Pod System Reviews

Freemax Maxpod Circle Pod System Kit

Antony takes a look a"round" the latest pod mod from Freemax, the Maxpod Circle!

by Antony Lord
Nov 26, 2020

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FreeMax Maxpod Circle

FreeMax has sent over their latest starter kit, the MaxPod Circle, for review. Having tried out the original Maxpod earlier this year which has been one of my favourite MTL starter kits (review here), I had high hopes for this one.

The FreeMax MaxPod Circle comes in a small but surprisingly heavy box (178.3grams) with the MaxPod Circle displayed prominently in a clear window on the front of the box and a scratch ‘n’ sniff code on the side. Inside, you’ll find the MaxPod Circle itself, two pods (one pre installed), some paperwork, a usb charge cable and a metal lanyard. The lanyard itself accounts for a fair amount of the weight coming in at 37grams.

FreeMax Maxpod Circle contents

Specifications:

Size 62.2 x 12.1 mm
75 grams
550mAh internal battery
Output 3.7 volts/10 watts
1.5Ohm NS mesh coil
2ml PCTG pod

FreeMax Maxpod Circle close ups

Aside from the obvious change from a traditional “stick/pen” style starter kit to a circle, the MaxPod Circle has gained a little weight and is now 75 grams instead of the original 56 grams. You don’t get any increase in battery capacity here though, so I must assume much of the weight gain is down to a combination of the size/shape and the resin side panels which are available in four different colours.

The front and back are clutter free with a FreeMax logo on one side and a large status LED on the other. The LED shows the approximate power levels (green, blue and red) and any error messages from the multiple built in safety protections. This is extremely bright and can be a little distracting at times. Surprisingly, this hasn’t proved to be a fingerprint magnet either, despite the high gloss chrome chassis.

Up top is the recess for the pod which is held in by two strong magnets. This easily passed the shake test, but it still remains easy to remove the pod for filling. There are two contact pins and a draw activation tube here as well, I’d advise giving this area a quick inspection whenever you remove the pod for filling as, although I haven’t experienced any leaking, there has been some condensation build up, so a quick wipe down might be in order.

On one side near the pod, there's a clip for the included lanyard. I don’t use them myself so that went back in the box. On the other side, there is now a power button, this pulls double duty as an on/off switch and can also be used to fire the device instead of using the draw activation mode. Whilst the ability to actually turn the MaxPod Circle off whilst not in use is a very welcome addition, the button is rather awkwardly placed to use as a fire button so I mainly found myself using this as a draw activated device.

Finally, on the bottom there’s a usb charge port. I recorded a peak charge rate of 0.48 amps in my test with a final charge of 523mAh in 1 hour and 15 minutes which is all very close to the quoted specifications from FreeMax. Sadly vape whilst charging doesn’t still isn’t supported.

FreeMax Maxpod Circle Hand check

The pods are now a disposable unit, a step backwards from the original Maxpod with its replaceable coils, but still feature the FreeMax FM SaltCoiltech 2.0 mesh coils which I believe are kanthal and use 66.66% tea fiber cotton for better wicking and flavour. All the pods are 1.5oHms. Two pods are included in the kit, and extra pods also come in packs of two with the pods contained in individual sealed bubble packs.

The large duckbill style mouthpiece necessitated by the shape of the MaxPod Circle takes a little getting used to but is comfortable enough in use. The fill port is on the side and is a decent size, but I did find that air tended to get trapped under the opposite side of the coil whilst filling. Wait a second or two, and this will eventually make its way around the chimney and you can continue filling the up to its 2ml capacity. As is common these days, the pods are constructed from PCTG so should be resistant to tank crackers, but this is largely irrelevant as you’ll be throwing the whole thing away one the coil is done.

Coil performance has been just as good as I experienced with the original Maxpod, with bags of flavour and a medium mouth to lung draw which is what I prefer. Performance felt consistent throughout the battery life thanks to the constant 3.7volt output. The coils did feel like they were getting a little dry if you really heavily chain vape on them, but are fine in normal use and I’ve had no dry hits or leaks.

FreeMax Maxpod Circle Pods

Pros

Good performance from the FM SaltCoiltech 2.0 mesh pods
Ability to turn the battery on/off

Cons

The move to disposable pods rather than coils feels like a step backwards
Fire button is awkwardly placed

Conclusion

Some of my favourite bits of kit so far this year have been from FreeMax, and the MaxPod Circle easily rivals the earlier Maxpod. Both are great starter kits and are ideal for an out and about kit to throw in your pocket. Would I recommend this over the original? Well other than the addition of an on/feature, this really comes down to which style device you’d rather have and if you’d rather have a disposable pod or replaceable coils.

Many thanks to FreeMax for sending the MaxPod Circle out for review.

FreeMax Maxpod Circle with box

Antony Lord

Reviewer at POTV

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I was a twenty a day smoker for 25 years and like most smokers I was always going to quit "next week". Having hit my mid forties and having the usual smokers cough and difficulty with anything more than moderate exercise it was obviously time to give up the cancer sticks. I bought my first e-cigarette in 2013 when they were expensive, difficult to find and quite frankly... crap. I used it for about a week then went back to the roll ups, mark up another failed quit attempt. The fact that I had just changed jobs and was under quite a lot of stress probably didn't help. Move on to 2016 and whilst I was browsing eBay I noticed that one of the suggested items that would occasionally pop up was for a cheap e-cigarette. It looked similar to the one I'd bought 3 years earlier but it was only £5 (about 8 times cheaper than before) so I decided to give it another go on a whim. Once the kit arrived I managed to gradually replace the cigarettes with my new kit over a two month period and got into watching YouTube reviews for newer kit. My cheap and cheerful kit was replaced by a more upmarket affair, and being a noob I made a mistake once it arrived... I put in the supplied direct lung coil, this was of course a complete revelation and I haven't touched a cigarette since. Oh and I no longer spend the first five minutes of every day having a coughing fit either.