3_5stars

Smoant Battlestar Baby Review

The Battlestar family of vaporizers has been Smoant’s best selling brand ever since the company’s inception, in 2013, so it makes sense that they rely on its prestige to promote their latest pod system, the Smoant Battlestar Baby. But if the VooPoo Drag Nano was any indication, a prestigious brand doesn’t guarantee a product’s success, especially if that product sucks. Let’s see if the new Battlestar Baby lives up to its name:

A Look at the Contents

The Battlestar Baby pod system comes in a classic packaging – a cardboard box with a picture of the device on the front, and a list of contents, manufacturer information, and the usual safety warnings on the back.

Inside the box we have the Smoant Battlestar Baby pod system sitting snug in a plastic, tray-like holder, a user manual and a smaller box of accessories. This kit comes with a backup coil-head for the one included pod, as well a s cool lanyard that doubles as a USB Type-C charging cable. This is one of the coolest accessories I’ve seen included in a kit, as the tape of the lanyard can also be used as a measuring tape. I’ve seen the exact same lanyard sold separately, but this is the first time I find it included in a vaping kit.

Design and Build Quality

When I first heard of a Smoant Battlestar pod system, I imagined it would be a miniature version of the iconic Battlestar dual-18650 vape mod, kind of like the Drag Nano borrowed the general design of the original VooPoo Drag 157W mod. That assumption turned out to be very wrong, as the Battlestar Baby looks more like the Drag Nano than any of the Battlestar mods I’ve reviewed.

The new Smoant Battlestar Baby measures 60mm x 45mm x 15mm and weighs a hefty 78 grams. It is made primarily of metal, most likely a zinc alloy. It’s a compact device that easily fits in the pocket, but at the same time it feels very solid in the hand.

The Battlestar Baby kind of looks like a slightly oversized Zippo lighter, with one of its sides partly carved out and a plastic tip sticking up from the top. It comes with six types decorative panels, from a geometrical gun metal to several resin-like designs. They’re pretty high-quality too, at least compared to some of the devices I’ve tested in the past, like the SMOK Trinity Alpha, for example.

At the top, we have the mouthpiece sticking up from the pod port, like on the Drag Nano. The plastic pods are inserted into the port and stick in place with the help of magnets. The connection is a bit loose, compared to other similar systems I’ve seen, allowing you to detach the pod with the slightest tug on the mouthpiece. It feels so loose that if you shake the mod intensely, the pod might fly out. Haven’t actually tried it, though, as I only had one pod to work with, and I didn’t want to risk damaging it.

On the bottom of the mod you will find a USB Type-C port for charging, as well as some venting holes, in case something goes wrong with the built-in 750mAh battery. Finally, on one of the thin sides of the mod there is a small LED indicator that lights up different colors to indicate battery level, battery cutout and various protections.

Battlestar Baby pods look very similar to those of the VooPoo Drag Nano pod system, but only at first glance. While the latter are disposable, Smoant’s version allows you to replace the coil-heads. You get to plug-and-play style coil-heads included in the kit – one 1.2Ω MTL coil-head, and an 0.6Ω mesh coil-head – and all you have to do is pop them in through the bottom of the pod. They have the same flat base as VooPoo’s PnP coil-heads, so you just grab that with your fingers and pull them out when they need replacing.

The pods are slightly tinted, hold up to 2ml of e-liquid, can be filled through a fill port located on the side. The hole is on the small side, but you should have no problem getting a unicorn or gorilla bottle tip in. Unfortunately, like the pods of the Drag Nano, they are completely inserted into the mod, so there is no way to check the e-liquid level without pulling them out. That’s a bit of a con in my book, but definitely not a deal-breaker.

Battery Life and Performance

As if the Smoant Battlestar Baby didn’t already have a lot in common with the VooPoo Drag Nano, the two pod systems have the same battery capacity as well – 750mAh. That’s quite a lot for such a small vaping device, and considering the power output doesn’t exceed 15W, it should be more than enough to keep most users vaping for a whole day.

Smoant’s newest pod system features vape-while-charging technology, so even when you run out of battery, as long as you have a charger and USB port nearby, you can plug it in and keep vaping. Charging takes about an hour, which is respectable for a 750mAh battery, so nothing to complain about in this department.

Performance-wise, I am happy to report that the Battlestar Baby is a much better vaping device than the pod system I’ve been comparing it to all throughout this review, the VooPoo Drag Nano. While the power output of the Drag Nano felt weak, putting it on the level of rudimentary vaping devices, the Battlestar Baby delivers ample power for both its coil-heads, which results in a satisfactory vaping experience.

When using relatively low-powered devices like the Battlestar Baby, I mainly focus on their mouth-to-lung capabilities, and Smoant’s new pod system was not the disappointment I expected it to be. The VooPoo Drag Nano had a very loose MTL draw, whereas the draw on this device is just right. The 1.2Ω coil-head also delivers a surprisingly satisfying and flavorful mouthful of vapor, which is a big plus.

The 0.6Ω mesh coil isn’t too bad either, delivering even more vapor and better flavor. It’s a looser mouth-to-lung vape though, and the direct lung draw is barely doable, so it’s a bit of trade-off in that regard. It would have been nice to have airflow control, but other than that, it’s a pretty good system.

The Smoant Battlestar Baby fires as soon as you start to draw on the mouthpiece, and the power ramp-up is lightning fast as well. I’ve had no issues with misfires, errors, or anything like that, but we’ll have to see how it does in the long run.

Conclusion

The Smoant Battlestar Nano is not the most advanced pod system on the market right now. It’s not even Smoant’s most advanced pod system – that title goes to the Smoant Pasito – but it doesn’t aim to be. It’s a simple to use device aimed at beginners and casual vapers that only want an alternative to smoking. As impressive and complex as some vaping devices are these days, for many people they are overkill, and that’s where things like the Battlestar Baby come in.

Is this pod system perfect? Definitely not, but it’s a lot better than many other rudimentary devices out there, that’s for damn sure.