ForestMagpie
Veteran
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- Feb 4, 2020
- Messages
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Today for review I present to you the Freemax Maxpod Circle. This was kindly sent to me for review by @Freemaxtech and what follows are all my owns thoughts and views based on my experiences.
I wasn't even aware this was being sent to me so was a nice surprise when it appeared in the post. I opened the package to find this..
Which holds all this...
Circle Pod battery
2 X 2ml pods
USB charging cable
Warranty card
Warning Card
User Manual
There's also a very bling chain that you can use to wear the Circle around your neck if you want to look like a vaping East Coast rapper. It's how I imagine Snoop Dogg vapes whilst ordering tacos to the chateau.
It's nice, basic packaging which contains everything you need to get started. As you can see I was sent the Resin Yellow one but it is also available in these colours..
First the tech stuff....
550mah Battery
Constant 3.7v output
FM CHIP with Low voltage protection, Short Circuit Protection, Overtime Protection and Open Circuit Protection
Weight - 75g
Material - PCTG
Dimensions - 62.2mm*12.1mm
Output Wattage - 10w
The pods -
Pod capacity - 2ml
NS Mesh Coil 1.5ohm - 66.66% Tea Fiber Cotton & 33.34% Organic Cotton
6-8 refills.
The device itself is quite basic, here's the charging port...
Here's the only button..
Standard 5 clicks on and 5 clicks off and is also the fire button, we'll circle back to the button later.
One one side of the Circle is some Freemax branding and on the other a little light, I say little but damn that thing is bright. It will flash 5 times when the device is turned on or off, do this outside and planes might land or the ISS might think it's some sort of Morse code message. It lights up when you take a draw from the device and indicates the battery level, green, blue, red and the same colours to show battery level when charging. The device feels nice in the hand and it feels well manufactured, it's got some weight to it but it's not too heavy and I like the contrast between the metal and the smooth resin panels.
The pod itself as you can see is kind of a half circle which the slots nicely into the top of the device.
Its held in place by 2 magnets and clicks into place nicely. It works well as the magnets are strong enough to hold the pod well in place but there was never any worry about the pod coming loose. The fill port is on one side of the pod and has a little lip on the fill port cover which you just peel back to reveal the hole...
Its a decent sized hole which I didn't have any problems filling (that's what she said) even with wider nozzle bottles. It then pops back down and seals the pod. The pod is slightly darkened but not as dark as some and only in low light did I have an issue seeing the liquid level.
Now, I feel we have to talk about the design. This isn't going to be to everyone's taste and it does take a bit of getting used to in terms of design and also handling the device. No matter what you think of the design you have to admire Freemax for trying something different. Personally I like it and I've found it much easier to stick in my pocket when I leave the house than my other popular pod systems. I also found that when a refined gentleman such as myself was sat enjoying a spot of Earl Grey in the afternoon the Circle allowed me to vape in the proper tea drinking fashion with pinky extended wot wot..
Also, why isn't there a decent earl grey eliquid? Maybe there is, if you find one please do let me know, would be awfully spiffing of you.
The fire button works well and is nice and clicky but I found it to be a touch on the small side and in a slightly awkward position for me personally. I still used it quite often but even if I didn't it would not be a deal breaker because the draw activation works well, really well. As soon as you start to take a draw it kicks in, it's almost instant and fires virtually the same as using the fire button, it's exactly how it should be. It helps that I found the mouthpiece on the pod to be really comfortable and sit nicely between my lips providing a lovely smooth draw. The draw itself i would say is a tight end of medium MTL draw, it's not as tight as I would normally like but it was nice and smooth with enough resistance and I really enjoyed it.
I have no idea what FM SaltCoilTech 2.0 is or how they get tea fiber cotton and make their coils but I do know that they provide superb flavour. That's what this pod does, the flavour is really, really good in particular with sweet or fruit liquids. I've mainly had 2 pods on the go, one filled with DL Lemon Tart Salts and the other with Prime Vapes Vanilla Danish 12mg freebase and they both tasted delightful, they have both wicked well and not had any issues with them at all, just a great tasting smooth vape. I've tried other liquids too including 70VG/30PG and I've not had any issues with the vape. They say the output is 10w but actually it kicks a little bit more than you would expect and was getting a really good throat hit from the salts I was using.
Gratuitous device and hand shot, I know you lot love my beautiful hands..
One of the big questions with this kind of device is did it leak? I am pleased to say no it did not! I've had this thing on its side, upside down, in pockets and I even left it untouched for 24 hours and no leaks. As with all these kinds of devices I suffered from a little bit (and I do mean only a little) of condensation underneath the pod, it just took a quick wipe with some paper tissue and it was good as new. Freemax state 6-8 refills and I've done 7 refills so far in both of my pods and the flavour is still as good as when I started using them.
The battery didn't last me all day but it actually lasted longer than I thought it might and I managed to get through work day and you could definitely take it for a night out, Freemax state approx 200 puffs and that feels about right. Charging the battery from flat took roughly an hour. I still feel like USB-C should be standard on all devices by now and I was disappointed by the lack of pass-thru vaping.
Conclusion
This is a solid little device that provides great flavour and is very portable indeed. For someone looking to quit smoking using salts this would be a great option as well as for more experienced vapers who want a small discreet device for on the go or some stealth vaping.
I would like to see more pods with removable coils so I can replace the coil and not the plastic pods every time and this really should have USB-C charging. This device isn't for everyone and it has some small niggles but for those looking for a pod system that delivers solid flavour on the go then this is a very good option.
