Uwell Caliburn G2 Review: Vaping Nirvana

When I first decided to try a pod vape, I was skeptical that it could live up to the performance of my usual rebuildable tank-style atomizers. As it turns out, I was not only wrong, but very wrong. 

The Caliburn G2 is the latest release from Uwell and seeks to improve on the previous stellar performance of the Caliburn G. It also looks suspiciously similar to the Caliburn A2, but there are differences. You just have to look a little closer to see them. 

Are they enough to make a noticeable improvement? Here’s what you need to know.

Box Contents

• Uwell Caliburn G2 device
• Refillable G2 2ml pod
• A Mesh G2 1.2Ω coil
• Caliburn G2 User Manual
• A Mesh G2 0.8Ω coil
• USB C charging cable

Caliburn G2 Specifications

• Aluminum body construction
• 110mm x 22.5mm x 13mm
• 750 mAh battery
• Weight 36g
• Output wattage: 18W
• Refillable 2ml pod
• Adjustable airflow
• Type-C USB charging

Design and Build Quality

The Uwell Caliburn G2 is one cool customer when it comes to good looks. I really like it. It is sleek and relatively compact. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that there has been a very slight increase in the overall size of the device when compared to the Caliburn A2. In height, it is identical; in width and depth, we are talking at most just over a millimeter. 

The device itself feels solid and well-constructed. All edges on the device are rounded, making it more comfortable to hold in your hand, and perhaps more importantly, in your pocket. The pod sits completely flush with the outer walls of the G2 with no play or rattle whatsoever. 

The device is available in 6 eye-catching colors. While I opted to use the ultramarine blue, you can get the following colors:

• Cobalt Green
• Shading Gray
• Pyrrole Scarlet
• Carbon Black
• and gradient (a mix between purple and blue)

Working down from the top of the device, you have a small and pretty ergonomic black mouthpiece with a relatively large ‘letterbox’ style opening. This attaches to the top of the clear plastic pod inserted into the device.

On both sides of the device is a small ‘viewing port’ that will let you see how much liquid you have left in the pod and also let you see the color of the cotton within your coil. This is an improvement on the A2, which only featured the viewing window on one side of the device. 

I did have a slight issue with this window. The pod is refillable, which is a very good thing. However, it is etched with a small (and almost imperceptible) ‘minimum’ line. 

The issue? 

While you may peer through the window and think that you’ve got plenty of juice left, the fill line actually rests in the window at about 2/3 of the way up the pod reservoir. In my opinion, the window doesn’t really match the real situation. You could have long since gone below the minimum line, but to the untrained eye, when viewed through the window, it looks like you’ve got half a pod of juice left. It’s a minor gripe, and on the plus side, the coil will still draw juice even when below this line. 

In the center of the device, there is a large round fire button, which sits perfectly flush. Working further down to the bottom end of the device, you’ll find a thin black strip with “Caliburn” embossed in a glossy black finish, underneath which sits a small LED that illuminates and changes color to indicate if the device is firing and give an idea about the battery level. The battery levels are as follows:

Green – Above 60% charge

Blue – Between 30% and 60% charge

Red – Below 30% charge

Unlike with the A2, the Caliburn G2 pod ‘clips’ into the main body of the device. There are no magnets. When you attach the pod, you will get a ‘buzz’ as the device is fitted with a tactile indicator indicating battery life and charge state. 

I’ve found in the past that refillable pods can sometimes be a little hit and miss, especially when it comes to leaking.The  Caliburn G2 has been super clever in this regard. The rubber gasket system is backed up with a ‘belt and braces’ approach. On inspection, the drip tip has two rubber cups that will sit over the refill hole and vent hole when placed over the pod in normal use, ensuring that it remains entirely leak-free.

Overall, the Caliburn G2 looks and feels good. And there are quite a few really clever design features if you look closely. It is sleek, simple, and very low profile, making it ideal for those who don’t have much pocket space or are especially mobile. 

How to Use the Caliburn G2

The Caliburn G2 is remarkably easy to use. You could essentially consider it a true ‘plug and play’ style device.

Let’s start with installing the coil and filling the device.

Each Caliburn coil comes in a foil-lined blister pack. To remove, simply push the coil out of the back of the pack. With a mesh interior for greater heating surface area, the coils are tubular in shape with a metal disc on the bottom end. 

This disc has a cut-out ‘flat’ section along one edge, making it super easy to align correctly with the hole in the bottom of the pod. To fit, you simply push the coil into the pod and ensure the edges line up. 

Simple.

Filling was easy. However, I did have a minor criticism. To fill the pod, you have to remove the drip tip. The instruction manual said that I should simply push the drip tip to one side while the pod was installed in the device.

I’d advise against this. Here’s why.

It got to the stage where I felt I was putting undue force on the top cap without any result. What’s more, the two small bars above the juice viewing window don’t quite look strong enough to support the several pounds of force required to dislodge the clip-on drip tip.

To save my device and sanity, I opted to remove the pod completely and found that by giving it a gentle squeeze, the drip tip popped right off. From that point, filling was very easy. On the top, you will see three holes. The large center hole is airflow for the coil. There will be a tiny plastic hole, which allows the air to escape from the pod as you fill it. The last remaining hole is lined underneath with a red rubberized gasket. This is where the juice goes. 

Simply fill the pod until it is completely full. And from there, it is advised that you wait for 10 minutes to allow the juice to be soaked up by the coil, otherwise known as ‘priming’. Once this period is over, you can simply press the pod into the device, and you are ready to vape.

