Elf Bar are back with one of their most ambitious and advanced pod systems yet- the Elf Bar ELFX Ultra!
After making a household name for themselves with the Elf Bar and Lost Mary ranges, Elf Bar have turned their hand to refillable pod systems recently and they have released some excellent ones such as the ELFX and ELFX Mini.
They have also designed an excellent range of e-liquids with the ELFLIQ e-liquid range, formulated to work perfectly with Elf Bar refillable pod systems.
What Can We Expect From The Elf Bar ELFX Ultra?
The ELFX Ultra is Elf Bar’s most advanced pod vape system to date, marking a big departure from the disposables and pre-filled pod systems that helped to build the Elf Bar brand into the unstoppable juggernaut that it is today.
It really is a cutting-edge pod system that balances performance, style and user friendly features that combine to elevate your vaping experience to the next level.
A feature that stands out immediately is the advanced OLED touchscreen display, that offers a modern and interactive experience with smartphone-style touch control, and this can even be customised to personalise your vaping experience further!
There’s even Bluetooth connectivity so you can pair your device to your phone and make use of the Innogate app!
A robust 1500mAh battery powers the ELFX Ultra, which can be recharged in no time at all thanks to the fast charging function, and an adjustable output power range of 5-45W gives you control over the intensity of your vape.
Eco and Turbo modes give you even more flexibility, with the ability to conserve battery or to boost the power easily.
ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods, found on the ELFX and ELFX Mini devices, make a return here and these are powered by QUAQ Dual Mesh coil technology for a rich flavour experience and outstanding pod longevity.
Many thanks to Elf Bar for sending the ELFX Ultra in for review, let’s see what the latest ELFX device has to offer!
And as always, all views are my own…
Kit Contents
With the ELFX Ultra packaging, Elf Bar provide high-end presentation, and the box slides out to reveal on the contents.
Also, on the outer packaging, there is QR code which takes you to the Innogate Smart Insights phone app- more on that to come in the review!
- 1x Elf Bar ELFX Ultra Device
- 1x 0.6ohm Elf Bar ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable Pod
- 1x 0.8ohm Elf Bar ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable Pod
- 1x User Manual
Specifications
- 121.8mm x 26.5mm x 17.6mm dimensions
- Inhale activated and button fire
- Mouth to lung and restricted lung vaping
- 5-45W power output
- 2.4″ OLED Full Touch Screen
- 0.4-1.2ohm resistance range
- 1500mAh battery
- Type-C DC5V/2A fast charging
- Smart Insights App
- Adjustable RGB light effects
- Customisable themes
- Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity
- 2ml Dual Mesh pods
- Compatible with all ELFX Mesh Pods
- Six different colour finishes
Design & Build Quality
The Elf Bar ELFX Ultra is one of the larger pod systems I have encountered, standing taller than my OXVA XLIM Pro 2 DNA for example, and it feels quite weighty as well.
Build quality is top notch here, with smooth rounded edges that make the device comfortable to hold, and a very premium look to it. 
Six different colour finishes are available, with black, blue, green, grey, greyline and pink options.
Most of the front of the device is dominated by a stunning 2.4″ OLED Full Touch screen.
And this is an absolute stunner of a screen, boasting full colour, excellent clarity and smartphone like touchscreen input.
I was really impressed by how snappy and responsive the touchscreen is, registering touch inputs perfectly each and every time, it is also very bright by default however this can be adjusted in the menu settings.
The screen displays the time, battery level, eco/turbo mode options, power output, memory/smart mode, coil resistance and a puff counter, with customisable themes available.
It can be locked by using the power button located to the side of the screen, the power button can also be used to fire the device or disabled if you only want to use auto draw!
Opposite to the power button is the airflow adjustment slider, which gives you full control over the airflow to the coils.
The rear of the device features the ELFX logo, and at the base is a Type-C port used for charging your ELFX Ultra.
ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods connect magnetically to the ELFX Ultra, though there is a bit of wriggle present here when you give the pod a wobble!
These have a TPD-friendly 2ml capacity and utilise Elf Bar’s patented QUAQ dual mesh coil technology, with a side filling port.
