VOOPOO VMATE MAX Review: Better Than the Pro?

Design & Build Quality

The VMATE MAX sports an all-new design from previous VMATE devices but it has remained the same shape and about the same size as the VMATE PRO. It’s a bit bigger all around at 103mm tall, 29mm wide, and 18.7mm thick, but it’s still a good size. It is, however, quite a bit heavier at 79g versus the 43g weight of the VMATE PRO.

The larger size and increased weight are, as far as I can tell, due to the materials, screen/light bars, and larger battery. It’s not dramatically larger but the weight is something that I noticed right away.

The body of the VMATE MAX is still made of aluminum alloy and comes in seven different colors. They all have a nice satin finish and this looks understated but nice and professional.

The main attraction on the VMATE MAX is on the front of the device where the “Hidden Horizon” screen and “Dual 256-color RGB Light Bar” is located. The screen is all but invisible when inactive, as are the light bar’s. But once you take a draw or press the button, the small screen lights up and the RGB light bars come to life.

The screen is really tiny but it’s nice to have it. It displays your output mode/wattage, battery life, coil resistance, and a puff counter.

The RGB light bars on either side of the screen are pretty cool but don’t serve a purpose other than to look fancy. The RGB lights can be turned off if desired by pressing the button twice.

The button on the side of the VMATE MAX is responsive and firm. There’s no button-activated firing though so this button is only used to change to the different modes and adjust features on the VMATE MAX.

The airflow adjustment slider is at the back of the VMATE MAX and it’s a little bit different than the one on the VMATE PRO. It slides to the right to open the airflow and to the left to close it down.

The slider is very firm and this makes micro-adjustments a breeze for those precise airflow adjustments. You can go from a RDL draw to a tight MTL draw just by choosing the right pod and adjusting the airflow accordingly, and this makes the VMATE MAX a pretty versatile device.

The bottom of the device has a rubber pad which helps it to stand up on flat surfaces.

Pods

Although they look similar, the pods that come with the VMATE MAX are not the same as the ones that come with the VMATE PRO. They’re still compatible with each other and the VMATE MAX can still use older VMATE Cartridges (the V2 cartridges), but there have been some small changes to these pods.

The pods that come with the VMATE MAX are a 0.4Ω Top Fill Cartridge and a 0.7Ω Top Fill Cartridge. The 0.4Ω cartridge brings a new resistance to the VMATE lineup as 0.7Ω was previously the lowest resistance pod that you could get.

These cartridges are dubbed “3X” upgraded by VOOPOO because they “significantly improve the cartridges lifespan, leak resistance, and flavor production”. VOOPOO says that these cartridges can go through up to 90ml of eliquid, last for 30 days without leakage, and consistently bring rich flavor.

These cartridges can also be filled while still in the device. The fill port is located just above where the pod sits in the VMATE MAX so it’s as easy as removing the rubber stopper and inserting your ejuice bottle nozzle.

All of the above mentioned features are great but there’s one issue that I have with the pods too – they’re tinted. It’s ever so slightly but enough to make it difficult to see into the pod without a light source.

The pods pressure fit into the VMATE MAX and it’s much easier to attach and remove them than it was with the VMATE PRO. There’s a bit of a magnetic connection too but the magnets aren’t very strong. It’s the pressure-fit that keeps the pods attached so just make sure to insert the pod all the way.

When the pod is seated in the device you can still see the entire pod (provided you hold up a light source). This is nice because you don’t have to remove the pod to check on your ejuice level. Lighter tinted or tint-free pods would have made this even better!

Features

The VMATE MAX takes the features of the VMATE PRO up another notch with a larger and nicer display, adjustable wattage up to 30W, and adjustable airflow.

Now, I say a larger display but this might be a bit misleading. The screen on the VMATE MAX is actually pretty small at only 0.6”, but the display, which consists of the RGB lighting bars on either side of the screen, is pretty huge.

The screen UI is crammed but displays a lot of useful info. The main piece of information on the screen is the wattage output. The VMATE MAX has two output modes: shift mode and power mode.

Shift mode is like a beginner-friendly wattage mode that doesn’t allow you to select an exact wattage. It makes it simple to adjust the power output for the experience that you want by selecting one of three outputs. This is similar to the shift mode on the Voopoo Argus P2:

• SPT: High wattage output for maximum flavor and warmth.
• NOR (Normal): Normal mode sets the wattage to the optimal output for the pod that you are using for a balance of good flavor, warm vapor, and long coil life.
• ECO: Reduced power and e-liquid consumption for maximum usage times out of both your ejuice and battery.

