Oukitel Bison Pod Kit Review – Could Do Better Really…

The Oukitel Bison Pod Kit really has taken me by surprise!

I usually write previews for all the new vape gear coming out and I totally missed this kit!

Oukitel who were founded in 2007 in Shenzhen China (vape capital!) seem to mainly produce mobile phones but their website does have a “Vape Series” menu!

The Bison does look a lot like other “box pod” kits on the market but there are a few features which I have not seen on other kits yet…

What Can We Expect From The Oukitel Bison Kit?

So the Bison is a small pod mod device, in the shape of a little box – like all the others right now such as the Orion Q, Trinity Alpha and Geekvape Frenzy.

These are designed to be low power kits which are easy to use. As they only output a small amount of power the batteries can be smaller making them much more pocket friendly and appealing to people for an “out and about” device.

The Bison consists of two main components the body (or mod or battery) and the pod (or tank).

The body conceals a decent capacity 1000mAh battery – which is similar to other devices in this sector and will output between 10 and 30W.

There are 3 power modes to choose from depending on which coil you are using.

Also you get a nice little HD LED screen which a lot of pod mods don’t have.

The e-liquid and heating element (coil) live in the pod part of the device. You can refill the pod with 2ml of your own e-liquid through the top fill cap.

There are two coil options for the kit – both included too!

• 1.2ohm Ceramic coil – for Nic Salt and CBD modes and liquids. More for MTL vapers
• 0.6ohm steel mesh coil – for power mode and would be better with lower nicotine higher VG e-liquid.

We tell you more in the Guide to MTL and DTL vaping styles…

There are 3 versions to choose from – Prism Rainbow, Bright Black and Prism Gold.

I received the Oukitel Bison Kit free of charge for review purposes (Thanks You Vaporl) but as always I will report back honestly on my findings!

What’s In The Box

• Oukitel Bison battery
• Bison Pod
• USB cable
• Lanyard
• 1×1.2ohm ceramic coil
• 1×0.6ohm mesh coil
• User manual

Oukitel Bison Features

• Size: 93x38x15mm
• Battery: 1000mAh internal
• E-liquid capacity: 2ml refillable
• Coils: Replaceable
• 3 power modes – Nic Salt, CBD and Power (Variable Wattage)
• Display: HD LED screen
• Output: 10-30W
• Top refill cap
• Fast recharge
• Push in / pull out coils

Build Quality & Design

I received 3 Oukitel Bison kits in the Prism Rainbow versions!

First of all in the box there was a really strong plastic smell, gave me a headache and at times the actual kit smelt of this smell too. Hard to describe but think of new vinyl and the smell that gives off and this is similar. I had to put the boxes in a drawer as the smell drove me mad.

All 3 boxes smelt the same and I think it is the foam padding in the box – it really stinks and like I said you can smell it on the device too.

The packaging otherwise was great with 2 coils included too.

Plus you get a handy little lanyard which fits nicely on the device.

Device

One of the first things I noticed was the finish on the resin panel on the front. You can see the machining marks, like where the resin was sliced.

It does appear to be real resin panels though and the feel and look of them are lovely. The back panel has been sliced neatly but the front panel has machining marks on.

The other two devices I received in the same colour had a much better finish on the panels so it was just the one which had a rough front panel.

The metal body on my version is a rainbow pattern and the side panels have chamfers so you don’t have any sharp edges which is a nice thought.

The pod simply slides into the top and will only fit one way around due to guide tabs on the pod and device. It can be quite stiff to pull out but stays in firmly during use.

On top of the device where the pod sits are the contacts which are spring loaded and set in a metal plate. This plate was quite dirty on the device I got and I had to wipe it over as the resistance kept reading weirdly. It was almost a chalky white substance.

Again the other 2 kits were not as bad only the first kit seemed to have this issue.

Button Rattle

However, the 2nd kit the fire button rattle was really bad! It is very noticeable on the kits anyway but one kit in particular was very rattly.

The fire button has a nice textured finish and apart from rattling responds well to firing and mode changing operations.

The base has 10 great ventilation holes and the required legal logos.

Chirpy

When I first started using the Bison I thought the little noises were the rattle from the fire button – which does rattle when you move the mod about.

However it turns out this makes little electrical chirpy noises. Mainly after firing for a few seconds.

I will try to record it. I was sent 3 devices altogether and it has worried me a bit as it is definitely an electrical circuit noise rather than a physical rattle or clonk.

I fired up the other kits with a new pod and new coil and they were exactly the same.

The ticking noise stops when the screen goes black, approximately 30 seconds after you last pressed fire. So I’m wondering if it’s some sort of timer for the screen to stay lit up?

