Pro Series 3 – a Review of V2Cigs’ New Triple Threat

V2 Cigs, is expanding its offerings with a new lineup of advanced vaping devices called the Pro series.  Like many traditional e-cigarette companies, V2 sees the importance of offering more than just traditional e-cigarettes (they have had some smaller refillable setups for a while like the EX).  However, the first entry in the series, the V2 Pro Series 3 is a multi-function device.  It can be configured for use with not only e-liquid, but also dry leaf and oil products.  Check out the rest of the review to find out more.

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Disclosure: this product was furnished by V2 cigs for review. This article features affiliate links.

V2 Pro Series 3 Review

When traditional e-cigarette companies roll out new “open system” products, they are typically eGo-style midrange devices. While the first entry in V2 Cigs’ new Pro lineup is still a midrange device, this isn’t some basic stuff with a logo slapped on.  V2’s setup is a completely new take on the midrange device with a big helping of tech thrown in for good measure.

v2 cigs pro series 3 closeupIndeed, V2 is not only trying to keep up in the advanced e-cigarette category, but they’re also trying to break into other vaporized products as well. The Pro 3 has the ability to vaporize regular e-liquid, loose leaf (or herbal) products as well as “essential” oils.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:  The Pro Series 3 vaporizer can accept different types of cartridges.  There’s one each for e-liquid, loose leaf and oil.  Each type of cartridge is keyed to tell the device what is attached so it can adjust its power output accordingly.

v2cigs pro series 3 review coded cartridges

I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I want to step back and talk about the unit as a whole.  I was provided both e-liquid and loose leaf cartridges, but for most of this review I’ll be sticking with e-liquid.

The V2 Pro Series 3 vaporizer is a unibody setup.  Instead of having a battery to which tanks can be attached, there’s an open section at the top of V2’s Pro vaporizer.  The modular cartridges I mentioned earlier are then slid into the sleeve.

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v2 cigs pro series 3 review slide in cartridgeYou may have noticed I said slid.  That’s because there is not tradtional battery connector here.  The whole setup is magnetic.  A little notch in the top of the vaporizer fits a bump on the cartridge to line everything up.  A series of bumps on the bottom of the cartridge is read by magnetic sensors inside the vaporizer to adjust the voltage accordingly.

There is no manual voltage adjustment here.  You’re sort of stuck with the preset voltage.

The outside of the cartridge sleeve has slots cut in either side to view e-liquid levels.  Beneath one of the windows is the V2 logo and then the fire button.

Surrounding the button is an LED right that lights up when the button is pressed, as well as serving as a charging level indicator.  The ring and button are curved to match the contour of the vaporizer itself.  A slight raise to the LED light ring around the button makes it easy to find the button without looking at the device.

There are no other buttons or power adapter cutouts along the body of the device.  At the very end on the edge is another LED light ring that works in tandem with the ring on the button.

Charging happens at the very end of the V2 Pro Series 3 body.  There is a magnetic disc located in this spot, to which the magnetic USB charger included with the kit attaches.

Moving back to the cartridges, they are perhaps not quite as high tech as the rest of the vaporizer.  Well the e-liquid ones anyway.  The leaf cartridges use inductive heating, so that seems pretty high tech.  They are also solid metal, so it’s hard to see what’s going on in there.  I didn’t get oil cartridges, so I’m not sure how they are designed.

The e-liquid cartridges seem to be fairly standard top coil clearomizer material.  There’s no replacable heads going on here. In fact, there’s not really even way to tear one apart to rebuild it.

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The tank is clear plastic, and the whole setup is fairly small housing around 2ml of e-liquid or so. The top features a unibody mouthpiece thingy which unscrews for filling access.

Using the V2 Pro Series 3

Filling the e-liquid tank after removing the screw top isn’t terribly tricky.  However there’s not a whole lot of open space there.  Using an e-liquid bottle with a finer tip might be in order.

v2 cigs pro series 3 review cartridge detailThe bigger problem I found with the tip isn’t so much filling, but actually vaping with it.  It’s sort of hard to describe, but the height to width ratio of the tip is fairly low, which results in a taper that flairs out quickly.  This, in turn, makes the thing feel a little too big in the mouth.  Maybe I’m just a creature of habit, but I much prefer the mouth feel of a regular drip tip to this setup.

Interestingly, the loose leaf cartridge has the same style tip, but in soft rubber, which feels a little more comfortable in the mouth.  Now seems like a good enough time to talk a bit about the leaf experience.

Using the V2 pro in this manner is a little bit different than using a typical e-cigarette.  Essentially, you put the solid steel cartridge in place after filling it with shredded or ground leaf.  I used RYO tobacco for this experiment.

Now, instead of hitting the button and puffing, you hold the button for a couple seconds.  The bottom ring will start to glow red.  This indicates that it’s heating the contents of the cartridge.  The light will then turn yellow briefly before finally turning to green.

Once the light is green, it’s ready to go.  Just puff away without pressing the button.  To turn the heater off, hold the button for 2 seconds again.  If you’re not into burning your hands, leave the cartridge in place for a few minutes to cool.

I have to admit, I’m not used to the experience of vaporizing dried tobacco.  There’s not really a lot of vapor like you see in a regular e-cigarette. Instead, you get this sort of very warm air that’s infused with tobacco-ness (or some other kind of ness depending on what you put in there). It seems that you get more than just the tobacco (but still no combustion byproducts) so it’s a completely different experience from vaping e-liquid.

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It was an interesting experience, but I think I’ll stick with the e-liquid stuff.  Call me fearful of change if you will.

v2 cigs pro series 3 review loose leaf cartridge

The e-liquid experience, by contrast, is pretty much exactly what you’d expect.  There’s an excellent level of vapor and flavor reproduction is respectable. The experience is still very in line with other midrange devices.

Perhaps because I can’t go all crazy cranking up the wattage, I have not been able to get a burnt hit out of the device.  It’s sort of a very controlled experience.  Of course that is the downside to this setup.  Other than the innovative concept of using different substances with the device, you’re stuck for hardware for e-liquid.

Say what you will, but V2 certainly didn’t phone in their transition to midrange devices.  Even more interesting is there’s a whole lineup of bigger devices in the Pro Series lineup waiting in the wings.

Check out V2’s site to see what’s coming next and to buy one of these setups.

v2 cigs pro series 3 review tldr

Too Long; Didn’t Read

V2 Cigs decided to not only enter the midrange e-cigarette market, but also the herbal and oil vaporizer markets too. The V2 Pro Series 3 is a high tech setup that can vaporize a variety of things based on which cartridge is used.  As an e-liquid vaporizer it’s a competent and easy to use midrange device even if it is completely proprietary.

Pros

  • Usable for multiple types of vaporizing
  • Sleek unibody design
  • High tech features
  • Good performance
  • Easy to use
  • Warranty support

Cons

  • Proprietary setup
  • Non-replaceable heads
  • No manual wattage controls
  • Unusual mouth feel from mouthpiece

Steve K

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