OXVA VPRIME Review: A Brilliant & Versatile RDL/DL Vape

Design & Build Quality

Compared to most of OXVA’s pod vapes, the VPRIME is a chunky little number; shorter than the XLIM Pro 2, but around twice as “fat” and one and a half times as wide. The overall shape makes it very palm-friendly and comfortable to hold, with barely any unrounded edges to be found. It almost feels like a small bar of soap, albeit much less slippery.

The device feels heavy, probably heavier than I expected when I lifted it out of its box. But to me, the weight makes it feel premium (and surely I can’t be the only person who equates weight to quality in electronic devices). It’s actually only 116g, so using it isn’t going to give you wrist-ache, just a nice solid feel in your palm.

The front face houses the fire button, a large and bright digital display, and an LED light strip. On the sides of the vape, approximately in line with the fire button, you’ll find the airflow slider and control buttons for changing the power setting and selecting things on the display menu.

There are eight colors/designs available to choose from, four of which have a leather-like coating to compliment the zinc-alloy body. The other four feature glossy patterns, such as the black carbon-fiber effect version I was sent. The available colors are:

• Sakura Pink
• Blue Leather
• Brown Leather
• Black Leather
• Glorious Gold
• Natural Green
• Auroral Purple
• Black Carbon

Pods

OXVA’s fixed-coil pods are generally pretty good. They produce great flavors, last for a reasonable length of time, and tend to have few problems with leaking. After two weeks of use, I am happy to report that the VPRIME pods (or, more accurately, cartridges) are no different.

The VPRIME kit includes two pods: a 0.2Ω version and a 0.6Ω version. A 0.4Ω version is also available, with a 0.8Ω MTL pod listed as “coming soon”. All versions have a 5ml liquid capacity, which makes sense considering the rate at which 60W can burn through your juice. In TPD countries like the UK where pod capacity is limited to 2ml, users will unfortunately have to put up with refilling more often.

The fixed coils inside all the pods incorporate OXVA’s updated Unitech 2.0 technology. In simple terms, Unitech 2.0 is a new coil design that uses five layers of cotton wrapped around the inner mesh. This is said to ensure rapid e-liquid absorption and efficient heating, resulting in 50% more flavor, 45% more vapor, and coils that last 30% longer. I’ll talk about performance in more detail later, but I will say right now that those claims are not outlandish in any way.

The VPRIME pods are classed as “top-fill”, but the filling port is actually on the side. Not truly top-fill in my opinion, but at least they can be topped up with liquid without having to remove the pod from the battery. The tint level is quite low, so while the pods are not perfectly transparent, I had no problem seeing how much vape juice was left with a quick glance.

A final thing to mention is the mouthpiece shape. The perfect mouthpiece design is a pretty subjective opinion, but for me, the slim and rounded drip tip of the VPRIME pods is damn close. It’s comfortable to use, has a wide chimney to help spread the vapor, and is a great size for getting either a loose or tight seal with your lips.

Features

The OXVA VPRIME has enough features to make it versatile and easily adaptable to different vaping styles, but without being overly complicated or daunting to less experienced vapers.

Let’s start with the prerequisite of all modern pod vapes, the digital display. The 0.96-inch color screen is bright, clear, and contains lots of useful information. At a glance, you can see battery level, current wattage and resistance, lock status, puff count, and puff time, all of which fit on the screen without looking crammed in.

Double-tapping the fire button opens the on-screen menu, where you can use the + & – buttons on the side to scroll through LED settings, reset the puff count, and choose from one of the animated themes. Screen themes are now a relatively common feature of vapes, but while themes aren’t something that matters much to me, if an animated astronaut or rocketship floats your boat the VPRIME has you covered.

The main use of the plus and minus buttons I mentioned above is to let you change wattage. Power settings range from 5 to 60W, although it’s worth noting that minimum and maximum wattage levels are restricted by the pod you are using. And if you are worried about the vape firing in your pocket, pressing and holding those two buttons for 1.5 seconds will enter lock mode.

The VPRIME has a fire button but can also auto-draw. In fact, OXVA boasts that it is the (world’s?) first auto-draw DL pod system, and I have no reason to doubt that claim. The fire button is responsive and auto-draw works instantly almost all the time. It only struggled when the adjustable airflow was set a specific way, but more on that in a moment.

