Disposable vapes are the most popular vaping devices on the market today, and there are quite a few good reasons for that. A disposable vape is the only type of vape that’s ready to use as soon as you remove it from the box, and that feature helps to make disposables the most convenient vapes that you can buy. It’s also fun to have the ability to try lots of different products and flavors without needing to commit to any of them for more than a few days.
If you think there’s a lot of variety in disposable vapes, though, that’s nothing compared to the enormous range of experiences that you can have with a refillable vape. With a refillable device, you can use any of the hundreds of different vape juice flavors that are on the market today. You can also use whatever nicotine strength you want, which is important if you want to use vaping as a means of lowing your nicotine intake. Most disposable vapes are only available in one strength, but you don’t have to worry about that limitation with a refillable vape.
The greatest thing about refillable vapes, though, is that they’re a great deal more economical than disposables. The longest-lasting disposable vapes on the market today contain more than 20 ml of vape juice and last thousands of puffs. That sounds great until you compare disposables to nicotine salt vape juice, which contains 30 ml of e-liquid per bottle and typically costs just $7 or so. Clearly, switching to a refillable vape has the potential to help you save a lot of money.
Before you jump in and buy your first refillable vape, though, there are a few things that you need to know if you want your experience to be as good as it can be – and in this guide, we’re going to walk you through it. Read on!
Ready to make your decision? Read our list of the best pod vapes or browse our full collection of vape kits now.
You Need to Choose a Vape That Matches Your Inhaling Style
Most disposable vapes are designed for mouth-to-lung inhaling. If you don’t want your experience to change drastically, you should buy a refillable vape designed for the same inhaling style.
In the past, recommending the right type of refillable vape for someone who wanted to step up from disposables was easy because all of the disposable vapes on the market were designed for the mouth-to-lung inhaling style, and most small refillable vapes were the same.
These days, though, disposable vapes with features like Pulse Mode and adjustable airflow have blurred the lines between mouth-to-lung and direct-to-lung inhaling. Some disposable vapes work perfectly well for direct lung hits, and you might be using one of those vapes now.
So, how can you tell whether a refillable vape is designed for mouth-to-lung or direct-to-lung inhaling? Usually, all that you need to do is look at the device. Small, pocketable vapes are generally designed for mouth-to-lung inhaling. They’ll typically have small airflow vents and narrow mouthpieces. Larger pod mods, meanwhile, are typically designed for direct-to-lung inhaling. If you buy a refillable vape that’s significantly larger than your usual brand of disposable, in other words, it’s probably a direct-to-lung device.
Confused? The good thing is that almost all of the best pod vapes have adjustable airflow, so you’ll usually have no trouble dialing in your perfect puff characteristics. If you’re picky about how loose or tight you want your device’s draw to be, make sure that you invest in a refillable vape with this feature.
Refillable Vapes Have Maintenance Costs
There are two ongoing expenses associated with using a refillable vape: e-liquid and replacement pods or coils. Your choice of vape juice will determine how often you need to buy new pods or coils.
In the introduction to this article, we talked about the price of nicotine salt e-liquid when we discussed the cost of using a refillable vape compared to disposables – and while vape juice is the most significant recurring expense when you use a refillable vape, it’s not the only one. If your device has a replaceable coil, you’ll need to buy new coils periodically – and if your device uses pods with permanent coils, you’ll need to buy new pods. Depending on the device you’re using, you’ll need to budget approximately $10-15 for each box of pods or coils.
Replacement pods or coils can be a trivial expense or a significant one because the type of e-liquid that you use is the main factor that determines how long your device’s coil will last before it begins to taste burnt. If you enjoy using vape juice that’s heavily sweetened, your coil’s flavor quality may begin to suffer after just a few days. If you use unsweetened vape juice, on the other hand, you may find that your coils last weeks before you need to replace them. The choice is yours, but it’s important to understand that using sweetened e-liquid can greatly reduce the savings that you can enjoy when you switch from disposable vapes to a refillable vape.
Some Refillable Vapes Are Simpler Than Others
If you enjoy the simplicity of disposable vapes, you’ll want to buy a refillable vape that offers the same level of simplicity. Vapes with more advanced features are available, though, if you’re a more demanding vaper and want to tweak various aspects of your experience.
No matter what, stepping up from disposable vapes to a refillable vape will make your vaping experience more complicated than it is now. That’s natural since a disposable vape doesn’t require any maintenance except occasional charging. Some refillable devices are more complicated than others, though, so it’s important to choose a vape that’s not going to overwhelm you with a high level of complexity. Here are the two main decisions that you’ll need to make when you buy a refillable vape.
- Do you want a vape that has built-in coils, or do you want one with replaceable coils? Having a vape with replaceable coils will cost less in the long run because replacement coils are usually sold in packs of five, whereas replacement pods are typically sold in packs of two or three for around the same price. On the other hand, replacing a pod is quicker and less messy than replacing a coil. If you want to spend as little as possible, you’ll want a refillable vape with a replaceable coil. If you want to keep things simpler, you’ll probably prefer a device that uses pods with built-in coils.
- Do you want a vape with a menu system and adjustable settings, or would you rather have something that’s a bit more plug and play? An extremely simple refillable vape is only marginally more complicated than a disposable vape; all that you’ll need to do is charge the device, fill the pod and enjoy. With a vape that has more advanced settings like adjustable wattage, you’ll need to take some time to read the manual and get to know your device before you can get started.
Choosing the Right Nicotine Strength Is Crucial
If you’re switching from disposable vapes to a refillable vape, it’s important to choose an e-liquid that keeps your nicotine intake about the same as it is now. In most cases, nicotine salt vape juice is the ideal choice for your first refillable vape.
Regardless of which refillable vape you end up buying, you’ll need to complete your purchase by adding at least one bottle of e-liquid to your cart. If you want your experience to be as enjoyable and satisfying as it is with the disposable vapes that you’re currently using, you’ll need to make sure that you’re getting the right type of vape juice.
- Nicotine salt e-liquid is usually the right choice for a small entry-level vape like a pod system. Most brands make nicotine salt vape juice in strengths up to 50 mg/ml, which is perfect if you’re stepping up from disposables because a disposable vape usually has that same strength. In many cases, bottled nicotine salt e-liquid is also available in a lower strength of around 25 mg/ml. That’ll be useful to you if you’re interested in reducing your nicotine intake. You might also want to try the lower strength if you buy a pod system that’s capable of producing larger vapor clouds than the disposables you’re currently using.
- Freebase nicotine e-liquid typically comes in much lower strengths than nicotine salt; freebase e-liquids are usually sold in 3 mg/ml and 6 mg/ml strengths. Although you can use freebase vape juice with any refillable vape, you’ll probably find these strengths a bit low if you’re using a small device unless you’re making a concerted effort to reduce your nicotine intake. Save freebase vape juice for later unless you’re planning to buy a larger pod mod. Pod mods are typically capable of producing very large clouds, which can make up for the lower nicotine strength.