SMOK NORD Pod Mod Starter Kit Review

I haven’t bothered to count, but it seems to me that there are way more AIO, ultra-portable pod mods coming out of China’s vaping industry than there are mid-to-high box mods and sub-ohm tanks. I’ve never been a fan of these tiny vape devices, what with their low vapor production and the need for nicotine salt eliquids with way-too-high nicotine strengths. (not to mention tiny batteries) Then the SMOK NORD landed on my desk and changed my mind… about this one anyway.

Before I get too involved with the review you should know that most of my time spent with the NORD was when I had the sub-ohm Direct Lung (DL) 0.6-ohm mesh coil installed, and not the Mouth-To-Lung (MTL) 1.4-ohm standard coil installed. During the entire review period I spent just 6 hours with the MTL coil. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the plus-ohm coil gave a fairly standard pod mod vape experience. The sub-ohm DL Mesh Coil however, gave me plenty of pleasure and has found a home in my small circle of personal vape devices.

 

Direct Lung in a Pod Mod

I always thought that if I could find some All-in-one, ultra-portable pod mod that was capable of giving me a decent amount of clouds and good flavor, without having to resort to nicotine salt eJuice, then it would surely come in handy while on the road, or in public. And that is exactly what the SMOK NORD does.

The SMOK NORD pod mod is quite small, measuring just 94mm in height, 30mm in width and 18.8mm in depth. The NORD is plenty small, and fits just about any pocket, purse, or anything else. But it packs quite a feature list just the same.

Its integrated battery isn’t the highest among pod mods, nor the lowest. Its battery holds 1100mAh of power and can push a maximum output of 10-15W, depending on the coil used. This 1100mAh is more than twice that of SMOK’s NOVO pod mod, and 4 times that of SMOK’s “JUUL-like” Infinix pod mod.

There is just one button, the fire button (the NORD is not activated by a pull on the mouthpiece), and as you can see in the photos that accompany this review, it sits in the upper part of front side of the NORD.

The body of the NORD has an LED indicator light that lets the user know when a charge is required. When the time comes, you’ll find the USB port on the bottom of the NORD, and an included USB cable in the Kit.

Though it may seem that the NORD is just another entry into SMOK’s pod mod line, it is by far the best to come from SMOK. The NORD improves on the past successors in all areas of what makes a good ultra-portable pod mod.

In addition to the added milliamp hours, each of the “pods” holds a full 3mL of eJuice, fully 33% more than most others. With the 0.6-ohm DL Mesh Coil it’s easy to vape High or Max VG eliquids and get great flavor and a whole lot more vapor that you would think possible.

 

The SMOK NORD is available in full Black, Prism Gold, Bottle Green, Red, Prism Rainbow, Black White, the now classic SMOK snake pattern chassis is pristine, high quality, long lasting.

 

Other features I found impressive in the NORD were its improved mouthpiece, it’s simple insertion and extraction of the Coils, and its ability to full recharge in under an hour. Yes, it’s only a 1A charging system, but 1100mAh is not all that much considering all the Dual and Triple 18650 Mods I use daily. (and keep in mind, for optimal performance on any integrated battery vape mod, fully charged is the only way to go)

There are two things about the SMOK NORD that I did not expect; great flavor and vapor clouds that are as thick and large as the old Carto-Tanks I used to love so much. Yes, it’s a Pod Mod, and no it’s not going to throw clouds like my new Augvape Skynet Pro with its preinstalled Triple Mesh Coils, but for something this small, the NORD pumps out the vapor in a satisfactory volume, even for me.

 

Using my daily 80/20 VG/PG eJuice I get the same flavor fidelity with the mesh coil NORD than with any other of my high-quality sub-ohm tanks and their respective mesh coils.

 

Despite not being able to adjust the airflow on the NORD, whichever coil you place into the pod, the vape experience adjusts to fit the need of the Vaper. Which brings me to the 6 hours I spent with the 1.4-ohm MTL vertical coil.

