How to Choose the Right Vape for You?
Deciding on the right vape for you can be a very personal choice, as everyone’s needs are different. However, with so many devices available, finding which vape to buy isn’t always going to be easy.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide. Here, you’ll find the different types of devices and their features, as well as the reasons why someone might choose – or avoid – them. Just keep reading to find out everything you need to know about how to choose a vape that is right for you.
Mouth-to-Lung
Some vapers prefer mouth-to-lung, or MTL, devices. These vapes are better suited to MTL vaping, which is a technique where the vapour is taken into the mouth first before being inhaled into the lungs – similar to how someone would inhale when smoking a cigarette.
MTL devices tend to be the more classic vape kits, like vape pens, and there are both pros and cons to using them. Using MTL devices gives an experience that’s more familiar for former smokers, and they tend to be less expensive and less technical too. MTL devices also use less vape juice than DTL devices, so are often more cost-effective in the longer term.
However, they tend to be less customisable than DTL devices, and MTL vaping is less powerful, producing less vapour and therefore smaller clouds.
Direct-to-Lung
In contrast to MTL devices, DTL devices suit DTL vaping. This involves inhaling the vapour from your device straight into your lungs, without holding it into your mouth. It’s more intense, as DTL vapers tend to inhale more vapour than MTL vapers.
DTL devices are generally more complex than MTL devices, with devices like box mods, with low-resistance or sub-ohm coils, falling into this category. DTL vapes tend to have longer battery life and more control over the vaping experience, but they use more e-liquid and often the flavour won’t be as strong as it will be when using MTL devices.
Cig-a-Like
One of the original types of vaping devices, cig-a-likes are designed to resemble a cigarette to offer a similar experience to smoking for those who have switched, often with a LED light on the end to further resemble the lit end of a cigarette. Cig-a-likes are powered by a battery, either built-in and disposable or rechargeable, and use e-liquid – depending on the cig-a-like this can be either built into the device or loaded into a cartridge to be used and replaced.
Someone might choose to use a cig-a-like because they want to use a device that resembles a cigarette and is easy to use and portable too. They’re also well-suited to the MTL vaping technique, so someone who prefers this technique may decide that cig-a-likes are the right choice for them. However, vapers who prefer a more powerful vape with a longer battery life, more vapour production or greater customisability, may not want to use them.
Vape Pen
A little more complex than cig-a-likes are vape pens. These devices have a tank, a battery, and a USB charging port, and tend to resemble pens as the name would suggest.
Vape pens might be a good fit for vapers who are after a device that’s easy to use and to carry around, and isn’t too expensive, while offering a decent intensity of flavour – they come in a range of sizes and colours too so there is a degree of choice for the vaper.
However, vape pens are less customisable than a lot of other devices and tend to have a shorter battery life too. They can also leak e-juice, and experience battery issues, so they might not be right for you if you don’t want to be replacing the battery and cleaning the tank on a regular basis.
Pod Mod
Another option is to use a pod mod device. These are a more recent arrival and share similarities with the cig-a-like, being an updated version in some ways. There are different options out there, with the two choices being open pods and closed pods. The former give you the chance to refill the cartridge yourself with e-liquid a few times before replacing it, while the latter are pre-filled and can simply be replaced when used. They generally consist of the cartridge, which incorporates e-liquid and coil, battery, and USB charging port.
Being similar to cig-a-likes, they share some of the benefits: they’re portable and easy to use. However, you’ll likely get more puffs – and more flavour at that – from a pod mod than a cigalike. However, they’re not as customisable as some types of vape, and in particular, vapers who like to produce clouds with their vapes may be more likely to avoid them.
Box Mod
As the name would suggest, box mod vapes are devices that come in the rough shape of a box. Box mods tend to be the biggest, bulkiest, and most heavy vapes and tend to have removable, rechargeable batteries and a sub-ohm tank. Many contemporary box mods have features like temperature control and the means to adjust wattage and voltage too.
Box mods are ideal for vapers who want to customise more aspects of their device to personalise the vaping experience – the name ‘mod’ comes from ‘modify’, because box mods are different to the original devices, and would often be made from separate parts by vapers who wanted to customise their device. With a sub-ohm tank, box mods also tend to be a better fit for vapers who prefer DTL vaping, and ‘cloudchasing’.
However, people new to vaping might be more likely to avoid box mods, as they can be quite complex and even confusing. They’re not as portable as other devices either, so may not be ideal for a vaper who’s often on the move.
Disposable Vape
Finally, we come to the disposable vape. These vapes are quite simple in design and are built to simply be disposed of when they run out of e-liquid.
Disposable vapes are easy to use – they can be used straight from the box – and for this reason vapers may want to use them. In particular, they may be a good fit for those newer to vaping, as they’re not as difficult to use. There’s no maintenance required either, as all you need to do is dispose of it when you’re finished.
However, some vapers may want to avoid them. Being non-rechargeable and non-refillable, people who vape might prefer a device that’s designed to last, or one that gives them more freedom. While more options are appearing in terms of disposable vapes, you’ll have more choice with a rechargeable vape and buying e-liquid separately – and other vapes are more customisable too.
While we can’t tell you which vape to buy, as everyone has different preferences, you should hopefully now know more about how to choose a vape, and the various different types, but if you’d like to know more you can take a look at our guide here.
