The VooPoo VMATE Review: A Lightweight, Dual-18650 Box Mod

The VooPoo VMATE 200W box mod is a dual-18650 device that has a seamless, polished look thanks to its hidden user interface. The vape mod has separate battery bays, one on either side of the chassis, which use plastic panels. The panels have magnets at the top to stay in place.

Rather than place adjustment buttons on the clean, polished 0.91-inch LED screen, VooPoo Vmate moved the buttons to right above the cell doors. The power/firing button, as well as the two up/down buttons, are on either side of the mod, making for an ergonomic grip.

Table of Contents

• The VooPoo VMATE 200W Mod Review: Up Close
• Working the VooPoo VMATE 200W Vape Mod
• The Vape
• The Competitors
• VooPoo VMATE Specifications
• Pros and Cons
• The Last Word

The VooPoo VMATE 200W Mod Review: Up Close

The VooPoo VMATE 200w vape box has a very understated, but polished exterior. It is not flashy, but neither is it boring, well, maybe just a little. It has all the requisite parts of a dual-18650 vape mod with the battery bay doors probably being the most outstanding thing about it.

The two vape batteries are separate, but they run in series, so they increase the overall voltage of both. Instead of installing the batteries with both positive terminals facing up, users install one facing down, so the one positive side connects to the other negative side.

It is not necessarily a mind-blowing feature, but it is another example of how all the amazing things about the VooPoo VMATE box mod are hidden. One thing that is not hidden is the user-interface; well, it is a little hidden. The front-facing 0.91 inch LED is conspicuously clean of control buttons, which are (wait for it) located on the top of either battery bay door.

One side has the power/firing button, while the other side has two buttons, the up and down controls. It is a unique design, not seen on many dual-18650 box mods. When users hold the VooPoo VMATE in their hand, the location of the buttons makes it a very comfortable grip. This position also means that vapers don’t block the screen with their hand, so they can make changes and watch them happen.

VooPoo opted to place the USB port on this very bright, and uncluttered screen, which kind of ruins the minimalist aesthetic. The port, which also acts as a method to update the mod’s firmware, could have been placed on the backside, where there is a small, VooPoo logo, thereby keeping the smooth finish of the LED.

Going back to the battery doors, they are also the one area where VooPoo allowed some color onto the mod’s exterior. There are over ten different color options for the doors, although only two for the inlays around the screen, silver, and pewter (yawn), with the latter being a fancy way of saying “grey.”

The entirety of the VooPoo VMATE 200w box mod is zinc alloy, making it both durable and lightweight. The size of the box mod also adds to its compact and portable framing, as it maxes out at only 89 mm tall (3.5 inches), without a vape tank attached.

Working the VooPoo VMATE 200W Vape Mod

As the VooPoo VMATE 200w unit has a very straightforward outward design, vapers would expect the user interface to be easy-to-use, but it was annoyingly confusing. The GENE. Fan chipset inside the device allows it to vape in variable wattage, temperature control, and curve modes for each. Only the button combinations and presses made it challenging to get into each output.

There are also memory settings, five of them, as well as TCR functions on the chipset, but they too are hidden within the all-consuming blackness of the screen. The display, while cold and sterile, is not bad, for something that displays only the most vital information without anything distracting.

The boot-up screen shows info like the wattage, the battery life of the two batteries, the resistance, the voltage, and a vape timer. There is a lot of clicking users have to do to get into all the separate menus. Three clicks of the firing button allow vapers to switch between the modes, which in turn, requires more button presses to change individual variables like the resistance or wattage.

In whatever vaping mode users choose, they need to press the firing button four times to be able to change variables in their selected style. Holding down the up/down buttons takes vapers into a semi-mysterious menu whose function is not so clear. There are three options on this top/down menu.

The first, represented by a “W” doesn’t seem to do anything. The second is the Memory part that has five slots for either VW or TC. In Memory mode, users can finally access the curve settings for either of the two main outputs. Despite the confusing button combos and the buried vaping features, the VooPoo VMATE mod’s capabilities, especially its speed and ability to change settings are impressive.

The Vape

The VooPoo VMATE came as a stand-alone device, so there was no tank included in the kit. With that said, the gold-plated, spring-loaded AND centered 510 connection up top takes any 510-threaded atomizers, up to 25mm in diameter, as the mod measures 30mm (1.2 inches).

There is some overhang with bigger atomizers, as the top of the VooPoo VMATE is not entirely flat, but has grooves that move down past the lip of the 510-connection. The GENE.FAN chipset has a Smart setting that recognizes the resistance of any new coil, whatever atomizer vapers do attach and prompts the user if the atomizer is new or not.

If it is new, the chipset automatically sets the wattage for the new coil. The setting is not exact, and users can change it, of course, but for a chipset to do that kind of thing automatically, and accurately, was impressive.

The GENE.FAN chipset, overall, played a big part in upping the mod’s performance as a whole, like many other VooPoo VMATE reviews mention. The mod fired quickly, with little to no delay in its firing. The curve mode for either VW and TC were another boon to the VooPoo VMATE functioning, despite being hidden in the recesses of the menu.

The only cons to all this are the awkward button presses and combinations that vapers have to do to make any adjustments. Holding and pressing the buttons to get into a menu or out of a menu or clicking it three times to switch modes, but four times to make a selection got very tiring and taxing.

The VooPoo VMATE vs. the SX Mini G Class 200W vs. the Vaporesso Switcher

The SX Mini G Class 200W

The SX Mini is a dual-18650 mod, although it also supports single-cell operation, with an advanced YiHi chipset inside that allows for precision vaping control. The device features a joystick-like adjustment control and uses a full-color spectrum TFT OLED screen as its user interface.

The SX Mini also has many different vaping modes, like VW, TC, and TCR while also letting vapers select a draw method best-suited to them. Apart from that, the SX Mini is Bluetooth compatible with a downloadable app for any smartphone that enables users to control the device remotely.

The Vaporesso Switcher

The Vaporesso Switcher is a dual-18650 device, with a front-facing 0.96 OLED screen that allows vapers to choose from several vaping options. Not only that, but the Switcher has removable and replaceable zinc and aluminum alloy jackets that can change the outward look of the mod.

The operating panel consists of two adjustment buttons and an independent mode button. The Switcher also features Vaporesso newest Omni chip, the Omni 2.6 that enables all the device’s outputs, from VW and TC to curve mode for each, as well as the ability to reach a maximum power output of 200W.

Pros and Cons

The Last Word on the VooPoo VMATE 200W Mod

The VooPoo VMATE 200w is more a chipset with a mod wrapped around it, than a mod with a chipset inside of it. Meaning the real (and probably only) jewel of this VooPoo mod is hidden from view but manifests itself in the device’s speed and performance.

Because, between you and me, dear reader, there is not much to the VMATE’s exterior, which is about as exciting as the suit your grandfather wears on Sunday to go to church. Sure, there are almost twelve different color options for the two battery doors, but the zinc alloy section can only either be silver or pewter, so there is not much excitement there.

A noticeable lack of color, or life in general, is also present in the device’s OLED screen. The display could have used just a spattering of color to offset the fact that you feel like you are entering an abyss every time you look at it.

But, putting those deficiencies aside, the VooPoo VMATE 200w is an adequate, mid-range device that vapes well, and fires fast even though it is about as sexy as the cardboard box that it comes in.