Vape pens are some of the most popular vaping devices on the market today, and that’s because many people find that they offer the ideal combination of performance and portability. The best vape pens offer far superior flavor and vapor production compared to disposable vapes, but they’re not any larger or heavier. In fact, they’re actually smaller and lighter in many cases. The only drawback of vape pens compared to disposables is that you’ll have to refill your device and replace the coil or pod once in a while – which isn’t really much trouble at all considering the superior quality of the overall experience.
We have an entire guide elsewhere on this site devoted to listing the best vape pens, and we encourage you to read it if you’re stuck trying to choose a specific device. In this article, we’re going to take a broader look at the world of vape pens in general by discussing the top vape pen brands overall along with the specific features that make their products stand out.
Every serious vaping aficionado has a favorite brand, and people choose their favorites based on a variety of reasons ranging from design aesthetics to unique technical features. After you’ve read this overview, you might be ready to choose your favorite brand as well.
This article focuses on the top refillable vape pen brands. If you're interested in disposable vape pens, read our list of the best disposable vape brands.
Vaporesso
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One of the things we like about the top two vape pen brands on this list – Vaporesso and Voopoo – is the fact that they highly value interoperability and compatibility in their devices. If you’re new to vaping, it can be very frustrating to buy a new device and be unsure about what pods or coils are supposed to work with it. It’s even worse If you actually buy a box of pods or coils only to find that they don’t actually fit your device.
The world-famous Vaporesso XROS vapes are some of the most popular pod-based vape pens on the market today, and one of the reasons why they’re so well loved is because you never have to worry about compatibility with them. If a box of pods says “XROS,” the pods will work with any Vaporesso XROS device; it’s that simple.
Vaporesso XROS devices have been some of the most popular pen-shaped pod vapes on the market since they were originally released, and the range has expanded to include devices with mini-box shapes as well. One of the recent highlights in the series is the Vaporesso XROS 4 Nano, which is incredibly tiny and boasts a full-color screen along with power control up to a maximum of 30 watts.
Voopoo
If you’re a fan of small pen-shaped pod systems, many people these days believe that there are only two ways for you to go. Either you’re a fan of the Vaporesso brand and their XROS vapes, or you’re a fan of Voopoo and their Argus line of vape pens.
On one hand, Voopoo has sacrificed interoperability a little bit in the name of technical advancement. Most Argus pods work with all Argus devices, but there are some exceptions. Some Argus devices, for example, aren’t compatible with the lowest-resistance Argus pods – so you do have to do a little research before you buy.
The fact that Voopoo isn’t quite as strict about compatibility, though, means that some of their devices are just a touch more advanced than the vapes in the Vaporesso XROS series. The Voopoo Argus A, for example, has two large full-color screens and is light enough to wear comfortably around your neck.
The Voopoo brand originally gained their fame by developing the Gene chipset, which brought nearly instant firing to high-end vape mods for the first time. Every new Voopoo device since then has featured some variation of the Gene chipset, which continues to offer incredible performance and rock-solid reliability after all these years.
SMOK
With the SMOK brand, interoperability between devices and pods is kind of thrown out the window. It’s important to know what’s compatible with your device because you could easily end up buying the wrong pods or coils if you’re not careful. That’s why we discuss compatibility at great length in our guides on SMOK Novo vapes and SMOK Nord vapes, which are linked to below.
Curious about how SMOK’s two most famous series of vape pens differ? Here’s a general overview.
- SMOK Novo vapes are typically a little smaller and have pods with built-in coils. Having built-in coils makes Novo devices a bit simpler to use and also means that you get a new coil every time you replace the pod.
- SMOK Nord vapes are typically a little larger and have pods with replaceable coils. Having replaceable coils means that you’ll need to perform a little extra maintenance to keep your device going, but it also means that you’ll enjoy somewhat bigger clouds and may spend less on replacement parts for your device in the long run.
Regardless of which device you ultimately end up choosing, you can always look forward to enormous cloud production with SMOK vape pens. SMOK basically invented the cloud chasing game back in the day with their famous Cloud Beast series of vape tanks, and they bring that same level of fervor to even their smallest vape pens today. The Novo and Nord vape pens both produce much larger clouds than you’d expect from such pocketable devices.
Uwell
Uwell has something in common with SMOK in that they design their Uwell Caliburn vapes with the same philosophy they’ve always used for their vape tanks. While SMOK has always focused on creating vape hardware that produces incredible clouds, Uwell’s focus is on delivering the best flavor quality possible – even if that means sacrificing vapor production a little bit.
The original Uwell Caliburn was one of the first pod systems with refillable pods. The series has been in continuous production since then, and it’s been greatly expanded as well. The original Caliburn was immediately successful for its usage of Uwell’s Pro-FOCS technology, which outfitted a tiny vape pod with the same type of coil that you’d previously have only been able to find in a full-sized vape tank. The difference in flavor quality was enormous compared to the pre-filled pod vapes that were on the market before the Caliburn’s release – and to this day, every new Caliburn device features Pro-FOCS flavor technology.
Although Uwell’s Caliburn vapes started out as simple pen-shaped pod systems, the line has greatly expanded since then and now features some of the most advanced vape pens on the market along with plenty of simple draw-activated options that beginners love. Uwell reached a new technical peak with the release of the Caliburn G3 Pro Koko, which features an enormous full-screen display, a 1,250 mAh battery and fully adjustable power up to a maximum of 35 watts.
Geek Vape
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Geek Vape might be more famous for their Geek Bar brand of disposable vapes these days, but you definitely shouldn’t sleep on their Wenax vape pens because Geek Vape has been hard at work differentiating their vape pens by introducing technologies that aren’t available anywhere else.
The Geek Vape Wenax Q Pro is a perfect example of the uniqueness in Geek Vape’s approach with their refillable vape pens. The Wenax Q Pro features the same type of touch-sensitive buttons that you might find in your car. The device vibrates in response when you interact with the touch interface, making it feel almost like you’re pressing actual physical buttons – and when you don’t need to use the buttons, they disappear. It’s one of the best interfaces that we’ve ever seen on any vaping device.
Looking for something a little simpler? Try the Geek Vape Wenax Q Mini, which is a tiny top-filling pod system with automatic puff-based firing. Although it’s extremely small, the Wenax Q Mini has an impressive battery capacity of 1,000 mAh and offers fully adjustable airflow to suit whatever inhaling style you prefer.
All Geek Vape devices with “Q” in their names work with the full range of Geek Vape Q pods, so there’s no need to worry about compatibility.
Key Differences Between the Top Vape Pen Brands
When you look at a large selection of vape pens, it’s easy to get the impression that they’re all more or less the same as one another because they’re outwardly so similar. The truth is, though, that the top vape pen brands prioritize different things in their designs. Here's a final summary.
- Geek Vape tries to introduce eye-catching new technologies that make their devices stand out.
- Uwell always prioritizes the flavor quality of their hardware, even if that means sacrificing the cloud production a little.
- SMOK goes in the opposite direction by prioritizing maximum vapor production.
- Voopoo devices feature advanced chipsets that allow them to fire instantly, even when they’re cold.
- Vaporesso prioritizes a convenient user experience by ensuring that all vape pens and pods bearing the XROS brand name are interoperable with one another.