timwis Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Hi Vapor Talk members, In this review i take a look at the TGO 70W Pod Mod Kit from Vapefly. The TGO 70W Pod Mod Kit was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this review by Mindy from Vapefly. Introduction Vapefly are highly regarded due to their well received RTA's, RDA's and RDTA's but more recently have branched out to produce devices in Various forms. Never afraid to try something new they follow that trend with the TGO (Touch and Go) Pod Mod Kit which is the first Pod Mod to use biometric fingerprint recognition. The device is a power only device offering various output modes including custom curves and the main working screen can be switched between Fingerprint Mode and Communication Mode. The pod design has adjustable airflow and slide open top-fill system with childproof lock. With 2 different coil heads available (both included), available RBA, 2300mAh battery capacity and Type C USB, let's give the biometric driven TGO a good look! ___________________________________________________________________ In The Box Contents: 1 x TGO Mod 1 x 0.3ohm TGO Meshed Coil 1 x 0.6ohm TGO Meshed Coil 1 x TGO Cartridge 1 x User Manual 1 x Quick Start Card 1 x Type-C Cable ___________________________________________________________________ Aesthetics and Ergonomics The TGO Pod Kit came in a sturdy cardboard box with outer cardboard sleeve packaging and on opening the device with attached pod sits in it's compartment in the top layer with accessories and paperwork in the bottom. I received the Camaro Yellow version which reminds me of the Transformer "Bumblebee", the options are Pearl White, Obsidian Black, Tiffany Blue, Camaro Yellow, Black Red, Ruby Red or Gunmetal. The device's aesthetics are Sports car influenced complete with "Go Faster" stripes and air vent e-liquid viewing windows. It's look will divide opinion but at least it looks a bit different which is a good thing in my opinion and i don't mind it apart from i don't like the safety marks and branding very prominent on it's spine. The round fire button is recessed, has both a translucent surround for RGB LED indications and an inbuilt biometric sensor. Having a Zinc Alloy construction and in-built 2300mAh battery gives it quite some weight but like all these pod mod devices it's a nice portable size for out and about! ___________________________________________________________________ TGO Specs and Features: Size: 50.0 x 23.0 x 102.0mm Capacity: 4.5ml/2ml Battery Capacity：2300mAh Wattage Output Range: 5-70W Voltage Output Range: 1.2-4.2V Charge port: Type-C Charge Rate: 5V/1.5A Time cut off: 10s Screen: 0.96" TFT screen Material: Zinc-Alloy & PCTG Mode: VW Mode, VPC Mode Mesh Coil Resistance: 0.3ohm TGO Mesh Coil(30-40W, Nicotine≤10mg) 0.6ohm TGO Mesh Coil(20-28W, Nicotine≤20mg) Multiple protections: 10S Cut-Off Protection, Overcharge Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Overheat Protection, Low Battery Protection, Accidental Touch Protection, Child Lock Protection, 3 Minute Protection Lock 70W max output by the integrated 2300mAh battery Child Lock Protection for safe vaping Single Firing Button - Biometric Fingerprint Scan Magnetic Pod Connection for easy operation VPC Mode and VW Mode for more precise vaping Vibrate Alert: Lock, unlock, protections LED indications: Operational, Protections, Charging Colours: Pearl White, Obsidian Black, Tiffany Blue, Camaro Yellow, Black Red, Ruby Red, Gunmetal ___________________________________________________________________ The Pod You only receive one pod but it takes replaceable coils that are just press fitted into place and sealed with O-rings, the capacity is 4.5ml or 2ml with the TPD version. The pod is quite a unique shape having a rounded roof a bit like the form factor of a British WW2 plane hanger, this roof is Delrin and has an integrated drip tip as part of the same moulding. The main section of the pod is clear giving good e-liquid visibility and rectangular in shape. The pod has a really good top-fill system with lock which is very well implemented. There is a little arrowhead shaped button which needs pressing before sliding the roof open in the direction the arrowhead is pointed, this reveals a fill port with membrane and once filled just slide the roof shut and it gives a satisfying click as it locks into place. This is possibly the best fill system yet on one of these Pod Mod/AIO systems but full advantage hasn't been taken. What i love about a top-fill method is you don't need to remove the pod to fill and indeed the aesthetic engine air vents (2 each side) double up as viewing windows but Vapefly have gone for aesthetic design over practicality and they are really too small to be fit for purpose so i both found myself removing the pod to check the level and also for filling. On one side of the pod we have an adjustable airflow dial which looks and adjusts the same as the dial on the Aegis Boost Plus and then moving to the base we have the round opening to install a coil head and a magnet to each corner. ___________________________________________________________________ The Coils The coil heads like with so many of these pod/AIO systems just get press fitted into place and are secured and sealed via o-rings. You receive 2 different mesh coil heads both of which have the net style meshing. You get the 0.6ohm coil head rated between 20 and 28W and the 0.3ohm coil head which is rated between 30 and 40W. The specs are etched on the base of the coil heads around the perimeter but is quite small and no mesh material is given. The easiest way to tell the coils apart is the 0.6ohm has surprisingly larger oval shaped wicking holes and slightly narrower bore while the 0.3ohm has smaller round wicking ports (still a decent size) and slightly wider inner bore. The TGO coil heads look like the RPM coil heads and indeed they are cross compatible which increases the available options as any of the RPM coil heads will also fit the device. ___________________________________________________________________ Available TGO RBA Not included but available is the TGO RBA which i can't really comment on too much as i don't have it to test. The RBA does come with a 510 adaptor to build on a standard device or ohms reader and having a rebuildable option is always a big plus! ___________________________________________________________________ Fitting The Pod Looking inside the pod's bay we can see the fair sized, Gold plated, spring loaded contacts with raised Black surround and to each corner on raised pillars a magnet to line up with the magnets on the base of the pod. The magnets are very strong and once fitted the pod is going nowhere by accident. To remove i needed to hold the drip-tip and give it a firm tug, cracking job! ___________________________________________________________________ Airflow The TGO has the usual system of the air going into the pod's bay then entering the coil at it's base relying quite a bit on the inner bore for draw but how much air gets into the bay is controlled by an adjustable dial just like the one on the Aegis Boost Plus. It adjusts really well but adjustable airflow done this way will even let a reasonable amount of air to enter even when closed down so don't go expecting a MTL experience else you will be very disappointed! ___________________________________________________________________ Setting The Device Up Before you can use the device 2 Admin fingerprints need to be set. When you press fire when the device is turned on for the first time the screen for adding fingerprints appears and you simply have to choose a finger or thumb to place over the biometric sensor which is built into the fire button. Your chosen paw print needs placing on the sensor 6 times has it builds up the profile and then it moves to the second admin slot, at this stage you need to choose a different finger (it will recognise and not allow the same one) and again press on the sensor 6 times, select back to go to the working screen and you are done. ___________________________________________________________________ The Fingerprint Screen At any time you can press either up or down together with the fire button to enter the fingerprint screen to add more fingerprints. First it needs to read one of your admin fingerprints to allow you to use the screen but once you prove your identity you can now add up to 4 more fingerprints. These other fingerprints can operate the device but unlike the admin fingerprints will not allow you to delete or add fingerprints. I actually love the fingerprint technology on this device as it's implemented so well but the only thing i don't like is the fact how this Admin and other fingerprints is explained is that you can have 2 people who can fully control the device but 4 other users. Sharing devices under normal circumstances is not a good idea because of hygiene but in the current climate is an absolute no go under any circumstances so i feel Vapefly should of made much more effort into explaining the fingerprints should all belong to one person and for the device to only be used by that person. ___________________________________________________________________ Accidental Touch Protection This is one of the best features of the device which is the sensor can tell the difference between a finger and any other object so will only fire if pressed by a finger. ___________________________________________________________________ Fingerprint Mode and Communication Mode The device can be used in either Fingerprint Mode which is identified by the fingerprint bottom right on the display being highlighted or Communication Mode where the fingerprint icon will appear dull. In Fingerprint mode after 3 minutes of inactivity if you try to fire the device with any finger other than one which has had its print registered it will vibrate and the LED surround will flash Red while a message will be displayed saying it needs unlocking with your fingerprint. Placing one of your registered fingers on the sensor will cause the LED surround to flash Green to confirm it's now unlocked and again will vibrate. It sounds an hassle but actually it instantly recognised my print every time with no delay and works that well if