VOOPOO DRAG 5 Review: Test Results Are In

Product intro and specs

The DRAG 5 kit is the latest dual-18650 mod from VOOPOO and the follow-up to the DRAG 4, which I reviewed about a year and a half ago. VOOPOO burst onto the vape scene many years ago with their original DRAG and were mostly hit or miss for a while despite being very popular. However, they’ve quietly improved in recent years and have made many good products in a row. It’s been quite a while since I reviewed one that was a miss, so they really have seemed to grow from a hype company pumping out products to a quality company.

The DRAG 5 kit is a fully-fledged mod and tank combo, which has been a rare occurrence since pods took over the market. The mod is rated for a 177-watt output and takes two 18650 batteries. The tank in the kit is the UFORCE-X sub ohm tank, which is the latest in the line of UFORCE tanks and the sequel of the UFORCE-L that came in the DRAG 4 kit. It's a top-airflow tank that uses the updated PnP-X coils and holds 5.5 mL of liquid.

The DRAG 4 kit was a great all-around kit, so let's see if the DRAG 5 is a worthy successor.

Price: $58.88 (at Eight Vape)
Colors: Gradient blue, black, silver, sakura pink, sunset orange, gradient brown, green

First impressions

The DRAG mods have always had a distinctive style. The original one was a well-built brick with large branding, and the line slowly transitioned to a more classy look like you’d see on a DNA mod. So, I expected the DRAG 5 to be more of a classy-looking mod and wasn’t disappointed at all. I did love what the original DRAG brought to the table, but I really like the newer designs better. 

The paint job looks great. The mod feels nice and solid in the hand, and it sure is built well. The leather feels fantastic (both versions,) and the battery door fits flash and comes with a brand-new design. Plus, the branding is not overly pronounced compared to the early DRAGs. Overall, it looks and feels like a DRAG mod, and I mean that as a high compliment these days.

Build quality and design

The great hand feel and overall build quality make the DRAG 5 feel rugged. It definitely feels like it could take some accidental damage and keep ticking, even without being an IP-rated mod. It’s a solid size for a dual-18650 mod, not too big but not small either. Slightly larger, but comparable to the VAPORESSO GEN MAX I recently reviewed. 

The front of the mod is set up just like the on the DRAG 4. It features a large color screen that’s clear, bright, and easy to read. They don’t list a size, but it appears to be the standard 0.96-inch rectangular screen. Right below the screen there's the programmable lock slider which is a feature I love (more on that later on). 

The 510 pin is on the back and not centered like on the DRAG 4. The battery door features a new design though, and I like it. Instead of a full plate you pull off, it’s a bendable leather with magnets, so you can just slide it open and it’ll stay on the mod while changing batteries. It can be fully removed as the opposite side is held in by magnets as well, but really strong ones.

There are seven color options in total: three gradient colors and four solid colors.  I received the sunset orange and the gradient blue options. With the orange one the leather feels like typical leather (like that of a belt,) and has a checkered design with a small VOOPOO logo on it. The blue, however, has more of a suede feel to it, and the back also has a patch sewn into it with “DRAG DRAG DRAG” on it. I found that a little funny—it would be nicer with just a simple “DRAG 5” in the middle. It still looks good and is engraved in a matching color, so it mostly just looks like a black patch from far away. It all fits well and really feels like quality.

Features and functions

The DRAG 5 comes with the standard number of DRAG modes: three power modes and four temperature control modes. The industry has shifted away from temp control and complicated mods in favor of simpler mods, pods, and AIOs, so it is nice to still see some companies making temp control options on mods to cater to the vapers who still use them. 

As far as power modes go, you have RBA, Eco, and Smart. RBA is your standard power mode, so I can't understand why they don’t just call it that. Eco is supposed to save battery life, and smart just locks in a wattage range based on resistance, so you can’t overpower or underpower the coils by too much. Honestly, the only mode needed is the RBA mode (which should be called Power mode), and the mod should have had preheat options and a Watt Curve mode instead. 

For temp control, they have Ni, Ti, SS316, and SS430, but nobody is using Ni or Ti anymore, so just having TC mode with SS316 and a TCR would have been perfect. 

One of my favorite features is the lock slider which is right below the screen. You can slide it up and down (down locks it and up unlocks it). You can choose what it does via the menu. There are three options in total:

• Lock the adjustment buttons (the mod still fires) 
• Completely lock the mod (so it can't fire or be adjusted)
• Make it an on-off switch

I like using it as a full lock to pocket the device without worrying about it firing in a pocket or having to turn it off. Lock sliders are great and really should become a standard on mods, but for now, they’re a great feature that not many mods have.

Using the DRAG 5 mod

The DRAG 5 mod functions the same as the DRAG 4, so most people who like the DRAG series will be familiar with it. There is a fire button, up and down buttons, and the lock slider. Basic operations are as follows:

• Click the fire button five times to turn it on/off
• Use up/down to adjust wattage and/or temp
• Hold up and down to enter the menu
• (In TC mode) Use fire and down to change from F to C
• (In TC mode) Use fire and up to adjust wattage (up to 80)

In the menu, you can adjust the mode, program the lock slider, reset your puffs, and also change the screen color. There are five options: classic, green, yellow, purple, and pink.

