VAPORESSO ARMOUR MAX & ARMOUR S Kit Review

Design & Build Quality

The ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S look distinctly different from any of VAPORESSO’s other mods. Compared to their GEN series of mods, the ARMOUR series looks tougher and more rugged. That’s intentional of course because these mods are positioned as being durable, offering drop and scratch resistance.

How? Both of these mods are made nearly entirely out of TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) material. From a quick Google search, TPU is very elastic and flexible which makes it both durable and strong. It offers high wear resistance as well as resistance to oils, greases and solvents.

Although these devices are definitely durable (in my time of using them they haven’t been scratched or worn), keep in mind that they are not officially IP rated, nor are they advertised as being drop proof. While they may survive drops and falls, don’t go throwing them around haphazardly.

The ARMOUR MAX is the larger of the two devices. It’s a dual battery mod that is capable of taking 21700 batteries but it can also be used with 18650 batteries if you use the included adapters. In terms of size, it’s large as you would expect a dual battery mod to be, but  for a mod that takes 21700 batteries it’s actually quite compact. Exact dimensions are 96mm tall, 56.5mm wide, and 34mm deep; not bad for a dual 21700 device.

The ARMOUR S is the single battery version which takes a 21700 or 18650 battery (by using the included adapter). It’s tall and rather boxy; it’s actually thicker than the ARMOUR MAX. At 93.8mm tall, 41.9mm wide and 36mm deep, there are certainly smaller single battery mods but this one has the bonus of taking a 21700 battery for longer usage times.

Both mods are available in five colors: orange, yellow, black, green, and silver. All but the silver color have a two-tone look going on which I’m not sure that I love. I’ve been using both the ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S in the Orange color and while it’s a neat look, I think that the silver version looks more clean.

On the front of both devices is a large, octagonal power button which also functions as the locking switch. It says ARMOUR right on it and it’s hard to miss. No matter what color you choose, this button is orange. The button can be slid upwards to lock the fire button while leaving the adjustment buttons unlocked.

When I first read that these mods had this feature, I thought that it was super convenient and a genius idea. I mean come on, your thumb is on the fire button all the time so it makes perfect sense to double it as the locking switch, right? Maybe, but I do have some issues with it.

On my ARMOUR MAX, the locking switch button is fine. There’s enough resistance that I can’t accidentally lock the button when I go to push it down to take a draw. The ARMOUR S is a different story though. The button here is very ‘loose’ and I end up locking the device nearly every time that I go to push the button down. It gets frustrating fast.

Both mods have a 0.96” color display and it is small. There’s a lot of good information crammed in there though and it’s perfectly usable, but if you’re older then you’ll want to have your reading glasses handy.

The adjustment buttons are located just below the display. Oddly enough (for me at least) the up adjustment button is on the right and the down adjustment button is on the left. I intuitively expected these buttons to be the other way around (up on the left, down on the right) so it took a while to adjust to them, but once I did it was smooth sailing.

Both the ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S feature a Type-C charging port located just below the adjustment buttons. While I would not suggest charging your batteries in the mod, it’s there for firmware updates or in case you’re stuck somewhere without a battery charger. Charging speed is listed as 2A, so it’s fast too.

On the back of each device is where you’ll find the battery release door. Pushing this button springs open the battery door, allowing for easy insertion or removal of the batteries. The button is flush with the back of the mod so it’s not something that you’re going to accidentally push. It’s also firm and takes a decent amount of pressure to activate, further preventing accidental openings.

The battery compartment is snug but not too tight. It’s the perfect size where there’s no battery rattle but it’s not difficult to insert or remove your batteries either.

Features & Functions

The ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S are identical in the modes that they offer. They both offer  F(t), Pulse, ECO, and TC-SS/TC-NI/TC-TI modes. When it comes to functions, the only real difference between the two is that the ARMOUR MAX fires at up to 220W and the ARMOUR S fires at up to 100W.

I’ll go over the modes because if you’ve never used a VAPORESSO device before, the lack of a Power/Wattage mode can be confusing. F(t) mode changes the output voltage and heating rate while you vape to produce better vapor and flavor. It’s like wattage mode, only it makes small micro adjustments as you draw. You won’t notice it as being any different than wattage mode while vaping but you will notice the smoothness of your draws being improved.

Pulse mode is another wattage-like mode. This mode pulses the wattage every 0.02 seconds to accomplish a similar result as F(t) mode — smoother and better draws. Again, it’s not noticeable while you vape (you won’t notice any pulsing because it happens so rapidly), but it makes draws smoother and cooler at higher wattages.

ECO mode is your standard wattage mode on the ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S. Because it doesn’t do anything fancy like F(t) or Pulse modes, the battery will last longer when using this mode.

TC modes are self-explanatory. There’s a mode for stainless steel, nickel, and titanium. Unfortunately, there’s no TCR. There is a setting in the settings menu that says “TCR LOCK” which you can set to on or off but all this does is lock the resistance of your coil.

In TC mode you can press the up or down button to adjust the temperature. If you want to switch from Celsius or Farenheit, simply increase the temperature to the max and it will switch from Celsius to Farenheit or vice-versa. 

In TC mode you can press the UP adjustment button and power button together to adjust the wattage. Pressing the down adjustment button and power button will lock or unlock the resistance of the coil, which you’ll want to do when the coil is cold for accurate TC results.

The display on both devices shows the wattage (or temperature), mode, puffs, coil resistance, and a battery indicator without percentage. Overall it’s clean but small.

