OXBAR ICENIC Disposables Review: Ice + Nicotine Adjustment?!

Design & Build Quality

The OXBAR ICENIC is a big disposable. Yes, it offers up to 35,000 puffs and it has some pretty nifty features but it’s undeniably large for a disposable. At 109mm tall, 52mm wide, and 29mm thick, it’s even larger than the NEXA ULTRA 50000 which offers up to 50,000 puffs. It also weighs a cool 112g, so it has some heft to it too.

But even though it’s massive, it has a comfortable shape with rounded sides and corners so it’s not unpleasant to hold and use. I’m not able to hide it in my hand, not nearly, but the large size feels natural to grip and I don’t have to scrunch up my hand to hold it comfortably.

All of the flavors are either two-tone or a solid color, depending on if it’s a mixed flavor or not. All of the colors have a candy-paint finish. Oddly, each one also has a zodiac sign printed on the back (at least the four flavors that I received). The zodiac sign honestly feels out of place – it just doesn’t feel cohesive with the rest of the design at all. If anything, it seems like more of an afterthought that they slapped onto the device at the last minute.

The front of the ICENIC has a large OXBAR logo and “Pod” printed above the screen. The display is very clear and crisp and shows the Ice level, Nic level, and a battery bar. Unfortunately, the screen isn’t as durable or scratch resistant as the rest of the body and it gets scratched quite easily.

The flavor is printed on one side of the ICENIC in large font, so it’s easy to read. Combined with the different colors for each flavor, it’s easy to tell the different flavors apart.

The other side of the ICENIC has two buttons; one for controlling the Ice level and one for controlling the Nic level. Both buttons feel good, they’re responsive, and they work well.

The bottom of the device has an ON/OFF switch and the Type-C charging port. The ON/OFF switch also functions as the adjustable airflow and can be set to two settings: three-holes open or five-holes open. The former delivers a tight MTL draw while the latter delivers a looser MTL draw.

Features

The basic features of the OXBAR ICENIC aren’t going to knock your socks off, but they’re not totally average either. Each device offers up to 35,000 puffs, which is on the higher-end of the scale for disposables today. Sure, there are devices that offer more puffs, but for $16.99 at the time of writing this review (prices may vary), it’s a good value.

The display is ultra crisp and easy on the eyes. It clearly displays the different settings and information that matters, these being the Ice level, Nicotine level, and battery life. Both the ice level and nicotine levels are displayed as percentages but the battery level is displayed as an icon with six bars. 

The battery icon would have been better as a percentage display. The six bars give a vague idea as to where the battery is sitting but an exact readout would have been more accurate.

The idea of being able to adjust the level of cooling and nicotine in the vape is interesting so when I first heard about it, I scrambled to OXBAR’s website to find more information about how it works. Is there a separate reservoir with the cooling ejuice? Is there a separate reservoir with nicotine that gets mixed with the ejuice to adjust the nicotine levels?

Well, my curiosity was cut short when I discovered that there is zero information available about how it works. Bummer. But while I don’t know how it works, I can at least attest that it does work – sort of. More on this in the ‘How do they vape?” section of this review.

The ice level can be set anywhere from zero to three, while the nicotine level can be set from one to three. There’s still a slight bit of cooling even with the ice set to zero but it’s very light. Unfortunately, the nicotine level cannot be set to zero so these can’t be used as nicotine-free vapes.

Battery life & Charging

OXBAR says that the ICENIC can deliver up to 35,000 puffs. In my experience, I don’t think that this number is reachable if you take long draws. If you take super short puffs then maybe.

Each charge uses about 20% of the nic level (which, from what I can tell, is synonymous with the ejuice level). This means that you should get about five-full charges of use out of each device and that’s not too bad at all.

Charging takes just over an hour to complete from a fully dead battery. There’s no pass-thru charging so these cannot be used while they charge.

Flavors

There are seventeen flavors available for the OXBAR ICENIC. Most of these are fruit flavors (which is expected) but there appears to be some drink and candy flavors too. I received four of these flavors to test out: Rocket Pop, Fruity Pebz, Sour Peachy O’s, and Jewel Mighty Mint.

I’m going to describe how these flavors taste to me and what I think of them. However, keep in mind that just because I like a flavor that does not mean that you will like it. Similarly, if I don’t like a flavor this does not mean that you will not like it. This is solely my subjective opinion.

Rocket Pop

This flavor is very sweet and has that rocket popsicle flavor that you would expect from the name. The sweetness is strong but the rocket popsicle flavor isn’t as strong as I would like. Very sugary and candied. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you like your vapes.

Sour Peachy O’s

Very accurate to the name, this flavor tastes like sour peach rings. There’s a bit of tangy, sourness to it and a medium sweetness from the peach flavor. It’s fruity and candied and about what I would expect from a sour peach candy flavor.

Fruity Pebz

Fruity with a cereal-esque flavor and a little tart as well. It’s sweeter than I expected for a cereal flavor but I like it. It’s right at the limit for sweetness for me and the cereal undertones help to balance out the flavor profile.

Jewel Mighty Mint

A sweet spearmint flavor that tastes like chewing on a stick of gum. Even with the ice level set to zero, there’s more cooling here than the other flavors that I tried. It’s a refreshing flavor to vape on and just right for a sweet mint flavor.

How do they vape?

If you’re thinking of purchasing the OXBAR ICENIC over other disposables then it’s probably because of the ice and nicotine adjustability. So does it work? Yes and no.

The ice adjustability is the better of the two adjustable options. Each level that you increase the ice is noticeable. With the ice at zero there’s still a little hint of cooling. At level one there’s light but discernible cooling. Level two cranks it up a little to where there’s no denying that there’s strong cooling going on. Finally, the third level is very strong cooling that almost gives you a brain freeze.

The nicotine adjustability doesn’t produce an effect that is as strong as the cooling. While I can tell a slight difference from level one to level three, it’s a very small change. I was hoping for a clear difference in the three nicotine levels but that just isn’t the case.

Since I’m not a big fan of ice in my vapes, but I still wanted to try it out for the sake of this review, I kept my devices set at level one cooling and level two nicotine for the majority of my time testing. Set like this, the OXBAR ICENIC performs well and the draw feels satisfying and strong with good flavor. 

Verdict

The OXBAR ICENIC is an innovative device and I have to applaud OXBAR for trying something so new and unheard of. But with that being said, if you’re hoping for a high-level of nicotine adjustability in your draw, this isn’t the device to do it. There just isn’t enough of a difference between the three levels of nicotine adjustability to make the ICENIC worth purchasing for this reason alone.

However, if you want the ability to adjust the amount of cooling in your vape on the fly, that’s where the ICENIC does a great job. The clear difference between the four ice levels is amazing. I wish I had more information on how it functions but what matters is that it works.

Even if you put aside the nicotine and ice adjustability, the ICENIC is still an excellent disposable vape. It offers a lot of puffs and the overall experience of using it is a good one. If you like cooling in your vape but want the option of controlling just how much, the ICENIC is a device that gets my recommendation.

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