Innokin iTaste CLK Review – A New Twist

Innokin has just come out with their take on an eGo Twist style battery. The new model dubbed the iTaste CLK puts a new spin on this class of batteries. The question is, has the CLK upped the game in the category? Read my iTaste CLK review after the jump and find out!

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	Product name	Innokin iTaste CLK
	Available from	Vapor Beast
	Price	$48.99
	Battery Size	800 mAh
	Competing products	Vision Spinner, 777 Magnum
	Who’s it for?

See more photos on Google+Check out options and prices
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Disclosure: This product was provided by the manufacturer, Innokin, at no charge for review purposes. This review contains affiliate links.

iTaste CLK Review

I’ve been a fan of variable voltage eGos ever since the original Joyetech Twist came out two years ago. The beauty of the devices is their simplicity. Twist a dial to select the voltage and vape. No readouts or button clicks.

That being said, there were still some limitations of these models. In particular was the loss of USB pass-through charging.

Innokin’s new CLK solves that problem right from the start. Located a quarter way around from the fire button is a micro USB port. A standard micro USB cable (included) plugs into the port for charging.

While the CLK is charging, the button glows to indicate the charge status. But more importantly, you can still use the device while it’s connected and charging.

As someone once pointed out to me, it’s not a true pass-through charger as it’s not using the USB power directly to active the device. Instead it’s still using the battery to vape, so if you have a totally dead battery, you’ll need to wait a few minutes before you can vape while tethered to USB. It’s kind of splitting hairs in my mind, but it might be worth mentioning for some.

Moving on to the rest of the device now, the fire button is classic Innokin. It’s a flat, frosted plastic button surrounded by a bezel built into the body of the CLK. It uses the classic Innokin three color light to indicate battery status going from green to yellow and then finally red once the battery is about depleted.

Above the button and charging area is a standard eGo connection for full compatibility with just about every tank and clearomizer on the market. The CLK also comes with a nice, matching dress-up ring to give the device a finished look when using it with 510 tanks like the Trophy Tank.

The body of the CLK is available in pink, silver and black. There’s an interesting line pattern etched along the body that sort of reminds me of a circuit board for some reason. Also etched in the body is the name of the device. It actually sort of looks like the itazte CLK! because they like to reverse that “S” for some reason.

Last up is the voltage adjustment wheel. Even though I’m mentioning it last, it’s certainly not a throwaway feature. Instead of a free spinning wheel that most eGo variable voltage devices sport, this one has a wheel with distinct tactile clicks at each voltage setting, hence the name CLK.

If you’re at all familiar with the SVD or Cool Fire II devices, you’ll be familiar with this setup. Like those much more expensive offerings, the wheel has a feeling of solid craftsmanship. Of course, the entire device feels solid and well-engineered. The rotation of the dial is smooth and the click is subtle, yet authoritative. It’s easy to tell when a new voltage has been selected.

Voltage can be adjusted from 3.5 to 5.0. Increments are a little odd since they go up by .3 and then .2v. For example, the first setting is 3.5, then 3.8 and then 4.0 This is the same pattern all the way up to 5.0v.

iClear 16B

Having a voltage setting that goes up to 5 is handy because the CLK comes with the new iClear 16B clearomizer. Innokin loves rolling out a new clearomizer every time they launch a new device. The CLK (as well as the DRV) gets bundled with this new clearomizer.

You might have guessed correctly that the B stands for bottom coil. If you guessed 16 means 1.6 ml of capacity you’re wrong. This one actually holds 2.0ml of e-liquid instead. Not present anywhere in the name is the mention that this is a dual coil clearomizer.

Like all of Innokin’s clearos and tanks, this one features a replacement head. Naturally it’s different than the others. I think it might actually share heads with the X.1, but I’m not totally certain on that account.

The actual physical design of the clearomizer looks like some others I’ve seen. It’s got the general shape of a CE5 model, but it is a unibody setup. The mouthpiece, center tube and tank are all a molded single piece. The bottom cap housing the head screws into the bottom of the tank.

Because this is a plastic tank, it’s probably not going to great with acidic e-liquids. Innokin’s plastic tends to fare better than some I’ve used, generally only becoming hazy instead of cracking outright. Still, I didn’t chance using a terribly acidic e-liquid during this review.

Using the iTaste CLK and iClear 16B

The 16B registers around 2.1 ohm, so the max 5 volt output of the CLK is a little on the light side of power as far as torture testing clearomizers goes.

As a result, you’re at almost no risk of burning the wick on the iClear. It’s also possible you aren’t going to fully hit the clearomizer’s potential.

Even though this is running a little cooler than I prefer, performance doesn’t suffer too badly. Vapor output is respectable, and the flavor is good. Perhaps the vapor is a little cooler than I prefer, but that tends to be a personal taste.

There is still a satisfying crackling noise to be had when vaping on this setup when it’s cranked up to 5.0v. It works well at some of the lower settings as well. Though I sort of question why they bothered with voltages lower than 4.0 with the 16B packed in.

The end result is a very competent setup that feels quite solid. It’s a great choice for people looking for a smaller eGo-style setup.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

The iTaste CLK is Innokin’s take on the venerable eGo Twist with some improvements. In particular is USB pass-through charging and a great click wheel for voltage adjustment. The iClear 16B clearomizer bundled with the kit is a great addition as well. Anyone looking for a smaller setup might want to give this kit a much closer look.

Check out options and prices on the CLK kit here.

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