Lost Vape Orion Review
Product Introduction
Last year, Lost Vape’s Orion GO was one of the most popular pod vapes in the marketplace. This year, the manufacturer has released a further edition to their pod vape line named the Orion Quest (Orion Q). It’s a somewhat stripped back version of the Orion Go with less electronic features, but the good news is that it has a much lower price tag. If you read our our Davinci micro review you might be getting flashbacks.
With a 950 mAh internal battery, the Orion Q’s power output is just 17 watts. The output can’t be adjusted. The Orion Q is available as a standalone device with no pods, or you can buy the Orion Q kit, which comes with an official Quest pod. The Quest pod included in the kit is 2ml in size and contains a 1.0-ohm Kanthal coil.
From the outside, it’s hard to tell the difference between the GO and the Quest. The Quest retains the same build quality and aesthetic design of the GO, but is that sufficient to compensate for the removal of the electronic features? The RRP of the Orion Q is £31.95 and it’s available in four frame colour options: black, gold, blue and stainless steel.
Box Contents
1 x Lost Vape Orion Quest device
1 x 2 mL 1.0-ohm pod
1 x Micro-USB charging cable
1 x User manual
Design And Build Quality
As previously stated, the Orion Quest has the same external design as the Orion Go – only the internal chip is different. As you might not have any experience with the GO, I’ll talk about the Quest itself.
The Lost Vape Orion Q is a well-engineered pod vape with high build quality. The device has some weight to it in the hand, but that doesn’t stop it being easy to carry around.It reminds me of our Zeus Arc GT review in which the vape wasn’t the lightest but was still pretty portable. It has a stainless-steel chassis and high-grade carbon fibre panels. With a pod in place, the device weighs around 85g and the overall dimensions are 93mm by 37mm by 13.5mm.
The pod’s dual-slotted airflow can be adjusted from a knurled ring located at the base of the mouthpiece, and from the screw-top fill port located on top of the pod. Refilling the pod is very easy. You can basically just pour your juice into it as there’s lots of cotton inside the pods – I’d advise waiting at least 20 minutes to ensure full saturation.
Once a pod is placed into the device, it remains incredibly secure. The pods go into a track and catch compartment and to remove them you use the sliding switch located on the side of the vape. For proper pod insertion, make sure you angle the pod base to the back of the housing then firmly push down on the top until you hear the pod click into place. Underneath the pod release switch is a circular fire button. The button is very responsive and slightly raised, which makes it easy to locate in the dark. On my device, I can hear a faint bit of rattling, but only if I shake it vigorously.
Performance
When it comes to performance, the Quest’s is fair, but using the device is not as simple as you’d imagine. While the pods do vape quietly and don’t suffer from poping, spiting or leaking, some of them certainly contain too much cotton. As a result, it takes longer to saturate the pods and break-in the coil. I often found that a large portion of the first fill tastes unpleasant, like a burnt hit. Furthermore, the extra cotton means flavours carry-over for longer after a refill.
Once the coils break-in, I found that they would last me around 7 days – with 1-2 refills/day – before the taste deteriorated. The 1.0-ohm Quest pods do vape well and have lots of flavour and vapor, but only with direct lung hits or restriction lung hits using high VG e-liquid. DL hits with 1.0-ohm pods might seem counter-intuitive, but they work well with the Q. Unfortunately, when it comes to MTL, the Q failed to impress me – the 17-watt power output on the 1.0-ohm coil means the tip gets uncomfortably hot when you take successive hits with the airflow closed off.
When it comes to compatibility with Orion GO pods, the 0.25-ohm pods don’t fall into the resistance range of the Quest, so the device won’t fire them. While the 0.5-ohm Go pods work with the Q, performance for me was a bit hit or miss – Sometimes they would vape well, other times the vapor would be too hot. I should add that all Q pods will work on the GO, but you need to go into Escribe and alter some of the settings.
Battery
The micro USB port is conveniently located on the front (bottom) of the device, but it can only be used for charging. Whereas, the micro USB port on the Orion GO can be used for setting tweaking using Escribe and getting firmware updates in addition to charging the device.
On the Orion Quest there’s a LED above the micro USB port and it changes colour to indicate the charge status:
Red: 0% – 17%
Purple: 18% -64%
Blue: 64% – 100%
For me, the Quest’s battery life has been excellent when using both the 1.0-ohm Q pods and the 0.5-ohm GO pods. Even times when the remaining charge status LED was red, the device seems to keep working for much longer than the percentage range indicated. I never fail to get at least a full day’s use from a single charge and often get two days.
When the device was connected to my laptop, it took over 90 minutes to charge – it’s a shame there’s no pass-thru charging function as the charging time is long. When the device is fully charged, the blue light will remain on, so don’t sit around waiting for it to turn off. All things considered, if you’re looking for a convenient pocket-carry device with long battery life, the Q will not disappoint.
Pros
Excellent build quality
Long battery life
Easy to fill
Adjustable airflow
Responsive pod release switch
Pods are well secured
Above-average flavour and vapour
Cons
Long charging time
No pass-thru charging function
Too much cotton in some pod coils
1.0-ohm Q pods aren’t great for MTL
Overall Verdict
Given that Q is half the price of the Orion GO, it’s a solid choice. This analysis was eerily familiar to our Vapium Lite review. While the device does have its flaws, it performs better than a large percentage of other pod vapes available. My hope is that Lost Vape will reduce the amount of cotton they pack into the pods, as it’s the one thing that impacts the quality of the vape. That said, the long battery life, great built quality, and convenient design make the Q hard to beat. Despite the fact that the Q is missing advanced electronic control features, not all vape lovers need or want those features – especially when they mean a higher price tag. I would have no problem recommending the Q for DL (direct lung) or restricted lung hits with low strength e-juice. I would advise against using the Q with high strength nicotine salt e-liquids. Also, keep in mind that Lost Vape states only to use official Q pods with the Quest.
