3_5stars

Smoant Santi Review

Smoant has a good track record when it comes to pod mods; from the now legendary Smoant Pasito to the less-known Knight 80 advanced pod mod, the Chinese manufacturer has been doing a good job in this sector of the vaping industry. Now we have the Smoant Santi, a simpler, more user-friendly pod mod that still offers a fair degree of flexibility in terms of vaping style. Let’s have a look at the Smoant Santi:

Smoant Santi Specifications

Dimensions: 104 mm x 28 mm x 18.5 mm
Material: Zinc alloy, PCTG
Battery: Built-in, 1100mAh
Wattage range: 1-40W
Voltage range: 3.2-4.2V
Vaping Modes: Variable Wattage, DVW (custom curves)
Resistance range: 0.3Ω – 3.0Ω
E-liquid capacity: 3.5 ml

Smoant Santi Packaging and Presentation

The new Santi pod mod comes in a small, rectangular cardboard box featuring an almost life-size picture of the device on the front, and a list of contents, manufacturer contact information, and a scratch-and-check authenticity sticker, on the back.

Inside the packaging, we have the Smoant Santi in a white Styrofoam sticker, and a smaller box of accessories, which includes a USB Type-C charging cable, a user manual, and a warranty card. Shockingly, Smoant DOES NOT include a spare coil-head in this kit. That was a huge let-down for me, considering how important a backup coil-head is in a kit primarily aimed at beginners and casual users.

For this review, I received a spare refillable pods, as well as two boxes of spare coils, and I can tell you that the coil-head included in the box is not the best one Smoant has to offer, and it’s a shame they didn’t throw in another one, as it really hurts them from a competitive standpoint. Having just reviewed the super-generous Kylin M AIO kit, this just felt austere.

Smoant Santi Design and Built Quality

Looking at the Smoant Santi the first time I took it out of the box, it reminded me of the VooPoo Vinci, and more specifically of the Vinci Air, the sleeker, more pocket-version of the popular pod mod. The Santi has the same rectangular design, the same style button and button positioning, and very similar size. It’s not a copycat, not at all, but in terms of general shape, they are similar.

Starting at the top, we have a classic pod, with flattened mouthpiece, side fill-port, and a cleverly-integrated airflow control knob. Replaceable coil-heads are inserted through the bottom, and the pod connects to the battery unit via two pair of reasonably-strong magnets.

The mod itself has a clever cutout near the top, which allowed Smoant to seamlessly integrate the refillable pod into the device, while leaving the sides exposed, which helps users keep an eye on the e-liquid level inside, without having to constantly remove the pod. It’s good design, so kudos for that!

The metallic body of the Santi pod mod has some nice texturing on the lateral sides, and a weird, rubbery sticker on the backside. From a functional standpoint, it makes a lot of sense, as it provides a lot of grip, meaning the chances of your device slipping out of your hand or off of most surfaces are greatly reduced. It’s also a lot more durable than the fake leather we’ve seen on many devices recently, but it is definitely unattractive. It’s not the nicest thing to look at, and it doesn’t give the device that high-end feels that the Drag X and S pod mods have, for example. Luckily, it’s not the only option available.

On the front side of the Smoant Santi, we have a centered fire button, and a generous color display, positioned near the bottom. It’s the same exact display and interface we saw on the Pasito 2 pod mod a few months ago, a busy, vibrant screen, if not the most bright.

Just like on the VooPoo Vinci Air, the power adjustment buttons and the USB Type-C charging port are located on the sides of the Smoant Santi. Finally, on the bottom of the device, we have some battery venting holes, just in case something goes wrong with the non-removable battery.

One of the main features of the new Smoant Santi pod mod is the airflow control system integrated into the pod itself. I remember applauding VooPoo for implementing a rudimentary airflow control system on the Vinci X, but Smoant’s solution is much more efficient. Unfortunately, the Santi is a bit late to the party, as pod mods have changed a lot since then…

That simple knob located on the side of the pod allows users to accurately adjust how much air goes into the coil, allowing you to change the style of vaping depending on the coil-head you have on, and your personal preference. The kit may only come with one coil-head, but the Santi has at least two other coil-head types available, as well as a tiny, but usable RBA.

Smoant Santi Menu System and Navigation

The Smoant Santi is powered by a more simplistic version of the ANT chip in the Pasito 2. The two devices have the exact same interface, but the Santi is definitely lacking in terms of features. That is understandable, though, as it is mainly aimed at beginners and casual users, while the Pasito line is popular with seasoned vapers.

