The NEX is Air Bar’s second-generation box-type disposable. They took their 5000 and upgraded it both inside and out. The outside sports the same chromatic colors and anodized metallic finish as the Air Bar Box 5000 and their new Mini collection. The Air Bar NEX vape is stylish, posh, and comfortable to hold. It looks less like a tech gadget than the 5000 and more like several other 2023 top-shelf box-shaped disposables. Its form factor is slightly shorter and stockier than an Elf Bar Ultra. The NEX includes anti-leak technology, an upgraded battery, higher resistance, and an improved mesh coil. These work together to deliver 6500 near-perfect puffs.

The NEX provides the same great flavors as its predecessor, now with a uniform vapor flow. The device is nearly airtight with a single air intake hole on the bottom, so if you pull too hard, it will resist you and continue to deliver repeated MTL puffs at its desired velocity. The NEX will work well for anyone who wants the same puff every time without fuss or muss. It is also an ideal disposable vape for new vapers as it will deliver about the same puff every time and is a delightful-tasting puff. If someone new accidentally hits too hard, this device will help them. The Box 5000 would let them take too much and chuckle.

The NEX is a better device for folks who like a medium DTL vape and a more consistent, hassle-free vaping experience. The vape juice and names are the same but vaped through the NEX, the flavor is improved, and each puff is uniformly consistent. We have already tasted most NEX collection flavors in other Air Bar lines.

Air Bar Nex Specifications

• Size: 47.6 x 76.2 x 18.8mm (3 x 1.875 x 0.74in)
• Weight: 54g (1.90oz)
• Battery Capacity: 650mAh
• Number of Puffs: ≈ 6500
• Resistance Value: 1.2Ω
• Nicotine Type: Nic Salt
• Nicotine Strength: 5% (50mg/ml)
• E-liquid Capacity: 15mL
• PG/VG Ratio: 60/40

Air Bar Nex Features

• Leak Proof Design
• A+ Grade Battery
• 10s Cut-Off Protection
• Low Voltage Protection
• Short Circuit Protection
• Mesh Coil

What Does that Mean to Me?

The Air Bar Vapes brand has already had great-tasting juices and delivery systems. A slightly more flavorful delivery of the juice in a more consistent vape experience was all they needed to get closer to perfection. Net-net, the NEX looks better and gives 1500 additional, slightly more flavorful, less hard-hitting, more uniform puffs than the Box 5000.

The NEX has no airflow control and medium airflow. Slightly more air passes through the NEX than the Box 5000 allowed. The NEX airflow and draw are now on par with its peers (Elf Bar, Lost Mary H2O, Orion bar, etc.), providing measured, consistent hits. 15mls is a fair amount of juice, so you must recharge the battery a few times before using up all the juice provided. The 650mAh battery will hold a charge longer (for extended periods between recharges). The 1.2Ω resistance means it will not hit crazy hard like a sub-ohm but serves up measured, little MTL puffs. The Nic strength of 5% is typical for Nic salts, but if you vape a non-salt blend, this will hit harder. The 60% PG means it will provide a solid throat hit, and 40% PG means a little less cloud creation than a 50/50 blend. If you are vaping a disposable but are unsure what strength you are currently vaping, chances are you are vaping 5% / 50ml salts, as that is what most disposable vapes use.

Air Bar NEX vs Air Bar Box 5000 Vapes

The NEX delivers a smidge more airflow than the Box 5000, so more air is provided on the draw by volume. However, its 1.2Ω resistance coil cooks the juice at a lower temp than the Box 5000’s 1.0Ω resistance, so the NEX, while having slightly more airflow, provides less robust (but more measured) puffs than the Box 5000, ideal for a medium MTL puff.

With its measured approach, the NEX provides uniformly consistent medium-sized MTLs to please 90% of existing vapers who want the same hassle-free experience with every puff. Unlike the 5000, where you can “put the pedal to the metal,” the NEX, with its limited airflow and higher coil resistance, delivers a more measured and consistent puff every time. If you tend to suck too hard for your good and cough instead of vaping, the NEX will lock it down and provide an even more consistent puff every time. Especially good for newer vapers.

