Wismec R40 Pod Mod Review – Pod Mod Or Advanced Pod?

The Wismec R40 review, and this is the new ‘lite’ version of the R80 pod mod.

At first, I couldn’t find the mention of pod or pod mod on the Wismec website or any info about the R40, however, after another look I have found one small mention, which refers to it as a pod mod!

Founded in 2014, Wismec devices are designed in US and manufactured in China.

To me Wismec is a brand that is know for decent, well built and reliable products without having to constantly flood the market with new products, unlike some other vape brands.

The Wismec Reuleaux range is huge in both size and popularity. I’ve counted 12 different devices in the Reuleaux range, however it’s the RX200 that has a place in my heart as my longest lasting mod, it’s served me well!

Interestingly, launched in early 2020, the R80 was Wismec’s first pod system on the market.

You could argue that was a little bit late to join the pod race but I disagree, if anything the R80 if more of a pod mod, so I would say they were not too much late into the pod market, but early into the pod mod market.

What To Expect From The Wismec R40?

The Wismec R40 is a lot more basic than I expected it to be.

From looking at the device I thought it was going to be a ‘full on’ pod mod, however after using it and looking at the functionality of it, it seems more like an advanced pod system.

Although Wismec hasn’t really pushed the pod mod branding, they do refer to it as a pod mod, so that’s how I will treat it in regards to this review.

With an internal 1700mAh battery and max wattage of 40w the R40 is definitely a smaller version of the R80.

In regards to appearance, the R40 is definitely ‘unique’. It has a triangular shape (similar to the Reuleaux mods) with rounded edges but the most eye catching aspect of the R40s appearance is the ‘Dazzling Grille Panels’.

The R40 makes use of a 0.96” OLED Screen, variable wattage, a smart setting and the coils have adjustable airflow.

Oh and did I mention it comes with a handy dust cap / cover? I like it a lot more than I did to start with, let’s find out why.

Watch Harley’s Video Review

 

Inside The Box

• 1 x R40 Battery / Mod
• 1 x R40 Pod
• 1 x WV-M 0.3ohm coil – pre-installed
• 1 x WV01 Single 0.8ohm coil
• 1 x USB-C Cable / Lanyard
• 1 x Quick Start Guide
• 1 x User Manual
• 1 x Warranty Card

There is a difference between the TPD version and the standard version. Above is the standard version but the TPD version comes with the 0.2ohm coil rather than the 0.3ohm coil, as well as a smaller liquid capacity.

Wismec R40 Specs

• Size: 96 x 27.4 x 27.4 m
• Power Range: 1- 40w
• Battery: Internal – 1700mAh
• Charging: USB-C – 5V/2A
• Display: 0.96” OLED Screen
• E-liquid Capacity: 3ml (2ml TPD)
• Materials: Zinc Alloy + PCTG

Wismec R40 Features

• Dust Proof Cap
• Smart Mode
• Variable Wattage
• Adjustable Airflow
• USB-C 2A Charging
• Over Charge Protection
• Over Discharge Protection
• Overtime Protection (10s)
• Short-circuit Protection
• Over Current Protection
• Temperature Protection

Design and Build Quality

The unique looking Wismec R40 kit, comes in a variety of 5 different colours.

Wismec R40 Battery / Body

The triangular shape of the R40 is inspired by the popular Reuleaux range, it is that shape along with the grille panels that make the system look so unique.

There are two of these panels and they are rather… interesting. The honeycomb styled holes in the panels allow you to see the reflective sticker below, put together makes the device look like it is covered in diamonds/ gems.

Although the system is made from zinc alloy, it has a rather smart bushed stainless steel look to it.

Above anything else it feels really good in hand and overall it feels tough and durable.

The Wismec R40 Pod

There has been some effort put into this pod, as it’s not just any old square or pod.

As you can see the pod is same shape as the mod, it fits in at any of the 3 points of rotation and the mouth piece is built into the pod.

