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VOOPOO ARGUS POD SE review by Antony Lord
Voopoo have sent over their latest two starter pod systems for me to try out, I’ve actually had these for about a month as they wanted the reviews to go live with a promotion in France of all places so I’ve had a lot longer than usual to try these out. Today I’ll be looking at the Argus Pod SE, their no frills starter pod system which sits somewhere in the middle of the Argus pod range thanks to its slightly more premium finish.
Specifications:
The Argus Pod SE comes in a nice presentation box along with two pods, a usb-c charge cable and a user manual so barring eliquid you have everything you need in a starter kit. This is available in several different colours and I was sent the “shiny orange” version which uses what Voopoo calls a “new nanoscale lithography process for the patch design” whilst also offering the kit in its classic metal and leather finishes.
The lithography process on the highly polished “shiny orange” and “shiny blue” versions is quite stunning with the patterns on either side of the battery section shifting in the light. This also makes it quite difficult to capture on camera and the best shot I could get for that is the one at the top of the article.
The Argus Pod SE follows standard pod design with a battery section and a disposable pod section on top. The main body has nicely rounded edges with a slightly raised section near the top providing a nice tactile feel, as this uses a zinc alloy chassis it feels quite solid and well constructed with the obvious downside being that it also feels surprisingly heavy despite its relatively compact dimensions weighing in at just over 57 grams. As a result you will be aware of this if it’s kept in a shirt pocket but less so in a pants pocket, even with this in mind it’s perfectly suited for daily use and should prove to be fairly durable over time.
Up top is the recess for the pod with two magnets to hold the pod in place and a draw activation tube, no buttons here so this makes it an ideal first kit for someone to try out. The pod does have a bit of movement in the chassis if you grab hold of it and wiggle it around but the magnets do a pretty good job of holding it in place. The only way I could get the pod to come out with the old shake test was to hold the pod itself and use the mass of the battery section to fling it off, in normal use whilst holding the battery section the pod sits rock solid in its enclosure.
You do get a small airflow control on one side as well allowing you to fine tune your draw, this can go from almost closed to a very loose mouth to lung draw and I’ve found myself preferring to have it set at roughly the halfway mark. This controller is a little small and fiddly and I’ve found myself needing to use a fingernail to adjust it but there’s a decent amount of resistance to it so I haven’t found it getting accidentally adjusted in pockets and the like either, the raised sections just above the controller give great tactile feedback on its position as well.
As the usb-c charge port is located on the bottom of the device so you’ll need to lay this flat for charging but there is actually a small rubber pad surrounding the charge port to prevent slipping and scratches if you wish to stand this upright on a desk for example which is a nice touch. I did find that this started to come unglued if it was left in a warm pocket… it’s still attached at the moment but I could see this doing a disappearing act at some point further down the line!
Whilst charging the three small LED lights on the side of the chassis will pulse white, this behavior stops after 50 minutes with a recorded charge of 600mah; however it is still charging at 0.7 amps at this stage. The charging rate finally dropped to zero amps after one hour and sixteen minutes with a final recorded capacity of 729mah.
One criticism I’ve had with the Argus Pod line is that the LED indicators have previously not given you any feedback on your battery capacity whilst in use but the Argus Pod SE finally fixes this issue. This time the LEDs will indicate your remaining capacity (3 lights >66%, 2 lights >33%, 1 light <33%) and they will finally flash red once your battery is depleted.
I’ve used the Argus pods before and they have a great leak proof design with easy filling from the large port on the base. In my experience these are completely leak free and the clear tank means that it’s easy to see your liquid levels as well making these a pleasure to use.
As usual you get a 0.7 ohm and a 1.2 ohm pod included in the package so you can try both and decide which you like best. As I prefer a looser “modern” mouth to lung draw my choice is the 0.7 ohm pod but both pods feature a kanthal mesh coil and the flavour won't disappoint whichever you choose, my mints and menthols always come through loud and clear with these.
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion:
This latest entry in the Argus entry level kits is the best to date with several improvements over previous entries in the series, Voopoo asked me to show this alongside previous Argus pod kits if possible but these have proved to be very popular items when I give starter kits out at work with several colleagues using these as their daily driver kits, in fact one of the girls at work has already called dibs on this once the review is done. This just goes to show how user friendly the Argus kits are and I’d have no hesitation suggesting the Argus Pod SE to someone just starting out on their vaping journey with its reliable and simple no fuss draw activated operation.
Many thanks to @VOOPOO for sending the Argus Pod SE over for review
Voopoo have sent over their latest two starter pod systems for me to try out, I’ve actually had these for about a month as they wanted the reviews to go live with a promotion in France of all places so I’ve had a lot longer than usual to try these out. Today I’ll be looking at the Argus Pod SE, their no frills starter pod system which sits somewhere in the middle of the Argus pod range thanks to its slightly more premium finish.