The first two years of my 7-year vaping hobby I was an MTL Vaper. My choice back then was a Vision VV stick battery and an X-Jet Clearomizer. I enjoyed the hell of these batteries and Clearomizers and stocked up whenever I could find a sale going on.

It was only in the third year of vaping did I discover the sub-ohm vape experience. When I did, I cut back on my 18mg nicotine eJuice to 6mg (now 3mg) and began using the direct lung approach. For those that may not know, Direct Lung means breathing the vapor directly into the lungs, very unlike smoking a cigarette. It changed everything.

But since this is a review, I had no choice but to give the 1.4-ohm MTL coil a fair shake. So, what can you expect from this vertical standard coil? An experience very reminiscent of Vision battery and X-Jet Clearomizer actually. And although that was fine for me back in 2013, it isn’t my choice today.

I received extra coils, both sub-ohm and plus-ohm, and we had just reviewed some nicotine salt eliquids that tasted great, I decided to give the SMOK NORD a chance to show me what it could do with nic-salt, 48mg of nicotine salt in a tobacco flavored blend.

At first, with this smoky, mahogany flavored tobacco nic-salt it felt like I was tasting something way better than cigarette tobacco, and much stronger to boot. Since it was so high in nicotine, I was only able to draw on the NORD maybe twice a minute, and even then, after 5 minutes I got a bit lightheaded. This all pointed out why the NORD would be ideal to current smokers that want to leave behind the early death and disease of smoking…

The SMOK NORD, loaded with a nicotine salt eliquid, will last a Vaper practically all day long simply because with such high nicotine there is no need to draw on the NORD nearly as much as I might draw on my SMOK Mag Grip and Skynet Pro with 3mg nicotine eJuice.

The SMOK Nord Replacement Pod Cartridge features a comfortable mouthpiece, an increase to a full 3ML eJuice capacity, and two coil options. SMOK also offers a 1.0-ohm Ceramic coil option, which is sold separately.I did not receive these ceramic coils, but since they are said to be 1.0-ohm, I’m pretty sure these coils are for MTL vaping.

When purchasing a new pod, you’ll also receive two new coils, one sub-ohm and one plus-ohm. That said, I don’t think you’ll need to purchase a new pod for quite some time, and instead you might want to purchase just the coils themselves.

Replacement Coils

Available in packs of 5, you can purchase the right coil for you. In the future I’ll definitely stick with the 0.6-ohm DL coil, and I might try out the 1.0-ohm ceramic and add my thoughts about them here in this review. For MTL Vapers it’s nice to know that they can also purchase just the 1.4-ohm coils and not waste the DL coil.

 

I’ll admit upfront I’m not that happy at the price of a 5-pack of NORD coils, they are on par with replacement coils for the SMOK Prince, but as my new favorite stealth vape, I think it’s definitely worth adding a pack or two of replacements.

I like to think of the SMOK NORD Kit as a tiny, stealthy vape device for people like myself. Those that want something truly small, that will last a few hours at least, and can deliver true flavor fidelity and lots of clouds for the Direct Lung Vaper I am.  For MTL Vapers, the NORD offers more than any other SMOK AIO, Ultra-Portable Pod Mod at a very easy on the wallet price tag.

 

For all the Pod Mod reviews Spinfuel VAPE has done over the past 18 months or so, I’ve always turned my back reviewing them, leaving the reviews to others. Oh, I’ve used close to 50 different ones just to see if I could find one on the cheap that could deliver a satisfying vape, and only came close with the Shanlaan Laan, which is close to $100, and even then, the flavor wasn’t as good as the mesh coils offered here in the NORD.

 

Naturally, it depends on what you want from an ultra-portable vape device, but for my money, the SMOK NORD comes as close as current technology allows when it comes to satisfying my direct lung vaping style, a long-life battery with a quick recharge, and a pod system that requires the user to life the coil out of the pod and replace it. I’ve giving the SMOK NORD Kit a big fat A. If you’re a Vaper who has similar vaping requirements to mine, the NORD is you chance to own an ultra-portable pod mod you will actually use…