Freemax Maxpod 3 Review: Another Great Vape From Freemax

Design & Build Quality

The Maxpod 3 is shorter and a little thicker than other slim pod vapes. It’s 99.5mm tall, 26.7mm wide, and 18.2mm thick. It has a rectangular shape, but it’s not a long and slender rectangle like the Joyetech WideWick or the Uwell Popreel P1. This baby has got some girth! It’s not a bad thing though, because it’s still not too large or heavy and only weighs 39g. 

Speaking of the Uwell Popreel P1, I can see some design similarities between these two. The Maxpod 3 has a similar dual-shell design that is also made of PCTC, PC, and ABS. The inner shell comes in 6 colors and has a ripple or wave pattern printed onto it. This inner shell is encased by a smooth, clear outer shell which gives the Maxpod 3 some depth. It also makes the color fade resistant.

The fade resistance is great, no doubt, but the clear shell shows wear pretty easily. After the first few days of using it, my unit had already picked up scratches that dulled the finish a bit. After this I dropped it for testing purposes and the clear shell received a few chips but no cracks. I like the dual-shell look though and I don’t think a colored plastic would fare any better with scratches or drops. However, the clear shell certainly makes the scratches easier to see.

On the back of the Maxpod 3 there is a Freemax logo printed in silver. On the front there is a MAXPOD3 logo printed, also in silver. On the front is where you’ll also find the LED indicator. This LED lights up upon drawing and it’s covered by a little clear cutout. I noticed that this cutout started backing out from the front of the device after a week of use and so I pushed it back in. Just be careful that it doesn’t come out and you don’t lose it or you’ll have a hole in the front of your device!

On each side of the Maxpod 3 there is a small airflow hole. These are much larger in size than a pinhole, but still small enough that they will provide a MTL draw. 

At the top of the Maxpod 3, where the pod attaches to the device, the rim is completely clear without the inner plastic shell. When you insert the pod, the lowest point inside the pod sits almost perfectly level with this clear plastic rim. This allows you to easily see if you’re running low on ejuice without removing the pod. Admittedly, it can be hard to tell if your pod is still full or if you’re completely out of ejuice. But when the ejuice level is somewhere in between it’s easy to see.

The Maxpod 3 is a draw-activated pod system with no buttons. There is also no adjustable wattage or adjustable airflow. The Maxpod 3 will automatically adjust the wattage between 9-15W depending on which pod you use.

Pods

The Maxpod 3 comes with only one pod and it houses a 0.8Ω built-in coil. These pods hold 2ml of ejuice and use Freemax’s new “FM SaltCoilTech 4.0 Technology”. These coils are made with a 50% increase in tea fiber cotton from previous Freemax coils and use SS904L mesh. 

The pod attaches to the battery and stays secured by two magnets. There’s almost no wiggle when the pod is inserted. There are two gold plated contacts on the bottom of the pod which connect with gold plated spring-loaded pins at the battery. It’s a snug fit that ensures the pod won’t come out by accident.

The drip tip is black and gently slopes and narrows towards the top. It’s a nice mouthpiece that I don’t mind vaping on at all.

The pod is completely clear so along with the clear rim on the battery, viewing your ejuice level is possible without removing the pod.

One one side of the pod you’ll find the type of coil, in this case MD Mesh Pod, the coil resistance, and ‘Made in China’. Now, there are only two pods available for the Maxpod 3 at the moment. The other pod uses a 1.2Ω coil, but both of these pods use a MD Mesh coil so both pods say MD Mesh Pod. You can see this on the pod through the clear rim, but you can’t see the resistance until you remove the pod from the battery. 

It would have been better if they swapped the placement of these two lines and made the coil resistance visible without removing the pod. The two pods are slightly different, but they are similar enough that it can be hard to tell which one you’re vaping on.

The drip tip pops off with a firm push to one side of the pod. Once the drip tip is off you’ll see the fill port surrounded by black plastic on the top of the pod and red plastic inside the pod. It’s easy enough to fill and the fill port is large enough that I had no issues.

Battery & Charging

The Maxpod 3 has a 480mAh battery. This doesn’t sound like a lot (and compared to some pod devices it isn’t) but it works well for this device. Because it only outputs 9-15W, a relatively low wattage range, you can get away with charging it every other day if you’re a moderate to heavy vaper. 

The Type-C charge port is located on the bottom of the Maxpod 3 and allows the device to reach a full charge in around an hour. 

Performance

The Maxpod 3 only comes with one 0.8Ω pod but Freemax sent me a pack of the 1.2Ω pods to test out as well. I will be going over both pods in this review. I used a 70VG, 25mg nicotine salt ejuice with each one, as well as a 50/50 nicotine salt ejuice also in 25mg. 

Both pods are similar but, odd as this may sound, the 0.8Ω pod feels like it has a slightly tighter MTL draw. It’s almost a rule that higher resistance coils provide a tighter draw than lower resistance ones. In all my time reviewing, I can’t remember another pod device that I tested where a higher resistance coil delivered a looser draw but sometimes it happens. 

The flavor from both pods is very good. Freemax’s coils are usually quite flavorful (that’s almost a rule too at this point!) and these coils are no different. Both of the ejuices I used produced dense, almost wet vapor that I could really taste on my tongue and the flavor is strong with these pods.

I liked the slightly tighter draw of the 0.8Ω pod but they’re honestly both great pods for MTL vapers. I’ve refilled the 0.8Ω pod more than 10 times and it’s still going strong so Freemax’s claims about long coil life are no joke. With the way that it’s going, I think that I could probably get another 10 refills out of this pod at least.

Verdict

If you’ve been sleeping on Freemax’s pod vapes, now is the time to wake up. The Maxpod 3 is to pod vapes what the M Pro 2 is to subohm tanks — cream of the crop. For MTL vapers it doesn’t get much better than this device. The draw is near perfect with both pods and the flavor is intense. Add long pod life to the mix and you’ve got a winning device. Oh, and leaking is not an issue that I faced with these pods either.

For MTL vapers who like to use nicotine salts, the Maxpod 3 can vape them and it does it well too. Whether you use low strength or high strength nic salts, you’ll get the most out of your ejuices by using them in the Maxpod 3. Highly recommended.