Lostvape Q80 Pod Mod Review

It’s been a minute since I’ve looked at a Lostvape product. Which is a shame, as they’ve always impressed me with the fact that they just work. They’re often elegant in design, and built pretty well. From humble beginnings, Lostvape made a name for themselves with their revolutionary (at the time) Orion & Quest Pod Mods, pushing the boundaries so to speak and creating something the vape world had never seen before.

Lately they’ve been releasing some more high end gear and playing around with putting DNA chips in their more expensive devices, a move many would agree is a fantastic idea, since the DNA chips are tried and true, proven to be superior chips to most others on the market.

While today’s review piece doesn’t actually use a DNA chipset, rather, Lostvape’s new Quest 2.0 chipset, we’ll forgive them for that considering this is more of a casual vaper’s device, it performs excellently and mechanically, and operationally I cannot fault it.

Let’s take a look at the Lostvape Q80 Pod Mod!

Big thanks goes to VaporState and Lostvape for sending this for me for review!

General Info & Photos

The new Lostvape Centaurus Q80 Pod mod is a pretty little thing, coming in a comfortable size and baring zinc-alloy frame and stainless steel accents as well as a leather heel, it looks a little elegant, all the while keeping its functionality.

All the bits and bobs are laid out in a familiar fashion, Pod on top, large fire button up high, with a decent sized screen and your operational buttons and USB Type-C fast charge port toward the base.

Designed to be super simple to use, the Q80 features one mode, Variable Wattage and that is it. No confusing Voltage, Temperature control, or customizable curve settings are available. It’s a simple turn it on and off you go device.
This simplification is a blessing for me, not only because I don’t have to test the various modes, but because, in all honesty, nobody actually uses them. Other companies throw Temperature control modes and all sorts onto their pod mods, and I honestly ask why? Do many of them actually supply coils that you can actually use temperature control with? No. (obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but you catch my drift)

The Body

As I mentioned earlier the body of the device is made from zinc-alloy, and stainless steel with a leather heel at the back for comfort. It’s constructed quite well, with the fit and finish of very high quality. The buttons are nice and clicky but not overly so, the swing door for the battery works as it should and the magnetic click you get from placing your pod in the top of the device is quite satisfying.

Aesthetically, it’s a nice design, kept simple, with no over the top logos or graphics, and will appeal to most wanting something that looks great, while performing excellently.

The POD

The Pod for the Q80 is a pretty straight forward design, removable drip tip on top, clear plastic barrel, with the coil being a push fit from underneath. It holds 5.5ml of eliquid which is quite a decent size, and is filled from underneath via the silicone plug.

I’m not quite sold on the removable 510 drip tip. I feel that this could have been larger, but that’s just personal preference, 510 drip tips are something most of us have plenty of, and it’s nice to be able to customize this for your own personal tip.

The Q80 pod is compatible with Lostvape’s UB Ultra series of coils, which you can pick up in various resistances and wattage limits, so there is plenty to choose from. Being the champion that he is, Michael from Vaporstate sent me a bunch of different UB Ultra coils to play with as well as the RBA for this, which I’ve played with a lot. I have to say that the UB coils really do push out some nice dense saturated flavour.

The kit comes with two coils:

• UB Ultra M3 Coil (0.15ohm) (40-70W)
  This is your more powerful coil, pushing out upto 70 Watts, with a nice saturated flavour.
• UB Ultra M1 Coil (0.3ohm) (30-40W)
  This one is better for battery economy, still pushing out a nice dense saturated flavour, but draining your battery less quickly.

Airflow

Lostvape have built the airflow adjustment ring into the device itself rather than on the pod, it’s situated below the pod recess, and has x2 large slots, adjusted by sliding the adjustment ring around. Believe it or not you can actually get a MTL draw from this with the airflow closed, it’s actually a nice tight restriction, and of course you can open it all the way up for an unrestricted more airy airflow perfect for Direct to Lung inhales and everything inbetween.

