Our V2 Pro Series 7 review takes a look at the Series 7 multi-purpose (3-in-1) vaporizer pen: does it live up to the hype?
Is it worth buying?
The V2 Pro Series 7 does exactly what it sets out to, all in all: offering you a device that covers all of your vaping needs in one convenient package. There are some minor issues – the top-coil design for the e-juice cartridges, the stinted airflow and the need to replace the whole cartridge rather than just the coil – but for the most part, these are easy to overlook, and don’t take anything away from the core benefits of the device.
It should be stressed that the Pro Series 7 strikes me as being better for vapers who want a good loose leaf device that can also support e-juice, rather than vice-versa: the loose leaf performance is really better than the e-juice performance, though it’s good for both. The V2 Pro Series 3 might hold some appeal for vapers looking for a smaller package and lower price, but if performance is priority for you, the Series 7 is hard to beat. In a nutshell, V2 has shown that they still have what it takes to put out stand-out vaping devices.
Back in the early days of the industry, when cigalikes were all the rage, V2 Cigs was right at the top of the pack. Known for excellent vapor production, high-quality products and great customer service, V2 was a huge name in the industry. But in recent years, things have changed, with devices moving away from the cigarette replications the company was known for and towards larger eGo-style devices and mods.
For V2, this represented a challenge. Do you stick to the type of products you made your name for, or forge forwards and keep pace with the industry? V2 went for option three: push even further ahead and breach new ground in terms of innovation.
The V2 Pro Series 7 (and the smaller V2 Pro Series 3) is unlike any e-cigarette we’ve seen so far: it’s an all-purpose vaporizer. Both of the devices can handle e-juice – which almost goes without saying – but they take it further by supporting loose leaf and wax, using a unique changeable cartridge system so there’s one for e-juice, one for loose leaf and one for wax. If you’ve been looking for one device that can do it all, the Pro Series was designed with you in mind.
The V2 Pro Series 7 will run you $169.99, though, so it’s quite an investment. We’ve tested it out for our V2 Pro Series 7 review to see if it’s worth the expense, or just a good idea lacking in execution.
What You Get
The V2 Pro Series 7 3-in-1 personal vaporizer comes with a substantial collection of gear. The cardboard box has an outer sleeve which bears the picture of the device on the front and all of the information about what’s included on the back. The interior box pulls open easily to reveal a plastic tray containing the Series 7, with the liquid cartridge attached when you receive it. Underneath the device, there is another layer, with your USB charger, a wall adapter, a loose leaf cartridge and a little bag of extras for the loose leaf cartridge, including a cleaning brush, a metallic picking and padding down tool and some spare metallic covers to protect the interior of the cartridge.
Overall, the kit gives you everything you need apart from something to vaporize, so it’s a fantastic offering.
Specifications
Design and Compatibility
The design is what really sets the Pro Series apart from everything else on the market. The core feature is the changeable cartridges, which work through a pretty ingenious magnetic mechanism. Each of the cartridges has a target-like array of metallic rings on the bottom, and they work alongside the matching contact points on the interior of the device so it automatically recognizes which cartridge you’ve inserted.
Each cartridge is labeled on a circular segment just below the mouthpiece – with a droplet symbol for e-liquid, a leaf for loose leaf and a honeycomb design for wax – and you just drop whichever one you want into place, so the circle section lines up with the matching spot on the device.
The magnetic system works just as you’d hope – you line it up, drop it in place and it’s attached. It takes a sharp pull to remove each cartridge; just enough to avoid accidental removal while still making it easy to take out when you want to.
The device itself consists of a solid, single metallic piece, with a hollow cavity in the top for the cartridge. It has a flattened front and back, producing an oval shape, with the fire button in the center on the front face and the “V2 Pro Series 7” logo above. There’s also a group of three lights below the button, which have a slight upward curve and increase in size as you move upwards. These are used when you’re adjusting the voltage or temperature of the device (depending on the mode you’re in), and provide a visual reminder of your setting as you vape.
