Innokin TRINE Review: Removable Battery & More!

Design & Build Quality

In all aspects aside from the battery, the TRINE has a pretty standard small pod vape design. At 111mm x 26mm x15mm, it’s very similar in size and shape to the UWELL Caliburn G3, Geekvape Wenax Q, or OXVA Xlim. If you’re a fan of slim, flat vapes (as I am) because they feel better in your pocket or hands, you won’t be disappointed.

On the front of the device is a small, black panel containing the fire button (the vape also auto-fires when you draw on it) and a small digital display. Below the panel is the only bit of branding, a small TRINE logo. At approximately the same height as the button, but on the sides of the vape, are the USB-C charging port and the airflow slider.

Also on the sides, but at the very bottom of the vape, you’ll find the battery release buttons. I’ll discuss the battery in more detail in the ‘Features’ section of this review but in terms of design, the buttons are unobtrusive, sit flush to the case, and feel firm enough that accidentally releasing the battery is unlikely.

The pod slots into the top of the device and is capped with a black duck bill-style mouthpiece. A small section of the transparent pod body is visible below the mouthpiece to let you see how much juice is left inside.

The vape is available in six different colors. The Slate Black, Solar Red, Klein Blue, and Ivory White are solid colors, while the Purple-Blue and Gold-Pink are gradients. It’s not the widest range of colors I’ve ever seen, but there’s likely something available to suit most tastes.

Features

Before we look at the most unique feature of the TRINE, the battery, we’ll take a look at everything else this little vape can do. This isn’t an expensive or complicated device, but even so, it has everything you might expect from a pod vape.

The digital display is small but clear and bright. It activates when you push the fire button or draw on the vape and displays a good range of information. This includes battery and power level, coil resistance, and voltage. It also shows a puff timer when the vape is firing. The most obvious bit of missing data is a puff counter, but most people can likely live without that.

Airflow is manually controlled using the slider on the side of the device. This feels stiff enough that it won’t be accidentally changed in your pocket but loose enough that it isn’t difficult to precisely set the flow level.

The power level is adjustable via the digital display up to a maximum of 25 Watts. However, the device automatically limits the power level based on the pod resistance. For example, if you’re using the 0.8Ω pod the available power range will be 6-15W, but the 0.6Ω pod will allow 10-25W.

And so we come to the feature that sets the TRINE apart from almost every other pod vape currently available: that removable battery. You might be wondering why vapes need removable batteries but it’s a feature likely to appear more often, especially in Europe. Within the next couple of years, all vapes (and other small rechargeable devices) sold within the European Union will have to have an easily removable battery.

Recovering a battery for recycling is difficult if that battery is sealed up inside a metal vape case, and that’s if the device is even sent for recycling. A removable battery makes recycling the Lithium inside easier and more efficient. On top of that, Innokin’s EcoDrain Discharging mode also makes recycling safer by allowing you to empty all power from the cell before disposal.

Pods

The pods hold 2ml of e-liquid and are available with 0.6Ω, 0.8Ω, and 1.2Ω coils. A 0.6 and 0.8Ω pod is included in the vape kit, but it should be easy to find the 1.2Ω pods from any vape stores that stock replacements. The pods are helpfully color-coded: Orange (0.6), Blue (0.8), and Green (1.2,) making it easy to pick the resistance you want.

The magnets that hold the pod in position in the socket feel strong and there is minimal movement of the pod when it’s inserted. They are so secure, in fact, that you can snap the mouthpiece off for refilling without removing the pod.

The TRINE uses fixed coil pods, so none of that messy coil-replacing business is required. When the coil fails, you can simply discard the whole pod and insert a new one. When I first heard about the TRINE, I half expected it to feature removable coils alongside the removable battery. That would have made the device even more modular, and been in line with the concept of easier recyclability.

There are, of course, good reasons to make the pods with fixed coils. It’s a much more user-friendly and beginner-friendly solution and fixed coil pods generally suffer from leaks less than those with removable coils. That has certainly been my experience over the last 12 months of reviewing this type of pod vape, and I have to say that the TRINE pods are as leak-free as any I have ever used.

This is helped by the top-fill design, another feature increasingly seen in these small pod vapes. To refill the TRINE, the mouthpiece can be snapped off the pod to reveal a small hole with a self-closing silicone seal. Just push the nozzle of your vape juice bottle through the hole, fill the pod, and clip the mouthpiece back into place.

Battery Life & Charging

I would think twice before buying a vape that has anything less than a 1000mAh battery, even if it was a relatively low-power vape such as this one. Luckily, the TRINE’s battery is exactly 1000mAh, a capacity that has proven to be more than enough over the last couple of weeks.

Running it at 18W (mid power for the 0.6Ω pod,) a full charge provided almost two full days of use. At 25W, this is understandably reduced to around a day, but when dropped down to 10W (as suggested for the higher-resistance pods,) a full charge seems to last forever. It was probably closer to two and a half days, but it felt like ages.

As you might expect, the power level and resistance affect how many pods you’ll go through between charges. I averaged three pods per charge (20W/0.6Ω,) but went as low as two at 25W and as high as four at 10W/1.2Ω. 

The remaining battery level is displayed on the screen whenever you draw on the device. In addition, an LED on the fire button lights up with different colors to indicate how much power you have left.

• Green: Over 30%
• Yellow: 10-30%
• Red: Under 10%

Charging through the USB Type-C port is fast but not ultra-fast. I timed it at around 30 minutes from red and a little over 40 minutes from the No Battery warning.

It will be interesting to see if Innokin expands on the modularity of the TRINE by making replacement batteries available to buy (I couldn’t find any while writing this review) and offering those batteries in different capacities. The option of popping in a 1300 or 1500mAh battery would be great for anyone who wants to use it at 25W/0.6Ω and still get multiple days of use between charges.

Performance

The TRINE is aimed predominantly at MTL vapers but could be suited for tight RDL if you squint. The draw is quite tight, especially when using the 1.2Ω pod and the airflow is closed. Perhaps too tight for my taste, but I can see the appeal for someone just switching from smoking cigarettes.

I tested it out with a few different juices, including 50/50 nic salt and 60/40 freebase liquid, and it handled everything well. There were no wicking issues and no popping or spitback to worry about. I found that the flavor sweet spot for me was 20-25W with the 0.6Ω coil, but even at lower power and higher resistance settings, the TRINE produces a flavorful hit.

Unlike some similar pod vapes I have used, the airflow adjustment on the TRINE makes a considerable difference to the vaping experience. You can almost go from MTL to RDL, without adjusting the power or resistance, just by using the slider. I kept the airflow fully open, after the initial few days of tinkering with settings, as that suited my vaping style and the high-power/low-resistance setup I liked best, but there is plenty of room for adjustment should you need it.

Verdict

Innokin has, in recent years, become one of my top vape brands. I can’t think of a single one of their vapes that I have been entirely dissatisfied with, and several are on my list of all-time favorites. The TRINE looks set to make it onto that list, even if it didn’t have that innovative removable battery.

The device is inexpensive but feels solid and well-made, with everything from the adjustable airflow slider to the battery release buttons perfectly designed. Add to that the mess-free filling port, long-lasting coils/pods, zero leaks, and all-day battery life, and you have a very appealing little pod vape package.

If you’re looking for true RDL vaping, it might not have the power range or low-resistance pods necessary. But for MTL vapers who want ease of use combined with reliable performance, the Innokin TRINE can be heartily recommended. Oh, and it also lets you do your part to reduce battery waste.

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