OXVA XLIM SQ Pro
RRP £29.99
Every now and then, we get something in for review that takes us by surprise, and I for one love surprises! So when I received the new OXVA XLIM SQ Pro, I have to say initially I was unimpressed, not another bloody pod kit! But this little powerhouse made me completely re-evaluate everything I thought I loved about vaping and has changed the way I vape!
Traditionally I have always been a mod and tank user, I like a decent sized kit, I enjoy building my own coils, and I like to feel like I have complete control over my vape. So whilst I have always been able to understand the point of simple pod kits, they have never really inspired me, and I have never fallen completely in love with any of them until now. This has all changed with the OXVA XLIM SQ Pro, the little kit that can!
Specs and Contents
The box is smart enough, nothing special but it does the job. You get an embossed graphic showing the device in the colour chosen (there is also a sticker stating the colour choice), a breakdown of the specs, all the usual legal labels and warnings, and a menu with the pod ohm options which are ticked to show the ones that have been included in the kit. It looks good but there is nothing revolutionary about a box!
Inside, everything is packed in snuggly, the mod sits in a blown plastic tray with one of the included pods fitted. Sitting inside the tray, you will find the other pod, a USB cable, a lanyard, and an instruction leaflet. I am always happy to see two pods included in a kit, whilst it is pretty rare these days, there is still the chance that a pod or coil may be DOA so at least you will have a spare, and OXVA have been smart by including two different pods (0.6ohm and 0.8ohm) so you can try them out before you need to restock.
- Output Power: 5-30W
- Airflow Control: Side AFC
- Display Screen: 0.96-inch TFT Colour Screen
- Battery: 1200mAh
- Charging: 5V/2A, Type-C
- Material: Zinc Alloy+IML+PCTG
- Size: 54.4*20.4*77.0mm
- Weight: 88g
Basic Operations
Using the kit is super simple as it can be used in full auto mods, pop in a pod, fill it up, let it soak for a few minutes, and vape! The auto draw function is rock solid, and you don’t really need to do anything else, it is a smart mod so it can do everything for you. But if you prefer a more hands on approach, there is a button on the side. I found the position was not great though as when my hand was wrapped round the body, I invariably covered the airflow. To be honest, it feels like the manual fire is just there because it can be, you really don’t need to use it.
The button comes in to its own for getting into the menu. Fire it twice quickly and you can access all the options. First up is Power which allows you to override the mod brain so you can set your own power. Normally I don’t like the heat and power that smart mods tend to choose, but on both pods, I found the SQ Pro got things perfect, not too hot and not too cool and with plenty of clouds considering the diminutive size of the mod. Next is Smart which overrides the Power mode and puts the hardware in control (after playing with the settings, I quickly went back to Smart and have left it there ever since).
Then we have Theme, and this is where I started to realise that I had well and truly fallen for this little magic box. There are three themes to choose from, a purple theme, and green theme, and a spaceship! The purple and green themes are both clear and attractive, showing all the information you need to know. During inhaling, the green theme just shows the home screen information, but the purple theme shows a swirling rotating pattern. It is pretty cool and has a certain class. But then there is the Rocket theme, and this is just fantastic! The information on the home screen is a bit more basic and things like the battery life aren’t the easiest to read, but none of that matters because when you inhale, you get a cute cartoon graphic of a ‘50s style spaceship taking off with clouds of vapour coming out of the engines. I love this way more than a woman of my age should and I felt I had to show it to everyone I could (whether they wanted to see it or not!). You can’t even really see it when you are vaping, but I don’t care….my kit has a spaceship and that is all that matters!
Finally there is the puff counter which just resets the clock, I can’t say I really care about how much I am vaping, but I guess some people do so they will be happy to see it included.
Five clicks on the fire button turns the kit on and off, and four clicks will lock the fire button so it will only activate with the auto draw meaning there will be no accidental firing in your pocket.
On the other side, you will find an airflow slider which has three holes. It is a simple but effective system, but I liked it wide open and that is where it stayed. The slider has enough resistance to not move unless you want it to.
Charging is accessed on the same side as the fire button so you can plug it in and keep your kit standing upright. When they say it is fast charging, they aren’t wrong. From completely empty to full takes around 40 minutes which is impressive for a 1200mAh battery. I was getting a comfortable full day from a full battery and only came a cropper once, today as it happens. I forgot to charge it up this morning and ran out as I was driving back so I plugged it into my car charger, and I was back up to 10% after about 5 minutes which was enough to get me home.
Did I mention that it has a spaceship?
