Over the past few years, ‘Argus’ has become a name synonymous with ease, comfort, and satisfying mouth-to-lung vaping. While most of the Argus devices have been intended as cigarette replacements, the original two were cutting-edge sub-ohm pod devices, and Voopoo has returned to that design with the Voopoo Argus E40. Today, I’m going to take a closer look at the kit to see whether Voopoo still has the moxy to put together a cloudy vape kit that’s built for travel and convenience.
MIST’s Verdict
Build Quality3
Performance5
Ease of Use5
Battery Life4
Flavour4
Review Summary: The Voopoo Argus E40 Pod Kit is an exceptional smooth brick of cloudy joy.
Review Disclosure: Voopoo supplied all the Voopoo kits, including the E40. However, they’ve been informed that my review will be honest and that I’ll highlight any downsides or issues I have with the kit’s function and design.
Packaging and Labels
The Argus E40 Kit arrives in packaging similar to other recent Voopoo releases: a cardboard sleeve over a cardboard box.
The front of the sleeve shows a picture of the kit within in the appropriate colour beneath the Voopoo logo and name of the kit and above a TPD-compliant health warning.
The sides of the sleeve display features such as battery capacity and power outputs, while the back of the sleeve displays a contents list, contact information for Voopoo and another health warning.
Inside, the kit rests beneath a box containing the spare cartridge, user manual, and USB-C charging cable. The kit itself is held securely by a plastic frame that you can remove. As is usually the case, the inserted cartridge will have a sticker on the base to prevent an electrical connection from occurring when the kit is on the shelves or in transit.
Build Quality
Score: 3/5
The Argus E40 is a relatively large pod vape kit, though that’s to be expected from a machine intended for direct-to-lung use. Despite its bulky build, the 60g kit is very lightweight thanks to the combination of zinc alloy and polycarbonate used in its construction.
Zinc alloy is a great material, balancing portability and durability well. It would have been nice to see an ingress protection rating like IP67 or IP68. Nevertheless, the kit is fairly sturdy and can take a few reasonable knocks.
The adjustable slider on the side provides ample airflow options and closes up tight enough to allow for some limited MTL functionality. Admittedly, the fairly wide mouthpiece doesn’t really suit cigarette-style vaping, and the compatible PnP-X Coil series only goes as high as 0.6ohms in resistance, making it clear that the E40 is primarily intended for cloudy sub-ohm pulls.
The smooth edges of the Argus E40 ensure that it’s comfortable in both the palm and pocket, though I think Voopoo missed an opportunity to give it a lanyard attachment ring, which would have suited such a lightweight kit.
The OLED screen is 0.42” in size and clearly displays all the essential tech specs of your current loadout, from coil ohmage to wattage setting to battery charge level. The screen is also bordered by a coloured LED light system that changes to give you a quick indication of charge level (Green: 100%—60%, Blue: 60%—20%, Red: 20%—0%).
The Argus E40 Cartridge is a fine pod with a pre-installed PnP-X Coil, with a rubber hatch near the base for refilling. The kit is also compatible with empty PnP-X Cartridges, a better choice for those who prefer to change coils rather than dispose of pods entirely.
Ultimately, the Argus E40 is well-made, though little about its design particularly stands out as unique or innovative.
Performance
Score: 5/5
In terms of performance, the Argus E40 impresses all around. The kit has Smart functionality that automatically detects and sets the appropriate wattage for your chosen cartridge or coil, yet it doesn’t object to you overriding its recommendation to set the wattage anywhere between 6W and 40W.
40W with an open airflow slider will produce very impressive cloud levels from high-VG vape juice, and the E40 offers both draw-activation and a side-mounted firing button if you prefer manually activating the device.
Button activation is also useful for those who like to puff lightly with wide airflow, as the draw-activation function may now always detect gentle airflow.
Ease of Use
Score: 5/5
One thing the E40 will never do is bog you down with confusing, hard-to-navigate menus and user functions. Instead, it opts to eschew those and focus on simple wattage settings.
Some might see that as lacking. However, I see the Argus E40 as a kit designed for elegant simplicity, for users who don’t *want* to switch between Smart and Eco modes every hour. For this reason, I’m giving it 5-5 for functionality.
If you want crazy features, look elsewhere. The E40 is all about quick and easy journeys to the cloud kingdom.
Battery Life
Score: 4/5
The lightweight build of the kit started to make sense when I learned of the 1800mAh battery capacity. This, I feel, is a bit of a shortcoming in the kit.
While 1800mAh is usually more than enough to get an MTL vaper through a solid day of session puffs, sub-ohmers looking to fly high at the 40W max output are going to find that battery just a little bit underpowered for an all-day plume session.
So why have I awarded the E40 a 4-5 for Battery Life? I’ll tell you in two characters: 2A.
The kit features extremely rapid 2A charge speeds, meaning that as long as you’re near a plug point or carrying a portable charger, you won’t be without your kit for long. I feel that while 1800mAh is a little on the shy side, it’s perhaps a worthy sacrifice for greater travel and grip comfort.
Flavour Output
Score: 4/5
The flavour produced by the E40 is entirely down to the PnP-X Coils it uses, and luckily for us they’re designed with taste-preservation in mind.
Voopoo boast that the coils can withstand up to 100ml of e-liquid before degrading to the point where leaks become an issue, which is quite a bit longer than many other coil ranges can offer.
The coils use thermo-stable cotton to increase this longevity, which is also assisted by the use of vertical honeycomb mesh heating elements that ensure even heat distribution. Science jargon aside, this means coil-wicking materials that take much longer to degrade, which results in a longer-lasting purity of taste.
Summary
The Voopoo Argus E40 Pod Kit is an exceptional smooth brick of cloudy joy. There are aspects of it that I think could use a little tweaking, such as the battery capacity and lanyard compatibility, but these are minor issues that ultimately won’t get in the way of your plume pleasure.
The MIST Favourite Feature:
- Low Weight: It’s very satisfying to have a slightly bulkier kit that you can pop into your pocket without feeling it weigh you down.
