UWELL Crown M Pod Mod Review: A Jack of all Trades

The Crown M is the latest addition to the Crown range from UWELL. It appears to be aimed at vapers who don’t stick to one vaping style, or even those who want to transition from a simpler pod vape or disposable vape to something with more adjustment options.

UWELL has been making some great vape devices for a while now, launching some of my favorite devices over the past few months. These include the excellent Crown D and Caliburn X, so I was rather excited to get my hands on the Crown M.

The Crown M comes with a 4ml capacity pod. It can fire at up to 35W and features adjustable wattage and adjustable airflow. It has a 1000mAh battery and recharges using Type-C charging. Most interestingly, the Crown M features a clever and unique twin coil. This allows you to completely change the vaping style from MTL to DTL by switching between the two modes: Alternation Coil Mode and Dual-Coils Mode.

The Crown M certainly has an unusual design, with a case that allows you to peek inside the device — not something that I have ever seen before. It also has a scroll wheel and large juice tank, which makes it clear that this is not your average pod vape. Plus, you can use it for either MTL, DL, or RDL vaping, so it’s truly a versatile device.

But is this a jack of all trades and a master of none? Or can the Crown M hold its own against both more expensive mods and simpler pod vapes? Let’s find out!

Box Contents

• 1 × CROWN M Device
• 1 × CROWN M Empty Cartridge
• 1 × Meshed-H 0.8 Ω /0.4 Ω CROWN M Twin-coil (Pre-installed)
• 1 × Meshed-H 0.6 Ω CROWN M Coil (Spare）
• 1 × User Manual
• 1 × Type-C Charging Cable

Specifications

• Size: 82.3 mm x 52.6 mm x 26.8 mm
• Pod Capacity: 4.0ml
• Uses Crown M series pods
• Button activated
• MTL or DL draw
• Battery Capacity: 1000mAh
• Max Wattage: 35W
• Charging: Type-C

Design & Build Quality

The design of the UWELL Crown M is the most noticeable of its unique features. At first glance, this vape looks a lot like a box mod, with a square body, LED display, and a firing button on the side. But don’t be fooled; this is very much a pod device in box mod clothing. 

The semi-transparent body is made from hardened plastic (PCTG) with a slightly matte finish. With each of the four colors available, you can see the chip and most of the innards through the shell, giving it a very unusual look. A scroll wheel at the top lets you adjust modes, and a small sliding airflow vent allows you to loosen and tighten the draw.

The small LED display is embedded behind one of the front panels, giving you essential information such as battery level, firing time, and power level each time you press the draw button. It also displays the mode when the scroll wheel is used, but more about using those in a moment.

The 4.0ml pod, or cartridge as it’s described by UWELL, clips firmly into the body and only really needs to be removed to change the coil. You fill the pod through a stoppered hole in the top, which you access by pulling off the cylindrical drip tip. It’s a nice setup that seems to feature more and more often in modern pod vapes as it helps avoid mess when filling.

Although I use a box mod sometimes, I’m more used to using a pen-style pod vape. Even so, I found the UWELL Crown M a comfortable device to hold and use. The firing button placement is perfect if you want to use either your thumb or forefinger to press it, and the body is small enough to fit into even petite hands.

Battery & Charging

Like many modern vapes, the Crown M vape uses USB-C for quick charging, with the charge port on the side. That lets you keep the vape upright while it’s plugged in, avoiding the potential for leaking.

The battery has a 1000mAh capacity, which isn’t the biggest I have ever seen in a pod vape. If I’m honest, I was expecting more battery capacity when I first saw the device. But after a few days of use, I wasn’t too disappointed with the performance.

I tested it at 15W in Alternation Mode, and the battery lasted almost two full days, which is good. But when using it at 35W, it does feel a little bit underpowered. Using the device at the highest power level consumed a full charge after around half the time. Probably still enough to last most of the day, but not much more.

Using the supplied USB-C cable, a full charge took a little over an hour. Thankfully, you get plenty of warning about low battery from the LED display, and the 5-segment battery indicator seems pretty accurate. A percentage/time remaining readout would have been better, but not having that wasn’t a massive problem for me.

Performance

The Crown M vape features a clever and somewhat unique twin coil. This allows you to completely change the vaping style from MTL to DTL by switching between the two modes: Alternation Coil Mode and Dual-Coils Mode.

In Alternation Coil Mode, the two parts of the coil work in sequence. That gives a resistance of 0.8 ohms and is more suitable for MTL vaping. In Dual-Coils Mode, both coils work together to produce a lower resistance of 0.4 ohms. That’s where you can pump the watts up to 35 for DTL vaping. In each mode, the power level can be adjusted so you can further modify the vaping experience.

Changing the mode is done by rolling the scroll wheel left or right. The wheel is also used to change the power level, after clicking the firing button three times (in under a second). The scroll wheel works really well for these adjustments, and once I understood the controls switching between low-power MTL style and 35W DTL took a matter of seconds.

You can really feel the difference between the two modes; it isn’t just a marketing gimmick. I achieved some pretty impressive clouds at 35W in dual coil mode, then switched to alternation mode for more discreet vaping. In both modes the coil produced great flavor and a nice throat hit from my favorite vape liquid.

As if all that wasn’t enough, you also get a spare 0.6-ohm coil in the box, designed for RDL, or Restricted Direct Lung, vaping. You don’t have the mode-switching option if you’re using this spare coil, but it’s nice to have the option to test out a third vaping style from the get-go.

Verdict

The UWELL Crown M is a uniquely designed device that combines the ease of a pod vape with the power and adjustability of a basic box mod. It could be perfect for anyone who wants the option of DL and MTL vaping without having to buy and carry two separate devices.

In dual-coil mode at 35W, you will likely go through battery power and vape juice pretty quickly. That isn’t unusual for high-watt vaping, but if you are used to a 15W pen-style pod vape, you will definitely notice the difference. I would have liked a slightly bigger battery, but 1000mAh isn’t too bad, and at least it recharges quickly.

Thankfully, the generous 4.0ml tank means you won’t need to refill multiple times a day. The clear and precise LED display is a nice feature. Even though they are becoming more common on pod vapes, this type of readout isn’t guaranteed, so it’s nice to see one here.

The airflow control is a bit inaccurate, but it works as long as you don’t need to constantly change the flow. It is one of the only features of this unique and surprising vape that feels anything less than well thought out. After more than a week of testing, the Crown M could very possibly turn out to be my new everyday vape device.

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