E-Cigarette Reviews and Rankings

4_5stars

Vaporesso Target Mini 2 Review

Vaporesso has created a lot of interesting vaping products over the years, but their Target line remains the most iconic one, in my opinion. I still remember trying the original Vaporesso Target  VTC 75W and being taken completely by surprise by its gaming joystick design, and honestly I can’t even believe it’s been four years since I reviewed it. Then we had the Target Pro, Target Mini, and most recently the Vaporesso Target Mini 2, which we’ll be taking a look at today.

A Look at the Contents

The Vaporesso Target Mini 2 comes in a rectangular cardboard box with a picture of the device and the phrase “It’s Back” on the front, and a short description, technical specifications and a list of contents on the back.

Inside the box we have the tiny mod and included tank sitting snug in a plastic holder, and underneath that we also a smaller box that contains all the accessories. The kit includes a micro-USB charging cable, a spare glass section for the tank, a spare coil-head, several o-rings, a tank disassembly tool, and a user manual. It’s pretty much a standard starter kit, with the exception of that disassembly tool designed to help users take the tank apart for thorough cleaning.

Design and Build Quality

The Vaporesso Target Mini 2 measures 37mm x 26mm x 63mm, is made primarily of zinc alloy and comes in four different colors – black, red, grey and teal. I received the latter, and I have to say it’s definitely the most interesting of all the available colors.

The Target Mini retains the general design of the Vaporesso Target 75W, but has a more modern twist emphasised by the larger display and the design of the adjustment buttons. The fire button is still shaped like a joystick trigger, so if you liked that about the Target line, you’ll be happy to know that that hasn’t changed. There’s no question that the design was much more impressive four years ago, when the Target VTC 75W came out, but it still retains some of its charm to this day.

As its name suggests, the Vaporesso Target Mini is a compact vaping device, so it’s no surprise that it only fits atomizers up to 22mm in diameters without overhang. Larger tanks would just look weird on this mod anyway, so if want to use larger attys, you’re better off trying another vape mod. The connection is classic 510, but keep in mind that it’s slightly raised to protect the paint job, so tanks don’t sit perfectly flat on the mod.

As I mentioned, the fire button is shaped as a joystick trigger, and the two smaller buttons below the screen kind of form a down-facing arrow. The tip of the arrow is actually a +/- button, and the one above is a menu selection and confirmation button. The display is quite generous for a vape mod of this size, but it’s not as bright as I would have liked it to be (even when set at maximum brightness), plus it’s black and white, which makes it look outdated.

Overall, I would say the Vaporesso Target Mini is a great quality mod, I’ve been using it for two weeks now, an I’m still impressed by how nice it feels in the hand. Despite its compact frame, it has a nice weighty feel to it, plus it’s ergonomic, and feels really solid. There is no rattling whatsoever, which is rare, the paint job looks impeccable, but it will be interesting how everything holds up in the long-run. For now, apart from the display, I don’t really have anything to complain about.

Menu System and Navigation

I never got the chance to try the Vaporesso Target Mini, so I can’t really say whether the Target Mini 2 menu has changed for the better or for the worse, but I can tell you that it’s very easy to figure out and get used to. To get into the menu, all you have to do is either press the dedicated button (the first one under the display) three times in rapid succession, or just keep it pressed for a couple of seconds. You will then see all the different modes displayed on screen, and you’ll be able to browse through them using the arrow-shaped +/- button.

There’s no point n beating around the bush – I was utterly blown away by the number of available vaping modes offered by this little mod. There are three different pre-heat options in wattage mode (high, normal and soft), a custom wattage curves mode, the SP mode we saw introduced on the Vaporesso Polar, variable voltage mode, custom voltage mode, temperature control for three materials (nickel, titanium and stainless steel), bypass mode, as well as three customizable memory modes. I honestly can’t think of anything else Vaporesso could have added. The Target Mini 2 simply has it all.

Just in case you’re not familiar with the SP mode, which apparently stands for “Super Player”, it essentially allows you to safely use the mod with resistances as low as 0.03Ω, but that’s ridiculously low for me, so I didn’t bother trying it.

