The VooPoo Alpha Zip Mini Starter Kit is of the course the smaller brother of the Zip kit. The kit comes with the very popular Maat Mesh tank as a topper making for a great pairing!
Part of the series of mods VooPoo calls Alpha, which also include the Alpha One and the Alpha Zip Pod Kit and of course the Alpha Zip mod, we had the pleasure of reviewing not long ago!
VooPoo is based in China and have bought us some really interesting gear, most notably the Drag Series – Drag, Drag 2, Drag Mini and the Drag Baby Trio, as well as the new Drag Nano Pod System.
What Can We Expect from the Alpha Zip Mini by VooPoo?
Launched alongside its big bro the “Alpha Zip”, we are excited to get our hands on the Zip Mini.
This starter kit features a lot of similarities to that of the Drag Mini, albeit with slightly different form factor and is a little bit more power!
Being called mini is somewhat misleading as the Voopoo Alpha Zip Mini really is only slightly smaller than the Alpha Zip in size!
Available in a wide variety of styles and colours, the Mini Zip just is just like its big bro distinctive and shiny!
The Zip Mini features an internal 4400mAh lipo battery and is powered by the Gene Fit chip. The unit will fire up to 120w.
The casing has dual panelled sides and is paired up with the popular MAAT Tank for great flavour and wonderfully warm cloudy vape.
So is it worth spending your hard-earned dosh on this shiny little thing? Come with us as we take a detailed look and put it through its paces………………….
This kit was kindly sent to us for review, like always my thoughts and views on this product are my own after a considerable testing period.
See The Alpha Zip Mini In Action
In The Box
- 1 x Zip mini
- 1 x MAAT Tank
- 1 x Glass Tube
- 1 x MT-M2 (Pre-installed)
- 1 x MT-M1
- 6 x Sealing O-ring
- 1 x USB Cable
- 2 x User Manual
- 1 x Warranty Card
- 1 x GENE Chip Card
Features
Zip Mini
- Intelligent GENE.FIT Chipset
- Dimensions – 80×48.5x24mm
- Integrated 4400mAh Battery
- Wattage Output Range: 5-120W
- Resistance Range: 0.5-5.0ohm
- Temperature Range: 200°-600°F / 100°-315°C
- Power/ TC /FIT Modes
- Zinc-Aluminium Alloy Chassis Construction
- 0.01s Firing Speed
- 510 Centred Connection
- Available in Checkerboard, Glory, Knight, Locomotive, and Stars
MAAT Mesh Sub Ohm Tank
- Size: 24.5x56mm
- Capacity: 4ml (standard) / 2ml (EU TPD)
- Stainless Steel Chassis Construction
- Pyrex Glass
- Spring Loaded Sliding Top Fill System
- 0.13Ω MT-M1 Single Mesh Coil – rated for 60-85W
- 0.2Ω MT-M2 Dual Mesh Coil – rated for 50-80W
- Reserve reservoir
- Plug n Play coils
- Middle Adjustable Airflow System
- Gold-Plated 510 Connection
- 810 Delrin Wide bore Drip Tip
Design and Build Quality
The Kit come presented in a card box, the mod comes wrapped in a dust jacket.
MAAT Tank
I won’t be covering the tank in great detail however you can find a full Voopoo MAAT Tank review here. I will say that the quality and design of this tank is one of the best from a stock coil tank that I’ve ever used.
The tank is made of stainless steel, Pyrex and Delrin and dismantles into 6 parts including the coil.
A quick walk around the tank
The Maat tank Measures in at 24.5mm in diameter with an overall height of 56mm the tank weighs 76g (empty).
It gets its name from the airflow MAAT stands for “Middle Adjustable Airflow Tank”; the 3 airflow slots are fully adjustable.
You get one pre installed wide sleeve style Delrin drip tip with the kit and 2 Pyrex tubes, 1 bubble glass 4ml and 1 straight glass 2ml.
The fill port is opened by a small button. Find the fill port cover post pin, and the button is opposite on the side of the tank, the fill port cover is spring loaded.
Due to the mouthpiece post getting in the way with large bottles I would recommend the use of gorilla bottles to fill the tank!
2 coils are supplied with the Maat tank they are both a different gauge of mesh.
- MT-M1 0.13Ω rated at 60 to 85W
- MT-M2 0.2Ω rated at 55 to 80W
Both the supplied coils are push in pull out.
Zip Mini Mod
The Zip Mini reminds me very much of the Drag Mini in function albeit with a different design.
The basic body form is similar to that of its big brother the Alpha Zip.
The Zip Mini is made of Zinc-Aluminium Alloy, Stainless Steel and Plastic!
A Walk Around the Mod
The dimensions of the body are 80mm tall, 48.5mm wide with a tank placement diameter of 24mm. 25mm tanks can be seated with little hangover. The body weighs in at 186g.
The centre weighted 510 connection point has a spring loaded gold plated pin; the stainless steel threading has been turned well.
The body is made of zinc-aluminium alloy and the non removable side panels that have been decorated to give the device a distinctive look.
While the Zip Mini is a box shape, VooPoo have chamfered the edges making the device comfortable to hold.