The mouth piece is a nice size and shape that will suit most (MTL and DTL) vapers. The pod curves up to form the mouth piece in a way that even the curvature sits quite nicely on the lips.

I was really happy when I saw the plug for the fill hole because they’ve made it huge – finally a pod system that caters for nail biters…although, in the spirit of not being able to do right for doing wrong, it’s a bit too big.

When putting the pod into the port, you have to make sure the plug doesn’t go on the wrong side of the device, or it lifts it open and could potentially damage the plug.

The pod is all round translucent, but most of the liquid is below the pod connection port, so you can see when the e-liquid is dropping, but not quite when its nearing empty, unless you remove the pod or tip the system on it’s side, and then you can see exactly how much liquid is left.

Wismec R40 Pod Connection

The pod fits into the port quite nice and flush. Of course there is a slight movement if you try to move it but I’m content that it’s tight enough, any tighter would be too tight.

The pod is held in quite firmly by 3 magnets; one in each corner.

Due to how well the magnets hold the pod in place and the curvature of the mouth piece, you would think it’s quite hard to remove the pod.

Well that would be true, but Wismec has very cleverly put a lip on each corner making it a lot easier to remove the pod even for us nail biters.

Wismec R40 Airflow

The airflow on the R40 is very generous for a small pod mod.

On the exterior of the device there is 10 holes, that comes into the system right beside the bottom of the coil.

If you’ve read or watched any of my previous reviews, you’ll probably know, I’m really not a fan of the coil base thing, where the coil base detaches from the coils and it’s those bases that have the adjustable airflow.

Well Wismec either listened, or they’re on the same brain frequency. Although the R40s adjustable airflow is on the base of the coils, the bases are built into the coils!

It should also be mentioned that each coil has it’s own size airflow, so the adjustable airflow on the 0.3ohm coils, is bigger than on the 0.8ohm coils.

The adjustment bands are very loose, not so loose that they move on their own accord but there isn’t much resistance. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, as long as there is enough resistance to stop it moving on it’s own accord.

The Screen and User Interface

The screen is 0.96”, which is a fairly decent size for such a stumpy device.

I like how the screen is integrated with the rest of the device.

The black screen panel doesn’t just cover the screen, it goes up and around the buttons. Okay, it’s only a little detail but I think it makes a big difference in regards to appearance – I like it.

The UI (User Interface) can go along way in regards to a device looking good and being nice to use. I think adding a bit more detail in detailed graphics to very basic device can make it seem a lot less basic.

Adding a bit more detail is exactly what Wismec has done.

The display has a sort of sports car ethos about it.

In the top left corner is the coil resistance. The battery indicator is in the top right corner with a very prominent percentage.

In the center is the power setting and then in the bottom corners we have the current puff length counter and the puff counter.

Wismec R40 Battery

All that’s left to mention is the battery, which is built in with a 1700mAh capacity.

I think that’s a decent size, it’s not ground breaking big but it’s not small for a 40w kit.

As I just mentioned the battery indicator display as a small bar and a percentage.

Although I’m a massive fan of the battery percentage information, on this devices the battery percentage goes down in increments of 10%. Okay that’s better than just a bar, but I would have been much happier with increments of 5% or less.

Wismec R40 Top Cap / Cover

A top cap is always a good idea, it keep all the little unwanted things, like dust, sand and pocket fluff out of your mouth piece.

I was obviously pleasantly surprised to see the R40 coming with a top cap, although at first I thought it was destined to go missing.

However, after a day of using it I realized there is a special place to store the cap.

The cap fits on the top with a notch on each side that loosely clip into place.

When you’re using it, the mod is designed to hold the cap on the bottom.

It’s clever, I like it.

If the cap starts to become a bit loose on the bottom of the device, just press the tough lips inwards (not too hard) just a little bit off pressure seems to go along way, although you can’t really see a difference.

