Wotofo Manik Kit Review by Tim

In this review I take a look at the Manik Pod Mod Kit from Wotofo. The Wotofo Manik Pod Mod Kit was supplied for the purpose of this review by Healthcabin.

Introduction

Wotofo are best known for their atomizer collaborations with reviewers whether it be the SMM Serpent or the more recent Profile series but do occasionally release a device and it seems the ever growing pod mod market became just too tempting for them not to enter.

The Manik is a Power only device for sub-ohm DL vaping so not for those that like a restricted draw. Powered by the newly developed NEXCHIP it has a top wattage of 80w and accommodates a single 18650 battery. With a waterproof pod bay and securely fitting pod that clips in place it can be filled via it’s top-fill design without removing from the device. The pod accommodates a choice of 4 different D-series coil heads which house different variants of nexMESH but can also accommodate both Voopoo PnP and Vaporesso GTX coil heads giving plenty of options. The display can be customised and it comes in a choice of 4 different Zinc Alloy finishes with a Nano Coating, let’s give it a look!

Aesthetics and Ergonomics

The Manik came in the usual Black and Wotofo Green cardboard packaging with clear plastic lid covered by printed branding and information. I received the Black Nano version which refers to the main Zinc Alloy chassis and has a Red leather effect spine. The options are Nano Gunmetal, Nano Chrome, Nano Black and Prism Gunmetal, the Nano versions have a Nanotech coating giving it an easy clean durable finish!

A lot of these pod mods with there being so many look very similar and no different here. The spine on the Manik although having a slight pliability is not padded like on some others and is a synthetic leather effect rather than real leather but it looks nice enough, has MANIK embossed into it and also has the usual 2 rows of stitching, the overall form factor is very ergonomic and it feels great in the hand!

On the face we have a switch style fire button up top which curves inwards and can be pressed anywhere (very nice fire button) then below a large TFT colour screen. We then have side by side protruding square navigational buttons followed underneath by a micro USB port. Right at the bottom on the face we have “NEXCHIP INSIDE” and also some branding on both sides which is too much! On the base we have the battery hatch door with safety marks and moving up top we have the tinted protruding pod with incorporated drip tip. Either side on the decice at the top we have a large airflow slot and finally back to the face on the pod it has a large rectangular catch that clips on to the device!

The Pod

The pod is tinted with solid plastic top and integrated drip tip so you can’t fit your own. To the rear of the drip tip we have a silicone piece with an arrow showing where it needs to be lifted. To the front of the pod we have a textured large rectangular catch that clips to the device when installing. Moving to the base of the pod we have the circular opening for the coil to get press fitted into place.

When lifting the flap it stays attached to the pod revealing a large fill port plenty big enough to also allow air to escape while filling for a quick mess free experience. I wish in general the pod was lighter for better liquid level visibility but when training the eye on the pod you can see the liquid level both when filling and in general use so no need to remove to check the level. Once filled push the silicone flap back into position, the plug seals the port very well, the standard pod holds 4.5ml of liquid while of course the TPD version holds 2ml.

The Coil Heads

There are 4 different D series coil heads available 2 of which are included which get press fitted into the metal chamber of the pod and is sealed via an O-ring.

The included coils are the D14 A1 Conical nexMESH coil head which has a resistance of 0.20ohm and best at rating of 35 – 40W. The other included coil is the D15 Clapton Mesh Coil Head again with a 0.20ohm resistance and best at rating of 45 – 55W.

The other two D series coil heads are the D11 coil head and D13 coil head so no idea what they have against the number 12 unless it’s a superstition thing! The D11 is the net mesh coil head with again a 0.20ohm resistance and a best at rating of 34 – 55W and finally the D13 A1 nexMESH coil head which yet again has a resistance of 0.20ohm and best at rating of 37 – 43W.

One of the big pros for the Manik is the cross compatibility. Both the Vaporesso GTX coil heads and Voopoo PnP coil heads fit the Manik pod and the D series coils can be used with Vaporesso GTX and Voopoo PnP compatible devices!

Fitting The Pod

The Manik has a watertight pod bay so if you do get any leaking it won’t get into the device.

The pod gets installed back end first and then you lower the front of the pod and it clips securely in place!

The Airflow

We have a large slot either side which allows plenty of air to the base of the pod where in enters through the coil head airflow inlets and up through the centre bore of the coil head, it’s not adjustable!

Available RBA Pod

It’s a separate purchase but also available is an RDTA style RBA pod which can accommodate either a single or dual coil build, going by the pictures it does look rather good!

Fitting The Battery

The Manik accommodates a single 18650 battery that gets fitted via the bottom hatch door. It’s a common design used on the door which just needs pushing forward before lifting up, to shut press down then slide back to interlock the protruding tabs that secures it very well. With battery fitted the door doesn’t even threaten to open having no play and also no battery rattle whatsoever, great job!