Quick Start Guide
How to Fill the Pod
One of the great design features of the ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods is that you don’t need to remove the pod from the device in order to fill it!
The silicon filling port cover is located on the side of the pod, just lift this up in order to expose the filling port.
Next, insert your e-liquid bottle nozzle and fill the pod up fully, before replacing the filling port cover so that e-liquid doesn’t leak back out.
If you are filling a new pod for the first time, wait for five minutes after filling it up, as this allows the cotton in the coils to fully absorb the e-liquid, which helps to prevent scorching of the cotton and prolongs the lifespan of the pod.
With these pods, you can also see exactly how much e-liquid remains in the pod at a glance, making it easy to know when it is time to refill.
Operation
To power the ELFX Ultra on and off, hold down the power button for three seconds, or quick press it five times. Once the device is powered on, the power button can also be pressed to turn the screen on and off.
This is a touchscreen device so settings can be changed and the menu can be navigated via touch inputs!
You can change some settings from the home screen itself. Switching between Eco and Turbo modes is as easy as tapping on the icon. To change the power output, tap on the power level and scroll up and down to find your desired power setting.
You can also switch between smart and memory modes, smart mode will automatically set a power output based on the resistance of the coil, memory mode outputs power based on your own selection.
From the home screen, you can also press and hold on an empty area of the screen to change the theme, and swiping up locks the screen. Once locked, swiping up unlocks the screen.
Swiping down on the home screen gives you quick access to toggle Bluetooth on and off, adjust screen brightness, use the flashlight feature, enable the child lock and lock the screen.
If you swipe left or right on the screen, this will take you into the menu, which has the following features-
- Tapping the circular icon at the top of the menu allows you to change the avatar, set a 5 character nickname, view vaping records and connect to the app.
- ‘Light’ enables you to customise the RGB light functions, turn the RGB lighting off entirely or enable the flashlight. Flashlight just sets the screen to max brightness, it won’t illuminate a whole area for example!
- ‘Theme’ gives you the ability to change the device theme, you can download further themes via the Innogate app.
- ‘Zen’ sets a countdown timer.
- ‘Child Lock’ allows you to set a passcode to lock and unlock the device.
- ‘Settings’ gives you the ability to turn Bluetooth on or off, adjust the screen brightness, set a screen auto lock, enable or disable the screen lighting up when you vape, set the clock, enable or disable power button firing, view the current software version and device certification, change the puff count to a puff timer, reset the puff counter, factory reset the device or shut it down.
Phew, that’s a hell of a lot of features packed in here!
Innogate Smart Insights App
So, a pretty futuristic feature on the ELFX Ultra is the ability to connect your device to the Innogate Smart Insights App!
You can do this by downloading the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, if you scan the QR code on the side of box this will take you straight to it, or search for Innogate in your relevant app store.
There is also another larger QR code inside the box.
After downloading the app, enable Bluetooth in the menu settings and connect the ELFX Ultra to your phone via Bluetooth- yes, the ELFX Ultra has Bluetooth connectivity!
Whilst in the app, tap ‘Add Device’ to search for your ELFX Ultra, once ‘ELFBAR ELFX ULTRA’ appears then tap connect. ‘Pairing Successful’ will confirm that the ELFX Ultra has connected successfully.
Now, you will need to confirm an age verification process and this does involve scanning ID such as a driving licence or passport using your smartphone camera.
You can track your vaping habits and trends on the app, and also set limits on how many puffs you can take daily or even hourly which is handy if you are looking to control how much you vape.
There’s also the ability to customise your device further, and add themes that aren’t already preloaded on the ELFX Ultra device.
A child lock can also be enabled and disabled within the app, which can prevent minors from being able to use the ELFX Ultra.
Charging
The Type-C charging port is located on the base of the ELFX Ultra, you need to plug in a compatible USB-C charging cable and use a suitable power output source.
Thanks to 5V/2A fast charging, this is pretty speedy at charging back up, so you don’t have to wait around long for your ELFX Ultra to charge back up!
How Does The Elf Bar ELFX Ultra Perform?
Elf Bar have stuck with the ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods that were used with the ELFX and ELFX Mini devices, which I’m more than happy with as these are great pods!
