Vaporesso Revenger Kit Review: Taking on the Big Boys

Straight out of the box, the Revenger mod impresses with its bold color accents and beveled edges. Having seen and handled some of the earlier betas, I can now say the mod feels solid and well made. The device is largely free of any button rattle, except for the slightest jiggle coming from the main power/firing button when shaken. The up/down and option buttons are located on the front face of the device below the 0.96 inch OLED display and feel snug. All the mod’s buttons have a short throw, and the firing button is nice and clicky.

I notice no problems with the 510 threading on either the Revenger mod or the NRG tank, although a miniscule gap is noticeable between tank and mod on the samples we received.

The NRG tank has perhaps borrowed inspiration from the SMOK TFV8/12 family and integrated what they call Slide-n-Fill functionality. The tank’s Delrin top cap slides open to reveal a kidney-shaped juice fill port. The port is 3 mm wide, large enough to accommodate most nozzles. The wide-bore drip tip has an inbuilt mesh filter, to prevent hot spitback. If you don’t like it, you can take out the drip tip and exchange it for Goon-style, or 810 ones. Note however they only fit snug if they have outward-facing o-rings.

Meanwhile, Vaporesso has also released a “mini” version of the NRG tank for TPD-compliant EU customers. Capacity is a measly 2 mL, tank dimensions are smaller, and the drip tip has been downsized to a 510 scale.

Vaporesso has launched a new family of coils to pair with the NRG tank, called GT Cores. They come in five variations, although the Revenger Kit ships with two of them to get you started. Once again, with their printed wattage ranges and “best” settings, I sense a turn towards SMOK-style sub ohm, cloudchasing performance here. They are SS coils, so you can use them in TC mode, although you wouldn’t know it – nowhere in any of their documentation has Vaporesso mentioned this. Shout outs to Mike Vapes for doing the legwork on this in his review.

The magnetic battery door makes up the Revenger’s back panel, identical to the front sans OLED display and buttons. The 510 pin up top sits centrally on the mod. This means you can fit any atomizer up to 27 mm without overhang issues. Our sample sits on a flat surface with a tiny bit of wobble. I’d put that down to a slight overhang between the back panel, and the middle battery compartment where the venting holes are. Although the battery panel sits flush with the rest of the mod, a tiny bit of movement is noticeable up the top.

In the hand, it feels like most of the Revenger mod’s real estate is taken up by its glassy front and back panels. Although the mod’s frame is constructed out of aluminum alloy, it feels less like metal in the hand and more synthetic, like plastic. A cold, metallic mass it ain’t – all surfaces are rounded and beveled and high-gloss. It fits comfortably in my hand, but may dwarf smaller ones.

Paired with the NRG tank, the kit looks well-proportioned and balanced. That is, if you like centrally-mounted 510 connections.

The NRG tank takes the dynamic accenting a step further, with two bands of chunky knurling at the airflow control ring and the top cap. Airflow is smooth and easily adjustable, with two fixed points from closed to wide-open. The top cap knurling can be twisted to disconnect the tank chimney from the coil and base.

One feature Vaporesso seem to be proud of is their use of In-Mold-Labelling for the Revenger mod. This should add to the durability of the finish and make it more resistant to scratches. I will say however that your high-gloss mod will attract fingerprints. However, a quick polish cleans it all up.

The OMNI Board is now gen 2.0 – but to be honest I don’t see huge differences in functionality between this and previous Vaporesso products. That’s not a negative – the OMNI board already offered an accurate CCW mode, as well as temp control for the usual wire types.

What’s new here is that you can now “smart charge” your 18650s via USB. Vaporesso boasts of a 50% reduction in charge times, with 2.5 amps maximum charge output. While this sounds great for impatient vapers, you may shorten the lifespan of your batteries if you charge them this way. But if you choose to do so, you can also keep track of your remaining charge time. I tried it out, and my LG HB6s were fully recharged in less than 3 hours.

The cherry on the cake for some will be the addition of the “real time clock”, in your choice of analog or digital display. Note that if you take out your batteries, the clock will reset and will have to be recalibrated through the system settings menu, seven long clicks of the mode button away.

The Revenger mod’s many functions can be accessed by pressing and holding down the option button.

A long press toggles you though VW / TC (Ni/SS/Ti) / M1 / M2 / Bypass and System Settings.

