It seems as though hardly a day passes without a mention of the e-cigarette industry in a major news outlet. Whether it’s the FDA, Big Tobacco or Big Pharma, everyone wants a slice of the biggest tobacco-related market boom in decades. Over time, regulation may change the variety of e-cigarette products available along with where and how you can buy them.

Because no one yet knows how the e-cigarette market may change — and indeed, whether e-cigarettes as we know them will still be available a few years from now — some e-cigarette companies are working hard to position themselves for success in the face of possible changes. The V2 Pro Series 3 vaporizer is the first major release with this new mindset. With the V2 Pro, you can use the same device to vaporize e-liquid, loose leaf tobacco or essential oils — even solid nicotine waxes and gels, giving you something that will transition seamlessly to other nicotine products if e-liquids ever become unavailable.

It’s clear that V2 Cigs wants to make their V2 Pro Series 3 as flexible as possible while offering the greatest degree of power to users, but how does it rate? Are we talking about the Apple of e-cigarettes? Will V2 Cigs’s strategy allow them to be the last e-cigarette company standing even as the FDA looks to regulate the e-cigarette market?

Let’s find out.

Our V2 Pro Series 3 Vaporizer Review

We’ve stated time and time again that V2 Cigs is probably best for people who want to enjoy e-smoking casually and for people who are beginners to this fine hobby. See our review of V2’s excellent new EX series for more information.

With the convenience and well-priced starter kits that V2 Cigs has made available, that’s why they’ve always remained our number one recommendation for people who fit into these categories. V2 Cigs offers the right selection that won’t taint a beginner e-smoker’s experience, and you’re not out of a lot of money if you eventually choose to switch to something larger.

With the release of the V2 Pro Series 3, we can finally say that V2 Cigs has something tangible to offer that competes with the luxury e-cigarettes that other manufacturers have. The best part is that V2, rather than slapping their logo on an off-the-shelf APV, has gone through the effort to create a luxury vaporizer from the ground up — and it’s one that looks miles better than the first generation of vaporizing devices — see Wikipedia’s article on the subject for a look at some of these early monstrosities.

What Makes the V2 Pro Series 3 Different?

The first thing you’ll notice about the V2 Pro Series 3 is that it’s roughly the same size as an eGo e-cigarette, yet it lacks the threading for attachments that many other e-cigarettes have.

The V2 Pro Series 3 instead allows you to use three different types of magnetic drop-in attachments. They allow for e-liquid, loose leaf tobacco and essential oils to be used with it. Each of these attachments is exclusively sold by V2 Cigs.

This means that you’ll be locked in to purchasing from V2 Cigs for most things with the V2 Pro Series 3. The good news is that their prices for tanks are extremely reasonable with e-liquid cartridges at $7.99 each. Loose leaf and essential oil cartridges are just $24.99 each.

The upside of buying V2 accessories for the V2 Pro Series 3 is that you’ll get some of the best quality accessories that can be used with any e-liquid that you’d like. This means leaky tanks — one of the most common problems with high-capacity e-liquid cartridges — are a thing of the past with the V2 Pro Series.

As far as the other physical differences go, you’ll notice that there’s a small dimple on the top of it that lines up with a small elevated area on the side of the cartridges you’ll get from V2 Cigs. This prevents you from accidentally inserting it incorrectly, and it allows the vaporizer to know what kind of cartridge you’re using; each has a pattern on the bottom that lines up with the metal contacts in the vaporizer. The behavior of the V2 Pro then changes according to the product you’re vaporizing.

Upon detection of the loose leaf cartridge, for example, the behavior of the V2 Pro changes so that holding down the fire button for three seconds pre-heats the chamber. It then remains at the proper vaporizing temperature until you hold the button again to shut it off.

When you want to use the V2 Pro Series 3 as a traditional e-cigarette, then you’ll find that it works just like any other e-cigarette. When you hold the button, the V2 Pro creates vapor. When you let go, it stops. The drop-in cartridge design makes using the V2 Pro completely intuitive.

How We Rate the V2 Pro Series 3 as an E-Cigarette

The most important thing everyone, including us, wanted to know when the V2 Pro Series 3 came out was how it performed as an e-cigarette. That’s why we were pleasantly surprised when we noticed that the magnetic breakaway charger is strong enough to hold the e-cigarette and to even let it dangle vertically without posing the risk of dropping it like other e-cigarettes might.

