I have been looking forward to getting my hands on the Uwell Caliburn GZ2 – and here it is – in my hand!!
This fits into the “G” range of Caliburn’s which include the Caliburn G, G2, GK2 plus the Caliburn Tenet.
What To Expect From The Uwell Caliburn GZ2…
The Caliburn G platform devices share many features including coil compatibility.
The GZ2 is compatible with the existing G and G2 coils including the 0.8ohm, 1ohm and 1.2ohm also found in the rest of the “G” range. You get the 0.8ohm and 1.2ohm coils included in the kit.
On the base of the pod is the airflow adjustment wheel, it looks pretty basic but having loved the Caliburn Tenet I can assure you it works well.
The pod will hold up to 2ml of your own e-liquid and you snap off the mouthpiece to access the fill port.
The chunky “Zega” shape is a new addition to the Caliburn Bar and Square (KoKo) bodied devices but it does mean the battery capacity is increased to 850mAh.
USB Type C charging is provided with a quick 2A charge rate.
A Sexy “TRON Style” RGB LED indicator is located on the side and it is animated to display the current battery charge and fault conditions. Plus you get vibration warnings!
For simplicity this is an “auto draw” device – where you simply inhale on the mouthpiece to activate the firing.
There are 6 colour options to choose from: Black, Silver, Red, Purple, Blue & Black and Orange & Black.
Kit Includes
- Uwell Caliburn GZ2 device
- Caliburn G2 empty pod
- UN2 Meshed 0.8ohm Caliburn G coil
- UN2 Meshed 1.2ohm Caliburn G2 coil
- USB Type C cable
- User manual
Uwell Caliburn GZ2 Specs
- Size: 28.9×22.9×72.5mm
- Battery: 850mAh (internal)
- Display: RGB indicator light
- Output: 17W max
- Type C USB charging – 2A charge rate
- Resistance range:Â Not specified
- Capacity: 2ml
- Coils: Compatible with Caliburn G / G2 coils
- Top fill
- Adjustable airflow
- Auto draw activation
Thank you to Vape Club for sending this over for review! I will report back honestly on my findings with the device in my possession!
Uwell Caliburn GZ2 Design and Build Quality
I received this in the Black version – which unfortunately is the worst colour to try to photograph and it does show up the finger prints!
This is well packaged with a plastic inner tray that holds the device, spare coil and USB cable. Remove the tray to access the instruction manual.
Everything arrived in pristine condition and I am pleased to see an isolator sticker on the base of pod which is sat in the mod. This prevents accidental firing in transit or before e-liquid has been added to the pod.
The instruction manual is brilliant and tells you everything you need to know. Sadly there is not an online version as yet.
Uwell Caliburn GZ2 Mod
This is surprisingly small and has been released at the same time as its sibling the AZ3. You can see them both together in my hand in the image below!
The body is a cuboid design which allows it to squeeze in the larger battery.
On either side of the device is the LED indicator, this is animated and will pulse and display different colours depending on the device status.
Alongside the LED half of each side has a textured surface to aid grip.
The Caliburn logo is embossed on one side and you will also find the pin hole airflow inlet.
The front of the device has the “Zega” logo etched in and the e-liquid viewing window.
As the window is only open on 1 side it can be a bit too dark to see your e-liquid level sadly. But a bit of tilting and aiming at a light source can help.
On the rear of the device the “Uwell” logo is etched in and at the top of that side is a large hook for use with a Lanyard. As the kit doesn’t include a lanyard this does look a bit ugly.
The flat base allows it to stand up steadily and this is where the USB Type C port lives.
Also on the base you will find all the required legal logos plus the Uwell website address and the slogan “The Mini, The Mighty”.
The top face has a chamfer where the lanyard hook is and it contains the pod port.
Inside the port are 2 spring loaded electrical connectors and the airflow sensor.
I can’t see any retaining magnets and the pod seems to click into position. It is held in super firmly, in fact it can be quite hard to remove the pod!
All in all a compact and well made device!
Caliburn G2 Pod
As this is the same as the pod used in the Caliburn Tenet – I am cheating a bit and copying across this section. There is nothing new to add and these are exactly the same.
I really don’t like the filling system.
As we have found with most of the Caliburn range it has that horrible “snap off” mouthpiece filling design.
I struggle with my hands as I have joint problems and find it absolutely impossible to simply “snap off” the mouthpiece.
I resort to biting the bloody thing whilst twisting and tilting the mod to get to fill it.
A lot of people find they have no problem and admittedly it does get looser over time, but it ends up looking like my mouthpiece has been through a lawnmower.
Once the mouthpiece is removed you will see 3 ports. The centre port is the vapour path – never add e-liquid here. The Red port is the filling port with a valve – you will need to push your bottle nozzle right into the valve to get it to open. The fill port is around 4mm in diameter so you may need to stick to thinner bottle nozzles.
