Innokin Trine Pod Kit Review: #1 Most Eco-Friendly Vape!

The Innokin Trine just debuted: an eco-friendly pod vape backed by a removable, recyclable, and replaceable battery. Let’s take a closer look at my impressions of the Trine and how this eco-friendly device holds up to scrutiny.

I was so thrilled when I heard about a new pod vape coming out with a replaceable and recyclable battery—from Innokin, of course. Innokin has been the market leader in sustainable vaping for several years now, with plastic-free packaging and an emphasis on socially responsible practices. 

Notably, you won’t find a USB charging cable in the box with most Innokin vape kits, which is an intentional move to reduce electrical waste, since most people already own a USB-C cable.

Needless to say, I had to get my hands on the Innokin Trine to see how it’d hold up to scrutiny against some of the less eco-friendly vapes out there; do vapers need to sacrifice any vaping amenities for the sake of having an eco-friendly vape?

Read on for more on my impressions of the Innokin Trine!

Innokin Trine Overview

The Innokin Trine is the latest release from Innokin, who set out to create the world’s most sustainable vaping solution: a pod kit with a rechargeable, removable, recyclable, and replaceable battery.

If you’re not already aware, most pod kits—specifically those with built-in batteries—are considered “semi-disposable,” since their batteries are only guaranteed to last between 6 to 12 months before the battery starts to degrade. If you’re a heavy vaper, you might start noticing that your pod kit doesn’t hold a charge very well anymore after about 6 months.

Sub-ohm vapers who use vape mods with external vape batteries have long known the benefits of external power, but pod vapers have been left replacing their kits whenever the battery starts to go. 

Now, with the Innokin Trine, you can simply replace your battery once that degradation starts, ensuring you can keep using your vape for however long the batteries are produced.

Best of all, the device comes with 2 batteries included, which essentially doubles the time it’ll take for you to need a new one!

I have lots to say about this vape—including some incredible highs and some notable cons—so strap in!

Design & Appearance

I got to choose the colour for my vape, so I opted for the Purple Blue finish.

The Innokin Trine lacks bells and whistles. It’s a fairly simple pod vape with a smooth brushed metal body, rounded edges, and not a whole lot going on looks-wise.

The front of the device has the OLED screen and the fire button situated above the printed  “Trine” logo. On one side of the device, you’ll find the adjustable airflow valve, and on the other, you’ll see the USB-C port. The back of the device has all the legal disposal information.

The bottom of the Innokin Trine houses the removable battery, which has an etched metal ridge pattern that feels kind of gross against my fingers. It’s just one of those sensory icks I can’t explain—like nail files. I appreciate the purpose of the removable battery, but the finish on it doesn’t feel nice in the hand. 

I asked someone else to feel it and they didn't agree with me, so I'll leave this part out of the cons list. However, the bottom of the device has rather sharp edges as well, which I wasn’t a fan of. The rest of the device is quite rounded, so the blunt edge on the bottom is a little strange.

All in all, the vape feels very sturdy, and while I’m not a fan of the bottom edge, the device is very plain overall—which isn’t a bad thing. It’s very unobtrusive.

Interface & Features

The Innokin Trine features an OLED screen and an LED indicator light which glows either green, yellow, or red depending on your current battery capacity. The light signals are as follows:

• Green: > 30% battery
• Yellow: 10% - 30% battery
• Red: < 10% battery

Personally, I’d prefer a little more notice when my battery is running low. The light only shifts to yellow when there’s less than 30% battery left, which is cutting it close. The green light gives a false sense of security when there’s every chance you only have 32% battery left.

Adjustable Airflow

I’m a really big fan of the airflow adjustment mechanism on the Innokin Trine. When I first opened the vape, I immediately noticed how stiff the adjustment toggle was—which is a good thing. It means that once you set your airflow the way you like it, it won’t budge.

The adjustable airflow toggle features 3 holes in descending sizes, allowing you to freely adjust between a wide, open RDTL draw and a tight, disposable-style MTL draw. I like to keep one and a half holes uncovered for the perfect MTL puff.

