Vaporesso Tarot 200VTC  – A Review

 The first thing I noticed about the Vaporesso Tarot 200VTC 200W Box Mod (it’s official name) is the lack of a USB port and cable. This tells us that not only will you be required to charge the dual 18650 batteries externally, in a Nitecore charger, you also won’t be able to update the firmware.

I’m not all that sure how much investment it would have taken to add the port and allow for onboard charging, but I think it goes a long way toward explaining the low selling price of such a powerful and good looking mod. – TM

Vaporesso Tarot 200VTC 200w Box Mod

The Dual-18650, 200W box mod from Vaporesso, the aforementioned Tarot 200VTC 200W Box Mod comes with a full complement of top-notch features and the latest safety specs. (see the official features and specs at the end of this review) While certainly not a revolutionary vaping device, its claim for fame is the beautiful aesthetics, and the obvious quality workmanship. Vaporesso has moved swiftly and smoothly into the upper reigns of the vape gear manufacturers.

There are dozens of 200W devices on the market, but the Vaporesso Tarot, at $44.95 (Element Vape), offers what I believe to be the biggest bang for the buck yet.

The Tarot 200VTC 200W Box Mod by Vaporesso uses the company’s most sophisticated, not to mention, proprietary, chipset capable of outputting up to 200W of power on just 2x 18650 batteries, not the usual 3x 18650 batteries.

This chipset is the heart of the Tarot 200VTC box mod, but for most people looking for 200 watts of power and Temperature Control will be attracted to the Tarot because of the attention to gorgeous aesthetics and premium materials used in its construction by Vaporesso. It is hard to believe what less than $50 buys today.

Tarot 200VTC – Design Elements

The chassis of the Tarot is a durable Zinc Alloy that maximizes strength and minimizes weight. This Zinc Alloy material is then covered up by a high gloss carbon fiber material that adds to the durability and keeps off even more weight over other materials some brands have used.  I’m a big fan of carbon fiber used in mods from Aspire and Vaporesso, so this was certainly a plus for me.

The Tarot 200VTC is a rather large, more rectangular than square box mod with notch cuts on the 4 corners, and features natural contours that allow the mod to sit comfortably in most hands but not all, and plenty of ventilation holes on the bottom of the mod and then again inside the magnetic battery cover. With remarkable cooling provided by the venting as well as the cool touch carob fiber, even at high wattages and low resistance coils, the unit stay cool to the touch.

The OLED display is user-friendly, bright and easy to read, while the hexagon-shaped firing button and adjustment buttons put the finishing touches on a brilliant box mod design that speaks to longevity. It’s a timeless design in my opinion, worthy of the Industrial Design moniker.

The Tarot 200VTC Box Mod show great accuracy in VT (Variable Temperature) and VW (Variable Wattage) modes. With a temperature range of 300 to 600 Fahrenheit in VT mode, and a minimum resistance of 0.15ohm, the user can vape just about any atomizer. While I’ve not used every atomizer, I did use more than a dozen without incident.

The Vaporesso Tarot 22VTC includes all of the above, and yet costs less than fifty bucks. It’s in the price range that, if you like it, it doesn’t take much to own one. As much as I love some of the high cost vaporizers on the market, the DNA200’s and the ProVari’s, it’s nice to know that performance and durability can be purchased for a lot less.

The Vaporesso Tarot 200VTC Box Mod really is good value, and it does perform like it should, and it is as dependable as Vaporesso claims. After spending more than a week using the device I believe I can state with confidence that if you like the design, if you like the specs, then you’ll love this $44.95 sophisticated mod.

I’ve seen devices with similar specs and features sell for more than $100, so if this device can hold up for a year or so, that $44.95 buys a lot of box mod. While I can’t wait a year to write my review, I can say that in the time I’ve used it I’ve had no problems arise.

Removing the magnetic battery door removes the entire side of the device. Inserting two 18650 batteries, over and over, hasn’t made a single scratch or tear on the batteries I’ve chosen to use with it. That is a serious problem in some of the expensive devices on the market, especially in the 3x 18650 battery mods. The Lost Vape Triade DNA200 is one of my favorite mods, but if the user isn’t steady and careful when inserting batteries, pieces of the battery wrapper will tear. Not so with the Tarot 200VTC. The battery door sits flush and tight, and disappears into the body once attached.

Wattage Increments

I was surprised to see that adjusting the wattage is done by 1.0 watt increments. You don’t have the opportunity to dial in 41.4 watts for instance, it goes 41 to 42, or so on. I don’t particularly see that as a problem, though some might. In all my years of vaping, 1-watt give or take, has never truly changed my true vape experience.