Compared to the DRAG 4, there are two new features from the DRAG 4. First, the theme can be turned on or off. When on, it will show a little fire animation while vaping. The other is a battery evaluation mode. It tells you if your batteries are good or not. I'm not sure how that works and what method they use to test for it, but it only takes a few seconds and gives you a green check for each battery or a red x if it’s bad. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t enough information on how it works on their site or in the manual for me to trust this feature. I’d be happier if they explained how the mod tests the batteries before recommending that anyone put any stock in it. I like the idea of it, and I'm not saying it’s bad; just saying we need more information on it.

Performance

Testing on this mod was done with Sony VCT5A batteries. They only list two max outputs, watts at 177 and volts at 8.4. Amps aren’t listed on their site or in the manual. During my testing, the max achieved wattage was 215, so the device is actually underrated at 177 watts. They could have labeled it as a 200 or even 220 if they wanted too. Still fine with me though, and the rating seems to be a nod to the original 177-watt DRAG mod.

The amp limit I got was 38A with a 0.08-ohm coil (yes, it fires under 0.1 ohm, which is rare). Most mods are around 40A, so no issues there. The volt limit I got was 7.566V, so there is no boost circuit, but this isn’t a requirement for dual battery mods (although it would have been a plus if it had it). But the 8.4V listed voltage is theoretical and won’t ever be reached. Without a boost circuit, a 7.5V rating would have been more accurate.

Overall, it performs well in power (RBA) mode. It’s a decently accurate mod that tends to fire higher than you set it for. It’s possible that Eco mode is more accurate, and RBA mode is meant to feel a bit harder. Honestly, I'd prefer fewer buzzwords and a more accurate output. Since there's no boost circuit, it won’t do high watts at high resistances, but most vapers wouldn't care about that anyway. Even with a 0.63-ohm I was able to get 91 watts max. 

As far as the charge rate goes, they list it at 5V/3A. Most cellphone chargers are 2A, so I used that for testing. In any case, the maximum charge rate I got during my testing was 1.39A. It is a solid charge rate, but it should have had no issues reaching the max of the charging brick if the rating were legit. It charges in on/off cycles, so it appears to charge each battery individually in cycles, and the screen shows individual battery percentages. But overall, it doesn’t charge as fast as expected based on the specs. I consider it overrated.

Of course, the actual charge time will depend on your batteries, and it’s always better to use an external charger. Note that, unlike some previous VOOPOO devices, the DRAG 5 supports passthrough vaping, and it pauses charging for you to vape. 

Temperature control performance

I tested TC mode with SS316 wire and found it to be pretty accurate. However, you are limited to 80 watts, so you can’t do high-wattage builds with it. Using TC on builds that require 60 watts or less works well. Hits were smooth and pretty consistent, and dry hit protection was solid. I found it gave warm hits at 440F, which is pretty accurate. 

Since few of the more affordable companies are still offering temp control (and even when they do, only a few do it well), it’s a solid experience to try out temp control without spending an arm and leg on a mod.

UFORCE-X tank rundown

The tank included in the kit is the UFORCE-X tank, which is the latest in their line of UFORCE tanks, and an updated version of the UFORCE-L tank that came with the DRAG 4.  It features plug-and-play coils, which is the norm these days, and dual top-airflow (a change from the UFORCE-L, which had triple top-airflow). The coils are their new PNP-X line of coils, so they are not cross-compatible. They are supposed to last longer (up to 100 mL). It comes in three colors: black, gunmetal, and silver. 

The sunset orange mod came with the black tank, while the gradient blue came with the gunmetal tank. The drip tip is a standard wide-bore 810 drip tip. It does have a good 5.5 mL capacity, thanks to the included bubble tank. While the UFORCE-L had the “switch blade” half-turn fill method, the UFORCE-X changed to a slide back, where you just slide the top part back to expose the fill hole. The tank has some weight to it for sure and is well-built with good threading. 

To replace the coil, you unscrew the base from the tank and then pop the coil out. You can't do it with a full tank, but it can be done if there's a bit of juice in if you turn the tank sideways. The coil sticks out enough to pull out easily without having to use any tools. I really appreciate this, as many of the PnP-type coils need some kind of tool to get them out.

This is a DL tank for the medium-wattage range of about 40-80 watts based on included coils and airflow. There are two coil options in the kit, and three more available as separate purchases. The two included coils are:

• The PNP-X 0.15-ohm mesh coil, rated at 60-80 watts
• The PNP-X 0.3-ohm mesh coil, rated at 32-40 watts

The three other options not included are a 0.2-ohm coil rated at 40-60 watts, a 0.45-ohm coil rated at 25-32 watts, and a 0.6-ohm coil rated at 18-23 watts. 

I tried both included coils, and I do have to grade these on a curve since, as most tanks nowadays, it’s a top-airflow tank that prioritizes leak resistance over flavor. The 0.15-ohm coil at 70 watts was the “peak” performance I got from this tank. It actually had pretty good flavor and was a step up from the UFORCE-L. It is solid, but like all top-airflow tanks, it can’t compete with the top-tier bottom-airflow tanks on the market. 

It was actually a pretty decent vape, all things considered. The 0.3-ohm coil was not very good, though, when it comes to flavor. But both coils had great life lasting over 80 mL each. Overall, it’s a well-built tank that looks nice and is easy to use, but just don’t expect a flavor monster.

Pros / Cons

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