As mentioned earlier, you can slide the power button upwards to lock firing or downwards to unlock the firing. You can hold both adjustment buttons together to lock the entire device. There’s no way to lock only the adjustment buttons.

iTank 2

If you opt to purchase the ARMOUR MAX or ARMOUR S kit then you’ll also get the iTank 2. This is a direct upgrade to VAPORESSO original iTank and while a lot has remained the same, improvements have definitely been made.

A great thing about the iTank 2 is that you get a protective TPU covering included in the box. It’s pre-installed on the tank and helps to protect the glass in the case of accidental drops. The color of this TPU protective cover is the same as the color of the mod so it matches and looks right at home. 

There are diagonal cut outs in the protective cover which allow you to see into the tank so it doesn’t harm the user experience in any way. Of course, if you don’t like how it looks then you can easily remove it by sliding it down and off of the tank.

Like the original iTank, the iTank 2 has a huge 8ml ejuice capacity with the bubble glass installed. The bubble glass comes pre-installed on the ARMOUR MAX but not on the ARMOUR S but you get one in the box.

What’s changed from the original iTank is that the top cap no longer pushes back to open. Instead, there’s a button that you can press which unlocks and swivels the top cap backwards.

I’ve had these mods in my pockets a few times and haven’t had a problem with the button being pressed accidentally. It’s very firm and takes direct and intentional pressure to open but with these types of mechanisms, you’ll still want to be careful.

Even if the top cap does open accidentally, the fill port is covered by a silicone membrane with a self-closing slit. To fill it up you push your bottle tip into the slit and when you remove it, it will close up again. This further mitigates the possibility of leaking. Since the top cap swivels all the way out of the way, it’s easy to fill the tank even with large 100ml bottles.

There are two airflow slots located at the base of the tank. These are fully adjustable by turning the base. The airflow control functions on a stopper and can be fully opened, fully closed, or set to anywhere in between.

The iTank 2 takes VAPORESSO’s line of GTi coils. Both the ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S kits come with a 0.2Ω coil and a 0.4Ω coil, however there are also 0.15Ω and 0.5Ω coils available to be purchased separately.

Coils are plug-n-play and simply push or pull out of the base of the tank. You have to first unscrew the tank from the base to gain access to the coils but it’s all straightforward from there.

Performance

The ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S both perform identically with the iTank 2 and full line of GTi coils. There’s really no difference when you use the iTank 2 with either device. Where there is a difference is when you want to go higher than 100W, or if you’re looking for maximum battery life. In both of these cases, the ARMOUR MAX is the way to go.

I tested the included GTi coils in F(t) mode, which is the default mode for both the ARMOUR S and ARMOUR MAX. The 0.2Ω coil has a recommended wattage range of 60-75W and is designated as being best at 70W. I agree with these ratings as I found the best experience at 70W. It’s a warm draw but not too warm, especially with F(t) mode smoothing out and cooling the draw a little. Great flavor here from this coil.

The 0.15Ω coil is even better. The draw is similarly warm and smooth at 85W, which is the recommended ‘best’ wattage. This coil has a range of 75-90W but I felt like 85W was more than enough wattage to get the most out of this coil. The flavor is even better than the 0.2Ω coil and so this one quickly became my favorite coil to use.

Also available, but sold separately, are 0.4Ω and 0.5Ω GTi coils. I received these for testing along with my ARMOUR MAX kit and so of course, I had to try them out as well.

The 0.4Ω coil feels a bit underpowered at the recommended wattage of 55W. It’s rated for 50-60W so pushing it up to 60W is no problem and also increases the strength of the draw. I didn’t have any problems at 65W either but I wouldn’t go higher, just to be safe and to maintain the longevity of the coil. Flavor is pretty good, but I would rate it lower than the 0.2Ω or 0.15Ω coils. 

It’s a similar story with the 0.5Ω coil. Rated at 30-40W and best at 35W, it feels underwhelming. I set it at 40W and found it to be a nice and cool vape with good vapor and similar flavor to the 0.4Ω coil. 

I also tested the ARMOUR S and ARMOUR MAX with my OG Drop Solo, which is still one of my favorite RDAs to date. I used SS316L wire and the TC-SS mode at 400F.

I think that the TC mode on these devices is the best yet from VAPORESSO; great at regulating the temperature and it feels accurate when compared with my DNA250C mods. It’s a similar experience, so much so that I wouldn’t mind using these devices over a DNA mod. Really great job by VAPORESSO on the TC mode here, although the inclusion of a TCR mode would have made these so much better.

Verdict

VAPORESSO’s ARMOUR MAX and ARMOUR S kits are ones to get. This late into 2023, I think it’s safe to say that these could easily be some of the best vape kits to come out this year. While the rugged design and appearance will not be to everyone’s taste, it’s a tradeoff that has to be made for the added durability of the devices.

More importantly though, the performance in any of the many wattage-like modes, and even in TC, are great. I would not hesitate for one second to grab this kit if I needed something to vape on. As a matter of fact, I’ll be keeping the ARMOUR MAX on hand and ready as my new daily-driver mod and tank kit. 

While I think that it’s a good purchase to buy only the mod or only the tank if you only need one or the other, the kit is certainly worth picking up if you need both a new mod and a new tank. 

The performance of the iTank 2 firmly places it as one of the best tanks that I’ve used, especially with either of the included coils. The coils that are sold separately did not impress me too much, but they are there if you don’t like vaping at too high a wattage.

SAVE 12%
CODE: VERSED