Eleaf iStick Mix Kit Review — Ello Pop Tank & Some Interesting Features

Eleaf has been around since 2011. Largely known for their iStick series, they made their mark in 2014 with the release of the iStick Mini which was welcomed with open arms from the vaping community. A lot has changed since 2014, but Eleaf has managed to keep up with the demands of the vaping world. The newest addition to their lineup is the Eleaf iStick Mix. It’s a beautiful looking box mod with a great Ello Pop tank to match.

This device not only looks great but also comes with some cool features built in so I was very excited to try it out for myself. In this Eleaf iStick Mix Kit review I’m going to go over everything you need to know so that you can decide for yourself if this is the kit for you.

Eleaf iStick Mix Kit Review — Ello Pop Tank & Some Interesting Features

What’s In The Box

• Eleaf iStick Mix Mod
• Eleaf Ello Pop Tank
• HW-M2 0.20ohm Coil
• HW-N2 0.20ohm Coil
• 6.5mL Bubble Glass (Pre-installed)
• 2mL Spare Glass
• 3.0 USB-C Charging Cable
• Spare Parts
• User Manuals

Specifications

• Size: 52 x 27 x 83mm
• Avatar Chipset
• Power Range: 1-160W
• Temperature Control Mode: Ni200/Ti/SS
• Uses Two 18650 Batteries
• USB-C Charging
• 1.3 Inch OLED Display

Overview

As soon as I took this kit out of the box I thought it was gorgeous. I really love that the tank and mod match so nicely. I received the Seabed Snaker design which is black with an orange and blue resin design panel on one side and a black mirrored finish on the other panel. The kit comes in a total of 5 design choices: Hell Witch, Seabed Snaker, Glary Knight, Skyline Numen and Wind Ninja. I personally find all of the designs very nice.

The iStick Mix uses Eleaf’s Avatar chipset and uses USB-C for quicker and more efficient charging. To power this baby up you will need two 18650 batteries and it will fire at up to 160 watts. In addition to power mode you also get Temperature Control Mode (NI, SS & TI), as well as three manual modes.

The iSick Mix kit features the Ello Pop sub-ohm tank which features a silicone wrap that looks pretty cool and also acts as a guard to protect the glass from breaking. The bubble glass holds a whopping 6.5 ml and the included standard glass holds 2 ml. You will also get two 0.2 ohm kanthal mesh coils with the kit. 

Design & Build Quality (iStick Mix Mod)

The iStick Mix is pretty much the same size as the Drag Mini and it has a very comfortable feel to it. The smooth edges and curved shape make it nice to hold and it fits perfectly in my hand. The body of the device is made of metal and features two different design panels on either side.I personally would have liked the two panels to match, but that’s just me. You don’t see this very often so maybe that’s why the device is called the Mix?  

The resin panel comes with a blue, red and white finish and features the Eleaf logo on the top left corner. You can remove this panel to access the battery compartment. It is magnetically attached and takes quite a tug to release it. The magnets are almost too strong to be honest.

The panel on the other side features a black and mirrored finish and has iStick Mix on the top right corner as well as a USB-C charging port on the bottom left. I know I mentioned this earlier but I really wished the two panels were not so different in terms of design. However, they are both very well made and super sleek.

The 510 connector is centered and is black instead of your typical stainless steel that I’m used to seeing. I really like this change and the fact that it goes with the all-black look to the device. There are three buttons on the mod: a large firing button and two smaller adjustment buttons. The firing button requires the perfect about of pressure to fire and works with a nice click. The adjustment buttons take a little more pressure than the firing button. All three buttons seem very well built.

The OLED screen is a little smaller than most mods but is super crisp and clean looking. The screen is black and white which I personally find to be just as useful as a colored screen so this isn’t a con for me. The screen displays your current wattage, resistance, voltage, and a puff counter. The puff counter can be changed to puff time or amperage by using the menu.

Ello Pop Tank

The Ello Pop tank is really nice as it comes with some pretty cool features. It will hold a maximum 6.5ml of ejuice with the bubble glass attached and 2ml with the standard glass. The bubble glass features a silicon wrapping, as mentioned above, and it has held up very well. When I first received the device there was a piece of excess silicon hanging off the tank. I cut it off and honestly expected the rest to peel off before I completed this review. Well, I was wrong and I can admit that. The silicon has stayed intact and that small piece must just have been missed during manufacturing. The Ello Pop also comes with a standard 810 drip tip that is made of resin and matches the device perfectly.

The Ello Pop tank is top filled and features a lift to slide design. You just lift up on the top cap and slide it back to reveal the fill port. After filling, you slide it back in place. This design is great as it makes the tank child proof, as well as eliminates the chances of the tank opening on its own and making a mess in your pocket or purse. I can say with a smile on my face that this never happened with this tank.

The airflow on the Ello Pop consists of two wide slots, one on either side of the tank. They are fully adjustable allowing it to be fully opened or fully closed depending on your preference. I had no issues adjusting the airflow as the ring turns with ease and doesn’t take too much effort. I tried vaping with the airflow more closed and the flavor was great. With the airflow completely open I didn’t notice that much a flavor drop which I found to be very pleasing.

