ELFBAR ELFX PRO Classic Edition Review

The times, they are a-changing, an annoying nerd once sang (that’s a Bob Dylan reference, by the way). And ELFBAR knows it. With the disposable vape apocalypse cresting over the horizon, they’ve put their techs to work on a refillable kit, the ELFX PRO Classic Edition.

ELFBAR has now released an upgraded version of the ELFX PRO Classic Edition kit in traditional refillable kit manufacturer fashion. This week, I’ve been getting to grips with the kit to see whether ELFBAR is ready to cast off the disposable crown and wade into the No Man’s Land of refillable kits.

Review Disclosure: ELFBAR has supplied MIST with the ELFX PRO Classic Edition Kit I’ve been using for this review. All opinions, attitudes, and views you see herein are entirely my own and are not impacted by any outside source. I’m just a longtime vaper with the experience to tell a good kit apart from a dud.

Video Review

Packaging and Labels 

The ELFX PRO Classic Edition Kit arrives in a slim, flat cardboard box with a cardboard sleeve.

• The front of the sleeve displays the device beneath an Elf Bar logo. To the right of the device picture, we see the ELFX PRO Classic Edition device name and small icons advertising the mesh quality and 45W maximum output potential. At the bottom, we see a TPD health warning.

• One side of the sleeve shows an authenticity hologram along with a production batch date.

• The other side of the sleeve mentions the unit’s colour within the box and lists various features, such as the screen size and construction materials.

• The back of the box shows health warnings, a contents list, manufacturer contact information, and a final TPD health warning.

After removing the plastic wrapper and sleeve, we are faced with a slip of card explaining all the button combinations for the device, with a section cut out revealing the plastic-wrapped device itself.

After removing the card, we found the spare parts box containing a spare pod and a USB-C charging cable.

The kit and the spare parts box are small, and the instruction manuals are easy to read.

Build Quality

Score: 5 out of 5

The ELFX PRO Classic Edition’s build quality is exceptional. I’m holding it right now and am just stunned that ELFBAR made it. I’ve used a lot of Elf Bars and Lost Marys, friends. I’m intimately familiar with a one-day kit’s hollow, glossy plastic feel.

Comparatively, the ELFX PRO Classic Edition is stunning. It has a sturdy metal frame wrapped tightly in vegan leather, a cross-hatch, an eye-catching design, and supremely comfortable gripping. Also, I’d like to praise the use of vegan leather and the decision to call it that rather than just ‘fake leather’.

One side of the device has a USB-C charging port and an airflow slider with great movement firmness and stable positioning. It is a small detail, but after a few days, you start to notice that your airflow is always perfect.

On the other side, there are two buttons, one for optional button activation and the other for menu navigation.

The 0.96″ full-colour display screen displays the battery level, lock state, power level, user mode, coil ohmage, and puff count. It delivers all this information without ever crowding the screen, which is a genius visual design.

The pods are well made, too, with flattened mouthpieces that provide good comfort and easy side refills that can be done without removing the pod from the device. The magnetic connection is also very firm and stable.

The coils within the pods are exceptional, providing the same unmatched flavour that ELFBAR’s disposables are known for. They contain double mesh structures and are made with the same ‘QUAQ’ design ethos that ELFBAR delivers to all their coils.

Performance

Score: 5 out of 5

In terms of performance? Well, for a quick tl;dr – it’s mid-April, and the ELFX PRO Classic Edition Kit is my favourite refillable MTL kit of the year so far. And frankly, any competition better make it count when it comes to release because this will be a challenge to take down.

Let’s explain it a little more.

The ELFX PRO Classic Edition can be as advanced as you want it to be. Optional Smart mode lets you kick back and enjoy your vape, safe in the knowledge that your device is optimising the power levels for your chosen pod. But if you like to put a pod through its paces without the safety on, you can turn Smart mode off for total power control.

The device also has two power tiers and adjustable wattage. Just a single tap of the menu button will switch the device between Eco and Turbo modes. And these are more advanced than usual: rather than just providing different degrees of power (which it does!), the modes dictate which coils are utilised when the kit is fired.

Eco mode uses a single coil core, whereas Turbo mode uses both for a tremendous increase in flavour and vapour production.

Ease of Use

Score: 4 out of 5

I mentioned previously that the kit can be as advanced as you’re comfortable with, and that’s true. While there is manual power adjustment and a surprising amount of function customisation in the kit, you can use Smart mode and a draw activation to enjoy an experience similar to a disposable vape. The only difference is the need to refill and recharge it!

However, while ELFBAR crammed a remarkable amount of work into the ELFX PRO Classic Edition, I really did need the button instruction card I found in the kit because the inputs aren’t always intuitive. 

More than a few times, I accidentally switched between Eco and Turbo modes while trying to access the menu or adjust power outputs.

In the end, it only took about an hour to memorise everything, but I think the device has a bit of a learning curve, which is a shame as ELFBAR clearly tried very hard to make a widely accessible kit.

Battery Life

Score: 4.5 out of 5

In a couple of words, I would describe the ELFX PRO Classic Edition’s battery as “pretty great.” Note that’s a very positive comment, with just the slightest qualifier at the start.

1200mAh is reasonably ample, particularly for a snugly built and lightweight kit. It blows the batteries from ELFBAR’s disposables out of the water. If you are in trouble, Eco mode will get you to your next charging checkpoint.

So why the half-point knock-off? Whelp… I just feel a kit of this size, output capability, and—most importantly—high-quality manufacturing could really have splurged a little more on some 1500mAh cells. I’m not naming any competitors here, but I can think of a few very good and similarly dimensioned vape kits with large batteries, and that additional 300mAh becomes invaluable very quickly.

But that complaint is out of the way; 1200mAh is generally enough for most people to get through the say. Well, not RDA users, but they aren’t here. Shh. No one invited them.

Flavour Output

Score: 5 out of 5

I briefly touched on this previously in the Build Quality section, but the ELFX PRO Pods’ flavour is exceptional. The QUAQ core design that Elf Bar put into their disposables is finally allowed to sing with music ELFBAR didn’t write themselves. A bold decision! But a wise one, because I cannot think of a single bad thing to say about the flavour of the ELFX PRO Classic Edition Kit. The taste is perfect. I hate to say it, I really do.

Summary

There we have it, the ELFBAR ELFX PRO Classic Edition is one of my absolutely favourite vape kits this year, and I’m saying that at the start of Q2. Unless this is the best year for vape design, this kit will likely be among my top five.

It’s well made, easy to use, full of features, and bursting with rich flavour that most other coil manufacturers cannot match. If you need a new MTL/RDL vape pen, it’s this one.

The MIST Favourite Feature: 

• Core Switching: Tapping a single button to unlock the second coil and receive effectively double the flavour and vapour you were getting a second ago is a thrill I’m still not anywhere close to tired to.