Vaporesso SWAG II Kit Review: Test Results Are In
January 09, 2020Product intro and specs
The SWAG II is the follow-up to the popular SWAG mod, and it is a single-18650 mod powered by Vaporesso’s AXON chip. Same as the original, the SWAG II has taken some design notes from the Pico series of mods and features a protruding battery cap that allows it to shave off some of the height. The mod comes in a kit with their NRG PE sub ohm tank.
Specifications:
- Display: 0.91-inch OLED screen
- Tank compatibility: max 25 mm
- Resistance: 0.03-5.0 ohms
- Charge current: DC 5V/2A micro USB
- Output power: 5-80 watts
- Battery: 1 x 18650 (not included)
- Chipset: AXON chip
Kit Contents:
- 1 x SWAG II mod
- 1 x NRG PE tank (3.5 mL)
- 1 x GT4 MESHED coil (pre-installed)
- 1 x GT CCELL Coil
- 4 x O-ring
- 1 x USB cable
- 1 x User manual
- 1 x Warranty card
First impressions
When I first got this mod, it’s pretty much what I expected. I’m not personally a fan of the Pico-style mods but I know they are generally very popular due to their small size. What they did here was crossbreed the original SWAG with their newer GEN mod. There is a black and white 0.91-inch OLED rectangle DNA-styled screen on the front and the nice GEN-like coating on it. The tank in the kit is the NRG PE tank which uses the same GT coils that their tanks have used for a long time. Overall, it’s a cute little kit.
Build quality and design
The SWAG II is a nicely built and well-designed mod. It feels solid and not cheap or flimsy, but it’s pretty lightweight as well. The fire button is a basic round circle on the front of the mod, right above the screen. The “mode” button is below the screen and the up and down buttons are on the side of the mod. The battery goes in from the top, after unscrewing the battery cap. The threading is nice, and removing and replacing the battery is easy. The 510 pin is great and gave me no issues with any atomizer. However, due to the battery cap you are limited to a 25 mm diameter, which shouldn’t be a big deal with a single battery mod. It’s also a really small mod. Roughly the same size as the original Pico, maybe just slightly bigger.
I got the black one, which is plain black with a matte finish. It looks good, but judging from the pics, I’d probably prefer the red one. They all look pretty clean, which is going to be appreciated from those who don’t like flashy mods. Really nice color options and the paint job feels solid. It also has the same soft coating as the GEN and an almost flask-like shape, making it comfy in the hand. Branding was also kept simple. There is a “Vaporesso SWAG” logo above the up and down buttons and a small “V” on the bottom of one side. There is no button rattle on this mod at all either.
Features and functions
The SWAG II is packed with features and modes like all Vaporesso mods. You have Power mode (with soft, normal and hard preheats), Temp Control (SS, Ni200, Ti, and TCR), Watt Curve mode (VPC), VV mode (variable voltage), Super Player mode (power mode with a lower resistance minimum) and Bypass mode. Those are all under the DIY menu which is my preferred way. They also have their ECO mode (battery saver), Pulse mode (pulses higher wattage during a puff), and their Smart TC mode. It uses a standard TCR as well which is fully adjustable in TCR mode but not adjustable in the presets. It has pretty much every mode out there a vaper would need and then some, which could be a little overbearing for some.
An odd thing is that the up and down buttons are backwards, but if you flip the screen then it works the right way. Also, they list a charge rate of 2 amps. I tested this, and got a 0.93-amp max, so it’s clearly overrated and should have been listed at 1 amp. The mod also displays the remaining time of the charge. The charging rate is alright, but it’s best practice to charge externally.
Using the Vaporesso SWAG II
As far as the menu goes, it’s just like the GEN. It’s straightforward and very easy to use. Here is a quick rundown.
- Five clicks of the fire button to turn on and off
- Three clicks of menu (or hold menu) to enter the menu
- Use up and down to scroll through the menu and click menu to accept
- Use fire when in the menu to return to the home screen
- Hold fire and menu to see chip version
Power mode performance
The SWAG II features the latest AXON series chip. The Vaporesso chip series (previously the Omni) is one of the best ones in vaping, so we’ll see how this one holds up.
Testing on this mod was done with Sony VTC5A batteries. They list the max wattage at 80 watts, but no amp or volt limit listed. I wish that they would list all three. During my testing the max achieved wattage was 85, so excellent rating at 80 watts, if not a little underrated.
