Aspire Nautilus 2S Tank Review – MTL and Now DTL Coil Options

The Aspire Nautilus 2S tank is the latest version of it’s fair to say one of the most popular series ever produced.

The world and his uncle, including myself, have probably vaped on one of the Nautilus’ at some point in our vaping journeys.

So what’s new with this one and has it been improved?

What Can We Expect From the Aspire Nautilus 2S?

Aspire has opened the Nautilus up for vapers wanting to try their hand at Direct To Lung Vaping or DTL for short.

They’ve done this by adding a Cyclops style airflow that can be switched back to the smaller, regular Mouth to Lung (MTL) airflow holes and of course adding a couple of new coils.

These are the 0.4ohm best at 23-28w and the new mesh coil at 0.7ohm and best vaped between 20-25w…sadly the latter is not included in the box.

OK the original Nautilus was a real game-changer in the world of vaping. Whilst all the razzamatazz building up to the release of the Nautilus 2 was shall we say a little over the top.

The New 2S arrived on the scene rather more quietly lol and in between those we had the Nautilus X and the Mini BVC.

Right on with the review and for the record this was sent to me free of charge – thank you – and as always my thoughts and opinions are unswayed by freebies.

Inside the Box

• 1 x Nautilus 2S tank
• 1 x Spare mouthpiece
• 2 x BVC coils
• 10 x O-rings
• 1 x User manual

Nautilus 2S Specs [TPD Version]

• Tank capacity – 2ml
• Coil resistance – 1.8ohm (fitted) / 0.4ohm
• Dimensions – 52mm x 25mm

Note: the rest of the world gets a 2.6ml capacity. There is also a new 0.7 ohm mesh coil available separately.

Key Features

Airflow and coils are the main changes to the new Nautilus 2S which Aspire says opens the door for a restricted lung hit or DTL style of vaping. The earlier tanks were restricted to mouth to lung (MTL) , as to if they’ve pulled this off, we shall see.

Find out more about the differences between MTL and DTL vape styles.

The bottom airflow remains, however, twist and you’ll get the 5 tiny airflow ports.

Twist again and you’ll get a wide open Cyclops style slot – each selection can of course be opened or closed to suit.

Out of the box and for MTL vapers the BVC [bottom vertical coil] is 1.8ohm set for 9-13w and there’s a 0.4ohm coil best at 23-28w.

Not included in the box is the new 0.7ohm mesh coil with a power range of 20-25w.

Obviously, the last two are designed for DTL vaping whilst the former is for MTL…it’s recommended to use the appropriate airflow to get the best out of them.

There’s also a choice of drip tips (mouthpieces) which Aspire says also matches the style of vaping you choose. There’s a rather elongated stainless steel tip for restricted vapers and a stubby little guy for direct to lung. Both are a regular 510 fitting.

Other changes are the coil swap method which includes a child-lock feature as does the top fill method. I’ll go into more detail on both but let’s just say I struggled a bit lol.

The tank looks a lot like the Nautilus 2 – except for that super long drip tip. It’s 25mm at the base and available in 5 colours: stainless steel – black – blue – rainbow and the ‘space grey’ I received.

Design and Build Quality

As I’ve said in most of my reviews of Aspire products – including the recent one of the Cleito Pro sub ohm tank – the company does generally have a very good build quality.

The Aspire Nautilus 2S is well built with good materials for sure, however, I think it is a little – OK a bit over-engineered with lots of moving parts for a tank.

I’m kind of crossing into design and performance here, so I’ll explain more in the next section, suffice it to say coil swapping and filling are a little over-complicated.

Design wise it has retained the design I tongue in cheek called “bell-end” style in my review of the previous tank. It’s one of those, you either love that buoy shape or you don’t.

I do so that’s that lol.

Well, saying that I really don’t like that elongated stainless steel drip tip, I mean it’s bloody huge and something you’d see on a trumpet or flute. However, whilst cold to the lips it is reasonably comfortable.

The smaller one looks slightly better although for me doesn’t match my ‘space grey’ tank.

Other 510’s do fit with only a couple of mine being either too loose or too tight.

Paint Finish A Little Thin?

There’s a refreshing lack of logos or branding on the tank, the only blip on an otherwise clean design being the arrow showing where the fill port is. Given it’s white it does stand out a little but nothing too serious.

The glass is behind a cage with wide juice viewports and I have done the drop test with no sign of the glass cracking.

Should the glass break, you can get replacements. However, Aspire hasn’t put a spare in the box…guess they must be confident the armour will protect it…

I am a little concerned at the finish too…it does feel a little thin if that makes sense and I’ve already picked up a few scratches.

How Does the Aspire Nautilus 2S Perform?

Before we get onto how the tank handles the 2 styles of vaping and of course flavour and cloud production, I want to look at what I’ve called the over complication of coil swaps and filling!

Aspire describes these modifications as for ‘child-proof’ purposes… I guess that means me as you’ll see lol.

I might be 58 this summer, and known for being one of the most un-technical blokes out there, but even reading the instruction manual, which I had to do, both had me swearing…a lot.

How to Change the Nautilus 2S Coils

On unscrewing the base you’re greeted with what looks like a clockwork cog. To release the coil you need to press down on it and twist, then withdraw [ooer].

Simple enough, however replacing a coil is a pain. You pop the coil into the tank, then press down on the clockwork cog and ‘tighten’ I say tighten because that’s the instinct, however that cog merrily spins around biting into nothing.