you use one of your registered fingers (or thumb) to fire you can actually fire after the 3 minutes and it acknowledges your print and fires simultaneously which has really won me over, in fact if one of the registered prints is the finger you usually use for firing apart from hearing the odd vibrate and seeing the LED flash Green you wouldn't even know the device had been locked. The Fingerprint mode which locks the device after 3 minutes is great for if you have kids about but if not after the novelty has worn off you can use the device in Communication mode which now only locks every 24hours which still makes use of the fingerprint technology but as an anti theft feature. ___________________________________________________________________ Smart Coil Recognition This is nothing new in fact it's quite a common feature but like so many things with the TGO it's been implemented very well. When a new coil is identified it automatically adjusts to a suitable wattage about in the middle of it's recommendation so for the 0.3ohm coil it adjusts to 35W and the 0.6ohm coil 25W. Unlike some devices with this feature it doesn't restrict wattage adjustment and also once you have set the wattage if you don't want to use the recommended wattage given it remembers the wattage you set even after turning off! Great stuff! ___________________________________________________________________ The Display The display is very bright and uses White font with Cyan accents on a Black background. Top left we have mode and then top right the battery status bar, central is a circular speedometer type design. Within the circular design we have the wattage and to the left of this a padlock icon which is either open or shut depending on the status of the navigational rocker. Below the wattage but still within the circular design we have the resistance then below the voltage. Underneath the circular design to the left we have your puff count and below the duration of your last puff, bottom right we have a fingerprint icon which is highlighted when in Fingerprint Mode and dull when in Communication Mode. ___________________________________________________________________ Operating The Device I have already explained setting up the device and how the fingerprint recognition works so this section is for how the rest of the device operates. The TGO is the usual 5 clicks of the fire button to turn on and 5 clicks to turn off and once on the fire button LED surround will cycle through Red, Blue and Green and before firing a registered finger will need placing on the sensor and the LED will flash Green and the device will vibrate to confirm the device is unlocked. The wattage adjustment buttons by default are locked and to unlock you need to press both together then the wattage can be adjusted in 1W increments from 5 to 70W, it round robins. After 10 seconds of inactivity both the screen timeouts and the the buttons re-lock but even when in Fingerprint Mode the device will instantly wake up and fire with any finger as the fire button only locks and needs unlocking with a registered print after 3 full minutes of inactivity. To change between Fingerprint mode and Communication Mode is three quick presses of the fire button and to enter the menu is 4 quick presses. When in the menu the up and down buttons will be automatically unlocked and you have the option of STD (Standard), Sport (Powerful), ECO (Soft), VPC (Variable Power Curve), Puff (can reset puff counter) and Exit. That's it once your admin fingerprints are set up which literally takes 2 minutes and as well as it being explained in the manual you also receive a quick start card it is actually very easy to operate despite all the technology on show! ___________________________________________________________________ Protections: 10S Cut-Off Protection Overcharge Protection Short Circuit Protection Overheat Protection Low Battery Protection Accidental Touch Protection Child Lock Protection 3 Minute Protection Lock ___________________________________________________________________ Charging I am pleased to say the TGO has Type C USB and a 1.5A charge rate allowing the device to charge in about 1 hour 40 minutes while supporting pass-through which for a 2300mAh battery i am very happy with. While charging a large battery progress bar is displayed along with the charge as a percentage. I didn't sit there watching the device charge because i'm not quite that sad yet but did notice the LED surround pulses Red and later it was pulsing Blue, i looked and it was at 24%. Later it pulsed Green before going off when fully charged so battery indication via the LED is given while charging, it seems it pulses Red up to 20% before pulsing Blue but can't give at what percentage it pulses Green but it's still great feedback! ___________________________________________________________________ My Experience Using The TGO Pod Kit And Thoughts! Although i must admit i did think i would like this pod mod as i do quite like gimmick type additions to a device i was very surprised by rather than a gimmick just how well the fingerprint biometric reader both works and