Temperature Control or Variable Temperature

The Tarot 200VTC comes with a temp control system that allows for Nickel (Ni200) Titanium (Ti) and Stainless Steel (SS316) coil wires. Of particular note is the TCR values for SS316, which is a bit different than standard stainless steel. Switching between the TC modes and Wattage mode is done quickly and easily with the oddly shaped button that sits directly under the Plus/Minus buttons. You can press and hold to scroll through the modes, or press and release to move through. Changing through the modes by using the press and release method seemed to be a bit quicker to me than press and hold method.

The OLED screen features an above normal sized text which is arranged in two lines on the display. Output wattage or Temperature is the largest readout, as usual, and atomizer resistance, output voltage, and battery life (in the form of a battery icon) is also displayed.

Battery Usage

Like any other dual or triple 18650 mod, it is a good practice to have dedicated batteries. That is to say, buy 2 (or 3) batteries of the same brand, same mAh rating, and so on, and mark them as batteries for the Tarot 200VTC. It’s also wise to number the batteries, on every week or two switch the position in the battery chamber.

When it comes to battery brands, do the very best you can to make sure you’re buying authentic batteries, not counterfeits. Chinese made batteries are big business, and it’s so corrupt that you can bet that if you own more than 5 or 6 batteries made for use in mods, 1 or 2 at least, are counterfeit. Counterfeit means dangerous. So make sure your favorite vendor is stocking authentic batteries.

There are so many Vapers that ignore these types of safety issues and on the rare occasion when something goes wrong it’s assumed the problem is the device, when the real problem is not practicing safe battery usage, or using counterfeit batteries.

Conclusion

If the lack of a USB charger and/or firmware updating is a deal killer, then stay away from the Tarot 200VTC. Because this is one of the least expensive 200W TC mods on the market, I don’t mind the lack of USB ports or cables.

The sophisticated chipset by Vaporesso allows for a full complement of TC modes, and allows for a maximum output of 200W on 2x 18650’s. Just last year that was impossible, it took 3x 18650’s to do that.

As far as I can see, there are only a few of questions you need to ask yourself before buying one or discarding it completely.

One is; when you look at it do you like what you see? I sure do.

Two; Do you like the features and specs? Who wouldn’t?

Third; Can the $44.95 selling price nullify the lack of USB charging and firmware updating?

Before you answer that one, think about how many times you’ve actually bothered to update your firmware upgradable mod? If it’s not that important to you, then charging the batteries externally is a practice you should be doing even if you can charge them via the USB port.

Forth and final question; What are you buying it for? Is it your first foray into 200W box mods? First TC capable mod? Is it a backup mod or are you looking for a primary mod on the cheap?

With so many choices on the market today, the Vaporesso Tarot 200VTC mod is feature rich and high performing…not to mention a quality made device using a Zinc Alloy and Carbon Fiber…and it’s inexpensive.

Lacking firmware updating and onboard charging is disappointing, but is it a deal killer? Only you can answer that.

GRADE: A

“Graded A on the face of it. Powerful, feature rich, and damn fine-looking mod. The lack of a USB port is easily forgiven by this reviewer based on the positives, and the very affordable price tag.”

Tom McBride

Official Product Features – Tarot 200VTC 200W Mod:

• 5 to 200W Output
  • 15 to 3.0-ohm Atomizer Resistance Range
  • 0 to 8.5V Voltage Range
• Temperature Control Suite
  • Ni200 Nickel Support
  • Titanium Support
  • SS316 Support
  • 280 to 600 Degrees Fahrenheit
  • Atomizer Lock
• Magnetized Battery Bay Access
  • Dual 18650 Battery Powered (sold separately)
  • Run in Series
• Sleek and Beautiful Chassis Design
  • Futuristic yet Timeless Styling
  • Carbon Fiber Accenting and Paneling
• Four Button Control
  • Enlarged Hexagon Firing Button
  • Hexagon Adjustment Buttons
  • Mode Button
• Two Line OLED Display
  • Temperature Mode and Output
  • Output Power
  • Atomizer Resistance
  • Battery Life Indicator
  • Neatly Displayed
• Zinc and Aluminum Alloy Construction
  • Carbon Fiber Inlay and Accents
• Spring Loaded Gold Plated 510 Connection
  • Hexagon Shaped
• Short Circuit/No Atomizer/Low Resistance/Low Battery/Low Power/Reverse Polarity/Over Current Protection

 

Product Dimensions:

93mm by 57mm by 23mm

 

In the Box:

 

• 1 Vaporesso Tarot 200VTC Box Mod
• Instruction Manual