REVIEW: Council of Vapor 80W Voyager Kit

Being a vape reviewer, I’ve become accustomed to some pretty silly names. But coming from a company with a name as cool as Council of Vapor, I was a little more taken aback by a tiny mod called a “Mega Volt.” In fact, the gang at Council of Vapor might agree with me, since they decided that a kit containing the Mega Volt mod would be named after the included tank. Hence, we have the Voyager Kit.

Name game aside, this diminutive pairing actually produces some serious power for its size, and is a worthy addition to anyone’s road kit or collection of backups. It’s not QUITE prepared for all-day use, but it comes pretty close. Let’s see why.

Council of Vapor was founded by a group of passionate Vapers seeking to design and build the most durable devices with a long-life expectancy, range of uses, and ideal and optimal performance. Council of Vapor mods and tanks are created from the hearts of passionate vapers. Do they get it right every time? Certainly not. No company does. But when they do, it is truly a marvelous vape experience.

Council of Vapor has created moderate wattage mods like the Mega Volt series, high wattage mods like 200W Tempest, squonk mods like the Wraith 80W, and even mech-mods like the Kindred 1.5.  They’ve created some of the best sub-ohm tanks like the Defiant, Vengeance, and the Phoenix, RDAs like the Royal Hunter, RTAs like the CoV RST. Anyone can see the commitment to quality, durable, and vape experience with each new product, the new Voyager Kit included.

So, where was I? Oh yes!

Council of Vapor (CoV) leans toward the minimalist side of things when designing their packaging. Now, I agree that the usual “vape-by-numbers” approach of a hero shot, bad translation, etc. is getting a little redundant. But CoV leaves a lot to its customers’ imaginations with its box schemes, letting a stylized logo, a few words, and a cool, ancient vibe tell the story. It may not be helpful in making a buying decision, but it does look cool.

What CoV might lack in functional box design, it more than make up for in protection. Opening the Voyager kit shows a really nice, plush padded interior, holding the Mega Volt 80W mod, the Voyager tank, USB cable for charging and upgrading, a replacement coil, extra parts and spare tank glass. The encasement was so snug I needed to use tweezers to remove several of the spare parts. Sure enough, nothing was damaged on arrival.

The CoV Mega Volt 80w mod packs a lot of technology into a miniature space. At just 60mm tall by 39mm wide, the Mega Volt is sized for stealthy, easily pocketed convenience. The solid-feeling stainless and plastic composite body is adorned with a carbon fiber-esque stickers on the sides – apparently a common theme in today’s mod design.

The top of the device features a fairly standard press-fit 510 connection, which is oddly offset to one side. On a mod this small, one would think a centered 510 connection would provide a more balanced feel, but one would be wrong. The Mega Volt doesn’t suffer from this design choice, but my personal preference would have had the mod be completely balanced, top to bottom.

The footprint of the mod features two of my least favorite features of small devices – the bottom-positioned USB charging and upgrade port, and a complete lack of vent holes. Even on such a small mod, charging the Mega Volt on its side is awkward.

BUT you won’t have to endure the awkwardness for long – the Mega Volt’s 3000mAh internal battery can charge from empty to full in under an hour. In fact, with regular charges, it’s not uncommon to get to full in half that time.

Of course, with all this heat and power transfer happening in such a small space, the Mega Volt DOES get hot when charging, making me wonder why a little more venting wasn’t part of the design. Thankfully, Council of Vapor included automatic shutoff on the chipset for when things get too hot internally.

The included 22mm Voyager sub-ohm tank is an interesting atomizer. Featuring a nice, snug slide-to-fill top cap, the Voyager seems like a slightly shrunken version of today’s leading tanks, with more than a few similarities to SMOK’s Baby Beast, both in terms of flavor and vapor.

My kit arrived with a pair of 0.2-ohm vertical coils, rated for 30-50 watts. The wide, abundant juice flow ports allow for a lot of e-liquid to enter the chamber without much concern, and I never experienced any burnt or dry hits when using them within their recommended wattage ranges.

After a tank or so of use, I was happy with how much flavor and vapor I enjoyed at relatively low wattages. The coils are not overly thirsty, but the tank’s minimal 2mL capacity meant I was refilling the Voyager tank quite often. At higher wattages, the juice consumption became pretty substantial.

But the juice consumption is countered by really strong flavor. The Voyager might not be a cloud machine, but that’s not the target use of the CoV Voyager tank, and it’s doubtful users will be fooled into using it otherwise.

My only true complaint about the Voyager is the durability of the included coils. With moderate use, I only enjoyed 3-4 days of good performance before flavors became muted, and vapor production dwindled. They were functional for another day or two, but the overall lifespan of the included coils is disappointing.

As I mentioned above, the Mega Volt packs a lot of power and technology into a very small space. But it also makes things extremely easy for newcomers to get a handle on the power.

The adjustable ramp-up settings – standard, high and low – are helpful, and allowed me to get lower-ohm atomizers up to speed quickly, or slow things down for higher-resistance coils.

The temperature control suite includes settings for nickel, titanium and stainless steel coils. However, there are no other adjustments to be had. The ability to save custom TCR settings would have furthered the Mega Volt’s ability to be truly “plug and play,” but most users will have no trouble finding their sweet spot, all the way up to the device’s 600F limit.

Likewise, the inability to adjust wattage settings when in temperature control somewhat limits the user customization ability, but again, tinkerers are likely not the primary target for this device.

Vaping the Mega Volt was as easy and enjoyable as navigating the menu trees. With little delay between firing and puffing, most every tank in my collection worked flawlessly, with the Mega Volt providing smooth, uninterrupted power throughout.

That said, the internal battery – while easy to charge quickly – doesn’t offer much in the way of longevity. Within two hours of charging to full, the Mega Volt’s auto power adjustment was adapting to fluctuating battery readings. Three hours isn’t terrible for a device of this size, but with an 80-watt capability, there’s a good chance the Mega Volt will need to be boosted more than once when you’re out and about.

Even at more moderate wattages and/or temperatures, the device goes through battery at a breakneck pace. But, it should be said that the Mega Volt never gets hot, even with the lack of venting.

I used a range of tanks and even a few RDAs on the Mega Volt, and all worked well enough, though the  device is best suited for MTL and light sub-ohm use. Even with the power mode set to high, it was difficult to get more complicated, lower-ohm builds to heat adequately. However, my SMOK Baby Beast tanks worked perfectly, as did a group of older RTAs and MTL tanks. Despite the miniature size, the Mega Volt never seemed awkward or underpowered.

Though we’ve covered the Council of Vapor Mega Volt on these pages before, the Voyager kit represents a good way to experience this versatile little mod with a well-matched tank. The flavor and vapor performance are well above average, and the “set it and forget it” nature of the Mega Volt make this a perfectly stealthy, pocket-friendly setup for casual vapers and people who don’t want to haul massive rigs in small purses or tight jeans.

CoV Voyager Kit is Available Now at Element Vape for $44.95 Complete.

The few notable flaws in battery life and coil duration keep the Voyager kit from achieving top scores, but this kit would be a welcome, well-equipped addition to any vaper’s collection.

CoV Mega Volt mod score: B+

CoV Voyager tank score: B

Overall Voyager Kit Value: B+