MELO 4 Sub-Ohm Tank by Eleaf – Review

Another day, another sub-ohm tank to review! After a summer that was hit or miss with new products, late 2018/early 2019 has brought a veritable boatload of top-quality sub-ohm entries. And the latest might be the biggest surprise yet – the Eleaf MELO 4 D25 sub-ohm tank.

While I’ve never been 100% onboard the mesh coil craze, my tune is changing a little more everyday. Because the MELO 4’s EC2 mesh coil series takes what was a pedestrian, unassuming tank series and turned it into a flavor-focused contender, with broad appeal for a wide range of vapers.

We’ve tested a ton of Eleaf atomizers over the years, and most have been perfectly solid, serviceable vape tanks that fit their kits well. Not world-beaters, but not throwaways, they’re always just “there” for the user. However, for the first time in ages, I’m making a hearty recommendation of an Eleaf product. It’s great for newcomers, sub-ohm beginners, or experienced vapers looking for more flavor among the clouds. Let’s see why.

If taken at first glance, the 25mm MELO 4 is fairly bare bones. A simple, unadorned stainless steel body surrounds a 4.5mL Pyrex glass tank section, culminating in a narrow drip tip. But looks are only skin deep, and in this case, simple proves to be better.

The exterior is completed by the butter-smooth bottom airflow control and the slightly snug top-fill port, which is a little tough to navigate with wider tip bottles, but overall, it works well. One thing that’s for sure, is that Eleaf delivers its typically top-flight machining and design throughout.

The EC2 coil system might be the most surprising element of the entire MELO 4 package. These slender, mesh-enhanced coils look like a throwback to a simpler era of vape technology. But in practices, these slightly thirsty, but flavor-packed powerhouses delivered nothing but bliss in my two weeks with them on hand.

Both of the included coils – 0.3 and 0.5 ohms, respectively – were strong performers, with the lower-ohm head slightly outperforming its higher-resistance counterpart in flavor density and longevity. But this was a neck-in-neck race, and any performance differences were incremental, at most.

More importantly, both of the included heads will last a good long time. Even though they both cap out up to 100 watts, I found the best performance for each fell into the 50-60-watt range, allowing them to hang around a lot longer than most prebuilt coils do these days.

The word of the day is “flavor.” Pure, unadulterated flavor. Like I mentioned at the top of the piece, Eleaf tanks are typically “layman’s” tanks, with average performance and value. However, these coils delivered dense, rich flavor on par with some of today’s leading sub-ohm contenders.

No, I’m not spouting hyperbole for the sake of garnering clicks or “thank yous” from the company. These EC2 heads made me think of some of today’s finest coils, including those for the new Augvape Skynet, or my ever-beloved Uwell Valyrian. Even my most-complex liquids came across as more vibrant and layered than in most tanks, making me try out some older juices to see how they’d come across.

A good amount of the credit for this has to go to the purposely narrow drip tip, which more closely resembles a mouthpiece for a dedicated mouth-to-lung (MTL) tank. Instead, the mid-wattage power combines with the narrow chimney and mouthpiece to create smooth, supple wafts of flavorful vapor. Despite the slender build, I never had any trouble with dry hits, hot draws or other problems. It all balanced effortlessly.

Because of the setup, I decided to close off the airflow and try the MELO 4 as a restricted lung/MTL device. And the results were pretty encouraging. While no MTL enthusiast will ever replace their Innokin Zenith for this, the format makes the MELO 4 a lot more versatile than the sub-ohm designation indicates.

Vapor production is about what you’d expect for a tank that shows peak performance at 50-60 watts. In other words, you’re not going to win any cloud contests, but the resulting vapor is ample enough to satisfy, even if you can still see a few feet in front of you. And with so much flavor in each puff, it’s not likely going to matter once you get going.

The only slight knock on the coils is that they’re thirstier than they’d seem, given the size and relatively low wattage needs. Maybe it’s the mesh, maybe the cotton is a little more aerated. Whatever the case, the results were worth the excess consumption.

Some reviews don’t need 1,200 words to get a point across. Consider this one of them. The Eleaf MELO 4 tank is one of the most unexpected surprises I’ve tested in a long time. Simple design, simple operation, simply amazing coils, all add up to an outstanding, versatile vape experience that people need to try.

Any complaints I could make would all center on capacity, and that’s only because I wanted to enjoy the MELO 4 for longer durations between fills. If that “criticism” isn’t actually an endorsement, I don’t know what is.