The Vertx and Vertx Plus see V2 re-imagining the cigalike, and it packs better flavor, more vapor and better battery life than any beginner device you’ll have used before. But is it worth the money? Our V2 Vertx Plus review vapes the device to find out.
Worth buying?
The Vertx Plus manages to push the performance to the next level without producing something too complicated for an absolute beginner to use. It isn’t perfect, but for somebody trying to switch to vaping but put off by the prospect of dealing with e-juice and changing coil heads, the Vertx could easily be the device that makes the difference.
It’s a vape pen with the simplicity of a cigalike, and it fills both roles excellently. They’re a little pricy (at $89.95 for the Plus and $49.95 for the regular), but if you’re the sort of person who uses cigalikes for the simplicity but isn’t satisfied by them, it could make all the difference. It won’t make you toss out your mod, but it could be the thing you need to help you toss out your cigarettes.
Full review
If you’re just switching from smoking to vaping, finding the right device can be really tough. You almost certainly want something simple, but the most basic e-cigarettes fall down flat when it comes to battery life, vapor production and the features on offer. But if you want better performance, simplicity has to go out the window along with the cigarette-like size.
So how do you find the right e-cig for your needs? Do any devices strike the right balance between performance and simplicity? The new Vertx devices from V2 aim to do just that.
The V2 Vertx (and the V2 Vertx Plus) is a cigalike reinvented. Incorporating variable voltage and using a magnetic cartridge system like that on the V2 Pro Series 7 vaporizer crossed with a cigalike cartridge, the Vertx aims for the closed-system simplicity with some extra features pulled from more advanced devices.
The Vertx (or the Vertx Plus version) could be the ideal device for new vapers, but does it live up to its potential? We’ve tested the device for our V2 Vertx Plus review to find out.
What You Get
The Vertx Plus vaporizer kit from V2 costs $89.95 and comes with:
- Vertx Plus battery
- A three-pack of cartridges
- Magnetic charging cable
- Instruction manual
V2 Vertx Plus Review: The Design
Appearance
The Vertx Plus looks a like a cross between a cigalike and a vape pen, with a slim, long body and an opening in the top for the cartridge to slide into place. The device is circular for the most part, but has a flat face to prevent it from rolling away. This is a handy feature in its own right, but it also works well from a design perspective, providing a spot for the Vertx logo, as well as the screen and fire button section, which sit flush to the surface.
There’s also a V2 logo on the curved edge, which doesn’t take up too much space and breaks up the uniform black look of the device. It’s also available in red, gold, rose and white if you prefer.
Structure: How the Vertx Plus Works
The cartridge system on the Vertx Plus e-cig works a lot like that on the V2 Pro Series, with the top of the device just being an outer sleeve, which the cartridges slide into. The only difference between this system and the Pro Series cartridges is that these come pre-filled. They’re disposable in the same way as cigalike cartridges, so when you’re done with one, you just throw it away.
There is a window in the top of the body of the device, too, so you can see how much e-juice is left at a glance. This also adds to the overall look of the Vertx, again adding a vape pen element to the appearance.
V2 Vertx Plus Cartridges
The cartridges for the Vertx Plus vape pen are pretty simple to use, but the design is excellent. The liquid is held in the main chamber, with the atomizer at the bottom and a chimney running up the inside of the flattened front edge. This means spit-back is a complete non-issue with the Vertx, and drastically reduces the chance of the leaking from the tip. The flattened edge also has the Vertx logo, the name of the flavor and the nicotine level printed on it too. You can also get blank cartridges for the Vertx to fill with any e-juice you like.
Battery Level Indicators
At either side of the flattened face at the base of the V2 Vertx Plus, there are two groups of five lights. These light up as you inhale, and also show your battery level. When your battery is fully charged, all five lights illuminate white, but as your battery drains, fewer lights illuminate and the color changes to red.
This makes it easy to see your charge level at a glance, and makes it possible to plan when you’ll need to bring your USB charger along wherever you’re going. When your battery runs out of life, the bottom red LEDs flash to indicate it’s time to charge.