To turn the device on and off, you have to press the fire button five times in rapid succession. The home screen can be a lot to take in at first, as it’s very busy and colorful, but once you take a couple of seconds to analyze everything, it’ll start to make sense. You have the battery indicator displayed as a series of lines, in the top right corner, the power mode, power output, coil resistance, puff timer and a puff counter.

To go into the menu, press the fire button three times in under 2 seconds. Once inside the menu system, you will have the chance to switch from variable wattage to DVW, Smoant’s own version of custom curves, which allows you to customize your vaping experience, by adjusting the power output in 0.5 second intervals. It’s kind of an advanced feature, so I was surprised to see it used here, but it’s something worth trying out, even if you are a casual vaper.

The other available option in the menu is choosing one of five different colors for the display interface. It’s a nice touch, especially if you want to match the screen with the color of your device. That’s about it for the menu, but you can also lock the buttons of your pod mod, by keeping the + and – buttons pressed down for a couple of seconds.

Smoant Santi Battery Life

The Santi has a 1,100mAh built-in battery, which puts it right between the 900mAh of the Vinci Air, and the 1,500mAh of the original Vinci pod mod. It’s a decent-size battery, nothing too impressive, but considering the maximum output of the device is 40W, it should last you a few hours, even if you use it at that wattage.

Smoant seems to have made the transition to USB Type-C, which is laudable, considering some companies are still launching products with micro-USB. It’s a lot more convenient to use, plus it enable fast charging, which is really useful on a built-in battery device.

Your battery life will depend mainly on what wattage you will be using it at, and how much you vape, but I myself have been getting around 6 hours out of it, vaping at 25W, with the included coil-head. That’s just my experience, though, yours may vary considerably.

How Does the Smoant Santi Vape?

Considering my disappointment at seeing a seeing a single coil-head included in the kit, only a truly outstanding vaping performance could have saved the Smoant Santi from a negative verdict. The good news is that it managed to impress me; the bad news is that it needed a different coil-head than the one in the box to do so. Damn it, Smoant!

The Santi kit comes with an 0.6Ω mesh coil-head pre-installed in the refillable pod. It’s a tiny little thing compared to other coil-heads we’ve seen recently, like the P Series of the Aegis Boost Pro, but it actually performs very well, especially if you prefer a restricted direct lung (DL) draw. The downside is that you can only do that kind of DL draw on this device. I don’t know if it’s just the airflow on the pod, or the diameter of the coil head (maybe both), but it’s definitely not the airiest of pod mods you can buy, so keep that in mind.

Smoant were kind enough to send me their other two coil-head types, as well as an RBA base, for testing purposes. One of the coil-heads is rated at 0.4Ω (30-35W) and is designed to provide a considerably warmer vape than the stock coil-head, but you are still limited to a restricted lung hit. That’s not a huge problem, as far as I am concerned, as this is a simplistic pod mod, after all. If you want more air, go with something like the SMOK Thallo S, instead.

The other coil-head available as a separate purchase is the 1.2Ω MTL option, which, in my opinion should have been included in the standard kit. It’s by far the best option for the Santi pod mod, as it works so well with the adjustable airflow system on the pod. You can do a very restricted, cigarette-like draw, with the airflow closed up almost all the way, or a looser MTL draw by opening it up. All you have to do is experiment until you find your sweet spot.

If you’re here to read about the optional RBA base, I’m sorry to report that I didn’t get a chance to try it out. It’s a really small build-deck, and I didn’t even have that thin a wire available to build a suitable coil. I’m sure there are plenty of MTL vapers out there who couldn’t wait to get their hands on this rebuildable base, but I for one will stick with that awesome MTL coil-head.

In terms of flavor, all the coil-heads I tried were pretty good, but I will say that the 0.4Ω one was my favorite for DL, simply because I enjoy a warmer vape. But overall, the MTL coil-head was the clear winner. As far as pod mod MTL options go, this thing is probably the best one I have ever tried, and I totally recommend it.

Conclusion

The Smoant Santi didn’t make a great first impression on me, due to the lack of a backup coil-head included in the kit, but it managed to grow on me thanks to its slick and clever design, great build-quality, and, above all, its impressive performance. Granted, you need to buy the two other coil-heads available to truly unleash the true potential of the Santi, but if you do decide to invest, you’ll be glad you did. I especially recommend you try the MTL coil-head, if you’re into that style of vaping. It’s too bad it’s not a part of the kit, though…

I honestly wish that this thing had been launched around the same time as the original VooPoo Vinci, as some people have already moved on to newer styles of pod mods, which is a shame, because they’ll be missing out on a really great vaping device.

The Smoant Santi kit was sent to me directly by Smoant, for the purpose of this review.