The Pods
Both of the included pods were impressive. The flavour from both was exceptionally good, you get a full mouth of vapour rich in all the flavour notes. They tend to favour sweeter juices which is handy because so do I. The flavour I was getting from these pods can easily rival any disposable on the market right now. The 0.6ohm had the slight edge but at a trade-off that the battery doesn’t last quite as long. But the differences of both was so slight so you will need to try them both for yourself and see which you prefer, there is no clear winner. Where the 0.6ohm did take a bit of a lead was in the coil life. Both pods lasted way longer that I expected, especially with the super sweet e-liquids that I like. I pushed them hard, and I got about a week and a half out of the 0.8ohm, and a whopping two weeks from the 0.6ohm, and even then the flavour was only starting to drop off so I could have squeezed out a few more days. I should point out that I am a “super taster” so I am a lot more sensitive to changes in flavour than most people too so that is something else to bear in mind.
One of the many things I love about OXVA is their pod compatibility, just because they have a new wave of products, it doesn’t mean their old pods are obsolete, nope they are backward and forward compatible so if you have some older pods, you can still use them up, and if you have an older XLIM, you can just pop in these new pods and they will still work just as well. Hats off to OXVA for this, I really hate forced obsolescence.
The biggest change between the old style pods and the new ones is the filling. The older ones require you to take out the pod to access the fill port, but the new ones are top fill, or at least top and to the side wo you can fill on the go. The port covers have also been beefed up and don’t feel as flimsy either. This is a big quality of life improvement and just makes things easier and less messy.
But there’s more! If you want the convenience of disposable vapes but don’t want to be adding to the masses of e-waste, OXVA have introduced a range of pre-filled pods filled with 2ml of 20mg e-liquid so you can pop in a pod and off you go. Then when you are done, you only need to dispose of the empty pod rather than binning perfectly good batteries.
The flavours on offer are your typical disposable flavours so will feel instantly familiar. The flavours are very good, strong and in your face, but there is nothing particularly revolutionary about them. They serve a very good purpose though, acting as the perfect stepping stone to a more sustainable way of vaping.
The flavours available so far are:
- Kiwi Passion Fruit Guava
- Triple Mango
- Watermelon Ice
- Strawberry Raspberry Cherry
- Fizzy Cherry
- Rose Lemonade
- Apple Peach
- Rainbow Candy
- Pineapple Ice
- Mr Blue
I can honestly say there isn’t a bad flavour in the bunch so you should be safe with which ever tickles your fancy.
Final Thoughts
I absolutely adore this little kit, I haven’t actually touched any of my regular devices since this landed through my door, and this has been one of the rare occasions where I have already bought a stock of pods to keep me going. It is very comfortable to use, feels solid in your hand, has a reassuring weight whilst also being perfectly balanced, and it just does everything right. It is also a surprisingly tough kit. I have to put my hands up here and admit something that I’m not proud of. Whilst my fellow reviewers are disciplined enough to photo kits before they use them, I didn’t. I opened it to have a look and couldn’t resist having a go and it was a fatal mistake as I didn’t stop using it. It hasn’t left my pocket for the last month that I’ve had it, the novelty of new toys hasn’t worn off. The other thing that hasn’t worn off is the paint and finish! It has been out in all weather, been thoroughly soaked and frozen and it shows very little signs of wear. I have even dropped it a couple of times on to my tiled floor which is a sure fire way of denting and scratching mods far more expensive than this , and it hasn’t left a mark. There are a few scuff marks on the body panel at the back where it has rubbed against my phone in my jeans pocket, but they are minimal, and I like to try to push my review kits to the limits so you can expect to have this kit for a very long time. I was worried that the scuffs would ruin my review photos so OXVA very kindly sent me out another kit, but the marks didn’t even show under my studio lights, so I guess I didn’t need to worry.
On the face of things, this is just another pod kit, not dissimilar to many other kits currently available, but there is just something special about the OXVA XLIM SQ Pro. It just does everything right with no drama or fuss. It is fun to use and nice to look at and is just an effortless vape. I am not sure I will go back to my trusty old mods and tanks any time soon, this does everything I could need my vape to do.
9.75/10 – Practically perfect in every way (and it has a spaceship!)
Many thanks to OXVA for sending in the XLIM SQ Pro kit for review
Michelle (Purplefowler)
Reviewer at POTVWhen her usual forum closed, Michelle found herself in a brave new world full of excitement that something fresh and new was happening. A few days later she somehow found herself on the moderating team and is still not really sure how that happened. Even stranger, she slowly worked her way up to admin and now helps behind the scenes, liasing with vendors and coordinating social media but she can still be found making smutty comments on the forum. If all that wasn't enough, she also is a proud member of the Potv review team specialising in E-liquid reviews for the discerning vaper.
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