Hello again and welcome back for another review. This time I was sent not one but two pod devices by vaporesso in order to do a comparison of the two. I was a bit surprised to receive a competitor’s product from vaporesso but evidently they think that the new Vaporesso Luxe PM40 pod and the smok Nord 2 are similar enough that they would like people to see the difference. Therefore I will show some pictures and specifications on both then give my opinion on which one I think is the better unit. Let’s go down and take a look.
What’s in the Luxe PM40 box?
• 1 x LUXE PM40 Battery
• 2 x LUXE PM40 Cartridge (4ml)
• 1 x GTX-2 0.6Ω MESH COIL
• 1 x GTX-2 0.8Ω MESH COIL• 1 x Type-C USB Cable
• 1 x User Manual
• 1 X Warranty Card
Specifications:
Size:96.45mm x 30.6mm x 21.5mm
Battery:1800mAh built-in battery
Output Power:5-40W
Chipset:AXON 2.0 Chipset
Display:0.69" OLED Screen
Charging:USB Type-C, 5V/2A
Pod Capacity:4ml
Coils:GTX 0.6Ω Mesh Coil (20-30W); GTX 0.8Ω Mesh Coil (12-20W)
Colors:Black, Carbon Fiber, Jade, Lava, Silver
What’s in the Smok Nord 2 box?
•1 x nord 2 Device (1500mAh)
•1 x nord 2 RPM Pod (RPM Mesh 0.4Ω Coil Preinstalled) (4.5ml)
•1 x nord 2 nord Pod (nord DC 0.8Ω MTL Coil Preinstalled) (4.5ml)
•1 x USB Cable
• 1 x User Manual
Specifications:
• Size: 95*30.5*20mm
• Weight: 79g
• Output Power: 1W-40W
• Battery Capacity: 1500mAh
• Input Voltage: 3.3V-4.2V
• Output Voltage: 0.5V-4.0V
• Output Wattage: 5W-80W
• Standby Current: <50uA Load
• Resistance Range: 0.3Ω-3.0Ω
• Charging Voltage:5V
• Charging Current: MAX 1.2A
• Charger Output: 5V/2A
• Overcharge Voltage: 4.3V
• Overdischarge Voltage: 2.4V
• Overcharge Current: 1.75A
First Impressions:
Upon opening both units, they seem very similar at first. Both kits contained the mod, two pods, two coils, charging cable, user guide and warranty information. Both units are very close in size and basic operation. The Luxe PM40 comes with .6 ohm and .8 ohm coils while the Nord 2 comes with a .4 ohm and .8 ohm coil. I was already very familiar with the GTX coils used in the PM40 since Vaporesso has continued to use these coils in several of their devices. This is greatly appreciated on my part since I can stock one series of coils for several different devices. Prior to this review, I had never tried any of the Smok coils. I felt like the .4 ohm coil was ok but not great even with the wattage turned almost all the way up it was an airy DTL with not much warmth. The .8 ohm coil was a little more restricted but still a very airy MTL since the Nord 2 does not have airflow adjustment. The flavor produced by both of the Smok coils was what I would call mediocre at best. The GTX coils in the Luxe PM40 did very well in my opinion. The airflow control on the PM40 greatly contributed to the flavor and vaping experience in my opinion. The .6 coil was good for me as a restricted DTL vape while the .8 coil was able to be used both as an airy MTL or a tight MTL by closing down the airflow control.
Both units are turned on and off with five clicks of the fire button. Also, three clicks of the fire button will make the wattage on the display screen flash so that it can be adjusted. Pressing the fire button quickly while it is flashing will increase the wattage by one watt at a time until it reaches 40 and then it scrolls back to 5. Pressing and holding the fire button while it’s flashing will do a quick scroll up to 40 and then you must let off and press again to start over at 5. This feature is where I experienced an issue with the Nord2. Not just the first few times I tried but on multiple occasions, I would press the fire button three times and the wattage didn’t start flashing for adjustment. I would have to try several times before I could adjust the wattage. Maybe it was my timing and maybe not. I’m not sure but it was annoying. I didn’t have the same problem with the PM40. The puff counter on the Nord 2 is reset every time the pod is removed while I still have not discovered how to reset the puff counter on the PM40. I have however emailed Vaporesso and will post on it when I find out.
One other thing I should mention about the Nord 2 is that the coils included are not interchangeable between the two pods included which I’m sure is why the coils come pre installed in the pods where the ones in the PM40 kit will fit in either pod. The .4 coil in the Nord 2 kit is an RPM series coil which is physically larger than the .8 coil which is a nord coil. I discovered this the hard way when I took the .8 coil with me to work since I was planning on switching from the .4 to the .8 for testing. I however just pulled the coil out of the pod in the kit and took it to work with me only to discover it won’t fit in the RPM pod.
