Smoant Knight 40 Review: DL & MTL Capable

Smoant is a vaping company that has been around for years. In that time, they’ve produced countless vaping devices, including vape mods, squonk mods, pod vapes, and rebuildable tanks.

It’s been a while since we’ve done a review on a Smoant product, but that changes today, as I’ve got my hands on one of Smoant’s latest pod devices, the Knight 40.

It’s a pod vape with a number of coils available, ranging from subohm resistance DL coils to higher-resistance MTL coils. It also features adjustable airflow, so you can set the airflow appropriately for whatever style of vaping you prefer.

The Knight 40 has adjustable wattage, which can be set up to 40W. It has a 1500mAh built-in battery, and recharges with Type-C charging. 

Box Contents

• 1 x Knight 40 Device
• 1 x S-4 0.35Ω Coil
• 1 x S-6 1.1Ω Coil
• 1 x Type-C Cable
• 1 x Warranty Card
• 1 x Certificate Card
• 1 x User Manual

Specifications

• Size: 84.5mm x 42mm x 23mm
• Pod Capacity: 3.5ml
• Uses Smoant S-Coils
• Button-activated
• Adjustable Airflow
• MTL to DL draw
• Battery Size: 1500mAh
• Adjustable wattage
• Max Wattage 40W
• Charging: Type- C charging

Design & Build Quality

The Knight 40 is unique in its design and looks very different from other pod devices. It’s somewhere between a pod mod and a pod vape; it’s larger than most pod devices and the design is very “mod like”. It’s very light though, and only weighs 33g, which is surprising for how it looks.

At 84.5mm tall, 23mm wide, and 42mm deep, the Knight 40 is almost the size of a pod mod. It’s thin though, and this keeps it from feeling too large or chunky. In the hand, the Knight 40 is comfortable, but it does feel a little cheap due to how lightweight it is and the sheer amount of plastic used. Despite this feeling, it does seem to have a solid construction and I haven’t found anything majorly wrong with the build quality so far.

The body is made of Zinc alloy and PCTG and these materials are used in an interesting combination on the device. Zinc alloy is used for the front, top portion of the mod, and also for the base of the mod. The rest of the Knight 40 is made of PCTG, which has a light tint to it and allows you to see into the device. You can see some exposed wires, which looks neat, but also seems a bit unfinished.

There’s also a cutout on the back of the mod, which exposes a metal casing that says SMOANT on it. I’m assuming that this is where the battery resides, and it seems to be secure and there’s no rattle or movement of this piece at all.

There are four colors available: Gunmetal, Stainless Steel, Black, and Rainbow. The color that you get only affects the color of the metal, and the PCTG will have a light black tint no matter which color you get. 

Interestingly, the unit that I’m using is primarily green, but it’s supposed to be the “Rainbow” color. I can sometimes see a bit of the rainbow coming through in the right light, but it’s not very prominent. It’s much more visible in pictures than in real life. Hopefully this is because it’s a sample and a pre-production unit. In any case, the green is really nice and it’s unfortunate that they don’t offer it as an available color.

The front of the mod has a round fire button, a small black and white display, and two adjustment buttons. The adjustment buttons are just a single piece of plastic, but pressing either side of the button makes it work as two separate buttons to increase or decrease the wattage.

The power button is firm with a nice throw to it, and it doesn’t rattle or move around. The adjustment buttons are a little looser, but still quite firm and they work well. 

The display is very small, and very old school. If you’ve got failing eyesight then you’ll likely have a headache too after trying to read this display. The display is bright though and has all the essential vaping information that you would need, so it’s still perfectly usable, just a little small for the information that’s on there.

Pod & Coils

The Smoant 40 comes with one pod in the box which will hold up to 3.5ml of eliquid. This pod takes replaceable coils, which push and pull out of the bottom of the pod. Included in the box are two coils:

• 1 x 1.1Ω mesh coil
• 1 x 0.35Ω coil (pre-installed)

These coils have drastically different resistances, which makes each one best suited to a different type of ejuice and vaping style. The 1.1Ω coil is meant for MTL vaping and nicotine salt ejuices, while the 0.35Ω coil is best for DL vapers and regular nicotine ejuices. It’s worth noting that the 1.1Ω coil can also be used for regular nicotine ejuices, although the low wattage might leave some vapers feeling underwhelmed.

These coils are only two of the seven S-Series coils that Smoant offers. Their S-Series coils vary in their resistance, as well as in the type of draw that they provide, so there’s a good range of coils available. One of these coils is an RBA coil, so if you’re into building your own coil, you can do that too.

The pod attaches magnetically to the Knight 40 and the magnets are pretty strong. It’s a semi-circle shape on one side and squared off on the other, so it only fits into the device in one orientation. The pod is massive and will hold up to 3.5ml of ejuice — more than a lot of other pod vapes. 

Built-into the top of the pod is the drip tip, which is about the size of a 510 and made of PCTG. Next to the drip tip, still on top of the pod, is the airflow control slider. This can be set to all the way open for DL vaping, and can be closed completely for MTL vaping. The fill port is on the back side of the pod and it’s secured by a rubber stopper. 

As I mentioned earlier, coils push into the bottom of the pod. There’s a gold “base” that comes pre-installed on the 0.35Ω coil that you’ll want to make sure that you keep, as you have to attach the coils to this base before installing it into the pod. Simply unscrew the old coil from the base, and screw on the new coil. 

