Voopoo Argus Pro 2 Review: Excellent for DL & RDL Vaping

Design & Build Quality

The Argus Pro 2 is the successor to the Argus Pro/Argus X and it looks nearly identical, which makes sense. It’s also very similar in design to other Argus devices, particularly the Argus XT and Argus MT of 2022. The typical ‘Argus’ design elements are present on the Argus Pro 2, those being a rectangular firing/power button, a covered charging port, and a tall slim display. VOOPOO’s Argus series devices have always sported a rugged and ‘outdoorsy’ look and that remains the case here.

However, compared to previous iterations and Argus devices, the Argus Pro 2 looks and feels much more refined. The front curves and slims to create the face of the device with the screen and buttons. Even the way the lanyard anchor spot juts out near the top is elegant and thoughtfully designed.

The Pro 2 is about the same size as its predecessors, the Argus Pro and Argus X. It’s 127.4mm tall, 29.8mm wide and 35.5mm deep. This puts it firmly in the middle of the Argus Pro (124mm) and Argus X (128mm) in terms of height, but it is slimmer than either (31mm & 35mm). It’s the same depth as the Argus Pro (35mm), but deeper than the Argus X (30.5mm). All this to say, The Argus Pro 2 is still a good size for a pod mod and not much has changed that would make it any less portable than its predecessors.

Since I’ve received a pre-release device for this review, there isn’t too much information on what all of the colors look like but I’ll tell you what I do know. I received the Sky Purple and Lake Blue colors, both of which are stunning. Sky Purple has a metallic finish that is a gradient from a light blue/purple at the top to a light pink near the bottom. Lake Blue has a metallic finish that is more matte and which is a gradient from a dark blue at the top to a dark green at the bottom.

The full list of available colors are: Spray Black, Pearl White, Modern Red, Lake Blue, Sky Purple, Space Gray and Cocoa Brown.

Both devices feature a similar rear grip, which is made of leather. The grip has a tall, stretched ‘X’ that is embossed with ‘ARGUS PRO 2’ and complete with visible stitching on the top and bottom. There’s also a ribbed pattern along the sides of the grip which feels great and adds some texture. For mass-produced devices, the quality and workmanship of the leather grip is impressively good.

The build-quality of the rest of the device is equally top-notch. All of the buttons feel firm, responsive and clicky. Even the physical locking switch, which is located just below the screen, feels like it has just the right amount of resistance to prevent accidental use, while still remaining easy to activate when you want to use it.

The battery door is covered with a square silicone stopper. This device isn’t IP rated, nor is it water or dust resistant, so it’s a bit of an odd design feature. However, it keeps up VOOPOO’s intended ‘rugged’ look and it may still protect the charging circuit from any light sprays of water.

Since this is an internal battery mod there’s no battery door to go over. The Argus Pro 2 packs a 3000mAh internal battery that recharges with 2A Type-C charging. However, one thing that I wanted to touch on is the anti-skid pad on the bottom of the device. Personally, I’m not a fan of these because more often than not, it results in me toppling the device over. It’s no different with the Argus Pro 2 and I’ve had it topple over a couple of times but it’s still in one piece and living to vape another day.

Features & Functions

The Argus Pro 2 is similar in features to other VOOPOO pod mods that you may be familiar with, such as the Argus XT and MT. It’s also similar to VOOPOO’s DRAG X2 and DRAG S2 only instead of ‘ECO mode’, the Argus Pro 2 (and other Argus Pod mods) have ‘TURBO mode’. 

Modes

In all, there are three modes that you can vape with on the Argus Pro 2:

• SMART mode
• RBA mode
• TURBO mode

TURBO mode delivers a 25% increase in vapor, aka more clouds, than the other modes. I noticed a bit of a difference from SMART mode but I’m not really a cloud chaser anyhow and so I didn’t use this mode very much.

SMART mode automatically sets the best wattage for your coil when inserted, but you can still adjust the wattage. However, adjusting the wattage in SMART mode is limited to a wattage range that is determined as ‘best’ by the GENE.TT chipset, which is the brains of the mod. For example, with the 0.3ohm coil you can’t set the wattage any higher than 40W. 

