VOOPOO Drag 5 kit

Refresh time again, this time we have the "new" VOOPOO Drag 5 in for review

by Antony Lord
Aug 8, 2024

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VOOPOO have refreshed their popular dual battery sub ohm kit with the new Drag 5 kit which has some clever new twists. It’s quite unusual these days to see many kits like this, so let’s take a dive in and look at what’s new.

Specifications

89.3 x 54.9 x 26.4 mm
157.2 grams
Dual 18650 battery
Power range 5 to 177 watts
U-Force X tank & PnP-X coils included

The Drag 5 kit is available in seven different colours and I was sent the “Gradient Blue” version for review, the kit also includes the new U-Force X sub ohm tank which uses the tried and tested PnP-X platform coils. Also included in the box are two PnP-X coils, spare O-rings for the tank, and the usual USB-C charge cable and documentation.

Taking a look at the Drag 5 mod, first of all it features an instantly recognisable profile similar to its predecessors with a smart “leather” surround running around the sides and back. It’s exactly the same size and shape as the Drag 4 mod that came out 18 months ago and even retains the same control layout and colour screen on the front panel powered by the Gene TT 2.0 chipset with 177 watts maximum output.

The buttons all have a solid clunk when you press them with zero button rattle, and the Drag 5 retains the toggle switch which can be used to lock various features that were first seen with the Drag 4. The switch can be set to turn the mod on/off, lock all the buttons, or just the wattage buttons, to be honest I’ve found the last behaviour the most useful as it prevents you accidentally adjusting the wattage and burning coils out.

The Gene TT 2.0 chip is a solid performer with “smart”, “rba”and “eco” modes that cover your wattage modes. The “smart” mode is best for beginners as this will limit the power available depending on your installed coil whilst “rba” mode is essentially your traditional wattage mode, I’ve never really found much use for the “eco” mode. You also have temperature control options available, but I no longer use those thanks to my nickel sensitivity. There’s also a “battery tester” option but I’ve found this to be of little use especially as it only works when you have a 0.15 ohm coil installed.

On board charging via USB-C is available which hit a peak charging rate of 1.7 amps in my test. As always, I’d recommend using an external charger whenever possible and treating this as an added bonus feature which you can use in a pinch.

The 510 plate sits off to one side and although the Drag 5 is about 26mm wide, there is a bevelled edge running around the top so anything over 25mm is going to start to overhang.

One of the biggest changes for the Drag 5 is the way the battery cover operates; it opens like a book much like a cover for an iPad or kindle would do. I was worried when I initially saw this design that this wouldn’t be held in place securely enough but in practice this hasn’t been the case, it can become a bit of a fidget though as you are able to slide the cover back and forth with your thumb.

The battery sled is very clearly marked for polarity with spring loaded contacts at the top and a battery ribbon to run under the batteries. I have seen complaints that the ribbon is too short but there is in fact a slot running down the back of the battery compartment and if you pull the ribbon through here as shown then it’s actually the correct length and the ribbon will dislodge your batteries easily.

I had been using the Drag 5 for several days before I realised that the battery cover was in fact completely removable and held in place with magnets running down the spine of the battery compartment. You would hope that this means that replacement covers will become available, I’m sure we’ve all had to replace similarly designed phone/tablet cases in the past when they’ve worn out or become tatty, but I haven’t seen that so far.

A new U-Force X tank is included in the kit and now features a slide to fill top and wide open cyclops airflow slots to smooth out the draw. As before, this uses a top down airflow system which should minimise the chances of leaking. I was sent the international version which has a 5.5ml capacity, sadly here in the U.K. it looks like two 2ml glass sections will be supplied instead.

The tried and tested PnP-X coils are used here and perform just as well as they’ve always done. A 0.15ohm and 0.3ohm coil are included with kanthal mesh coils, and really you can’t go wrong with any of the PnP-X coils.

Conclusion

The VOOPOO Drag 5 kit takes a tried and tested design and adds a new flare to the proceedings. I like the rather unique battery cover design but do wonder how well this will hold up with long term use, it’s probably not so much of an issue for me where I’m trying new things out constantly, but if this was your only mod, it might become an issue. Other than that, it’s business as usual with solid performance from the Gene TT chipset and the PnP-X coils used in the U-Force X tank.

Many thanks to VOOPOO for sending the Drag 5 kit over for review.

Pros

Nice evolution of the Drag series
Unique battery door
Reliable PnP-X coils

Cons

Battery door may be subject to long term wear and tear

Antony Lord

Reviewer at POTV

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I was a twenty a day smoker for 25 years and like most smokers I was always going to quit "next week". Having hit my mid forties and having the usual smokers cough and difficulty with anything more than moderate exercise it was obviously time to give up the cancer sticks. I bought my first e-cigarette in 2013 when they were expensive, difficult to find and quite frankly... crap. I used it for about a week then went back to the roll ups, mark up another failed quit attempt. The fact that I had just changed jobs and was under quite a lot of stress probably didn't help. Move on to 2016 and whilst I was browsing eBay I noticed that one of the suggested items that would occasionally pop up was for a cheap e-cigarette. It looked similar to the one I'd bought 3 years earlier but it was only £5 (about 8 times cheaper than before) so I decided to give it another go on a whim. Once the kit arrived I managed to gradually replace the cigarettes with my new kit over a two month period and got into watching YouTube reviews for newer kit. My cheap and cheerful kit was replaced by a more upmarket affair, and being a noob I made a mistake once it arrived... I put in the supplied direct lung coil, this was of course a complete revelation and I haven't touched a cigarette since. Oh and I no longer spend the first five minutes of every day having a coughing fit either.