The pods for both units fit tight and had no issues with them pulling out accidentally. At first glance the pods look similar but the PM40 mouthpiece is somewhat flat and had a good feel to it on the lips while the Nord 2 mouthpiece is more curved and honestly felt awkward for me to use. The pod for the PM40 is designed like the pod for the Xros which has a removable mouthpiece with a fill hole and a second air hole on top so that air can escape while filling. I really like the design of this since I don’t have to take the pod out to fill. The pod for the Nord 2 has a side fill plug so the pod must be removed to fill and like I mentioned earlier, this will reset the puff counter which I do not like.
Luxe PM40
Smok Nord 2
Side by side:
Final Thoughts:
Although both the Nord 2 and the PM40 are similar in appearance and operation, that is where the similarity ended for me. I found the PM40 to produce better flavor and more dense vapor with similar resistance coils and wattage settings. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Or, in this case, the proof is in the puff. I felt like the PM40 was superior in many ways. First of all, top fill beats side fill for me any day of the week. I like not having to remove the pod and holding a rubber plug out of the way to fill. Second, the PM40 has a great airflow adjustment while the Nord 2 has none. The slide adjuster for the airflow on the PM 40 is stiff and isn’t easily moved so you don’t have to worry about it moving when taking in and out of a pocket. The third thing and the most important in my opinion is the density of the vapor and flavor produced by the PM40 is superior. This is partly due to the airflow adjustment but also a big part of it is that the GTX coils produce really good flavor.
The battery life seemed decent on both units but I honestly didn’t use the Nord 2 as much simply because I didn’t enjoy the flavor as much as I did on the PM40. The PM40 has an 1800mah high density battery that has a max charging rate of 2A and uses the USB-C connector for charging. The Nord 2 has a 1500mah battery and still uses a micro USB to charge with a max charge rate of 1.2A. Both units have the charge port on the bottom of the mod. The PM40 uses the Axon chip to provide “Turbo Boosting Tech” to provide superior performance repeatedly. The Nord 2 uses the IQ-N chip which I did not find out much about on their site.
The only thing I don’t like about the PM40 is that I have no idea if there is a way to reset the puff counter. The Nord 2 resets the puff counter every time you remove the pod which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me if someone wanted to know how many puffs you were able to get out of a charge.
So, what you really want to know is would I recommend one or both of these units for purchase. During my time using both of these, I kept them side by side either on my bench or in my car and I repeatedly reached for the Luxe PM40 many more times than the Nord 2. It all came down to flavor and vaping experience. Not because Vaporesso sent these to me, I would clearly recommend the the Luxe PM40 over the Nord 2 simply because of the reasons stated in my review.
I hope you enjoyed reading my review. Thanks to Vaporesso and Jasmine for sending these units for review and thanks to you the reader that makes this possible. If you’d like to see more information and pictures on both devices then I’ll leave links to both below.
https://www.vaporesso.com/vape-kits/luxe-pm40
https://www.smoktech.com/kit/nord2-kit
What’s in the Luxe PM40 box?
• 1 x LUXE PM40 Battery
• 2 x LUXE PM40 Cartridge (4ml)
• 1 x GTX-2 0.6Ω MESH COIL
• 1 x GTX-2 0.8Ω MESH COIL• 1 x Type-C USB Cable
• 1 x User Manual
• 1 X Warranty Card
Specifications:
Size:96.45mm x 30.6mm x 21.5mm
Battery:1800mAh built-in battery
Output Power:5-40W
Chipset:AXON 2.0 Chipset
Display:0.69" OLED Screen
Charging:USB Type-C, 5V/2A
Pod Capacity:4ml
Coils:GTX 0.6Ω Mesh Coil (20-30W); GTX 0.8Ω Mesh Coil (12-20W)
Colors:Black, Carbon Fiber, Jade, Lava, Silver
What’s in the Smok Nord 2 box?
•1 x nord 2 Device (1500mAh)
•1 x nord 2 RPM Pod (RPM Mesh 0.4Ω Coil Preinstalled) (4.5ml)
•1 x nord 2 nord Pod (nord DC 0.8Ω MTL Coil Preinstalled) (4.5ml)
•1 x USB Cable
• 1 x User Manual
Specifications:
• Size: 95*30.5*20mm
• Weight: 79g
• Output Power: 1W-40W
• Battery Capacity: 1500mAh
• Input Voltage: 3.3V-4.2V
• Output Voltage: 0.5V-4.0V
• Output Wattage: 5W-80W
• Standby Current: <50uA Load
• Resistance Range: 0.3Ω-3.0Ω
• Charging Voltage:5V
• Charging Current: MAX 1.2A
• Charger Output: 5V/2A
• Overcharge Voltage: 4.3V
• Overdischarge Voltage: 2.4V
• Overcharge Current: 1.75A
First Impressions:
Upon opening both units, they seem very similar at first. Both kits contained the mod, two pods, two coils, charging cable, user guide and warranty information. Both units are very close in size and basic operation. The Luxe PM40 comes with .6 ohm and .8 ohm coils while the Nord 2 comes with a .4 ohm and .8 ohm coil. I was already very familiar with the GTX coils used in the PM40 since Vaporesso has continued to use these coils in several of their devices. This is greatly appreciated on my part since I can stock one series of coils for several different devices. Prior to this review, I had never tried any of the Smok coils. I felt like the .4 ohm coil was ok but not great even with the wattage turned almost all the way up it was an airy DTL with not much warmth. The .8 ohm coil was a little more restricted but still a very airy MTL since the Nord 2 does not have airflow adjustment. The flavor produced by both of the Smok coils was what I would call mediocre at best. The GTX coils in the Luxe PM40 did very well in my opinion. The airflow control on the PM40 greatly contributed to the flavor and vaping experience in my opinion. The .6 coil was good for me as a restricted DTL vape while the .8 coil was able to be used both as an airy MTL or a tight MTL by closing down the airflow control.