Battery Life & Charging

The 2600mAh cell inside the VPRIME is by far the largest capacity of any OXVA pod vape. It’s double the power of the XLIM Pro 2 battery and 1000mAh more than the OXVA ONEO offers. In a low-power MTL device, that battery could easily last four or more days. But, of course, the VPRIME is a DL/RDL vape, and that extra oomph is needed.

The default power for the 0.2Ω pod is 50W, and even at 10W below the maximum I didn’t get more than a day use from a single charge. And when vaping heavily all day at 60W, a recharge was required before I sat down for dinner. That’s not an unreasonably short battery life, but it puts that 2600mAh capacity in perspective.

It performs much better with the 0.6Ω pod at its default of 22W. A full charge can easily last a couple of days of average vaping, and even at the 25W maximum, battery life doesn’t drop significantly.

Charging such a large-capacity battery is never going to be instant. The 2A fast charging port makes the process fairly quick, but you should still expect to wait around 60 minutes to go from zero to 100%. It supports passthrough charging so you can use it even when it’s plugged in, but that never feels like a good idea to me.

Performance

The VPRIME is designed to be an RDL/DL vape, and that is how I used it over the two weeks of testing. Rather than sticking to my favorite 50/50 e-liquid, I switched to a similar flavor in a 70VG/30PG liquid for a smoother throat hit and bigger clouds.

As a DL vape, using the 0.2Ω cartridge and between 50 and 60W of power, the VPRIME performed far beyond my expectations. I’m not usually a cloud-chasing vaper, but I found inhaling and exhaling a larger lungful of vapor very enjoyable. You don’t get the same sort of clouds you would from a 0.15Ω coil in a 150W mod, but it is a satisfying DL experience nonetheless.

Flavor production is absolutely top-notch and I could easily pick out individual flavor notes (grape, aniseed, menthol) from my vape liquid. There can be a bit of heat in the vapor at 60W, but not enough to make puffs unpleasant and far less than I have experienced with other 60W devices.

When the 0.2Ω coil started to fail after more than a week, I switched over to the 0.6Ω pod for some RDL vaping. The difference is unsurprisingly noticeable, with far less vapor and throat-hit intensity, but almost as much flavor. Personally, I enjoyed using it for RDL better than DL, but that’s only because I generally vape like that. I can certainly see myself using the VPRIME for both vaping styles as and when the mood takes me.

The UniTech 2.0 improvement figures mentioned earlier are based on OXVA lab tests. However, I confirm that the VPRIME pods produce rich, intense flavors and satisfying clouds. They also last for a respectable amount of time: over a week for the 0.2Ω pod and more than two weeks for the 0.6Ω.

The device is simple enough to use for vapers of any experience level, with useful features like automatic power limiting preventing you from accidentally putting 60W through a higher resistance coil. The top-fill pods were almost entirely leak-free during two weeks of testing, further cementing the impression that OXVA makes some of the most reliable pods around.

The one slight problem I encountered, with both the 0.2Ω and 0.6Ω coil, was that the auto-draw would sometimes delay firing if the airflow was fully open and I didn’t puff vigorously enough. It wasn’t annoying enough to detract from the good points of the VPRIME and can be avoided by closing the airflow slightly (or using the fire button), but it occurred enough times for it to be noted.

Verdict

The OXVA VPRIME is a versatile device that will suit both newer and more experienced vapers. It feels incredibly well-constructed and the design makes it both comfortable to hold and functional, with all the buttons and other controls intelligently positioned for ease of use. And that is definitely not always the case with this sort of palm-sized vape.

It works brilliantly as an RDL device, producing good flavor and a satisfying throat hit. At 25W or less, the 2600mAh battery will have no problem lasting for two days of average use, and the 5ml pods mean that most users won’t need to top up the e-liquid several times a day.  

But it is as a no-nonsense DL vape that the OXVA VPRIME truly shines, with the 0.2Ω UniTech 2.0 coil pumping out a level of flavor and vapor that even cloud chasers will appreciate.

If you are a hardcore sub-ohm vaper used to a 100W mod, the VPRIME might seem a bit lacking, but for anyone who wants the versatility of both RDL and DL vaping in a single small, easy-to-use pod kit, I cannot recommend this new OXVA device highly enough.

SAVE 10%
CODE: VERSED