“What are the different types of vape devices, and what’s the best vape for a beginner?”
If vaping has any downside, it’s that it isn’t always as friendly for newbies as we’d like it to be. When you think about it, one of the things that makes cigarettes so deviously addictive is the fact that they’re so simple to use. When you buy cigarettes, it’s easy because there’s no significant difference from one product to the next. The reason why you buy a particular brand has more to do with marketing than anything else. In addition to the similarity between products, cigarettes also have the benefit that there’s no “wrong” way to use them. Once a cigarette is lit, it burns down on its own. You’ll figure things out pretty quickly.
Contrast that with the experience of buying your first vape device. Unlike with cigarettes, there’s an enormous level of variety between the different types of vape devices, which means it’s actually possible to buy a device that’s not right for you as a new vaper. In addition to that challenge, it’s also possible to use a vaping device in a way that’s not conducive to having the best possible experience. That’s why we’ve spent so much time on this blog explaining how to vape – it’s to help new vapers avoid the types of bad experiences that can put them off from vaping and send them back to cigarettes.
If you’re new to vaping and are trying to decide what type of vape device to buy first, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’re going to describe the six most common types of devices: disposables, cigalikes, pod systems, vape pens, vape mods and pod mods. We’ll also explain the pros and cons of each type of device. Finally, we’ll answer the most important question about each type of device: “Is this device the right choice for a new vaper?” Let’s dive in!
Disposable Vapes
Are disposable vapes appropriate for beginners? Yes
Read our blog about the best disposable vapes now
What is a Disposable Vape?
A disposable vape is the only type of vaping device that’s ready to use right away when you take it out of the pack. It’s already charged and already filled with e-liquid. Even with other types of vapes that have pre-filled pods or cartridges, you still have to charge the device before using it for the first time. Not so with a disposable vape – you can remove the device from the box and puff on it immediately. Disposable vapes, however, aren’t refillable. When the device is out of vape juice, you need to replace it.
What Are the Benefits of Disposable Vapes?
- Easy to use: Just puff and enjoy
- Good flavor selection: Some brands offer dozens of flavors
- Satisfying: Most common nicotine strength is 50 mg/ml
Disposable vapes are the easiest vaping devices to use. They're even easier than cigarettes in a way since there’s no need to use a match or lighter. Just puff on the device’s mouthpiece, and you’re vaping. That’s it. The simplicity of disposable vapes has helped to make them the most popular vaping devices for beginners. Thanks to the extremely high popularity of the devices, all of the world’s top vaping manufacturers are getting in on the action – and that means there’s an enormous selection of different flavors. In the past, using a non-refillable vape always meant that you’d have a very limited flavor selection. That’s not the case with disposables, though, because there are so many different products on the market. It’s hard to come up with a vape juice flavor or flavor profile that you can’t find in disposable form.
The other major benefit of disposable vapes is that they’re surprisingly inexpensive to use because today’s devices last so long. With the most popular disposable vapes now delivering many thousands of puffs before they run out of e-liquid, you can easily use a device for well over a week before replacing it. In that way, using disposables can actually be the cheapest way to vape.
What Are the Drawbacks of Disposable Vapes?
- Less economical: No way to refill the device once it’s empty
- Hard on the environment: Difficult to dispose of the device responsibly
The only real drawback of disposable vapes is that when a device runs out of vape juice, you have to find a safe way to dispose of it. Because disposable vapes contain lithium-ion batteries and other hazardous materials, you can’t just throw them away in your regular trash. If you have a local recycling service that accepts used vaping products, you can simply bring your disposable vapes to that company. Many people, though, have difficulty figuring out what to do with disposable vapes when they’re finished with them.
Cigalikes
Are cigalikes appropriate for new vapers? Yes, with reservations
What Is a Cigalike?
A cigalike is a vaping device that’s small and cylindrical like a tobacco cigarette. When manufacturers began to build and sell the first e-cigarettes, they felt that it was important to provide smokers a visual cue indicating that those devices related to smoking. Since cigalikes looked like tobacco cigarettes, smokers could see those devices on shelves and would immediately know that they were nicotine products. Although cigalikes aren’t as common today as they were when vaping first began, you can still find them on the shelves of traditional tobacco retailers.
