Vaporesso Armour GS, finish and electronics

A pod mod is usually judged by its pod and its coil. The Vaporesso Armour GS deserves another kind of look, the one you would give a collector’s box mod, because Vaporesso sells it as much on its trim and its screen as on its wattage. A studded body, a metal fire button, a themed interface and an in-house chip with a grand name. What matters is separating what the object really offers from what the product page says.

What the finish of the Vaporesso Armour GS is worth

The Vaporesso Armour GS is a single 18650 pod mod, battery not included, adjustable from 5 to 80 W and measuring 126 x 39 x 28 mm. Vaporesso’s page gives it a 0.96-inch TFT screen with three interface themes, and describes a studded body and a metal fire button in the name of the Armour G.

Its electronics remain those of a pod mod. They set the power, with three modes, Pulse, Eco and Smart, and no temperature control, and the device is only ever described with its own pod. It is a pleasant object to hold and to look at, not an exceptional mod.

The Armour GS trim, material and details

The Vaporesso Armour GS makes its case in the hand first. Vaporesso wanted a sturdy build in keeping with the name of the range, and focused its efforts on three areas, the grip covering, the raised details of the body and the fire button.

A covering borrowed from the car industry

The page for the Armour G and GS series describes a new material normally used for car seats. The sentence is written in the name of the Armour G, the built-in battery version, and the page never states outright that the GS shares it.

For the GS, a French retailer’s listing calls it faux leather. The safest reading is therefore a synthetic, leather-style covering whose exact make-up is published nowhere. That detail matters on a site where a finish is expected to be named.

Studs, fire button and light strip

The body carries a studded pattern that Vaporesso calls a sleek design, and the fire button is presented as metallic and brightly coloured. Like the covering, both descriptions sit in the blocks devoted to the Armour G, on a page shared by the two models.

Vaporesso’s GS spec sheet also lists an LED light in addition to the screen. The neon strip described along the body is, once again, written in the name of the Armour G. If that lighting is the reason for choosing the GS, it is worth checking photos of the exact colourway first.

The Vaporesso Armour GS screen and its three themes

The screen is the most polished part of the object. It does more than show the wattage, it changes its look to suit its owner, a touch you would sooner expect on a box mod than on a pod.

Race Car, General and RIM

According to Vaporesso, the G and GS mod gets a new interface on its 0.96-inch TFT screen, with three themes, Race Car, General and RIM. A UK retailer repeats the three themes for the GS alone, and credits it with the AXON chip and Neo Pulse mode.

Brightness and animation

The printed manual says nothing about themes, but it does describe two display settings in the settings menu, Bright for brightness and Animate to switch the vaping animation on or off. Those two settings are enough to make the screen discreet, and the themes are best checked on the screen itself rather than in the booklet.

AXON chip and Neo Pulse, what the electronics control

Under the bonnet, Vaporesso puts its AXON chip forward. The vocabulary is flattering, but the published data is thin, and this is where anyone used to premium mods should be demanding.

What Vaporesso says about the AXON chip

The manufacturer’s page links the AXON chip to powerful and consistent flavour, with no figures. It gives no firing time, no regulation accuracy and no signal refresh rate. The only published figure is the 5 to 80 W range, shared by the G and the GS.

Three modes, all wattage based

Neo Pulse is presented as an upgrade of Pulse mode, described as constant voltage output. In Eco mode, standard wattage is set by hand. Smart mode suggests a wattage on its own when a GTX coil is fitted.

None of these modes controls temperature. The term COREX, also promoted by the brand, is tied to the Armour G on the page, with no description of what it covers.

The pod, an add-on to the design

The G Series pod completes the outline of the Vaporesso Armour GS. It fills from the top and sets the airflow through a top inlet with four positions.

The manufacturer lists 5 ml for the international version and 2 ml for the TPD version. In the UK only the 2 ml version is legal, since refillable tanks are capped at 2 ml, and nicotine e-liquid is sold in 10 ml bottles at no more than 20 mg/ml. Vaporesso announces a leak-resistant pod with three in-house labels, Double Top, Triple S and Quadra Leakproof, which no page we read explains.

Armour GS or premium mod, what separates the two worlds

Comparing the Armour GS with a collector’s mod is not unfair. The pod mod borrows their visual codes, and it helps to know what it leaves out.

The first gap is the connector. No listing we read mentions a 510 thread, and Vaporesso only ever describes the Armour GS with its G Series pod and GTX coils. You cannot screw a rebuildable or a tank of your choice onto it, whereas a mod such as the Lost Vape Centaurus BT200 and its seven modes is sold on its own, with no tank imposed.

The second gap is the body itself. Collector’s mods publish their alloy, brushed aluminium, stainless steel or zinc, while Vaporesso does not name the material of the Armour GS chassis. The third is regulation, since the modes described include neither temperature control nor a power curve, two tools that the YiHi chips of the SX Mini mods put at the heart of the experience.

Who the Armour GS finish makes sense for

Your verdict depends on what you expect from a fine object. The Armour GS takes care of what you see and touch, and leaves aside what you adjust.

For a vaper moving up from a simple pod who wants a more rewarding device, the Armour GS brings a customisable screen, a metal button and an 18650 cell you choose yourself. For a mod enthusiast after fine regulation, a documented metal chassis and freedom of tank, it does not replace a box mod. That profile will look instead at a Voopoo Argus line built for the high end, which documents its zinc alloy and offers temperature control.

FAQ

Five questions the Armour GS listings often leave open, beyond its finish and its chip.

Which colours does the Armour GS come in?

Vaporesso’s page lists nine colourways for the GS, Black, Brown, Silver, Blue, Green, Pink, Pink Leopard, Racing Blackfire and Puzzle Aqua. Availability varies from one retailer to the next.

What does DTL mean in “Armour GS DTL”?

DTL stands for direct to lung. The manufacturer only presents the GS with a DTL pod, unlike the Armour G, which also comes in an MTL version.

What does the Armour GS2 add over the GS?

According to Vaporesso, the GS2 keeps the 18650 cell and the 5 to 80 W range, moves from a button lock to an auto-lock backed by the button, upgrades battery protection and adopts three new themes, Classic, Meteor and Engine. It ships with GTX Dual Mesh coils.

How big is the Armour GS?

Vaporesso gives 126 x 39 x 28 mm. The 18650 cell explains the 126 mm height, taller than the 113 mm of the built-in battery Armour G.

Does the Armour GS software get updates?

None of the documents Vaporesso publishes for the Armour GS mentions a software update. It is better to choose the device for what it does on the day you buy it, themes included.

Vaporesso Armour GS, a careful finish serving a pod mod

The Armour GS dresses a pod mod in the codes of a box mod, with a studded body, a metal button and a screen with three themes. Its electronics stay deliberately simple, three wattage modes, an AXON chip described without figures and an in-house pod instead of a 510 thread.

The Vaporesso Armour GS is therefore chosen for the pleasure of the object more than for the depth of its settings. That yardstick applies to any high-end kit, whose finish is judged by what it names and documents, not only by what it shows.

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