UWELL Caliburn G3 Review: A Worthy Upgrade

UWELL is a vape brand on a roll, having produced some really good devices in the last year or two. I have used many of their devices over the years, including the Caliburn Tenet, Caliburn A3, and Caliburn X, and have been very impressed by how well-designed and built they tend to be.

The Caliburn G3 is one of their newest pod vapes, designed as an update to the popular Caliburn G2. As you will see below, this isn’t just some facelift update to refresh the range.

There has clearly been some serious thought put into making this device both accessible for new vapers, but also adaptable enough that more seasoned vape fans will find something to enjoy about it.

The G3 features adjustable wattage up to 25W and adjustable airflow as well. It uses refillable and replaceable pods and packs a 900mAh battery which charges with Type-C charging.

I was sent the G3 just before I went on vacation, and after nearly two weeks of testing it in perhaps a wider variety of conditions and situations than usual, here’s what I thought of UWELL’s latest pod system.

Box Contents

• 1 x Caliburn G3 device
• 1 x 0.6 ohm refillable pod (pre-installed)
• 1 x 0.9-ohm refillable pod
• 1 x USB Type-C charging cable

Specifications

• Dimensions: 115.5mm x 24mm x 13.9mm
• Weight: 47g
• E-liquid Capacity: 2.5ml
• Adjustable Wattage
• Wattage Range: 5W – 25W
• Battery size: 900mAh
• Charging type: Type-C
• Adjustable Airflow
• Pod Connection: Magnetic
• MTL/RDL draw

Design & Build Quality

As mentioned, the Caliburn G3 is a direct update of the G2, and anyone familiar with the older device will instantly see the similarities. UWELL has gone for the tall and slim form factor again, although this latest device is slightly thicker and longer. It’s only a few mm of difference, and the device is still perfectly sized to fit in a pocket or small purse.

The activation button is flush with the rest of the body but textured to make it easier to locate with your thumb without looking. Below the firing button, almost at the bottom of the vape, is a small OLED display. Other than those features, the design is very clean and, as a whole, the G3 looks and feels great.

The base, where you’ll find the USB-C charge port, is perfectly flat. That means the G3 will happily sit upright on a desk or table without constantly falling over (thank you, UWELL). Stability is also helped by the added girth mentioned previously. Compared to the similarly designed Geekvape Wenax K2 I reviewed recently, the G3 sits like a rock on my computer desk, even when I clumsily bang my knees into the legs each time I stand up.

You have six colors available to choose from, including silver, black, red, and green. Apart from the red version, all the colors are pretty muted. That gives the G3 a classy and understated look, especially when combined with the slightly matte finish on the aluminum alloy body. That style may not be for everyone, but I prefer my vape to not look like a highlighter pen.

A nice feature carried over from the previous model, and several other UWELL pod devices, are the cut-outs in the pod socket. These give you a clear view of the liquid in your pods while allowing the socket to be deep enough to hold the pod very securely. It’s a great design feature that more vape brands should use.

Pods

The pods for the G3 are another area where there has been a significant change from the G2. Firstly, they hold 25% more liquid, having been increased from 2ml to 2.5ml. They have also switched over to fixed coils, rather than replaceable coils, which might not be desirable for all users but certainly help to keep leaks to a minimum.

And speaking of leaks, the G3 pods have been constructed using ultrasonic welding. While I can’t profess to be an expert in that process, I’m told that it’s a way to join and seal separate pieces of plastic using high-frequency sound (thanks Wikipedia). For a vape pod, that means fewer joints and gaps where liquid can leak out, which certainly seems to be the case here.

In more than a week of heavy use, with the vape in my pocket and backpack, dropped twice, and laid down on my desk for hours, I didn’t see a single drop of liquid where it shouldn’t be. Leak prevention is also helped by the secure magnetic fitting of the pods into the socket. Although this is the same method used in the G2, the magnet feels slightly more powerful and there was never any worry about the cartridge falling out.

The pods that came with the kit I tested were the side-fill versions. The fill hole on these is sealed with a silicone stopper, as is pretty standard these days, and is a good size. You won’t have a problem filling these pods with the wider nozzle of a 30 or 60ml vape juice bottle. If you prefer a top-fill pod, these are also available, either with a different version of the kit or when purchased separately.

You get two pods or cartridges with the G3 kit: 0.6ohm and 0.9ohm. A higher-resistance 1.2ohm pod is also due to be added soon if you prefer more of an MTL draw.

