Aspire AVP Review | Premium Feel and Great Performance

Build quality and design

The AVP is one of the best-constructed pod vapes I’ve even used. It is not a heavy vape, but it is heavy enough for its size to feel of high quality and premium. At 73 grams it is a tad lighter than the SMOK Nord, but heavier than the Innokin EQ and the SMOK Novo, two pod vapes that are more or less its size. The front and back of the AVP are carbon fiber-styled and the pod is kept in place by two strong magnets, giving a satisfying feeling when inserted on the battery. Excellent work by Aspire on the build quality front.

The branding is discreet (small font Aspire on the one side, AVP on the other) and the device ships with a nicely designed lanyard that will prevent it from spending the night between the sofa pillows — and you from spending the whole morning checking drawers and pockets. Just note that it takes some time to put the lanyard on, as it has to be secured under a clip that’s hidden at the corner of the battery’s opening.

Getting Started:

First fill the pod through the push-to-fill hole that’s at its bottom. Then connect it with the battery and let it saturate for five minutes. Turn the battery on by clicking on the small button five times. The AVP is draw-activated, so you just have to inhale on the mouthpiece to vape.

If you want to scroll through the three power settings, just press the button two times. Every time you do that the power setting will change and the LED will flash between three colors. Red means that it is operating at the low power setting (8 watts), blue is medium (10 watts) and green is high (12 watts). Not sure why they didn’t go the other way around with the colors (most devices use red for their high setting) but I guess that’s subjective.

Aspire AVP Pods

There are two available pods for the AVP at the moment, one housing a 1.2-ohm nichrome coil, and one with a 1.3-ohm ceramic coil. Note that the black, grey, purple, rainbow and red AVPs come with two pods with the 1.2-ohm nichrome coils, and the red, chrome and lime green AVPs come with one of each type of pod. I received a black unit with two nichrome coil pods — Aspire will send us some pods with the ceramic coil, and this review will be updated as soon as we get them.

I’ll start by saying that the AVP does not have adjustable airflow, so you’re stuck with what the pod gives you (see the performance section). The pods come with a push-to-fill system that works best with unicorn bottles or thin droppers, and certainly won’t fit thicker nozzle glass droppers. I would have liked a plastic bottle included (like the one that came with the Innokin Z-Biip that I am going to be reviewing soon) but that’s not a real deal-breaker.

The pods wicked everything I threw to them, from 50/50 to 80VG. I didn’t have any issues with thicker e-liquid, but I got the best performance out of my 50/50 nic salts.

I’ve gone through seven refills on my first pod, and while flavor is not at the same level as it was on the start, it still works fine. That’s not bad at all and I am very happy with the longevity of the pods.

Performance

As mentioned in the previous section, the AVP doesn’t have adjustable airflow. That’s a bummer, but the fact is that most pod vapes are like that, and out of the ones that actually let you change the airflow, some do it kinda awkwardly (see: the inserts of the Mi-Pod). But how does the standard airflow feel?

The draw I got from the included pods (1.2-ohm nichrome) was a loose MTL. Certainly tighter than the draw of the SMOK Nord, but a tiny bit looser than the Caliburn, and much looser than the Innokin EQ. I’d say it’s very similar to the SMOK Novo, a comfortable MTL that comes with not much of a restriction. In fact, you could even manage a restricted DL hit, although you’ll probably need to slipstream for better results. Note: the lanyard goes through the airflow hole, and it may restrict the airflow a little bit when put on. If it does, it’s only by a smidgen, and I am not even sure I noticed a difference to be honest.

The flavor is really good and the AVP produces warm enough vapor even at its middle power setting to be satisfying as a loose MTL vape. And for an MTL vape, it produces lots of vapor. Pair that with a sum of zero problems like leaking, popping etc. and you will realize why I quickly fell in love with this little thing.

Battery life and charging

The AVP features a 700 mAh battery, which is rather large for the size of the device. Expect to go through a full 2 mL pod at the medium power setting, which may be good for a day if you are using medium to high strength nic salts. Also note that the device provides constant output, which means that performance will stay consistent throughout the discharge.

The LED will light up as you vape, serving as battery indication. A green light means that the battery is over 3.8 volts, a blue light means it is 3.5-3.8 volts and a red light means that the battery is under 3.5 volts. You could still squeeze some puffs out of it with the red light on, but you’ll need to find a power outlet soon.

Aspire claims that the device charges at a 1-amp rate and I timed a full charge at around 50 minutes. Could be faster but it’s not bad considering the capacity of the battery. The device also allows for pass-thru so you can vape on it while it’s charging.

Pros / Cons

• (+) Excellent build quality (feels expensive)
• (+) Comfortable draw
• (+) Produces warm vapor
• (+) Constant output
• (+) Good battery life (especially in low and medium settings)
• (+) Excellent flavor
• (+) Very pocketable
• (+) Nice lanyard design
• (+) Perfect for mid-strength nic salts
• (+) No leaking or spitting

• (-) Airflow is not adjustable
• (-) Can’t empty the pod to change e-liquid
• (-) Can’t fill with thicker glass nozzles

Verdict

The AVP is not a backup vape or yet another underwhelming pod system. It is a great vape, period. There are some nitpicky cons with it but the only one that may be a real con for some is the lack of adjustable airflow. Other than that, there’s not much to complain here. The AVP comes in an excellent form factor, feels premium, produces warm and flavorful vapor, and has a battery that lasts longer than most of its competition.

This has been a pleasant surprise for me, and I can easily recommend it to anyone after a portable vape that performs at a high level. If you don’t mind a loose MTL draw, then you should give this one a hard look.

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Written By: Spyros Papamichail