UWELL Crown X Review: Powerful & Portable DL Performance

Design & Build Quality

When I first took the Crown X out of the packaging, I felt a little sense of deja vu. After doing a little bit of research, it turns out that it was for a reason. 

Although Uwell is best known for their slim and slender pod vapes, the Crown X isn’t the first chunky pod device that they’ve released. It’s somewhat similar to the Caliburn X and Crown D, but it seems like Uwell has done a bit of refining and updating with the Crown X to bring it up to 2024 standards.

Starting with the size and feel, the Crown X isn’t what I’m used to from Uwell. The Crown X is 113mm tall, 30.8mm wide and 21mm thick. This is much larger than their Caliburn G and A series devices and quite chunky and heavy in comparison.

However, as a result of the larger size, the Crown X feels really solid and durable. The aluminum alloy body is rock solid and feels damn-near unbreakable. I dropped it onto concrete from a height of around 5 feet, just to see how it would fare. 

The body picked up some knicks, light gouges, and scratches, but otherwise it’s still working. The pod didn’t even pop out which is a good indication of strong magnets.

The two-tone designs for the Crown X are really nice, as are the other four solid color options.

At the top of the Crown X there are two ejuice viewing cutouts, once on each side of the device. The cutouts are decently tall and span the width of the device. This makes it really easy to see your ejuice level in the pod, without having to remove it.

On the side of the device is an airflow adjustment slider. It’s a round knob that controls a large, wide open slot. The slider is firm and stays where it is adjusted to.

On the front of the Crown X is a button and the 0.96” TFT color display. Both are high-quality and a pleasure to use. I really like the UI, which I’ll talk about more in the “Features & Functions” section of this review.

Finally, the bottom of the Crown X has a Type-C charging port.

Pod & Coils

The Crown X is a device that is meant specifically for direct-lung (DL) and restricted direct lung (RDL) vaping. This means low resistance coils and, as a result, mid-to-high wattage outputs. Included with the Crown X are two coils: a 0.3Ω Crown X mesh coil (best from 40-45W) and a 0.6Ω Crown X mesh coil (best from 20-25W).

These coils and their wattage ranges pair nicely with the massive 5.3ml pod. Higher wattages use more ejuice but even with these coils, the pod capacity didn’t have me filling up too often.

If 40-45W isn’t higher enough wattage for your preferences, don’t fret. Although that’s the wattage range listed on the coil, Uwell states in the user manual that the 0.3Ω coil can be used all the way up to the 60W maximum of the device.

A nice feature of these coils is the lifespan. Uwell says that they can last for 30 days of vaping, although they don’t specify how many milliliters of ejuice that is. Speaking from my experience with these coils, I’ve been using both of them for the last 20 days with equal usage between them and there has been no flavor fading or burning yet. Even at this point, 20 days with two coils is pretty good and I’ve refilled each pod/coil a few times. I still think that they have a few refills left too.

The coils easily pressure-fit into the bottom of the pod, you just have to take care to line up the flat sides of the coil with the flat sides on the bottom of the pod.

The pod itself is lightly tinted but I had no trouble viewing the ejuice level through the ejuice viewing cutouts, even in less than ideal lightning situations. 

The pod is refilled through a port on the side which is plugged by a thick rubber stopper. All of the sealing on the pod is good and I didn’t experience leaking from anywhere; not the fill port, not the mouthpiece, and not the base of the coil.

I really like this pod for its large capacity and the coils for their wattage range and lifespan but coil options for the Crown X are limited at the moment. The only available coils are these two that it comes with. These coils are good but I would really like to see some more coil options available in the future.

Features & Functions

The Crown X is on the line between a pod vape and a pod mod. A hallmark feature of pod mods is that they fire at higher wattages than typical pod vapes. In the case of the Crown X, it fits the bill because it can fire at up to 60W. However, while pod mods are typically more complex than simple pod vapes, featuring different modes and settings, the Crown X is not. It’s still a simple device to set up and use. This makes it a great option for the beginner direct lung vaper looking for an alternative to a tank and mod setup.

The most complex feature of the Crown X is the firing mode selection, which isn’t all that complicated at all. You can use the Crown X by drawing on the mouthpiece, pressing the button to vape, or both. The mode selection allows you to select if you only want to use one of these modes or both. This is done by pressing the fire button twice quickly, which will cycle through the following mode options:

• Draw locked: The Crown X will only fire by using the button.
• Button Locked: The Crown X will only fire by inhaling on the mouthpiece.
• Auto: The Crown X will fire by using the button or by inhaling on the mouthpiece.

