Vaptio C-Flat Pod Kit Review – Does This Hit The Right Note?

The Vaptio C-Flat Pod Kit is an all in one pod style device with a replaceable cartridge. The cartridges are 1.5ml capacity.

You can refill the pod – so you don’t have to buy pre-filled cartridges. Pre-filled cartridges mean you are tied to the same manufacturer.

With this you do have the freedom to buy any e-liquid brand, flavour or strength you want.

Vaptio C-Flat Pod Kit

This has a 350mAh battery which might sound small but remember that is a similar capacity to the original Eleaf iCare Mini PCC devices and they run at a low power so the battery life should be decent. This runs at a maximum of 15W when fully charged.

Vaptio are a brand I haven’t had the chance to use so I’m very interested to see what they have to offer!

This is a little device with a fire button to operate. The fire button has 2 settings push upwards for MTL vaping and push downwards for DTL vaping – now this is really intriguing me am bursting to get it up and running!

For descriptions of what MTL and DTL mean – read here!

5V quick charging – can charge the battery in less than 1.5 hours and you can vape whilst charging as it has pass-through feature.

You can buy this in 3 colours: Champagne Gold with white trim, all black and Red and black.

What’s In The Box

• C-Flat Pod Mod
• 2 C-flat pod tanks
• C-Flat drip tip
• User manual
• USB cable

Features

• 1.5ml e-liquid capacity
• 1 ohm resistance
• 350mAh battery capacity
• 15W maximum output (when fully charged)
• Resistance range 0.8-1.2 ohm
• Size 120x25x15mm
• Two vaping modes MTL/DTL
• 5V charging supported
• Pass-through function
• Safety protections : over heat, short circuit, over vaping (5 seconds)
• Top fill

Build Quality & Design

This is incredibly cute and feels really solid.

I got the Champagne Gold colour for review.

The buttons and mouthpiece all seem to fit snugly and no wobbliness! When you remove the mouthpiece and tank as long as you follow the instructions they are easy to remove and replace and fit well.

You can shake this about and there are no rattles or squeaks – it does feel sturdy.

There is a slot to view the tank level but this is too dark to see it clearly- so I think I would end up removing the mouthpiece to keep checking it.

When you turn this upside down it reminds me of a whale – its mouth is the mouthpiece and its erm “exhaust outlet” is the USB port. Make sure to do the right thing with the right end…

The Tank:

The tank is a refillable plastic tank which is quite transparent – however when installed on the device I couldn’t see the liquid level through the slot.

The tanks are sealed so the coil is not replaceable and you will need to buy a new tank when the coil is expired.

The Battery:

To charge the battery plug the small end of the supplied USB cable into the bottom port of the device.

There is a green LED which will go off when the battery is fully charged.

In The Hand

It does have to be said this is very very cute.

This is a perfect stealth device – my hands are girly little hands and as you can see its pretty small.

The fire button is in a perfect location and there are no other controls or adjustments to make.

How Does the Vaptio C-Flat Pod Kit Perform?

Basic operation

• 5 clicks of the fire button to turn on and off. The green LED will flash to confirm this.
• Simply press the fire button whilst inhaling to vape. It does have a 5 second vaping cut off to prevent over heating or if accidentally fired it won’t burn out the coil, unless of course you don’t have e-liquid in the tank :).

How To Fill The C-Flat Pod Tank

• Remove the mouthpiece.
• Remove the sealing plug.
• Drip e-liquid into the filling hole – do not put liquid into the centre hole of the tank.
• Replace the plug.
• Replace the mouthpiece.

A weird thing I have found when refilling is this tank suffers with air pressure.

To explain – when you add liquid to the tank it needs to allow the air inside to exit to be replaced with liquid.

Now using a thin dripper inserted into the filling hole works fine -this pushes the existing air out.

If you try and fill by dripping liquid into the hole from outside the tank (as shown in the Vaptio image below)- or try and fill the tank with water under the tap for washing out – the liquid will not enter the hole at all. It’s like it can’t extinguish the air from the tank and will not let liquid enter.

To solve this always use a dripper which will fit fully into the filling hole.

How To Change The C-Flat Pod Tank

When the vapour tastes burnt or is poor you will need a new coil head. Also make sure to check the e-liquid level as a low liquid level can have the same result and could permanently damage the coil.

You cannot replace the coil heads on this – you simply buy a new tank. This may suite users who want a no fuss device.

• Remove the mouthpiece.
• The tank pulls out at an angle – once you get the angle correct it is easy – and you know next time you do it!
• The instruction booklet shows you the angle but it’s so tiny I’m struggling to reproduce the pic but here’s my best attempt!
• To replace the tank push it in firmly until you hear a firm click.
• Fill the tank and leave to prime the coil for 5-10 minutes. Make sure to put the tank sealing plug back in!!

