Honest review time: The Rhythm from Usonicig

Here’s a look at something different and when I say different I mean truly different. The good folks over at Elegomall reached out recently about a review of a new product they’re carrying. While the product itself came out earlier this year it hasn’t been until now that I was able to get my hands on it. As a reviewer I tend to see lots of the same thing over and again and it’s pretty rare that I get to see something truly new and different. Enter Usonicig with their innovative kit the Rhythm, a truly different approach to vaping altogether. So what makes it truly different from all the rest? It uses ultrasonic vibrations and a ceramic coil to produce vapour rather than using a heated coil like traditional vaporizers. This one actually slid under the radar with me and I didn’t even know ultrasonic vaping was a thing until it arrived. While it’s still in its infancy I think this new technology might just have its merits. Here are my honest thoughts on the Usonicg Rhythm care of Elegomall.

Package contents:

Listed features and specs:

• Liquid capacity: 2ml
• Battery capacity: 1500mAh
• Mod Size: 95*51*38mm
• Tank Size: 495.*23*22mm
• Mod weight: 145.7g
• Pod weight: 29.7g
• Frequency: 2.4MHz
• Charge time: <2hrs
• Colours: Black, Silver and Red
• Designed for Nicsalt
• First Top Filling Pod System
• One Rhythm pod is equal to about five traditional pods in terms of lifespan
• The testing result from Usonicig lab proves that the pod can last more than 5000puffs
• No Spitback Ever
• Say No to E-liquid Mouth Coating
• Tinier ultrasonic vaping molecules, smooth flavor
• No coil, No wire, no dry hits or burnt taste ever
• Initial Ultrasonic Vaping Technology in Vaping Industry
• Support MTL and DL vaping

Packaging and contents:

The kit comes packed in a nice black cardboard box with an image of the device on the front, a listing of the contents and some basic company info on the back. Inside the kit comes packed with the Usonicig Rhythm, a spare pod, a flat and brightly coloured micro USB cable that matches the fire bar on the kit, a manual for the device, a sheet with tips on filling the pods and a shiny red warranty card. When it comes to extras it’s one of the lightest kits I’ve checked out but it’s pretty much comparable to what you’d get in a kit for a pod device. Everything in the kit is packed in a thick grey sponge and everything arrived safe so no complaints on the packaging.

The Mod:

Just at a glance the mod sticks out. It’s mostly rectangular with one corner that’s sort of shaved down to accommodate the mechanical lever switch. Yes you read that right it’s got a mechanical firing switch. Ok so it’s not fully mechanical and is really more just a lever that presses down on a button but it definitely adds to the aesthetic and function of the device. It’s meant to resemble a musical note from the side to go along with the Ryhtym motif but I didn’t really pick up on that myself until reading from their site. For some reason it reminds me of a dump truck or those tipping bin garbage trucks. Firing it simply requires you press down with your thumb on the firing bar which has a very satisfying ‘sproing’ to it and it really gives the Rhythm a unique look and feel. Where the lever is attached to the device it’s got two tinted rounded plastic covers that light up to indicate firing, charging and any sort of protection statuses. It’s a sort of sundial like pattern with an ‘S’ in the middle with five dots that go around in a circle with each line or dot indicating a level of the battery. It’s not the most precise battery meter but it only takes a moment to understand how it works. Each of the five dots represents roughly 20% of the battery so it’s pretty easy to see at a glance what you’ve got left. The ‘S’ in the middle shines through on both sides but the little white dots only shine on the one side.

The near rectangular shape of the mod has very little embellishment on it with a simple Usonicig logo located near the bottom of one side and ‘Rhythm’ printed in small near the top but only on the one side of the device. While they don’t list the material it’s made of it feels quite heavy and solid in hand and I have absolutely no qualms with the build quality of the Rhythm. On the bottom it bears the usual CE markings as well as some tiny vent holes should anything go awry with the device. It sports an internal 1500mAh battery and charges via micro USB with the included cable. The USB port is located on the same side as the fire bar near the bottom of the device so you can leave your device standing while it charges. It also supports pass-through vaping so you can vape while it charges. It doesn’t appear to have quick charge but it should charge up in less than two hours according to Usonicig. It also includes all the usual built-in protections like Short circuit, low voltage, 12 second cutoff, over charge and over heat. Interestingly enough it’s also got a rudimentary anti-dry burning protection where if it detects there isn’t enough liquid it will flash an orange light for 5 seconds and shut down to protect itself.

