My review of vaping products, notably the VooPoo Argus GT 2 200W starter kit, and specifically the TPP-X "Pod" Tank, as well as the Alien 220W "mod". WTH is with the fascination with "pods"—I demand reusable. Which the TPP-X tank is… but really. C'mon.

don-cristo-coffee.md

Is it coffee? Tobacco? Chocolate? All of the above! This brings back fond memories of first switching to vaping where I used naturally brewed juices made from Virginia flue-cured tobacco. Delicious.

review-alien.md

An incredibly good mod, with an entirely acceptable tank to go with it. I've owned a few of these, most often used with Uwell Crown IV tanks, though they do suffer from paint stripping problems if you get propylene glycol (vape "juice") on it. A dominant reason I've recently picked up an Argus GT 2 in carbon fibre to replace my last Alien 220 that was starting to flake paint on my hands.

But… yeah. Loved this mod since it was first released… which is now a disturbingly long time when I think about it. You get strangely used to its counting by 0.1Ω then switching to counting by 1.0Ω when held for long enough. A depressible bar along the entire edge instead of a small button to fire is a particularly nice design choice and works well.

To have enough room for such a large display it is not placed along one of the thinner edges, making it more difficult to puff discretely, if that matters to you.

review-argus.md

An easily handleable mod with a very nice dual-use mechanical lock-out switch placed perfectly. None of this “keep clicking until it locks or unlocks” silliness. Took me longer than it should have to realize there’s an internal sleeve to adapt 18650s, and that it does, in fact, fit 21700s.

The… “pod” tank has some unfortunate design issues, sadly. The drip tip appears proprietary; couldn’t re-use any of my existing delrin tips. Press-fit atomizers are surprisingly great. Press-fit, magnetically held tank upper… that’s an awful idea. The outer sleeve of glass is attached to the upper, so the whole thing can rock off slightly and leak. This is not a pocketable tank, and if your mod falls over on your desk you may have a bit of a mess to clean up. Not sure what the “child safety” mentioned in the booklet is referring to; possibly the press-to-rotate “lock” on the upper? Filling sideways, rather than from the top, is also an interesting choice.

With the negatives out of the way, flavour is excellent! The reduced wattage compared to my other mods (which are all dual-battery) and less crazily “sub-ohm” tanks/atomizers ensures the battery lasts a reasonable amount of time, without sacrificing that flavour or vapour production. The mesh coils are highly effective. USB-C is quite nice, though unlike my other mods, you don’t appear to be able to charge and vape at the same time. Or I just haven’t figured out the trick, yet.