Also looking online I have seen people say this can be a chip checking resistance regularly.

Whatever it is – it shouldn’t be doing this surely?

Does the device have an overheat protection? Nothing in instructions or website about it. I wonder if as it is warm from vaping the chip is checking resistance to make sure it is within limits and therefore not “over temperature”?

I am of course only guessing as I am not a specialist in electronics and know nothing about the chip used in the Bison.

Screen

On the front of the device is the screen which is clear and bright and shows you the battery level in both graphic and text form, the power mode, resistance, voltage (when you press fire) and the seconds you have been vaping for.

Pod

Although this is a dark colour the view of the liquid isn’t too bad.

On top of the pod is the drip tip which I haven’t been able to remove.

There is a tiny screw cap which you remove to access the fill port. It is really small and could be lost very easily. Also it can be a pain to screw on sometimes as it is hard to grip.

The slide fill cap on the Smok Trinity Alpha was a better design I thought.

I did think initially that the wonderful Smok Nord range of coils may fit this as to be honest they look pretty much the same!

However the shape of the base of the coil means they are not interchangeable sadly!

Airflow

There is no airflow adjustment on the Oukitel Bison which is a shame. I do think a simple airflow adjustment perhaps just even on the drip tip like the Orion Q would be a nice touch.

With the 0.6ohm mesh coil the airflow is quite open. Very similar to the Smok Trinity Alpha.

Quick Set-up Guide

The kit arrives with no coils installed so make sure to install a coil, fill the pod with liquid and charge up.

I will talk you through all these steps below!

Basic operation

• Turn On/Off = 5 quick presses of the fire button
• To vape = press fire button

Battery capacity remaining

The battery capacity remaining is shown on the screen as a diagram and also a percentage!

Power Modes

So you can change the power output on this device but it does depend on what coil you have installed.

With the 0.6ohm Coil – Power Modes

Press the fire button 3 times and the output mode on the screen will flash.

Two quick presses on the fire button will select the next power level and keep doing this to cycle through all the options – they are as follows:

• 10W
• 15W
• 20W
• 25W
• 30W

The cycle will return back to 10W. Also if you do a single fire button press that will exit the adjustment mode – simply do 3 presses again to go back into adjustment mode.

1.2ohm Coil – Nic Salt / CBD Modes

With this coil installed you can only choose from two power modes – the procedure is the same as switching power modes with the other coil but you will only get these two options:

• Nic Salt – apparently for Nicotine Salt e-liquid – surprisingly
• CBD – for use with CBD e-liquid.

Now looking on the Voltage output when you press fire in both these modes you get the same power output. So I am not sure what the actual difference is between them. It might be one mode heats up quicker perhaps?

Protections

• No pod connected or short circuit = the screen will display “no atomiser”.
• 10 second maximum fire time = “over time” is displayed on the screen and the fire will cut out.
• Low voltage protection = screen will display “low battery” warning and will not fire – time to re-charge!

How To Change The Bison Pod

• The pod simply pulls out from the battery.
• To install you can only push the pod in one way around. There are tabs on the side of the pod to prevent you installing it incorrectly.

How To Fill The Oukitel Bison Pod

• Remove the teeny weeny screw cap on the top of the pod.
• Watch through the side of the pod and squeeze e-liquid into the fill port.
• Replace the fill port when finished. Oh and of course don’t lose the bloody tiny filling cap!

How To Change The Bison Coil

• Remove the pod from the device.
• Tip the pod upside down and use a fingernail or similar to prise the coil out.
• Push a new coil into the pod making sure it is aligned with the shape of the pod or it will not go in.
• Fill the pod as described above and leave to stand for a good 10 minutes so that the coil wicking absorbs the liquid.

How To Charge The Battery

• Using the included USB cable install the small end into the port on the side of the device.
• Install the large end into a suitable USB outlet.
• The charging progress is displayed on the screen with the charging icon.

I found it took just over an hour (1 hour 20 mins) for the Oukitel Bison to charge on my old 0.5A PC USB ports.

Also I did find the screen would go out when charging so I had to keep pressing the fire button to check the progress. When it said 100% battery charge I removed from charge.

There was no other indication to tell you it was fully charged.

How Does the Oukitel Bison Kit Perform?

As you get different coil options in the kit which are really designed for different e-liquid types I selected my e-liquid accordingly.

For the 0.6ohm Mesh Coil I used a 70% VG IVG Bubblegum e-liquid with 6mg nicotine strength.

For the 1.2ohm ceramic coil I used a 50%VG / 50%PG Apollo Nicotine Salt liquid with a 20mg nicotine strength.