While I’ve had other issues with the Innokin Trine in transit, the airflow setting hasn’t moved once since I first set it. It’s really sturdy and provides plenty of wiggle room for you to find your perfect draw.  

Fire Button

I can’t carry it in the pocket of my handbag without turning it off first, and even if I do turn it off, if something in my bag hits the button 3 times quickly, it turns back on and starts firing.

This feels like such a huge omission from the interface.

OLED Screen

The Innokin Trine features an OLED screen displaying (mostly) vital information to the user, including the current battery level, wattage, and pod resistance. 

While vaping, the screen counts the length of your puffs and displays the output voltage as well, though I don’t personally see the point of either the puff length counter or the voltage. MTL vapers generally won’t care or even know what to do with this information.

I’ve also had some weird functionality issues with the screen and interface. For instance, I planned on draining the battery this morning to see how long it’d take to charge. The battery was on red (under 10%) when I started. When I set the vape down and picked it up 5 minutes later, the battery was suddenly almost full. 

Then, when I swapped back to the 0.6Ω (ohm) pod, the wattage stayed at 10W. It took me restarting the vape, pulling out the pod, and popping it back in before it went back to my previous wattage setting. What gives?

Later, the vape randomly set the wattage back to 10W, and the battery once again appeared to be below 10% until I removed and replaced the pod.

I’ve seen some really flawless firmware in pod vapes as of late, but with the Innokin Trine, it feels like the chipset and firmware were a bit of an afterthought while the R&D team focused on the eco-friendly design of the device. Don’t get me wrong: I love what this vape is trying to do, but the interface feels a little dated and glitchy.

Battery Life & Performance

I didn’t realise that the Innokin Trine came with two batteries included until I opened it up—what a nice surprise! 

The Innokin Trine is the first MTL pod kit that uses an external battery. The 1000mAh battery can be removed, recycled, and replaced, ensuring you can keep using your Innokin Trine for much longer than you could use a standard pod vape with a built-in battery.

You see, vape batteries—like all lithium-ion batteries, including those powering mobile phones, laptops, and electric cars—have a natural life cycle and will degrade with use over time. 

For vape batteries, you’ll get between 6 months to a year of optimal battery life (depending on usage) before the battery starts dying quicker and has a harder time holding a charge. This means that vapes that have built-in batteries aren't meant to last longer than 6 months to a year before the battery is kaput.

Enter the Innokin Trine with its removable and replaceable battery, which can be discharged and dropped off at your local battery recycling point once it starts to degrade. The 2 batteries included offer double the life of a standard pod vape. Plus, once you’ve used up both batteries, you can buy a replacement. 

This is the most eco-friendly pod vape option available on the market today, by far.

Innokin B1000 Battery

Innokin Trine Charging

The Innokin Trine utilises 1A USB-C charging, which is slower than 2A charging, and takes just over an hour to reach full charge from 0% battery. I would’ve loved to see fast charging with this device.

I would love it if the batteries could be charged externally, which would ensure you could have one on charge while the other is in use, but this isn’t currently possible with the Innokin Trine B1000 battery.

The vape technically doesn’t offer pass-through charging. However, if you want to vape while your device is on charge, the vape will simply pause charging while you puff and resume once you’re finished. I think this is a pretty nifty little workaround, especially given that pass-through charging isn't good for your battery.

EcoDrain Mode

While the device is off, connecting it to a charger and pressing the button 10 times will make the device enter “self-discharge mode.” In this mode, a recycling symbol is shown on the display screen.

Now, Innokin doesn’t do a great job of explaining when you should use this mode or what it’s for in the user manual, though their website gives a better explanation. The EcoDrain mode allows you to discharge the battery before recycling it, which is designed to minimise the risk of fire hazards.

Will most people do this? I hope so. We hear so many horror stories of lithium-ion batteries catching fire after disposal. Innokin heralds this technology as the industry’s first eco-safe battery recycling solution. I think it’s pretty neat, and I’ll be sure to use it when it’s time to recycle my Trine B1000 batteries.

