Lost Vape Lyra Review
Lost Vape is one of the most respected brands in the vaping industry, and following the success of their first foray into the pod system market I was curious to see what they would come up with next, so when I got a chance to test their new Lyra vape pod, I decided to take it. Somewhat surprisingly, the Lost Vape Lyra is a simpler device than the Orion, but it’s still a very interesting one to be sure.
A Look at the Contents
While Lost Vape is known for the high quality of their products – at least as far as Chinese brands go – you really couldn’t tell by the packaging of the Lyra pod system. There’s nothing wrong with it, just that that it doesn’t stand out in any way. It’s a small cardboard box with a picture of the device, in its actual color configuration, on the front, and a breakdown of its main features, a list of contents, and contact information on the back.
Inside the box we have the Lost Vape Lyra pod system, an extra coil-head (the other comes pre-installed), a lanyard, the shortest micro-USB cable I’ve ever seen in a vape kit, and a user manual. It’s pretty much your standard vape pod starter kit, nothing more, nothing less.
Design and Build Quality
The new Lost Vape Lyra has a classic pod system design – an oblong metal casing for the battery with a removable pod at one end. It’s made primarily of metal (most likely zinc alloy) and measures 96mm x 16mm x 31mm. It’s not the smallest or slickest vape pod I’ve ever used, but it definitely still qualifies as very compact. It fits very comfortably in the smallest of pockets, it’s easy to hold in your hand, and while it does have a nice weight to it, I wouldn’t call it heavy. Perfectly balanced is a much more accurate term, in my opinion.
Build quality is one of the things that first stood out to me when testing the Lyra. From the spotless machining and paint-job of the metallic section, to how sturdy it felt in the hand, there’s no denying that Lost Vape lived up to its reputation in the quality department. It’s definitely way above most of the pod systems I’ve ever reviewed, and the nice leather-like inserts only accentuate the high-quality feel of the device.
It’s worth pointing out that while my review sample had a leather-like finish, there’s also a range that features a resin-finish. I would say the former is more elegant, while the other is more artistic in nature, but otherwise the device is exactly the same.
The Lost Vape Lyra is a manual pod system, like the Eleaf Tance Max, for example. That means you have to press a metallic button located in the middle of the battery casing in order to heat up the coil-head inside the pod. The button is slightly raised from the device, and while it works flawlessly, it feels a bit too mushy to the touch. It also features an LED indicator ring, which acts as both a battery indicator and a power output indicator. The Lyra features three different power modes, each with its own assigned color code (red, blue and green).
At the bottom of the battery casing we have a simple micro-USB charging port, on the sides, near the bottom, we have some venting holes for the battery, further up is a round slot where the included lanyard can be hooked up, as well airflow slots on both sides.
Finally, at the top, we have a three-pin connection port, where the plastic pod is inserted. Instead of the classic magnetic connection, Lost Vape opted for a pressure-activated system, where the pod is pushed into the port and two small pieces of plastic on the sides of the pod go into a couple of groves on the battery casing, locking the pod in place. It works pretty well, but the pod does seem a bit too loose sometimes. Still it never popped out by accident, so I can’t complain about the system.
What I can complain about however is how difficult it is to pop the pod itself open. Sadly, it’s something you’re going to have to deal with if you ever want to use the Lost Vape Lyra, because that’s how you access the fill ports and the replaceable coil-head.
Basically, the mouthpiece of the Lyra pod can be replaced by pressing down on the sides of the pod and pulling on the mouthpiece. That sounds easy enough, but it doesn’t work very well in real life. The catch mechanism that hooks the pod together wouldn’t release the mouthpiece no matter how hard I pressed on the sides, and it took a few tries before I actually managed to take it apart. The second time wasn’t much better either, so it definitely wasn’t a one-time thing. I don’t know if it’s me or the system, but I think they could have come up with something better.
Anyway, once you remove the mouthpiece, you expose two fill ports, each covered with a rubber plug. I found that opening both ports when filling the pod is best, as it allows the air to exit easily. They are both fairly large, so you shouldn’t have any problems filling the pod. You will also be able to remove the coil-head and replace it with the other one included in the kit. To do that, simply grab the knurled know at the top and unscrew it as you would screw. The coil-head will eventually come out and you can screw another one in its place.
At first glance, the system thought up by Lost Vape seems innovative, but if you take a while to think about it, it’s not the most efficient. First, you have to take the pod out, then remove its mouthpiece (which isn’t easy), then pop open the fill ports or unscrew the coil-head. They’ve basically added an extra step to the filling or coil-changing process, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
I can’t deny that the way the coil-head hooks up to the mouthpiece to create a vacuum and ensure that you are only inhaling vapor, not air, is pretty cool, but it just seems like overkill. It’s like the decided to complicate things a bit just to show that they could be done differently. Well, they certainly did that.
