Round About Place

We haven’t heard very much about the two companies in today’s comparisons. The idea behind the first company’s name, Instead, involves making a choice: “Choose vapor instead of smoke” (on their homepage)

Instead’s electronic cigarette is quite pricey even to current standards, considering most kits are far below the $100 price. At $100 for a basic starter kit that includes two batteries, one wall charger, a “stash” tin container, and a velvet pouch, one would think to add liquid into the five empty cartomizers that are included in the kit. Luckily, and upon further reading, they offer this same kit with a bottle of e-liquid at a better price: $95.99. If you decide to go with Instead, the kit with e-liquid bundle is definitely the better choice.

The second company is SafeCig. Sticking to the $100s range, SafeCig’s Deluxe Kit may appear to be another pricey one, but it doesn’t seem it after breaking down the costs. From what we’ve seen across the board, a standard 5-pack of cartomizers runs at an average of $12, and a battery’s typical cost is about $10. At $103.46 (“unique” price), you get three batteries, two 7-packs of refill cartridges (based on site images and no mention of separate atomizers, we believe these cartridges are cartomizers), two USB chargers, one wall charger, one car charger, and one safe case. The safe case is a flat business card-like container that comes in different colors, including pink, white, blue, and more.

The better choice between the two? Eh, it’s a toss-up. Performance-wise, both offer very good, dense vapor, and the battery life is about the same. For a pack per day smoker, a single battery charge typically runs about 3-6 (big time range because of individual smoking style) for both units. We tend to gravitate towards bundles that include e-liquid in them because we’re such huge fans of using e-liquid. The extra cartomizers and one extra battery on the SafeCig, though, are a sweet deal, too. The extra battery in particular will come in very handy for hardcore vapers (or formerly hardcore smokers).

When writing comparisons, we like to *try* and stick two products that are very close in price, so as not to lend a big upper hand to one product over the other. Case in point: the Bloog MaxxFusion Deluxe versus Smoking Everywhere’s GOLD 2.0 starter kit.

Bloog sounds… well, funny. It’s not exactly a term you would expect to find attached to an e-cigarette, but their name is nothing to worry about! Per our research, Bloog has been an outstanding vendor with overall great, quality merchandise, including their MaxxFusion Deluxe kit. This starter kit includes two batteries, five cartomizers, two velvet battery pouches, one wall charger, and one USB charger. Stepping away from the traditional, their e-cigarette’s batteries are white while the cartomizers are a classy black. This may deter some users who want to use an e-cigarette that looks EXACTLY like what they’re used to, though.

Smoking Everywhere is one of the “godfathers” of the industry, as they are one of the original companies to offer e-cigarettes. For a more traditional offering, Smoking Everywhere’s GOLD 2.0 kit may be just the thing. Their GOLD 2.0 features the traditional 3-piece design, which is usually easier to refill with e-liquid than a cartomizer design. This kit features two batteries, two atomizers, five cartridges, and a wall outlet charger.

Smoking Everywhere claims a one-year manufacturer’s warranty, although, when reading through the product description, you may notice an asterisk at the end of the warranty claim. We were unable to find out additional information regarding the presence of the asterisk. Bloog’s warranty is for 90 days.

The opinion of “best” is strictly that: an opinion. It’s subjective to the individual and his/her biased preference.

Which leaves you to ponder: how do I choose the *correct* disposable e cigarette?

Choosing a disposable e-cigarette shouldn’t be so confusing, but it can be. One look at the thousands of disposables available from the hundreds of online [and local] retailers may only fluster even the most patient of online deal hunters. Is there a science to choosing one? Not really.

No one wants to make an incorrect choice. When choosing, there are some factors to consider, and they are listed below.

Company/Brand/Reputation/Customer Service

These go hand in hand. How does the company handle customer service? Does the company include a special coupon code with their disposable as an incentive to purchase a starter kit? Is the company itself claiming supreme customer service, or can you find at least one comment elsewhere (on a forum or blog) that talks about the company’s service, or lack thereof? Sometimes, it’s worth going the extra mile to find the reputation of a company to know they back their products.

Cost

Does pricey equal better quality? Not always, and – with firsthand experience – definitely not when dealing with e-cigarettes. A $30 disposable from one site may work just as well as a $10 disposable from another site. A single disposable should never exceed $15, and you can get one from E Cigarettes National or Square Smoke below that price. You can expect up to 500 puffs for a two- or one-piece disposable.

Design

When choosing a disposable, opt for a 2- or 1-piece e cigarette. Less hassle of putting it together, and a cartomizer disposable is usually better than a 3-piece where the atomizer and cartridge are two separate pieces… from what we’ve seen of disposables, at least.

Benefits

This one’s a no-brainer. No matter what e-cigarette you choose, the benefits are the same: no tar, no smoke, the absence of thousands of chemicals/toxins found in traditional tobacco cigarettes. Read between the lines with every company’s offering and skip the “basic” information.

….and, last…

Your Gut

Sure, you may have doubts about yourself, and you may be thinking about the time you went with your gut and purchased something on a whim. But, have more faith… sometimes, no amount of research can pinpoint you to the correct disposable. Go with your gut.