Our V2 Pro Series 3 review takes a look at the pen-sized 3-in-1 vaporizer: is this a groundbreaking vape pen, or does it fall short of its potential?
Is it worth picking up?
The Pro Series 3 is a solid e-cig for the beginner vaper, but it really comes into its own for anybody who needs the three-in-one functionality of the device. Although I didn’t have wax to use with the device, the loose leaf cartridge works excellently and the e-liquid cartridge is a solid performer despite the limitations of the top-coil design.
For $59.99, the device is a great deal, although you’ll get the most out of it – and the most for your money – if you’re interested in loose leaf or wax vaping alongside e-juice. The biggest downside is really the fact that you have to buy new cartridges whenever your coil runs out, but this may be a positive thing for just-switching smokers and vapers looking for something as simple as possible.
Overall, it’s a great device and definitely one to consider for new vapers or anyone who can take advantage of the 3-in-1 functionality.
Full review
For many vapers, choosing the right device is all about balancing performance against ease of use. While cigalikes do better than anything else on the market when it comes to ease of use, they fall way short in terms of performance. On the other side, mod-like devices knock it out of the park when it comes to performance, but often seem way too complicated for a new vaper to get to grips with. For a new vaper wanting solid performance in an easy-to-use format, mid-sized, eGo-style device strike the perfect balance.
V2 Cigs has a solid reputation, with the company being at the forefront of the vaping industry since the days when cigalikes were the only options on the market, and ever since we first reviewed their range of cigarette-sized devices, they’ve been improving and building on their product line-up. The Pro Series is the culmination of these improvements, offering higher-end devices that support loose leaf vaping and wax as well as standard e-liquids.
The V2 Pro Series 3 ($59.99) is the more compact, beginner-friendly and discreet offering, being the size of an eGo-style e-cig but boasting the core benefits of the Pro Series, including the unique new magnetic connection systems for the cartridges and the charger. If you’re looking for a device that can do it all while still retaining the form-factor of a mid-sized device, the V2 Pro Series 3 vaporizer is for you.
We’ve taken a look at what the device has to offer in our V2 Pro Series 3 review: is it a stand-out device, or just a solid concept that falls flat when it comes to execution?
What You Get
The V2 Pro Series 3 comes in a slim, black box bearing an image of the vaporizer and some key information about what’s inside, with the package containing everything you need to start vaping aside from some e-juice. Inside, a plastic tray contains your device, a USB charging cable and a pamphlet with some instructions for use. The Series 3 is primarily designed for e-juice, so it comes with a liquid cartridge (which is installed when you receive it), and you can purchase wax or loose leaf cartridges additionally as needed.
Specifications
Design and Compatibility
The design of the V2 Pro Series 3 breaks new ground in terms of what you thought was possible with a vape pen. Underpinning the core e-liquid, loose leaf and wax functionality is the unique changeable cartridge system, which uses a magnetic connection mechanism to make switching between different types of vaping seamless and simple. Like the wax and loose leaf cartridges, the e-liquid cartridge included as standard with the Series 3 has a target-like array of metallic bands on the connection point, which snaps into place with the help of a magnet on the device’s contact point. The target-like bands on each cartridge allow the device to automatically recognize which type of cartridge you’ve inserted and behave accordingly.
The cartridges are labeled so you know what you’re inserting at a glance, with either a droplet, leaf or honeycomb symbol shown on a circular section at one side of the mouthpiece, indicating e-juice, loose leaf or wax, respectively. The circular section also serves as a guide to lining up the connection on the Pro Series 3: you ensure the circle lines up with the semi-circular gap cut out of the body of the device and simply drop it in place. This is a pretty satisfying mechanism, and your cartridges can be removed with a sharp pull on the mouthpiece – you need to pull fairly firmly, so you won’t disconnect your atomizer accidentally.
The devices itself consists of a solid, single metallic piece, with a hollow cavity in the top for the cartridge. The Series 3 has a classic, eGo-style appearance, with the only difference being the one-piece nature of the main tube. It has a single button just above the center, with “V2 Pro Series 3” written above it, and one of two cylindrical windows directly above that, allowing you to see your liquid level at a glance. Aesthetically, it doesn’t do anything outlandish, but it gets the job done and looks sleek, unassuming and impressive. You can pick it up in steel, black and blue.
3 Cartridge Options
The three types of cartridges have fairly straightforward designs.
E-Liquid Cartridge
The liquid cartridge on the Series 3 has a plastic mouthpiece, which unscrews along with the metallic portion it connects to reveal the tank section and the atomizer head. The tank has a juice capacity of 1.6 ml, and it has a top-coil design – to fill up, you just ensure your juice flows down the open ring-shaped section surrounding the central tube, being careful not to get any juice inside.
Dry-Herb Cartridge
The loose leaf cartridge for the V2 Pro Series 3 has a rubber mouthpiece, which you remove to get access to the 385 mm cubed chamber. On the underside of the mouthpiece, there’s a metallic disc with some holes cut out of it to ensure that no stray bits of leaf make their way up to the mouthpiece while still allowing the free-flow of vapor. The chamber itself is bare aside from a ceramic ring half-way up which shows the maximum fill level.
Wax Cartridge
The wax cartridge is a little different: it opens up from the bottom – a lot like a bottom-coil clearomizer – and inside there’s a raised section with a cup-shaped top, which reveals a stove-top-style coil used to vaporize the wax.
