Welcome back to part two of VooPoo's latest pod releases. In the last review, we looked at the Argus Pod SE which is a slightly more stripped down version of the Argus G, although accommodating so in a more compact device. The Argus G is just a tad bit bigger, but we gain a few more features along the way. We'll dive deeper into this further down.
I want to thank Freya from VooPoo for supplying the Argus G for this review, and as always, this critique will be done so in a fair and honest manner. I want to remind you that this is a review and not so much a promotion - you will hear and see full honesty in all of my reviews.
For a more comprehensive and interactive look at this device (you can view this product in 3D), I suggest heading over to VooPoo's Argus G page to do so. Much of what you see below is an overview of their site before I get into my own experiences with the device.
And as always, you can click on the photos to get a better view.
Basic Overview:
Color Options:
• Space Grey
• Racing Green
• Glow Pink
• Sand Drift Gold
• Aurora Blue
• Satin Blue
• Gloss Black
Key Features VooPoo States:
• Powerful Battery, Long-Lasting Energy Behind
Compared with the counterpart rectangular stick style POD with a multi-function button and a screen, ARGUS G is larger in battery capacity. Its 1000mAh built-in battery supports stable vaping even with the MAX 25W power output and a full charge lasts about 3 days at maximum. In addition, ARGUS G comes with TYPE-C 5V/1A cable that makes the device full-charged within 60 minutes.
• Diversified Vaping Styles, Taste So Smooth
VOOPOO ARGUS POD Cartridge has an innovative leak-proof structure. The four holes at the bottom balance the airflow and direct air inflow and the airflow buffer at both sides control the airflow speed. VOOPOO ARGUS POD Cartridge delivers a smooth and delicate taste while storing the condensates and poorly atomized e-liquid against leakage to the pod. Besides, the silicone ring maximizes the cartridge’s air tightness and ensures that the airflow amount heated by the heating wires is at the maximum. It increases the heating efficiency and lengthens the coil lifespan that supports a half-bottle e-liquid ( 30ml/bottle) vaping.
• Intelligent Interaction, Get to Know Everything
The upgraded OLED screen could record five-figure puff times and display wattage, rest power, and coil resistance, recording and reassuring every moment of your vaping. In case of low power, atomizer short, maximum power output, high temperature, vaping timeout, or other special circumstances, the screen will pop up text prompts. Besides, ARGUS G supports dual ignitions, button ignition and draw ignition, vapers can switch them as they want and start their vaping immediately.
There are some claims here that I will try to diffuse down below with a comparison of my own experiences as well as how to navigate the UI and a better look at the pod/coil options.
The specs show that this is a slightly taller pod device when compared to its slightly smaller sibling, the Argus Pod SE, to accommodate the 1000 mAh internal battery. This also allows for the higher power output of 25W to power the 0.5 ohm ITO-M0 coil usable with the empty pod cartridges and removeable coils which are sold separately.
Like the Argus Pod SE, all package releases of the Argus G come with the same items listed above (the US Edition, Standard Edition, and TPD Edition). There's also a Lanyard for those that are interested in carrying this around your neck.
Testing Results & Experiences:
The packaging color is the same as the pod device color. The Argus G Pod Kit comes with a lanyard and Argus Pod family card. The card introduces the best wattage power and nicotine capacity of e-liquid that the ARGUS POD cartridges and coils match. This kit comes with everything you'd need to start vaping with the exception of any e-juice making this a great starter kit. The kit also comes with a spare pod coil which is great to see. This should help you determine if you're more into a mid-resistance coil (0.7 ohms) for RDL vaping, or a higher resistence coil more suited for an MTL (Mouth-to-Lung) vape.
The exterior of the device is made using a nanometer-scale polishing process which gives the Argus G quite a bit of flare when held in the right lighting. The colorway I received for the review is Racing Green which has a very British look to it. Coincidentally, it matches extraordinarily well with the Racing Green color of the Mini Cooper I drive, lol.
The front side of the Argus G mod battery has a small UI with a button for activation and allows minor UI control. To the right of the UI is the airflow control that slides up and down. While slid up, it reveals a tiny pinhole for a tight MTL, and when slid all the way down, it reveals 3 pinholes for a tight RDL vape. The airflow range for a device this small is quite good.
To the left of the UI is the USB Type-C charging port. It's capable of an advertised 5V/1A charge, and to recharge from a dead battery, you can expect about an hour and a half. I fully discharged the battery twice to see if it could recharge it in the advertised 1-hour, and it took around 85-90 minutes for both charges to reach full. The battery will pick up a Type-C 3.0 QC cable for any android users which is nice, but it will still only charge at less than 1A. Also, like most VooPoo chips, it does not support pass-through vaping, so you will need to unplug the device to take a few puffs if you want to vape while recharging.