All in all, the Lost Vape Lyra is a very solid yet very elegant pod system that feels as good as it looks in the hand. However, in terms of functional design, I feel like the Chinese manufacturer dropped the ball, as their refilling and coil-head replacement systems are unnecessarily complicated.
Battery Life and Performance
The Lost Vape Lyra is a much smaller device than the Orion, so I was very surprised to learn that it has slightly better battery life. While the Orion has a built-in 950mAh battery, the Lyra has a 1,000mAh one. I don’t know how they managed to squeeze so much battery in such a tight casing, but then again I just reviewed the SMOK Novo 2, which is even smaller yet features an 800mAh battery.
Even using the Lyra in its highest power output mode, you’ll most likely get a full day of use out of it, or at least close to that, which is pretty good. Sadly, that short charging cable won’t allow you to use the device in passthrough mode, but don’t blame the charger, the Lyra doesn’t feature vape-while-charging technology, so changing the cable won’t help much.
Fast-charging isn’t available either, and the Lost Vape Lyra takes a while to recharge – close to two hours, from mu estimation. Still, there’s no denying that the 1,000mAh battery is a big advantage over most other device in the pod system sector, so I can’t really complain anything in the battery department.
I have to be honest and confess that I had high hopes from the Lost Vape Lyra. Seeing as how the Orion inspired a whole new type of pod system, like the Smoant Pasito or SMOK Trinity Alpha, I was curious how the Lyra was going to revolutionize the compact pod system sector. Sadly, it doesn’t do much revolutionizing.
Apart from the removable mouthpiece and three power output settings – the likes of which we’ve seen before on devices like Renova Zero – there’s really nothing new and innovative about this device. Sure, it comes with two different types of coli-heads, one mesh and the other circular wire, but interchangeable coils in pod systems have been around for a while now. Plus, the vaping experience itself feels a bit lacklustre, dues to the low output of the device, especially in low-battery conditions.
In its highest power mode (changeable by pressing the fire button three times in rapid succession), the Lost Vape Lyra has an output of only 3.65V when using the 1,2Ω MTL coil-heads. That doesn’t feel so bad when the battery is fully charged, but as the battery voltage goes down, the device starts to feel under-powered, and the temperature of the vapor drops. This is something casual users may not notice, but if you’re an experienced vaper, you’ll most likely find the performance of the Lyra pretty underwhelming.
Flavor is pretty good, especially when using the 0.6Ω mesh coil-head, but the vapor just doesn’t get hot enough for my liking, and when using the higher resistance mouth-to-lung coil-head, the vape feels way too loose. With no way to adjust the airflow or close down the air intake slots, all you can do is settle for a super-airy MTL draw. If you like it that way, than you’ll like the Lyra, but if you’re looking for a tight, cigarette-like draw, there are better devices out there.
Conclusion
The Lyra pod system lives up to the Lost Vape reputation in terms of build quality and elegance, but falls short when it comes to functional design and performance. Having to constantly remove the mouthpiece of the pod to refill it or replace the coil-head is not the most efficient solution, and the conservative power output makes the device feel underpowered, especially when battery voltage drops. I loved the high battery capacity and the high-quality finish of the device, but I was expecting more from such a respected brand.
The Lost Vape Lyra was sent to me by Vapesourcing for the purpose of this review. They currently have it in stock for just $19.99.
My Lyra Lost Vape has been leaking like crazy ever since I bought it. The local vendor I bought it from refused to believe me, until FINALLY he actually saw it for himself, when drops of liquid fell out in his hand, seeming to come from the holes in the stainless piece that is revealed when you take it apart. It is so damned hard to open to fill, that losing all the liquid you put into it is a torturous reaction to being filled. No, I have not been overfilling it. Only half-way, as I read somewhere else. This is all way too bad because it many ways, it is a really nice pod. But the vendor will not return my money and I don’t know what to do now. I bought it locally and paid $49.99 for it–WAY above the prices I am seeing online. I am totally disgusted. Not to mention that by now, a week after buying it, I have probably wasted 1/4 cup of very expensive juices that have all leaked out. Terrible product if you get a defective one, as I did.
So sorry to hear about your issue, leaking is definitely the ugliest side of vaping… Unfortunately, defective products do get past quality control, which just isn’t as strict as it should be in this industry. Nothing we can do about that, though, but, honestly, I’m not sure you should give up on the Lyra so fast, especially if you like it. Just try it with another pod, just because the first one leaked doesn’t mean they all do, it was probably just defective. Oh, and definitely change your vendor, you overpaid! The Lyra shouldn’t cost over $30 at most, you can find it even cheaper online, and replacement pods should be a lot cheaper too. Hope this helps and don’t let one bad experience make you give up on vaping! Also, what juice did you use? If it was something less dense, like 50PG/50VG, it may have caused the leaking. Try something with at least 70% VG, it’s thicker.