SMART mode is going to be the best mode to use for the vast majority of vapers as it prevents you from using the coil at too high a wattage and burning it out prematurely. However, if you really want to push the limits of the coil that you’re using then there’s a third mode option: RBA mode.

RBA mode is just like wattage mode on any other vaping device. This mode allows you to set the wattage for the coil to whatever you wish, up to the maximum wattage output of 80W. However, be warned that you may end up using the coil at too high of a wattage and shortening the lifespan of the coil.

Switching modes can be done by holding both adjustment buttons together to bring up the menu. Select ‘MODE’ by pressing the fire button and use the adjustment buttons to select the mode you want. Confirm your mode by pressing the fire button.

Screen & Menu

The Argus Pro 2 has a 0.96” TFT full color screen. It has ample brightness and the UI is neat and easy to read. The screen shows an ARGUS logo and a battery life icon (including exact percentage of battery life) at the top, followed by your wattage in large numbers. The wattage takes up the vast majority of the screen and I like this because it’s easy to see your most important setting at a glance. Below the wattage is the mode, a puff counter, coil resistance, voltage, and puff time.

You can access the menu by holding both adjustment buttons together. This menu allows you to change modes, clear the puff counter, or view info about the device.

Physical Locking Switch

The Argus Pro 2 features a physical locking switch which is located just below the screen and above the adjustment buttons. You can slide the switch up to lock the device which includes the firing button and adjustment buttons. Sliding the switch down unlocks the device so you can vape. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a way to lock only the adjustment buttons.

Argus Pro 2 Button Combinations

Power on/off: Press the fire button 5 times.

Change modes: Hold both adjustment buttons to bring up the menu. Select Mode menu to change between SMART, RBA, and TURBO modes.

Lock/Unlock the device (including the fire button): Use the physical locking switch on the front of the device.

Clear puffs: Hold the “-” adjustment button and fire button. You can also use the mode menu to clear the puffs.

PnP X Cartridge (DTL)

The Argus Pro 2 comes with the PnP X Cartridge (DTL). This is the same pod tank that comes with the DRAG X2 and DRAG S2 (which I reviewed not too long ago), so I’m already quite familiar with it. This tank is not to be confused with the PnP-X pod tank that came with the original DRAG X and DRAG S PnP-X Kits which were released in late 2021.

It’s a bit confusing for sure, but what’s important to note is that this is VOOPOO’s latest pod tank and it uses new PnP X coils. There are currently four PnP X Coils available:

• PnP X 0.15Ω coil
• PnP X 0.2Ω coil
• PnP X 0.3Ω coil
• PnP X 0.6Ω coil

As far as cross-compatibility between coils, tanks, and devices, it’s quite limited. Since the Argus Pro 2 and Drag X2/S2 use the same cartridge and coils, you can swap between these devices freely. However, the PnP X tank is not compatible with regular PnP or TPP coils and these new PnP X coils will not fit in any of VOOPOO’s older pod tanks. Similarly, this PnP X Cartridge will not work with the original Argus Pro or Argus X.

The PnP X coils are larger than VOOPOO’s older coils and they also have flat sides that need to align with the cutout on the bottom of the PnP X cartridge. These are the main reasons why the coils are not cross compatible.

In addition, the PnP X coils sit flush with the bottom of the PnP X tank and do not protrude like they did with the older PnP-X pod tank. Because of this, even though the tank fits in the original DRAG X and DRAG S, the coil can’t make contact with the deep pins.

With compatibility out of the way, let’s talk about the other improvements and features of this tank. The airflow adjustment is located at the top of the tank. Simply twisting the top portion of the cartridge allows you to fully open, fully close, or adjust the airflow in between. There are two medium sized airflow slots and, depending on the coil you use, you can achieve a DL or RDL draw. VOOPOO states that you can achieve MTL as well but I’m assuming that is with the MTL tank; this DTL cartridge isn’t great for MTL vaping.

The tank is filled through a port on the side, near the bottom of the tank. It’s plugged by a good rubber stopper that keeps the ejuice nicely sealed in and I haven’t had any trouble with leaking from this area.

The pod tank has a light tint but it’s still easy to see the contents. It also sits in the battery in a way that leaves most of the pod contents visible above the battery so it’s easy to see where your ejuice is sitting.

The pod attaches to the battery magnetically and the connection is nice and strong. There’s no pod wobble at all and the pod remains firmly seated even when in my pocket.