You can change the shift output mode by pressing the button three times to cycle between the three modes.

The other output mode, Power mode, is true adjustable wattage. To switch between shift and power modes, you can press the power button five times to enter the menu. Here, select the second option, “power mode”.

In power mode you can adjust the wattage in 1W increments from 5-30W, offering a more exact wattage adjustment than shift mode. Changing the wattage is done in the same way as you change between the different shift modes; press the power button three times and the wattage will start blinking. From here, press or hold the power button to cycle through the wattage range.

The 0.7Ω pod defaults to 18W but can be set at up to 25W. The 0.4Ω pod defaults to 25W but can be set at up to 30W. From what I can tell, these default wattages are also what the VMATE MAX outputs when in ‘normal’ shift mode.

The VMATE MAX also has two, 256-color RGB light bars with one on either side of the screen. These light up each time that you draw or press the button. They light up in a chroma color scheme and unfortunately, it doesn’t appear like you can customize the lighting at this time.

The RGB light bars are pretty neat and I didn’t mind having them on. However, if you don’t like the light scheme then you can easily turn them off by pressing the button twice.

Battery & Charging

The VMATE MAX may be a bit larger and heavier than the VMATE PRO but it also has a substantially larger 1200mAh battery capacity. This is a 300mAh increase over the battery in the VMATE PRO. The VMATE MAX also has improved charging speeds, boasting a 2A charging speed with Type-C charging.

Where the VMATE PRO takes about an hour to recharge, the VMATE MAX recharges in half the time. It takes only 35 minutes for a full charge thanks to the 2A charging and this greatly reduces any downtime with the VMATE MAX. It also has pass-thru charging so you can use it while it recharges.

Performance

The pods for the VMATE MAX are made with the same technology that VOOPOO used in their Argus P2 and G2 devices, those being the “3X” upgrades in pod life, leak-resistance, and flavor. Even so, it surprised me to find that the VMATE MAX performs more similarly to the Argus P2 and G2 than to the VMATE PRO. If you’re wondering, that’s a good thing. The VMATE PRO was good but these new pods are even better.

I tested the 0.4Ω pod with 10mg/ml nicotine salt ejuices and also with a 6mg/ml freebase ejuice. A restricted direct lung draw is what I get with the airflow open and a tight MTL draw with the airflow closed. This pod works best at 25-30W and so I recommend leaving the airflow midway to fully open to get the best out of it.

For the 0.7Ω pod I used 20mg/ml nicotine salt ejuices and they worked like they were made for this pod (probably because they are). This pod provides a loose MTL draw with the airflow open (although it can do a passable RDL with loose lips around the pod) and a tight MTL draw with the airflow closed. 

I used a 70VG ejuice (6mg/ml) and 50/50 ejuices (nicotine salts) for my testing on these pods and they all worked great with no leaking, spit back, popping, or burnt/dry hits. This brings me to VOOPOO’s claims of leak resistance, pod life/consistency, and flavor.

I’ve been using these pods for a little less than a month now and I haven’t had any problems with leaking, wicking, or flavor. I’ve refilled each of them over 10 times and, although that’s quite a bit shy of the 90ml that they’re claimed to last, they’re still doing very well.

Verdict

The VMATE MAX is another really great device from VOOPOO. The new “3X” upgraded pods deliver noticeably better flavor over the previous “V2” pods and also show a noticeable difference in longevity. The leak resistance of the previous pods wasn’t something that I had an issue with but these new Top Fill pods are just as, if not more, leak resistant and that can only be a good thing.

So who is the VMATE MAX for? Vapers who aren’t stuck on just MTL or just RDL will like the ability to switch between the two modes at will, as will vapers who like to use both freebase nicotine and nicotine salt ejuices. The VMATE MAX is a nice versatile pod vape that offers the best of the RDL and MTL worlds in a single device, without too much compromise. 

The only thing that is worse about the VMATE MAX when compared to the VMATE PRO is the larger size and increased weight, but it’s not for nothing and you get a larger battery as the trade off. If you’re willing to trade a bit of portability for longer battery life then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t pick up the VMATE MAX over the VMATE PRO.

SAVE 12%
CODE: VERSED