On the opposite side to the fill port is the air vent hole. This makes refilling so much easier as trapped air can escape preventing an air lock where e-liquid can spew out.
The mouthpiece is Black but the rest of the pod is crystal clear.
You simply push the coil into the base – just make sure the straight edge on the coil base aligns with the straight edge on the pod. Also I love the fact that the coil resistance and recommended power levels are clearly marked on the base of the coil – much easier to see!
A tiny Red coloured wheel takes care of airflow adjustment. Thankfully with it being Red you can see the airflow slot in the wheel increasing or decreasing as you rotate it so you can see the amount of airflow resistance to expect.
So yeah apart from the filling this is a great pod.
Sadly after a few refills and my mouthpiece looking like a Crocodile had been chomping on it I found it came off too easily. If I wanted to remove the pod to check the e-liquid level I was struggling as just the mouthpiece would come off on its own.
Uwell Caliburn GZ2 Quick Start Guide
The 0.8ohm coil is already installed but you will need to fill the pod and remove the isolator sticker from the base to get it to work.
Other than the airflow, there are no adjustments, simply fill and charge and away you go!
Basic Operation
- Power On/Off = There is no ON/OFF function
- Vaping = Just inhale on the mouthpiece to trigger the auto fire system, the LED on the side will light up when vaping.
- Battery indicator = When vaping, the first colour you see of the LED (for about 1 second), displays the remaining battery charge, after this it goes into a multi-colour light pattern. Green = over 60%, Blue = 30-60% and Red = less than 30%. The Red LED will flash 10 times when the device needs charging.
- Battery indicator when charging = As above but the Green LED will stay lit (not pulsing) and device will vibrate when fully charged.
- Vibration alert = The device will vibrate when pod is inserted / removed, when the battery is low, when it is fully charged and for fault alerts.
Protections
- Low Battery: LED flashes Red 10 times, vibrates twice and the device will stop working, get it charged to continue vaping.
- Short circuit: LED flashes Red 3 times and will vibrate 4 times. The device will stop working. Clean the contacts, replace coil.
- Over time protection: If you vape for longer than 8 seconds, the LED will flash 5 times and it will vibrate twice and the firing will cut out. Simply restart vaping as normal.
- Open circuit: LED will flash 3 times in Blue and it will vibrate twice and cut out. Clean the contacts, replace coil.
- Pod insertion / removal: the device will vibrate and the LED will light up to indicate the current battery level.
How To Charge The Battery
The charging rate is specified as 2A.
- Using a USB type C cable, connect the small end into the USB port on the mod.
- Connect the large end of the cable into a suitable USB outlet.
- The LED will cycle through the colours and will stay on solid Green, plus the motor will vibrate once to show it is fully charged.
The charging time for me using a mains charging plug was around 40 to 45 minutes which is great.
How To Fill the Pod
- Remove the pod from the mod.
- “Snap off” the mouthpiece by pushing it from the side. Easier said than done. I found I had to bite the mouthpiece whilst tilting the device to remove it. This does get slightly easier after a few refills.
- Add e-liquid to the Red coloured port. This has a valve so you will need to insert the bottle nozzle into the port.
- Replace the pod in the mod.
How To Remove / Replace The Coil
It is worth trying to wait until the pod is empty as it is a messy business. If you can’t avoid removing the coil with e-liquid in the pod, just make sure to have plenty of absorbent stuff around!
- Remove the pod from the mod.
- The existing coil will just pull out from the base.
- Push a new coil into the base making sure the flat edge on the coil aligns with the flat edge on the pod.
- Push the coil in fully.
- Fill the pod and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes.
- Install the pod into the mod.
How Does the Uwell Caliburn GZ2 Perform?
I mix my own e-liquid using the IVG Bubblegum Concentrate to 20%. I add this to 50% VG and 50% PG base liquid. This is the ideal ratio of VG/PG for a low powered pod kit.
The flavour ratio I use is quite high, which can sometimes be a coil killer, but I love a lot of flavour!
I add nic salt to approx 6mg strength.
If any of these terms are over your head – have a read of our handy guides below!
- MTL V DTL V RDL – A Guide To Vape Styles
- VG and PG in E-liquid – all you need to know
- Beginners guide to E-liquid
- Nic Salt E-liquid
0.8ohm Caliburn G Coil
This was the first coil I tried because – a) it was already installed and b) it was my favourite on the Tenet kit!
It really is a great coil, I am an MTL vaper and with the airflow half closed I got a perfect MTL restriction and you could also open the airflow to satisfy any RDL vapers.
The flavour is exactly as you would expect from Uwell – clean, bright and vibrant.
However there is slightly more vapour than you would expect from a low power kit!
10 refills in and the flavour is exactly the same, it hasn’t decreased at all.
