Geekvape DIGI MAX & DIGI PRO Review: RDL Monsters!

Design & Build Quality

DIGI MAX

The DIGI MAX is a solid device. From the moment that I picked it up, I could feel the high level of build quality and the overall durable feel. This feel is in line with what I expect from Geekvape’s products, and the DIGI MAX doesn’t disappoint. In the hand, the zinc alloy body feels expensive, tough, and substantial. 

As pod mods tend to be, it’s larger, chunkier, and heavier than your average pod vape. The DIGI MAX is 112mm tall, 34.25mm wide, and 25.4mm thick, and it weighs 128g. This size and weight make it noticeable in my pocket when I’m carrying it around, but again, it feels nice and solid in the hand.

The back panel on the DIGI MAX has a matte finish and a textured design that contrasts nicely with the rest of the device. The fit and finish is second to none and the design is high-class. It’s a lavish but professional-looking device with an eye-watering price tag to match; I’m seeing it retailing for around $80 USD, but the price corresponds to the design and build quality.

At least part of what you’re paying $80 USD for is the 1.47-inch touch screen display, which is in full color with a 2K resolution. Many pod vape displays feel like an afterthought, but this one does not. The size is perfect and makes it easy to see all of the information on the display and it’s also just the right size for a touch screen.

As far as touch screens go, this is the best one that I’ve used on a vape. It’s just like the touch screen on my phone; it’s responsive and works effortlessly, with no struggles to register my inputs.

There’s only one button on the DIGI MAX, which is the power/fire button. It’s positioned perfectly for thumb and index firing and can be used to fire the device; the rest of the controls are done through the touch screen.

On the sides of the DIGI MAX are RGB light strips which can be set to different colors through the menu. These light strips light up when you draw on the device or when you press the firing button. 

The RGB light strips sit under the front of the device, so they’re slightly dimmed and have a frosted look. This makes them harder to see in brightly lit rooms or outdoors but keeps them from being too bright when used in dark situations.

On the bottom of the DIGI MAX there is a Type-C charging port and a lock/unlock switch. This switch will lock the power/fire button as well as the touch screen.

DIGI PRO

The best way to describe the DIGI PRO is as a ‘lite’ version of the DIGI MAX. They’re very similar devices with similar features, but the DIGI PRO is smaller, less powerful, and not as advanced as the DIGI MAX.

The DIGI PRO is 103.6mm tall, 32.6mm wide, and 24mm thick, and it weighs 98g. It’s quite a difference in size from the DIGI MAX. It feels much smaller in the hand and I can notice the difference in weight too.

The design of the DIGI PRO is more simple and not as high-end as the DIGI MAX. The build quality is still great, but it similarly doesn’t feel as high-quality as the DIGI MAX.

Instead of a touch screen, the DIGI PRO has a 0.96-inch display with two touch buttons located below it. Although not as fancy as the DIGI MAX, the touch buttons work flawlessly and are very responsive. The screen is a bit too small for my liking and I much prefer the screen on the DIGI MAX, but it’s usable nonetheless

Pods & Coils

The DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO use the same pods and coils, and they are interchangeable with one another. When you purchase one of these devices, you have a choice of getting them with pods that have the coil built in, or with pods that take replaceable Geekvape J coils. 

Both types of pods can hold up to 5ml of ejuice. The only difference between them is whether or not the coil is built into the pod.

For this review, I was sent the DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO with the JR cartridges with removable coils. 

The advantage of the JR cartridges is that you only have to purchase coils rather than entire cartridges, and this should save money (and the environment). 

On the other hand, the J cartridges are a bit more convenient because you don’t have to worry about changing the coils; you can simply pop in a new pod when you want to. The package with the J cartridges also includes two pods, allowing you to use both resistances interchangeably.

Which one you choose to get is ultimately a choice between saving money or convenience. Otherwise, the two cartridges provide the exact same performance, so everything in this review will apply to both the J cartridge and JR cartridge versions of the devices.

