Level X

The device and pod model explained

A disposable is one sealed object thrown away complete. A fully refillable pod system is a device plus pods you fill from a bottle. Level X sits between the two: a reusable base with a swappable pod that carries the liquid and the coil.

The advantage over a disposable is obvious. You stop repurchasing a battery and a shell every few days, and the recurring cost drops to the pod alone. The advantage over a fully refillable system is that there is less handling involved.

The trade off is that you are tied to the pods this brand makes, which is the defining characteristic of any part closed system. That makes pod availability a genuine consideration rather than a detail, and it is worth checking before buying into any system of this kind.

The G2 Boost and G2 Ultra

Both devices are $34.99, which makes the choice between them purely about behaviour rather than budget. They share the platform and the general approach, differing in how they deliver.

A higher up front price than most pod devices is the point rather than a drawback. You are buying a base intended to last through many pods, so the correct comparison is not against a cheaper device but against the total you would spend on disposables over the same period.

Our vaping versus smoking cost calculator does that arithmetic against what you were spending before. For anyone vaping daily, the payback period on a $34.99 device against disposables at $22.99 to $29.99 each is measured in weeks rather than months.

Two pod formats, and getting the right one

We stock G2 Ultra Replacement Pods and Barrel Replacement Pods, both at $14.99. These are different formats and they are not interchangeable, which is the most common ordering mistake with this brand.

Check which device you own before ordering. The packaging differs but the pods themselves look broadly similar in the hand, and once a pack is opened it cannot be returned. Our listings name the compatible device explicitly for exactly that reason.

Buy a pack ahead rather than one at a time. Having a spare removes the temptation to keep using a pod that has already gone past its best, which is how people end up inhaling scorched cotton for a day longer than they needed to.

The bottled Salt Nic E-Liquid

The 30 ml bottles at $12.99 are the cheapest way to run any device in this range, and by a wide margin. Bottled liquid always undercuts prefilled pods per millilitre, because you are not paying for a coil and a housing each time.

Salt nicotine is smoother than freebase at higher strengths and absorbs faster, which suits small low power devices and recent ex smokers. It is what makes a strength near the Canadian cap tolerable in a pod at all.

Because it is salt nicotine in a thinner 50/50 base, it belongs in a device with a coil resistance above roughly 1.0 ohm. Putting it into a sub ohm tank delivers several times the intended dose per puff. Our vape juice range explains ratios, and nicotine strength calculator matches strength to hardware.

The Canadian Level X range compared

Five products, with prices as listed.

The bottom row is where the cost saving actually lives. A 30 ml bottle covers roughly a week to a fortnight for a moderate vaper, against several disposables over the same period.

A Canadian brand and what that means

Level X is developed for the Canadian market, and the effect shows in two places. Products are formulated to sit within the federal 20 mg/mL cap from the outset rather than being reduced versions of something designed for a higher ceiling.

Distribution is the second. A part closed pod system is only as good as the availability of its pods, and a brand focused on one market is generally more reliable on that front than one treating Canada as a secondary territory.

Flavour development follows the same logic. The range is built for Canadian taste rather than adapted from elsewhere, which is the same argument made by STLTH, Allo and Flavour Beast.

Looking after a device you intend to keep

Because the base is meant to last, the small amount of maintenance it needs actually matters here in a way it does not on something you throw away.

Wipe the pod well and the contacts with a dry cotton bud every week or so. Condensation collects there in normal use, and as residue builds it insulates the electrical connection. Intermittent firing that looks like a dying battery is usually nothing more than that.

Charge before the battery is completely flat rather than running it down every time, since lithium cells prefer partial cycles to deep ones. Keep the device out of hot cars and out of prolonged deep cold, which temporarily reduces capacity so a healthy device reads as dead, as we explain in vaping in cold weather.

Common Level X problems and fixes

A pod that will not register is nearly always the contacts. Remove it, wipe both the pod contacts and the well with a dry cotton bud, and reseat it. If a different pod works, the device is fine.