Wismec R40 – Quick Start Guide

Change Coil

• Remove the pod from the system
• Holding the pod upside down, pull the coil out of the pod
• Drop a small amount of liquid into the new coil
• Push the new coil into the base of the pod
• Set the airflow to your preference
• Fill the pod with e-liquid and wait a few minutes for it to soak in

Note: Try to change the coil when the e-liquid level is as low as possible to avoid wasting your juice.

Filling the Pod

• Remove the pod from the system
• Holding the pod with the red plug facing up
• Remove the plug and pour e-liquid into hole
• reapply plug and insert onto pod

If using a coil for the first time, allow a few minutes for the liquid to soak into the cotton – known as priming your coil.

Button Operations

• Turn On/Off = Press fire button 5 times quickly
• Adjust power = Press ‘-’ or ‘+’
• Lock/Unlock = Press fire button 3 times quickly
• Enter Settings = Press and hold ‘-’ and ‘+’ simultaneously

Inside the Settings Menu

While in the settings menu use the ‘-’ and ‘+’ to navigate up and down and use the fire button to select.

• Smart Mode: When turned on will set the wattage to the optimum power for newly inserted coils.
• Puff: Last 7 days usage information.
• Colour: Change the colour of the screen- Red, Gold, Green, Blue
• ID Check: Product information – batch code
• Default: Restore factory settings
• Exit: back to home screen

How Does The Wismec R40 Perform?

When you insert the pod, the device displays the coils recommended wattage range, which I think is a great and useful feature.

WV-M 0.3ohm Coil (Pre-Installed)

This coil is designed to be used at 25 – 40W and the smart feature recommends 35W.

In good tradition, I used it with the Got Salt Peachy Promise, which is a peach and passion fruit Nic Salt, mixed up at 50VG/50PG.

At 25w, regardless of airflow, there isn’t a lot of flavour, but you can still taste the peach but it isn’t very prominent and there isn’t a great deal of vapour either

The device recommends 35W for this coil and it is a nice power for it. At 35W you get a nice prominent taste it’s hard to explain, it almost fills the mouth with flavour but not quite, it leaves you wanting a little bit more… do you know what I mean? The vapour production is like the amount of smoke you get from a cigarette.

Maxing out the mod at 40W you get a prominent flavour. It fills the mouth nicely and the vapour production is just above the amount of smoke you would get from a cigarette.

All of the above, is in regards to using the coil Mouth To Lung and I didn’t really notice a huge difference in flavour from changing the airflow.

However when using the device Direct To Lung I didn’t really get any flavour, until I turned the airflow down.

With the airflow turned down at 35-40W the coil produces a nice flavour and a small but thick cloud.

WV01 Single 0.8ohm Coil

This coil is designed to be used at 12 – 20W and the smart feature recommends 16W.

Again, I used it with the Got Salt Peachy Promise, which is a peach and passion fruit Nic Salt, mixed up at 50VG/50PG.

Way down low at 8w, irregardless of airflow, there isn’t a great deal occurring, there is a small amount of vapour and no taste.

12W is the bottom of the recommended range and it’s where the flavour starts to come through, although it still isn’t very prominent but the vapour production is becoming more like the smoke from a cigarette.

The system recommends 16W and here, with the airflow fully open, the flavour is nice and prominent at the back of the mouth and again the vapour production is similar to the smoke from a cigarette.

However with the airflow turned down real low, there is next to flavour.

At 20W the flavour is still greatly prominent, but now instead of feeling condensed at the back of the throat it fills the mouth nicely.

The coil handles 25W just as well, there is a great prominent flavour, it’s smooth and there’s no signs of burning.

With Direct To Lung vaping, the coil seems to struggle a bit, the flavour is lessened but there is still no dry hits.

Having said that, if this device is designed for DTL, this coil certainly isn’t.

Wismec R40 Coil Summary

I tried both coils with 70/30 liquid (Juccier Strawberry Mango Crush) and they both handled the liquid just fine.

Out of both coils, I think I prefer the 0.8ohm coil. Purely because there isn’t much between the coils and I don’t think you gain much more from the 0.3ohm coil especially to justify the extra battery power.