What Are the Benefits of Cigalikes?
- Realistic: No vaping device looks more like a cigarette
- Easy to use: Just twist on a cartridge to refill the device
The biggest benefit of cigalikes is that they’re very simple to use. You don’t have to think about anything when using a cigalike except keeping the battery charged and replacing the twist-on cartridge when the flavor begins to fade. When you want to vape, all that you have to do is puff. Those aspects of cigalikes make them great for new vapers. We do not sell cigalikes here at VapeJuice.com, though, and that’s because they have one major drawback that prevents them from being the best vaping devices for newbies.
What Are the Drawbacks of Cigalikes?
- Poor flavor selection: Most devices only offer tobacco and menthol cartridges
The major drawback of cigalikes is that their refill cartridges are only available in two flavors: tobacco and menthol. That’s because there are legal restrictions in place that restrict the flavors of all pre-filled vaping products to just those two options. Refillable vaping devices, on the other hand, use bottled vape juice. Bottled e-liquid has no flavor restrictions, and we think that a vape device with hundreds of possible flavors – rather than just two – is almost always the best choice for a new vaper.
Pod Systems
Are pod systems appropriate for new vapers? Yes
Read our blog about the best pod vapes now
What Is a Pod System?
A pod system is any vaping device that stores its e-liquid in a removable plastic pod rather than a twist-on plastic cartridge (like a cigalike) or a glass tank (like a vape pen or vape mod). Most pod systems are barely larger than cigalikes, although there are also some pod systems – called pod mods – that are a bit larger and more powerful.
At convenience stores and other traditional tobacco retailers, you can find pod systems that use pre-filled pods. However, those vape devices suffer from the same flavor limitations as cigalikes. Here at VapeJuice.com, we only sell refillable pod systems with no flavor restrictions.
What Are the Benefits of Pod Systems?
- Sleek: Pod systems are some of the smallest refillable vapes on the market
- Satisfying: They’re usually optimized for high-strength e-liquids
- Good flavor selection: A refillable pod system works with any bottled e-liquid
Pod systems offer the best possible combination of satisfaction and ease of use. They’re designed specifically for use with nicotine salt e-juice, which is perfect because higher-nicotine e-liquid is usually precisely what people require when they’re trying to make the switch from smoking to vaping. In terms of the maintenance tasks that you need to perform, the only difference between a pod system and a cigalike is that, with a pod system, you need to refill the pod occasionally. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of keeping the battery charged and puffing on the device when you want to vape. Although pod systems require a tiny bit more maintenance than cigalikes, the extra effort is worth it because of the vastly increased flavor selection.
What Are the Drawbacks of Pod Systems?
- No significant drawbacks: A refillable pod system is usually a great choice for a new vaper
Pod systems have no real drawbacks aside from the fact that they aren’t quite as simple and convenient as disposables.
Vape Pens
Are vape pens appropriate for new vapers? Sometimes
Read our blog about the best vape pens now
What Is a Vape Pen?
A vape pen is a specific type of vape starter kit in which the device is long and cylindrical, like a thick pen. While a pod system stores its e-liquid in a plastic pod, a vape pen usually has a glass tank with a replaceable atomizer coil. When the vape pen’s flavor begins to change, you’ll need to disassemble the tank and replace the atomizer coil.
What Are the Benefits of Vape Pens?
- Realistic: Cylindrical shape looks and feels a bit like a cigar
- Better battery life: Vape pens tend to have slightly larger batteries than pod vapes
Vape pens are usually a bit larger than pod systems. The larger size allows a vape pen to hold a higher-capacity battery cell, and that means a vape pen typically produces bigger clouds and lasts longer on a battery charge than a pod system. That can potentially make a vape pen a better choice for you than a pod system if you’re a new vaper with very high nicotine needs. With the new generation of higher-performance pod mods, though, the difference in capabilities between pod systems and vape pens isn’t as distinct as it once was.
What Are the Drawbacks of Vape Pens?
