Hi, today let's take a look at some of SMOK's latest offerings on the subject of Pod Mod Kit. These are RPM 5 & RPM 5 PRO. They are similar to each other but have a couple of differences... The main difference between RPM 5 and RPM 5 Pro is the battery. RPM 5 has a 2000mAh internal battery while RPM 5 Pro uses a single 18650 battery which is not included.
The RPM family has steadily expanded from the original RPM 40, then to RPM 80, RPM 80 Pro, RPM Lite, RPM 160, RPM 2, RPM 2S, and then RPM 4.>
Design & Build Quality
I received the kits in Beige White Leather (RPM 5) and Grey Leather (RPM 5 Pro). It is worth noting I did get the 6.5ml versions. If you live in a TPD-regulated area you will only get a 2ml pod.
Device
RPM 5 and RPM 5 Pro, are at first glance full of notable improvements. The aesthetics and utility as a whole seem to be spot on, the style is graceful with a good degree of finish. The Beige version is a standard leather whereas the Grey version is a suede-type finish. Both Mods appear gracefully designed to be portable and durable. The imitation leather decoration has a soft texture and the side profile of the Mod has a particular notched texture.
The fire key is square in shape and concaves in the center to convey a perfect tactile feeling to the fingertips. Below the screen are the "+ and -" adjustment buttons, again responsive and nice and clicky. There is no button rattle on either device when you give them a good shake.
At the top, there is a beautiful chrome and metallic "SMOK" embossed writing. All this is surrounded by decorative elements which can vary in color and material according to the choice.
Both devices use a rather wide base to stand up well. RPM 5 also has a rubberized profile around the base which makes it very silent when resting on the table. RPM 5 PRO, on the other hand, has a metal door controlled by a sliding type opening button. Once the door of RPM 5 PRO has been opened, it is possible to insert an external 18650 battery.
Pod
Not only is the main device design impressive the pod is too!
SMOK RPM 5 & RPM 5 PRO share the same cartridge made of PCTG with an e-liquid capacity of up to 6.5ml. The top cap is of the sliding type with an arrow indicating the opening direction.
Once the cover is open the approx 3x6mm fill port is exposed. Instantly I had an issue. I am using a 100ml bottle. The edge of the bottle butts up against the mouthpiece and I had to bend the nozzle in order to get it into the fill port. You can see this in the photo below. A 50ml bottle however was fine and didn’t pose this problem.
It is frosted but not stupidly dark, you can still see the level clearly.
The coils are inserted from the bottom into the cartridge and are blocked by a red mobile lever (Child Proof). Before extracting the coil to replace the coil you must first move this lever to the side.
The metal bottom provides 2 strong magnets which hold it securely in the mod with no wobble at all. In the center are the two contact pins both spring loaded and gold / plated.
Screen
This has a 0.96inch color OLED screen and it is beautiful! It is super clear to see and not at all cluttered.
In the top corners are the battery icon and percentage. Below that is a padlock symbol to indicate if the device is locked or unlocked.
Then you have the wattage value selected. Below that on the left is the coil resistance and on the right is the volts which display when you press fire. You then get the puff timer and puff counter.
You can change the color of the display theme and I am loving purple!
Operation Guide
To turn the mod on / off, click five consecutive clicks on the Fire button
Click Up or Down to change the Wattage from 1 to 80W, the increase/decrease is 1W at a time.
To completely lock/unlock the Mod, press the fire button 3 times.
To lock/unlock the wattage press the up/down buttons simultaneously.
To choose one of the five background colors, press the Up / Fire buttons at the same time, even when the screen is locked.
To cancel the total number of puffs, press the Down / Fire buttons at the same time, to confirm select yes / no, and click the choice with the Fire button.
Battery
The base of RPM 5 Pro is the battery compartment door.
To open it you slide up the catch which is quite difficult to grip – especially when a battery is installed.
The compartment door pops open and inside the mod is the + battery symbol in Red. On the rear of the door is the – symbol so these should help make sure you get the battery polarity correct.
It doesn’t seem to give a positive clonk when the door is fully closed. A few times I assumed it was closed but when I pushed down on it, it popped back open. So it is worth giving it a good push down to make sure it is fully locked.
Both kits are equipped with a USB type C port and during the charging phase they show the remaining time, so RPM 5 PRO version is also equipped with a USB charging cable, but as in all Mods equipped with external batteries, I always recommend using an external charger.
