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Pizza Dave Delivers - An AIO Review - The Target PM80se by Vaporesso

pizzadave80

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
INTRODUCTION


Hello everyone and welcome to another review. This is Pizza Dave and today I will be going over the Target PM80se by Vaporesso. This is the follow up to the Target PM80 I reviewed a while back. That device wasn’t too bad, but this makes some changes to make it a whole different animal, with the most obvious change being an 18650 battery instead of a measly built-in 2000mah battery. I will go over all these tweaks in the review, but let’s get right to it eh?

DISCLAIMER: This device was sent to me by Vaporesso for review.


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WHAT YOU GET

  • 1 Vaporesso Target PM80se

  • 2 4mL pods

  • 1 .2-ohm GTX mesh coil

  • 1 .6-ohm GTX mesh coil

  • Airflow adjustment inserts

  • 1 Micro USB charging cable

  • Paperwork


Available in gunmetal bodies with accent panels of blue, black(carbon fiber pattern), red, green, purple, and silver.


STOCK SHOT
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PACKAGING
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UNBOXED
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Measurements: 121.3mm x 24.8mm x 33.4mm

Battery: Single 18650

Power Range: 5-80w, scrolling in .5-watt increments

Capacity: 4mL (2mL for TPD)

Other features: .91” non-color display




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FIRST IMPRESSIONS



Well, well, well. The same, but different. Little bit taller, little bit slimmer, but still offering the same look as the previous model. Up top, the pod is the same as before, with the same nice fill port that is much less messy than other rubber flapper fill ports we have seen before. As you work the way down the body, you will find that the display has now changed from a color, vertical display to a horizontal single color display thanks to the Axon chip inside. Since it shares the same name as the Gen mod, I can only assume it is a dumbed down version of the same chipset. At the bottom, you will find a hinged battery door. Nothing too fancy, just a regular slide and hinge mechanism. Feels ok, but not super solid considering how small it is. The looks of the device overall work for me. I love the color scheme, simplicity, and form factor. It feels great as I transfer it over and over in my hand and the button works for thumb or finger firing.



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OPERATION



I will say this time and time again, but Vaporesso always has consistency when it comes to operating their chipsets. Once you have used one, they follow a similar pattern making it easy to dive in and start using. Here is a breakdown of the operation:



  • 5 clicks of the fire button turns the device on and off

  • 3 clicks of the fire button locks out the adjustment button, but the device still fires. 3 clicks again unlock, and this is indicated right on the display

  • Pressing fire and down together shows the chip and firmware information

  • Pressing fire and up together flips the screen orientation

  • Pressing the up and down enters the menu

    • Smart VW mode - out of the box, VW mode is in smart mode. This shows recommended settings and sets to the middle ground of that range. If you turn this off, the VW is a standard VW mode where you control everything and it removes the “S” next to VW in the right corner. It still shows the “best” range on the lower right, but it will not change the wattage automatically when a coil is inserted.

    • VW mode - variable wattage

    • VV mode - variable voltage

    • Default - sets device back to default settings

    • Exit


That covers how to operate this device. Once you know the few button combos, it is super simple to navigate and use.






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USEAGE



Thanks to the simple chipset, getting started on the device is super easy. One of the standout features of the chipset is how it recognizes what coil is installed and offers a “best” range shown on the lower right corner of the display and it sets wattage on new coils to the middle road of that range. It is pretty much idiot proof and I appreciate that. I tested out a wide range of coils for this one, and I decided to break down usage more by each coil more than anything.



.2-ohm GTX Mesh coil - This is designed more for direct lung. I used mine at 55w with 3mg liquid and it was excellent. Flavor is solid, airflow is smooth, and it is a great option for more vapor on the go. My only complaint with the coil is that after a handful of refills I started to see some leaking into the base.



.6-ohm GTX Mesh coil - For this one, I decided to go with 6mg liquid. Glad I did, as it is a little more restricted, and with lower power comes a desire for higher nicotine. This coil was beautiful for 6mg and I found myself wanting to grab it even more now than with the lower resistance more cloud chasing setup in the .2-ohm coil.