Unlike the smaller Series 3, the V2 Pro Series 7 doesn’t have windows to show your liquid level – even though there are two cylindrical gaps on the thin edges of the device, the window on the liquid cartridges doesn’t line up with them, so you’re left “in the dark,” so to speak, unless you pop the cartridge out and have a look. This really reflects the intent of the device, which seems to primarily be for loose leaf and wax, with e-liquid just a handy “extra.”
The mouthpieces of the cartridges are trapezoid in shape and made from black plastic, and you remove them to access the main chamber.
E-Liquid Cartridge
For the liquid chamber, a quarter-turn removes the mouthpiece, and then you have to unscrew a cap – which has a raised, knurled cylinder to grab onto – to access the 2.4 ml tank.
Loose Leaf Cartridge
For the loose leaf chamber, you just remove the mouthpiece to get access. The bottom section of the mouthpiece has a metallic cover, with small holes to allow vapor to travel up through the mouthpiece but stop any leaf from finding its way up there. There is a small ceramic ring part-way up the chamber, which shows the maximum fill level.
Wax Cartridge
For the wax cartridge, there’s a stove-top style coil inside, which you access from the mouthpiece and fill up by putting your concentrate in the metallic cup section just above the coil.
Magnetic Charging Port
The charging port is the final bit of design to talk about, and it also makes use of magnets to maximize user-friendliness. The charging spot doesn’t even look out of place – the only clue is the circular, gold-plated contact point on the bottom of the device. The charger has a matching circular end, which magnetically snaps into place to charge. The bottom of the device has color-changing LED lights, which both let you know when the device is charging and light up when you vape.
The design, overall, is ingenious and intuitive, but brings with it a notable limitation: you can only use V2’s cartridges with the device, and once the coils on your juice and wax cartridges are shot, you need a whole new cartridge.
Battery Life and Features
The beginner-friendly nature of the Pro Series means that the feature-set is fairly limited, with the ability to vape loose leaf and waxes/concentrates in addition to e-juice being the core selling-point. This isn’t anything to balk at, though, it’s a great feature excellently put into practice with the custom-designed cartridges and the automatic recognition from the device. For the liquid cartridges, you just vape like you would with any device, and for the loose leaf, you hold down the fire button for a few seconds and it heats up to the optimal temperature. The LEDs around the bottom of the device go from red to amber and then green to indicate when it’s ready to vape.
Variable Voltage and Variable Temperature
The V2 Pro Series 7 vaporizer also has variable voltage and variable temperature, depending on whether you’re vaping juice or loose leaf. You can set the voltage at 3.7, 4.2 and 4.7 V when you’re using the e-liquid and wax cartridges, and the temperature at 390 °F (200 °C), 415 °F (210 °C) or 440 °F (225 °C) for loose leaf. This is a limited range of settings when it comes to e-juice in particular, but for both it’s more than adequate, and gives you some control over your experience.
The device can also be locked, so you can carry it around without the risk of accidental activation, and it also has the standard selection of safety features – such as low voltage protection and over-charging protection – so you can vape away with peace of mind.
1800 mAh Battery Life
The battery life on the Pro Series 7 is substantial. The device has a 1800 mAh internal battery, which easily lasts long enough to get you through a day of vaping, and will last most vapers through the evening too – although the lifespan depends on your chosen setting. You can vape in pass-through mode, too, so you can continue vaping while it’s on charge. If the battery is totally flat, though, you have to leave it charging for 10 minutes or so before it can provide a full loose leaf session.
Overall, the core features of the Series 7 vaporizer are excellent, with plenty of battery life, the ability to set your desired temperature or voltage, and the core selling-point that you can vape e-liquid, loose leaf and wax all with one device.
In Use
This V2 Cigs Pro Series 7 review has covered a lot of the bases when it comes to how the device works and its core benefits, but how does the Series 7 perform on a day-to-day basis?
The V2 Pro Series 7 has the same benefit as the Series 3 when it comes to day-to-day vaping: it’s really easy to use. The magnetic connection for the cartridges really makes switching between different cartridges a breeze, and everything works just as you want it to without hiccups. The fact that the device automatically detects which cartridge you have in eliminates the need for mode settings or button-pressing combinations: all you do is put your cartridge in place and either hold down the button to heat the chamber (in loose leaf mode) or hit fire as you vape away.
