The Review of the Smoant Campbell Vape Kit – What can we say – we’re dumbfounded. When a company as respected as Smoant releases a high-end mod like the Naboo or Cylon , we pay attention. But never did we think the attention would be focused on a vape mod like this. Novelty? Conversation piece? Game-changer? A lot of adjectives can and will be used to describe this 80-watt Smoant Campbel mod starter kit… But here’s another one – insane.

After accepting this review and reading the manual, I was immediately reminded of this video…

Why? Well, I’ll tell you throughout this review. But if you’ve ever said to yourself, “Hey, I really like my vape… but I wish I could mix soda or fruit juice into the tank” your ship has come in. And if you followed that up with “…I also wish my vape mod was about half a foot taller” then today might just be the best day of your life.

The question is – who’s saying these things? Because the tall, awkward, and absolutely bonkers Smoant Campbel (sic) isn’t comfortable to use. It isn’t pocket-friendly. And it really doesn’t make sense, unless you’re sitting on a two-liter of soda you’d rather inhale than drink. But I’ll say this much – it actually works. Let’s dive in.

Packaging Misdirection

From the moment you see the Smoant Campbel packaging, you’ll think the classy and understated box is housing a fine watch, or a set of commemorative coins. But instead, you’re greeted with a simple box mod, and enough tubes and pipes to keep Super Mario busy for days. It’s all well-presented, but there’s an air of mystery surrounding the device, because my test kit came with an alarming lack of instructions and documentation.

In other words, Smoant just assumed I’d know to grab a Coke and get right to vaping. Yeah, this isn’t the device for those who ‘think’ they know what they’re doing. On that note…

Right from the get go, the Campbel is an awkward device to use. Though the mod itself is wide enough to handle the top-heavy design, the sheer height of the two-tank setup makes it a risk for shattering in the messiest ways possible. For that reason alone, I do NOT recommend bringing the Campbel to concerts, crowded bars, raves, or anywhere you think it might be compromised by other people touching it. No, this is very much a “stay at home/vape quietly” kind of device.

The kit includes a pair of Ni80-based coils reading at about 0.2 ohms, so this is definitely a sub-ohm focused mod, and as such, the battery life wasn’t particularly good.

But that said, I’m also not sure Smoant intended the Campbel to be an all-day, go-to kind of mod. Instead, I think the novelty of the format and the simplistic setup speaks to an “occasional use” device, like a refresher before you get back to vaping your daily driver on a more advanced mod.

Experimental or Intentionally Strange?

And in that sense, the Campbel does what it intends to. I will admit I had some fun mixing my tried-and-true vape flavors with some interesting accents. Even if most of my concoctions failed miserably (most notably with booze).

For starters, I took a lemon vanilla donut homebrew my friend makes. It’s one of my favorite blends, but after a day or two, the flavor becomes a little overbearing. So I decided to “cut” the sweetness with something tart, so I added a lemon-lime soda. Overall, the infusion of the soda definitely changed the overall flavor profile of the e-liquid, but it wasn’t immediately recognizable as the soda. It was just a lighter donut flavor.

I also messed around with lots of vanilla variants, to see what nuances I could draw out of the Campbel’s smokestack of a tank. And most of the time, I was left with weaker, less sweet versions of vanilla, but not necessarily something new I would seek out.

The biggest failure I experienced was mixing a vodka and diet cola with a key lime e-liquid, hoping to replicate a simple, trusty cocktail. What I was left with was a hideous mouthful of burning vodka, saccharine and my own vomit. I’m not sure if it was the liquor or the artificial sweetener, but whatever you do, skip this approach. Then forget I ever mentioned it.

Like most e-liquid flavors, the best results came from simple, proven flavor combinations. Have a lemon liquid? Try mixing in some lime. Grape e-liquid? Try cutting it with some cranberry juice for less sweet. As long as your expectations are tempered – the Campbel’s filter tank doesn’t do an AMAZING job of introducing new flavors to the fold – you should be fine. Just stick to the basics.

Plus, as a diabetic, vaping is often the only way I can enjoy sweet things, so in this sense, the Campbel is a big win. While it wasn’t the same as pounding my beloved Diet Coke, being able to sample those flavors without raising my blood sugar was a major plus, even if I doubt that’s what the company had in mind.

Also, be wary of your experimenting – I went through several bottles of soda and juice before my wife stepped in and screamed at me for wasting it. While I don’t consider my review time a “waste”,  this format could become pricy… quickly. But hey, it’s my job to explore every device that comes my way.

It’s difficult to review the Smoant Campbel on its own merits, since there’s nothing else like it. As a science experiment, the Smoant Campbel performs admirably. But as a vape mod, it lacks in power, vapor production and overall usability. Sure, I was able to produce some decent puffs, but after trying several different liquid combinations, all of the different flavors began to quickly take their toll on the coil, resulting in some horrid aftertastes.

Chalk this one up to a novelty for the vaper who has everything. Because in the right hands, it could be a lot of fun to try. But as an everyday vape mod, the Campbel lacks in almost every area, limiting any potential this format might have someday.

Score: C+