Specifications:
- 93 x 25.8 x 14.9 mm / 57.2 grams
- Max power 18 watts
- 800mah battery with 5V/1A charging
- Adjustable airflow
- 2ml PCTG pods
- 0.7 and 1.2 ohm pods included
The Argus Pod SE comes in a nice presentation box along with two pods, a usb-c charge cable and a user manual so barring eliquid you have everything you need in a starter kit. This is available in several different colours and I was sent the “shiny orange” version which uses what Voopoo calls a “new nanoscale lithography process for the patch design” whilst also offering the kit in its classic metal and leather finishes.
The lithography process on the highly polished “shiny orange” and “shiny blue” versions is quite stunning with the patterns on either side of the battery section shifting in the light. This also makes it quite difficult to capture on camera and the best shot I could get for that is the one at the top of the article.
The Argus Pod SE follows standard pod design with a battery section and a disposable pod section on top. The main body has nicely rounded edges with a slightly raised section near the top providing a nice tactile feel, as this uses a zinc alloy chassis it feels quite solid and well constructed with the obvious downside being that it also feels surprisingly heavy despite its relatively compact dimensions weighing in at just over 57 grams. As a result you will be aware of this if it’s kept in a shirt pocket but less so in a pants pocket, even with this in mind it’s perfectly suited for daily use and should prove to be fairly durable over time.
Up top is the recess for the pod with two magnets to hold the pod in place and a draw activation tube, no buttons here so this makes it an ideal first kit for someone to try out. The pod does have a bit of movement in the chassis if you grab hold of it and wiggle it around but the magnets do a pretty good job of holding it in place. The only way I could get the pod to come out with the old shake test was to hold the pod itself and use the mass of the battery section to fling it off, in normal use whilst holding the battery section the pod sits rock solid in its enclosure.
You do get a small airflow control on one side as well allowing you to fine tune your draw, this can go from almost closed to a very loose mouth to lung draw and I’ve found myself preferring to have it set at roughly the halfway mark. This controller is a little small and fiddly and I’ve found myself needing to use a fingernail to adjust it but there’s a decent amount of resistance to it so I haven’t found it getting accidentally adjusted in pockets and the like either, the raised sections just above the controller give great tactile feedback on its position as well.
As the usb-c charge port is located on the bottom of the device so you’ll need to lay this flat for charging but there is actually a small rubber pad surrounding the charge port to prevent slipping and scratches if you wish to stand this upright on a desk for example which is a nice touch. I did find that this started to come unglued if it was left in a warm pocket… it’s still attached at the moment but I could see this doing a disappearing act at some point further down the line!
Whilst charging the three small LED lights on the side of the chassis will pulse white, this behavior stops after 50 minutes with a recorded charge of 600mah; however it is still charging at 0.7 amps at this stage. The charging rate finally dropped to zero amps after one hour and sixteen minutes with a final recorded capacity of 729mah.
One criticism I’ve had with the Argus Pod line is that the LED indicators have previously not given you any feedback on your battery capacity whilst in use but the Argus Pod SE finally fixes this issue. This time the LEDs will indicate your remaining capacity (3 lights >66%, 2 lights >33%, 1 light <33%) and they will finally flash red once your battery is depleted.
I’ve used the Argus pods before and they have a great leak proof design with easy filling from the large port on the base. In my experience these are completely leak free and the clear tank means that it’s easy to see your liquid levels as well making these a pleasure to use.
As usual you get a 0.7 ohm and a 1.2 ohm pod included in the package so you can try both and decide which you like best. As I prefer a looser “modern” mouth to lung draw my choice is the 0.7 ohm pod but both pods feature a kanthal mesh coil and the flavour won't disappoint whichever you choose, my mints and menthols always come through loud and clear with these.
Pros:
- Uses the standard Argus pods
- Improved LED battery indication
- Solid build quality
Cons:
- Takes quite a while to charge
Conclusion:
This latest entry in the Argus entry level kits is the best to date with several improvements over previous entries in the series, Voopoo asked me to show this alongside previous Argus pod kits if possible but these have proved to be very popular items when I give starter kits out at work with several colleagues using these as their daily driver kits, in fact one of the girls at work has already called dibs on this once the review is done. This just goes to show how user friendly the Argus kits are and I’d have no hesitation suggesting the Argus Pod SE to someone just starting out on their vaping journey with its reliable and simple no fuss draw activated operation.
Many thanks to @VOOPOO for sending the Argus Pod SE over for review