Included with this kit are two kanthal mesh coils, both 0.2ohms. You get an HW-N2 coil and a HW-M2 coils. The M2 has a more spaced out mesh while the N2 is a tighter-knit mesh coil. They are both rated for 40-90W and I used them both at about 80W during testing. I didn’t notice that much of a flavor difference between the two coils but both had great flavor and cloud production. More on this later in the performance section.

Eleaf claim that they contain a leak proof and self cleaning technology. To be honest, I’m not really sure what that even means, as I found the coils to last around the same amount of time as any other coil. On a positive note, I didn’t notice any leakage until I had burned out the first coil after about 2 weeks time, but this is to be expected.

Features & Functions

The iSitck Mix uses the Avatar Chip which offers fast firing, and that’s always a good thing. It also features USB-C and “Balanced Charging” technology which helps to even out the batteries charge and allows the two 18650 batteries to fully charge within 1.5 hours. I still would suggest using an external battery charger to charge all batteries but this is great if you are ever stuck without one. This mod also features multiple safety features built-in. It has short circuit protection, over charge/over-discharge protection and overcurrent protection. It also has an over 10 second protection which will cut the mod mod if you fire it for too long.

You get Wattage Mode that will fire at up to 160W as well as Temperature Control Mode that supports Ni200, Titanium, and Stainless Steel. You also get three different Manual modes for TC as well.

The OLED screen displays the battery charge level, resistance, output voltage and puff counter by default. You can change the puff counter to either puff time or amperage in the menu settings. While it isn’t the most advanced screen display that I’ve seen on a mod, I feel like it does the trick. It’s bright enough to see outdoors and offers all the vital information you need about your vape.

The menu on the iStick Mix gives you a few options. To access it, hold the firing button and the + adjustment button for a few seconds. You can change between displaying the puff counter, puff time, or amperage. You can activate or deactivate stealth mode, which will turn off the screen when you vape making it more discreet in darker environments. You can adjust the preheat settings (which work quite well). You have the option of changing the logo, and there is information about your current hardware and firmware version. Last but not least, there’s an option to check the exact voltage of your batteries which is both neat and useful.

iStick Mix Button Combinations

Switch Modes: Click the fire button three times. Select your mode using the adjustment buttons. Press fire to confirm.

Access the Menu: Press the Fire button and the + adjustment button. You can select from Ni, TI, or SS for Temperature Control. There are also three manual modes for TC in here as well.

Lock Adjustment Buttons: Hold the + and – adjustment buttons until the screen displays “Key Lock”. While locked you can still fire the device, but you can’t adjust the wattage.

Performance

I tested the iMix kit quite extensively for around two weeks. During this time I used both of the included coils and tested them with a variety of different ejuices. I also pushed them to their wattage limits of 90-100W and got some pretty good results.

The iStick Mix mod itself is a sturdy and reliable mod. It fired as soon as I pushed the firing button and delivered accurate wattage outputs. When it was set to 80W it felt like it was outputting 80W. Likewise with 100W. It also read the resistance of the coils accurately and without a hitch.

Temperature control was okay with this mod, but it isn’t anything stellar. I used and RDA and a simple round wire build with SS. It seemed to regulate the temperature pretty well and I didn’t get any dry hits. However, it felt like the vape would run a bit warm at times during TC use. It seems like the TC mode could use a bit of tweaking, but it’s not bad.

Battery efficiency was a high point of the iStick Mix. Eleaf got it right with this mod and I noticed better battery life than you would expect when vaping on a dual 18650 mod at 80W+. Plus, when I was stuck without a battery charger the USB-C charging was a savior. I charged my device to full in just under one and a half hours using the USB- C port and that’s much, much quicker than it would have been with standard Micro-USB charging. More companies should follow suit here.

I got the best flavor out of the tighter-knit N2 mesh coil. I preferred to have the airflow closed about halfway while using this coil but opening it up didn’t make too much difference to the flavor. I vaped this coil anywhere from 70-100W with the best being at 85W. It didn’t bring out all of the notes and flavors in my ejuices, but it was more than acceptable and still very enjoyable.

The M2 mesh coil was a little less flavorful than the N2. It’s very close in its performance, working best at around 80W, and I got good clouds and vapor production out of it. Like the N2, it just lacked the flavor that you would get from a top sub-ohm tank.

All things considered, both the tank and coils performed well for having come included in a kit.    

Final Verdict—Eleaf  iStick Mix Kit Review   

After using this device for a couple weeks I’m quite happy with it. It is a beautifully designed kit and it isn’t too heavy which is a big pro for me. So should you pick one up? I say yes! The device held up very well during testing, especially the silicon wrap as I stated above. The lift to slide top cap was another great feature that eliminated accidents in my purse. This unfortunately happens way too often with slide to fill top caps, but not this baby.

The device lasted all day on full charge and when I got stuck a couple times I was able to fully charge the device using the USB C port in under 2 hours. I strongly urge using an external charger but sometimes when you are stuck there isn’t much to do.

What do you think of the Eleaf iStick Mix? Let me know in the comment section below. Stay Versed!

CHECK PRICE