As a relatively young vape brand Shenzhen’s Artery Vapor has, save a few products, focused almost solely on all-in-ones over the years.
It’s their latest nifty all-in-one, the Artery Pal 2, which I’ll be reviewing for you today!
This little fella has been designed in conjunction with Youtube vaping extraordinaire, Tony B.
Now, my own experience with Artery’s products has been a good one. I was lucky enough to review the Nugget X Kit and their original Pal AIO. Both of them really impressed me, although the Pal did fall short in certain essential departments… flavour being the first of them!
They also have a Pal Mini on the market (that one must be REALLY small) and a box kit which has gotten top reviews, called the Hive Kit.
Let me just clarify, for those of you who might think that an AIO should look something like a pen mod…or who might not understand why this little Pal 2 is and all-in-one as opposed to a pod mod.
The major difference, although both types are great choices for stealth, portability and nic salts, is that a pod mod generally consists of 2 components, a cartridge (comprising mouthpiece, tank and coil head) and a battery component…where as an all-in-one is…well…all in one piece with the cartridge sitting, mostly concealed, within the device.
At least, that’s how it’s meant to be but, as it turns out, this AIO is actually more of a POD hybrid. Come take a look!
What’s In The Box
- Artery PAL 2 kit
- Extra coil
- Spare plug
- Spare O-rings
- USB cable
- User manual
Features
- Size: 43x17x83mm
- Battery: 1000Ah (internal)
- Material: Aluminium 6063
- E-liquid capacity: 3ml (standard) / 2ml (EU)
- Voltage: 3.2-4.2V
- Coils: 0.6ohm Mesh, 1.2ohm MTL
- Airflow adjustment
- Easy filling system
Build Quality & Design
Opening up the cute little white box packaging with display window in front, I instantly note that the Artery Pal 2 is considerably smaller than the original version.
I’m pleased to see that they’ve retained that simple, thin rectangular box shape, but rounded the corners slightly, making this version slightly more ergonomic.
They’ve also retained the sexy, click, stainless steel framed, round power and fire button in the upper left hand corner of the non-removable front panel, which also bears the Artery branding.
Both larger sides (one removable and one housing the fire button) have 22 diagonal grooves cast in two of the corners…it’s an aesthetic feature but it does actually provide a bit of grip when you’re holding the AIO.
The narrow side furthest from the mouthpiece is devoid of features, while the opposite one has a couple of battery vents at the top, a PAL logo below that and a micro USB port below that.
Now, the massive (but small sized) 1000mAh battery is housed in what seems to be an aluminium alloy chassis and it has a wonderfully clean looking, matte, plastic like finish which provides excellent grip and also stays 100% scratch free, thank the vape lords.
The base bears all the copyright markings as well as the Tony B signature.
Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece is a stroke of genius…absolutely perfect for either Mouth to Lung (MTL) vaping and restricted to semi-restricted Direct to Lung (DTL).
Unsure of the difference? Read our MTL vs DTL guide here.
Its narrow but long, so you inhale through a slit that sits about as high as your average Smok drip tip. None of my other devices have a mouthpiece shaped like this and placing it to my lips first time…I was deeply pleased…and a bit irritated that all pod mods and AIOs don’t have a mouth piece like this…I find it too comfortable for words.
Internals
Now…this is where stuff gets interesting, as you pull away one side panel, which is secured by 4 excellent little magnets, in all the right places.
Connected to the mouthpiece but not visible with the panel closed (like a pod cartridge would be), you will find what is, basically a pod cartridge, but one that’s more securely fixed to the mod than your average pod cartridge would be.
In order to remove this mouthpiece/tank/coil head section (which is rectangular, with the mouthpiece at the top) you have to push on the plastic where you see the coil, directly under the mouthpiece…you have to push it downward, away from the top of the mod.
This will ‘unclip’ the cartridge from the spring loaded battery connects so that you can clean it, change the coil and so forth.
Accessible without removing the ‘cartridge’ is a grip textured SS ring, which looks like the base of the coil sticking out. This is actually an adjustable airflow, as a long cyclopean slit either side the airflow ring will reveal.
The ring is small but you can grip it with a nail or with one of your tiny screwdrivers, to get ahold of that grip texturing and swivel it sideways.
This allows you to fine tune the vape on either your MTL or DTL coil…so you can enjoy a nice restricted vape if you so choose. It’s an innovation which I didn’t expect to find inside! It makes me happy!
On the upper side of that cartridge you will also find the fill port, stoppered by a fixed silicon plug.
The placement is central, which makes filling a little weird…especially with that tinted and matte plastic which is quite hard to see through but nevertheless, it will get the job done, filling that rather large 3ml tank nicely!
How Does The Artery PAL 2 Perform?
Holy f*** balls. ..
This is, you could say, the perfect trick pod (AIO)…so tiny, so light but with a battery that’s unrivalled for this size and a pair of coils that absolutely kick ass.
First up…that mouthpiece, that adjustable airflow…these elements simply ace the business of MTL through to semi-restricted DTL…it’s a range that’s surprising to me…it does it all so well.
The vapour production is freaking outstanding…there’s actually nothing stealthy about it whatsoever…where vapour production is concerned.
To my fiery delight…the same is to be said for flavour and, let me tell you, flavour on the PAL vs. the PAL 2 is chalk and bloody cheese.
