OXVA hit us with not one, but two new additions to the XLIM range and first up, we take a look at the OXVA XLIM Pro 3
OXVA sent me a couple of new pod kit directly to test out. First up is the OXVA XLIM Pro 3.
It’s OXVA’s 6th anniversary. Weirdly, I feel like they’ve been around longer than that but checking back, it’s definitely been six years since I tried out my first OXVA device. OXVA were formed in 2019 by a gent called Justin Lai, who had previously overseen creative endeavours at other manufacturers. Moving onto today, and the popular XLIM range now has sixteen odd devices in it, and this is the latest pro version of the kit.
The XLIM 3 Pro follows on from the XLIM 2 Pro and the DNA version (which is awesome by the way). It has a 1500mAh battery inside to keep you vaping longer. There’s a 1.05” HD screen on the front, and the draw can be activated by a button press or it can be draw activated, it’s your choice. There’s an airflow slider on one side, and I like it because it’s horizontal rather than the usual vertical one that you can sometimes easily cover with your hand. The device also has the OXXA Pulse System in it, which they claim will keep your draw consistent, even at 1% battery so there will be no drop in flavour or performance as the battery gets lower.
I was sent a big 6th anniversary display case that held this and their other new release, the XLIM Ultra (review coming soon), so I can’t report on what will be in the retail box, but I assume there’ll be a spare pod and the usual USB type C cable, with all of the inserts you usually get as well. OXVA are good at including instructions on how to operate their devices on a little card, as well as a manual and pod card to show the compatible pods you can use.
Style wise, it’s similar to the Pro 2, with it being a flattened pen type device. The screen is on the front, and the fire/function button is above that. It’s all nicely rounded to fit I the hand. I’ve already mentioned the airflow, but it’s on the side, adjacent to the fire button so it is indeed harder to cover it when taking a draw than some other devices I’ve tried. Great attention to detail again from OXVA. The USB Type C slot is on the bottom so you can’t charge standing up, but they claim it’ll charge to 80% in 30 minutes so it won’t be lying down for long. The screen is full colour and stays bright outside, a bonus for me! Finally, there’s a wee LED light below the screen that you can turn off or change the colour of in the settings.
Function wise, it’s five clicks to turn on, four clicks to lock the fire button, three to change wattage, two to enter the menu, and one to fire the device. The others speak for themselves, but in the menu you can choose from three different themes, change the LED light colour (or turn it off), or clear the puff count. That’s the functions, simple and easy to access.
In use I found it was a good kit. The interface is intuitive, and the info was clear on the screen. You can see the battery percentage (I do like a percentage rather than a bar), the resistance of the pod, the puff count, and the wattage that’s set. Each theme also gives a little animation when you take a draw, I particularly like the MOMO superman one, it looks like a cartoon SuperCow flying up the screen and away. There are four pods to choose from, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and a 1.2ohm one. I reckon they’ll package the kit with the 0.6ohm and 0.8ohm ones going on previous releases, but it’s nice to have the option of an even lower or higher resistance pod, and all the previously released XLIM range pods fit the kit, including the one that takes stock coils, so options are there for everyone.
I was sent the whole range of refillable pods for the XLIM Pro 3, so I started off with the 0.6ohm pod as I like a good RDL draw, with a loose MTL to boot. It set automatically at 22W, which gave a nice draw to start with and settled at 24W for just a little more oomph for RDL. The draw with the airflow fully open gives a pleasing RDL with plenty of vapour, and the flavour is really good. It kind of sits in your mouth rather than going back to the smell receptors, but the throat hit is spot on and you do get that back of the mouth flavour too when exhaling. It’s the same for all the pod options flavour wise, that initial in the mouth flavour that you don’t always get, along with the nice rich one at the back of the tongue.
The 0.8ohm pod automatically sets at 16W, and I liked it a bit more at 18W with the airflow again fully open for a sedate RDL draw and a nice loose MTL. The 1.2ohm pod sets auto at 12W, which was perfect for me with the airflow half closed for a more normal MTL puff, and the 0.4ohm pod sets at 28W, but I like it cloudier, so I had it up at the heady heights of 30W to get a good blast from it RDL style.
Final Thoughts
OXVA have done another great job on the XLIM 3 Pro pod kit. It’s simple to use, the functions are intuitive, and the flavour from it is excellent, while still giving out a good plume of vapour. With the newly added OXVA Pulse System, it should stay consistent too.
I like that the kit is compact. I love the horizontal airflow control, and I like that they always think of different airflow restriction preferences with the fairly loose RDL and the nice tight MTL options with all the others in between.
Thanks again to OXVA for sending the XLIM 3 Pro over to test out. You should be able to get them soon (if not already) from your usual online stores.
