VAPORESSO LUXE XR MAX 2 Review: A Versatile All-Rounder

Design & Build Quality

The VAPORESSO LUXE XR MAX 2 is, despite the name, a palm-sized device. It is certainly at the wide end of the scale to be called palm-sized, but at only 108mm tall and a relatively slim 26mm deep, only those with the tiniest hands will have trouble holding it comfortably. Overall, the dimensions are very similar to other devices in the LUXE X series, and are comparable to vapes like the OXVA VPRIME or Geekvape Digi Pro.

The device feels very solid and durable, despite having large plastic panels embedded into the metal body on the front and rear faces (one of which covers the large display screen). These plastic panels actually add to the overall design, with the rear one being patterned to resemble carbon fiber or wood grain, and the front one allowing a view of some of the internal electronics.

The large airflow slider is positioned on the side, sitting comfortably under your thumb when holding the device with the screen facing you. The fire/control button is level with the slider, located on the front face above the LCD screen. The base of the device, which is wide, flat, and padded with silicone, contains the USB-C port and a small device lock slider.

There are a total of eight color options to choose from, ranging from the pretty standard Blacks, Reds, and Blues, to the more flamboyant Flowing Purple and Imperial Red Leather. The silver version I was sent to test looks great, but the black front and back panels are so large that it’s more two-tone than silver. The complete list of color/style choices is:

• Black
• Red
• Blue
• Silver
• Storm Blue
• Flowing Purple
• Imperial Red Leather
• Dark Black Leather

Pods

You get two different pods with the LUXE XR MAX 2 kit, which at first glance look identical to each other. But take a look at the side of each and you will see “MTL” or “DTL”. The MTL pod can only be used with the higher-resistance 0.6Ω, 0.8Ω, and 1.2Ω XR coils. These coils are slightly narrower than the DTL coils and so will not fit in the DTL pod. The XR coils for the DTL pod include much lower resistances, such as 0.15Ω, 0.2Ω, 0.3Ω, and 0.4Ω. Each pod included in the kit has an appropriate coil pre-installed.

If you are coming to this device from a small pod vape, you might be used to pods that are thrown out as a whole when the coil dies. As hinted at above, this is not the case with the XR MAX 2, which uses reusable pods and replaceable coils. Thankfully, the anti-leak design used by VAPORESSO in the coil socket means that leaking doesn’t seem to be a problem, as long as the coils are inserted snugly into the pod base.

The overall design of the 5ml LUXE XR pods will be familiar to anyone who has used any of the previous devices in the LUXE X range. They use the wide and thin “duck bill” design that has become common in pod vapes over the last several years, and work equally well for MTL or DTL vaping. The mouthpiece tapers in at the sides towards the tip, easily allowing for a tight or loose mouth shape to be used.

The pods sit securely in the battery part of the vape with the help of strong magnets. The majority of the e-liquid reservoir is visible above the top edge of the slot, so it is easy to keep an eye on how much liquid you have left. This is further helped by the transparent material used, which allows even uncolored vape juice to be seen at a glance. The pods are topped up using the fill port on the bottom, hidden behind a secure silicone bung. The port is of a generous size and big enough to easily accept all but the widest e-juice bottle nozzles.

Features

As you might expect from a vape with the slightly grandiose name LUXE XR MAX 2, the device has a respectable amount of both practical and quality-of-life features. Let’s start with the most obvious: the 0.96-inch digital TFT display that sits proudly underneath the plastic panel on the front of the MAX 2.

The screen is large, bright, colorful, and flanked by LEDs, making it an eye-catching design feature. However, in addition to allowing you to choose from three different themes, the display is also designed to provide you with useful information about the vape. The provided data includes battery level, power mode, wattage, coil resistance, and puff count/timer. You can access various menus and settings by tapping the fire button and then using the left and right touch buttons just below the screen to select options.

Overall, the display is pretty good, but I couldn’t help thinking the font size used for some of the data (battery, puff count, and resistance) is very small. Maybe it’s just my aging, tired eyes, but I found myself squinting to read what was on screen rather than being able to see everything at a glance.

The MAX 2 offers three different usage modes to choose from. These include Pulse, Eco, and Smart mode. Pulse mode is designed to maintain a balance between flavor and cloud intensity by fluctuating power delivery to prevent oversaturation of the wick. Eco mode improves battery life by employing power curves and preheat functions, and is best used when using the vape for MTL. Smart mode aims to make vaping easier by automatically adjusting wattage to suit coil resistance, helping you avoid ruining coils with too little or too much power.

The airflow slider on the side of the vape is another notable feature, primarily because it is significantly larger than those found on many pod vapes and allows a considerable amount of air to flow. This might be expected by experienced DTL vapers, but if you’re used to seeing two or three tiny pin-prick holes in the airflow slider of a low-power pod vape, it will appear huge! The airflow has two settings: fully open for DTL and closed or almost closed for MTL. You could possibly experiment with something in between to enjoy a reasonable RDL vape at a push. The slider itself is smooth and has a good resistance level, so it is quite easy to be accurate with it.

