i was sent an XT. Voopoo's rep, Freya, wanted me to share my thoughts online. It's the least i can do, so here they are. As i'm not a professional reviewer or writer, these are merely my impressions after a little more than 2 weeks using the product...
THE GOOD STUFF
THE DIFFERENT OPERATING MODES available are a major plus. Hold the up & down adjustment buttons together, select MODE with the fire button, and you'll have 4 options...
SMART mode will suggest a wattage based on the resistance of your coil and prevent you from increasing the power too much, though not from decreasing it below where the coil will fire. I often have several tanks with different coils ready to go. Smart mode is very handy as a reminder of a coil's range.
RBA mode is simple variable wattage. No idea why it's called "RBA Mode" but it works.
TURBO is the function called "hard" or "boost" on other mods. It kicks up the output power for a second when you fire. i tried it with 2 different flavored e-liquids (vanilla & peach lemonade) & 4 coils (a Voopoo, a Vaporesso, an RBA & an RTA). With all of them, there was a noticeable, pleasing burst of flavor.
TC is available for the 3 standard coil materials. i use TC sometimes so am happy it's included. i don't have equipment to test accuracy but know that TC works and is easy to use; select TC, select the material, set the temp & go. 3 clicks of the fire button lets you set a wattage cap.
THE SCREEN INTERFACE is neat & clean without wasted real estate. Remaining battery life % is displayed, which is always a plus. It uses a color code for the different modes, which is helpful.
SIMPLE OPERATION of everything is a key selling point. Enter the menu and everything will be accessible easily from there. No deep menu trees or hard-to-remember button combinations. Remembering 3 clicks to adjust wattage in TC is as taxing on the memory as it gets, and you'll only need even that if you use TC & want to change the default.
THE CONSTRUCTION feels very solid. The grip is exceptionally well done; seems of high quality and provides a firm, non-slip hold. The fire button is easy to find by feel. There's a metal dust cover over the USB port; probably more durable than the rubber covers on some other mods. It can handle beefy tanks without feeling top-heavy.
Voopoo seemed lately to have been getting a reputation for shoddy build quality. It appears they heard their users and took steps to nip the problem in the bud. More companies, in all industries, should be so responsive. Keep in mind, however, that this is based on about 2 weeks of use; i can't say anything about long term durability.
IT TAKES A 21700 battery & comes with an adapter sleeve for an 18650. i like that it knows automatically which type of battery you've installed, capping the Watts at 80 with an 18650. The size is pretty nice for a single-21700 mod.
THE TANK included in the kit is the MAAT tank. Voopoo's used it in previous kits so there's been plenty written or recorded about it already. It's not the most attractive tank but it works well. The airflow is especially easy to adjust. The coils for it have been around even longer than the tank. They have an established reputation for excellent flavor production and don't disappoint in this tank. i especially appreciate that Voopoo went with an established line of coils that should be readily available for some time.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD STUFF
MODES:
You won't find any advanced operating modes beyond TC. No bypass, VPC, pulse/frequency, TCR or TFR. Voopoo surely left out these lesser-used functions for the sake of simplicity. Personally, i do use VPC sometimes so would have liked to have it but it's a small sacrifice for easy use; plus, Turbo mode is a low-end substitute.
CONSTRUCTION:
The adjustment buttons are more like a rocker switch. Getting them both pressed simultaneously can take a bit of coordination (& i possess only a very tiny bit).
The body's shape is hexagonal. i can see the idea behind that: It's probably meant to fit to the bends in your fingers under your knuckles. It doesn't suit my hands well.
ACCOUTREMENTS:
There's an eyelet for a lanyard that seems pretty useless. The mod with a battery installed is too heavy to carry around one's neck, and i can't imagine anyone walking about with it dangling from their wrist. It doesn't hurt anything, though. No lanyard was included with the pre-production sample unit i received.
There's a lock switch with 3 setting: unlocked, adjustments locked, everything locked. Nice touch. It's unobtrusive, has just the right amount of tension, and works as advertised. It's entirely my personal preference but i would have liked for one position to be OFF rather than locking everything. There's no real difference between fully locked & off except the screen being active or not (regulated mods are never truly turned off anyway, only put into a sleep mode). If it takes just a simple flip of a switch, off to on is no less convenient than locked to unlocked, yet would save battery power and put less stress on the fire button, a major failure point on mods.
The kit comes in a nice, large, metal box. The 18650 adapter sleeve comes inside the battery compartment. i store my mods in their boxes when they're not in use. (Bear with me...) 9 times out of 10, i'll open the battery cover, remove the 21700, close the battery cover, put the battery in its case or on my charger, go to put the mod in it's box, realize the adapter sleeve is there, re-open the battery cover, insert the sleeve because there's nowhere else for it, close the cover, and put away the mod. That's needless wear & tear on the battery cover as well as a bother. i realize, of course, that this is because i'm an airhead and is not the fault of Voopoo's packaging engineer. Still, with such a nice box, a spot for the adapter sleeve would have been nice. On the plus side, the replacement o-rings don't come all scrunched.
i guess the not-so-good stuff is really not-that-bad.
IN SUM:
Voopoo did quite well overall, imo. Folks stepping up from a simpler device will get Smart mode to help them, TC to play with, coils that are flavorful & available, and a straightforward interface. Experienced vapers looking for a carry-around will get the most commonly used functions in a sturdy, transportable package.
Gratitude to Voopoo & its reps for adding to my relatively meager vape stash.
i like this approach to packaging as instead of just throwing it in the garbage or recycling bin, i can reuse the container for a sewing kit, to hold drip tips and coils, to hold my dry herb vaping stuff... the uses are endless lol sounds like I'm more excited about the packaging, but besides Innokin I haven't seen too many cool ideas for packaging lately