Optional RBA base - Ah yes, an RBA base. I didn’t see this coming, but glad it did. For this one, I used the provided coil which is a 2mm round spaced build. Without modifying the coil it came out to .71-ohms which the device detected as good between 16-25w. Building the RBA isn’t the easiest in the world, but I found it to work great right out of the gate with my first build. Challenge number one is size. It is small, so it takes some gentle hands to install and position the coil. Challenge two is preheating, since they don’t include a base for a 510. I combated this by partially installing into the pod with the cap off, fired it on low wattage and looked for hot spots through the drip tip. It was glowing perfectly, so it was time to wick. This thing uses hardly any cotton outside of the coil. I thinned mine out a ton and just barely tucked into the juice flow inlets. Works great, keeps up, and no leaks after 12 mls. I can’t really complain.



Other notes in regard to using the device itself. I enjoy it. It is compact, LOVE that it uses an external 18650, and it just works. There is very little to complain about.



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PHOTO GALLERY

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pizzadave80

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
FINAL THOUGHTS


Alright, so after two weeks of use, where do I stand on this device? To me, this addressed a lot of the things I didn’t like about the original Target PM80, but also took away some things I liked about the PM80. First off, I love that it has an 18650 battery. It provides better battery life, gives me the option to toss a fresh battery in and head out the door, and the shape, while being a little taller, is still a convenient size. Secondly, they included the airflow adjustment inserts, which I never had on the original PM80. I ran EVERY coil with one plug in, as I found it to be too airy with both sides open. Closing down one suited the way I vape much better. Do I think they could do this a little better than adding plugs? Yeah, but at least it offers adjustment. One improvement I am seeing on this comes in the form of coils and coil options, which can also be used with the original PM80. Vaporesso seems to have listened to the users and made adjustments to perfect the coils. I had some major leaking with the original coils, but these ones were not nearly as bad with some not leaking at all through the life of the coil. There are many different coil types offering varying degrees of draws and temps making it a super versatile device as well. You can go from tight MTL to open DL just by changing the coil and tweaking the air flow inserts. Now, like I said at the start of this, they made one change that I was not a fan of and it’s the display. The Target PM80 had a vertical display, which had color, and looked awesome. With the change to the chip (probably needed for space and use with an 18650) they went to the AXON which just isn’t as pretty. Functional, yes, but just not as pretty. This is also a dumbed down Axon chip, so you aren’t getting the full package of what you would see on the Vaporesso Gen with the AXON chip. It would have been a real treat to toss an SS coil in the RBA and use TC, because the AXON actually performed decent TC and I am finding more and more that TC is my jam for MTL vaping. One con they carried over was the glossy gunmetal finish. She’s a lovely looking fingerprint magnet.

All in all, this is one of the best pod mods that I have tested. It looks great, feels great, and has a ton of vaping options. Even the RBA, while being a bit of a bitch to build, works great and I appreciate when companies give the hobbyists a chance to build.

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OVEN TEST – If this were to accidentally fall into the pizza oven, would I go out and get another? I would be on the fence on whether to get again or let it burn. The pod mod market is growing at an exponential rate, and I feel there is still room for some improvement, so more than likely there will be more in the near future that will be better. Don’t let that skew you from purchase though, it gets a Pizza Dave stamp of approval.

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PROS

Good flavor

Lots of coil options

RBA base option

Nice looking device

Compact size

Easy to use

One of the nicer rubber stopper refill ports, same as the PM80 before it

Removable 18650 for the win

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CONS

  • Still had some leaking, but these coils are much improved

  • Downgrade display over PM80

  • Shiny, fingerprint magnet finish

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Thank you everyone and thank you to Vaporesso for sending this my way for review. I am seeing these online for $39.99 or £32.40 for those in the UK.







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Pizza Dave – delivering real reviews with no extra toppings

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REVIEW CRITERIA: I use each item for about two weeks to ensure I have collected enough data to adequately write a review. I use the same e liquid in tanks or rdas throughout all my reviews to ensure that I am comparing apples to apples between all modern equipment. I do not post reviews until I feel confident that I have used it enough to give an educated review. The reason I started doing reviews was due to poor purchasing decisions in my vaping infancy about two years ago. Back then, I purchased several different pieces of hardware without really enjoying it and I hope my reviews can guide people into spending their hard-earned money more wisely than I did! ****Keep in mind that some items I receive may be pre-release and not in retail packaging. Quality may be less than the finished product and what is in the package may differ from the retail package as well.
 

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