The Ovale eLips-C Review
After spending a little more than a week with the Ovale elips-C, I continue to be amazed that this is a descendent of an elips I received more than a year ago from Apollo eCigs (are they still in business?). No matter how hard I tried to successfully use the Apollo elips it just couldn’t put out near enough vapor or flavor to warrant a review. I wound up passing it off to someone else and quickly putting it out of my mind…forever, I thought.
But today, a week after looking at the box containing the elips-C from Ovale that was sent up to Boston from Spinfuel South, I’ve become a big fan. The fact is, the Ovale elips-C actually works, and works tremendously well at that.
Elegance
The reason I was even interested in last year’s Apollo device was because I thought the elips was an elegant e-cigarette. A thing of beauty, the elips was small, thin, a flat oval e-cigarette about 6 inches long. If it worked, it would have been my permanent stealth e-cig. Going out on the town with an elips it would have been easy to enjoy vaping without garnering much attention. But once I decided to get rid of it I never bothered to follow up on future models, I figured it was doomed to fail. But damn, it was a fine looking device.
The Ovale elips-C is even more elegant today, so when I was convinced to give it another try I figured I had nothing to lose, so why not?
Before I give you all the specs and my real world experience on this new elegant e-cigarette let me get this out of the way first. The Ovale elips-C would satisfy almost anyone with the amount of vapor it produces, and the clean taste you get from using a real atomizer with a clear plastic tank is unforgettable. Whatever was wrong with last year’s Apollo model has been completely reworked by Ovale.
Specs
- Powered by a 3.7V 350mah Lithium Ion Battery
- Overcharge Protection
- Pass-Through Charging Capability
- Red LED Indicates Battery Is Charging
- 1.0ml Tank Capacity
- Assembled Length: 105mm
- Width: 17mm x 11mm (oval)
The Ovale elips-C battery is a 3.7v 350mAh Lithium Ion. On a full charge I average a solid 5 to 6 hours of heavy vaping, and that’s with a low resistance atomizer too. You’ll get even better performance using the 1.8ohm atomizers, which will use up the battery a bit faster, but not enough to really notice.
The cartridges (reusable) take 1ML of eLiquid so I normally go through three tanks of eJuice with a fully charged battery. Filling the tank is simple, the hole is large enough for quick filling without spilling or overfilling by accident. The translucent tanks are easy to see through, so you see the juice in the tank as you’re filling it.
From Box to Vaping in a Few Easy Steps
If you’ve never used an elips e-cigarette before you might look inside the starter kit and wonder why there are so many pieces. I did, so don’t feel bad. The thing is though, it’s simple to put together and very logically arranged.
Opening the box you see two elips batteries, 2 tank covers, and two atomizer lock rings. Under the elips is the power adapter, USB cable, pack of atomizers, and a box containing 5 tanks. Here are the easy steps to easy vaping:
- Lift battery, tank cover and atomizer ring out of the box
- Open and remove one empty tank. Lift off the plastic/rubber protector from the tank and set it aside. (Keep it)
- Fill the tank with your favorite eLiquid.
- Open the atomizer container and remove an atomizer.
- The atomizer sits down into the battery; the pointy side sits up so that it can pierce through the tank.
- Slip the atomizer lock ring over the atomizer and turn a ¼ turn to lock the atomizer in place.
- Lightly push the filled tank through the atomizer point.
- Slip the tank cover/mouthpiece over the tank; push down to get a secure fit.
- Click the battery activator 5 times to turn the battery on.
- 10. Press and hold the activator button for 2-seconds and let go.
- 11. Now, bring the elips-C up to your lips, press the activator button, take 3 short puffs to prime it, and then start vaping.
Note* Priming with 3 short puffs is not indicated in the manual and I only suggest it when using a new atomizer. As your atomizer is broken in you’ll notice an even better ‘vape’. You can expect your atomizer to last 3-4 weeks if you maintain it, longer if you are a light to moderate Vaper. I vape about 10-12ML a day on busy days, and 8-9ML on a normal day.
Honestly, that’s all there is to it. When you’re done vaping click the activator button 5 times to turn it off, slip it into your pocket, purse, backpack, or wherever, and feel safe in knowing the battery is safely off, no eLiquid is going to leak, and there’s nothing to worry about.
Compared to many of today’s larger batteries and clearomizers, carto-tanks, including Vivi-Nova’s, ProTanks, ProTanks 2, V-Fate Nova’s and all the rest, it may seem a little odd or behind the times to use a small steel atomizer that punches through a plastic/rubber tank, and in a way it is odd. But the trade-off is well worth it when you consider the small elegant design and the power of the vape.
After you’ve put the elips-C together once the whole concept clicks and you instantly understand why the pointy atomizer is still in use today. The Ovale elips-C slips into any pocket, out of the way, and the stealth vaping feature is priceless.
The Ovale elips-C provides a lot of vapor, a ‘better than you think’ throat hits, but the best feature is how authentic and clean the eLiquids taste. Peach eLiquid tastes like peaches, coffee flavors like coffee, and my current favorite, a lime creamsicle eLiquid Tom sent to me last week tastes better through the elips-C than anything else I’ve used.
The Ovale elips-C is also a Pass-thru device, which means you can plug the elips into your computer via the USB cable and charge your battery and continue to vape at the same time. With it plugged in and charging you’re also getting the full 3.7v of power since the battery isn’t draining. For Vapers that make a living at the computer a pass-thru e-cigarette is almost mandatory.
Is the Ovale elips-C for everyone? Probably not. But, the reason it might not be right for you could be the small footprint and elegant design, it’s certainly not a performance issue. I guarantee you won’t complain about flavor, vapor, TH or any other performance issue. If you’re used to large batteries and 3.5-5ML tanks then I can see the elips-C being a little too small for your main e-cigarette. As a ‘stealth device’ there is nothing better looking, and nothing in its size class that will outperform it.Bottom Line
Buying Advice
KokoVapes, the online e-cigarette store that donated the Ovale elips-C for review offers the complete starter kit for $85.49, which is an excellent price. Included In the Ovale elips-C Kit:
- 2 Ovale elips-C Batteries (350 mAh)
- 2 Atomizer Locks
- 2 elips-C Mouth Pieces
- 5 elips-C Tank Cartridges
- 5 Ovale Type-C Atomizer Heads
- 1 elips-C USB Charging Cable
- 1 Wall Adapter
- 3 Hygienic Mouthpiece Covers
- 1 Set of Replacement O-Rings
- 1 Users Manual
Final Thoughts
In all seriousness I never thought I would use an elips device again, after the disaster that was the Apollo elips. Although I have always admired the design it just wasn’t powerful enough to use. The Ovale elips-C has taken a huge leap in performance over the old Apollo version, and this small device can go head to head with much larger devices that cost a lot more money. For stealth Vapers the elips-C is going to become your best friend. I never leave home without it.
