I have a lot of experience with the original Drag mods and had requested a Drag 2 for review. Voopoo however sent me the Drag Mini for review so I will be looking at this with somewhat “new” eyes.
Many others have now covered the basics of what included in the package so this review will be my impressions and experience with the new Drag Mini.
Unboxing the Mod:
Packaging as with other Voopoo products I’ve purchased in the past is very well done but as others have noted the box REALLY needs to say Drag 2 or Drag Mini somewhere other than in small print on the back of the outer sleeve. While I agree that the charging cord is absurdly short that unfortunately appears to be the new norm in the industry.
Owners Manual:
With all of the hype over the new FIT modes it should be covered in the manual, period. Granted, you can go to Youtube to see how to get into FIT mode but you shouldn't have to. That's what the owners manual is for.
The Uforce T2 Tank Pros:
Build Quality: I have 50 plus tanks and drippers here for comparison and I must say that the fit and finish on this tank is beautiful. The side sliding top cap feels like butter and is very positive when opening or closing. I had no problem with it opening in my pocket but it did come close more than once. I would like to see a locking mechanism added in the future. When installing a coil the threads are very precise with zero roughness felt. The coils also appear to have about 2 full threads more than my other tanks which gives a very positive feel when swapping coils.
Coils: Both the standard and the mesh coils performed well and without incident. I would place these coils at slightly above middle of the road for flavor when compared to my other tanks but I think that this is due to the lack of airflow. See below...
Tank Capacity: This seems to be about on par with other mid/mini tanks such as the Prince Big Baby Beast.
Did I mention that the fit and finish on the tank is exceptional?
The Uforce T2 Tank Cons:
Airflow: For me the airflow is too restricted. The tank is fairly quiet (which is a plus) and doesn’t seem turbulent considering the coil designs included in the box. The problem lies with the airflow entry slots which appear to only be about 60% the size of other high flow tanks on the market. I would venture to say that this won’t even be noticed by 95% of the users out there but for the other 5% like me that like wide open airflow it was a definite “con”.
Tanks top gasket: Unless I’m missing something I can see no way to change or even clean under the top gasket. This leaves you with possible cross contamination of flavors and no way to sterilize the tank lid. What happens when the tank gets some age on it and the lid starts leaking? I know we live in a throw-away world but for me that’s a HUGE con. If I’m missing something regarding the top gasket and someone know how to remove the sliding lid for gasket cleaning please feel free to enlighten me.
The Drag Mini Pros:
General: I was skeptical of the redesign but willing to keep an open mind. I have numerous Drag mods and large hands. With that said I actually like the square edges and boxy feel of the original Drag. It reminds me of holding a tool with a purpose.
In the photos it was hard to tell just how small or curved the Mini would actually be. I will say that for a box style mod Voopoo hit it out of the park in size and hand feel. The curved body and rounded edges have a very natural lay whether held in my big old meat hooks or in my wife’s much smaller hands.
After a few days with the mod I asked my wife to run it for a day to get her impressions and, needless to say, that was the last I’ve seen of the new Mini. She won’t give it up for love nor money.
Weight: I’m not sure how they did it but this mod is extremely light for its size and the battery life it offers. The closest unit I had for comparison was a SMOK X-Priv Baby which appears to be roughly 20% smaller than the Drag mini. This is where it gets interesting...
The new Drag mini is roughly 20% larger than the X-Priv Baby but somehow it comes in 3 grams lighter and offers a claimed 4200mah battery which beat the X-Priv Baby by 1900mah or roughly 45%. I ran both of these mods side by side, puff for puff, with the same tank/coil combination and by midday the SMOK had to be recharged while the Drag Mini made it to the end of the day with battery life to spare. I’m not a fan of built in batteries but, yeah, I’m very impressed with the battery life.
Neutral:
Gene FIT Modes: While I know that Voopoo is pushing this feature hard as a selling point I can see no real practical use for it. We already know that the Drag 2 has problems with the FIT modes not making any noticeable difference. I’m sure Voopoo will correct this at some point with an online update. At least on the Mini it functions as intended. The only problem I had was in actually accessing the FIT modes. Watching the promotional videos it appears that 3 fast clicks of the fire button puts you into FIT mode. However, the unit that I received takes you through the temp control screens first which is frustrating for an experienced user and will thoroughly confuse a new user.
Here is what I found when testing the FIT modes with an inline volt meter and .15 ohm mesh coil. (With the volt meter installed the Mini showed the coil to be .17 ohm instead of the actual .15 ohm). Keep in mind that I normally run a .15 coil at 65 watts.