The Pods:

The device comes with two pods, one of them pre-installed and each pod holds approximately 2ml of liquid. To remove a pod from the device you just pull it out or I found tipping the pod and pulling it out made it a little easier. There’s also a little fingernail groove on the side of the mod where the pod slides in to help get it out but I didn’t find it necessary. The pods are held in place with magnets and are fairly firm but there is some minor play between the pod and the mod. As I’ve already eluded to they don’t use traditional coils but instead are rated at 2.4MHz which is an ultra-high frequency that vibrates a ceramic pad at 2,400,000 times/sec to produce vapour. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how it actually works but it does work! The pods themselves are fairly boxy with the mouth piece and airflow coming out the top. The mouthpiece or drip tip is built-in so when you toss the old one and pop in a new one you get a fresh drip tip to go with it but I wouldn’t have minded if it used standard 510 tips. It’s top airflow and the airflow feeds in through two little holes in the pod, one on either side of the base of the drip tip. It’s pretty much direct to lung only as there isn’t any ability to adjust the airflow but I found it’s a comfortable slightly restricted DL hit which works for me however it definitely won’t be for folks looking for a tighter mouth to lung draw. It’s also a top fill pod system which Usonicig claims is the first and to fill the pods right next to the airflow holes there are two kidney shaped fill holes, one on each side. You turn the drip tip to open and close the holes with one acting as a vent for filling. The holes aren’t the biggest and because of the attached drip tip you might struggle a bit with bigger bottles and tips but it didn’t cause any real issues with filling for me.

Usage and Performance:

It takes the usual five clicks to turn it on and off and using the device really couldn’t get much simpler. Just fill up one of the pods, let it sit for a while to marinate then pop it in the device and press the fire bar. I did find that the break in time for the pods was extreme and they really didn’t start tasting right until the second day of use. When I first fired it up it gave a really awful taste that took a quite a while to clear out. The only thing I could think to compare it to would be the smell of old film. Anyone else old enough to remember the smell of cellulose nitrate film? A sort of vinegary chemical smell. I almost gave up on the Rhythm but kept trying it over the course of a couple days when the odd taste finally managed to clear, mostly anyway. From what I understand Usonicig pre-primes the coil with pure PG to keep it from drying out in shipping so maybe it was just their PG I was tasting but like I said break in time is pretty extreme. Another thing to mention and this goes hand in hand with the fact that it’s a cool vape but there’s a pretty long ramp up time when vaping on it. I’ve just been holding down the fire bar before I put it to my lips and it’s helped shorten the time it takes to produce vapour but folks who like instant fire will probably be left wanting. From my time with it, the pods also seem to last a really long time. I’m assuming again because it’s using ultrasonic and not heat but I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve filled the pods and they’re still going strong over two weeks later.

The vape I get from the Rhythm is cool, very cool and really feels different from a traditional vape. It’s airier, lighter and almost dryer feeling. They suggest that it’s best used with some nic salts and I can confirm it works well with 50/50 40mg salts but I also tried it out with some thicker 70vg 3mg freebase liquid and it worked just as well so it’s pretty versatile in that regard. On their site Usonicig demonstrates the particle size difference from a traditional vaporizer and the ultrasonic Rhythm, with the particles from a traditional vaporizer being significantly bigger. They actually suggest you won’t get liquid in your mouth because of it but I still found if the pod flooded a bit overnight I would in fact end up with a bit of liquid in my mouth. The flavour unfortunately remained quite lacking and I found most flavours that I ran through it came out pretty muted even after the long break in time. A few really strong fruity flavours did manage to work well with the Rhythm but even they felt,, different. It could simply be the technology results in a completely different experience that I’m not used to but if comparing it to a traditional vaporizer flavour is not the Rhythms strong point. Another thing worth mentioning is even with the internal 1500mAh battery the mod seemed to rip through it in no time so getting through a full day with it would be a challenge without a top up.

Likes:

• Looks different
• Solid construction
• Fun fire bar
• Easy to use
• Top airflow
• Top fill
• Pods last a long time
• Ultrasonic vaping!!

Dislikes:

• Muted flavour
• Long break in time
• Long ramp up time
• No airflow adjustment
• Built-in tip
• Short battery life

Overall:

I have to say despite the less than stellar performance of the Rhythm I can definitely see the merit in this new ultrasonic technology. I still feel it’s a bit premature to say it’s a fully developed tech but as a first attempt it performed surprisingly well. I’m curious to see if this ultrasonic tech sticks around and to see what it develops into and I’m also anxious to see future iterations of the Rhythm or at least the ultrasonic technology that drives it. For whatever reason, I had a really fun time with this one as it’s pretty rare I get to try out something so fundamentally different, so huge thanks to Elegomall and Usonicig for opening up my eyes to this new and exciting technology, I can’t wait to see what comes next!!