid around the well or contacts, not even any residual usually found around the airflow ports – awesome stuff.

Battery Performance

In a word, excellent!

With the internal 1200mah battery it was pleasing to squeeze out a full day of moderate vaping.

With pulls of anything up to 4 seconds I was able to reach over 100 puffs according to the display reading.

Running the coils at their recommended output, low battery and voltage protection will kick in with a certain amount of charge remaining.

In order to drain the battery further I stepped down the wattage until the battery icon displayed a red border.

At this point the device refused to play ball.

This was done purely to put SMOK’s claim of fast charging to the test.

When charging, the display still showed residual charge of 20% and it took less than a minute to reach 30%.

Ten minutes later the battery was half charged and after thirty minutes it had reached 75%.

The Fetch Mini was fully charged after 45 minutes, well within the stated claims.

Pretty special stuff.

I will also give SMOK kudos for the battery percentage indicator, which is visible during charging itself.

Something not often seen, even on more powerful set ups.

SMOK Fetch Mini Coil Performance

Stick to the instructions in the manual on the coils, and you won’t go far wrong.

I found their recommended wattage output to offer optimal flavour and cloud production.

By dialing down, any menthol notes became slightly muted.

By hitting the maximum of 40W, flavour notes were marginally lost.

It’s all about personal preference, of course.

Neither coil was reading its stated resistance, with the RPM falling a little short and the Nord reading slightly high.

This isn’t a major issue and seems to be a recurring problem with pre-built coils across the board.

Because I’ve spent the last six days bouncing from one pod to the other, I’ve still to determine coil lifespan for the RPM or Nord coils.

Expect an update in the very near future.

Pros

• Excellent battery life and fast charge.
• No leaking from either pod.
• Fantastic colour screen that’s easy to read in all light conditions.
• Easy to change coils (plug and play).
• Excellent flavour and cloud production from RPM and Nord coils.
• A very quiet and smooth vape.

Cons

• Unable to see juice levels without constantly removing pod.
• Fingerprint magnet extraordinaire!
• Fill port tabs are very fiddly (subjective con).
• Can be awkward to vape (subjective con).
• Screen time out period is excessive.
• Both pods guzzle the juice.
• May be too airy for some.

Final Review Verdict

After having spent a considerable amount of time with the Fetch Mini kit I can safely state that it is the best open pod system I’ve used to date.

The reasons are multiple.

The distribution of cloud and flavour production is superb.

I got a consistently smooth and quiet vape with a healthy(!) dose of nic salt along the way.

Being a fan of the more restrictive lung hit I got exactly what I was looking for.

The dual intake channel system works wonders.

Button response times were alert and snappy and there’s just no weight to the kit, making for a very pocket friendly device.

The screen display is bright, clear and colourful with some nice rounding off of text, numerals and icons – I had no issues viewing in direct sunlight.

The battery life is fantastic for a 1200mAH rated device and charging time is phenomenal.

Expect anything up to eight hours solid performance from the Fetch Mini kit.

I’ve yet to scratch the device so the toughened high end glass finish is doing its job very well.

SMOK has struck just the right balance between power output and the coils they provide.

The Nord pod and coil just edged it for me, providing that little more sparkle from the flavours tested.

This doesn’t take anything away from the RPM because that also gave phenomenal cloud production.

It also boasts flavour qualities above and beyond many pod systems currently on the market, so there was very little to separate them.

The only minor gripe I have is with the size.

SMOK has taken the traditional box mod look which makes the form factor somewhat cumbersome for larger hands.

Whilst vaping it sometimes looks like I’m sniffing the side of a finger! lol.

Who Is The SMOK Fetch Mini Kit Designed For?

In a word – anyone.

The kit has so much on offer and will appeal to a new vaper, especially with mouth to lung coils installed.

Plug and play coils keep things simple, a prerequisite to any virgin vaper.

The included coils offer the best of both worlds with their restrictive lung hit.

Although not ideal, you can place a finger over the side airflow if you want an indication of Mouth To Lung performance.

It also produces enough cloud and flavour to appeal to the seasoned vaper and the form factor albeit shrunk will be one of familiarity here.

There’s fast charge capability for the impatient vapers among you.

To top things off the pods do not leak.

I struggle to find any reasons not to like this open pod system.

For those experienced enough to build there’s also an RBA section to look out for.

Goes to show…Don’t mock the SMOK..Or should I write…don’t poke at SMOK?

So…have you bought the Fetch Mini and if so what do you make of it?

Let us know in the comments below!