Mod Reviews

SMOK X-Priv Solo mod

It is good to see there are still some "proper" mods around. Antony got his hands on the Smok X-Priv Solo mod

by Antony Lord
Mar 25, 2025

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Anyone remember when SMOK seemed to release a new box mod literally every week? Those days are of course long gone but they do still occasionally throw us a bone in amongst all the pod kits so I asked our friends over at Healthcabin if I could take a look at the new X-Priv Solo mod.

Specifications

89.5 x 27.4 x 28.6mm
85.7grams
Single 18650 battery
Output 5~80 watts
Resistance range 0.1~2.5ohms
Onboard USB-C charging

The X-Priv Solo is available in six colours, and I was sent the “Black Shell” variant for review. Inside the box you’ll find the X-Priv Solo, a USB-C charge cable, and the usual assortment of documents, this is also available as a kit along with the TF-D sub tank.

One thing SMOK have been doing recently is putting a handy quick start sticker on their mods which I really appreciate as this means you can dive into the menu system without even needing to refer to the manual. There were also protective films on the battery door and screen sections to protect these areas in transit, and whilst these were easy to remove, the quick start sticker (and a smaller QR code sticker) did leave some residue which necessitated a quick clean up before I could begin using the mod properly.

The battery door is a plastic panel which takes up one whole side of the mod and is held in place with magnets at the top and bottom. I was pleasantly surprised at the fit of the panel as there’s a barely perceptible amount of movement up and down with the panel in place and you most certainly won’t notice this in daily use. This has a slightly matte texture which feels nice in the hand and the large logo doesn’t feel out of place thanks to the thin font chosen.

The battery bay accommodates a single 18650 battery with a spring loaded contact at the bottom along with a handy battery ribbon. Top marks to SMOK for the clearly marked battery orientation and warnings inside the bay as well.

The main chassis is metal (zinc alloy?) which in my case has a nice gunmetal finish with rounded plastic battery door and screen panels on either side. It’s quite a compact design which means even I can almost hide this in my small hands.

One side of the chassis features a nearly full length side fire button which is hinged from the bottom. The fire button can realistically only be activated by pressing about a third of the way up from the bottom or higher, but it’s perfectly weighted for either thumb firing from the top of the bar or gripping the mod with the bar in your fingers and giving the mod a gentle squeeze. SMOK could have cheaped out here and used a plastic bar, but this is metal as well.

The side opposite the battery door features a large screen which has three available themes. I stuck to the default theme as this seemed to be the most practical with its large wattage display. This is behind a tinted plastic cover and in truth, it could be a little brighter, it’s fine for indoor use but can be a bit tricky to read in direct sunlight.

Rather than using traditional physical buttons, the up/down controls are two touch sensitive areas located under the screen area. These are actually fairly easy to use and there’s even some haptic feedback when you press them. I was initially worried these would become the bane of my life as whilst the screen is lit these are also active and I found myself accidentally adjusting the wattage during my initial testing, but SMOK has cleverly sidestepped this issue by locking these controls after the screen goes to sleep. The buttons will then only become active again by deliberately pressing the fire bar two times to unlock them. You will pretty consistently see the “2 times wattage unlocked” warning flash up on screen though.

At the very bottom of the control panel is a USB-C charge port, and in my quick test, this hit a peak charge rate of 1.4 amps with everything remaining cool during charging. As always this is a nice feature, but I still recommend using a dedicated charger whenever possible.

One area that some might find a little disappointing is the relatively small 510 platform which is further reduced by the rounded off areas near the top of the chassis. This is only 22.5mm across if you don’t want any overhang at all, however I think this looks fine with anything up to around 24.5mm diameter as this still keeps everything in line with the main chassis.

In use, this is a fairly basic mod with wattage only on board so if you want any fancy features like temperature control then look elsewhere. The specs also indicate a maximum output voltage of just 4 volts suggesting a lack of any boost function, however I found it to be a solid performer even on a low battery (although I wasn’t pushing the mod too hard). One foible of the control scheme is that once you hit 66 watts, the mod will display a “high watts” warning before letting you adjust the wattage any further with a maximum of 80 watts on tap.

Besides all the basic safety features you would expect from a modern mod, SMOK also boast that the X-Priv Solo is “scratch and drop” resistant, but as far as I’m aware this doesn’t have any sort of iP rating so I wouldn’t go putting this to the test beyond accidentally knocking this off a table (preferably onto carpet!).

Conclusion

I’m enjoying my time with the SMOK X-Priv Solo, it’s a nicely put together piece of kit and I appreciate the compact design and large fire bar. However, the lack of any advanced features like temperature control and the fairly small 510 platform might put some people off and it’s definitely better suited to smaller atomisers.

Many thanks to Healthcabin for sending the SMOK X-Priv Solo mod out for review.

Score 8/10

Pros

Compact 18650 mod
ire bar is a pleasure to use
Feels well constructed

Cons

Some might find the small 510 platform to constraining

Antony Lord

Reviewer at POTV

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I was a twenty a day smoker for 25 years and like most smokers I was always going to quit "next week". Having hit my mid forties and having the usual smokers cough and difficulty with anything more than moderate exercise it was obviously time to give up the cancer sticks. I bought my first e-cigarette in 2013 when they were expensive, difficult to find and quite frankly... crap. I used it for about a week then went back to the roll ups, mark up another failed quit attempt. The fact that I had just changed jobs and was under quite a lot of stress probably didn't help. Move on to 2016 and whilst I was browsing eBay I noticed that one of the suggested items that would occasionally pop up was for a cheap e-cigarette. It looked similar to the one I'd bought 3 years earlier but it was only £5 (about 8 times cheaper than before) so I decided to give it another go on a whim. Once the kit arrived I managed to gradually replace the cigarettes with my new kit over a two month period and got into watching YouTube reviews for newer kit. My cheap and cheerful kit was replaced by a more upmarket affair, and being a noob I made a mistake once it arrived... I put in the supplied direct lung coil, this was of course a complete revelation and I haven't touched a cigarette since. Oh and I no longer spend the first five minutes of every day having a coughing fit either.