Uwell Caliburn IRONFIST-L
9.3
PROS
- Zinc alloy body looks & feels premium
- Very nice design
- No build quality issues
- Three voltage output levels
- Adjustable airflow for loose MTL to tight MTL draw
- Under pod light to easily check ejuice level
- Uses Uwell's excellent Caliburn G and G2 coils
- Excellent flavor from both coils
- Great battery life (2 to 2.5 pods)
- 2A charging (40 minutes)
CONS
- Draw gets very weak when under 30% battery
Our Verdict
It seems like Uwell can do no wrong when it comes to their pod vapes. The IRONFIST-L is yet another great Caliburn device and, although the performance isn’t loads better than other Caliburn devices like the A3, it’s better than a lot of other pod vapes on the market right now.
What I like about the IRONFIST-L is that it uses Caliburn G coils, and also allows you to adjust your output level and airflow in an easy and convenient way. I think that even those who are new to vaping will find the IRONFIST-L easy to use and will find the flavor from this device to be impressive.
If you’re looking for a small pod device that can be adjusted to your liking, and which also works well with all sorts of ejuice ratios and nicotine strengths, the IRONFIST-L is a good choice.
Highly recommended.
Uwell is one of the most popular vaping brands in the world. Their Crown and Valyrian series of subohm tanks propelled the brand to international recognition, and their Caliburn series of pod devices solidified their reputation in the vaping community.
One of Uwell’s latest releases is the Caliburn IRONFIST-L pod system. It’s a box-shaped pod device with a side-mounted 2.5ml pod. It uses Caliburn and Caliburn G coils, of which there are three available options.
The IRONFIST-L features adjustable airflow control as well as three wattage output levels. Built into the device is a 690mAh battery that recharges with 2A Type-C charging.
Is the IRONFIST-L just as good as Uwell’s other Caliburn devices? I reviewed it to find out.
Box Contents
- 1 x Uwell Caliburn IRONFIST-L Device
- 1 x IRONFIST-L Cartridge
- 1 x UN2 Meshed-H 1.2Ω Caliburn G2 Coil
- 1 x UN2 Meshed-H 0.8Ω Caliburn G Coil
- 1 x User Manual
- 1 x Type-C Charging Cable
Specifications
- Material: Zinc Alloy, PC, PCTG
- Dimensions: 69.75mm x 46.5mm x 17.6mm
- Weight: 64.8g
- Eliquid capacity: 2.5ml
- Uses Caliburn G & G2 Coils
- Three wattage levels
- Draw activated
- 690mAh Rechargeable battery
- 2A Type-C Charging
Design & Build Quality
The Caliburn IRONFIST-L has a pretty nice design that is different from what you typically see with pod vapes. While most pod vapes are made primarily out of plastic and have the pod housed inside of the device, that’s not the case with the IRONFIST-L.
The body on the IRONFIST-L is made of zinc alloy, with a boxy shape that looks like it was machined out of one solid piece. This metal body gives the IRONFIST-L a premium feel that is far beyond the humble price tag.
You can get this device in one of three colors: Coral Red, Metallic Silver, or Matte Black. The color of the engraved IRONFIST logo is yellow on the Coral Red, black on the Metallic Silver, and green on the Matte Black color. The paint for the logo appears to be enamel paint because it’s quite shiny and it looks good.
The IRONFIST-L is small, so it’s easily concealable in the hand. It’s only ~70mm tall, 46.mm wide, and ~18mm thick so it’s quite a small device. Although the corners are rounded, the edges are not, and the straight cuts are a little uncomfortable to grip.
The pod, like most pods, attaches magnetically on the side of the IRONFIST-L. There’s a little notch that you have to insert the pod into on the top of the device, so you have to install the pod vertically and straight down. If you don’t then the pod won’t seat correctly.
There’s a lanyard anchor spot on one corner of the device, although there is no lanyard included in the box. In a small, rectangular recessed portion on the side of the device, you’ll see the three LED indicator lights and a small button underneath. This is the battery life/wattage level indicator and power button.
Finally, on the bottom of the device is the Type-C charging port and airflow control slider. The airflow control is a small quarter circle slot. The slider can be adjusted for a loose MTL draw down to a tight MTL draw. The slider is smooth and just the right stiffness.
Pod & Coils
The IRONFIST-L comes with a single 2.5ml capacity pod. This pod has a dark tint to it for aesthetics, so it’s not exactly easy to see into the pod to check your ejuice level. Uwell thought about this though, and the IRONFIST-L features an under-pod-LED which you can turn on or off. This light illuminates the pod and makes it easy to see the pod contents.