Changing your temperature or voltage setting is very simple too: just press the fire button twice in quick succession, and the three lights below the fire button start to cycle, from just one illuminated to all three. You simply hit the fire button again when it displays your desired setting, the lights flash to confirm and you’re ready to vape again.
Filling the cartridges is about as easy as it can be, too: all you have to do is remove the mouthpiece section – and the extra cap on the e-liquid cartridge – and fill up as you ordinarily would. For the e-juice cartridges, all you need to do is drip your juice into the tank while avoiding the central tube, and for the loose leaf cartridges, you just grind up your leaf and fill the chamber up to the ceramic ring, tapping it down lightly with the help of the included tool. I haven’t used the wax attachment, but it’s just as easy to access, so topping up will undoubtedly be a breeze.
Despite the Series 7 being the bigger device from the Pro Series, it must be said that both are roughly equally portable: it may be fatter than the Series 3, but it’s actually a little shorter and is still easy enough to carry around in a pocket or a bag. Of course, the Series 3 is great when it comes to portability, but for the increase in battery life the Series 7 represents, the fact that it’s just as portable is fantastic.
E-Liquid Vapor Production
For performance, the Pro Series 7 does excellently, with a couple of caveats. The vapor production is excellent, even on the lowest setting – you get substantial clouds of vapor without having to puff for too long. This can be improved even further by increasing the voltage setting, and the airflow on the Series 7 is much better than on the Series 3, although it will still be a little more stinted than long-term vapers are used to, owing to the enclosed design for the cartridges. For vapers who like mouth-to-lung hits or just-switching smokers, though, it’s pretty much perfect.
Top-Coil Design on E-Liquid Cartridge
The main issue with the e-liquid cartridge is the top-coil design. The days of top-coil clearomizers are pretty much behind us, and there’s a reason for it: they depend on capillary action (i.e. wicks sucking up e-liquid) to overcome the gravity pulling your juice away from the coil. As a result, they generally have poorer wicking than bottom-coil options.
The upshot is that on the Series 7, higher-VG liquids don’t perform too well. With V2’s own PG-heavy blends, the performance is fantastic, but if you buy any e-liquids with more than 50 % VG, you’re going to run into issues with dry puffs if you vape too frequently. The top-coil design also limits the usefulness of the top voltage setting in particular, but with higher-PG juices you can still get some use out of it.
Loose Leaf Vaping
For loose leaf vaping, the Series 7 is a very high-quality device. It has a substantial dry-herb capacity of 1300 mm cubed, and gets up to vaping temperature very quickly – easily within 30 seconds even on the top setting. The vapor production isn’t as big a concern here – vapor is always wispy and light when vaping loose leaf – but the taste of the contents comes through nicely and you don’t get the plastic-y edge to the flavor that comes with some vaporizers. You do get little puffs of vapor throughout your experience, but these fade into near-invisibility after a few minutes.
Loose leaf vaping works by keeping the device at the intended heat and letting you vape away for two minutes at a time. Being active for longer would have been ideal, but restarting the vaping only takes around 10 seconds, so it isn’t much of an issue in practice. After a two to three short sessions (even with a well-packed Series 7 cartridge), your leaf is a uniform brown, so it works very efficiently, overall.
So on the whole, the Pro Series 7 does excellently when it comes to day-to-day use. There are several advantages to opting for the bigger device – the more substantial battery life, the ability to adjust your settings and the bigger capacity for both loose leaf and e-juice – but if you’re looking for something smaller or more affordable, the Series 3 has the same core features and is worth considering.
Manufacturing Quality
V2 has built its reputation on quality and reliability – alongside top-notch performance – so it should come as no surprise that the manufacturing quality on the V2 Pro Series 7 is exceptional. Admittedly, the ingenuous design means that there is very little that could go wrong on the manufacturing quality front, but the magnetic connection points for both the cartridges and the charger work just as they should, and I didn’t run into any issues with the automatic recognition.