During my tests with the 2,000mAh built-in battery RPM 5 I was able to do 254 Puffs at constant 30W and 175 Puffs at constant 50W, all of which seem like an excellent result to me. The charging speed of 1.4A allows a total time of about 120 minutes to be obtained. With RPM 5 PRO the number of Puffs that can be obtained depends on the type of 18650 battery you will use.>
Airflow Adjustment
At the top of the cartridge, there are 2 slotted airflow inlets around the sides of the device for the passage of the air which are rather large. On the rear is a slide switch to adjust this airflow. When you move this slider the side airflows both open or close – it is great to watch!
The slider lever only protrudes around 1mm so shouldn’t catch in pockets but you do tend to have to move it with a fingernail as there is some resistance to adjustment.
Performance
SMOK recommends a VG / PG ratio of 70%VG / 30%PG.
0.15ohm RPM 3 Meshed Coil Range From 40 to 80W
The power limits for this coil are specified as 40-80W so doing as I am told I started at 40W. Already the clouds are huge but the flavor is a bit wimpy.
At 50W there is a huge jump in flavor quality – it has improved a lot and there is some heavy clouding of the room already! It fully satisfies me both with AFC completely open and with AFC slightly closed to obtain warmer vapor.
By increasing the power it becomes mandatory to keep the airflow wide open otherwise the heat could become excessive.
At 60W there is a lovely gurgly sound which tells me the coil is heating the e-liquid nicely now. It is definitely warmer and “hissy-er”!
At 70W the clouds are massive, such a small kit can really kick out the vapor!
When I got to 80W this was quite a warm vape, it felt too hot and a bit dry really.
My happy wattage was 60W which should help with battery life too. At this level, the vape is tasty but missing some of the finer details of the e-liquid profile.
But even in this mid-range setting, the vape is still slightly harsh – it’s so hard to describe! There is quite a hiss from the coil and the vape is really warm – close to being a dry hit but not quite.
Aroma and clouds are present in abundance and with little condensation. The flavor is exactly the same as when I started.
0.23ohm RPM 3 Meshed Coil Range From 20 to 45W
I used the same e-liquid as for the other coil.
Starting at 20W with the airflow half open there was a surprising amount of vapor and flavor that properly took me by surprise! I could feel the sherbet-like fizz of the e-liquid coating my tongue instantly. This coil already seems a huge step up in flavor.
Wow, am loving this already!
Moving up to 30W and more of the same just a bit warmer – this is really delicious!
At 40W I felt there was a slight drop in flavor but the clouds increased.
Personally, I am enjoying this at about 25W.
This is the flavor coil of the kit – but it still provides plenty of vapor but in a smoother less in-your-face way. As for vapor production – this coil at 25W is equal to the 0.15ohm coil at 60W!>
Leaks
The 0.15ohm coil is like a shot of Whisky on its own, the 0.23ohm coil is like a nice Whiskey with Lemonade and ice. Definitely my favorite coil of the two.
But sadly after 3 refills, this 0.15ohm coil started leaking.
I think it has to be the coil as there is nowhere else it could be from – it is more than just “condensation”.
So as I had another 0.15ohm coil in the other kit I have swapped over to see if that stops the leaking. Sadly the second coil was the same.
This happiness did leave me when the 0.23ohm coil started tasting burnt after only 4 refills (approx 20ml).
So the coil life isn’t great, to be honest.
Pros
Both devices are absolutely stunning.
Excellent build quality.
Sadly the old SMOK crept back with 2 leaky coils. Although the coil performance was great I had to deduct points for the fact that both of the 0.15ohm coils leaked. This is not cool.
The 0.23ohm coil was amazing for flavor but with a coil life of only 4 refills, I had to mark this down too sadly.
For me the coils let these kits down massively – the 0.15ohm leaking and the 0.23ohm had a poor coil life. What a bloody shame.
A few little niggles on the battery door and refilling also occurred.
The chip only works in power mode, TC, Smart detection and other functions are missing. However, we are talking about cheap "All In One" devices and this can be forgiven.
I have dropped them (RPM 5 mostly) and they have rolled about on hard floors and apart from fingerprints and dust they still look immaculate.
One thing I would have liked is for them to be compatible with previous RPM coils. Another idea would be a 510 adaptor for the top of the mod so you could use it with other tanks if you wanted to.
