Supplied by VooPoo for review
https://www.voopoo.com/argus-series/argus-g.html
Price TBC
VooPoo are continuing their popular Argus Pod range with the new Argus G Pod with the capability of a higher wattage RDL vape using the optional ITO replaceable coil pod.
- Material: Aluminium Alloy, PC
- Output Power: 5-25W
- Output Voltage: 3.2-4.2V
- Resistance: 0.5-3.0Ω
- Battery Capacity: 1000mAh Built-in Battery
- Size: 110.9mm x 25.7mm x 13.5mm
- OLED Screen
- Argus Pod Compatibility
- Adjustable Airflow
- Nanometer-scale Polished Finish
Unboxing
The Argus G kit comes in a fancy reflective outer box with an illustration of the device in your chosen colour, Racing Green in my case, which looks superb.
Inside is a blown-plastic tray holding the actual device, and underneath that is the manual and a sealed bag of mystery extras.
Once the baggie is open, you get to see the entire kit which contains: the ARGUS G device with a pod preinstalled, a second pod, a decent quality USB-C cable, the user manual, a card showing the Argus range, and a high quality lanyard.
THIS is how a kit should be, not only do you get two pods included, you also get a good quality lanyard which makes the Argus G far handier.
First Impressions and Overview
The Argus G oozes class right off the bat, it feels high quality and that ‘nanometer-scale polishing’ is just perfect. It gives the pod an expensive look to it and it feels it too, the whole thing just comes across as the Rolls Royce of pods. Needlessly to say, I am already impressed.
The branding actually adds something to the style; it is finely etched and only shows up as you rotate it into the light, but VooPoo have neglected to put the actual name onto it as ‘G’ appears nowhere, this isn’t a problem as such due to the whole ARGUS pod cross-compatibility.
The shape is a bit generic for a pod but that’s a good thing as it adopts the most ergonomic rounded rectangular shape, most of its individual style comes from the construction and two-tone gradient colour. The front face has the most going on as it has a little OLED screen with a fire button embedded into it. A little detail is that the fire button is an example of the perfection of this kit, it is metal, detailed, concaved, and an absolute perfect fit with no play in it. The depth of click is minimal and firm, that’s probably the most I have written about a fire button ever, but little details like this show the overall attention to detail. VooPoo have become engineering masters and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
There is the adjustable airflow slider on one side which is equally impressive, it has a buttery smooth action and the firm resistance stays where you set it. It is quite small though and requires a delicate fingernail push to fine tune it. VooPoo have added a rubber pad to the base which is always a plus for me, it protects the device and the surface you’re placing it on.
The pod is a deep fit magnetic connection which is exactly the same as all the Argus pods but I did notice another fine detail in that they have added that ugly but obligatory ‘CE’ marking on the inside so it doesn’t ruin the aesthetics.
You get two different pods included, a 0.7ohm for RDL/MTL and a 1.2ohm for pure MTL, this is what we want in a kit as we get to try out both to see which we prefer to re-order, or indeed if we want it for dual purpose and use both.
I’ve covered the Argus pods in previous reviews and it’s my favourite out of all the VooPoo pods, the mouthpiece is so comfortable, the visibility is smoked but clear enough to see all your e-liquid, the wicking ports are big enough to prevent dry hits, and they have a degree of leak protection.
The filling method isn’t the most convenient but at least it is hidden once fitted. There’s a pull tab on one side which is quite easy to grip and pop open, and there’s plenty of room to ‘slip your tip in’ and fill it right up without and mess.
Controls
The chipset is pretty basic but has all you need in a simple pod:
- 5 x Fire = Turns device On
- 5 x Fire (when on) = Enters menu of 3 options, single click to scroll through options and a long press and hold to confirm.
- PUFF CLEAR – Resets puff counter
- POWER OFF – Turns device completely off
- LOCK – Locks Fire button (auto-draw still works)
In reality most users won’t need to bother changing much as the chipset has an auto-wattage feature which sets the optimal wattage for the ohms of the pod selected:
- 1.2ohm = 10 Watts
- 0.7ohm = 16 Watts
To adjust the wattage, you simply triple click the fire button until the wattage flashes, then single click to increase it and it round robins up to 12 watts for 1.2ohm or 25 watts for 0.7ohm then down to 5 Watts, and you can either long press to confirm or just start vaping.
There’s a bit of an annoyance if you want to use your own preferred wattage though, for example on the 0.7ohm I preferred 14 Watts but every time I removed the pod to refill, the wattage went back to the default 16 watts and I had to go back to change it again. This became more annoying with the ‘LOCK’ on as you have to unlock it, change the wattage and relock it.
The charging port is on the one side and is the standard USB-C connection, the included cable is a ribbon type and is a decent length. But the highlight of charging is the proper full information displayed, a battery bar icon, the percentage and an estimated time remaining, which is another box ticked on the VooPoo attention to detail list.
G-Spot (Performance)
For anyone that has previously used Argus pods, the performance won’t be a surprise. It is one of VooPoo’s finest pods with perfect flavour, smooth vapour, and is very comfortable on the lips. I just cannot fault it in any of the compatible devices.