The final feature is the device lock slider hidden on the bottom of the vape, next to the USB-C port. This tiny switch allows you to lock activation of the device, helping to prevent pocket firing or accidental setting changes when you’re not using it.

Battery Life & Charging

The 3200mAh battery inside the LUXE XR MAX 2 is ample for this type of device, especially if you are using it for MTL vaping. If you are coming to the MAX 2 from a lower power pod vape, 3200mAh might seem like a huge battery capacity. But the 80W maximum power setting can blast through battery life far more quickly than you might be used to.

The MAX 2 offers a pretty wide range of modes, resistances, and power settings, so just how long a full battery charge will last can vary greatly. During my testing, I used the vape at several of these configurations for a few days each, to get an idea of some averages.

Using the 0.2Ω coil, with the vape in Pulse Mode at a wattage of around 50W-55W, a full charge lasted around a day if vaping fairly heavily. Those settings might well be pretty intense for some users, who will likely need to puff on the device less frequently than they would a 25W pod vape. In which case, the battery life might extend to a day and a half.

Switching to the 0.8Ω pod in Pulse Mode at 15W-18W of power, a full charge of the 3200mAh cell could last a mid-to-heavy vaper two days. A lighter user could easily stretch the time between charges to close to three days. Switch to Eco or Smart Mode, and three days should be the norm for most users.

Recharging is reasonably fast, considering the battery capacity that needs to be refilled. The 2A fast charging can take the MAX 2 from empty to full in around 55-65 minutes. It would have been nice to see VAPORESSO use the same 3A Super Charge USB-C port on this device as they did on their new XROS 5, but an hour to charge a cell of this size isn’t impossible for most people to plan around. Helpfully, when the device is charging, an accurate “time to full” reading in minutes is displayed on the screen.

Performance

Positioning a device to be both MTL and DTL is not unheard of, but it certainly isn’t common. You would usually have MTL/RDL or RDL/DTL devices, but rarely one that spans both ends of the vaping experience yardstick. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the MAX 2 performs brilliantly, no matter if you want low resistance, an airy draw, and big clouds, or high resistance, a tight draw, and a less intense experience.

I tested the 0.2Ω coil in the DTL pod first, as that was pre-installed. I let Smart mode choose the optimum 55W power level, and filled the tank with some fairly low-strength 70/30 e-liquid and opened the airflow fully. The richness of flavor struck me first, followed quickly by an intense but satisfying throat hit. Even with the airflow wide open, the draw wasn’t as airy as some other DTL vapes I have used, but still more than enough for a great DTL draw. I tested it out at 60W, but found the mouthpiece heated up too quickly to get a good lungful of vapor. 50W to 55W was the sweet spot for me in the DTL configuration.

Switching to the 0.8Ω coil in the MTL pod, I switched to a stronger 50/50 nic salt e-liquid and closed the airflow. I once again let Smart mode choose the wattage (16W). In full MTL mode, the draw is tight but not too tight, allowing a good mouthful of vapor to be drawn. Flavor was again great, and the overall experience was enjoyable. Opening up the airflow slightly allowed me to get something more like an RDL vaping experience (which I prefer), but there are probably better pure RDL vapes around if that’s what you are looking for.

The vape fires efficiently, and the COREX 2.0 dual mesh coils are excellent. They produce great flavor, a good amount of vapor, and seem to last well. The 0.2Ω failed well before the 0.8Ω coil did, but that’s to be expected when 55W is being put through it compared to 16W. Despite the bottom-fill bung and a removable coil, the pods seem to be very leak-proof. The only time I saw any liquid in the pod socket was when the low-resistance pod failed, and this is only to be expected.

Verdict

The LUXE XR MAX 2 isn’t the first MTL/DTL device VAPORESSO has released, but it is the first one I have tested for an extended period. And despite my initial misgivings that this would be a jack of all trades/master of none situation, this clever dual-use offering from the ever-reliable VAPORESSO quickly won me over. No, more than that, it impressed me at nearly every turn.

The 5ml pods, which are very much needed for a vape that goes up to 80W, are well-designed and a pleasure to use. The GTX COREX 2.0 coils are outstanding, producing rich flavors and sizeable clouds. They last well, even the low-resistance versions, and both wick and vaporize e-liquid efficiently.

All of the usage modes, from Pulse to Smart, have a viable reason for being present, and really improved my enjoyment of the device, no matter which vaping style I was trying. The screen is packed with information, and while some of it could have been a point or two larger to make it easier for older eyes to read, I doubt that will be a dealbreaker for many users.

If you are someone who likes to have vaping style options but who does want to carry two vapes around all day, or perhaps someone looking to make the upgrade from a low-power pod vape but isn’t sure the more intense DTL is going to work for you, the VAPORESSO LUXE XR MAX 2 could be the perfect solution. It’s clever, well-designed, and constructed, not too bulky, and ultra-adjustable. What more could the modern pod mod vaper desire?