Apart from all the different modes, there is also a “SET” submenu, where you can set the time on the clock that shows up on the display after the mod has been idle for any number of seconds, adjust the brightness, adjust the screen timeout, check the version of the firmware, and even mess with a couple of settings designed to make things easier for beginner vapers.

The “Smart” feature is designed to automatically adjust the power output of the mod according to the resistance of the mod, while the “Auto” option, when activated, will automatically switch between the different preheat levels. It’s not something I would use, but for a beginner not particularly inclined to tinker with the mod, these settings are pretty cool.

All in all, the menu system of the Target Mini 2 is intuitive and user-friendly, but at the same time impressively feature-rich. I can’t think of too many advanced vape mods that have as many vaping modes as this little guy.

Battery Life and Performance

As I mentioned above, I have been using the Vaporesso Target Mini 2 for two weeks now. Sadly, because of its limited battery life, I’ve had to use it mainly as a backup device. Don’t get me wrong, 2,000mAh is a lot better than the battery capacity of pod systems, even advanced ones like the Lost Vape Orion Plus, or Smoant Pasito, but if you plan on running it at its maximum power output (50W), or even over 40W, you won’t be getting more than a couple of hours three tops, out of it.

However, battery life can be deceiving, because the Target Mini 2 is such a  versatile device. On the Vaporesso website, it is being advertised as “the best mouth to lung kit”, and used as such (at wattages in the 10W – 20W range) a full battery will likely last you all day, and then some. But since it has a max power output of 50W, and an SP mode that allows you to use it with resistances as low as 0.03Ω you have to take its subohm capabilities int account. And it’s then that the battery capacity of the Target Mini 2 starts to look dismal.

Performance-wise, the Target line has long been seen as one of the best in the history of vaping. Starting with the Target VTC 75W and the introduction of Vaporesso’s cCELL coils, the performance of Target kids has been top-notch, and I’m happy to report that the Target Mini 2 is no exception. I’ve mainly been using my review sample with the pre-installed 1Ω cCELL coil in mouth-to-lung (MTL) mode, and I’m very happy with the way it’s been performing. Flavor has long been the main strength of the ceramic cCELL coils and the one included in this kit is one of Vaporesso’s best yet. Even at low wattage it brings out the flavor of the juice in a way that other round-wire coils just aren’t capable of doing.

The kit also includes an 0.6Ω mesh coil, seemingly design for direct lung vaping. It’a bit too restrictive for direct lung hits, at least compared to other mesh-coils I’ve tried, but the flavor is definitely up there with the best of them. Personally, the restrictiveness of the draw doesn’t bother me at all, in fact I much more prefer it this way, but other DL vapers may find the draw a bit too tight.

The 2ml tank that comes bundled in this kit features top-filling, with the port being accessible by twisting off the top cap, and bottom airflow control, with differently-sized airflow slots available. We have the classic cyclops slots, as well as several smaller holes designed for mouth-to-lung. I like the draw as tight as possible, so I liked to use mine with one of those small holes only half open. That may be too tight a draw for most people, but it’s nice that you have to option to adjust the airflow any way you want.

Overall, the variety of different vape modes available on the Target Mini 2, from the standard variable wattage mode to the two custom curve modes, combined with the flexibility of the tanks’ airflow – going from direct-lung to mouth-to-lung in a turn of the airflow control ring – make the Target Minin 2 one of the most impressive kits I’ve reviewed in a while.

Conclusion

The Vaporesso Target Mini 2 is a worthy successor to the now legendary Target line. There are things the Chinese manufacturer could have done better, like the display which looks a bit dim and outdated, but overall the pros definitely outweigh the cons. The build quality is impressive, as are the feature-rich menu system and the airflow system of the tank. You can switch from mouth-to-lung to direct-lung vaping on the fly, and this is one of those rare kits that does both modes justice, meaning that as long as you tweak the airflow and power output, you can enjoy both styles of vaping.

If you’re looking for a high-quality, compact vape kit, the Vaporesso Target Mini 2 should definitely b on your radar. It’s a very robust kit that appeals to all categories of vapers, from beginners, to casual and even veterans in search of something pocket friendly.

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