Wismec R40 Battery

The Wismec R40s built in battery is 1700mAh which I think is a fair size for a device like this, let’s take a look at what you can expect from the battery.

If you use it at full power (40w), you’re going to get roughly 9 hours use – if you have a 2 second puff every other minute continuously (280 puffs) – I think that’s decent.

But let’s say you use the 0.8ohm coil at it’s top recommended wattage (20W), you’re going to double your usage, that’s 560 puffs, a 2 second long puff for 18 hours.

Obviously you could turn the power down even more for an even longer lasting battery.

Charging The Wismec R40

So if you prefer the 0.3ohm coil at 40w, 9 hours isn’t a full day, so we’re going to need to get some charge at some point.

Luckily for us the R40 is complete with a USB-C 5V/2A charge rate; meaning it fully charges in less than an hour.

Truth be told I kept missing when it finished but it’s definitely less than an hour, between 45-55 minutes.

While charging it has an awesome graphic of charge entering the battery…at least that’s what I think it’s supposed to be, but it looks more like green vape.

Then above that you have the battery status bar and it also has a battery percentage.

Charging Cable and Lanyard

Its not the first time I’ve had vape hardware with this type of charger but I still think it’s a pretty cool idea.

You’ve basically got a lanyard, on one side of the lanyard is an 80cm tape measure and on the other side is the Wismec logo.

If you undo the clasp of the lanyard it releases the USB and the USB-C connectors. Don’t be deterred by the USB, it doesn’t have the rectangle frame that normal USBs have but rest assured it works just the same.

I have heard one or two people disliking the idea because they don’t like using lanyards.

I disagree, if you like wearing lanyards it’s a super cool and convenient idea. If you don’t, then, well it’s still a USB-C charger, I don’t see the issue.

I’m not sure if there is different colours or what the situation is but the pink / purple does look pretty cool, although it’s not really my colour.

Wisemc R40 Airflow

As I previously mentioned, I usually moan about this type of airflow, but with their airflow built into the coil, rather than a coil base, I don’t mind it so much.

The airflow holes built into the coils are different sizes, which is great.

The adjustable airflow is nice and versatile, with the airflow fully turned off, it isn’t airtight but it’s not far off and fully open is rather generous.

The 0.8ohm coil has the smaller airflow of the 2 and it is big enough to allow restrictive Direct To Lung vaping

The 0.3ohm coil with the airflow fully open allows a decent amount of airflow for a 40w system, as I stated above, perhaps too much for Direct To Lung.

Does The Wismec R40 Leak?

There has been liquid in the connection port but I’m pretty sure that’s, in most part, from over filling the pod.

Dust Magnet

I previously mentioned the handy little lips on each corner of the pod that help you get the pod out of the system, if you can’t get a grip of it.

We’ll they are a good idea, however I though it was worth while pointing out that there little ledges tend to collect bits of dust and pocket fluff.

It’s not a huge deal and it’s not that noticeable, but it is something that I’ve never really noticed on a system before so I thought I’d point it out.

It hasn’t deterred me though, I’m still in support of the lips, I think they’re a great idea.

Pros

• Great for MTL Vaping
• Decent battery
• Fast Charging
• Looks Good
• Feels Good
• Easy To Use
• Lanyard / Charging Cable in 1
• Changable Push Pull Coils
• Feels Durable
• Adjustable Airflow

Cons

• Not the best for DTL
• Minimum Features
• Not 100% Leak free

Final Review Verdict

I stick with what I said at the beginning of this review, to me the Wismec R40 is more like an advanced pod system than a pod mod in my eyes.

The reason I say it’s less like a pod mod, is because it only has a few features and it’s quite low in power.

It is great as a Mouth To Lung device but there isn’t much room for adjustment as a Direct To Lung Device.

Overall it is capable of great flavour and maintaining power all day. It looks good and feels great in the hand and on the lips.

It a great device for anyone one looking for a small pod that’s a little bit more advanced and powerful than your standard pod systems.