FIT Mode 1 - Battery Saver: This put the output at 2.7v or 43w. While this would definitely increase battery life it was FAR too cool and gave zero flavor as you would expect at this low wattage setting.
FIT Mode 2 – Flavor Mode: This brought output to 3.10v or 56w. Better, but not as warm as I would usually run this coil.
FIT Mode 3 – Cloud Mode: This got me 3.5v or 72W. For me personally this was slightly hotter than I normally run and was giving me a mildly burnt taste after a few hits.
As you can see, all 3 of these modes would be very frustrating for a new user. While I applaud the concept I don’t think that preset modes will ever be able to take into account all of the variables needed to truly enjoy vaping.
Now to the Cons:
Recommended Wattage: This feature is even worse than the original Drag software. On the original (and on the new versions) when you install a tank or swap coils the mod gives you a “recommended” wattage based on some built in table. Unfortunately the recommended wattage on the original was too high and the new software comes in with a recommendation that’s even higher. A full 10 watts higher than the original to be exact. For a new vaper this is terrible and will ruin the experience for them if they don't know enough to turn the wattage down.
Imagine a new vaper with a shiny new Voopoo mod, fresh coil, and a juice they are dying to try. They fill the tank, fire up the mod, take a hit and immediately get the nasty taste of burnt cotton and scorched juice. The games over before they even got started and they don’t know what they did wrong.
Bottom line? In my opinion they need to lower the preset recommended wattages to something that’s realistic and won’t kill coils in a few hits if you don't know what you're doing.
Screen Display: The display on the new Mini (and from what I’ve seen on the Drag 2) is far too dim. Comparing it to the original Drag it’s roughly 50% dimmer or about the equivalent of the original when the screen dims as it’s going to sleep. In sunlight I can barely even make out what the screen says. Please, for us old guys, release a software update that puts the display brightness back to the original levels. This is the main complaint that I have with the new versions of the Drag.
That’s all I could come up with for cons.
Overall Impressions:
While I’m not usually a fan of “mini” anything this little mod impressed me and continues to do so. It’s attractive, light weight, feels good in the hand, has pretty amazing battery life for the size, and most importantly for me it still hits like a Drag.
Would I recommend it? Yes I would, but only after a couple of firmware updates from Voopoo. What I wouldn't do is hand it to a new vaper without someone giving them some guidance on basic operation of the mod.
If you made it this far thank you for reading my ramblings and a genuine thank you to Voopoo for letting me test and review the new Drag Mini.
Peace...
Richard
Many others have now covered the basics of what included in the package so this review will be my impressions and experience with the new Drag Mini.
Unboxing the Mod:
Packaging as with other Voopoo products I’ve purchased in the past is very well done but as others have noted the box REALLY needs to say Drag 2 or Drag Mini somewhere other than in small print on the back of the outer sleeve. While I agree that the charging cord is absurdly short that unfortunately appears to be the new norm in the industry.
Owners Manual:
With all of the hype over the new FIT modes it should be covered in the manual, period. Granted, you can go to Youtube to see how to get into FIT mode but you shouldn't have to. That's what the owners manual is for.
The Uforce T2 Tank Pros:
Build Quality: I have 50 plus tanks and drippers here for comparison and I must say that the fit and finish on this tank is beautiful. The side sliding top cap feels like butter and is very positive when opening or closing. I had no problem with it opening in my pocket but it did come close more than once. I would like to see a locking mechanism added in the future. When installing a coil the threads are very precise with zero roughness felt. The coils also appear to have about 2 full threads more than my other tanks which gives a very positive feel when swapping coils.
Coils: Both the standard and the mesh coils performed well and without incident. I would place these coils at slightly above middle of the road for flavor when compared to my other tanks but I think that this is due to the lack of airflow. See below...
Tank Capacity: This seems to be about on par with other mid/mini tanks such as the Prince Big Baby Beast.
Did I mention that the fit and finish on the tank is exceptional?
The Uforce T2 Tank Cons:
Airflow: For me the airflow is too restricted. The tank is fairly quiet (which is a plus) and doesn’t seem turbulent considering the coil designs included in the box. The problem lies with the airflow entry slots which appear to only be about 60% the size of other high flow tanks on the market. I would venture to say that this won’t even be noticed by 95% of the users out there but for the other 5% like me that like wide open airflow it was a definite “con”.
Tanks top gasket: Unless I’m missing something I can see no way to change or even clean under the top gasket. This leaves you with possible cross contamination of flavors and no way to sterilize the tank lid. What happens when the tank gets some age on it and the lid starts leaking? I know we live in a throw-away world but for me that’s a HUGE con. If I’m missing something regarding the top gasket and someone know how to remove the sliding lid for gasket cleaning please feel free to enlighten me.