Both units are turned on and off with five clicks of the fire button. Also, three clicks of the fire button will make the wattage on the display screen flash so that it can be adjusted. Pressing the fire button quickly while it is flashing will increase the wattage by one watt at a time until it reaches 40 and then it scrolls back to 5. Pressing and holding the fire button while it’s flashing will do a quick scroll up to 40 and then you must let off and press again to start over at 5. This feature is where I experienced an issue with the Nord2. Not just the first few times I tried but on multiple occasions, I would press the fire button three times and the wattage didn’t start flashing for adjustment. I would have to try several times before I could adjust the wattage. Maybe it was my timing and maybe not. I’m not sure but it was annoying. I didn’t have the same problem with the PM40. The puff counter on the Nord 2 is reset every time the pod is removed while I still have not discovered how to reset the puff counter on the PM40. I have however emailed Vaporesso and will post on it when I find out.
One other thing I should mention about the Nord 2 is that the coils included are not interchangeable between the two pods included which I’m sure is why the coils come pre installed in the pods where the ones in the PM40 kit will fit in either pod. The .4 coil in the Nord 2 kit is an RPM series coil which is physically larger than the .8 coil which is a nord coil. I discovered this the hard way when I took the .8 coil with me to work since I was planning on switching from the .4 to the .8 for testing. I however just pulled the coil out of the pod in the kit and took it to work with me only to discover it won’t fit in the RPM pod.
The pods for both units fit tight and had no issues with them pulling out accidentally. At first glance the pods look similar but the PM40 mouthpiece is somewhat flat and had a good feel to it on the lips while the Nord 2 mouthpiece is more curved and honestly felt awkward for me to use. The pod for the PM40 is designed like the pod for the Xros which has a removable mouthpiece with a fill hole and a second air hole on top so that air can escape while filling. I really like the design of this since I don’t have to take the pod out to fill. The pod for the Nord 2 has a side fill plug so the pod must be removed to fill and like I mentioned earlier, this will reset the puff counter which I do not like.
Luxe PM40
Smok Nord 2
Side by side:
Final Thoughts:
Although both the Nord 2 and the PM40 are similar in appearance and operation, that is where the similarity ended for me. I found the PM40 to produce better flavor and more dense vapor with similar resistance coils and wattage settings. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Or, in this case, the proof is in the puff. I felt like the PM40 was superior in many ways. First of all, top fill beats side fill for me any day of the week. I like not having to remove the pod and holding a rubber plug out of the way to fill. Second, the PM40 has a great airflow adjustment while the Nord 2 has none. The slide adjuster for the airflow on the PM 40 is stiff and isn’t easily moved so you don’t have to worry about it moving when taking in and out of a pocket. The third thing and the most important in my opinion is the density of the vapor and flavor produced by the PM40 is superior. This is partly due to the airflow adjustment but also a big part of it is that the GTX coils produce really good flavor.
The battery life seemed decent on both units but I honestly didn’t use the Nord 2 as much simply because I didn’t enjoy the flavor as much as I did on the PM40. The PM40 has an 1800mah high density battery that has a max charging rate of 2A and uses the USB-C connector for charging. The Nord 2 has a 1500mah battery and still uses a micro USB to charge with a max charge rate of 1.2A. Both units have the charge port on the bottom of the mod. The PM40 uses the Axon chip to provide “Turbo Boosting Tech” to provide superior performance repeatedly. The Nord 2 uses the IQ-N chip which I did not find out much about on their site.
The only thing I don’t like about the PM40 is that I have no idea if there is a way to reset the puff counter. The Nord 2 resets the puff counter every time you remove the pod which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me if someone wanted to know how many puffs you were able to get out of a charge.
So, what you really want to know is would I recommend one or both of these units for purchase. During my time using both of these, I kept them side by side either on my bench or in my car and I repeatedly reached for the Luxe PM40 many more times than the Nord 2. It all came down to flavor and vaping experience. Not because Vaporesso sent these to me, I would clearly recommend the the Luxe PM40 over the Nord 2 simply because of the reasons stated in my review.
I hope you enjoyed reading my review. Thanks to Vaporesso and Jasmine for sending these units for review and thanks to you the reader that makes this possible. If you’d like to see more information and pictures on both devices then I’ll leave links to both below.
https://www.vaporesso.com/vape-kits/luxe-pm40
https://www.smoktech.com/kit/nord2-kit
