Aspire Plato

The Plato is the latest device from well-known manufacturer Aspire. It is intended as an all in one kit very much like the Kanger Nebox. The kit comes with an Aspire 2500mAh 18650 battery as well as a tank which is cleverly incorporated into the mod itself.

by VapeMaster
Jun 18, 2016

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Aspire Plato

Aspire Plato features

Maximum Output: 50W
Temperature Control Functionality
Height: 100mm (With Drip Tip)
Width: 50mm
Juice Capacity: 6ml
Two Juice Ports
Adjustable Airflow
Updatable Firmware
Available in a variety of colours

What’s in the box?

1 x Plato Box Mod
1 x 1.8ohm BVC Coil (Pre-Installed)
1 x 0.4ohm Clapton Coil
1 x Stainless Steel Drip Tip
1 x Delrin Drip Tip
1 x 18650 2500mAh Aspire Battery
1 x Micro USB Cable
1 x Key (For tank removal)
2 x Extra Seals with Rubber Stops
User Manual

Aspire Plato styling and build quality

The Aspire Plato is a rather unique device and while it does share some similarities to the Kanger Nebox it actually does a lot of things better. The overall build quality is very good and it feels well put together. The finish is nice and the device does have does have a pleasant form factor which means it fits nicely into the palm of your hand! Like the Nebox the Plato contains a tank which is fitted to the inside of the device. The Nebox faced a lot of criticism due to the fact the tank was not removable and Aspire have avoided that problem with their device since you can happily take the tank out for disassembly and cleaning.

The Plato features a slide on cover which has good magnets. By removing this cover you can easily fit your battery. There is no ribbon to assist with battery removal but it isn’t actually necessary. The correct battery orientation is clearly marked. I did not notice any obvious venting for the battery on this device but I assume there are slight air gaps in the sleeve.

After removing the cover you will also notice the tank inside which runs to the entire length of the device. The tank holds 6ml of juice when fitted with the 1.8ohm (for mouth to lung users) coil and 4.6ml of juice when fitted with the 0.4ohm Clapton Coil.

Removing the tank itself is a little long-winded because you firstly have to remove the drip tip from the top of the device and then with the included tool unscrew the connector beneath it. In addition when changing the coil you need to strip down the relevant parts of the tank first. It really isn’t that big a deal because considering how much juice the tank actually holds you won’t be doing it that often but I do feel it may seem initially confusing to new vapers. On the plus side of things the manual is very well written so providing you read that thoroughly you shouldn’t run into problems. If you are a little concerned about a tank being inside your device then rest assured that the tank is well separated from the battery itself.

The Plato features three buttons and all of them have a nice feel and are thankfully rattle free. The main display is bright and clear with all of the typical information being shown such as: Resistance, Voltage, Wattage/Temperature and battery life. One really awesome feature of this device is that the screen auto flips depending on how you hold it so left handed vapers will be very pleased with this!

The sleeve has a small slot on the front and this allows you to see the juice in your tank. Personally I was not that fond of this slot because you can only see when the tank is nearly empty and despite it being recessed it has a rough edge to it that tended to rub against my fingers when holding the device. I am sure if you were using this device constantly you would get used to it.

Located on the front of the device is the Mirco USB Port and this allows you to charge the battery or receive firmware updates from Aspire. Sadly the device does not have pass-through so you can’t vape it while charging.

At the bottom of the device beneath where the tank fits you will find the airflow controller which is easy to adjust. There are two sets of holes, one smaller set is for vaping mouth to lung and the other is for direct lung inhales. I think that this is a good move by Aspire to give users more options and it means the device won’t fall into disuse if you decide to move from mouth to lung vaping to direct lung inhaling. Considering you get two coils in the package with each intended for a specific type of vaping it allows new users to try both to see what their preference is.

Ease of use

Apart from the slightly long-winded tank removal which I have already mentioned the Plato is very straightforward to use. Since the manual is very well written I will only cover the basics here.

Three clicks of the fire button switches the device on/off.
Five clicks of the fire button locks/unlocks the device.
As mentioned earlier the display auto flips depending on which hand you hold it in.
Hold down the plus and minus buttons to open the menu. Use the plus/minus buttons to choose between Wattage Mode and Temperature Control Mode. Confirm your selection with the fire button. In addition the device will ask you to choose between regulated and unregulated mode.

For filling the tank you have to remove a small rubber grommet (thankfully has a tab which makes it easier) to expose the fill hole, then you simply squeeze in your juice. The hole is of a decent size so I had no problems when using dropper bottles.

Replacing the coils isn’t the easiest process and it will certainly take vaping newcomers a while to get used to it. Make sure that the tank is completely empty before you unscrew the top part of the chimney or you will end with juice all over yourself.

Performance

I filled up the tank with some Strawberry Queen Jester E-Liquid. I first tested the pre-fitted 1.8ohm coil which is intended for mouth to lung vapers. The nice thing about this coil is that you don’t need much power at all and 12.5W seemed perfectly adequate to me. For anyone who has used an Aspire Nautilus the vape should be very familiar since the 1.8ohm coil is in fact a Nautilus coil. This means you can happily use other Nautilus coils you may have purchased in this device. Flavour was pretty good very much like my Mini Nautilus. The draw is certainly nice enough with the airflow set to mouth to lung mode and it has a nice tightness to it. Vapour production was quite reasonable and it should be fine for mouth to lung users.

I then moved on to trying the 0.4ohm Clapton Coil which as you might expect requires more power. Sadly you can’t use the new Aspire Cleito coils in this tank but I assume these coils are very similar in terms of the vape they offer (I haven’t tried the Cleito so I don’t know for certain). Flavour was very good and cloud production was decent with the airflow controller set to direct lung inhale mode.

One thing you do need to be mindful of is that the wicking holes are much higher up on the Clapton Coils so be careful not to let the juice level drop beneath them or you will burn the coil wicking.

The Plato also features temperature control and I would love to tell you all about it but unfortunately the kit does not include any temperature control coils. In case you are wondering the device supports both Ni200 and Titanium.

At no point did I have any leaking issues with the Plato in the short time I have used it but I have read a lot of users mentioning leaking problems on a variety of forums. Other reviews of the Plato I have looked at don’t mention any leaking issues either but it is entirely possible there were some issues with early versions that Aspire have hopefully remedied or it could simply be user error. I would suggest you make sure that the tank fill hole grommet is securely fitted and also that the tank is properly tightened down.

Conclusion

As an all on one kit the Plato achieves its goal and I do feel that it is a decent enough device. Personally there are some things about it that I can be justified in griping about namely the lack of included temperature control coils which is a shame because it means you have an entire function you can’t even try out when you purchase the kit. I personally don’t really care for the cumbersome method of removing the tank but at least it is actually removable unlike the Kanger Nebox and it also means that should you break the tank you can easily get a replacement. An RBA section would certainly have been a worthwhile addition so users don’t constantly have to purchase new coils, hopefully Aspire release one later.

On the positive side of things I do like the tank capacity which is excellent. I also really like the fact that the device caters to both mouth to lung and direct lung inhaling vapers. The coils themselves give you a decent vape (since the 1.8ohm is a Nautilus coil anyway) and the addition of the Sub Ohm Clapton Coils means you can try both out to see which you prefer. It also means new users could start with mouth to lung and move on to direct lung inhaling when they are ready. The auto flipping screen is certainly a really awesome feature and for once left handed vapers won’t feel left out!

On the whole the Plato’s positive points outweigh any negative ones and in my opinion as an all in one kit it is much better than the Kanger Nebox so if you like the sound of this device then do check it out!