Innokin Endura M18 Pod Kit Review – The Endura Evolved

Well, well, well. Look at what we have here, the Innokin Endura M18 that takes it’s name from what is probably the most popular and most sold MTL Kit in the world.

If you do not recognise the name, I’m sure you’ll recognise the devices.

The Endura range launched in 2015 and has been a great seller ever since. The first Endura kit was the Endura T18, then came the rest (T18II, T18II Mini, T20, T20-S, T22), although there is differences between the kits, they are all one of a kind…

Until now.

The Innokin Endura M18 is the first pod system in the Endura range.

However, it is important to know, it is not the first pod system from Innokin. In fact they have quite a few, the ones that spring to mind are the EQ, I.O, Sceptre and Glim.

Before we move on, let’s look at Innokin’s bragging rights…

Innokin is one of the oldest brands that we know today. It was founded in 2011 and operates a 10,000m² factory in Shenzhen, China, with after sales services and repair centers in the USA and the UK.

It’s also proud owners of 35 Invention Patents, 122 Design Patents, 286 Patents for Utility Models and 131 Processing Patents.

It’s clear that Innokin is capable of excellence, let’s see if they achieved it… again.

What Can We Expect From The Innokin Endura M18?

Rightly so, Innokin has branded the M18 as “the next generation device in the Endura Series“.

Innokin has adopted the pod rotation adjustable airflow control system, which consists of removing the pod and turning it 180 degrees to alternate between tight or open draw.

The M18 fires at 10W but it also has a ‘boost mode‘ which turns the wattage upto 13.5w. It has 3 LED lights to indicate the battery level and an additional LED to indicate boost or normal mode.

It has a 700mAh battery and takes a USB-C charger with a 0.8A (800mAh) charge rating.

Innokin has brought out a new coil for the M18 and despite it’s different shape and appearance, they have found an interesting way to make them compatible with the T18E, T22E, T18II and T18 Mini coils. The table above was made by Innokin and tells you which coils are and are not compatible.

Harley’s Video Review Of the Innokin Endura M18

 

Inside The Box

• Endura M18 Pod Kit (1.6ohm coil pre-installed)
• 1 x Endura M18 1.6ohm Coil
• 1 x Pod Base
• 1 x USB-C Cable
• Quick Start Guide
• Saftey Booklet

In the spirit of full disclosure, Innokin also sent me some other stuff (coils and merch), but as always I will review the kit honestly and it will be unbiased.

Specs & Features

• Size: 86.5 x 30.2 x 17mm
• Pod Capacity: 2ml/4ml
• Power Output: 10W / 13.5W
• Battery: 700mAh
• Charging: USB-C 0.8A
• 3 light battery indicator
• Puff activation
• Adjustable Airflow (2 settings)
• Replaceable Coils
• Side Fill

Build & Design Quality

The Innokin Endura M18 Kit comes in 6 different colours, and I was fortunate enough to receive the Silver One.

There is also a very handsome Limited Edition version:

The Innokin Endura M18 Kit – Battery

Although the body of the Innokin Endura M18 looks a little bit square, the base shape of the device is oval with flat sides which makes it fit the hand amazingly well.

I’m not sure what material Innokin has used to make the body, but it’s metal (I would guess at Zinc Alloy) and it feels really great. It has a Satin / Matte finish leaving it nice and smooth but not slippery smooth.

It feels fairly durable, but no more durable than it needs to be.

There is a generous see hole on the front and back of the kit, to allow us to easily see the liquid level. The holes actually go all the way to the bottom of the pods inside, which allows us to see every last drop of liquid.

The bottom of the front, has the “ENDURA M18” embossed just above the 4 LED Indicators.

In the same place on the back is the CE and WEEE Logos which are just above the Innokin logo. All of those are embossed which makes it quite surprising that Innokin decided to put the battery information on without embossing it.

The biggest, if not only, design aspect that I don’t like about this design, is the USB-C location, which is on the bottom. However putting the USB-C port of the side of the device would have drastically changed the aesthetics of the device.

We’ll talk more about the USB-C later.

The Innokin Endura M18 Button

In simplistic fashion the M18 only has 1 button and it is located on one of the sides at the bottom.

It’s a black square button and instead of sticking out its ever so slightly set in to the device, which is handy to stop accidental presses.

Usually the buttons location and style would be a bit of a burden, but we have to remember that the Innokin Endura M18 is auto-fire only, so the button is purely to change the power settings, making it more than ample.

The Innokin Endura M18 Airflow

On the opposite side, half way up the device is the airflow hole that measures about 1 x 2mm. It’s surprising how much air gets through such a small hole.

It is capable of pulling a very loose MTL draw, which is loose enough to use as a very restrictive Direct To Lung (although the device isn’t designed to be used as DTL).

Fear not though! If you are looking for a more restrictive draw, all you have to do is remove the pod, turn it around 180 degrees and put it back on.

With the airflow set to the more restrictive setting, it’s a little bit less restrictive than a cigarette but it does create a nice restrictive draw.

Innokin Endura M18 – LED Indicators

The Innokin Endura M18 Kit has 4 LED Indicators. The first 3 are white and they signify the battery level.

• One light = Less than 20%
• Two lights = Between 20% and 60%
• Three lights = More than 60%

This is a simple and great way of showing the battery level and it does seem to be fairly accurate, I just wish they has made the last 1 light to represent Less than 30%, instead of 20%, to give you that little bit of extra warning.