A pod that tastes burnt from the first draw is usually a manufacturing variance in the wick rather than anything you did, and it is worth replacing rather than persevering with. Keep the packaging and contact our contact the team team.

Gurgling means the coil is flooded, usually from draws that are too hard. Draw more gently and leave a few seconds between puffs. Our walkthrough at why a vape stops hitting covers the diagnostic order for any pod device.

How Level X compares with other brands we stock

Against STLTH, the other major Canadian pod system, both use a reusable base with swappable pods. STLTH devices are cheaper up front at $19.99 and the ecosystem is larger. Level X asks more at the outset for a device intended to last longer.

Against fully refillable systems such as Uwell, OXVA or Voopoo, Level X involves less handling but ties you to its own pods, where those brands let you fill from any bottle and choose from the whole vape juice range.

Against disposables from Vice, Gcore or Lost Mary, the case is straightforward. A $34.99 device plus pods costs substantially less over a year than repurchasing a sealed device every few days, and our refillable versus disposable vapes comparison sets that out with numbers.

Getting a pod to last its full life

A pod should give you one to two weeks of normal use. When one dies in three days, the cause is almost always technique or liquid rather than a defective pod, and all of it is fixable.

Chain vaping is the most common. The cotton needs a few seconds between draws to reabsorb, and without that gap the coil heats cotton that is drying out. Hard draws are the second, because a sharp pull drags liquid past the coil rather than through it and floods the airway. Sweetened dessert and candy flavours are the third, since the sweeteners caramelise onto the coil rather than vaporising cleanly and can halve its life outright.

Running a pod near empty is the fourth and the most avoidable. As the level drops below the juice ports the wick starts drying long before the pod looks finished, so swapping at a quarter full rather than at the last drop costs nothing and consistently gives better flavour to the end. Fruit and menthol profiles are far gentler on a coil than dessert ones if you want to stretch a pod further.

Canadian availability and the rules that apply

Every Level X product we list sits at or under the federal 20 mg/mL nicotine cap set out in Tobacco and Vaping Products Act. That is why Canadian versions are not directly comparable to the same model sold in markets with a higher ceiling, which is worth knowing if you are reading international reviews.

Flavour availability is decided provincially rather than federally, so the pod range differs by province and we track the current picture in vaping laws by province. Because the devices are kept rather than discarded, the recycling obligation applies to pods and eventually to the base, both of which belong at a battery or electronics drop off point rather than in household waste.

We operate an age gate on every visit and ship only inside Canada in Canadian dollars. Carriers, timings and tracking are on our shipping and delivery page and faults on our returns policy page. Anything containing a lithium cell travels in cabin baggage rather than checked luggage when flying, as Transport Canada lithium battery rules requires, and our guide to taking a vape on a plane covers the rest.

Common questions

Are G2 Ultra and Barrel pods interchangeable?

No. They are different formats and are not cross compatible, which is the most common ordering mistake with this brand. Check which device you own before ordering, since opened packs cannot be returned.

Why are Level X devices more expensive than other pod kits?

Because you are buying a base intended to last through many pods rather than a cheap device subsidised by consumables. The right comparison is not against another device price but against the total you would spend on disposables over the same period.

Can I use bottled liquid instead of prefilled pods?

The Salt Nic E-Liquid at $12.99 for 30 ml is the cheapest route per millilitre, and by a wide margin, because you are not paying for a coil and a housing each time. It is salt nicotine in a thin 50/50 base, which is what a pod coil needs.

How does this compare with a disposable on cost?

Favourably, and the gap widens the more you vape. A $34.99 device is a one off purchase against repurchasing a sealed device at $22.99 to $29.99 every few days. For a daily vaper the payback period is measured in weeks.

Why is my device firing intermittently?

Almost always condensation in the pod well insulating the contacts. Remove the pod, wipe both the contacts and the well with a dry cotton bud, and reseat it. It looks exactly like a dying battery and very rarely is one.

Is Level X a Canadian brand?

Yes, and its products are formulated to sit within the federal 20 mg/mL nicotine cap from the outset rather than being reduced versions of something designed for a market with a higher ceiling. Flavour development follows the same logic.