VOOPOO DRAG 5 Kit Review: Better than the Drag 4?

Design & Build Quality

The DRAG 5’s design has not been drastically changed in any way from the DRAG 4. The battery door (which I’ll get into) is the single largest change, but even that isn’t immediately apparent until you start using it. In all other aspects of the design, the DRAG 5 is very, very similar to the DRAG 4.

Is this a bad thing? Maybe if you’re expecting a complete redesign, but not for me. I was very impressed with the clean design of the DRAG 4 and I find the DRAG 5 equally attractive. The small and subtle changes made to the DRAG 5, while perhaps hard to notice if you aren’t looking closely, make it a more refined device and I think that it looks even nicer than the previous DRAG mod.

The overall shape of the DRAG 5 is the same as the DRAG 4. It’s a bit bigger though in all dimensions at 89.30mm tall, 55mm wide, and 27.4mm deep. For comparison, the DRAG 4 is 87mm tall, 52.4mm wide, and 25.4mm deep. Still a good size for a dual 18650 battery mod and I don’t find it bulky at all for what it is.

The most major change is the battery door. Where the DRAG 4 had a rigid C-frame panel that pulled away from the device, the DRAG 5 has a flexible C-frame that can be slid open. This new panel can stay attached to the device or it can be completely removed. It’s also much larger than the previous battery panel on the DRAG 4 and now takes up 90% of the sides of the DRAG 5.

This panel is made of leather and comes in seven drastically different designs. I received one of the most tame panels for my testing, the Gradient Blue, but just take a look at the Sunset Orange or Green DRAG 5’s if you want to see a device that really stands out.

The leather panel feels great and thanks to what feels to be plastic panels within the leather, it’s sturdy and rigid but still flexible.

What I think is neat about this panel is that you can interchange the panels from other colors between devices for a truly unique look. VOOPOO could even sell the panels separately in the future; that would be really awesome.

The inside of the battery compartment is neat and compact. There’s a ribbon to make removal of batteries easier, which I like to see. 18650 batteries fit inside snugly but effortlessly and there’s no battery rattle whatsoever, even when shaking the device hard.

The front of the DRAG 5 is a bit different from the DRAG 4 but not by much. Instead of a clearly partitioned display, the front of the DRAG 5 is entirely covered by a single glass panel with the display hidden underneath. It’s a cleaner look than the DRAG 4. The display is bright and full color with the same UI as the DRAG 4.

The buttons and customizable locking switch are all the same size, style and in the same position as on the DRAG 4. However, the buttons and switch on the DRAG 5 are matte black with a slight chrome ring as opposed to the all chrome buttons and switch on the DRAG 4. It’s another small but nice change that subtly improves the look of the DRAG 5.

The round 510 plate on the top of the DRAG 5 is positioned towards the back of the device. You can fit atomizers up to a 24mm base diameter on the DRAG 5 without any overhang, and the 24mm UFORCE-X tank that comes with the kit sits perfectly atop the device.

Features & Functions

The DRAG 5 maintains the same output power as previous DRAG devices, with a range of 5-177W. This should be more than enough wattage for even low-resistance builds, and it’s certainly enough power for the UFORCE-X Tank and VOOPOO’s range of PnP X coils.

A feature that has carried over from the DRAG 4, and which I really like, is the physical and customizable locking switch. It can be set in one of three ways:

• Lock the entire device
• Lock the adjustment buttons only
• Turn the device on or off

The customizable switch really comes in really handy for different situations. When I’m putting the device in my pocket, I prefer to have it set to lock the entire device. When I’m using the device, it’s nice to lock only the adjustment buttons so that I don’t accidentally change the wattage. It’s easy enough to change the function of the switch too, which is done by holding both adjustment buttons to enter the menu, selecting ‘Switch’, and selecting the function that you want.

When it comes to modes, the DRAG 5 offers only what is absolutely necessary, with no extra fancy modes. The four modes that it offers are:

• SMART mode: This mode is mainly meant for use with VOOPOO’s tanks like the UFORCE-L and UFORCE-X, but it can still be used with any tank. This mode limits the wattage for the coil that you are using in order to keep it within a safe range. This prevents any burning or premature wearing of the coil, with the goal of keeping the coil usable for longer. New vapers will get the most out of this mode, although it’s still a nice mode to use even for a veteran vaper like myself. Just keep in mind that SMART mode sets the wattage range based on the resistance of your coil, so it may not always be accurate for non-PnP and non-PnP-X coils.
• RBA mode: RBA mode is like the wattage mode that you would find on older vape mods. This mode will let you set the wattage to whatever you like, with no restrictions. This is the mode to use if you’re using a rebuildable tank because it will let you set the wattage as high as you like. 
• Eco mode: This mode is made to save battery life. Apparently it can prolong usage times by up to 10% but I didn’t find myself using it very much. It’s an option though that you can use if you’re low on battery and don’t have access to a charger.
• TC mode: The DRAG 5 has four temperature control modes; Ni200, Ti, SS316, and SS430. There’s no TCR mode, but for the DRAG 4 which had the same TC setup, VOOPOO did months of research to determine the most commonly used materials and the results came out to be the four listed above.