The bottom of the mod battery has a rubber bumper sticker. I find this to be a nuisance as it makes the mod very tipsy when trying to stand it up. You shouldn't expect the device to stand upright with any rigidity what-so-ever.
I question VooPoo's advertisement on 3-4 days of vaping from a single battery charge using a 1000mAh internal battery. Between two full discharges using about 90% RDL vaping with the 0.7 ohm Argus Pod and 10% MTL using the 1.2 ohm Argus Pod, I hit 534 puffs which actually very, very good for a battery of this size. However, the average between these two discharges is 267 puffs which would mean they're estimating the average vaper to take less than 89 puffs per day for the battery to last 3 days, much less 4. My guess is that the average vaper is taking more than 87 puffs in a day, especially if they're vaping in RDL. For an MTL user using a high nicotine concentration juice, it miiiiiiight be possible to reach 3 days maximum, but I still think that's pretty far fetched. For the outliers that do maybe take 50 or so puffs in a single day, I could see 3-4 days of vaping from a single battery charge, but these situations are very likely to be few and far between. If this is the case, then why not advertise that it will do a maximum of 250 days if you take a single puff, every day? I just don't fully support VooPoo's advertised claims in many cases over many products, as they're often very far off from what is practical.
The UI is very simple and easy to use. The Argus G is fitted with the Gene.AI 1.2 chip which auto-detects which coil is detected and adjusts the wattage accordingly. This also changes the maximum wattage you're able to use based on the coil resistance. The default UI shows the wattage in large numbers, the battery status, the coil resistance in ohms (Ω), a 5-digit puff counter, and a symbol indicating whether or not your device is locked. When accessing the menu and then choosing to lock the device by clicking the fire button to cycle through the 3 available options, hold the fire button down when "Lock" is highlighted. The device will show a closed lock in the default UI and the fire button will no longer allow you to fire the device. For traveling and storage purposes, this is probably the best mode to be in if not powered down. You can still use the fire button to access the menu again using 5 quick clicks, but the device will not fire when it is locked.
Operation of the UI is as follows:
• Power On - Press the button 5 times in a row.
• Power Off - Press the button 5 times in a row to start the function menu, and keep pressing the button to select the power off option.
• Wattage Power Adjustment - Press the button 3 times in a row.
• Lock/Unlock - Press the button 5 times in a row to start the function menu, keep pressing the button to select the lock or unlock option. (Locks up automatically after 15 minutes of no vaping）
• Five-digit puff recording & puff clear - Press the button 5 times in a row to start the function menu, and keep pressing the button to select the puff clear option.
• Button ignition - Ignition over 5s will activate the lock protection.
I will note that a change has been made to rapid button presses in quick succession. VooPoo has a very fast firing chip, so in the past, clicking the button 5 times in rapid succession to either turn the mod off or to access menus, the mod would fire briefly for each and every click - rather annoying to say the least. Now, after the first click and any click after it in rapid succession will not fire the mod battery which is a very nice change. Hopefully one they will continue to implement in the future so it doesn't contribute to additional wear and tear on the coil when not actually vaping. A huge thumbs up for this added innovation!
You'll probably notice that the 0.7 and 1.2 ohm built-in coil "Argus Pods" look very much alike. They function just the same when it comes to refilling. Really, the only difference between them is when they're dropped into the mod battery and vaped. Based on the auto-setting visible in the Argus G UI, the 0.7 ohm Argus Pod sets itself at around 16W, and the 1.2 ohm Argus Pod sets itself at around 10W.
Both pods produce very good flavor, but with the added power in the Argus G over the Argus Pod SE, it brought a bit more flavor out of the 0.7 ohm Argus Pod. Between the 0.7 and 1.2 ohm pods, they're about equal in terms of which one I like better in the Argus G. The flavor is slightly better from the 1.2 ohm Argus Pod, but I've always felt that MTL vaping was a bit more laborous than RDL making the 0.7 ohm pod an overall smoother vape and the winner in this case.
For me, the perfect airflow was wide open for a tighter RDL vape. Unlike many "MTL" advertised products on the market, the Argus G performs a tight MTL when fully closed which is what I would call a "true MTL" airflow as it closely resembles a packed cigarette. The range of airflow is defintely one of the stronger reasons I'd recommend this product to a beginner vaper who's still trying to figure out the airflow that they like, as the Argus G does a very good job of hitting the full range of MTL and slightly into the RDL area of airflow.