Would I recommend this device? Well that's as easy as Pi, yes I would.
Thanks for reading, FM out.
I wasn't even aware this was being sent to me so was a nice surprise when it appeared in the post. I opened the package to find this..
Which holds all this...
Circle Pod battery
2 X 2ml pods
USB charging cable
Warranty card
Warning Card
User Manual
There's also a very bling chain that you can use to wear the Circle around your neck if you want to look like a vaping East Coast rapper. It's how I imagine Snoop Dogg vapes whilst ordering tacos to the chateau.
It's nice, basic packaging which contains everything you need to get started. As you can see I was sent the Resin Yellow one but it is also available in these colours..
First the tech stuff....
550mah Battery
Constant 3.7v output
FM CHIP with Low voltage protection, Short Circuit Protection, Overtime Protection and Open Circuit Protection
Weight - 75g
Material - PCTG
Dimensions - 62.2mm*12.1mm
Output Wattage - 10w
The pods -
Pod capacity - 2ml
NS Mesh Coil 1.5ohm - 66.66% Tea Fiber Cotton & 33.34% Organic Cotton
6-8 refills.
The device itself is quite basic, here's the charging port...
Here's the only button..
Standard 5 clicks on and 5 clicks off and is also the fire button, we'll circle back to the button later.
One one side of the Circle is some Freemax branding and on the other a little light, I say little but damn that thing is bright. It will flash 5 times when the device is turned on or off, do this outside and planes might land or the ISS might think it's some sort of Morse code message. It lights up when you take a draw from the device and indicates the battery level, green, blue, red and the same colours to show battery level when charging. The device feels nice in the hand and it feels well manufactured, it's got some weight to it but it's not too heavy and I like the contrast between the metal and the smooth resin panels.
The pod itself as you can see is kind of a half circle which the slots nicely into the top of the device.
Its held in place by 2 magnets and clicks into place nicely. It works well as the magnets are strong enough to hold the pod well in place but there was never any worry about the pod coming loose. The fill port is on one side of the pod and has a little lip on the fill port cover which you just peel back to reveal the hole...
Its a decent sized hole which I didn't have any problems filling (that's what she said) even with wider nozzle bottles. It then pops back down and seals the pod. The pod is slightly darkened but not as dark as some and only in low light did I have an issue seeing the liquid level.
Now, I feel we have to talk about the design. This isn't going to be to everyone's taste and it does take a bit of getting used to in terms of design and also handling the device. No matter what you think of the design you have to admire Freemax for trying something different. Personally I like it and I've found it much easier to stick in my pocket when I leave the house than my other popular pod systems. I also found that when a refined gentleman such as myself was sat enjoying a spot of Earl Grey in the afternoon the Circle allowed me to vape in the proper tea drinking fashion with pinky extended wot wot..
Also, why isn't there a decent earl grey eliquid? Maybe there is, if you find one please do let me know, would be awfully spiffing of you.
The fire button works well and is nice and clicky but I found it to be a touch on the small side and in a slightly awkward position for me personally. I still used it quite often but even if I didn't it would not be a deal breaker because the draw activation works well, really well. As soon as you start to take a draw it kicks in, it's almost instant and fires virtually the same as using the fire button, it's exactly how it should be. It helps that I found the mouthpiece on the pod to be really comfortable and sit nicely between my lips providing a lovely smooth draw. The draw itself i would say is a tight end of medium MTL draw, it's not as tight as I would normally like but it was nice and smooth with enough resistance and I really enjoyed it.
I have no idea what FM SaltCoilTech 2.0 is or how they get tea fiber cotton and make their coils but I do know that they provide superb flavour. That's what this pod does, the flavour is really, really good in particular with sweet or fruit liquids. I've mainly had 2 pods on the go, one filled with DL Lemon Tart Salts and the other with Prime Vapes Vanilla Danish 12mg freebase and they both tasted delightful, they have both wicked well and not had any issues with them at all, just a great tasting smooth vape. I've tried other liquids too including 70VG/30PG and I've not had any issues with the vape. They say the output is 10w but actually it kicks a little bit more than you would expect and was getting a really good throat hit from the salts I was using.
Gratuitous device and hand shot, I know you lot love my beautiful hands..
One of the big questions with this kind of device is did it leak? I am pleased to say no it did not! I've had this thing on its side, upside down, in pockets and I even left it untouched for 24 hours and no leaks. As with all these kinds of devices I suffered from a little bit (and I do mean only a little) of condensation underneath the pod, it just took a quick wipe with some paper tissue and it was good as new. Freemax state 6-8 refills and I've done 7 refills so far in both of my pods and the flavour is still as good as when I started using them.
The battery didn't last me all day but it actually lasted longer than I thought it might and I managed to get through work day and you could definitely take it for a night out, Freemax state approx 200 puffs and that feels about right. Charging the battery from flat took roughly an hour. I still feel like USB-C should be standard on all devices by now and I was disappointed by the lack of pass-thru vaping.
Conclusion
This is a solid little device that provides great flavour and is very portable indeed. For someone looking to quit smoking using salts this would be a great option as well as for more experienced vapers who want a small discreet device for on the go or some stealth vaping.
I would like to see more pods with removable coils so I can replace the coil and not the plastic pods every time and this really should have USB-C charging. This device isn't for everyone and it has some small niggles but for those looking for a pod system that delivers solid flavour on the go then this is a very good option.
Would I recommend this device? Well that's as easy as Pi, yes I would.
Thanks for reading, FM out.