Compatibility
The only downside to this is that the V2 Cigs Pro Series 3 suffers when it comes to compatibility – the unique changeable system also means that you can only use cartridges from V2. In addition, the atomizer heads themselves aren’t replaceable, so you’ll need to pick up a new cartridge whenever yours runs out. You get the simplicity of cigalike operation without having to worry about changing out atomizer heads or taking anything apart, but it will cost you a little more.
Magnetic Charger
Finally, the Pro Series 3 also uses a magnetic connection point for the charger. The spot for this is on the bottom of the device, but it fits in with the overall design so well that you’d have barely noticed it: there’s a circular, indented section in the center with a gold-plated connection point in the middle. To charge, you simply connect the business end of the charging cable to this point – it snaps into place so easily you barely have to do anything – and attach to a USB port.
Overall, the Pro Series 3 has a fantastic design, taking everything vapers love about eGo-style devices in terms of design and simplifies their operation even further, while still maintaining a minimalistic appearance.
Battery Life and Features
The core feature of the Pro Series 3 is its changeable cartridge system and the ability to vaporize loose leaf and waxes in addition to e-juice. This really can’t be overstated: if you’re looking for a single device that can handle vaping leaf or wax in addition to e-liquid, the Pro Series is one of the only options around. This is only improved by the innovative and simple system for changing cartridges, which makes it about as easy as it can be.
Although, unlike the V2 Pro Series 7, the Series 3 doesn’t give you the option of setting your voltage for e-liquid and wax or your temperature for loose leaf – it just selects the best option for whichever cartridge you’ve inserted.
Other than that, since it’s an entry-level device, there isn’t too much else in the way of features. You can lock the device for when you’re carrying it around, and you can also vape in pass-through mode while you’re charging. These are both handy features, though, and if you’ve only got one device the pass-through option is absolutely indispensable. Plus, it has all of the safety features you’d expect, such as overcharging protection and low voltage protection.
The battery life on the Pro Series 3 is limited by the size, and the 650 mAh battery falls a little short of what’s offered by many eGo-style devices on the market today. This will keep you vaping through most of your day at work, but depending on how heavy a user you are may run out before you make it home, so it’s a good idea to take a charger with you.
Overall, the Series 3 might be a little lighter than the Series 7 in terms of features, but it still has plenty to offer vapers wanting something cheaper and more portable with the same core functionality.
V2 Pro Series 3 In Use
Throughout this V2 Pro Series 3 vaporizer review, we’ve been drawing attention to the simplicity in design and functionality, and this translates into the biggest benefit of the device when it comes to day-to-day use. It really couldn’t be any easier on a day-to-day basis thanks to the magnetic connections: you just drop in your desired cartridge, the device detects it and automatically chooses your setting, and then you vape away. The only thing you have to remember is to hold down the fire button to activate the device and then wait for it to heat up instead of the standard “hold-while-you-vape” functionality for e-liquid and wax.
Filling up with e-juice is about as easy as it is with other eGo-style devices, you simply pull the cartridge out, unscrew the mouthpiece section at the top and fill up like you normally would (just avoid the central tube and you’re good to go). For the loose leaf cartridge (although this isn’t included with the standard kit), you just fill the chamber up to the point of the ceramic ring. For wax, the system is also straightforward: you just fill the cup on the coil side with your concentrate and you’re good to go.
In terms of portability, the Series 3 is a solid option: it’s about the same size as a standard eGo-style e-cig, so it’s got a lot of potential if you’re looking for something to take out of the house with you. It must be said that although the Series 7 is technically larger, in terms of portability there is little difference between the two devices. So if you’re only interested in the Series 3 because it’s smaller, even though you’re right, it may be worth reconsidering the Series 7.
The Series 3 is primarily intended for e-juice, and does a commendable job, overall. The vapor production is definitely in line with what we’ve come to expect from V2: you get satisfying plumes of vapor with each puff, and for just-switching smokers or non-cloud-chasing vapers it does more than enough. The airflow is a little restricted, owing to the enclosed cartridge design, and this makes your draw a little tight and detracts from vapor production. It isn’t too bad, but it does feel a bit like sucking milkshake through a straw.
For loose leaf, although the chamber is quite small so you can’t get much in there for a session, the performance is great, overall. After you hold the button for a few seconds to start vaping, the LEDs around the bottom of the device light up red, changing to amber when it’s almost ready and then green when you’re ready to vape. The flavor of the leaf comes through nicely, quite robust and clean without taking on a plastic-y quality like you get with some vaporizers. The temperature isn’t stated in the manual, but it does a good job, even for someone like me who usually strays towards the higher settings on loose leaf devices.
The biggest downside to the Pro Series 3 is the top-coil nature of the clearomizer. While this works really well with higher-PG juices, with higher-VG blends the performance starts to suffer. This is really to be expected for any type of clearomizer, it would have undoubtedly done a bit better if it had a bottom-coil design. This would have also have helped in general with flavor and wicking, but for the most part you do get solid performance with the device.
Aside from that and the slightly restricted airflow – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re a just-switching smoker – the Pro Series 3 works fantastically in use. The focus of the device may be e-liquid, but, even though you have to make a separate purchase to get the cartridge, it’s an attractive prospect for anybody looking for a loose leaf device that doesn’t look too out of place in this age of e-cigs.
Manufacturing Quality
V2 has an excellent reputation when it comes to putting out high-quality products, and the Pro Series 3 is no exception. The build quality is outstanding, and although the design minimizes the amount that can realistically go wrong, everything works exactly as it should. No complaints at all here.