Touchscreen Display
Under the square fire button, the Vertx Plus vaporizer has an elongated rectangular display screen. This is actually a touchscreen, which you can use to adjust the power setting of your device or the brightness of the screen. The screen is really simple, so the touchscreen functionality isn’t too demanding in terms of battery life. In fact, the main thing you’ll use the screen for is to periodically make adjustments to your power setting. When you select the option, you can scroll your finger up or down the screen to increase or decrease the power, shown by three blocks of increasing size that form a big triangle.
Magnetic Charging System
Like the Pro Series, the Vertx Plus features a magnetic charging system, eliminating the need for screw connections entirely. The charger has an end that matches the base of the Vertx, and it simply snaps into place and starts charging. The connection can be broken relatively easily, by nature of the design, but it’s also really easy to connect. Overall, it’s not without flaws, but it’s about as easy as you can get to charge up your e-cig. Plus, you can keep vaping while it’s charging, which is always an excellent feature.
On the whole, the Vertx Plus e-cigarette has a sleek, no-nonsense appearance and the design has plenty of clever touches to make the device as easy to use as possible.
Vertx Plus Review: Features
Voltage Control
The main feature of the Vertx Plus is the control over the voltage you’re sending to the atomizer. Pressing the fire button twice in quick succession sends the Vertx into its menu mode, which is simply a lightning bolt symbol (for voltage) and a sun symbol (for brightness) flashing one after another. You press the fire button again when you’re on the setting you want – so the lightning bolt for adjusting the voltage – and then the main screen lights up to display your current setting. You adjust this with a swipe and press the fire button again to go back to vaping.
The three power settings available on the V2 Vertx Plus e-cig are 3.5 V, 4 V and 4.5 V, offering plenty of options for tailoring the performance of the device.
Brightness Control
The brightness control works exactly like the power control, but you choose the sun symbol and adjust the brightness of the screen and the lights around the bottom of the device. The difference between the top and middle settings isn’t too easy to notice when it’s bright, but it does dim them notably when you’re in dark surroundings. However, if you’re looking to vape without drawing too much attention to yourself, setting it to the minimum puts the device into “stealth” mode, so none of the lights illuminate when you vape, and the control panel is reduced to 15% of full brightness. Combined with the slimline design of the V2 Vertx Plus, this makes it a great device if you’re looking to stealth vape.
Vertx Plus Review: Vapor Production and Flavor
Vapor Production
Vapor production has always been V2’s strong-suit, with even their cigalikes (read more on beginner cigalikes in this V2 Cigs review) offering impressive amounts of vapor. While the Vertx Plus will never compete with the 200W box mods on the market these days when it comes to the amount of vapor you get, it’s nothing to balk at. On the lowest setting, you get a substantial puff of vapor – probably a bit less than a puff of cigarette smoke but still more than enough to satisfy somebody just switching. The highest setting is much better, thickening up the cloud a little and putting it more on par with some of the most capable, variable-voltage vape pens on the market.
On the whole, it might not be the sort of cloud you’ll get with a sub ohm vape tank or rebuildable and a mod, but it’s great for new vapers or anybody not overly concerned with huge vapor clouds.
Flavor
The Vertx Plus comes with a cartridge of V2’s Red, which is a Marlboro-inspired tobacco option. The flavor of the e-liquid itself is great. It isn’t the best tobacco replication you’ll find (we’d give that honor to Black Note e-liquid), but it’s a pretty faithful recreation and definitely enough to satisfy a smoker.
The device itself does a great job at producing a flavorful vapor, much better than most beginner-friendly electronic cigarettes on the market. The bottom-coil design undoubtedly has a big part to play in this, and this is the biggest improvement of the Vertx over the V2 Pro Series, although they were excellent devices for other reasons. Not only do the cartridges maintain a consistent flavor throughout the cartridge, they also remove the need for fiddling – such as manually rotating the device to soak the wick – which is another big plus-point for new vapers.
Vertx cartridges are also available in Congress and Sahara tobacco, and Peppermint, Menthol and Green Tea Menthol flavors, as well as empty, refillable cartridges.
V2 Vertx Plus E-Cig: In Use
How Easy is the V2 Vertx Plus to Use?