- Older technology: Many companies aren’t actively updating their vape pen designs because they’re focusing on pod systems instead
- Different inhaling style: Some vape pens are designed for direct-to-lung inhaling, which may not be what you want
For a new vaper, the one drawback of vape pens is that they aren’t all designed for the mouth-to-lung inhaling style that you’re likely to prefer. Some vape pens are designed for much greater cloud production, and they come with large tanks designed for direct-to-lung inhaling. If you look at the tank included with a particular vape pen and see that the mouthpiece is much wider than a cigarette filter, that may not be the best vape device for you.
Vape Mods
Are vape mods appropriate for new vapers? Usually not
Read our blog about the best vape mods now
What Is a Vape Mod?
Vape mods are the largest and most powerful types of vape devices. They’re usually shaped like small boxes, and they’re designed to hold one or more high-capacity battery cells. Vape mods can often deliver more than 200 watts of power – and when a vape mod comes in a package including a tank, it’ll almost always be a tank designed for direct-to-lung inhaling. Vape mods often have advanced features that other vaping devices lack, such as custom power curves and automatic temperature limiting. They are almost always the devices that experienced vapers use.
What Are the Benefits of Vape Mods?
- Powerful: Vape mods can often operate at power levels higher than 200 watts
- Flexible: A good vape mod can work with whatever vape tank or rebuildable atomizer you want to use
- Advanced: Vape mods often have advanced features that other types of vapes lack
If you’re a long-term vaper, there’s a good chance that you have a very specific idea of what you want your vaping experience to be like. You probably have a favorite vape tank, and you’ve tested that tank enough to know that it performs best within a very specific wattage range. There’s also a good chance that, more than anything else, you want a vaping setup that gives you the biggest possible clouds and the boldest possible flavors. If those things are true, a vape mod is the only type of vaping device that makes sense for you. You want a device with batteries that last all day, and you want something that can deliver massive power without breaking a sweat. Only a vape mod can do those things.
What Are the Drawbacks of Vape Mods?
- Complicated: Vape mods require more extensive maintenance than other types of vapes
- Large: Vape mods are larger and heavier than other vapes and aren’t as well suited to carrying in your pocket
A vape mod usually isn’t the ideal device to choose if you’re new to vaping. That’s partially because the included tank won’t be compatible with the mouth-to-lung inhaling style you’ll almost certainly want to use. A vape mod always includes a tank designed for direct-to-lung inhaling, and that means it’ll work best with a low-nicotine e-liquid. It’ll give you huge clouds, but it won’t give you the throat hit that you want when you’re trying to switch to vaping. In addition, a vape mod doesn’t have the easy simplicity of a device like a pod system. Setting up a vape mod requires learning how to navigate a complicated menu system – and although experienced vapers often appreciate that level of complexity, new vapers usually don’t.
Pod Mods
Are pod mods appropriate for new vapers? Usually not
Read our blog about the best pod mods now
What Is a Pod Mod?
A pod mod is basically like a cross between a vape mod and a pod system. Like a pod system, a pod mod stores its vape juice in a drop-in plastic pod rather than a screw-in glass tank. The design of a pod mod allows it to provide many of the benefits of both vape mods and pod systems.
What Are the Benefits of Pod Mods?
- Balanced: Sleeker than a vape mod but more powerful than a traditional pod system
You can think of a pod mod as a bit like the halfway point between a pod system and a vape mod in terms of power. A typical pod system operates in a power range of around 20-30 watts, and a vape mod often can often operate at over 200 watts. A pod mod, meanwhile, usually operates in a range of about 40-80 watts. Pod mods are also smaller, lighter and easier to carry in your pocket than vape mods. Although the power difference between a vape mod and a pod mod might seem significant, the fact is that a power range of around 40-80 watts is more than sufficient for driving today’s mesh coils. The vast majority of people who vape don't use their devices at anywhere near 200 watts.
What Are the Drawbacks of Pod Mods?
- Proprietary: Most pod mods aren’t compatible with third-party vape tanks
All pod-based vaping devices are proprietary by design. Like a traditional pod system, a pod mod is only designed to work with the pods made for it. Many manufacturers give their pod mods a measure of flexibility by allowing them to work with several different coils, but a pod mod generally can’t work with a third-party tank in the way that a vape mod can.