Flavour & Cloud Production

Now the Vaptio web site says to pull button down for DTL and Up for MTL. Upon examining the illustrations I think it means to flip the device over – rather than different modes on the button – as I can’t see any difference however you press the button.

Now with this in mind it seems to work – seems to be more restricted with the button facing up and more airy with the button facing down! But the DTL isnt really great to be honest – this works much better as a MTL device.

I initially used a new E-liquid I was sent for review – Jefferies Vintage Vapes Cream Soda – 70% VG and zero nicotine.

As I really didn’t like the first liquid I tried, I had to use the spare tank and fill that with my favourite liquid Cloud Number 5 – which is a vanilla, cherry and Pistachio liquid at 80% VG.

I have added a nicotine shot to this which has also helped to thin the liquid out a bit so it should be suitable for this coil.

Further Reading: What is PG and VG in E-liquid?

1 ohm C-Flat Pod with Coil

This coil comes pre-installed in the C-Flat pod tanks – I haven’t seen any alternative coils to this and the coil cannot be removed from the tank like in the iCare 2 device – when the coil goes you will need a new tank.

The tanks are showing for sale on the vaptio website in packs of 4.

Now first impressions are the vapour is excellent for this resistance coil and the power it is using.

I got no dry hits or spitting from this at all. However if the liquid level gets low – it can sometimes struggle to pick up the liquid so you will find you are constantly having to remove the mouthpiece to check the level to try and avoid this. With it being a small, 1.5ml tank you get through the liquid a lot quicker than you think you will.

The Cream Soda liquid gave a great vapour and super strong taste.

With the Cloud No 5 liquid the vapour was still surprisingly good, great throat hit, but cool vapour and not as much flavour as I’m used to in other devices.

I would say to use maximum of 70% VG liquid as it didn’t seem to perform as well with 80% VG. When I have washed the tanks out I will try with 50% VG and see how it goes.

• Get some ideas with our best e cig liquid list

Battery Life

Now the instructions and the Vaptio website do not tell you how you can judge the remaining battery capacity?

So I am at a bit of a loss.

There is a green LED on the front of the device – this lights up whilst charging. This also illuminates when firing. But I haven’t seen it change colour or flash in any way to show battery capacity?

If there is no indication of battery remaining this is pretty poor – I personally don’t like this at all.

I was indeed right – when the battery power runs out the indicator light starts flashing and the device shuts down – with no warning. Not a happy bunny.

Just to add to its woes – the 350mAh battery life isn’t great – in fact because of this the instantaneous shut down is even more of a surprise.

For this review I have been trying to use this device as much as I can. But in all honesty I don’t feel like I can trust it. I have to take another device out with me as this will not last long enough for me when I am out and about. Plus I can’t guarantee to be near a charger either so it’s not very practical at all.

One other quite worrying thing is as I sit here now at 3am in a perfectly quiet house (quite rare!) I kept hearing a ticking noise – similar to a battery driven wall clock. I was trying to work out where this noise was coming from. It was coming from the C-Flat!

The device was lying on my desk in front of me – having been last used about 5 minutes ago and still a little bit warm. I picked it up and put it to my ear and I am not pressing the fire button or operating it in any way – this has made me a bit worried? Is there a malfunction? Is it the device just clicking as it is cooling down? I really don’t know.

What I Like

So simple to use and very very cute.

What I Dislike

No indication of remaining battery capacity – is not good.

Final Review Verdict

The deal breakers here are the lack of battery display and the low battery capacity.

It might sound petty – and perhaps with it having a small battery the manufacturers decided you would always make sure you are pretty close to a charger anyway.

But I do not like this.

You are happily vaping away – and I mean happily as this is a pretty good device – and then boom – flashing green light and it shuts down. No warning, nothing.

It says you can use pass-through charging – however the cable is that short that is impossible.

Such a shame – it is almost upsetting to see such a great little bit of kit ruined by such an oversight. I have marked this low in the design category because of this.

Pros

• This is so easy to use even for new vapers.
• Excellent vapour and good taste.
• Charges quickly.
• Feels sturdy and well built.
• Good for MTL use.
• Top filling tank.
• Refillable tank.

Cons

• Filling plug a bit fiddly to install.
• Hard to wash tank out.
• Not great for DTL.
• Hard to see the liquid level in the tank without removing the mouthpiece.
• Due to the 1.5ml capacity the fluid level drops quite quickly
• Can only use very pointy dripper to fill the tank.
• No battery capacity indicator.
• Poor battery capacity.
• Makes weird noises when not in operation?
• The device and tanks are more expensive than similar devices and in my opinion do not perform as well.