This mode selection is useful if, for example, you’re putting the device in a pocket and don’t want it to fire. In this case, you can button lock the device to only fire by inhaling. Alternatively, if you prefer to only use the button, you can draw lock the device. If you’re like me though and use the device in whichever way feels right at the time, you can just leave the mode selection on auto.

The mode will display on the large 0.96” TFT color display. The UI here is really nice and it shows a bunch of useful information. In large font at the top of the display is the wattage. Below this is the battery indicator, voltage, coil resistance, a puff counter, puff time, and your mode. This display is very bright and easy to see even when it’s sunny outdoors.

The wattage on the Crown X can be adjusted by pressing the fire button three times. Once the wattage is blinking you can press the button to adjust the wattage upwards. If you go past your desired wattage, continue pressing or holding the button until it circles back around. 

Each coil has a maximum wattage output. For the 0.6Ω coil the maximum wattage is 25W. However, for the 0.3Ω coil you can set the wattage all the way up to the maximum of the Crown X which is 60W.

A feature that I really noticed is the ‘Boost Mode’. This keeps the output wattage consistent even when the device is on low battery so it never feels like the draw is getting weaker. I love constant outputs on devices and the Crown X does it really well.

Battery life on the Crown X is really good for a mid-high wattage pod vape. This comes down to the large 1500mAh battery and explains the larger size of the Crown X when compared to Uwell’s other pod vapes. The battery indicator on the display has five bars and each bar represents 20% battery life:

• 5 Bars: 80%+
• 4 Bars: 60-80%
• 3 Bars: 40-60%
• 2 Bars: 20-40%
• 1 Bar: 1-20%

I’ve been getting really good usage times out of the Crown X and I’ve been regularly switching between both coils. Average battery life seems to be 2-3 days with heavy vaping and a mix of both coils which is really good for a mid-high wattage device for DL, especially one as portable as the Crown X.

Performance

The Crown X is advertised as being a direct lung device but that didn’t stop me from trying to set it up for a little MTL action. But it turns out that I shouldn’t have because the Crown X just doesn’t do very good for MTL vaping. Even with the 0.6Ω coil and the airflow closed, the draw just isn’t satisfying for MTL and the flavor becomes super muted and hot with the airflow closed. For MTL there are definitely better options and I would recommend Uwell’s Caliburn G3 for MTL vapers.

On the other hand, direct lung and RDL vaping with the Crown X is phenomenal. Both coils can be used for RDL vaping by closing down the airflow nearly all the way and leaving just a bit of the airflow slot open. For DL vaping, leaving the airflow most of the way open is the key to success and good flavor. 

Flavor is spot on with both coils, although I found it better from the 0.3Ω coil set to 60W. I wouldn’t hesitate to grab the Crown X for RDL or DL vaping, even over some subohm tank and mod setups. I won’t go as far as to say that the Crown X is better than a good tank and mod combo but it’s more portable and good enough in performance that I would seriously consider if the extra heft of a tank and mod is worth a bit of extra flavor and clouds.

Boost Mode has been really noticeable for me during my use of the Crown X. The draw stays the same even when the battery is getting low and this makes the experience much better overall. I never felt like I had to charge it before it was actually dead in order to keep a good draw. I was able to get the whole usable battery life out of each charge and this makes the battery life even better when you compare it to other devices that you may have to charge before they’re actually dead.

Another really impressive quality of these coils is their durability. I was absent mindedly vaping away on the 0.3Ω coil and managed to take a large, dirty dry hit. I could taste the burning and I thought to myself “this coil is done for”. However, I filled the tank back up with a little bit of ejuice and left it for a few minutes. Upon taking a draw, I couldn’t even tell that it was ever burnt. I even had Danielle and Robert take a vape and asked them what they thought of the flavor and neither of them could tell that it was ever burnt. Seriously impressive.

Verdict

Once upon a time, a tank and mod were the only way to get a good RDL or DL vape. Then came pod mods which were slightly more portable and delivered good flavor. Now in 2024, a pod vape like the Crown X is a good candidate for any RDL or DL vaper looking for a more portable setup.

If you’re a RDL or DL vaper, you don’t have to sacrifice a lot of flavor or clouds with the Crown X and you get a device that can fire at up to 60W, which has good battery life and long coil life, and which is way more portable than even a pod mod.

This isn’t a replacement for MTL vapers so if that’s you, I would look at the Caliburn G3. However, for RDL or DL vapers who want a more portable device that still offers adjustability for the airflow and wattage, you won’t be disappointed with the Crown X. Highly recommended.