The amp limit I got was 29, which is good for a single 18650 battery mod. The average for single 18650 battery mods is around 25-30. The volt limit I got with a 0.62-ohm coil was 7.258, which is really good and could be even a little higher since the wattage was maxed out at that point. No complaints there, and the result shows that the mod has a boost circuit as all single-battery mods should.
The mod adjusts in 0.1-watt increments, but you can also hold the adjustment button to scroll by a full watt. Overall it works great, but I find 0.1-watt increments a bit pointless over 20 watts.
During my testing, the mod did a great job of not getting hot. It’s a mostly accurate mod too. It struggled a little under 0.2 ohms, but performed great between that and 0.62 ohms, when it starts to hit a little high. Overall, a really good performer. You can see the full test results in the chart above.
Temperature control performance
Using SS316L Wire in SS mode and TCR mode, I tested four builds.
- One simple round single coil
- One simple round dual coil
- Two fancy wire single-coil builds
The SWAG II has the full 80 watts available in temperature control. I tried both the TCR mode set at 92-120, as well as SS316 mode which has a 105 TCR preset. Sadly, I couldn’t get this mod to perform as it should. It was giving me a very inconsistent vape. It was mostly a very weak vape, no matter how high I turned it up, and when it hit the temp limit it would throttle hard. It also wouldn’t provide a consistent output. Not up to the standard of what temp control should be, and disappointing given the TC performance of previous Vaporesso mods.
NRG PE tank rundown
Ok, so let’s do a quick rundown of the tank. The new tank is called the NRG PE which is another tank in the long line of NRG tanks. The NRG line uses GT coils, which have been around forever, and it is also compatible with Baby Beast style coils. The tank comes with two coil options in the box. The pre-installed one is a new 0.15-ohm GT4 double mesh coil rated for 60-70 watts and the other included is a 0.6-ohm SS CCELL ceramic coil rated for 25-35 watts.
The NRG PE tank comes with a 3.5 mL straight glass and no spare was included in my kit. The coils are easy to reach and replace by unscrewing the base. But the tank needs to be empty if you want to replace the coil.
The NRG PR uses a standard wide bore 510 O-ring fit Delrin drip tip which is kind of a letdown. A resin tip would have been nicer. The threading on the tank is nice and smooth and the fill method is the slide back top-fill that we see on most tanks these days. Not my favorite, because if you use a 120 mL bottle, you’ll want to remove the drip tip to fill. Some of their other tanks locked into place with the drip tip screwing into the top cap but this tank isn’t like that, and the top is too loose for my liking. The AFC ring is smooth, easy to adjust and on a stopper.
Performance wise, I started with the 0.15-ohm coil and found it best around 60-65 watts. Flavor was decent. Not bad, but I’ve also had much better. More or less what I expected out of a mid-wattage Vaporesso coil—although their “bullet”-style coils for the SKRR tanks are a bit better. I then tried the CCELL coil and found it best around 30 watts. I like the lower wattage requirement in a kit like this for better battery life but, again, just decent. Maybe slightly worse for flavor than the 0.15-ohm coil, but not horrible.
All things considered, the NRG PE is a mediocre tank. Nothing to write home about, and you probably have a better tank already. It’s not a tank I’d bother with these days.
Pros / Cons
- (+) Good build quality
- (+) Four color options
- (+) Accurately rated for watts
- (+) Good power mode performance
- (+) Nice centered 510 pin
- (+) Handles 25 mm atomizers
- (+) Affordably priced
- (+) High amp limit
- (+) Watt curve mode
- (+) Variable voltage mode
- (+) Nicely laid out and easy to use menu system
- (+) Bright and clear 0.91-inch OLED screen
- (+) Excellent paint job and soft coating
- (+) Very compact
- (+) Nice shape and comfy ergonomics
- (+) Wide coil compatibility on tank
- (-) TC performance is not good
- (-) Included tank performance is just decent
- (-) No listed ratings for volts or amps
- (-) 2-amp charging rate is really 1 amp
- (-) Up and down are backwards in the menu unless you flip screen
- (-) No spare glass with the tank
Gallery
Verdict
Overall, Vaporesso did a good job with the mod in this kit. I can’t say a great one because the TC is lacking. But if you are a fan of the Pico-style mods, then this is a much nicer mod than what Eleaf offers. If you need a compact single-18650 mod for non-TC vaping, you should give this a try. I wouldn’t bother with the kit though, as the tank is nothing to write home about.
Let me know what you think in the comments and thanks for reading!
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Article Written By: Anthony Victor