Chris 'majorvapes' SissonHere’s a look at a slick new device called the Argus Air from VooPoo. It’s the second device released in their new Argus line, a series of devices that are considerably more lightweight than their DRAG line but still just as durable, the line of devices which arguably made them famous. These new devices have a real premium feel to them but clock in at a rather reasonable price. Here are my honest thoughts on the new Argus Air from VooPoo.
Package contents:
| 1 x | ARGUS Air device |
|---|---|
| 1 x | Pod cartridge(3.8ml) |
| 1 x | Standard cartridge(3.8ml) |
| 1 x | PnP-TM1 0.6ohm coil |
| 1 x | Type-C cable |
| 1 x | User manual |
Listed features and specs:
| Dimensions: | 95.3 x 31.4 x 19.3mm |
|---|---|
| Material: | Leather+Zinc Alloy |
| Pod material: | PCTG |
| Capacity: | 3.8ml |
| Output power: | 5-25W |
| Output voltage: | 3.2-4.2V |
| Resistance: | 0.6-3Ohm |
| Battery capacity: | 900mAh built-in |
Packaging and contents:
The kit comes neatly packed in a mostly black cardboard box with an image of the kit on the front and a listing of the contents, some company info and some basic warnings on the back. In the kit you get the Argus Air device, two different pods, a PnP-Tm1 0.6ohm coil, a USB Type C cable for charging and a user manual. No little extras but the second pod is definitely nice to see.
The Argus Air mod:
The Argus Air is a compact well constructed and sharp looking device. It’s mainly made of zinc alloy but has a really nice leather wrap that’s embossed and threaded with orange thread. It gives it a look reminiscent to some Geekvape devices which of itself is a compliment. It comes with an internal 900mAh battery and charges via USB Type-C at 5V/2A but when tested I only ever got about 0.8A so it’s possible it throttles the charge. At the top it’s got a slot to insert the pods which are held in place with some fairly strong magnets. The device features what VooPoo calls a pneumatic draw or what most of us refer to as auto draw/draw activation and in the slot you can see the air sensor is raised which should help down the road with problems like auto-firing.
On the working face of the mod it’s got a little black and white screen which displays the wattage, battery, mode resistance and a puff count. A rounded square button sits above it that lets you turn the device on and off, fire it or adjust the wattage. Five clicks brings up a mini menu that lets you turns it off, clear the puff count or lock the device while three clicks highlights the wattage and lets you cycle through the 5-25 watts. It round robins and only goes to to 25 so it’s not too bad navigating everything with just one button. It’s powered by their GENE chip so it’s also smart and tries to set the recommended wattage when attaching a new pod. Of course with that comes all the usual safety functions like over-time, short-circuit, over charge, over-current, over discharge and over temperature protections.
The Argus Air Pods:
The Argus Air comes with two different pods, one is what they call a standard pod and it uses VooPoos PnP or plug and play coils. The other is more like a disposable pod and the coil in it is permanent so once you’re done using it, you pitch the whole thing. Both pods are made of PCTG plastic and hold 3.8ml of liquid which you can fill via a silicone plug in the side of the pods. Pretty standard stuff but where these pods really stand out is on the bottom ends depending on which one you’re looking at they have extra little cutouts that line up with either the single hole or the two slots on the top of the device to allow for more or less airflow depending on the orientation you have it inserted in. Meaning if you flip the pod 180 degrees you get a completely different hit. With the MTL pod it’s slightly less noticeable as both options provide a fairly loose MTL hit, one just being slightly tighter. The DL pod on the other hand goes from a fairly breezy direct lung hit to an almost mouth to lung hit with a flip of the pod. It’s basically airflow control on a system that has no airflow control though it might not suit everyone who tries it.
The two coils that come with the kit are quite different with one being a standard PnP-TM1 mesh coil rated from 20-25W that’s best used for direct lung while the other is embedded in the disposable pod and is a 0.8ohm coil with an unknown rating. The device sets the power to 13w for the MTL pod so I’d say it’s best to keep it around there. Flavour and performance from both was pretty solid but I felt I was getting slightly better flavour from the MTL coil though considerably less clouds. Longevity with the coils I’d imagine will be on par with most others out there depending on what you’re vaping, how much and your personal vaping habits but you should be able to get at least a week or more out of them.
Overall:
The one issue I regularly faced with the Argus Air was the auto draw. It would often fail to trigger or only very faintly fire halfway through a draw and seemed impacted by the orientation of the pods and airflow. It also produced a rather loose draw as it always seemed to take a moment to realize it needs to fire whether using the DL or MTL coils. Also the device times out after a set amount of time so the first hit you almost always need to press the button anyway to wake it up. Firing with the button at least, never seemed to fail and would give a consistent hit every time. I kind of wish there was an option to just turn it off but I couldn’t find it. It’s a bit of a shame because I pretty much love everything else about the device but having a major function that’s just hit or miss isn’t going to win many over. All in all though it’s a pretty sweet looking device that generally works quite well so if you’re looking for a compact, stylish pod system with just a few little quirks the Argus Air might just be right for you.