The Vapefly TGO, or Touch and Go, was sent to me for review from Vapefly (learn more about it here). Vapefly says that this is the first-ever fingerprint pod mod and I’m sure they’re right. I’ve never seen a fingerprint pod mod before.
Specs
- 5-70 watts
- USB-C Charging
- 2300mAh battery
- 4.5ml liquid capacity
- 0.96″ TFT Screen
- Size: 50mm x 23mm x 102mm
- Material: Zinc alloy & PCTG
- Colors: Pearl White, Obsidian Black, Tiffany Blue, Camaro Yellow, Black Red, Ruby Red, Gunmetal
- Price: ~$49.99
In The Box
- TGO device
- 1 x 0.3 Ohm coil
- 1 x 0.6 Ohm coil
- USB Type C cable
Design
The TGO certainly has a unique look to it. I really don’t know how to describe it other than that it’s doing its own thing. It looks sort of like a retro piece that’s trying to look futuristic. Which is kind of neat actually.
The TGO has a rounded top, some stripes running down the sides, airflow holes on both sides, an e-liquid window, a protruding illuminated firing button, an airflow control on the back, and a bright TFT screen.
Now, that TFT screen is an interesting choice here too. TFT stands for thin-film transfer. I don’t know a whole lot about it, but from what I understand, it’s a type of LCD screen that has some benefits and drawbacks over LEDs. The drawbacks are that it has to be manufactured with glass and that it has poor viewing angles. The main benefit is that it has a rich and bright color.
Otherwise, on the front panel, you also have a plus and minus button and USB-C charging port.
The TGO is 4 inches tall, 1.9 inches wide, and 1 inch thick.
The Fingerprint Sensor
The TGO has a fingerprint sensor designed to lock the device. When you first turn the TGO on, you’ll be asked to set to “admin” fingerprints. All you do is click the firing button and tap your finger on the button until it captures enough of your fingerprint.
The fingerprint sensor is built into the firing button and comes with several benefits and features. One of the biggest benefits is that it prevents other people from using your device. I can see that being really useful for a parent with kids around the house or for someone who lives with a roommate who doesn’t respect their privacy.
The sensor has accidental touch protection built-in and 0.02s fast unlock.
The TGO has a mode called communication mode, which allows you to use the TGO for 24 hours without requiring a fingerprint to unlock. I don’t know why it’s called communication mode, but that’s what Vapefly called it.
There is a 3-minute timeout on the sensor, so if you haven’t used it for longer than 3 minutes, the device will automatically lock.
And if you want to add more fingerprints, either your own or someone else’s, you can add up to 6 different prints. You can have up to 2 “admin” prints, which fully unlock the device and allow you to delete or add new prints, and up to four normal fingerprints.
Something that I also really like about this feature is that it requires a fingerprint to activate. That means you can’t accidentally fire this in your pocket or bag.
Features and Functions
Five clicks of the firing button turn the TGO off and on.
The screen shows the mode you’re in, the battery charge, the wattage, the resistance of your atomizer, the voltage, a puff counter, a puff timer, and the fingerprint.
To get into the menu, press the firing button four times fast.
- Standard – this is your normal wattage mode.
- Sport – This mode gives you a 17% boost on the first second of your hit, then drops back down to the wattage you’ve set
- Eco – This mode drops the wattage by 17% on your first hit, then takes you back up to the wattage you’ve set, so it’ll conserve a little battery life.
- VPC – This is a variable power curves mode, which lets you set the power for each second of your hit for up to 10 seconds.
- Puff – This lets you reset your puff counter.
For some strange reason, Vapefly didn’t include details about the Sport mode or Eco mode in the manual so I had to find it on their Facebook page.
Pods
The pods hold 4.5ml of liquid (or 2.5 in the EU)
You fill the pod from the top by pushing down this small child-proof lock next to the drip tip and then sliding the cover over.
On the bottom of the pod is where you insert the coil. The coils press-fit into the pod and hold nice and tight. Once it’s in, you can fill up the pod and then put the pod into the TGO device.
The mouthpiece is built into the pod and is non-removable. It’s comfortable to use but I would have liked for the tip to be removable.
Coils
Depending on the coil that you use, the TGO will automatically set the power of the device based on what it believes to be the best for overall performance. You don’t have to use it that way though. You can set it to whatever you want.
0.3 Ohm TGO Mesh Coil
The recommended wattage for this coil is between 30-40 watts and it’s suggested that you use 10mg of nicotine or lower. The flavor is really good at 30 watts and at 40 watts it’s even better. This coil performs really well.
0.6 Ohm TGO Mesh Coil
The recommended wattage for this coil is between 20-28 watts and it’s suggested that you use 20mg of nicotine or lower. This coil produces less flavor than the 0.3. The flavor is actually a little disappointing at 20 watts but gets significantly better at 28 watts. It’s still not as good as the other coil but it’s good.
And if want to build your own coils, Vapefly sells the TGO RBA separately. They didn’t send me one to test out so I can’t tell you much about it.
And one thing that Vapely doesn’t mention is that the TGO pods are also compatible with the SMOK RPM coils.
As you can see from the resistances that Vapefly chose for these coils, this TGO is not really designed for low wattage, restricted vaping, like most pod devices are. This device is designed more to appeal to the mod crowd than the pod crowd. My question though, is the mod crowd really that interested in a pod-style device?
Adjustable Airflow
Vapefly made a great decision in giving the TGO an adjustable airflow. The airflow comes in from three different sides of the device; it comes in from both of the larger panels and also from a round button-looking airflow dial on the back. I sometimes accidentally cover the airflow dial which is really easy to do so that’s a bit of a drawback.
The airflow is a slightly restricted lung draw wide open and I actually don’t notice much of a difference even totally closed down. So that’s a bummer. The airflow control doesn’t work all that great. It does get a little more restricted but I would have liked for it to be much more noticeable.
Battery
The TGO has an internal 2300mAh battery. It’s a big battery for a pod device, but one that’s necessary for the amount of wattage the TGO puts out. Although it’s a big battery, if you’re vaping at more than 40watts regularly, the battery will discharge fast, just like any other high-powered device. But if you vape at low wattages, you’ll get plenty of life from it.
The battery charges using a USB-C cable, but it charges only at 1.5amp so it can take around an hour and a half to charge a fully drained battery.
Safety Features:
- 3 minute fingerprint sensor lock
- Accidental touch protection
- Child lock protection
- Low battery protection
- High temperature protection
- 10s cut off protection
- Short circuit protection
- Over charge protection
Final Thoughts
The fingerprint sensor is pretty cool. It adds some nice security to the device. It also works really well. I haven’t had any problems with it. I would have liked to be able to turn the fingerprint mode off entirely though.
There aren’t many modes to pick from but I think that’s fine. A pod device doesn’t need a lot of modes. The Sport and ECO modes are unique and interesting and I like the idea behind both of them. I just stick to regular mode but I can see the benefit of the other modes too. The flavor from both coils are really good, so that’s great too.
The only thing I’m not a big fan of is the adjustable airflow. I would have liked for the airflow to be positioned in a place where it’s not so easy to accidentally cover and I would have also liked for it to have more noticeable changes in airflow as it’s adjusted. But overall, this is a really nice pod device.
The TGO was sent to me for review from Vapely and you get it from them for about ~$49.99.