You get the 0.6 and 0.8ohm ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods included in the box, which are great to get you going. ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods are also available to purchase separately with resistances of 0.4ohm, 1.0ohm and 1.2ohm.
These pods incorporate QUAQ dual mesh coil technology and have been designed to work best with Elf Bar’s range of ELFLIQ e-liquids, but are also equally excellent with other freebase and nicotine salt based e-liquids too.
Output power can be adjusted from 5-45W in 1W increments, however if you like a high-powered vape then you can only use the 45W maximum setting with the 0.4ohm pod which is sold separately.
If you don’t want to change the output power settings yourself, the device can automatically set a power output for you in smart mode, which detects the resistance of the coil and adjusts the output power accordingly.
in practice, this actually works really well, with the device setting a well-balanced vape!
Flavour
Both the 0.6ohm and the 0.8ohm pods deliver some very intense flavour, with a virtually instantaneous heat up time when you take a puff.
These pods deliver flavour that is up there with the best of them, I was getting all the flavour notes from my e-liquids here!
Eco and Boost modes can change the flavour experience, if you are using Eco mode this will deliver a cooler and slightly less intense vape (but it will prolong battery life), Boost mode offers a warmer and more intense vape at the expense of battery life.
I didn’t find much difference between the two pods in terms of flavour performance, with the 0.6ohm pod offering a slightly warmer vape than the 0.8ohm one, but other than that they are both excellent!
Pod Lifespan
ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable pods are marketed as offering up to 100ml worth of refills before the flavour starts to degrade, in practice this means that you should get almost two weeks of vaping out of a single pod!
This will vary depending on your vaping habits though, and the e-liquids that you vape will impact on pod longevity too- for example e-liquids that are sweetener heavy will degrade your coils quite quickly.
I got just under two weeks worth of vaping out of my pods before I needed to switch them out, which is up there with some of the best pods on the market.
Airflow
Airflow can be easily adjusted by using the airflow adjustment slider on the side of the device, which has a very smooth travel and tends to stay in place once set.
Elf Bar have marketed this device as a mouth to lung kit, but I think they are selling it a bit short there as this is also more than capable of delivering restricted lung hits too with the airflow set to fully open!
It is no slouch in the clouds department either, with some quite impressive vapour production when the airflow is wide open and the power cranked up.
Battery Life
One of my main concerns with a device like this that boasts RGB lighting and a beautifully bright screen is the impact those features have on the battery life.
Thankfully, with the ELFX Ultra, these features don’t seem to impact battery life greatly, though to really maximise battery life you will want to use Eco mode, turn the screen brightness down (or off entirely) and restrict the power output.
When using the ELFX Ultra in Eco Mode, with the screen brightness turned down, you can get well over a day’s worth of vaping out of this.
With Boost Mode active, the output power cranked up and screen brightness set to max, you will struggle to get a full day out of a full charge!
Pros
- Feature rich pod system
- Absolutely delightful large screen with funky themes
- Very responsive touch screen
- Mouth to lung and restricted direct lung vaping
- Plenty of power available
- Lots of customisation options
- Robust build quality
- Top-notch flavour delivery
Cons
- ELFX Dual Mesh pods can be a little ‘spitty’ at times
- Device is a bit weightier than other similar ones
Final Verdict
The ELFX range really shows that Elf Bar are a serious player in the refillable pod system game and the ELFX Ultra shows that they can really mix it with the best of them!
Elf Bar have really gone all out with the ELFX Ultra and I have to say that they have absolutely nailed it here, producing a device that delivers in both the looks and the performance department.
They’ve developed some excellent pods with the ELFX Dual Mesh Refillable Pods, these have excellent flavour and great longevity, with the added bonus of compatibility across all existing ELFX devices, so if you own multiple ELFX products you don’t need different pods for them all.
When it comes to the ELFX Ultra device itself, this packs in all the features you need into a kit that features one of the best looking screens on the market, with a very responsive touch screen, and it is a stunner of a pod system!
Many thanks to Elf Bar for sending the ELFX Ultra in for review! This can be purchased directly from Elf Bar. Link below.
So, what are your thoughts on Elf Bar’s latest pod system? Let us know in the comments below!
