Innobar C1
Innokin have brought out a new take on the closed pod vaping system using a new water based e-liquid. Will this innovation sink or swim? We take a look at the new Innobar C1 kit
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by Si Davies
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Supplied by Innokin for review
https://www.innokin.com/Innobar-c1
Price TBC
Innokin have wet my appetite with their latest innovation, a closed pod system which has a water-based e-liquid formulation, waterever will they think of next?
They are clearly aiming to hopefully sway disposable users away with a more sustainable closed pod system with the same instant convenience and ease that those landfill blight disposables have but with a rechargeable/reusable battery section.
Basically the closed pod is the piece that contains the e-liquid, coil, and cotton with no electronics to throw away, the battery section houses the electronics and is fully reusable so you only need to purchase the flavoured pods after the initial purchase.
You purchase the Inno Bar device separately to the flavoured pods. The device comes in its own simple box which contains the device and a little instructions sheet.
To keep the cost and potentially the wastage down, you don’t get the charging cable included. You will need a basic USB-C cable which most phones, tablets, and many other electronic devices use, and I would be amazed if you don’t already have a ruck of them gathering dust in a draw somewhere.
Basically you’re just buying the battery device which is as simple to use as it gets with no controls or setup required and no fire button as it is an auto-draw or draw activated device. I failed to reflect (pun intended) the pearlescent colour that the device is coated in, it has a really pleasing purple sheen as you rotate it in the light and this adds a bit of style to an otherwise boring design.
The pods are designed to simply slot into position and work immediately, they are a press/friction fit and stay in place perfectly due to the slotted battery and mating tab on the pod. The fit is quite tight and it makes a good airflow seal but is easy enough to replace.
There’s a little LED at the base which is only a single colour so you don’t get a battery status other than when it flashes to show that it needs recharging.
There are a total of ten different flavours to choose from:
Rose Lychee, Cherry Lemonade, Strawberry Watermelon, Pink Lemonade, Lemon Tart, Tangerine, Blueberry Grape, Iced Cosmic, Sour Berries, and Jungle Juice.
They come in boxes of two and are hygienically sealed in tear-open bags. Once opened, there are silicone bungs top and bottom that pull off, after that you simply push the pod into the battery and start vaping with no waiting time.
Inside the pod is a 1.1ohm mesh Ni80 coil which is an ideal spec for a good MTL vape and a longer battery life, the pods are prefilled with 2ml of 20mg flavoured e-liquid.
Is it just me or does the Inno Bar C1 have an almost medical device look to it? I could almost see these being served to patients by a nurse.
Aquios Water-based
Innokin have come up with a novel e-liquid formula where they have used a higher water content with the aim of delivering a smoother vape and better flavour delivery, traditional e-liquid formulas are mostly Vegetable Glycerin (VG) and Propylene Glycol (PG), both PG and VG are food safe and non-toxic substances that are 100% suitable for ingestion, generally PG carries the flavour and VG produces the vapour/clouds. Once the flavouring is added, the e-liquid is quite thick, I can only assume the ‘Aquios’ formula is somewhat thinned with a higher water content. Water’s the difference? It will purely come down to the actual vape to see, but it sounds promising.
Performance
I’m happy to report that the vape quality this little thing produces is simply fantastic, Innokin have got everything right. The MTL draw is as exact as it can be with a tight-ish airflow that comes up through the device, the warmth is just right and never feels hot, the auto-fire is instant, the ducks-bill mouthpiece is unusually deep which feels more comfortable for it, and then there’s the all-important flavour. I will go into each next but they all oozed plenty of rich, saturated flavour. As for the ‘Aquios’ factor, I wasn’t 100% sure if it was my mind playing tricks as water-based was in my head, but there did seem to be a different vape experience than I am used to, especially in the aftertaste, for those like me that vape a LOT then you will be familiar with that thirsty feeling you get, this wasn’t as apparent with the Inno Bar. But the main difference for me was the intense flavour delivery, and it really felt different to what I am used to (in a good way).