Both coils and airflow are exponentially improved from the original and I’m convinced that this little guy will become a standard setter in its class.
Operation is child’s play…the button works a charm and the battery indicator light…which shines through a pinprick hole above the USB port and also through the port itself, works a charm.
How To Fill
- Remove the side panel
- Unplug the silicon stopper
- Fill until you see the juice reaching the level of the port
- I find that laying the tank on its side makes this easier, as it’s hard to see the juice level through the plastic.
- Replace the plug
How To Change the Coil
- Remove the cartridge
- Grip the airflow ring, unscrew it to it’s extent and then pull down
- This removes the coil and airflow module/battery connect
- Unscrew the coil head from the flow module
- Replace the coil
- Replace all components
- Changing the coil is relatively mess free, as long as you don’t let the juice come out the mouthpiece and don’t turn the cartridge bottom down…you can actually reload with a full tank…I did it, keeping the cartridge on its side and I didn’t spill a drop!
Stock Coil Performance
I mean…I’m sitting here with the MESH DTL coiled installed…this tiny little coil head. I’m vaping the same juice out of the Desire Design Bulldog at 0.18 Ohm and 80W and I swear to the vape goddesses that the flavour is more pronounced on this itty bitty pod. That’s what I’m talking about!!!!!! More of the same please!
Now…one thing I did notice is that the DTL Coil, which is a 0.6 Ohm mesh coil, takes a little while to break in, with the flavour reaching full strength after at least a good couple of 3 minute chain vapes.
The 1.8 Ohm MTL coiled is the one you’ll use for stealth operations…and you’ll do that with your airflow full open…that’s the least vapour you’ll get, for those who don’t like clouds in the courtyard or hallway. Restricting that airflow almost fully or half way will give you a full vapoured, perfect MTL hit…although with flavour which is understandably not as scrumptious as it was on the mesh coil.
Due to the flavour factor…I would opt simply to keep with the mesh coil, changing my airflow to accommodate the MTL.
How To Operate the Menu System
- 5 Clicks on
- 5 Clicks off
- Fire
Battery Life
Wow, wow, wow. The Artery PAL 2 is a winner in all departments. This is the best battery life I’ve seen for a POD style device of this size…considering the extreme cumulonimbus and extraordinary flavour. As far as I know, this pod monster runs between 15 and 25 W (variable voltage) and, as such, this 1000mAh battery puts out for a good 6 hours on the MTL coiled and 5 hours on the DL.
The thing is…I usually take it easy when vaping a pod this size as I like to conserve battery power but you really can vape this guy to your heart’s content and enjoy hours and hours of flavour and fog.
- Red light = 5-15%
- Purple light = 15-50%
- Blue light = 50-100%
Pros
- Super battery life
- Tons of fog
- Phenomenal flavour
- Scratch proof finish
- Tiny and lightweight
- The added pleasure of an adjustable airflow
- Extremely comfy and effective MTL and restricted DL mouthpiece
Cons
- MTL coiled lacks flavour
Final Review Verdict
This is a winner. The Artery Pal 2 is one of the most effective, efficient and convenient little pod style devices on the market and with mesh coils and adjustable airflow that absolutely kicks! If you are after flavour and battery life that exceeds expectations then you can’t go wrong with this purchase.
And..
Would I buy the Artery PAL 2 if I lost/broke the device? Yes, in all the colours!
Yes , I desperately need a coil for a artery pal . I got it as a gift and it was AWESOME. I guess it’s the first gen Artery Pal . It’s stamped on the bottom A Tony B project . Any help would be much appreciated. Ed. Name and email attached
I’m sorry but the device is aweful and useless as the coils cannot keep up and get burned very very quickly. First few puffs no problems, even get decent flavour, BUT that’s about it. They simply do not last, not even through 1 small pod before it burns up. Tried multiple juices and even 50pg50vg salt nic and even bought a pack of replacement 1.2 coils. Awful device, far too much power for these teeny coils. Both the 0.6 and 1.2 tasted burnt in a matter of less than 50 puffs and I have no problems with this juice in other pods. Do yourselves a favour and get something quality and award winning for a similar price like the Caliburn or the Caliburn Koko that has decent coils and works at the power the pod pushes out, and coils that last for many days if not weeks. Trust me, I have gone through buying and trying multiple pods in the last couple of years, and the Artery Pal II was the worst of all of them for burned coil life. This product shouldn’t have been released on the market, it would put off people trying to give up the cigs if this is their first device and they thus think all vaping products and experience is just so bad.
Bro that’s a lie they last weeks .. you just didn’t soak the coil in juice for a few minutes before using it !!!
I confused versions. It’s that version 2 put the magnets behind the plastic, not the pro-only. Only the first version had magnets that would fall out.
On the Artery support page there are only questions on why the device blinks and their answer is that there may be something wrong with the coil or the coil doesn’t make contact, or the pod does not make perfect contact with the electrical contacts. In that regard, it does seem weird – that method of connecting the pod, pretty uncertain. One comment also said the magnets on the non-pro version are prone to falling off (which is why the pro version puts them behind the plastic). Otherwise, this will probably be the next device I’ll try out.
Any reason to still consider this now that the AVP Pro is out? That one is draw-activated – no buttons to press, and seems to only have advantages over this one.