The mouthpiece on the pod is oval shaped and rather comfortable to use. The fill port is located on the side of the pod, but unfortunately not on the side that is exposed. You have to remove the pod to access the fill port. The fill port is a large square shape and it’s plugged by a reasonably deep rubber stopper. I have had no issues with filling or leaking from this fill port.
The IRONFIST-L uses Uwell’s great Caliburn coils. There are three coils available, which are the ones for the Caliburn G and Caliburn G2. These coils are:
- 1.2Ω Caliburn G2 Coil (included)
- 0.8Ω Caliburn G Coil (included)
- 1.0Ω Caliburn G Coil (sold separately)
These coils push fit into the bottom of the pod. In order to install them correctly, there’s a flat side on the coils which has to line up with the flat cutout on the bottom of the pod. Other than having to line this up, coils install easily and without issue
Features
The IRONFIST-L has some features for customizability, but like Uwell’s other Caliburn devices, it’s still extremely user-friendly and simple to use.
I mentioned the under-pod-light in the last section, so I’ll start with that. To turn on or off the light, all that you have to do is hold the power button for two seconds. You’ll see the orange under pod light blink, indicating it has been turned on or off. With this light turned on, it will light up each time that you take a draw, allowing you to more easily see the pod contents.
The IRONFIST-L features a three level power output. You press the power button once to indicate your current power level and then press it again to cycle through the output levels. The LEDs and the corresponding power output levels are:
- One LED: 3.2V
- Two LEDs: 3.4V
- Three LEDs: 3.6V
The IRONFIST-L also has adjustable airflow, which can be adjusted with the airflow slider on the bottom of the device.
Aside from these few customization features, there’s not much more to the IRONFIST-L. Once you know how to use it, it’s straightforward to operate. I think that even beginners won’t have any issues figuring it out.
Battery & Charging
The IRONFIST-L has a built-in 690mAh battery, which is the same capacity as the battery on the Caliburn G. Since the highest output level is reasonable at 3.6V, battery life is pretty good no matter which output level you choose to use.
The battery on the IRONFIST-L generally lasted for two to two-and-a-half pods of ejuice on a single charge. That’s in line with what I would expect for a good pod vape. It’s not excellent battery life by any means, but it’s not bad either.
The three LED indicators light up green, blue, or red each time that you draw in order to relay your battery charge level:
- Three green LEDs: 60%+ battery
- Two blue LEDs: 30-60% battery
- One red LED: Less than 30% battery
Charging times are quite quick with the IRONFIST-L. This device supports 2A Type-C charging, so charging from a dead battery only takes forty minutes.
Performance
The Caliburn IRONFIST-L stays true to the Caliburn name with its performance, which is very good with all sorts of different PG/VG ratio ejuices. These coils are also able to be used with either freebase or nicotine salt ejuices of all strengths, although the low output voltage and high-resistance coils do better with nic salts.
50/50, 60VG, and 70VG ejuices vape just fine with these coils. They had no problem keeping up with wicking and I didn’t experience any major leaks. I did have a tiny bit of ejuice on the bottom of the pod, but it was such a small amount that I could hardly consider it to be leaking.
By adjusting the airflow switch on the bottom of the IRONFIST-L, you can achieve a loose MTL draw down to a tight MTL draw. I tended to keep the airflow slider right about in the middle of the adjustment range, as that’s the MTL draw that felt the best for me.
I had some issues with the draw activation when the airflow was left wide open. It felt like I had to draw extra hard in order to get the device to activate, or else it would cut in and out. This only happened with the airflow completely open, so it was another reason to close down the airflow.
Both coils provide pretty great flavor and warm, smooth vapor. The throat hit with 25-35mg nicotine salt ejuices is perfect, although I’m confident that even higher strengths would do just fine in this device.
I preferred to use the second and third voltage output levels while vaping with both coils as I found the first level to feel underpowered. The strength of the draw is good with the two higher output levels, whereas the first one feels like the battery is dying.
Speaking of the battery dying, the draw on the IRONFIST-L gets quite weak once you get under 30% battery life (red LED indicator), so you will want to charge it when it gets to this point in order to keep the draw full and strong.
Verdict
It seems like Uwell can do no wrong when it comes to their pod vapes. The IRONFIST-L is yet another great Caliburn device and, although the performance isn’t loads better than other Caliburn devices like the A3, it’s better than a lot of other pod vapes on the market right now.
What I like about the IRONFIST-L is that it uses Caliburn G coils, and also allows you to adjust your output level and airflow in an easy and convenient way. I think that even those who are new to vaping will find the IRONFIST-L easy to use and will find the flavor from this device to be impressive.
If you’re looking for a small pod device that can be adjusted to your liking, and which also works well with all sorts of ejuice ratios and nicotine strengths, the IRONFIST-L is a good choice.
Highly recommended.
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