Features

The G3 looks deceptively simple on the outside, but make no mistake, this is no basic vape device. It is packed with clever and useful features that speak volumes about UWELL’s commitment to making devices that work the way vapers want.

The device is both button and draw-activated, something I always find preferable in a vape. But rather than just including a button and giving you the option of whether to use it, you can actively choose the mode you use. You can choose to disable the button, disable draw activation, or use auto mode that lets you use both methods.

Airflow to the pod can be adjusted by swapping the orientation of the pod in the socket. This doesn’t give you quite the same amount of control as the wheel on the G2 pods did, but it’s a much simpler and more convenient system. The difference is easily noticeable, but it would have been nice to have some way of telling what airflow is selected without taking a puff.

An OLED isn’t an essential feature of a pod vape, but those devices that have one are nearly always easier to use. And the display on the G3 is packed with information. At a glance, it shows your battery level, current power level, the coil resistance being used, the firing mode, puff count, and the firing time. It will also display charging progress and error messages like Atomizer Short or Low Battery.

We’ve already looked at the pods, but it’s worth mentioning those handy cut-outs on the pod socket again. They have been slightly enlarged on the G3, making it even easier to see how much vape juice is left without lifting the pod out. Little details like these are why UWELL is one of the most popular vape brands.

Battery Life & Charging

The Caliburn G3 features a 900mAh battery. This is an improvement on the 750mAh power pack in the G2, but I would have preferred to see something with a bit more capacity. That said, the battery holds up pretty well if you aren’t constantly running the vape at 25W. I mainly used the 0.6ohm pod, with the power set at 18W, and very often got a full day of use before a charge was required.

How much use someone else can get out of a full charge will certainly vary based on their chosen settings, how heavily they vape, etc. But no matter how long the battery lasts, you don’t have to worry too much thanks to the 2A fast charging. Assuming the battery indicator on the OLED display is accurate, my testing found that it can take as little as 30 minutes to go from empty to full charge.

When the USB-C cable is attached, the OLED display changes to only show the animated charging icon. A quick glance at the display will tell you when the charge is complete, and overcharge protection prevents the device from taking too much power and overheating if you forget.

Performance

The Caliburn G3 is a well-designed and well-constructed pod vape. After about half a day of using it, I already began considering making it my new everyday device. It isn’t anything remarkable, but it all just works really, really well.

The coils last a decent amount of time and produce great flavor from your vape liquid. I have been switching between testing the 0.6 and 0.9ohm pods for nearly two weeks, and both are still going strong. There’s no hint of burning or flavor reduction. It’s probably safe to assume a pod will last around two weeks for the average vaper.

Filling the pods is easy and leak-free, and the extra .5ml capacity means you’ll have to refill slightly less often. I have yet to experience any popping of spit back from the pods and, aside from the usual condensation in the drip tip, they hold up brilliantly to everyday vaping.

The OLED makes adjusting the vape experience very easy. I prefer an RDL-style vape, and this device is perfect for that. But if you want a tighter MTL-style experience, you can just swap out the pod, reduce the airflow, and lower the power to around 16W. When the 1.2ohm pods arrive, the MTL experience will be even better.

The draw is efficient in any of the modes, and there’s none of the delay in producing vapor that sometimes occurs in these low-power devices. I even tried it at the lowest power setting of 5W, and the coil still kicked in instantly every time.

Verdict

I am a big fan of UWELL’s vapes, including the Caliburn range and their newer slim pods vapes. I had high expectations for the G3, and having used the G2 for several months when it first launched, I was excited to see what upgrades had been made.

If you are considering upgrading from a G2, the difference is incredible. The older device is good and works admirably well, but this one blows it away. Yes, it’s likely to be a bit more expensive, but everything from the battery and pods to the addition of the OLED display is an improvement. And we’re not talking tiny incremental improvements, either.

Even if you aren’t familiar with the Caliburn G range of devices, but want an easy-to-use pod vape that gives you some scope for adjusting your vape style, this could be the one to choose. I have reviewed many of these small and slim pod devices, and few have impressed me as much as the G3.

It isn’t groundbreaking in terms of design, features, or performance, but everything it does, it does brilliantly. I would happily recommend it to anyone looking for a small pod vape. In fact, I have already done so to three friends who are looking to start vaping.

Which of the G3’s feature points best meets your expectations? Leave me a comment down below.

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