OXVA Origin X Review

I’ve been a big fan of this company, ever since I tried one of their original devices the OXVA Origin. It was/is a top notch POD device, or AIO if you will, that combined great flavour with extra long lasting battery technology, all in the one small unit. In fact if I remember rightly, it was dubbed the smallest or most compact 18650 device on the market!

Well, OXVA are back again, with their newest version of that same device. This time dubbed the Origin X, and there have been a plethora of changes made to improve on their initial design.

This has been getting a lot of hype over the last few weeks, so let’s break it down, and get stuck into the details. Let’s find out if this really is the second coming of the original!

Huge thanks goes to OXVA for sending this through for me to review!

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First Impressions

I’ve been lucky enough to receive one of the Origin X Special Edition box’s that contain ‘All’ of the extra accessories that are going to be available separately, but rather than build this review around those accessories, lets dig down into the basic parts of the device first, and then tackle the accessories later.

On taking it out of the box, there’s an absolute familiarity to the previous OXVA Origin, it’s relatively the same size and shape which I’m pleased about, because the original felt really great in the hand, and had that solid quality feel to it.

Many of the outstanding things about the original, have been retained. It’s quality feel, general asthetics, button placement, screen, battery bay and door, as well as the superb finish.

There are a lot of changes however, and while they might be small differences, they make a big impression!

The Main Body

The main body of the Origin X is pretty close in size to the original at approximately 32.8mm x 23.5mm x 113.5mm and is still one of the smallest regulated all in one units that takes an external 18650 battery.

The general design, size and shape is back from the original, being tear drop shaped, with the back being wider than the front, which is fantastic, because the form factor is excellent in the hand. Very comfortable, and easy to reach the buttons. The battery bay and door are carried over to the new version, opening from the back to allow access to the battery bay, with a seamless finish on the door.

Also the same is the front face of the device, featuring a smaller than usual fire button, 0.69 inch OLED black and white screen, and a single ‘options’ button for verifying new coil insertion and adjusting wattage.

The major changes that this new version brings to the table are limited, but make a big impact. The POD is now inserted from the top, instead of being inside the device, and simply drops in and stays in situe with strong magnets. There is also now USB Type-C charging using the provided port which gives this a big tick, it’s on the bottom of the device.

Battery & Charging

The battery bay is neat and tidy, very much the same as the original, covered by a body conforming, shaped door with 4 strong magnets. The door is quite solid with the exception of the upper portion, that can be wiggled slightly, and is apparent while in the hand at times. Moving the middle magnets up higher or adding additional magnets would have fixed this small problem. I’m really hunting for things right now, and this is not a major issue, but would have made a little difference to the solid feel of the device if the door were a little more fixed.

The battery terminals are lovely spring loaded terminals, it’s really easy to get your batteries in and out, specially since you also have a battery ribbon provided inside also.

The USB Type-C charge port on the bottom of the device makes sure that the Origin X is future proof as far as connections go, and you can even vape while charging your battery. (Not that you’d normally use the charge port, you should be using an external charger, but it’s a nice touch for emergencies).

General Usage

There isn’t a lot to the Origin X. It’s a simple one option button and screen combination where you’ll be using the one option button for your up/down wattage.

If you need a lower wattage than is already set, hold it until it reaches the maximum wattage limit (60 watts) and when you click it again, it will round-robin back to 5 Watts, and you can adjust up from there.

One nice feature is the auto coil detect, the device will set your wattage depending on which coil it detects has been installed.

Some general usage instructions can be found below:

• Fire Button 5 Clicks – Device On/Off
• Fire Button 3 Clicks – Locks Device (not just wattage)
• Click Option Button – Adjusts power in 1w increments up to 60w
  
  

The POD

The PODs for the Origin X are now much more easily accessed from outside of the device (no more opening the door and swinging them out to remove).
This makes filling a lot quicker, and also limits the amount of mess you might make while filling. Airflow is easier to adjust, and if you have spares, you can swap out flavours quickly.

The PODs look like they’re made from a PCTG plastic, are lightly tinted and put together in such a way as to maximise the available space in them for a little larger e-liquid capacity. They hold approximately 4ml of e-liquid depending on which coil you use, which is not a massive amount, but also not the smallest POD I’ve come across. I have found myself refilling this quite a often though.

OXVA have gone with an integrated drip tip design here, which I think is a bit of a step backward. I’ve experienced it heat up quite a lot and think that a delrin sleeve like the original, might just help with that. It would also give it a nicer more quality feel. The integrated tip cheapens things a lot.

Your coils are simple push in coils just like the original, being inserted from the bottom. The original Unicoils are used here and you’ll need to screw the airflow control onto them before inserting. I’m really liking this now, considering that the PODs are a lot more accessible, adjusting airflow on the fly is a lot easier than it was before.

Filling

You’ll find the fill port on the bottom of the POD hidden behind a little silicone plug with a ‘nubbin’ on it. Peel it back, fill and off you go. The fill hole is smaller this time around, and this is one of my major issues. I often get back pressure when filling and end up with a mess of e-liquid during a fill. Because I’m finding myself refilling 3-4 times per day (only 4ml) this has become an annoyance that is now significant. This fill hole ‘needs’ to be made larger to allow air to exit while filling. I’m a little shocked that OXVA got this one wrong.

