Innokin Kroma Nova Review: Power Meets Simplicity

Design & Build Quality

The Kroma Nova is a fairly large device at 116mm tall and nearly 40mm at its widest point. It looks more like a small mod rather than the typical slim and tall pod vapes that are common nowadays. But make no mistake, this is a pod system with all the ease of use and other benefits that this device style entails.

The body is almost oval in cross-section, with a slightly flattened side where the button, LED, and charge port are located. The majority of the body is made from zinc alloy, which feels smooth but looks matte. There’s also a large, padded palm cushion, covered in what looks like leather (but could be leatherette) and embossed with the device name, “NOVA.” Above this cushioned pad, you’ll find the adjustable airflow slider.

The fire button, made from clear plastic, covers almost the entire length of that flattened side and sits on top of the OLED screen. When you press the button, the display activates and can be seen through the button. At the bottom, embedded within the large button, are two small buttons used to change settings on the screen.

The device is available in eight colors, ranging from gunmetal grey with natural leather, to green or pink with matching leather pads. The colors of the two Kroma Novas I was sent are dark red and light green (or Vintage Red and Tiffany Blue, according to Innokin) both of which are a bit too colorful for my personal taste, but look good nonetheless.

The Kroma Nova looks and feels solidly well-made. The 147g weight contributes to this feeling, and you certainly won’t forget you’ve got a vape in your jeans pocket when carrying this chunky device around.

Pods

The design of the Kroma Nova pod is (aside from one slight issue) one of the best I’ve seen in quite a while. The pod is short and wide, to take full advantage of the large device body, and is held in place by two magnets AND a small friction clip. The sides of the pod are clear with a light tint, while the top section is solid black plastic.

The fill port is accessed by sliding the very top section backward. This reveals a silicone slit rather than a hole and bung system. You simply push the nozzle of your vape juice bottle through the slit, fill the pod, and the slit seals automatically when you retract the nozzle. I was a bit worried that this system wouldn’t work as well as a silicone bung for stopping leaks, but it’s been great so far.

The mouthpiece has a removable drip tip with a standard-sized fitting, so you can swap to the supplied RDL tip or choose a third-party tip from elsewhere. That’s a very nice feature you don’t commonly see in pod vapes.

The pod uses replaceable coils and is compatible with all of Innokin’s PZP coil range. You get a pre-installed 1.0Ω coil and a 0.4Ω coil in the box, but 0.6Ω and 1.2Ω coils are also available. Compared to some pod systems, these coils are incredibly easy to remove and install, slotting into place with a slight click.

The minor problem I mentioned earlier is the very narrow e-liquid viewing window. It can be quite difficult to see how much vape juice is left in the pod unless you hold it up to the light. Even then, you can’t see the liquid level easily without tilting the device. This wasn’t a deal breaker for me, but it did detract slightly from the overall great design.

Features

The Kroma Nova might look a bit like a mod, but it has all the now-standard pod vape features. There are a couple of extras, but nothing that makes this device more complicated to use than any other intermediate pod system.

The OLED screen, cleverly hidden underneath that long button, is large, bright, and crisp. It’s easy to see the information displayed on the screen, which includes battery level, wattage, coil resistance, firing time, and lock status. Holding the small + and – buttons gives you access to some settings for screen timeout and firing cutoff, while holding the firing button and + lets you view and reset the puff count and check the voltage.

It has a Smart Power system that changes wattage based on the coil currently being used. This setting is, however, only a recommendation and can be manually overridden. The available wattage range is quite broad, from 6-60W, although as mentioned earlier, the lowest-resistance coil is recommended for use between 30-40W.

The adjustable airflow slider is excellent. It feels stiff enough that it won’t be accidentally altered in your pocket but slides smoothly with a feeling of delicate control when required. There is a very significant difference between open and closed, making it much easier to find your perfect draw tightness, no matter the coil resistance.

The final feature worth mentioning (again) is the replaceable drip tip on the mouthpiece. You get a narrow-channel drip tip pre-installed, with a wide-channel tip, more suited to RDL vaping, included in the box. This is another handy customization option, and when combined with the variable power, adjustable airflow, and coil resistances available, almost any vaping style can be achieved.

Battery & Charging

The battery capacity of the Kroma Nova is an impressive 3000mAh, which goes some way toward explaining the relatively large body. But while that would be huge for a small 15-18W pod vape, it is very much needed for the higher power settings available on this device.

Using the 1.0Ω coil and running at 18-20W, a full charge lasted for over three days of regular vaping. Even then, there was 10% left when I chose to recharge. Using the 0.4Ω coil at 40W obviously drained the battery much faster, but I could still get a full day of use from it. I didn’t test it at the maximum 60 Watts available because the 0.4Ω coil can only reliably handle 30-40W and I didn’t want to risk burning it and ruining the e-liquid flavor.

Pods Per Charge (2ml pods)

• 1.0Ω @ 20W = 6.5 pods
• 0.4Ω @ 35W = 3 pods

The battery is charged via USB Type-C and is relatively quick when using the cable provided. It isn’t full 2A fast charging, but at 1.7A it’s pretty close. I timed a charge from under 10% to 100% at just over an hour. Not too bad for a 3000mAh cell that could last several days before it needs to be plugged in again.

Performance

The vape is designed to suit MTL and RDL vaping styles, but I would suggest it could also serve as a DL vape at a push. I tested a range of liquids (50/50 freebase, 70/30 freebase, and 50/50 nic salt) using different settings and coil combinations, and the Kroma Nova handled everything brilliantly.

Install the small drip tip and a 1.2Ω coil, drop the power to 18-20W, and it gives a great MTL experience from either freebase or nic salt liquid. With the wider tip and the 0.4 or .06Ω coil inserted, you can up the power to 30-35W for some RDL enjoyment. Take the power up to 40-50W and open up the airflow and I’m sure it would satisfy most DL vapers, also.

The PZP coils seem efficient and consistently produce vibrant flavors from my go-to vape juice. It did seem to emphasize the sweetness rather than the ice in my liquid, unlike most other pod vapes I’ve tested, but only with the 0.4Ω coil installed. During testing, I switched between two coils over a period of nearly two weeks, and both are still going strong with not a hint of burn or loss of flavor.

You have to be a bit careful to choose the optimum settings for each coil, as the low-resistance ones can produce a bit of spitback (drops of e-liquid being sucked through the mouthpiece) if the power is less than around 30W. It just means that more liquid is being drawn into the coil than the atomizer can handle efficiently. It’s easy to fix by simply increasing the wattage.

Verdict

The Innokin Kroma Nova is a great option for any vaper who wants the power and flexibility of a sub-ohm mod, but also the usage simplicity of a pod vape. You can easily try out different vaping styles with a single device, safe in the knowledge that it can perform admirably well at all of them.

The slide-to-fill pod is perfect for mess-free vaping, and the ability to change the drip tip is a nice feature you don’t often see in pod vapes. The OLED is excellent and provides all of the most relevant information at a glance.

This vape is, however, quite large and heavy. If you’re used to something like Caliburn G3 or OXVA Xlim, using the Nova might take a little getting used to. That said, it’s well-made and feels good in the hand, and at least you get a 3000mAh battery inside all that zinc, leather, and shiny plastic.