Included with the DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO are two pod/coil resistances: 0.4Ω and 0.6Ω, however there are two other resistances available, 0.8Ω and 1.2Ω. Geekvape also says that  0.2Ω and 0.3Ω resistances are coming soon but they have not provided a specific date for their release.

The J/JR pods have a built-in airflow control slider on the side of the pod. This airflow slider has three small slits for airflow and it can be fully adjusted from all the way open to all the way closed.

For how simple it is, I like the range of airflow that you can achieve with this airflow slider, but I found it to be very loose and thus easily prone to accidental changes. I often took the DIGI MAX out of my pocket for a draw, only to find the airflow completely closed.

The filling port is located on the other side of the pod. It’s secured by a thick rubber stopper which effectively prevents any leaking from the port. When the pod is inserted, the fill plug sits above the device, so refilling can be done without removing the pod.

Features

DIGI MAX

The DIGI MAX is a well-featured pod mod with four different modes, a maximum wattage output of 80W, a beautiful touch screen, and even two RGB light strips for extra visual flair.

The four different modes are SMART, BOOST, ECO, and CUSTOM. Each of these modes offers a distinct experience, so there are times when you’ll want to use one over the others:

• SMART: Automatically sets and restricts the wattage to the optimal range for the coil resistance. Wattage can be adjusted within this optimal wattage range.
• BOOST: Automatically outputs the maximum wattage based on the coil resistance.
• ECO: Automatically adjusts the wattage to the lowest recommended wattage for the coil.
• CUSTOM: Wattage can be adjusted to any output.

Modes can be changed by touching the touch screen and then sliding to unlock it. You can then swipe left and right to change modes. You can also press the setting wheel icon in the lower right corner of the screen to enter the menu, then select modes, and change modes from here.

In SMART and CUSTOM modes, you can scroll up and down on the wattage to change the output.

The display automatically locks itself after a few seconds of not being used, which is great. This prevents accidental touches without having to lock the device. It’s only necessary to use the physical locking switch if you want to prevent the fire button from being accidentally pressed.

The display shows your coil/pod resistance, lock status, battery life, mode, wattage output, a puff counter, and a settings wheel icon to access the menu.

The UI is nice overall and features a dancing light animation at the top of the screen, just above the mode. When you vape, a black hole/time warp animation plays on the full screen.

I don’t have a problem with either of the animations really, but there’s no way to shut them off to make the device more stealthy. The best alternative that I’ve found is turning the screen brightness all the way down, which can be done through the settings menu.

Also in the settings menu are different modes for the RGB light strips. These can be changed to five different modes, with my favorite being ‘Nova’ because it’s so colorful and mimics what I like my RGB lighting to be like. Go through the different settings to find the one that you like the most! Alternatively, the RGB light strips can be turned off completely if desired.

The DIGI MAX can be adjusted up to an 80W maximum output, which is great to have on a pod mod, no doubt. But with the currently available coils, it’s not possible to vape anywhere near this maximum wattage.

The 0.4Ω coil is the lowest currently available resistance, and it has a recommended wattage range of 23-28W. In custom mode, I can push it up to 30W without an issue, but any higher will likely burn the coil out prematurely and dramatically reduce the coil life.

With this in mind, 30W is the highest that the DIGI MAX can be reliably used at – a far cry from the 80W max output. Geekvape says that there are 0.2Ω and 0.3Ω resistances coming soon, but I can only hope that they arrive sooner rather than later.

DIGI PRO

The DIGI PRO is a more basic version of the DIGI MAX, but it still has the same four modes, a physical locking switch, and RGB lighting. However, the maximum output of the DIGI PRO is 40W, the display is controlled through touch buttons rather than a touch screen, and the RGB lighting is located on the front of the device rather than the sides.

The UI is nearly identical to the one on the DIGI MAX, just a lot smaller due to the 0.96” screen size. The touch buttons below the screen can be touched to change the wattage, but they don’t scroll through the different modes.