The mode can be changed by holding both adjustment buttons to enter the menu, and then selecting mode. This menu also allows you to change the function of the switch, the color of the theme, check your battery health, clear the puff counter, or turn the flame animation on or off.

The DRAG 5 has another neat feature but I’m not sure how useful it really is. You can measure your battery health through the “Battery Evaluation” option in the menu. This apparently checks your batteries and can determine if they’re healthy or not. I’m not sure how it works but the few sets of batteries that I’ve tested show as green checkmarks, so I suppose that they’re healthy.

If you’re stuck without a dedicated battery charger, the DRAG 5 impressively supports 3A charging. Great for if you’re away from home but I still wouldn’t strictly charge my batteries with the DRAG 5. 

Drag 5 Button Combinations

• Power On/Off: Press the power button five times.
• Enter the settings menu: Press and hold both adjustment buttons. Then, use the adjustment buttons and power button to navigate the menu.
• Change modes: Press and hold both adjustment buttons. Navigate to “Mode” using the adjustment buttons. Choose your mode and then press the power button to select it.
• Change wattage in TC mode: While in TC mode, press and hold the power button and up adjustment button together.

UFORCE-X Tank

Like the DRAG 5, the new UFORCE-X Tank has also received some minor design upgrades. It’s still a top airflow tank, which greatly reduces any chances of leaking, but there are now only two airflow slots instead of three. These airflow slots are also wide open compared to the grill-style airflow slots on the UFORCE-L.

The most major change from the UFORCE-L is that the UFORCE-X is compatible with only VOOPOO’s new PnP X coils. PnP coils will not work with the UFORCE-X.

Included with the DRAG 5 kit are a 0.15Ω PnP X coil and a 0.3Ω PnP X coil. These are the same coils that come with the DRAG X2, DRAG S2, and Argus Pro 2 kit. In all, there are six PnP X coils available:

• 0.15Ω (60-80W)
• 0.20Ω (40-60W)
• 0.30Ω (32-40W)
• 0.45Ω (25-32W)
• 0.60Ω (18-23W)

These coils are rated by VOOPOO as being able to provide long-lasting coil life of up to 100ml of ejuice per coil, which is pretty crazy. However, we’ve tested these claims in the reviews listed above and the coils held up pretty close to what they’re rated for. They’re good coils, so seeing them included with a true subohm tank instead of a pod cartridge is welcomed by me.

The UFORCE-X has a 5.5ml tank capacity and includes another spare bubble glass in the box, just in case of any mishaps. There’s an arrow on the top cap, indicating where to push it back to reveal the fill port. It’s a single silicone lined port with a slit cut into it, which makes it difficult for ejuice to come back out.

The base of the tank unscrews and this has to be done to change coils. The base of the tank is also decently deep, allowing ejuice a place to collect if it leaks out of the coil. So far I haven’t found any ejuice in there but it’s a nice fail-safe to prevent leaking. The PnP-X coils push-fit into the tank and they sit nice and snug.

Performance

I’ll be going over the performance of the DRAG 5 and UFORCE-X tank using the two coils that come included with the kit, the 0.15Ω coil and 0.30Ω coil.

Both coils are quite low resistance and require medium to high wattages to get the best performance. Because of this, they aren’t well suited for nicotine salt ejuices and should be used with freebase nicotine ejuices only. However, I tested the 0.30Ω coil with a 10mg/ml nicotine salt ejuice by DELICIU and it vaped just fine with the airflow restricted. I wouldn’t try going any higher in strength than this though.

Restricted direct lung vaping and direct lung vaping are possible with both coils, it’s just a matter of what wattage you like to vape at. The 0.30Ω coil delivers a slightly tighter draw though and because it requires half the wattage of the 0.15Ω coil, it also extends the battery life of the DRAG 5. 

While both coils deliver good flavor and are a clear upgrade from the old PnP coils, I like the 0.15Ω coil better. With a 6mg/ml freebase ejuice and the wattage set to 75W, the DRAG 5 is like a mini cloud machine. Restricting the airflow a bit concentrates the flavor a bit more, but it’s a fine vape with the airflow wide open too.

The coil life is something that I’ve really noticed and have been liking. I’ve gone through nearly two 60ml bottles of ejuice between these two coils and I haven’t had any sign of the performance deteriorating. VOOPOO says these coils are good for up to 100ml of ejuice and I have no doubt that these coils can get there.

Verdict

The new DRAG 5 mod isn’t a monumental change over the previous DRAG 4, but it brings small design changes like the removable and flexible battery door and less chrome accents. These changes can be seen as either a positive or a negative depending on what you prefer.

My opinion is that the DRAG 5 is a more polished version of the DRAG 4 and I like the small, subtle design changes that VOOPOO has implemented. But regardless of if you think the DRAG 5 looks better than the DRAG 4, it’s hard to deny that it’s a nice mod overall and a nice size and weight for a dual battery device.

Unfortunately, the DRAG 5 still does not bring TCR adjustment to the table but the four TC modes that it offers should cover most TC vapers. If you like TC vaping with any material other than nickel, titanium, stainless steel 316 or stainless steel 430 (such as other grades of stainless steel or NiFe) you’ll have to look at another mod.

The DRAG 5 and UFORCE-X tank are great new additions to VOOPOO’s lineup of products. Highly recommended.