Hello everyone, Pizza Dave here, delivering you a review of the Vmate by Voopoo. No, this isn’t their latest device, and is has been much overshadowed by the release of the Drag Mini and Drag 2, but it is a device that Voopoo snuck in there about 2 months ago, so here I am to talk about it. The Vmate is a 200W, compact, dual battery mod, which delivers the usual operation of a Voopoo Gene chipset, but wrapped in a mod that looks quite a bit different than what we are used to seeing from them. Let’s dive down, see how this one vapes, and as always, I will see you down at the bottom for my final thoughts.
DISCLAIMER: This device was sent to me by Health Cabin for review.
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WHAT YOU GET
1 Voopoo Vmate Mod
1 USB charging cable
Paperwork
Available in gunmetal and silver frames, with a plethora of colored battery doors.
PACKAGING
STOCK SHOT
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FEATURES
One of the first things that jumped out at me was symmetry. It differs greatly from just about every other Voopoo device, because many of them had a more standard design with a removal side for batteries, and a screen on the one end. This one changes it up and puts the screen right in the middle front, makes it much bigger, adds some metal accents, and situates the batteries on each side with removable magnetic battery covers. The battery covers are unique on each one, and they come in colors ranging from blue, red, green, camo, and all kinds of other swirly patterns. The batteries are easy to remove and replace, and the battery doors fit firmly in place without little movement. Let’s pop some batteries in this and see how it operates.
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OPERATION
So, the Vmate looks nothing like it houses the chipsets than many Drag owners are used to, however, with a little use they will find it is quite similar in many ways. It offers a very simple menu, but it has a learning curve on how to get right into it. As usual, 5 clicks of the fire button will turn the mod on and off, beyond that, here are some combos to remember.
3 clicks of the fire button will cycle through the modes of operation. Power, Temp Control for TI, Ni, SS.
4 clicks of the fire button when in TC modes will allow you to set the preheat wattage
4 clicks of the fire button in Memory / Curves mode will enter the curve setup menu
Pressing the fire button along with the up-adjustment button will lock out the entire device until you press that combination again.
Pressing the up and down adjustment buttons together will enter the menu. This looks very similar to how it did in previous Gene chip devices. It allows you to select the mode you are in, memory/curves modes, lock or unlock the device, and view the firmware and serial numbers of the device.
The memory curve modes are easy to adjust. It isn’t a huge screen, but basically it presents as a bar graph in which you set a wattage for each second that passes.
I never really liked the way the Gene chip is navigated. Sure, you can hook it up to a computer and have an older style DNA chip experience and can tweak a little more on this. BUT, for a beginner, it can be a bit confusing. I think we can all agree on one thing. The Gene chip does what we really want it to do, and that’s fire the atomizer, so let’s hit that next.
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MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS
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HOW IT VAPES
So, another Voopoo mod, another Gene chip. As expected, this performs well. The Gene chip is what makes their mods loved by so many. It fires fast, it fires accurately, and it is a no-frills type of system. I found this one to perform well with everything I tested. I didn’t play with TC a whole lot on it, but the little I did make it seem like it would perform just fine. I rarely vape in TC, and hardly dabbled with it here, so I strongly suggest checking out someone else if you want a solid TC performance check. Overall, I had no issues with how this mod works. The one battery indicator tended to show nothing right away when the screen is triggered on, but it comes back right away and shows a typical level like it should. The chip seems to be very efficient too. I am not sure why, but it had this feeling like the batteries just kept going and going and going compared to some other mods I have been using lately. Maybe the others are just bad, but it makes this stand out. I love how fast this thing fires, but the 3 clicks to change modes on the fly doesn’t work well because it does fire so fast. It like, poof, poof, poof, on every single click.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
One of the first things that jumped out to me was how nice this looks out of the box. The side covers combined with the shiny main frame and large blacked out front just looks sharp. However, little things started to bug me. The buttons on this are a cheap plastic, that just don’t fit in on this device. Another thing I did immediately was grab it to fire it and started adjusting buttons with the opposite fingers. It must be held a certain way to be comfortable, and functional, so it was awkward right away. The battery compartments are solid, and I had no issues with them, but it adds to the process of changing batteries. There are times I want to just pop batteries in on my way out and go, but this one, I must take doors off, set them down, then go to the other side. Also, the doors are polarity sensitive with magnets, so you must grab the right door, etc. It’s just a weird nitpicky thing that bugged me. Beyond these oddities of the mod, I finally got to just sit down and use it. It earned my love back during use based on how well it does work. The Gene chip performs great once again, and never let me down in any way. It ramps up super-fast and does everything it is supposed to do. The screen is simple, but informative, and once you get a chance to fiddle with the mod it all makes sense with the menu system. So, do I love this mod or don’t I? I am kind of 50/50. In hand, this feels like a solidly built device with a few cheap aspects. It performs great, and has a ton of stylish options, but the little things like the button placement and the double doors bug me almost every time I use it.
THE OVEN TEST
If this device went into the oven, would I go out and get another one? It is a pass for me on this one. It just doesn’t have that “thing” that grabs me and pulls me in to keep on using it.
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PROS
Symmetrical design
Lots of color options
Easier to read screen than previous Gene chips
Fires super-fast and accurately
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CONS
Dual battery doors make battery changing more time consuming than it should be
Buttons feel cheap and out of place
Button placement isn’t the most user friendly
Menu system has a learning curve
Thank you all for reading this review and thank you to Health Cabin for sending it my way for review. This is in stock on their site for $69.
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Pizza Dave – Delivering real reviews, with no extra toppings
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REVIEW CRITERIA: I use each item for about two weeks to ensure I have collected enough data to adequately write a review. I use the same e liquid in tanks or rdas throughout all my reviews to ensure that I am comparing apples to apples between all modern equipment. I do not post reviews until I feel confident that I have used it enough to give an educated review. The reason I started doing reviews was due to poor purchasing decisions in my vaping infancy about two years ago. Back then, I purchased several different pieces of hardware without really enjoying it and I hope my reviews can guide people into spending their hard-earned money more wisely than I did! ****Keep in mind that some items I receive may be pre-release and not in retail packaging. Quality may be less than the finished product and what is in the package may differ from the retail package as well.