The Box 5000 looks techie (like the Dyson Vacuum of vapes), while version 2.0 (NEX) joins the army of square helmet-wrapped box mods hitting the market now. The Box 5000 has more headroom, so drawing with more force provides slightly more vapor with each pull. The chance of getting too big of a puff can be off-putting to new vapers or folks used to vaping more common box disposables. The 5000, with less resistance (1.0Ω) and more air holes on the bottom, can hit similarly to the NEX, but if you need to put the peddle to the metal, the Box 5000 has a little more horsepower to deliver a little “extra.” The vocal minority (myself included) wants a vape that can deliver a more robust hit by drawing harder or by futzing with an air control slider to try to eke out a Pho-DTL hit. If you intermittently desire more nicotine delivered, the Box 5000 has less resistance (1.0 Ω) and slightly more useable airflow. It delivers slightly thicker, more robust puffs when pressed. I currently own (and semi-regularly vape) four Air Bar Box 5000 flavors on rotation.

I will upgrade to this device after my Box 5000s run dry. I caught myself vaping the NEX flavors I took home to “try out,” more than many “go-to” flavors sitting right next to them.

Air Bar Nex Collection Overview

The Air Bar NEX flavors taste sweeter and icier right out of the gate. For instance, the Air Bar Mini’s Melon Kiwi tasted more like sweet kiwi. When vaping the same flavor through the NEX, you receive all the flavors at once, and the cantaloupe and kiwi appear in equal amounts (you can taste the melon vaped through the NEX).

Vaping my way through every flavor, it was nice that all the flavors made sense. There weren’t strange flavor combinations or too many exotic fruits. The mint tasted minty, the fruits tasted fruity, and the candied fruit tasted like, you guessed it, confectionary sweets we are not allowed to name here because kids might see it and want to start vaping.

Air Bar Nex Flavors Reviewed

BLACKBERRY ICE: Blackberries mixed with minty ice. This mint hints of blackberry (well behind the mint flavors, but it’s there). The ice and mint flavorings take over right out of the gate, but you can taste fruity undertones that provide sweetness and more flavoring. Someone who loves fruity vapes might be disappointed, but the Air Bar Nex Blackberry Ice would be a great addition to any minty vape connoisseur’s collection.

BLUEBERRY DRAGONFRUIT: Blueberries and Dragonfruit with medium-high ice on the exhale. On the inhale, I taste sweet berries and a touch of dragon berry (light watermelon/citrus), followed by a medium-high amount of ice. The ice is about the same amount as in their blueberry ice, so there is a good deal of ice. The Blueberry Dragonfruit Air Bar Nex's exhale tastes of light fruit flavors and strong ice. Between puffs, it leaves a slightly bitter taste on your tongue while the ice disappears quickly from your tastebuds, leaving only a taint of bitterness.

BLUEBERRY GRAPE MINT: Blueberries, sweet grapes, a slight mint flavoring, but not much “ice.” It would have been easy to make this blueberry grape ice by turning up the MMK, but they toned down the ice allowing slight mint flavors to compliment the fruit flavors with less of an ice hit. I have tried other fruit vapes with added mint or menthol that tasted bad. (Like Juicy fruit Gum with wintergreen lifesaver). Yeah, gross. That had me somewhat jaded about reviewing this flavor. However, the Blueberry Grape Mint Air Bar Nex mix was done right! Hints of mint complement the fruit flavors, and a touch of ice makes the flavors pop. You can enjoy sweet fruit flavors with a hint of mint and medium ice instead of just tasting and feeling the ice. I would consider it an excellent all-day vape.

BLUEBERRY ICE: Sweet blueberries with slightly sour undertones and a medium-high amount of ice in the mix. The Air Bar Nex Blueberry Ice recipe is a good-tasting, semi-sweet blueberry ice in a quality vaping device. I get hints of a sweet blue razz under the blueberries and ice.

CLEAR: Providing a lightly mentholated puff and nothing else. Just a light menthol hit for vapers that do not want fruit, sweetness, or ice added to their vape. Instead of adding flavored juice to the mix, they mentholate the nicotine and then process that to obtain the finished flavor. Air Bar NEX Clear is an excellent all-day vape.

COOL MINT: The cool mint flavor through the Cool Mint Air Bar NEX tastes significantly better than when vaped through the Air Bar Mini. The NEX device handles the juice very well. The sweet mint flavor and high ice provide the icy freshness you expect in a “Cool Mint” vape. This flavor reminds me of their Box 5000 Super Mint (toned down slightly by the higher resistant coil).

I enjoyed this sweet Cool Mint flavor very much! Unlike the Mini, there was no “chalkiness” in-between puffs. I only tasted a lingering sweetness and iciness that made me want to vape more.

GRAPE ICE: Sweet grape juice and medium ice on the exhale. Air bar has turned up the grape flavor and the sweetness and added more ice since the last iteration of this flavor. The Grape Ice Air Bar Nex flavor doesn’t have the grape cough syrup taste, nor the sour, unsweetened grape juice flavor I have come to expect with grape ice blends. This pleasant, sweetened grape flavor has enough ice to make the flavors pop and enough ice to remind you why they named it Grape Ice.