Using the Caliburn G2 is easy, and you have a couple of options. For those used to disposables, you’ll find the first method familiar. To activate the device, you simply need to put the drip tip in your mouth and give a pull. A pressure sensor will activate the coil and stop when you finish your drag.

The second method is to utilize the fire button. Simply give the button a sustained press while you take a drag and release it when you have finished. 

Being honest, I found this feature completely unnecessary. Often, I would ‘pull’ on the device slightly longer than the muscle memory in my brain allowed for taking my thumb off the fire button. As a result, the device would keep firing due to the pressure caused by my continued drag. 

Sure, you could argue that the button allows you to turn the Caliburn G2 on and off (with 5 consecutive presses)… But if the button wasn’t there, you wouldn’t need to do this anyway. As a result of its presence, I feel that the only real benefit is that you could potentially inadvertently fire the device while it was in your pocket… Not critical, but not ideal either. 

Airflow Adjustment

One standout feature that isn’t immediately obvious with the Caliburn G2 (and one of our main criticisms of the A2) is the ability to change the airflow.

In fact, this is not achieved using the main body of the device, but is instead located on the pod itself. 

At the pod’s base is a small red wheel with a small slot cut on the circumference. By gently stroking and manipulating it with a finger or thumb, you should find the perfect draw tightness to suit your style of vaping. 

Wide open will just allow more of a direct-to-lung style hit. In contrast, any other setting will require a mouth-to-lung style technique, the only variable being just how tight you want to go.

The airflow can be a little picky to start. I found my ‘optimum’ through trial and error, along with feel, instead of trying to see exactly what position the slot was in (I might be getting slightly old and my vision fading, but it is seriously tiny). 

The adjustment is actually really effective, and the tolerances are obviously very tight. When I had it fully closed, zero air could get through.

Coils

Any Caliburn G-Series coil will fit the pod. And it is literally impossible to install the coils in the device the wrong way. The flat spot on the coil’s base will fit one way and one way only into the pod. The wattage in the device is fixed, so you’ll find that the 1.2Ω coil gives a slightly hotter and more flavorful vape, while the 0.8Ω coil is slightly cooler but offers a little more vapor.

You’ll find the Caliburn G2 comes with two coils, one of 1.2Ω and a single 0.8Ω. And replacements can be purchased, along with a 1.0Ω coil.

Battery Life

For me, the battery life in the Caliburn G2 was exemplary. I often vape huge multi-battery mods and consider myself lucky to leave the house without a couple of 21700 spares. So the G2 was a very refreshing change. 

You will easily achieve a full day of vaping on this device, even with moderate to high use. I was pleased to see that following a full day out (and without charging), the LED indicator was still very much blue when I returned home. I am hardly what you would call conservative in my use. 

The keen-eyed readers may spot another subtle change from both the original Caliburn G and A2 models. The wattage is a little higher with this device. 18W is what you will get, and while this is a moderate increase, don’t expect battery life to suffer. The G2 also has a slightly larger 750mAh battery, covering this increase.

Suppose you really go for it, without recharging. In that case, the battery light will eventually flash red 10 times and be accompanied by a single long vibration indicating that you need to recharge before use.

Speaking of recharging, the G2 recharges at lightning-quick speed. Using the USB-C connector (handy because it is just like most phone adaptors), I found that from the ‘blue light’ to fully charged happened in as little as 20 minutes (accompanied by a pleasing buzz as the device vibrates to show fully charged). 

Caliburn states that charging from empty to full takes around 45 – 50 minutes. Still, from personal experience, I think this is actually a little pessimistic. 

Performance

As a refillable pod system goes, I am quite confident in saying the Uwell Caliburn G2 is an industry leader. I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize at first that the airflow could be altered (as there was no mention of this in the manual), but I was already singing the device’s praises.

Once I had figured out that there was an airflow adjustment and had a tinker, I was over the moon with how this device performs. The draw, after a little tweaking, is absolutely perfect. Just tight enough to feel like you are dragging against something without being too ‘airy’. 

The flavor was pretty awesome too. I started with my usual tried and tested ‘iced melon’ nicotine salt. I actually am slightly aggrieved as I feel I’ve been missing out on getting the best of my juices before trying this device. The flavor was absolutely spot-on, with me detecting notes in the juice that I suspect I have been missing for months. It’s certainly as good as anything offered by my ‘big rigs’ and tanks.

I might just be a pod convert.

As an MTL device, the G2 performs optimally. I got a mouthful of flavor on each drag, followed by a good throat hit that was neither too harsh nor too weak. In the words of Goldilocks, it was just right. 

It is also worth mentioning that the device’s inner workings and some clever circuitry were more than up to the job. I tend to almost subconsciously vape away while working. Not once during the entire time I have used this device did I get any dry hits or a burnt taste. 

Verdict

It isn’t often that I’m happy to say I’ve found vaping nirvana. In this case, I am willing to make an exception. The Uwell Caliburn G2 is about as close to perfection as I have found. Sure, there are one or two minor gripes, but these are things that are most certainly tolerable and are soon forgotten when held against all of the good points. 

You’ve got amazing battery life, leak-free vaping, loads of flavor, and a device that is about as simple to use as it gets. If I had to put it in one sentence, the Caliburn G2 knocks it out of the park. Have you tried the Uwell Caliburn G2? How did you find it? Let us know in the comments below!

CHECK PRICE