Voopoo were showing off a couple of new items at the recent Vaper Expo in Birmingham and today I’ll be taking a look at the latest entry in the Argus series of starter kits, the Argus P1s. This is a super lightweight kit with a couple of standout features that might just make this a great starter device if you’re new to vaping.
Specifications
- 112 x 25 x 13.7 mm
- 44 grams
- Internal 800mAh battery
- 2 amp charging via USB-C
- Argus pod compatible
The Voopoo Argus P1s is available in eight colours with what they say are cyberpunk inspired graphics, I was sent the Cyber White variant for testing which has a grey geometric pattern on the main body topped off with a white accent around the pod recess. Given that this is a budget friendly starter kit with a recommended price point of about £18 pounds, you actually get quite a bit packaged in the box with two pods, a USB-C charge cable and a lanyard included.
The first thing that will strike you when you first pick up the Argus P1s is just how lightweight it is, at just 44 grams this is one of the most pocket friendly devices I’ve ever used and this is largely down to its construction where the bulk of the main body is a transparent polycarbonate shell. The battery is covered by a colourful sleeve with a bold geometric pattern and highly reflective “Argus” and “Voopoo” labels on either side with an exposed section near the top where you can see the circuit board. This is all topped off by a smaller aluminium section at the top where the pod recess is located.
There are nods to earlier Argus pod designs in the visible circuit board section with a large LED cluster with two faux “heat pipes” running into the main body. I’m assuming these are largely an aesthetic design choice or that they possibly hide the wiring coming from the battery.
The large LED cluster lights up whilst charging or whenever you take a draw and has three bands to indicate the approximate charge level left. One bar would be under 30% charge, two bars under 60%, and three bars above 60%.
Charging is done via the USB-C port of the bottom of the Argus P1s. In my tests, this hit a peak charge rate of 2.5 amps and was fully recharged from flat in a rather impressive 22 minutes! I was a little disappointed to only see a recorded capacity of 640mAh though which is a fair bit off the quoted 800mAh, but having said that, I have still been able to get through a full days use on a single charge and the rapid charging means that even with a just few minutes top off charge, you can run for several hours if need be.
The aluminium pod recess has a pinhole air inlet on either side with a simple but reliable draw activation system. There are no buttons or convoluted menu systems here which makes this an ideal kit for new users as all that’s required is to remember to top up your e-liquid and keep the battery charged.
Two pods are included with the Argus P1s, a 0.7ohm pod for a more modern loose mouth to lung draw, and a 1.2ohm pod for a more traditional tighter draw. These have a 2ml capacity TPD regions, or 3ml for the international versions, with a clear shell and a large easy to use fill port as before, and as I’ve used the Argus series pods before I dived straight in with the 0.7ohm pod as that’s been my go to choice in the past.
Whilst these pods use the same form factor as earlier Argus pods (and the Argus P1s is compatible with the full range of Argus pod if you have any laying around), these actually feature a new coil design with what Voopoo are calling their iCOSM code. The same smooth, leak free experience is still present but with improved fluffier cotton for better e-liquid delivery to the updated mesh coils and an antimicrobial Ag+ (silver) coating help maintain the flavour from the pods with a claimed lifespan of 23 days from a single pod. I’ve been using the same pod for two weeks solid and it’s still going strong and tastes just as good as it did on the first day so this seems to live up to those claims and should cut down on waste whilst being friendlier on your pocket in the long run as well.
Pros
- Rapid charging
- Lightweight
- Great coil life from the improved pods
- Same great flavour as earlier Argus pods
Cons
- Battery capacity lower than claimed
Conclusion
The Argus series of pods are a great starter option and I’ve given several of the earlier review units to people at work where they are still in daily use which speaks to their ease of use and durability. This latest entry with the updated pods has really impressed me, I love the lightweight design, and the flavour from the pods is just as good as it’s always been with an outstanding coil life. If you’re looking for a first kit or just something simple to throw in a pocket whilst you’re out and about, I really recommend giving the Argus P1s a try.
Many thanks to Voopoo for sending the Argus P1s over for review.
Antony Lord
Reviewer at POTVI 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.
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