3stars

Mowell Shake Review

The Mowell Shake is a sleek, pebble-shaped pod system with an integrated movement sensor that allows you to wake up the device just by shaking it a couple of times. It’s also one of the thinnest and lightest vaping devices I have ever used, making it ideal for vaping on the go. The Shake definitely seems very interesting for a simple pod system, so let’s see if it has what it takes to take on the big boys in its category:

A Look at the Contents

The Mowell Shake comes nicely packaged in a white cardboard box with a picture of the pod system on the front, and a list of kit contents, the usual warnings and pictograms, as well as information about the company on the back.

Inside the box, you’ll find the Shake all-in-one pod system, and if you take out the Styrofoam holder you’ll also find a rather large box that only contains a micro-USB charging cable. That’s pretty much all there is to this kit, which is kind of disappointing, as I would have loved to see at least one other disposable pod included. As I mentioned in other reviews, one pod just isn’t enough, especially for beginners who might accidentally burn the cotton wicking inside a pod before even getting to use the device. I’m pretty sure everyone would be more than happy to pay a couple of dollars extra for another pod, so come on Mowell, let’s make it happen.

Design and Build Quality

The Shake pod system measures 48mm x 12mm x 75mm and weighs only 58 grams. It is made primarily of zinc alloy and comes in six different colors: black, gun grey, silver, green, blue and red. For this review I received the green version, and I have to say that it looks and feels great. I can’t speak about all the other available colors, but this one has a matte, almost rubberized finish that feels great in the hand and improves the grip on the device quite a bit. I’ve only been using it for five days, but so far I’ve seen no scratches on it despite taking it everywhere with me. We’ll see how it holds up in the long run, but for now I can say that Mowell has done a fantastic job with the paint.

If the design of the Mowell Shake seems familiar, it’s probably because it looks very similar to the SMOK Rolo Badge and the Smoant S8, especially the latter. The S8 is slightly more elongated, but overall, they look very similar. So if you liked the sleek, ultra-thin design of the S8 pod system, you’re probably going to love the Shake as well.

As far as noticeable design elements, the only ones worth mentioning are the large oval-shaped Shake logo that serves a purely decorative purpose, the LED indicators on the thin sides of the device, and the micro-USB charging port on the bottom. We’re talking about a very simple device here, so the lack of note-worthy elements is quite normal. If anything, the Shake is actually a bit more advanced than most other pod systems, thanks to its shake-to-activate function.

When I first started using the Shake, I didn’t read its user manual, nor did I read anything about it online, so I was a bit confused about the LED indicators that were lighting up for no apparent reason every time I used the device. As it turns out, the Mowell Shake goes into stand-by mode 3 minutes after you’ve stopped using it, but you can wake it up by shaking it gently, Those LED lights blink a couple of times to let you know that it is ready for use. It’s pretty neat, I guess, although you can just draw on it and it will wake up anyway.

The pods are very similar to the ones of the Smoant S8, they have the same shape, the same black tint, and the general design and positioning of the coil and wick is very similar as well. The only major difference I noticed was that the Mowell ones have two fill ports, one on each side of the vapor shaft, whereas the S8 ones only have one. The fill ports are located on the bottom of the pod, and they are insulated with two rubber plugs. To fill the pod, just pull those plugs out, pour your juice in on both sides, and you’re good to go.

Mowell Shake pods have a n e-liquid capacity of 2ml and a coil resistance of 1.3Ω. There is no mention of the coil material either in the user manual or on the Mowell website.

One thing I noticed while using the Shake was that even though juice does flow between the two sides of the pod, you have to keep your device tilted for it to do so, and even then, it travels slowly from one side to the other. That’s a bit of a con, because if you end up with one empty side, the wick on that side will get dry when you vape, and leave a nasty taste in your mouth.l It can even ruin the pod. I remember the juice flowing much more freely in the S8 pods, so maybe Mowell should improve the design a bit.

Overall, the build quality of the Mowell Shake is pretty good, but the pods could use a bit of work.

Battery Life and Performance

The Mowell Shake has a built-in battery rated at 400mAh, which is 30mAh more than the one of the Smoant S8, and 30mAH less than the new Suorin Vagon. That’s actually pretty good for a device this size, although to be honest I have noticed no real difference between these three devices in terms of battery life.

The LED lights on the sides of the device also act as battery life indicators. When they light up green, it means that the battery voltage is about 3.7V, blue means it is between 3.5V and 3.7V, and red means it is between 3.3V and 3.5V, and you should recharge it.

The biggest con of the Mowell Shake is that you can’t use it while it is charging. Passthrough technology may not be that important on advanced mods with removable batteries, but on a pod system like this, it’s huge, and the fact that the Shake lacks this kind of functionality puts it way behind the competition, as far as I am concerned. If you run out of battery, all you can do is connect it to a power source and wait about an hour for it to recharge. That’s a lot, especially if you really need your dose of nicotine.

Performance-wise, the Shake has been holding up pretty well, the draw-activated switch is very sensitive, which means the battery will activate at the slightest draw – and I do mean slightest – the power ramp up could be a bit faster, but it’s nothing a couple of primer puffs can’t take care of, so I’m not even going to complain about it.

I haven’t had any major leaking issues with this device so far, but I am seeing a bit of juice around one of the rubber plugs on the bottom of the pod. It’s nothing major, it could only be condensation, but the bottom of the pod should be completely dry, so thought I would mention it. My concern is that over long periods of time, liquid could build up under the pod and find its way into the battery. Hopefully that won’t be the case.

The draw is very similar to that of the Smoant S8. Back when I reviewed that pod system, I thought it was really tight, but I had the chance to test quite a number of other pods since then, and now I think it’s on the airier side, compared to the Vladdin, for example. It’s not as airy as a direct-lung setup, obviously, but as far mouth-to-lung vaping goes, you can definitely get a tighter draw from other pod systems out there.

Vapor production is nothing special, but it’s pretty decent for a pod system, and on par with most other pods I’ve tried.

Conclusion

The Mowell Shake is one of the better looking pod systems out there, and the build quality is pretty impressive as well. The paint finish looks and feels great, the LED lights are discrete but bright enough to be noticed, and the pods don’t shake or rattle when in use. The shake-to-wake function is a nice gimmick, although I’m not too sold on its usefulness, and the inner design of the pods could use some improvement.

Despite its few minor faults I would have no problem recommending the Shake pod system, but the lack of vape-while charging functionality is a bit let-down. Every other pod system has it, but not this one, and that’s a pity…