The Drag Mini Pros:
General: I was skeptical of the redesign but willing to keep an open mind. I have numerous Drag mods and large hands. With that said I actually like the square edges and boxy feel of the original Drag. It reminds me of holding a tool with a purpose.
In the photos it was hard to tell just how small or curved the Mini would actually be. I will say that for a box style mod Voopoo hit it out of the park in size and hand feel. The curved body and rounded edges have a very natural lay whether held in my big old meat hooks or in my wife’s much smaller hands.
After a few days with the mod I asked my wife to run it for a day to get her impressions and, needless to say, that was the last I’ve seen of the new Mini. She won’t give it up for love nor money.
Weight: I’m not sure how they did it but this mod is extremely light for its size and the battery life it offers. The closest unit I had for comparison was a SMOK X-Priv Baby which appears to be roughly 20% smaller than the Drag mini. This is where it gets interesting...
The new Drag mini is roughly 20% larger than the X-Priv Baby but somehow it comes in 3 grams lighter and offers a claimed 4200mah battery which beat the X-Priv Baby by 1900mah or roughly 45%. I ran both of these mods side by side, puff for puff, with the same tank/coil combination and by midday the SMOK had to be recharged while the Drag Mini made it to the end of the day with battery life to spare. I’m not a fan of built in batteries but, yeah, I’m very impressed with the battery life.
Neutral:
Gene FIT Modes: While I know that Voopoo is pushing this feature hard as a selling point I can see no real practical use for it. We already know that the Drag 2 has problems with the FIT modes not making any noticeable difference. I’m sure Voopoo will correct this at some point with an online update. At least on the Mini it functions as intended. The only problem I had was in actually accessing the FIT modes. Watching the promotional videos it appears that 3 fast clicks of the fire button puts you into FIT mode. However, the unit that I received takes you through the temp control screens first which is frustrating for an experienced user and will thoroughly confuse a new user.
Here is what I found when testing the FIT modes with an inline volt meter and .15 ohm mesh coil. (With the volt meter installed the Mini showed the coil to be .17 ohm instead of the actual .15 ohm). Keep in mind that I normally run a .15 coil at 65 watts.
FIT Mode 1 - Battery Saver: This put the output at 2.7v or 43w. While this would definitely increase battery life it was FAR too cool and gave zero flavor as you would expect at this low wattage setting.
FIT Mode 2 – Flavor Mode: This brought output to 3.10v or 56w. Better, but not as warm as I would usually run this coil.
FIT Mode 3 – Cloud Mode: This got me 3.5v or 72W. For me personally this was slightly hotter than I normally run and was giving me a mildly burnt taste after a few hits.
As you can see, all 3 of these modes would be very frustrating for a new user. While I applaud the concept I don’t think that preset modes will ever be able to take into account all of the variables needed to truly enjoy vaping.
Now to the Cons:
Recommended Wattage: This feature is even worse than the original Drag software. On the original (and on the new versions) when you install a tank or swap coils the mod gives you a “recommended” wattage based on some built in table. Unfortunately the recommended wattage on the original was too high and the new software comes in with a recommendation that’s even higher. A full 10 watts higher than the original to be exact. For a new vaper this is terrible and will ruin the experience for them if they don't know enough to turn the wattage down.
Imagine a new vaper with a shiny new Voopoo mod, fresh coil, and a juice they are dying to try. They fill the tank, fire up the mod, take a hit and immediately get the nasty taste of burnt cotton and scorched juice. The games over before they even got started and they don’t know what they did wrong.
Bottom line? In my opinion they need to lower the preset recommended wattages to something that’s realistic and won’t kill coils in a few hits if you don't know what you're doing.
Screen Display: The display on the new Mini (and from what I’ve seen on the Drag 2) is far too dim. Comparing it to the original Drag it’s roughly 50% dimmer or about the equivalent of the original when the screen dims as it’s going to sleep. In sunlight I can barely even make out what the screen says. Please, for us old guys, release a software update that puts the display brightness back to the original levels. This is the main complaint that I have with the new versions of the Drag.
That’s all I could come up with for cons.
Overall Impressions:
While I’m not usually a fan of “mini” anything this little mod impressed me and continues to do so. It’s attractive, light weight, feels good in the hand, has pretty amazing battery life for the size, and most importantly for me it still hits like a Drag.
Would I recommend it? Yes I would, but only after a couple of firmware updates from Voopoo. What I wouldn't do is hand it to a new vaper without someone giving them some guidance on basic operation of the mod.
If you made it this far thank you for reading my ramblings and a genuine thank you to Voopoo for letting me test and review the new Drag Mini.
Peace...
Richard