For that, you have to press the fire/power button three times to enter the menu (which is identical to the menu on the DIGI MAX). Here you’ll find the different modes (which are the same as the DIGI MAX), RGB light settings (same as the DIGI MAX), and the ability to adjust the screen brightness.

The 40W maximum output of the DIGI PRO is better suited to the currently available coils than the DIGI MAX. At the moment, both devices will allow you to get the most out of the 0.4Ω coil because they can both fire at 28W. However, once the 0.2Ω and 0.3Ω resistances are released, the DIGI MAX will likely be the only device that can output the wattages that they need.

Battery life & Charging

The DIGI MAX has the larger battery of the two devices with its 3000mAh capacity. The DIGI PRO has a slightly smaller capacity of 2000mAh. With mixed use of the 0.4Ω and 0.6Ω pods, the DIGI MAX easily lasts for 400-450 puffs on a single charge. The DIGI PRO, on the other hand, lasts for 350-300 puffs.

How many days you’ll get out of a charge will depend on how often you vape, but 2-3 days from the DIGI MAX and 1-2 days from the DIGI PRO is what you can expect to get if you’re a medium to heavy vaper.

The DIGI MAX supports 2A charging, while the DIGI PRO charges slightly slower with 1.6A charging.

I timed a charge with the DIGI MAX at 0% and it recharged to 58% in 30 minutes and reached a full charge in 55 minutes. For a 3000mAh battery, that’s really great and means minimal downtime with the device.

While it charges, the DIGI MAX displays the current charge percentage on the display. It also features pass-thru charging so it can be vaped on while it charges.

Performance

Geekvape’s website says that the included 0.4Ω and 0.6Ω resistances are meant for RDL vaping, and that’s exactly the vape that they provide.

However, with the airflow wide open and my lips loose around the pod, I can get a good DL vape with these pods. It’s not as good as it would be with a lower resistance pod, but since this is all we have right now, it’s doable for a bit of DL vaping.

Closing the airflow down with these pods can even achieve a passable MTL, which isn’t too bad at all.

These pods and coils perform best, though, when used as they’re meant to, with the airflow midway closed for a RDL draw. This gave me the best flavor and vapor from these coils and resulted in what I think is the best experience all-around from the DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO.

Since both the DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO can output the wattages needed for these two coil resistances, and since they’re such similar devices, it should come as no surprise that there’s no difference in performance between them. With these coils, they vape exactly the same.

From time to time, a small bit of condensation has formed under the pods, but there hasn’t been any actual leaking. These pods, even with their replaceable coils, have proven to be very leak-resistant. Even the DIGI PRO, which I didn’t use for an entire day at times, didn’t leak even when left sitting idle.

DIGI MAX vs DIGI PRO

If you’re wondering what the differences are between the DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO, we’ve got you covered. We’ve created this easy reference chart down below to help you more easily understand how these two devices differ.

Verdict

The Geekvape DIGI MAX and DIGI PRO are devices that will be best for RDL vapers who like to vape at low to mid wattages, around 16-28W. While I think that they could be great RDL vapes, especially the DIGI MAX with its 80W maximum wattage, coils for DL vaping are just not available at the moment.

The DIGI MAX is my favorite of the two devices. It has a higher maximum wattage output, which means it has more potential when the 0.2Ω and 0.3Ω coils are released. It also has a full touch screen rather than just touch buttons, and the screen itself is extremely high resolution and a pleasure to use.

The main downsides to the DIGI MAX are going to be the large size and weight, and the inability to turn off the screen/animations for stealth vaping. It’s also expensive at $80, but the quality of this device feels worth every dollar. If you have the money, it’s worth the price.

The DIGI PRO is a viable alternative to the DIGI MAX, but only if you’re okay with being limited to a maximum of 40W. It’s not as fancy as its big brother, but it has most of the same features and capabilities. The performance is also the same.

Whether you choose the J pods with built-in coils or the JR coils with replaceable coils is up to you. There’s no difference between them when it comes to performance, so it’s really a matter of whether the convenience of the J pods and their built-in coils are worth paying a little more for in the long run.

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