is implemented. It takes just a couple of minutes to set up which is straightforward and then unless you want to add anymore prints at anytime it's done! The reader identifies my print instantly to unlock and you can both unlock and fire with one press. This makes it a great device for if you have kids about and stops others using it, if you don't have kids and don't want to use the fingerprint technology you can change to Communication mode and have the satisfaction of still knowing if someone was to steal your device within 24 hours the device would become unusable. Although having 2 admin prints and 4 other slots allows you to scan both thumbs and all fingers on your main vaping hand the way it seems to be marketed as 2 people who can add and delete and 4 other users is not a good idea and Vapefly need to point out "PEOPLE SHOULD NOT SHARE VAPING DEVICES"! I also like the fact a finger needs to be used regardless what mode you are using and even if the fire button has not been locked through inactivity and anything else pressing the fire button will not activate the firing mechanism, i guess this is done by the reader needing to identify at least part of a fingerprint to allow activation and is a great feature. I also love the design of the pod which has the best filling method with locking mechanism i have used on a pod/AIO device and adjustable airflow in the form of a dial. It's a missed opportunity though as the main advantage of top-fill is you don't need to remove the pod to fill but although we have viewing windows Vapefly seem to of put the "Sports Car" design above practicality and the viewing windows are far too small to be fit for purpose. This meant i needed to remove the pod to both check the level and to fill although filling could be done without removing but is a bit risky and could end up very messy! The coils being cross compatible with RPM devices means there are loads of available options and i don't know if Smok manufacture the RPM coils or they are produced by a third party but the included TGO coil heads do perform identically and i am pretty sure are made by whoever makes the RPM coils which isn't a bad thing as i do like the flavour i get from them and longevity is pretty good. Having an RBA coil head is another bonus and looking at the pictures it looks better than the Smok RPM RBA but i can't comment any further as i have not got the RBA to test. The 0.6ohm coil head is just slightly tighter than the 0.3ohm coil head but it's marginal, the airflow adjustment dial gives various Semi restrictive and restricted direct lung draws but this is far too airy for MTL. The airflow control although limited is better than anything offered by any of the RPM devices i have tried so far! The only other cons other than too small viewing windows are very minor which are you can't fit your own 510 but it can't really go down as a con because the drip-tip is comfortable and needs to be part of the same moulding for the excellent slide open top-fill system to work so necessary. Some of the font is quite small on the screen making it quite hard to see both the puff count and vape duration and finally at least my colour version is a bit of a fingerprint magnet so the fingerprint device that attracts fingerprints, so quite fitting really! Finally i found the 2300mAh battery life very good and having Type C USB is good to see, the 1.5A charge rate allows the device to charge in 1 hour 40 minutes while supporting pass-through and giving excellent feedback which are all pros! ___________________________________________________________________ Likes Excellent build quality 7 Colour options Portable Device Slide open locking filling system (top-fill) Biometric reader works flawlessly and is well implemented Straightforward set-up reading Admin fingerprints 4 more fingerprints can be added Can unlock and fire in one press (biometric reader works that well) Only a finger can fire the device (no other object), great feature Device won't work within 24 hours if stolen Fingerprint and Communication modes Navigational buttons auto lock Adjustable airflow (via adjustable dial) Smart Coil Recognition Remembers last wattage setting for coil head in use Wattage adjusts in 1W increments Despite technology easy to use Good use of fire button LED surround and vibrate for indications and alerts Pod fits very securely 2 different coil heads included Available RBA coil head Cross compatible with RPM coil heads Good flavour and longevity from supplied coil heads Very good battery life Type C USB 1.5A charge rate Excellent charging feedback given Supports pass-through Cons Viewing windows too small to be fit for purpose Needed to remove pod to check level and fill due to above Some fonts on display very small Fingerprint magnet Don't like the branding and safety marks on spine (subjective) I would once again like to thank Mindy from Vapefly for supplying the TGO 70W Pod Mod Kit for the purpose of this review, thanks for reading and stay safe! ___________________________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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