Coils

OXVA’s Unicoils make an appearance with the Origin X. Compatible with both the Origin and Origin X, every Unicoil that I’ve tried has been a pleasure to vape with and hasn’t skipped a beat. I have had absolutely zero leaking with these also. Not a drop, no condensation, nothing. It’s been lovely having nice clean hands all week!

Of special mention is the new 0.2ohm mesh coil rated from 45W-60W and being a fair bit larger than the others. Now, you won’t be able to run this in the original Origin due to a lower resistance limit, but in the Origin X it’s wonderful. It’s almost as though they have paired the Origin X and the 0.2 Ohm Mesh coils purposefully.
Unlike the other unicoils, you won’t need to screw on the airflow adapter before installing, which also means you won’t be able to adjust the airflow. You’ll be running it wide open, as designed.

The Origin X also ships with OXVA’s 1ohm MTL coil, which is an excellent coil for Mouth to lung vapers, and with the airflow adjustment attachment, you’ll be doing very restricted MTL draws in no time at up to 15 Watts.

Extras – RBA/RDTA Deck

This is a very interesting addon from OXVA, an RBA or properly named an RDTA deck in POD form. This is available as an accessory and not included in the retail kit.

You’ll notice that it has an L shaped tank/POD, this is quite a good feature as it promotes better wicking when the tank is full, always keeping your wicks in contact with the e-liquid for as long as possible.

It features a post-less deck with allen screws in each side of the deck to tighen down your coils, and an adjustable airflow RDA cap designed for maximum flavour.

I’ve had hit’s and misses with this unfortunately. I’ve managed to successfully put a single coil build in, and it works well, unfortunately with a dual coil build, there doesn’t seem to be enough room for wicking, or that the wicking holes are an odd shape that promotes air lock inside the tank, limiting wicking.

If you’re going to build dual coil on here, I’d suggest 2-2.5mm coil diameter, no more, to allow for your wicking otherwise there’s simply just too much cotton and it will choke.

Building on the deck

Building on the RDTA deck is really really simple. Cut your coil legs short, slot them into the provided holes in the deck, and screw in the coil screws on the side to tighten.

Get your coil tool and straighten your coil out a bit, dry fire and get your coil glowing evenly and you’re ready to wick.

Wicking can be difficult, but to put it simply, run your cotton through the coil and down into the wicking holes on each side. You don’t need to have the wicks reach all the way down inside the tank, just so you can see them a little through the side, and you should be good to go.

Extras – 510 Deck

Another interesting addon from OXVA is the 510 deck. This is simply a deck that slots into the POD recess, offering you a 510 connection so that you can rock any tank or RDA on the Origin X.

One thing that concerned me, was that the magnets might not be up to the task and a quick knock, might send the tank and 510 connector flying, but I was pleasantly surprised! Even a large tank like the TFV9 sits nicely on the 510 connector with no chance of it coming away from the mod easily.

One thing to note about this one, the 510 does not have a spring loaded pin, so you’ll need to make sure your various atomizers have the average machining tolerances for the pin to make contact. Some unusually short 510 threads might not make a connection.

Where to Buy:

It doesn’t look like OXVA have their official store up and running yet, well, not that I can find, so you might have to hunt these down for now.

HealthCabin have them for $40 USD if you’re an overseas buyer, or if you’re an aussie, here are a few vendors that are stocking them!

• Vapoureyes – $64.95 AUD
• Wick & Wire – $54.95 AUD
• D&R Vape – $54.95 AUD

Conclusion

I think this is a pretty decent effort for a second version, mostly attending to it’s predecessor’s issues, and introducing a few new features of it’s own.

Taking the best points from the original Origin and building on that was a great avenue to take, and they’ve brought out a very solid device in doing so.

I’ve been enjoying the heck out of the Origin X over the last week or so, and spending plenty of time playing with the various addons, coils and features, to be able to safely say that this is one of the best AIO kits to come out in 2020.

I have 2 favourite POD Mods/AIO’s and this is one of them. Having a super dense flavour, fantastic battery life due to it’s PWM board, quality build and durability, as well as being really compact for what it is, put’s this in a class right out in front of the pack. Did I mention ZERO leaking? 🙂

Along with the positives, there are a few issues that I’ve had that I believe really should be rectified, can I live with them? Sure, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to.

1) My main bugbear is the fill port on the POD. It’s way too small, and I end up with vapour lock, with eliquid shooting back out of the fill port, making a mess. The original has a longer shaped fill port, which was just right. This should have had that same shaped port.

2) I really want a wattage lock. Sometimes I alter the wattage by accident while vaping, I’d really like to be able to lock it down to avoid accidentally firing it on the wrong setting. Locking that wattage so that I can vape without checking it constantly would be a winner.

3) And the last issue that I have. The drip tip. It’s all well and good to have an integrated drip tip, but this one can get quite hot, and just feels like a lower quality than what was on the original. I proper delrin 510 drip tip would simply add to that quality feel, and keep the lips cool too!

As you can see, I didn’t have a lot to pick on, I really had to dig deep to find fault, and I really could simply use this everyday without too much issue.

I’ll be recommending this setup to everyone who will listen for the forsee-able future!

Excellent work OXVA!

Shane Presser

Shane Presser has been vaping since 2013, and has extensive experience with advanced equipment, coil builds and DIY mixing. He is the man behind VapersGarage, and also more recently Aussie Vape Stores, a resource to help vapers find their nearest Vape Shops, and eLiquid Vendors.