The Uwell Caliburn GZ2 has a 17W maximum output whereas the Tenet was 16W, I do feel this coil performed slightly better in the Tenet. I am not sure why – is the extra 1W slightly above the optimum power level? The vapour can become quite hot on your tongue at about 3 seconds of vaping.
To double check if I am correct in this theory or if I am just being nostalgic for the Tenet, I tried the GZ2 pod in there!
(Note – the above image shows the GZ2 next to the Caliburn Tenet – would you believe the smaller device has 100mAh bigger battery capacity!)
It was me being a nostalgic ninny as the vaping experience is pretty much the same with the same pod and coil on both kits! I was right though in one way as the vapour is slightly hotter on the GZ2 but there is no difference in flavour or airflow.
Oh but the fact you can see the e-liquid level clearly on the Tenet was a bonus!
1.2ohm Caliburn G2 Coil
This coil is the lower powered of the two and is designed for those who want higher nicotine strengths or generally a more mellow vape experience.
There is a lovely flavour which is very smooth with standard e-liquid, but there is an absence of a meaningful throat hit.
I would suggest patience as it does take 1 or 2 pod fulls for the flavour to kick in.
But use some higher strength nic salts (>10mg) especially those that replicate the flavour of disposable vapes – and this will come alive.
If you generally use less than 10mg nicotine strengths you will find this coil pretty underwhelming, I would suggest the 0.8ohm is more for you.
I found I was taking very long inhales with this coil, which might impact any increase in battery life from the lower power!
After 11 fills the flavour was still going strong!
Airflow
Using a scale of 0=fully closed – no air coming through up to 10=fully open, like breathing fresh air.
For me around the half closed setting was my preference which was around 2.5-3 on the airflow scale.
You can adjust from fully closed (0) to fully open which is around 5 to 6 – on both coils.
Mod Performance
This performed well – I only noticed a slight drop in power when the LED was Red and the last few puffs before the device conked out.
The auto draw activation was perfect regardless of which airflow setting you use. Some devices struggle on the most open airflow settings but this had no issues at all.
I love the Vibrate feature – especially for reviewing when you need to time how long a device takes to charge! I often forget to keep checking, but with the GZ2 a handy little buzz let me know straight away it was charged!
Leaks
Although no actual leaks as such, the outside of the pod often had a thin mist of e-liquid. I think this may be due to slight over filling or e-liquid popping out of the vent port when filling.
Battery Life
This is always variable and will depend on the coil resistance, your own vaping style, length of inhales and sometimes even the nicotine strength will impact how often you vape.
But to give you a guide…
With the 0.8ohm coil I got between 6 to 7.5 hours – around 3 refills per charge.
With the 1.2ohm coil I got between 6.5 and 8.5 hours – again roughly 3 fills per charge – but remember I was taking much longer inhales on this coil.
Pros
- Extremely small and light
- Increased battery capacity over previous models
- 2A quick charging
- Excellent build quality
- Great instructions
- Adjustable airflow is effective and wide ranging from tight MTL to quite loose RDL.
- Quick reliable auto draw
- 2 different coils included in kit
- Compatible with all of the “G” coils
- Vibrate alert is useful – especially for those with sight issues
- 0.8ohm coil a great performer
- Simple to use (apart from when filling!)
Cons
- Pod compartment was a bit dark which made e-liquid viewing difficult
- I really dislike the snap off mouthpiece for filling
- After a while the mouthpiece became too loose and would come off when trying to pull the pod out to check e-liquid level
- The battery level colour only displays for one second whilst vaping then it cycles into the multicolour light display – so blink and you will miss it
- Lanyard hook is a bit ugly
- USB cable is a bit too short to be useful – but I applaud Uwell for including one
Uwell Caliburn GZ2 Final Review Verdict
This is surprisingly compact considering the features and the battery capacity!
It is so well made apart from the mouthpiece.
It is super simple to use apart from the yukky snap off mouthpiece for filling which has caused a few marks to drop. Also after being opened many times it becomes loose which makes it awkward to lift the pod out as all you get it a handful of mouthpiece. It is worth saying though you can get replacement mouthpiece (try ebay) or empty complete pod for a decent price.
Also I am not sure if this is a “pro” or a “con” – but the pod is held in extremely firmly. Ideal for knowing it won’t simply fall out, but a pain in the Bum when you have to keep trying to remove it to check e-liquid levels.
The LED light show only displays the battery charge colour for about 1 second and then cycles through the pretty colours – it is easy to miss. Plus the e-liquid viewing window is a bit too dark and the lanyard hook spoils the sleek appearance.
If you bought this kit though, you wouldn’t be disappointed as the quality of the vape experience is great.
This is a worthy addition to the Caliburn G range, mainly due to the increase in battery size. That has always been my disappointment with all of the Caliburn devices, that I wished the battery was bigger!
Sounds like Uwell listened to my plea!