The V2 Vertx Plus’ biggest benefit isn’t the flavor or vapor, even though they are both strong points. The big draw of the Vertx is that it’s achieved its goal of drastically improving the performance of a cigalike-style device.
Using the Vertx Plus is about as easy as can be. After pressing the fire button three times to switch the device on, you simply drop the cartridge into place, choose your setting (if you like) and press the button to vape. If you want to change flavor or your cartridge is empty, you simply pull the old one out (throwing it away if it’s empty) and drop another one in it’s place.
All you have to do to charge is connect up the USB cable to a computer (or compatible charging plug) with the magnetic connection and it starts.
And that’s everything you need to do with the V2 Vertx Plus e-cig. The rest of the time, you can slip the device out of your pocket and vape away. There’s nothing to mess around with, no complicated combinations of button-presses to get it set up the way you want, and really nothing to put off a new vaper unsure of the technology.
Battery Life
One of the biggest concerns with compact, beginner-friendly e-cigarettes is the battery life they offer. These tend to offer a lot less than a vape pen or mod, but the Vertx Plus shows that this doesn’t have to mean you don’t have to put up with regular charging if you want a simple device. The 420 mAh battery, even on full power, should comfortably last you through a day of work, although possibly less if you vape frequently and use the higher power setting. If you’ve used e-cigs before, the battery life on the Vertx Plus is much better than you’d expect based on the capacity alone.
The vape-while-charging feature makes the concern about battery life less important anyway. All you have to do is being your USB charger along to the office and you can keep vaping even if you completely drain your battery.
Cartridge Life
The cartridges for the Vertx Plus are disposable, which means that their lifespan is an important factor. The manual claims up to 650 puffs from a single cartridge on the lowest power setting, and (although I didn’t vape much at the lowest setting), this seems like a good estimate. I got through over a day and a half of vaping before draining the cartridge entirely. However, I’ve gotten used to less nicotine, so the 1.8% nicotine vape juice I was vaping satisfied me after fewer puffs than it would a smoker.
The Vertx also supports refillable cartridges, though, which have the benefit of being suitable for use with any e-liquid, whether from V2 Cigs or another company. This is the best option if you want to save the most money by switching to vaping. It also drastically increases the range of flavors you can use.
Does the V2 Vertx Plus Leak?
The excellent design of V2’s Vertx means that leaking simply doesn’t happen with the device. This is a great achievement for any e-cig, but for a beginner-friendly option like the Vertx it’s a particularly big plus-point. I did notice some leaking around the bottom of the cartridge, but since it’s all enclosed in the body of the e-cig, it doesn’t leak anywhere you’ll actually come into contact with it. Plus, only a small amount of juice seeps out this way.
Vertx and Vertx Plus Airflow
Although new vapers won’t be too concerned about airflow – as long as it mimics smoking closely enough – it’s worth mentioning. The Vertx Plus has a fairly tight airflow, and smokers will feel right at home with the draw. For vapers, though, the airflow is probably too tight, and can’t be adjusted to suit your preferences. The Vertx is tailored to newer vapers, so the setup is great for its purpose, even if longer-term vapers might not be satisfied with it.
Other Issues with the V2 Vertx Plus
So the V2 Cigs Vertx Plus vaporizer pen has a solid design, is unbeatably easy to use, and has a lot going for it when it comes to performance, but are there other issues?
There are a couple of little problems that are worth mentioning with the Vertx. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, the magnetic connection of the charging point forms a weak connection. This is fine in most circumstances, but if you’re vaping while charging, it’s very easy to break the connection. It’s not a huge deal, but a bit of an ongoing minor irritation as you get used to using the device.
The touchscreen system can also get a little annoying in practice. The fire button directly touches the screen, and if you’re not careful, you can adjust your setting accidentally as you go to hit confirm. You can avoid this, but some space between the fire button and the touchscreen would have been a better idea.
Overall
The V2 Vertx isn’t only well-designed, it also performs excellently on a day-to-day basis, with only very minor issues that are completely drowned out by the ease-of-use of the Vertx Plus and its other benefits.
Build Quality
As always from V2 Cigs, the build quality on the Vertx Plus e-cig is excellent. The cartridges slot smoothly into the battery and the magnetic connections work just as they should. No complaints at all here.