GEEKVAPE Sonder Q2 Review: Twice as Nice

Design & Build Quality

The Sonder Q2 has been greatly improved over the original Sonder Q and nowhere is this more apparent than in the design and build quality. The plastic body of the original has been replaced with an aluminum alloy body that looks better, feels sturdier, and which gives off a more modern vibe.

The shape of the Sonder Q2 has also been made more comfortable with a less boxy design. The corners aren’t as sharp as they were on the Sonder Q and are instead nicely rounded. The surface is also smooth as opposed to the ribbed texture on the original, which further adds to the comfort for me. Not having any sort of texture makes it a little more slippery though.

The Sonder Q2 is a bit larger than the original in all dimensions but this mostly has to do with the new ‘Side Fill’ pod which is taller than older ‘Top Fill’ cartridges. With a Side Fill pod installed, the Sonder Q2 is 120.3mm tall, 24.5mm wide, and 14.5mm deep. With a Top Fill pod installed, the height is reduced to 112mm.

With the two devices side-by-side, the Sonder Q2 looks the part of a high-end device while the Sonder Q just looks cheap by comparison. To be clear, the Sonder Q looked good by 2023 standards. But technology moves fast and the Sonder Q2 just brings things up to a modern, 2024 standard.

The front of the device has SONDER written in a light font that becomes barely visible unless the light is hitting it just right.

A cool feature is that the ‘O’ in SONDER is an RGB LED ring that lights up multi-colored each time that the device is activated. This light is bright and easily lights up a dark room – it’s maybe a bit too bright honestly. 

There’s a Type-C charging port located on one side of the device and an airflow control slider on the other side.

Pods

The Sonder Q2 is Geekvape’s first device to come with their new Side Fill Q Cartridges. Instead of removing the entire top cap to fill (like you would with a Top Fill Q cartridge), you just remove the rubber fill stopper on the side.

This makes these pods just that much more convenient over the older, Top Fill Q cartridges. Additionally, these cartridges can still be filled without having to be removed from the device. 

These new Side Fill Q Cartridges also have an increased ejuice capacity of 3ml; a 1ml increase over Top Fill Q cartridges. There are four Side Fill Q Cartridges available:

• 0.4Ω (25-30W, Red)
• 0.6Ω (18-25W, Orange)
• 0.8Ω (12-18W, Yellow) – Included with the Sonder Q2
• 1.2Ω (8-12W, Green)

Each of these cartridges featured a differently colored rubber stopper inside the bottom of the pod, which is visible from the outside. This should make it easier to tell the pods apart at a glance.

If you can’t find these new cartridges or currently own some of the older Top Fill cartridges, no need to worry; the Sonder Q2 is backwards compatible with all Q Cartridges.

One downside to the Side Fill Q cartridges is that they are tinted which makes it more difficult to see how much ejuice is remaining. They’re also 8mm taller than the old cartridges, so they increase the overall height of the device by a bit.

Other than these two minor downsides, the pods are fantastic. When inserted into the device, the entire pod contents remain visible, so you don’t have to remove the pod to check your ejuice level. You’ll need a light source though!

Features

Just like the Sonder Q, the Sonder Q2 remains as easy to operate as ever. There are no buttons, no screen, and the only adjustable feature is the airflow.

Compared to the Sonder Q, the maximum wattage has been increased by 5W to 30W. The overall wattage range is 5-30W and the Sonder Q2 will automatically set the wattage to the ideal level for the pod that you are using.

Using the Sonder Q2 is simple; just draw on the pod to vape. Since there are no buttons, this is a purely draw-activated vape.

The airflow is restricted to MTL vaping, at least with the included 0.8Ω pod. Geekvape’s website states that the Side Fill 0.4Ω and 0.6Ω pods can be used for RDL vaping but I don’t have any on hand to test out. 

With the 0.8Ω pod, a medium-MTL vape is achievable with the airflow open. You can get a tight MTL vape with the airflow closed down.

Battery life & Charging

Another huge upgrade over the original Sonder Q is the battery. The Sonder Q2 has a battery that is a 1350mAh capacity – a 350mAh increase over the Sonder Q. This is impressive considering that the Sonder Q2 isn’t all that much larger than the Sonder Q.

As you would expect, battery life is better in comparison and pretty good overall. I’ve been vaping over two pods per charge with the Sonder Q2, or about 1-2 days depending on how heavily I vaped. For most vapers this should be more than enough battery life to get you through a typical work day, if not two.

The RGB LED ring on the device also functions as a battery life indicator but you have to remove and reinsert the pod to use this function. Once removed and reinserted, the LED ring will light up either green, blue, or red. If the battery is at the red level, the battery indicator will light up after the RGB LED ring finishes lighting up multi-colored, without you having to remove and reinsert the pod.

It’s not clear what battery percentage each color represents because there’s no information in the user manual, nor on Geekvape’s website. From my experience with the Sonder Q2, I would guess that they represent the following battery percentages:

• Green: 60-100%
• Blue: 20-60%
• Red: 20% or lower

I was disappointed to see that the Sonder Q2 only supports 1A Type-C charging. It’s a shame to have such a small device with a large battery, but slow charging. Charging from a dead battery takes an hour and a half. The Sonder Q2 has pass-thru charging so it can be used while it charges.

Performance

I’ll only be going over the performance of the 0.8Ω Side Fill Q Cartridge in this review since it is the one that comes included with the Sonder Q2. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the other Side Fill pods on hand to test.

This pod has a wattage range of 12-18W. When inserted into another one of Geekvape’s devices, the new Aegis Hero Q which has a screen and adjustable wattage, the pod defaults to 18W. The draw strength feels the same between both devices so I’m going to guess that the Sonder Q2 also defaults the wattage to 18W with this pod.

Geekvape’s pods have always been one of their strengths and it’s no different with the Sonder Q2 and this new Q cartridge. All-around good flavor, warm satisfying vapor, and a nice MTL draw are all things that I can say about the experience.

What I like about the Sonder Q2 is that the strength of the draw feels like it’s at just the right level with no adjustment needed, which is great because there’s no way to adjust it. Playing with the airflow can make the draw a little warmer and denser if you close it down but no matter how I set it, it’s still a perfect vape.

Since the 0.8Ω resistance is not too low and not too high, it can be used with both freebase and nicotine salt ejuices. I found that nicotine salt ejuices vapes better for me personally but that’s likely because they’re my preferred type of ejuice to vape on.

I’ve vaped over 20ml of ejuice with this same pod and it’s still flavorful and wicking well. Leaking has not been an issue for me either. 

Verdict

The Sonder Q2 is an impressive device that greatly improved on the original Sonder Q but still retains the blueprint of what made it great – simplicity with good performance.

The new design is a welcome change and it brings the Sonder series into 2024. The more durable aluminum body and beautiful RGB LED ring are welcome changes over the plastic body and simple indicator on the original.

More importantly, the larger pod and increased battery capacity make the Sonder Q2 a better device right out of the box. Including a second pod with the device would have been ideal of course but the 0.8Ω pod that it comes with is versatile and a great performer overall.

For beginner vapers or for those vapers looking for a simple pod device that still brings the flavor, the Sonder Q2 gets my top recommendation.

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