The refill port very comfortably allows the use of a larger 100/120mL Chubby Gorilla-sized nozzle however, without an air vent of any sort, you may run into some issues with backflow if there's any liquid around the opening when squeezing the bottle. Also remember, air bubbles are NECESSARY and a GOOD thing. I often see posters on reddit asking if air bubbles are normal. The answer is YES - you're going to have problems if you don't see air bubbles after taking some puffs.
I will mention that I've not had the best luck with the Argus Pod and leaking. In only a few short weeks, the 0.7 ohm pod has shown small signs of leaking. The Argus Pod (non-SE) that I won back in November of 2022 in a giveaway ended up leaking quite a bit and ended up getting tossed. I'm not sure if there have been any changes to the pod between the release of the Argus Pod and Argus Pod SE, but they look and function identically which makes me thing there hasn't been any changes. If you do end up getting pods that leak, I'd suggest trying the removeable coil option shown below.
The Argus Pod also has a removeable ITO-M coil option called the "Empty Cartridge". I find this to be a bit confusing because when I hear empty cartridge, my immediate thought is that there's no juice in the pod. Although the Empty Cartridges and coils are sold separately, it does give those who are a bit more environmentally conscientious the ability to purchase the ITO-M replaceable coils instead of the entire built-in coil Argus Pods. Like pretty much any other drop-in coil system, make sure the flat sides of the coil line up with the pod. If the coil doesn't sit flush with the bottom of the pod, something isn't correct.
Be aware that the flange used in the removeable coil pods is different from the built-in Argus Pods and that pulling on the end with the arrow pointing toward it is the correct end to pull on. By pulling the other end out, it will be very difficult to push the tethered plug back into the very tiny hole in which it's mounted. Take it from someone that's already made this mistake, lol.
Both of these two versions of cartridges (built-in and empty pods w/ coils) are fully compatible with the ARGUS G, ARGUS POD, ARGUS P1, and ARGUS Z.
The ITO-M coil I received with the empty pod cartridge was the 0.5 ohm coil. In the Argus G, the 0.5 ohm coil brought out a noticeably warmer and airy vape than the 0.7 ohm Argus Pod. The actual flavor difference was almost indistinguishable. Unfortunately, I wasn't given enough time to fully test out the longevity of the ITO-M coils, so I cannot give you an estimated life expectency of these coils. There are also the ITO-M1 (0.7 ohm), ITO-M2 (1.0 ohm), and ITO-M3 (1.2 ohm) coils if you're looking for something more in line with an MTL vape. This is a pretty decent range of resistances for such a small device.
From Left to Right: Argus Z (no pod), Argus Pod SE, Argus Pod, and Argus G - all compatible with one another (not pictured - Argus P1)
-= Pros =-
• It's fairly small
• 7 Aesthetic options
• Very easy to use
• Functioning UI with a few options
• Wattage control
• Great battery life for 1000mAh, even for RDL
• Removeable coils using the empty cartridges available with the ITO-M coils
• Adjustable MTL airflow range nails tight MTL to a tigher RDL very well
• Auto-draw is hair-trigger
• Also has a fire button for if/when auto-draw gunks up
• Fire button doesn't fire when clicked repeatedly
• Both coils perform great
• Secure magnets
-= Cons =-
• Built-in Argus Pods seem to be about 50/50 in leaking
Rating:
8.5-9.0
Overall, the kit does a very good job of creating a rich tasting vape. Both coils perform quite well in the available range of airflows. Unfortunately, I haven't had the best luck with leaking with some of the Argus Pods which brings the overall rating down a bit. If you are looking for a small MTL to RDL device with good flavor, this is a great starter kit. I would give this a solid 9.0 to 9.5 if the Argus Pods weren't prone to leaking. I absolutely love the innovation in muting out repeated fire button clicks since this was always one of those things that bugged me when needing to fire the button to turn the device off. More recently, physical locking switches have cured me of this irk, but we have yet to see that on smaller pod devices such as the Argus G.
That about wraps up the review on VooPoo Argus G kit. If you have experiences to share or have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. If you want to get a hold of me after this thread closes, please PM me with any inquiries you might have. Again, I recommend heading over to VooPoo's site to take a better look at this device. Thanks for reading, and take a gander at the Argus Pod SE Kit Review by yours truly, if you're looking for a similar device that's smaller and even simpler to operate.
Happy vape hoarding!