MELON KIWI: Sweet cantaloupe, traces of sweet kiwi, and a medium to medium-high amount of ice on the inhale, exhale, and in-between. In my review of the Air Bar Mini’s treatment of this flavor, I noted that it tasted of kiwi primarily. Vaped through the Melon Kiwi Air Bar NEX, the fruit flavors are accurate and tasty. The amount of ice compliments the experience rather than burying the primary under the ice. 

MIAMI MINT: Sweet, medium-iced mint flavor with a touch of sourness from the lime makes Miami Mint Air Bar Nex a Mojito without the alcohol. If you collect interesting mint flavors or love mojitos, here’s one for your collection.

PINEAPPLE COCONUT: The pineapple coconut is a well-balanced sweet-tasting vape with a medium amount of ice on the exhale. This flavor didn’t work as well in the Air Bar Mini Pineapple Coconut as the lack of sweetness, and lower ice left the unsweetened coconut flavors in the front of the mix, which was a primarily underwhelming flavor. In the NEX, I believe they were carving out room for the coconut flavors by not going overboard with the ice, and it totally worked.

This Air Bar NEX Pineapple Coconut is a fruitier version of Lost Mary’s Strawberry Pina Colada flavor. The same juice vaped through the NEX comes alive. You now taste sweet ripe pineapples and tropical coconut, followed by a medium amount of ice (just enough ice to make some flavor pop without overwhelming the coconut flavors). I have vaped one-two of those per month since I first reviewed them, but I will switch to this Pineapple Coconut by Air Bar next time I order.

PINEAPPLE MANGO: This pineapple mango flavor is a sweet and tasty fruit-flavored vape with a medium amount of ice. The pineapple is delightful, similar to their Pineapple Coconut flavored vape, with a touch more ice that brings out the fruit flavors. The coconut-flavored version needed lower ice to keep the coconut flavor alive in the mix. With the Pineapple Mango Air Bar Nex flavor, they had none of those concerns and iced it properly to make the sweet fruit flavors pop to unbelievable amounts of robust fruity goodness. This flavor has a medium-high amount of ice that compliments the pineapple and mango.

STRAWBERRY KIWI: Sweet kiwi, subtle strawberry flavors, and medium-low ice make this one of the more enjoyable strawberry kiwi flavored vapes. It is sweet, fruity, and pleasant tasting. The kiwi at once overtakes the strawberry flavor pushing it far back in the mix with the ice. You get ice on the exhale and taste fruit, but nothing tastes off between puffs. If you love sweet kiwi-flavored vapes (and there aren’t that many good ones), you'll enjoy the Strawberry Kiwi Air Bar Nex vape.

STRAWBERRY MANGO: Strawberries and ripe mangoes with medium ice on the exhale. The flavors are good tasting. The device delivers a good MTL hit and consistently good puffs. The fruit flavors are not the sweetest or iciest, so if you prefer medium-iced semi-sweet fruit vapes, I believe you will like Strawberry Mango Air Bar Nex.

WATERMELON ICE: Semi-sweet, candied watermelon with lots of minty ice. This flavor is fruity, juicy, minty, and sweet with a medium-high amount of ice. More mint makes the fruit taste sweeter, and all the flavors pop more than the medium ice does with the Watermelon Candy. This watermelon is between a sweet ripe fresh watermelon and a candied watermelon. It is not as sugary as the Watermelon Candy but is not an altogether fruity-tasting watermelon either. If you like sweet watermelon iced vapes, you will like Watermelon ice Air Bar Nex flavor.

In Summary

The coil, wick, and airflow upgrades provide uniformly tasty puffs. You can have a delightful MTL vape or eke out a pho-DTL by allowing a lot of air through the cracks on the sides of your mouth, made possible by them changing from a thin duckbilled to a wider oval-shaped mouthpiece. The device looks good and works well. The flavors are all good, and the names indicate what flavors to expect, with a few exceptions noted above.

Compared to the Box 5000, the NEX is like a 2023 mustang compared to a beefed-up 1965 Mustang. The Box 5000 allows you to take thicker puffs and more brutal hits, which could be harder to handle for a new vaper. A seasoned vaper will appreciate putting the Box 5000’s “pedal to the metal” for a bigger Nic hit as needed.

The NEX is like a 2023 Mustang with limiters and throttling and governors to keep you from acting the fool with it. If you try to eke out more than the NEX delivers, the airtight device limits your draw to its uniformly measured puff. The NEX deserves consideration if you like good flavors and a no-hassle puff every time.