Further reading:

• Guide to Nicotine salts
• VG and PG in e-liquid

0.6ohm Steel Mesh Coil

I used this on all the power settings from 10W upwards.

Even at 10W the flavour and vapour is excellent. 15-20W the vape just gets a bit warmer and still good flavour.

At 25W-30W this started to feel like I could get some dry hits if I pushed this too far by chain vaping or long inhales.

I found this for me was happiest at 15W to be honest! At times this still feels a bit “dry”.

There is plenty of vapour and I didn’t fully get a dry hit but I think it could get pretty close with heavy vaping.

I will say the airflow is very very open which is a shame as it can dull the flavour slightly but the cloudzzz bro are immense! This device feels way more powerful than you would expect!

0.6ohm coil conclusion: This is a great coil – wish the airflow could be reduced slightly to give a bit more flavour. This feels really powerful and over 25W almost too powerful for 70% VG e-liquid to keep up with the wicking.

1.2ohm Ceramic Coil

So there are only two power options for this coil – Nic Salt mode or CBD Mode.

Both modes seem to taste exactly the same with the screen displaying 3.05V outputs for both.

I can only assume there must be some kind of difference in ramp up time – I have no idea as they seem exactly the same.

Such a shame you can’t choose actual wattages for this coil like you can with the 0.6ohm – I think that would be more useful.

Anyway the airflow seems a lot more restricted with this coil and is comparable with the airflow from my Smok Nord with the 1.4ohm coil. You can’t adjust the airflow so thankfully it is pretty good for Mouth to Lung (MTL) vapers on this coil.

Flavour wise in either mode this is pretty good, very smooth but not as much throat hit as I get from some devices with the same e-liquid.

However with repeated vaping – even for only a few seconds at a time this was getting close to dry hits. There was a faint burnt flavour. I am using 50%VG e-liquid so this really should be thin enough to wick properly.

The dry hit situation was the same in both modes sadly. So apart from the odd vape after it has been standing a while the MTL coil experience isn’t great.

1.2ohm coil conclusion: Poor really – flavour ok for odd vapes after standing but dry hits if you vape in a row. Not much use if you are a heavy vaper using high nicotine liquid to keep you away from ciggies.

I have found a few ceramic coils lately which taste burnt easily and perhaps Oukitel should go for a regular wire coil for this option. Or even better make this compatible with the Nord coils 🙂

Battery Life

The coil installed, power levels and your own vaping habits will impact the battery life.

However to give you a guide using the 0.6ohm coil at 15W I got 2.5 hours of vaping.

I would have tested the battery life with the 1.2ohm coil but it was pointless as regular vaping was causing dry hits!

Pros

• Handsome looking kit
• Top fill
• Can replace just the coil without discarding the whole pod
• Multiple power levels
• 0.6ohm mesh coil kicked out the flavour and clouds!
• Clear screen with plenty of info
• No leaks from pod

Cons

• Funny smell in box which seemed to stay on the device!
• Ticking noise from all 3 devices after firing
• The resin panel on one of the kits had a poor finish
• Changing modes with just one button can be a bit long winded
• Button rattle on all 3 devices – one being very bad
• One kit had dirty contacts on top of battery
• No airflow adjustment
• Pod did get very hot when vaping
• 0.6ohm coil very thirsty – 3 refills to one battery charge!
• Battery life pretty poor
• Only 2 modes for 1.2ohm coil – both seem exactly the same – surely variable wattage would be better?
• 1.2ohm coil seemed to give dry hits even with thin 50%VG e-liquid when vaping regularly?

Final Review Verdict

When reviewing this I had to bear in mind this is quite an inexpensive device. This does not command the same price as for instance the Lost Vape Orion Q or indeed the Orion DNA Go.

But saying that I have seen the Smoant Pasito and Geekvape Frenzy both at similar prices and I have to say both of those are far higher quality.

There are some issues with the build quality and the weird noises were a bit worrying for me.

Where the Oukitel Bison does shine is with the power you get. This feels way more powerful than its rivals with the 0.6ohm mesh coil. Almost to the point of avoiding using it at the higher power levels as it felt a bit too much for the coil and liquid I was using.

This was very apparent with the 1.2ohm coil which simply couldn’t keep up with wicking even thin e-liquid.

I do wonder also if this is kicking out more power than the screen says it is. The battery life wasn’t great really and when you consider the Smoant Pasito with a 1100mAh battery (100mAh more) was getting 5 hours of battery life at 25W. I got 2.5 hours at only 15W.

So in conclusion – how do I feel about the Oukitel Bison?

Performance wise = it pleasantly surprised me. Build quality wise = could do better really.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.