These coils have two o-rings on them, so it makes a secure seal when pushed into the pod. However, this also makes it tough to remove the coils and I’ve had to use pliers more than once to get them out. Breaking a nail is a real possibility here, so I suggest using pliers to gently remove the coil, just take care not to crush or warp the reusable base. 

Smoant Knight 40 Features

The Knight 40 uses Smoant’s “ANT chipset”, which has been used in some of their other products like their Knight 80. 

The Knight 40 features adjustable wattage and it can be set at up to 40W. The wattage can be easily changed using the adjustment buttons located below the screen. When you insert the pod, the screen will display the recommended wattage range for the coil; for instance, the 0.35Ω coil will display “BEST 30-35W”. This is a feature that new vapers will appreciate, because it keeps you from running too much wattage through the coil and burning it up.

The display is tiny and black and white, but it gives you all of the information that you need to know when using the device. Displayed on the screen is a 5 bar battery life indicator, with each bar representing 20% battery life, the mode, wattage, coil resistance, a puff counter, and a lock icon.

The Knight 40 has two modes: regular variable wattage mode, and variable wattage curves. I find wattage curves to be gimmicky, but it’s there if you want to test it out. To switch modes, press the fire button three times and then use the adjustment buttons to switch modes. Press fire to confirm the mode that you want.

When in wattage curve mode, you can hold the fire button and + adjustment button to start setting the wattages. Simply use the adjustment buttons to turn the wattage up or down, then press the fire button to go to the next step. Once you’re done setting your wattage curve, press and hold the fire button to confirm.

There aren’t many other button combinations, but there are some. To lock or unlock the entire device (including firing), press and hold the + and – adjustment buttons. To clear the puff counter, press and hold the fire button and both adjustment buttons.

Battery Life & Charging

Battery life with the Knight 40 is highly dependent on which coil you’re using, and at what wattage you’re vaping. I got drastically different usage times out of the two included coils, with the 1.1Ω coil faring much better. 

With the 0.35Ω coil at 32W, I vaped just over two full pods of ejuice. With the 1.1Ω pod, I was able to vape nearly three pods of ejuice and got a few days of vaping out of it before the battery died.

Although this device has Type-C charging, it doesn’t charge as fast as I would expect. It takes an hour and a half to recharge the Knight 40 to full, which is much longer than a Type-C charging device should take. It can be vaped while it charges though, so at least you won’t be completely without it if it dies.

Performance

The Knight 40 is one of those “all-around” pod vapes. It can be used for both MTL vaping and DL vaping, and with regular nicotine ejuices and nicotine salt ejuices. But is it a jack of all trades and a master of none? Surprisingly, I found that the Knight 40 does very well no matter how you use it. The MTL vape is on the loose side, but it’s still a good vape, and the DL performance is spot on.

I used the 0.35Ω coil with regular nicotine ejuices in 6mg strength. I reckon that you could probably use this coil with lower strength nicotine salt ejuices as well, but the draw and resulting vape would probably be pretty strong. I used a 50/50 ejuice, as well as a 70VG ejuice with this coil.

With my regular nicotine ejuice, the 0.35Ω coil is a great vape. It’s a slightly restricted direct lung draw with the airflow wide open and the flavor and clouds are huge. You can definitely blow clouds with this coil if that’s what you’re into! The airflow is loud when vaping it like this, and that’s something worth mentioning if you prefer a quiet vape. 

Changing the airflow slider to the mid position further restricts the draw and makes it a true restricted DL vape, but the flavor also gets a little less potent. I liked the trade off though, and I preferred vaping this coil with the airflow in the mid position for a still flavorful, but restricted DL vape.

Both my 50/50 ejuice and my 70VG ejuice wicked well with this coil and neither gave me any issues with extended draws or chain vaping. 

The 1.1Ω coil is for MTL vaping and it does a good job too. The experience is more of a loose MTL vape with the airflow completely closed off, but it’s enjoyable and certainly a MTL draw. This coil is best from 7-12W, but I just left it where the device set it, at 10W. 

With this coil I used a 50/50 nicotine salt ejuice in 25mg strength, as well as a 60VG nic salt ejuice in 25mg strength. The flavor is not as good as the other coil, but still excellent.

If you want a MTL vape with this coil, you’re going to have to close down the airflow almost completely. You still get plenty of flavor and a nice warm draw at 10W that isn’t too hot even with the airflow closed all of the way. I liked the draw with the airflow completely closed, as it still lets just a bit of air in and it isn’t difficult to pull. The flavor is also pretty much unaffected and still very good.

Verdict

The Smoant Knight 40 is a great pod device that will suit both DL vapers and MTL vapers alike. I got the best experience when I used this device with regular nicotine ejuices for DL vaping, but the MTL coil and airflow is also very nice. It’s a loose MTL draw though, even with the airflow completely closed, so those looking for a tight MTL vape will want to look at another device. However, if you enjoy a loose MTL draw, the Smoant Knight 40 does it well and it delivers a ton of flavor too.

In addition to the two included coils, there are four other coils available and even an RBA coil. This gives you plenty of coil options to try, which lets you figure out which one you like best. The RBA coil also lets you make your own builds, which will save you money and allows you to further customize your vape.

The Smoant Knight 40 easily gets my recommendation for DL vapers and loose MTL vapers.

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