The internal lipo battery is 4400mAh but you cannot charge it and vape at the same time.
The work face of the device is very similar in looks to the Alpha Zip, in that it has the normal micro USB port, fire button and adjustment buttons in black plastic, the Oled screen is slightly smaller but still displays everything the Alpha Zip does.
The brightness of the screen isn’t great, like the bigger version it is hard to see the display in direct sunlight this is because VooPoo have used a grey plastic to cover the screen from the inside.
On the bottom of the device you will see battery venting as well as the normal safety marks and design information, unlike the Drag Mini the Zip Mini does not have a reset button.
The Voopoo Alpha Zip Mini is gorgeous to look at, the design and quality is top notch – did I mention its shiny lol.
How Does the VooPoo Alpha Zip Mini Kit Perform?
Basic Quick Start Guide
Before we get into how this kit performed, let’s take a quick look at how to set things up!
How to Fill the MAAT Tank and Change the Coil
I would recommend you run down the liquid a little before changing to a new coil!
-
- Unscrew the connection base from the tank to change coils.
- Prime the coil by dropping a few drop of e-liquid onto the cotton within the coil.
- Unscrew the connection base from the tank to change coils.
-
- Simply push the new coil into the body of the tank.
- Simply push the new coil into the body of the tank.
- Reassemble the tank, fill with liquid and screw on to the Zip Mini.
- Let the tank stand for 2/3 minutes so the cotton can soak up more e-liquid.
Battery operation
5 rapid clicks will turn the device on and off.
Zip Mini Mod Menu System Basics
- Click the fire button 3 times to switch modes; Power, Fit, Temp
- Hold both adjustment buttons to enter the function menu
- Press fire button and + together to lock and unlock the device
- Press the fire button an – together to flip the screen
What does the FIT Menu do?
Like the Alpha Zip, Drag V2 and the Drag Mini the Zip Mini has a Menu for use with stock coil tanks the options are –
- For Battery saving
- For Best flavour
- For Best cloud production
I like to think of these as soft, medium and hard.
Safety Protections
The mod includes 8 safety protections
Flavour and Vapour quality
For this review I will be using the 0.13Ω MT-M1 Single Mesh Coil as I used the pre installed 0.2Ω in my review for the Alpha Zip! I have filled the tank with Ohm Bake, Apple and Rhubarb Crumble.
0.13Ω Coil at 60/85w
I started out at 60w which gave me a warm and pleasant flavoursome vape with oodles of vapour production the flavour!
I whacked the wattage up to 85w which is the stated wattage for this coil in 5w increments – 85w “Holy Camoly” that is a very hot vape the vapour production was immense – sadly too hot for my poor old micro lungs. I coughed like a banshee lol.
The Maat tank got very hot but cooled quickly enough being as its made from stainless steel, the flavour started petering out around 75w for me! The firing speed is super quick at 0.01s.
My go to wattage with this mod and coil is 65w.
I have been using this kit for around 1.5 weeks and the flavour from the coil is still good.
A Few Notes
The battery life at 60w lasts me around 3 hours.
I was going to say the battery life is rubbish but using my Wasp Nano RDA with a single 1.0Ω coil at 15w from a full charge; I got over 6 hours of vape time which is damn good in my book!
I also tested the mod with 0.13Ω dual coils in my Hellvape Passage RDA at 100w. While the battery usage time dropped considerably I got about 2 hours and the mod handled the extra wattage admirably.
The mod is rather weighty once the Maat tank is installed. However, it’s nowhere near as heavy as the Alpha Zip, which might make this a more popular choice of the two.
The Maat tank airflow ring like the other one I tested has become a little loose in the time I have been using the tank, this must be generic to this style of tank.
Only one mouth piece is supplied with the kit a sleeve style tip that is pre installed I do wish VooPoo had made the tank to take 810 drip tips!
Pros
Zip Mini
- Very good quality
- Good design
- Easy to use
- Easy to learn menu system
- Fair battery life, better with lower ohm atomisers
- Fast Firing
MAAT Tank
- Good looking tank
- Fair Design
- Good quality
- Excellent coil life
- Good flavour and vapour production
Cons
Zip Mini
- No Reset button
- Basically it’s the Drag Mini in a shiny case
MAAT Tank
- Drip tip style (it’s a cover I can’t use my own 810 tips)
- Fill port use smaller bottles to fill
- Airflow ring has become a little loose with use
Final Review Verdict
Comparing this kit to it bigger brother there isn’t much to choose between them when it comes to looks and operational attributes. However, one big glaring difference is that the Zip mini runs on an internal lipo battery.
The fact that the Zip Mini does not have a reset button this is a concern to me. If the mod were to crash there is no way to reset it back to the factory default. I was excited to get this kit but really it’s just the Drag mini in drag with a shiny case!
Would I recommend the VooPoo Alpha Zip Mini Starter Kit?
For those that don’t like a kit to be too big or heavy – yes I would
Would I buy this kit again due loss or damage?
Not for me personally – I prefer the slightly bigger Alpha Zip.
Como abro a tampa para trocar a bateria do voopoo zip mini ?