The 4th light displays either Green or Purple to represent the power setting.

• Green = 10W
• Purple = 13.5w

The Innokin Endura M18 Pod Connection

The pod connection is fairly deep and is a snug fit.

In the bottom of the connection port is 2 small (but sufficient) magnets in the middle is the negative and positive terminals.

Quite interestingly, to make the coils compatible with the other Endura kits, Innokin has set the positive pin lower into the port – it’s simple and elegant, I like it.

The only thing I don’t really like about the kit is because the port is so deep, it will make it that bit harder to clean the bottom of the port. Having said that, it’s not that much of a big deal, I can reach the bottom of the port with my finger.

However there is a vulnerability here. The top of the port doesn’t bend easily, but it will bend.

So my advice would be to never leave it laying around without a pod in it, just to be safe.

The Innokin Endura M18 Pod

The Innokin Endura M18 pod base comes off, I suppose it’s just one of the many ways Innokin has designed the pod to be able to be backwards compatible with coils.

But having the twist the base of the pod off to change the coil is rather reminiscent of changing the coil in a Endura tank, in which you have to screw the base off.

The pod has a lip that runs around the top, that covers the edges of the port, which completes the smoothness of the kit overall.

As you would expect, the mouth piece is built in and is a long oval shape, that measures 18 x 7.5mm at the tip and 12mm tall, I think it fits the lips quite nicely.

Innokin Endura M18 Quick Start Guide

Filling The Endura M18 Pod

• Remove the pod from the kit
• Life the black tab on the side of the pod
• Add E-liquid
• Close tab securely
• If using a new coil allow to soak for 5 minutes

Changing The Coil

• Remove Pod from device
• Twist then remove base of pod
• Pull coil out of pod
• Insert new coil
• Reapply base and twist to secure
• Fill with E-liquid and leave for 5 minutes

Operation

• Turn on/off = Press button 3 times
• Change Power Setting = Turn device off, hold button for 2 seconds, and then press for 2 seconds again to loop between green and purple. Turn device back on.

How Does The Innokin Endura M18 Perform?

Flavour Production

First of all, I’m using Got Salt Peachy Promise, which is a peach and passion fruit goodness. As you probably guessed it’s a 50/50 Salt Nic..

Let’s break this down and make sure we cover everything.

With the green light (10W) and airflow fully open, we get a fair flavour, it isn’t huge, but it’s satisfyingly prominent.

Turning the airflow down to restrictive, lessens the flavour a fair bit, you can still taste it, but it isn’t all that impressive.

Lets kick it into boost mode (purple light /13.5W), still with the airflow turned down, bumps the flavour up a bit, but it seems to be prominent in one puff then less prominent in the next. All in all it’s OK, but I’m not impressed.

Next is the last option and it’s the option I’m looking forward to the most, purple (13.5W) with airflow fully open.

And there it is, awesome flavour production. It’s nice and condensed at the back of the throat on the inhale, and then it rises through the back of the mouth on the exhale.

As a Direct To Lung lover, I’m not going to say it’s the best flavour, however I am quite impressed.

Innokin Endura M18 Vapour Production

Though all of the above, the vapour production was spot on, in my opinion.

Even at 10W the vapour feels smooth and thick on the inhale but is fairly discrete on the exhale.

It can be likened to the amount of smoke from a cigarette

High VG

I spent a full day using the Innokin Endura M18 kit with the Untold Chapter 1 E-liquid, mixed at zero nicotine, 70VG 30PG.

And I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled it. The flavour and vapour output was comparable with the 50/50 nic salts and I didn’t get any dry burning.

However, if you’re looking for a long coil life I would suggest sticking to 50/50 VG/PG e-liquid, purely because all coils last longer with 50/50 by nature.

Battery & Charging

The Innokin Endura M18 has a 700mAh, so firing it as 10W, you can expect 466 x 2 second puffs ( a 2 second puff every other minute for 15 hours.

In boost mode (13.5W) you would expect 345 x 2 second puffs (a 2 second puff every other minute for 11 hours.

I got 12-14 hours out of it on average.

Thanks to the 0.8A charge rating, it should take just under an hour to charge the battery…

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to pin down exactly how long it took, but it definitely took more than 45 minutes and less than 60 minutes to fully charge.

Innokin Endura M18 – Leaking?

I’d like to say there is no leaking, but I don’t think we can ever really say that with a pod.

As I write this there is some juice inside the pod port but I think it’s more due to condensation than anything else, because there is as much on the walls of the pod than there is on the bottom.

Pros

• Decent battery life
• Really nice vapour
• Ok Flavour
• Easy to see e-liquid Level
• Can use high VG
• Good adjustable airflow

Cons

• Charging is OK but could be faster
• Condensation build up

Final Review Verdict

I like it, I really do, it’s simple and easy to use is capable of great flavour and awesome vapour.

It’s hard to say what Innokin could improve on… maybe faster charging? But even that is neither here or there because 1 hour is a decent charge time.

So who is it good for? It’s good for everybody, those of us that are sub-ohm’ers looking for a MTL for when we’re in the office or those of us looking to get off the cigs.

In fact with the disappearance of the original Smok Nord I think I’ll be stocking the Innokin Endura M18 as my recommended Quit Smoking Kit.

Is this a kit you’re interested in buying or are you already using it?

Let me know your thoughts – opinions and any queries you might have in the comments below.