Starter Kit Reviews

Aspire Pockex anniversary kit

Aspire look to their past with their new old heritage kit. We take a look at the Aspire Pockex anniversary kit to see if it stands the test of time

by Si Davies
Mar 25, 2021

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Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition

Supplied by Aspire for review purposes:
https://www.ukaspirevendor.co.uk/search?type=product&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=pockex+anniversary+kit

Originally released over four years ago and long before the whole pod epidemic, the PockeX was designed to be an ideal compact starter kit and was certainly one of the easiest kits to be released around that time, so Aspire have decided to launch an Anniversary Edition with new colours and repositioned USB port.

Part of me admires this move. One of the problems with the vaping world is the overwhelming choice as new products are churned out weekly, and often good kits soon vanish in the fog of war, so does the PockeX stand the test of time?

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition boxed

Firstly the specs, on the new edition:

Top airflow
2ml tank capacity – TPD compliant
Delrin drip tip
1x pre-installed 0.6ohm coil
1x replacement 1.2ohm coil
1x 1500mah battery
*This kit is not suitable for use with e-liquid with a VG content lower than 50%

So I compared the specs to the original and they are exactly the same, word for word.

Now they don’t state what the coils are in the specs and it is not on the box contents either, so I had to dig to find them. The coil name became obvious though, they are the Aspire PockeX 0.6ohm/1.2ohm Coils.
https://www.ukaspirevendor.co.uk/collections/pockex-coils/products/pockex-1-2-coils-5-pack-uk-aspire-vendor

So the coils are the same as the original release which is surprising considering how coils have improved over the past few years.

Unboxing

The PockeX Anniversary Edition comes in a nice clean looking slide to open box and is kept compact enough to be able to fit through your letterbox which is a nice change.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition unboxing

Sliding off the outer sleeve reveals all the contents nicely packaged in a bright orange box (Orange Box takes me back – I loved that game!), there’s very little included in the kit, but you do get an alternative coil.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition contents

So you get the device itself with the 0.6ohm coil installed, a spare 1.2ohm coil, a Micro USB cable and the documentation.

First impressions

The PockeX is one of the simplest devices out there, it is really easy to strip down, change coil and fill up. Operation is equally simple, one button for turning it on/off and firing.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition fitting the coil

The top section simply unscrews and holds the coil which then unscrews from the cap. The actual ‘tank’ section is held in place with a thick O-ring and generally you will not need to touch that part unless you need to deep clean it.

The coils are interesting, a lot larger than I expected, and the wicking ports are nice and big. I suspect this is why they have stood the test of time (if it aint broke and all that).

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition coils and top cap

Filling the PockeX up is a simple process, unscrew the top cap which pulls the coil out with it then pour your juice into the tank, BUT do not fill beyond the marked fill line. If you do then it will overflow when you refit the coil.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition with nic salts

Going back to the specs, there is a statement:

“*This kit is not suitable for use with e-liquid with a VG content lower than 50%.”

So your 70VG/30PG juice is going to be too thick for the coils so it’s best to stick to 50/50 juices.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition filling

Performance

There’s no airflow control as it is fixed and top fed through the cap which turned out to be a shame in my case. Starting with the 0.6ohm coil, it was far too loose to class as MTL. In fact it was a loose RDL draw so immediately I wrote that coil off for MTL vaping, but I will say this, the flavour was superb and certainly on par with the latest generation of coils.

I then tried the 1.2ohm coil in the hope that the coil would give a tighter draw, nope! It felt exactly the same, just far too loose. It was possibly the loosest MTL draw I had experience (an honour previously held by the Smok Nord). The flavour was superb, but I struggled with the loose draw. Convinced something was wrong, I checked the seal and everything was tight enough, but it made no difference

There’s simply too much air flowing through the top of the coil and top cap and the only way I could see to restrict it was with some insulation tape which did the trick, but I had to wrap around 9/10 of it to get an acceptable MTL draw, so by now it was looking pig ugly with my insulation tape bodge, but the vape was now becoming very enjoyable.

But with my bodge in place, I was really enjoying the vape I was getting, tons of flavour and a really smooth draw. Ignoring my tape, I also loved how it looked and felt in the hand, it really is a pocket friendly kit.

Conclusion

In a world full of compact pod kits, this was a real blast from the past and it is nice to see a nod to the evolution of vaping. Things have changed a lot in recent times and there have been some big advancements in vaping technology so it was refreshing to see a flashback to the simpler times.

As a MTL (Mouth to lung) kit, it was way too loose for my taste, but as an RDL (Restrictive Direct Lung) then there’s no doubt it works well. There are no bells or whistles here, but if you want a simple to use kit that has good flavour, there is still a place for this heritage kit.

Aspire PockeX Anniversary Edition old school charm

Si Davies

Reviewer at POTV

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My background is Engineering and Professional Photography. Mostly from POTV users knowledge I learned so much about pretty much all styles of vaping and equipment, Cloud Chasing, Squonking, Mouth To Lung, Direct To Lung, Pods, Mechs, Rebuild-able tanks and atomisers etc, and have experience with many many devices and atomisers, it's become a hobby and enjoy trying out the latest gear. I like to think my reviews are plain speaking and informative without getting too technical, if I have to resort to reading the manual then I don't consider it user friendly!