So you screw on the base and 5 times out of 10 you get a ‘check atomizer’ error…if you’re using a mod with a screen that is. The base basically screws shut tight even if the coil isn’t housed properly!

I’ve swapped coils so many times now and I still get that error message 50% of the time…maybe just me…probably lol…but do we really need a childproof lock on a coil that’s already behind a tightened base?

For me, this really is overly complicated and with those moving parts there is a real chance they’ll fail rendering the whole tank useless…IMHO anyway.

How to Fill the Aspire Nautilus 2S

If I thought coil swaps was a pain in the proverbial, filling almost – and still does at times – had me cowering in a corner of a darkened room.

OK, you have to locate that white arrow on the top of the tank and unscrew the top cap…a little bit. Now that’s not me using wimpy words instead of a technical term such as ‘half twist’ – it comes straight from Aspire who say:

Refilling the child-resistant Nautilus 2S tank is simplicity itself and mess free. Unscrew the top cap anti-clockwise a few turns, Place your thumb on the top cap above the indicator spot and push away from you, this will reveal the filling slot.

Push your e-liquid bottle tip down through the filling slot (for TPD version: through the larger of the holes in the self-sealing silicon filling slot). Once filled, slide the top cap back into place and screw the top cap back down.

The unscrew and push action plus the perfect amount of strength resistance to open ensures that this tank will be child resistant and leak free.

I think 3 paragraphs to show you how to fill this says it all…and like I said even Aspire’s technical team says:

Unscrew the top cap anti-clockwise a few turns…

A ‘few turns’…trust me this bloody thing has a mind of its own, allowing me to push open sometimes, but mostly not. Almost 3 weeks in and despite practising [aah bless him lol] I still end up in that darkened room!

“Simplicity itself “my ar**… 😉

Hey call me a drama queen if you will, but Jeez if coil swapping is a pain then filling is torture.

To ‘simplify things…here’s the Aspire diagrams on filling and swapping coils – hopefully making more sense than my words lol:

[Quick break as just writing this has bought me ‘Nam style flashbacks…]

Flavour and Clouds

And…I’m back at my desk…

OK, let’s look at if all my struggles [lol] are worth it in the end. Incidentally, I didn’t receive the 0.7ohm mesh coil which is a real pity.

I used a 50/50 VG/PG tobacco flavoured e-liquid from Black Note for MTL tests and the 70/30 VG/PG Puris from 12 Monkeys for the DTL test.

Nautilus 2S 1.8ohm Coil

Now the good news.

The flavour off this one is very good indeed. I’d go a little further and say it’s excellent and despite the vapour having to pass through that giraffe neck drip tip.

Clouds are good too.

The airflow holes are the same size, unlike the Nautilus 2 which reduced in size. Closed off and barely open and this is tight – way tight! Wide open and it’s a slightly airy draw and as you’d expect half closed it’s a kind of 5/10 with 10 being very airy.

Yeah, it’s a tasty vape – especially at the top end of 13w, with good restriction and plenty of flavour – no leaking and the coil wicked very well indeed.

Nautilus 2S 0.4ohm Coil

Make sure you switch the airflow control to the wide open Cyclops style.

Given sub ohm apparently starts at 30W for most, I was intrigued to see how the 0.4ohm coil best between 23 and 28w would perform. I know we’re only talking a matter of a couple of watts, but it did intrigue me.

23W and the vape was cool to say the least, which felt a little weird dragging it into my lungs, though the flavour was on a par with the MTL coil.

Bumped up to 28w and things improved somewhat with a warmish vape, a decent amount of clouds and very good flavour.

I did pump it up as high as 35w and the vape improved significantly, however after a morning I could tell the coil was pushing itself a little.

Once again even with the thicker e-liquid the coil wicked well, there was no leakage and the clouds whilst not about to win any chucking contests, was pretty good.

Airflow Options

On the MTL side of things and despite not having a reduction in the diameter of the airflow holes, the vape half shut is still what I’d class as a good MTL draw. I do wish they’d reduced the diameter of the ports though to enable users to tailor the draw even more.

In DTL mode with the Cyclops style port wide open you get a very restricted MTL vape – reminiscent of the Augvape Intake RTA from Mike Vapes have closed if you catch my drift…way to tight for me.

Still, it’s good to see Aspire offering this option and I really would like to try the new mesh coil – if I do I’ll add my thoughts to this review.

Pros

• Good flavour MTL mode
• Decent flavour in DTL mode
• Choice of coils
• Choice of airflow
• Decent price
• Child proof [see below lol]

Cons

• Over complicated coil swap
• Over complicated fill method
• Overly long drip tip

Final Review Verdict

There’s no knocking those old school BVC coils – even now with all the new-fangled mesh ones out there, these little guys still deliver good flavour and impressive clouds for what they are.

It’s a shame the mesh one isn’t included in the box – Aspire missed a trick there.

As a real fan of the Nautilus series, it’s that over engineering and over complicating everything that spoils it for me.

Yes I know I’m a doddery old fool, but a new vaper coming straight off the fags wants to just fill or snap on a pod and puff away, and not piss around with cogs and ‘some twisting’.

Apparently – as I was told by more than a few exes – mates and women lol – I have the patience of a saint, however this one nearly went through the window and I’m supposed to know what I’m doing – don’t laugh lol.

Yeah the flavour is great and yeah you get a great MTL vape and a decent DTL vape – but is all that buggering about worth it?

At a push yes it is…which I have to say has surprised me somewhat…though with that ginormous drip tip on top it looks, well, like something you’d see in a micro brass band.

Have you used the Aspire Nautilus 2s? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.