So, onto the good part and testing out all ten flavours, I just lobbed one of each pod into a bag and tested each one in a lucky-dip order:
Before I go into detail, there was one thing that remained consistent with every flavour and that’s the sweetness, they are all on the sweet side which toned down the individual flavour notes somewhat.
Strawberry Watermelon
This was an interesting balance, usually this mix favours the strawberry more, but this seemed equal and produced the result of tasting a bit unique and rather pleasant.
Pink Lemonade
Lemonade with a hint of sweet grapefruit to give it a bit of a citrus kick, this is one of those that makes a decent ADV (All Day Vape)
Lemon Tart
This reminded me of a Lemon Meringue pie but is a very good dessert flavour overall. The Lemon was dominant throughout the vape and had a sweet, lemony cream aftertaste
Tangerine
A sweet orange citrus flavour without the sourness, the sweetness muted the orange flavour a bit too much for my liking though.
Blueberry Grape
One of my favourites despite blueberry being one of my least favourite flavours, the grape element and sweetness made it far nicer, and the balance of the three made it a good ADV.
Jungle Juice
I have to admit I am stumped what this tastes like, but it does taste nice and there’s a hint of tropical fruits but there’s also a citrus kick to it. I really enjoyed this one but it nagged me to try and distinguish what it tasted like, I gave up and just enjoyed it.
Sour Berries
Berries – Yes. Sour – No. I was dreading that cheek-smacking sour effect I hate but this just didn’t give it, good news for me but if you’re a fan of sour, then you might be left wanting. The berry flavour was pretty good and I picked out blueberries mostly but you could tell it was mixed with other berries.
Rose Lychee
Palma Violets was my immediate taste reaction, those little purple sweets. The lychee was quite clear and I found a hint of menthol to give it an ice aftertaste.
Iced Cosmic
This smacked of blue slushie to me and a rather pleasant one at that. That raspberry flavour was the main note, and the ‘ice’ menthol element was just right to leave a tastier fresh aftertaste.
Cherry Lemonade
This was one of the few where the title flavour was accurate, it tasted of cherry with a lemonade aftertaste, I never thought the two would work together but they do and made my overall favourite flavour of the ten.
Overall, I enjoyed the whole selection, but I felt they were all a bit too sweet for their own good as the sweetness stole the fruit flavours away a bit. I have a sweet tooth so they suited me, but I found myself wanting to vape something less sweet after a while.
Disposable user will take to these like a duck to water and it should ease their conscience with less of an environmental impact, and Innokin promise less impact on their pocket also. At the time of writing, I don’t have any pricing information but I trust Innokin will deliver the Inno Bar C1 at a pocket friendly price.
As for the ‘600 Puffs’ claim, I found this pretty accurate and I actually got quite a few more with some pods. The battery life was around the same as the pods expiration from a full charge, it tended to charge up in around 35 minutes but top-up charging helped for out and about vaping and making sure you never run out.
Final Thoughts
Innokin’s effort to sway disposable users onto a more acceptable way of vaping should be a deserved success, the Inno Bar C1 device does the job nicely with everything covered to deliver a high quality vape. Closed pods are not for me personally, but I really enjoyed testing this bundle out and felt a tinge of sadness when I ran out of pods.
Si Davies
Reviewer at POTVMy background is Engineering and Professional Photography. Mostly from POTV users knowledge I learned so much about pretty much all styles of vaping and equipment, Cloud Chasing, Squonking, Mouth To Lung, Direct To Lung, Pods, Mechs, Rebuild-able tanks and atomisers etc, and have experience with many many devices and atomisers, it's become a hobby and enjoy trying out the latest gear. I like to think my reviews are plain speaking and informative without getting too technical, if I have to resort to reading the manual then I don't consider it user friendly!
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