The Display

I like the display which is colourful, well laid out and everything is very easy to read but we do have a tinted cover making it a little bit more difficult to see outdoors.

We then have a column of information which has coloured borders which can be customised to be in an alternative colour. First is voltage followed by ohms and then your puff count, finally at the bottom of the display in very large font we have vape duration.

Navigating The Manik

The Manik is a simple wattage only device which is very easy to use, to switch on and off is the usual 5 clicks of the fire button. Once on clicking the plus and minus buttons together locks and unlocks those buttons but when locked the device still fires. Alternatively 3 quick clicks of the fire button locks and unlocks the whole device.

The only features of the device is the puff counter which can be reset by pressing minus and fire together and changing the colour of the accents on the display which is plus and fire together, each time plus and fire are pressed together it moves to the next colour, the options are Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple or White!

The wattage adjusts from 5W right up to 80W in 1W increments at a nice fast speed and round robins!

Protections

• Low Voltage Protection
• PCBA Temperature Safety Shutoff
• Low Resistance Protection
• Short Circuit Protection
• Overheating Protection

Charging

As usual i only recommend charging in the device if it’s your only option but if you do the Manik has a 1.5A max charge rate which is about average. Wish it was Type C and it also gave estimated charge left but it does display a charging progress bar and also gives the charge as a percentage while supporting pass-through!

My Thoughts

If you like some kind of a restricted vape or looking for a pod mod that’s capable of giving both a DL and MTL draw then this device is a far cry from what will be suitable! The Manik with large airflow slots and no airflow adjustability is a DL only pod mod which relies on the inner bore of the coil head for any restriction it does give!

For those who like a higher wattage DL vape with very little in the way of restriction then this could possibly be right up your street even though i still feel the lack of airflow adjustability lets it down.

I am impressed by it’s build quality and ergonomic feel in the hand and absolutely a fan of it’s excellent fire button. The display is colourful and well laid out but wish it was less tinted as it is quite hard to see outdoors. Talking about being tinted leads me to my next slight con which is i wish the pod was also less tinted but i can see the juice inside both when filling and monitoring the level!

Other Pros include how quickly the device fires, display colour customisation, the top-fill design, how the pod clips securely in place. the watertight pod bay and of course that it accommodates an 18650 battery. Although not coming in the kit going by the pictures i have seen the RBA pod looks a good un and being able to also accommodate both GTX and Voopoo PnP coil heads is a massive plus!

When it comes to the D-series coil heads although their wattage ratings slightly vary they are all 0.20ohm so a bit more variation would be better. The D14 Conical nexMESH coil head gave flavour to at least match any of the Voopoo PnP coil heads and i found this best at 35W. It’s unlike me to go for the higher wattage coil head but i have mainly been using the D15 Clapton Mesh coil head at 50W which gives excellent flavour and after about 7 refills (approx 30mls) the flavour is still as good as on the first pod full of juice so seems to have great longevity!

I had absolutely no leaking with the Clapton Mesh coil head but despite not using it as long did get some slight leaking overnight when the D14 coil was installed but it was only slight and of course we have that watertight bay!

Although i don’t recommend charging in the device i still think in 2020 all devices should be coming with Type C as standard although the 1.5A charge rate isn’t too bad and it both gives good charging feedback and supports pass-through!

Likes

• Nice build quality
• Nice form factor, very ergonomic
• Simple wattage only device
• Bags of air (for higher wattage DL vapers)
• Pod fits very securely
• Top-fill
• Don’t need to remove pod to check level or fill
• 4.5ml Capacity (standard pod)
• Watertight pod bay
• Display colour customisable
• Accommodates 18650 battery
• Nice, well laid out screen
• Fires instantly (and i mean instantly)
• Adjust at nice speed in 1W increments
• Battery life given as both bar and percentage
• Really like fire button a lot!
• RBA pod available
• D14 Conical Mesh coil head gave very good flavour
• D15 Clapton Mesh coil head gave excellent flavour and impressive longevity
• Compatible with both GTX and Voopoo PnP coil heads
• 1.5A charge rate, supports pass-through

Cons

• Airflow not adjustable
• Can’t fit alternative drip tip
• Pod quite darkly tinted (although i could see level)
• Screen tinted so not easy to read outdoors
• D-series coils don’t vary much in recommended wattage’s (all 0.20ohm)
• Slight overnight leaking from D14 coil
• Not Type C USB

I would once again like to thank The Healthcabin for supplying the Wotofo Manik Pod Mod Kit for the purpose of this review, thanks for reading and stay safe!

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This amazing review was written by Tim from ECF, vapingunderground & reddit, click to view original review.