Pod System Reviews

Lost Vape URSA multi kit

Lost Vape asked us to take a look at their latest piece of kit, the URSA quest multi kit.

by Antony Lord
Dec 15, 2020

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Lost Vape URSA multi kit

Lost Vape asked us to take a look at their latest piece of kit, the URSA quest multi kit. In keeping with their other recent releases, it seems to take its name from astrological constellations and URSA means “bear” in Latin. This is touted as a both a “mod” and a “pod”, but it’s definitely quite a bit different from many of the other “pod mods” on the market. These dual use “pod mod” kits tend to be compromised in one way or another, but Lost Vape wanted to make sure this offered an optimal experience either way so let's find out if they succeeded.

Once you open the box, you realise there’s quite a bit included here besides the URSA quest itself. You get an airflow controller base with two different sized pods/tanks (one coil included for each) and a full sized 510 connector which would normally be an optional extra in many other kits. These fit into the top of the URSA and are held in place by two spring loaded clips. Want to change from the preinstalled pod and turn it into a full sized and fully featured mod? No problem, simply press the two buttons near the top of the mod and swap over to the included 510 plate which takes seconds. The clips seem sturdy and appear to be made of metal so there shouldn’t be issues with them breaking over time.

Lost Vape URSA multi kit contents

There’s a proprietary connector on the bottom which is spring loaded and makes contact with the pod or 510 plate, this all seems to be pretty reliable and I’ve had no issues with things not making connections. When using the pods, the base of the coil contacts this directly and although I’ve not experienced any leaking from the coils, there has been a very minimal amount of condensation here so I’d recommend removing the pod and giving things a wipe down periodically. You shouldn’t experience this problem with the 510 plate unless you have a leaky atomiser of course, and this has a whopping 30mm platform so even my steam crave glaz rta fits on here without any overhang.

Lost Vape URSA multi kit details

Specifications

126x43x33mm
173 grams
0.96” colour screen
External 21700 battery (18650 adapter included)
USB-C charging
Output 5~100 watts / 0.7~8.0 volts / max 35 amps
Resistance range 0.1~5.0 Ohms
Power, bypass, voltage, power curve, temperature control modes

Lost Vape URSA multi kit screen

The URSA is quite large and heavy for a “pod mod”, weighing in at 173 grams due to its zinc alloy construction, even more so once you have a 21700 battery in here as well. Despite this, it actually feels very comfortable to hold with no sharp edges on the chassis, and all the buttons are perfectly placed for either thumb or finger firing with zero button rattle. The URSA quest multi kit comes in a variety of finishes, and the kit I was sent for review is the stainless steel with green ukiran (carved) leather running down the sides which adds to the experience. It has a really pleasant, tactile finish and appears to be real leather for once.

The battery is inserted via a screw out cap on the bottom. Both this and the spring loaded contact at the other end of the battery tube have polarity engraved on them. I’ve tried a range of 21700 batteries in here, and it passed the oversized battery test (just). With some longer batteries, I did find that the battery cap wouldn’t quite sit flush with the bottom of the mod, but this was minimal. Using 20700 or 18650 batteries was also fine and I didn’t detect any battery movement in use.

The board in here is the latest version of Lost Vapes own quest series, and it’s one of the best I’ve seen recently. You have more modes than you will ever need, power delivery seems quick and consistent, and even the temperature control seems to perform well above average. This is all backed up with a clear bright colour screen and intuitive control interface. I didn’t need to refer to the manual once… well done Lost Vape.

Lost Vape URSA multi kit coils

When using the URSA quest multi kit as a pod, you will need to use one of the two included tanks with the airflow control ring. There’s a 7ml URSA Pod Pro and a 6ml URSA pod tank to accommodate the two different style coils supported. The new UB Pro coils are the larger coils, and the smaller coils are the older UB coils which have been used in some of their other recent pod systems (Orion Q-Ultra, Thelema and Gemini). Coils are press fit into the bottom of the pods and then you screw the whole thing onto the afc ring. It’s nice to see metal threads being used throughout here as well. The fill port is a generous size and is on the side of the pod so filling has been a doddle, however the tanks are quite darkly tinted so it’s not always that easy to see how much e-liquid you have left. The drip tips are standard 510 and 810 (with o-rings) sizes as well, so you can use your own if you don’t like the ones that are included.

The included coils have performed very well, and the afc has the perfect amount of resistance so it won’t get accidentally knocked in pockets all that often whilst remaining easy to adjust.

The UB Pro coils all have the coil material printed on them which is nice to see, however these are Ni80 and SS904 so won’t be suitable if you’re nickel sensitive (904 steel is up to 28% nickel and gives me the same problems as Ni80 coils). The smaller UB coils don’t state the material, I did find one site that suggested that the round wire UB coils were kanthal but I was unable to confirm this and the mesh coils were simply marked as “mesh”, not very helpful!

Luckily for me, Lost Vape also included the optional rebuildable UB Pro coil head. This arrived in pre production packaging (a plastic zip lock bag), but I suspect final retail versions will be the same. Besides the coil head, there’s a 510 adapter so you can dry burn your coils, two premade coils, spare o-rings/post screws and some shoelace cotton.

Lost Vape URSA multi kit RBA kit

This has a postless deck design with air coming from under the coil and the sides, and the build deck is a fairly decent size. I’ve got RTAs that are more fiddly than this! One criticism would be that the grub screws will distort complex builds, but it’s difficult to see how they could have improved this. Make sure to keep your coiling rod in place and you’ll be fine. The included coils aren’t magnetic so I suspect they are also Ni80, so I opted to use a ss316 clapton instead (I seem to be fine with the lower 10% nickel content).

Wicking was simple. I just did a bow tie style, but I did trim the wick a little more than shown once I’d wet the wicks and put them in place. Once the top ring was in place, I put it into the tank and vaped away. This wicked very well and only needed rewicking a few days later because the coil was grotty from the sweet e-liquid I was using. This is an excellent option if you want to use the URSA in pod mode but have run out of stock coils (or are nickel sensitive)

Lost Vape URSA multi kit build

Pros

Excellent quest board, good performance and lots of options
Easy to use menu system
Works well as a pod and just as well as a full blown mod
510 plate/adapter included

Cons

Stock coils may not be suitable if you’re nickel sensitive
Quite big as a “pod” but this is offset by the 21700 battery

Conclusion

Lost Vape have done a superb job with the URSA quest multi kit, “pod mods” tend to be a compromised experience, especially when using them as a “mod”, but this operates well in either scenario, and the included 510 plate is a nice touch. Build quality seems very good so it feels like it’s going to last, and the performance from quest board is stellar. There’s definitely a lot to like here so you may want to put this one on your Christmas wishlist.

Many thanks to Lost Vape for sending the URSA quest multi kit out for review.

Lost Vape URSA multi kit handcheck

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.