But the Argus G feels a little bit better somehow; I think it is down to the airflow control which feels a bit more effective and smoother. The range is the best I’ve experienced in a pod, it goes from an insanely tight MTL up to a reasonable RDL if you use the 0.7ohm pod or the new ITO pod.
I wear lanyards, I does
Love 'em or hate 'em, for me lanyards make pods like this even handier, especially for driving or when your hands are otherwise too busy to hold it. The included lanyard is spot on, the silicone ring is very tight so it stays in place perfectly. There’s a little adjuster for the loop, and the braided leatherette material is good quality and should be durable, I mostly liked this one as it wasn’t loud and looked subtle when worn.
Overall I just enjoyed using the Argus G pod, the luxurious feel never gets old. The battery life is especially good with the 1.2 ohm pod which lasted me around a day and a half, the 0.7 ohm at 14 watts naturally lasted less but still saw me through a working day and into the evening.
VooPoo claim that the pods will last seven refills (14ml) which I found quite accurate, you can get away with up to 20ml but the flavour starts to suffer after 14ml.
But there’s more……….
VooPoo are also releasing a separate replaceable coil version of the pod which takes ITO coils. As much as I love the standard pods, I much prefer replaceable coils due to the reduced wastage as you only bin the coil rather than the whole pod.
VooPoo are keen to promote the RDL capability of the Argus G using the new pod with the ITO 0.5ohm coil, this takes advantage of the Argus G’s maximum 25 watts.
The empty pods come in packs of two but don’t include any coils, so you will need to buy a pack of ITO coils to go with them, but they are already widely available and come in various ohms.
What makes the combo of the Argus G and the ITO 0.5ohm coil different is that it can take 70/30 freebase e-liquid and can go up to 25 watts, the rest of the range are suitable for 50/50 eliquids.
The pod still features the same smooth airflow passage and leak protection, the filling bung is a little different as it is edge mounted but still takes most standard bottle tips including shortfill nibs.
VooPoo sent me a couple of 0.5 ohm ITO coils to try so I whacked some of my favourite 70VG/30PG shortfill e-liquid in and slammed the wattage up to the max 25 watts with the airflow wide open and it actually surprised me. The draw is certainly RDL but not too tight, but it was the vapour production and flavour that won me over with this option. I usually prefer a full sub-ohm DL with my 70/30 e-liquid but this was such a nice middle ground and a cracking option to dual purpose the Argus G, I found myself flip-flopping between pods for MTL to 0.5ohm RDL.
Needless to say; the pod and ITO coils will fit all previous ARGUS pod kits BUT only the Argus G will give you enough power for the 0.5ohm ITO coil.
With the options of either the standard pods or the ITO pods, you can use them in the existing ARGUS hardware ranges including:
- Argus P1
- Argus Z
- Argus Pod
- Argus Pod SE
- Argus G
This means the ARGUS pods and ITO coils will have a much wider availability and consumables lifespan, along with the easier consumer choice by just saying “I need some ARGUS pods please” without the confusion of whether they are PnP TX2 FT V1.78 etc.
Conclusion
The Argus G Pod is utter class, it has the near perfect vape quality of the Argus pod series but in a higher powered, bigger battery classy chassis. I’m torn between which one I prefer between the Argus P1 or this Argus G, the G is more ergonomic and classy but I like the crazier style of the P1.
But for me; the Argus G is the top of the range of the Argus series, the quality and attention to detail makes it look and feel high end, the whole Argus Pod and ITO coil support adds to its longevity, and with vape quality like this, then long may it reign.
*The only ‘Argus’ that doesn’t take Argus pods is ironically called the Argus Pod (far left).
Pros
- Classy Chassis
- Vape quality (flavour and smoothness)
- 1000 mAh cell
- Nanometer-scale polishing
- Attention to detail
- Airflow slider is micro perfection
- Wide ARGUS compatibility
- ITO Pod option
- Ergonomics
- Appealing to new and existing users
Cons
- Wattage resets after refilling
It was so close to con-free but that wattage thing did annoy me especially with the 0.7ohm pod, if you’re happy with the defaults then ignore this con.
Final Thoughts
VooPoo should be very proud of this bit of kit, their engineering and design team are becoming the industry benchmark and they have long left the likes of Smok in the dust, and they are far more trustworthy than many other brands. This latest pod is one of their best yet and has a bit of a poshness to it which adds to its overall appeal, with the new ITO pod it makes it more sustainable too.
Score: 9/10 – VooPoo Podfection
Si Davies
Reviewer at POTVMy background is Engineering and Professional Photography. Mostly from POTV users knowledge I learned so much about pretty much all styles of vaping and equipment, Cloud Chasing, Squonking, Mouth To Lung, Direct To Lung, Pods, Mechs, Rebuild-able tanks and atomisers etc, and have experience with many many devices and atomisers, it's become a hobby and enjoy trying out the latest gear. I like to think my reviews are plain speaking and informative without getting too technical, if I have to resort to reading the manual then I don't consider it user friendly!
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