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Anthony Vapes: Vaporesso Aurora Play Pod Kit Tech Review

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
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Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Vaporesso Aurora Play Kit, please see the bottom for disclaimers and links. Note this is marked as a sample version.

Introduction:
The Vaporesso Aurora Play Pod kit is the latest Pod Kit from popular vape manufacturer Vaporesso. They been around a long time in vaping mostly popular for making really good mods at affordable prices. In 2018 they made some of the best mods like the luxe and one of the best pod systems with the renova zero so we’ll see if they can continue that with the aurora play. The play is a unique “zippo” style AIO Pod with refillable pods and a built in 650mah battery and is inhale to fire. It’s available in 4 colors Metallic Grey, Bronze, Rainbow, and Silver. Looking around online it’s available on pre-order only out of china for around 30 USD and pods run from around 3-6 bucks each and can be purchased in packs of 1, 2, and 6 from what i see so far so good price points.

Manufacturer's Specs:
  • Dimensions: 80x46.5x16.7mm
  • POD: 2ml, 1.3Ω
  • Filling: Press-To-Fill on top (1 step)
  • Built-in Battery: 650mAh
  • Charging Current: 1A
  • Power: 9w | 10.5w | 12.5w
Included in box:
  • 1 x AURORA PLAY Kit with POD(2ml, 1.3Ω)
  • 1 x Additional POD (2ml, 1.3Ω)
  • 1 x E-juice Filling Bottle (10ml)
  • 1 x USB Cable
  • 1 x User Manual
  • 1 x Quick Guide
  • 1 x Warranty Card
Coil Options
  • Vaporesso Aurora Play Replacement Pod Cartridge 2ml/1.3ohm
Picture Album
album



Kit Rundown
The Vaporesso Aurora Play is a “zippo” styled AIO (all in one) Pod kit, meaning there isn’t a separate mod or tank that can be used with anything else. It does have replaceable pods so you can carry spares, but those are sold separately and the coils are built into the pods so you replace the whole pod like a renova zero or innokin EQ. It’s a good size all things considered not super small but not large. The Zippo styling is pretty cool and it’s unique as i haven’t seen it on a pod before really and it allows you to cover the mouthpiece when pocketing without having to use easy to lose caps. There is no adjustable air as well like most pods. Not a big deal but it is cool when pods have adjustable air but not really the standard these days yet so just a bonus when it has that. It has a average capacity of 2ml (so TPD compliant). The battery is listed at 650mah so pretty good size based on the size of the device itself and pretty average capacity in a pod system. No complaints there. It features built in USB charging that they list at 1A. I tested this 4 times with an inline USB meter and for the charge rate it charges at .89A max so accurate rating and good charge rate. It charges full in about 1 hour. Battery size wise my 4 tests had results between 681-688mah. Nothing way overstated form what they list it as which is all i’m looking for so good ratings. It does have passthrough vaping as well which is great. The drip tip is proprietary and part of the pod itself. The Aurora Play is very nicely built and has a solid metal body. The coloring is also nice. I got the bronze one which is a color i really like and pretty rare these days for some reason. It used to be a color more widely available. It has a brushed finish to it and looks great. There is some wearing in terms of scratch marks on mine but nothing too crazy.

The pods attach to the battery via a magnet system and are easy to get in and out and fit really well so good job there and fit it nicely with no wiggle or play. To remove the pod just pull it out. The filling though i’m not a fan of. It’s the same filling as the renova zero which is a spring loaded fill port on the pod. The good part is, it’s on the top so can be refilled without even removing the pod. The bad thing is, it’s not easy to fill and worse off i’m seeing this method more and more and it needs to be cut off for a better one. There is no air outlet and plus once juice reaches the port inside the pod you can’t fill anymore so you don’t really get the full 2ml in there. It comes up a little short. I really wish they would have used a simple rubber plug and have 2 holes (one for air out when filling) and it would have been much better. They are marked as sample so who knows maybe they will update it but I won’t hold my breath. Also one of the pods springs was stiffer then the other making it even harder to fill.

Usage is pretty easy. It’s a inhale to fire device with 1 button. It also has adjustable output for 9, 10.5 or 12.5 watts. To turn the device on or off you can click the button 5 times. To adjust the power output click it 3 times and it’ll flash the color. Green is 12.5 watts, Blue is 10.5 watts, and Red is 9 watts. You can hold the button to check which mode you are in is well. The LED is right below the fire button and above the USB port and bright and easy to see. When vaping the color lets you know the battery charge. They sadly don’t give specifics but based on the pics in the manual, Green means Full to about 60%, Blue means 20-60%, and Red means 20% or less. Good enough battery meter not great but not bad. The pod is tucked away in the device, but they did cut in a nice juice winder so you can see your juice level really easily. Also the pods themselves are tinted, but very lightly tinted so it’s easy to see your juice level. Well done there for sure but fully clear with no tint would have been best.

Coil Performance and details
The Vaporesso Aurora Play Pod Kit comes with 2 Pods which is great. All kits should always include 2 coils/pods, so happy they did as a lot of them seem not to. There is only 1 coil option which is a 1.3 ohm coil rated for 10 watts. No specs on wire material but i have seen some pics of completely clear pods as well but can only speculate so i’m focusing on the 2 that came with the kit, both of which are clearly marked as “sample”

Performance wise I used both pods until they burned out. I used all 50/50 and 60/40 nic salt juices 20-25 mg nicotine. I used all 3 settings. The pods work good enough on any setting but really work best on high. Flavor was good though not great. so I’d consider it a “tier 2” nothing wrong with that. Life wise though they both lasted only around 5-6 ml of juice so not good enough for me. On top of that you don’t really get the full 2ml. They don’t wick well when the pod starts running low on juice and you can’t really fill it up all the way. All in all only about 1-1.5ml of juice is the actual usable amount. Not sure why they don’t wick well as the cotton is on the bottom for wicking and not too high up, but both pods did it to me. Chain vaped fine when full but when about 30-40% full would not chain vape. Overall the flavor is good enough (not great but good enough), but really nothing else i can say good about the pods. I hope they fix them and update them before official release.

Pros:
  • color options (4 total)
  • Average 2ml capacity
  • Good build quality on battery
  • nice unique zippo style and LEDs
  • good paint job
  • good size for easy portability
  • Passthrough Vaping
  • good ratings for battery size
  • good rating for charge rate
  • charges fast enough (1 hour)
  • good flavor for a pod system
  • pods are easy to remove and install
  • good enough battery meter that is easy to see
  • comes with 2 pods
  • price point for device and coils
  • adjustable output
  • inhale to fire worked great with no misfires
  • Juice level easy to see
Cons:
  • coil life is not good
  • pods are harder to fill then they should be
Conclusion
So with all that said, do I recommend this POD kit or not? I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, and this one i have to lean towards the no. It’s not a bad device, by any means. I actually really like the device itself, it’s just another case of being ruined by the pods. They need to last longer and chain vape better to compete with other better ones on the market. If they can fix the pods it would be a yes from me, but with the pods i got i can’t recommend it. I won’t be adding this to my spreadsheet of recs which is linked below.

This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.

Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Vaporesso

Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.

Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done over 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.

Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here

Spreadsheet of Recommendations here

Best of 2018 list here

Best of 2017 list here
 

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