• TC moves in 10° increments for Fahrenheit and 5° steps for Celsius.
• You can toggle between °F and °C by moving outside the temperature ranges of each.
• Under TC modes you can select the target wattage. To do so you must do this under System Settings > VT mode.
• M1 and M2 modes allow you to use a user-defined TCR curve. This can be defined with the Windows-only software available from Vaporesso.
• Bypass mode allows you to apply direct voltage output from your batteries – much as you would with a mechanical mod.

System Settings contain the following options. To select one you need to press the Option button three times:

• VW mode: define draw strength from 3 available settings
• VT mode: define the wattage in TC mode
• Time Set: toggle the clock on and off / change date and time
• Default: revert to factory settings
• Smart on/off: turn Smart mode on and off
• Screen Timeout: define the screen timeout duration
• Exit: exit the menu

The menu functionality ain’t bad, but it’s a pain in the behind to get to the system settings menu, as there’s no way of quickly toggling through the earlier options. This gets particularly annoying if you’re trying to alter the wattage in TC mode (select wire type, see wattage, 6 long clicks to get to menu, enter VT mode, alter wattage, exit menu, long click to get back to TC mode and wire type!!!)

How about a 4-click workaround on the TC mode screen, such as we’ve seen in the Drag and the RX200S? Or a quick-access button combo for the settings menu?

The Beta versions of the Revenger mod have had some issues with a “low battery” error. Thankfully, you can easily update the firmware by downloading it directly from Vaporesso’s website. Aside from updating to the latest firmware version, you can also customize the screen display. The software is Windows-only though.

If you happen to be a tree-dwelling sloth, you can even rotate the screen 180° and vape upside down!

Aesthetics are largely subjective – but we can agree that the Revenger is a chunky, bold kit that will divide opinion. If you’re a fan of SMOK product line, or a frustrated Alien user, then perhaps the Revenger Kit will appeal to you. The central 510 pin is something you don’t see every day, but allows the mod to take a lot of different atomizers without overhang.

The Revenger kit is a big boy among dual-18650 mods, but I think its looks feel less innovative and unique than previous Vaporesso products. Still, the large OLED display and high-wattage performance puts this product squarely on the same turf as similar offerings from SMOK, Wismec, and Sigelei – manufacturers who will now have to compete with Vaporesso for their market share.

The Revenger Kit ships with the GT4 and GT8 coils. Both are rated with a resistance of 0.15 ohm, but are structurally different – the first is a quad coil, stacked two-high. The second is an octo coil with two sets of four coils stacked.

The Revenger mod has a very short ramp-up time, on par with Innokin’s Aethon chipset. You can basically click the fire button and vape away.

The draw on the NRG tank is direct lung, but there is a noticeable resistance, or drag. That’s with the airflow wide-open. Reducing it doesn’t noticeably affect the draw until you’re over halfway closed. I think this restricted feeling comes from the inner diameter of each coilheads (2.5 mm), and the mesh filter. Yes, it will reduce spitback, but it’s also acting as a massive filter.

As such I would rate the NRG tank as a moderate wattage sub ohm device. Even if you upped the power, your airflow is largely defined for you, and it would be easy to get a burnt hit this way. With the GT8 coils you can vape fairly high (my sweet spot was around 85 – 100 W), and this feels like a decent compromise between vapor production and flavor. Both are decent but I wouldn’t say it’s anything exceptional.

The NRG tank’s drip tip stays very cool throughout a vaping session, even when you notice that the tank glass is hot to the touch. I haven’t noticed any problems with leaking.

It’s a decent tank, and it performs like a decent sub ohm tank should. I’d like it more, if it wasn’t for the mesh filter and the fixed draw.

If the Revenger Kit marks Vaporesso’s entry in the high-wattage cloudchasing end of the vape market, then I think they’ve made a decent crack at it. It’s a simple to use, intuitive mod that comes with a well-matched tank. I have the impression that it will perform solidly.

I’m still not convinced by USB charging of 18650 batteries, but it could be a lifesaver if you’re on the road and don’t have an external charger to hand. I like the ease of Firmware updating, and the options to customize the appearance of the OS. Beta samples had some issues with a “low battery” warning, but Vaporesso has been vigilant and released patches to address this issue.

The NRG tank is OK… but it’s no Cloud Beast King. Maybe the GT Core coil family will expand to crank up the wattage.

While I don’t think the Revenger Kit brings anything groundbreakingly new to the table, it’s a decent starter kit. It covers the ground treaded already by other brands, and finally announces Vaporesso on the 100 watts and above market.

If you’re looking for sub ohm starter kit with the basic feature set covered, then I’d recommend checking the Revenger Kit out. Expect it to drop early July.