Filling

Filling is simple, just as you would with many other pods. Lift the silicone plug up from underneath the pod, fill from the small kidney shaped hole and then place the plug back. Too easy.

Battery

The Q80 pod mod, uses a single external 18650 battery to power the device. I understand the logic in this and wanting to keep the size of the device down, but in all honesty, I would have liked to see a 21700 here for longer battery life.
The battery bay for the Q80 is going to be a contentious issue for some. Many don’t like swing doors for their batteries, but this is what Lostvape have gone with in this design. If it’s any consolation for those who do not like this style of door, it does work well and holds the battery in with no rattles at all.

The charge port (USB TYPE C) is a fast charge, capable of 2amp charging, which is great and pretty much the industry standard right now, so you’ll be able to get that 18650 charged quickly if you don’t have an external charger around.

RBA

There is an RBA coil available to suit the UB Ultra coils as you can see from the above pictures. It’s finicky as all hell to build on, and really will only be suitable for a higher resistance build due to the small grub screws and small wicking ports, but it does work, and works really well. If you’re a high resistance, MTL or restricted DTL vaper, this might suit you well. Running at 12 Watts, with a quarter open airflow gives a nice full flavour without killing your battery!

Any Leaks?

I’d really really like to say no, but unfortunately I have run into some issues with the Q80. This is not a leaking issue, more e-liquid seepage from the base of the coil getting over saturated if left for a while. This is something that many have simply grown accustomed to as Voopoo’s coils do a similar thing. When you’re not vaping, you are going to want to take your pod out and keep it stored upside down to avoid the wicking material getting too saturated and dripping down through the airholes at the base of the coil.

You can see in the above photo, this is a UB Ultra coil that had been used for a few days, and then left to sit for 48 hours as I was using another device. You’ll notice e-liquid in the Pod recess of the device, and also a drop coming from the base of the coil.

Usage & Features

The Q80 is super simple, not additional modes, just straight Variable Wattage control. The screen is quite large and displays everything quite nicely, and easy to read. Resistance, battery meter, wattage, puff counter, timer for puffs, and of course which colour you have the display set to. There are few settings and adjustments you can make but here is the run down.

• On/Off – 5 clicks of fire button.
• Lock Wattage – Up + Down adjustment buttons.
• Reset puff counter – Fire button + down button.
• Change display color – Fire button + up button
  

Pros:

• Super simple to use
• 2A fast charging
• 5.5ml eliquid capacity
• Big selection of coil choice
• Elegant design
• Excellent airflow adjustment
• Great build quality

Cons:

• Uses 18650 batteries (would have liked to see 21700)
• E-liquid seepage from saturated coils
  

Where to Buy:

Since this was sent through from Michael at Vaporstate, I must give him a plug. The Lostvape Centaurus Q80 Pod Mod is available from Vaporstate for around the $75 AUD mark. He also stocks the UB Ultra coils, so you’ll be able to pick up all of your kit in the one place. Check it out by clicking below.

Conclusion

All in all, the Q80 from Lostvape is a solid little unit, with only a few cons that I have experienced.
I particularly like the elegant design, and great build quality we’ve all come to love from Lostvape. The 5.5ml capacity of the Pod is fantastic, as are the various coils available to suit.
I do wish that Lostvape had made this one a 21700 battery rather than the smaller 18650, as I find I’m replacing batteries quite often, and the seepage from the pod/coils when leaving the device for a day or so is a little annoying.

Having said all of that, if you’re looking for an 18650 device to take out and about, and don’t mind giving the Pod recess a little bit of a wipe every so often (I’m looking at you Voopoo fans) this is a great bit of kit that works very well and is super simple to use.

Shane Presser

Shane Presser has been vaping since 2013, and has extensive experience with advanced equipment, coil builds and DIY mixing. He is the man behind VapersGarage, and also more recently Aussie Vape Stores, a resource to help vapers find their nearest Vape Shops, and eLiquid Vendors.