Innokin VCAP Pods

I’m a huge fan of the Innokin Trine pods—called VCAP pods. These 2ml refillable pods have built-in coils for easier maintenance, meaning there are no messy coil changes required. Instead, when your vape starts to taste burnt or begins losing its flavour, simply discard the entire pod and replace it with a new one.

The Innokin VCAP pods are available in 3 resistances: 0.6Ω (ohm), 0.8Ω (ohm), and 1.2Ω (ohm). You’ll receive 2 pods with your purchase of the kit: the 0.6Ω and 0.8Ω resistances. Replacement pods are available separately in packs of 1, which is quite unusual for pods with built-in coils.

For a company so focused on reducing waste, why package each pod individually?

The pods feature my favourite clamshell top-fill mechanism I’ve ever tried—snapping off the mouthpiece is easy, and it’s very secure when you snap it back on. Refills are an absolute breeze. The mouthpiece itself is super comfortable, and I haven’t experienced any leaks whatsoever after over a week of usage.

I do wish that you could see more of the pod without having to remove it from the device. About half of the pod is obscured where it’s seated inside the unit, so it’s hard to tell how much E-Liquid you have left without removing the pod altogether. 

This is somewhat counterintuitive to the top-fill mechanism, which is convenient mainly because you don’t have to remove the pod to refill. 

I’m a big fan of the 0.6Ω pod—it’s definitely my favourite for big clouds and lots of flavour. If you prefer a more discreet vape, still with plenty of flavour, you’ll love the 0.8Ω pod. For those seeking a less intense cloud, the 1.2Ω pods available separately might be more your speed.

No matter which pod resistance you choose, you should only be pairing your Innokin VCAP pods with high-PG E-Liquids like nic salts, freebase 10ml E-Liquids, and 50/50 shortfills. 

I don’t recommend using any E-Liquids with a VG content over 50% in the Innokin Trine unless you love leaky pods and a burnt coil. 

Vaping the Innokin Trine

Vaping the Innokin Trine is an absolute breeze outside of my issues with the interface. Once you’ve got your settings how you like them, simply press the button or inhale on the mouthpiece to fire.

The flavour and vapour production is excellent, and the output is very consistent regardless of the battery level. 

While I have plenty of qualms about the interface and the firmware, the vape itself is really flavourful and delicious. I have no issues with the vapour production—except when the interface randomly sets it back to 10W and I get a sad, weak cloud.

Who should get the Innokin Trine?

The Innokin Trine is ideal for intermediate pod vapers who know their way around a menu and don’t mind making some adjustments to the vape, especially given that the auto-coil detection tends to set the wattage outside of the correct range for the pods when you first pop one in.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this vape to complete beginners due to the menu settings. I think they’d be too confusing for first-timers. 

Innokin Trine Accessibility

I always try to include a bit of accessibility information for every vape I review here given the sheer volume of smokers we’re seeing converting to vaping—particularly those from older demographics.

The Innokin Trine has a very accessible fill port, which is great for those with dexterity issues. Of course, refills with small bottles will still be difficult, but this may be one of the most accessible fill ports I’ve ever seen.

However, the wattage adjustment, the various button functions, and the non-lockable interface make the device less accessible overall—particularly for the elderly and for those with a vision impairment.

Innokin Trine FAQs

Conclusion: Finally, an Eco-Friendly Pod!

The Innokin Trine is an innovative new kit that I’ve really enjoyed using. The flavour is great, the pod and mouthpiece are excellent, and the whole battery system is such a huge development for the vaping world.

And while this eco-friendly vaping solution is such an incredible step forward for the industry, there are also a few major cons to the device that I hope to see rectified in future iterations—namely, issues with the interface and firmware. 

Maybe Innokin will come out with a firmware update in the future—but I expect to see an Innokin Trine v2 before then.

As we look to the future of vaping, I really hope to see more companies embrace eco-conscious tactics like Innokin has, including their reduction of plastic packaging, their commitment to sustainability, and of course, their innovative new battery recycling solution.

Overall, I’d recommend the Trine to anyone looking for an eco-friendly vape kit. And if you have any questions about the device or need help with what to buy, you can always contact us via email or live chat for personalised advice from a bona fide vaping expert.