In order to prevent leaking, VOOPOO uses a patented 4-layer leakproof design for the PnP X pod tank. The airway, heating zone, air cavity, and tank are separated in different layers to make it very unlikely that ejuice can escape. So far so good too as I have not had leaking of any sort while using the Argus Pro 2.

PnP X Coils

According to VOOPOO, these coils are more than just rebranded PnP coils. These new PnP X coils are claimed to provide long-lasting coil life without any flavor fading or burning. They use a combination of thermo-stable cotton (heat-resistant) and a new mesh coil which together allow the coils to go through 100ml of ejuice. VOOPOO says that one pack of five coils can last for an entire season or 90 days. 

Doing the math, that’s 18 days per coil. If each coil can last for 100ml of ejuice, that means you would have to be vaping around 5.5ml per day, or just over one full pod, to reach this 100ml mark in 18 days.

VOOPOO provided me with more in-depth information on how these coils are able to achieve such long life spans and, not surprisingly, the information is rather technical and not all that exciting. However, it’s interesting to hear how they’ve been innovating on an aspect of vapes that many thought had reached their peak.

For the cotton, VOOPOO selected natural, thermal-stable cotton and optimized the thickness and spacing of the fiber to achieve better wicking. A wet wick is the key to preventing burning and so this directly affects the coil lifespan.

As for the coil, they restructured the structure of the mesh to more evenly distribute heat without producing extra heat.

Interesting innovations from VOOPOO.

Performance

The Argus Pro 2, at least with the PnP X Cartridge (DTL), is meant for direct lung vapers who are looking to get the most out of their ejuices in terms of flavor and clouds. It’s also meant for use with freebase ejuices as the low resistance coils and direct-lung nature of the pod aren’t going to be great for nicotine salts. So how does it perform?

While using the Argus Pro 2, I couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of familiarity with the experience. Since it uses the same pod cartridge, the same coils, and fires at the same wattages, it’s no surprise that it reminded me a lot of using the DRAG X2.

VOOPOO recommends using ejuices with a VG ratio of 50-70% so that’s what I stuck with for this review. I used a 50/50 ejuice as well as a 70VG ejuice and I tested these ejuices with the PnP X 0.3Ω coil and PnP X 0.15Ω coil. I previously tested the 0.20Ω coil in my review on the DRAG X2 and DRAG S2 so if you’re curious about that coil you can check out that review.

The 0.3Ω coil is great for those restricted direct lung (RDL) vapers out there. Anywhere from 35 to 40W is a great vape and you’ll want to keep the airflow about ⅓ of the way open for the best RDL experience. You can also use this coil for straight up direct lung (DL) vaping but I found the flavor suffered a bit with the airflow wide open.

The 0.15Ω coil is easily the best coil out of the two and it’s still my favorite PnP X coil to use. It delivers performance that is similar to a really good subohm tank and that’s high praise for a pod tank. 70W is the best with this coil along with leaving the airflow just slightly closed.

Coil life is nearly as good as VOOPOO claims. They state that each coil can last for 100ml and personally, I was able to achieve 90ml of ejuice before I started to notice any sort of flavor drop off. This is an improvement from my last experience with the coils where I achieved 80ml before a performance drop. I’m not sure if this is because VOOPOO improved the coils, the ejuice I’m using, or if it’s due to variation in manufacturing, but any way that you look at it these coils are really good for the price-conscious vaper who wants to get the maximum usage time out of their coils.

Verdict

For the direct-lung or restricted direct lung vaper, you really can’t go wrong with the Argus Pro 2. It’s a more portable alternative to bulkier subohm tank and mod setups and it still delivers excellent flavor, large clouds, and impressive coil longevity.

The Argus Pro 2 isn’t all that different from the DRAG X2 in terms of features or performance but I definitely think that the design is much more attractive. If I had to choose between the two devices for DL vaping, I would go with the Argus Pro 2 all day.

I’m struggling to find any cons to bring up about the Argus Pro 2 and coming from me, that’s as good as any pro. The only one that I can really think of is that this new PnP X tank isn’t backwards compatible with older PnP coils.

If you’re a direct lung vaper looking for a new setup, definitely check out the Argus Pro 2.