Couple this with the fact that the charger has a light on the tip that makes it easy to find in even the darkest of places, and you can quickly see why we were already so interested in it.

It’s when you take into account that the V2 Pro Series 3 refuses to leak even when held upside down by the charger that we were colored impressed. Unlike some other e-cigarettes, the V2 Pro can even be used while it’s still charging.

As far as the actual operation of the V2 Pro goes, we found that it was more satisfying compared to other e-cigarettes due to the way that it’s constructed. The wick-fed top coil clearomizer allows for vapor to be warmer than it would with other similar bottom-coil attachments, yet it has an automatic ten-second cut-off time that prevents the vapor from tasting burned.

While the e-liquid tank isn’t enclosed in glass, it does have an unusually study plastic. It doesn’t bend when you push on the sides, which means that it shouldn’t crack when harsher e-liquids are used inside of it.

The one thing we loved is the fact that the V2 Pro Series 3 caters to those who like an e-cigarette with an assertive throat hit. We found that the volume and strength of vapor that the V2 Pro produces is astounding for the prize of this e-cigarette. We’d even go so far to say that it’s comparable to the Lavatube at half the cost with a smaller size and similar battery life.

The V2 Pro Series 3 as a Tobacco or Essential Oil Vaporizer

Although the V2 Pro Series 3’s main feature is that you can use it for e-liquid, loose tobacco or essential oil, we have to state that we didn’t have the opportunity to test it with tobacco or essential oil. Our inability to do so was driven by the fact that we’ve decided to stay away from actions that might lead us back to tobacco smoking, which is something that we feel you can respect if you switched to e-cigarettes with the hope of potential harm reduction.

In addition to that, V2 Cigs hasn’t released their essential oil cartridge yet. It’s supposed to be released in September 2014, and it will support both nicotine gels and waxes.

While we don’t have any experience with these, we suspect that they will become more attractive for consumers to purchase if legislation ever makes e-liquid harder to purchase.

The next best thing we can offer to actual first-hand experience is to go over the technical specifications of the V2 Pro Series 3. When using it as a tobacco vaporizer, the chamber should maintain a temperature between 160 and 180 degrees Celsius. The battery is large enough to last for 12 vaporizing sessions between charges.

If you already use a vaporizer with a built-in herb chamber, then you’ll find the V2 Pro Series 3 even more attractive. It has a removable chamber that makes cleaning it out easy and nearly effortless.

Looking Forward to the V2 Pro Series 7 and 9 Vaporizers

V2 Cigs has announced that they’ll be releasing the Series 7 and 9 vaporizers in the near future. We’re fairly certain that the Series 3 cartridges won’t work with the newer models, as the Series 7 and 9 cartridges look to be progressively larger. This poses a dilemma for those of you that might want to purchase the Series 3 now.

It’s our opinion that it’s only worth waiting if you already own an expensive e-cigarette like the ProVari, which is one of the few e-cigarettes that still offers performance superior to that of the V2 Pro. Based on the information currently available, we believe it’s likely that the V2 Pro Series 9 could end up becoming something of a ProVari killer, but it’ll be several months before we know for sure. If you’re still using a mini e-cigarette or haven’t purchased your first e-cigarette yet, the V2 Pro Series 3 is a superlative buy.

V2 Pro Review: The Bottom Line

The V2 Pro Series 3 has some of the most user-friendly features that we’ve ever seen in an e-cigarette. While we’re aware that there are some tobacco and herb vaporizers capable of using eGo batteries, the V2 Pro Series 3 is likely the only vaporizer built from scratch with the intent to work with e-liquid, tobacco and essential oils.

This makes the V2 Pro Series 3 one of the most reliable choices if you’re worried about e-liquid facing a ban by the FDA in the near future.

As it stands, the possibility of e-cigarettes being forced out by lawmakers appears to be a distant concern. That means rating how well the V2 Pro performs as an e-cigarette more important to consider than anything else.

In one short way of putting it, we love the V2 Pro. It’s a remarkable device that allows for features that other e-cigarettes couldn’t ever hope to deliver, such as the completely intuitive design and leak-free operation, not to mention the ability to vaporize the widest variety of nicotine products possible.

The V2 Pro Series 3 is one of the few e-cigarettes that can make good on claims that it delivers a more intelligent e-cigarette design. If you haven’t switched to e-smoking yet or you’re still on the hunt for the e-cigarette that might make your e-smoking experience perfect, then the V2 Pro is a vaporizer that you should try.