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7’s e-Cigarettes Review Part 2 – The Hybrid
For the first part of my 7’s review click this sentence. Part two is the second item I received from Choice 7’s e-Cigarettes. It’s an automatic (manual is not an option), 650mAh ego-style and ego-size lithium-ion 3.7v battery and a unique clearomizer system. It’s attractive, well built, but plagued with issues that just cannot be overcome.
The Hybrid starter kit includes: – $99.95
- (2) Hybrid 650mAh Batteries, Black (1000+ Puffs on 1 Charge – they claim)
- (2) Blank Hybrid Cartridges with “Enhanced Vapor Production”
- (1) Hybrid Cone Adapter (for use with 7’s Pre-filled Micro Cartomizers)
- (2) 15ml Cobalt Blue Glass Bottles of 7’s E-Liquids
- (1) USB Cable
- (1) USB Wall Adapter
- Compartmental Storage Box
New Diffuser Technology – Clearomizer
The black, opaque, for the lack of better word, “clearomizer” features a built-in “diffuser”, as well as a soft rubber mouthpiece that slips on and off. Included in the starter kit, but not mentioned, are two 2ML bottles of e-Liquid that you pour into each clearomizer chamber as a primer fluid. The bottles are unmarked so when you first use a clearomizer makes sure you’re using the right e-Liquid flavor. I ordered coconut and mango flavors and luckily the coconut 2ML bottle had a coconut aroma, so I didn’t mix them up.
7’s official description for this strange clearomizer device reads:
“The SS Choice 2-piece Patent Pending 7’s Hybrid is constructed in sturdy, hard wearing stainless steel with a matte-finish type coating. Precision engineered with anti-leak seals that save you from the mess. The 7’s Hybrid is another one of SS Choice’s commitments to unsurpassed quality through meticulous manufacturing specifications that pass our 3 Step Quality Assurance program.”
My real world experience with this clearomizer is pretty straightforward; it’s not easy to use, and produces very little vapor and has a very airy draw. Even with 18mg nicotine e-Liquid it produced zero throat hit. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a deal killer.
When it’s time to refill your clearomizer 7’s instructs you to NEVER put more than 10 drops into the clearomizer. Two ML of “starter fluid” is a lot more than 10 drops, so I can only conclude that once you vape 10 drops worth of e-Liquid you need to refill it, not matter how much juice is left in it. Any more than 10 drops and you’ll flood the chamber. I found myself refilling it after every 45 minutes of use. In order to give Choice 7’s the benefit of the doubt I used the Hybrid with the clearomizer for 3 days, off and on.
The physical size of the clearomizer seems like it would easily hold at least 3ML of juice, but the “diffuser” is so large, and the 2ML “empty” level indicator leaves about 10 drops of leeway. It is truly a strange device.
Battery
The 650mAh battery also uses the prefilled micro cartomizers from Choice 7’s. I got a much better vape using the micro cartomizer along with the included cone then I did their hybrid clearomizer.
7’s claim about the battery lasting roughly 3 hours is pretty accurate, in fact a bit conservative from my usage. Additional batteries are $24.95, making them almost $10 more than the much better Halo Triton.
Since my contact at the company never got back to me I can only surmise why any company would produce a 650mAh battery without an option for a manual button activator. No matter how “advanced” the activator sensor is when you inhale it just doesn’t come close to the power of a drag from a manual battery. Having said that, the larger battery and their micro cartomizers seemed to be a good fit, performance wise, if not a bit awkward looking, so if you happened to get one a gift than you could easily ditch the diffuser clearomizer and use their micro cartomizers, prefilled or blank.
Compartmental Storage Box
Like the Power Kit starter kit the Hybrid also comes with a nice compartmental storage box with two drawers. It’s made of the same sturdy cardboard with two pull out strips of ribbon material. This is an idea I’d like to see picked up by other brands.
e-Liquids – 15ML bottles – 2 with the Hybrid kit
All the e-Liquids sold by Choice 7’s (or just 7’s) are made on the premises in state-of-art facilities. From the two choices I made, coconut and mango, the e-Liquids are the best part of Choice 7’s product line.
The coconut e-Liquid, used in a Triton clearomizer was absolutely delicious and exactly what I look for in a coconut flavor. Thick vapor, a good throat hit (your choice is 0MG nicotine or 18MG, so I vaped the 18MG), and a rich flavor.
The mango was more than acceptable, with a nice sweet mango flavor. And again, the throat hit and vapor production was excellent in a Halo Triton. I don’t think I was lucky in my choices and although I haven’t tried any others I’d go out on a limb and say that the other flavors, except for their tobacco in the micro cartomizers, would be just as good as the coconut and mango.
The e-Liquids may be excellent, but they are also very expensive. Choice 7’s wants $15.99 for a 15ML bottle and strangely enough they do not offer a larger 30ML size. In any case, more than a dollar per ML is way too expensive these days. If they lowered their prices to as much as $9.99 per 15ML bottle I might just be an occasional customer. I was sad to see the coconut eJuice disappear on me. (Choice 7’s offers 27 different flavors.)
dThe 15ML e-Liquid bottles are blue cobalt glass with a glass eyedropper. They are stored in the bottom drawer or the storage case, and are shrink-wrapped at the neck to insure quality and any leaking that might happen during shipping.
Impressions and Buying Advice
If you don’t mind paying $15.99 for American Made e-Liquid shipped in blue cobalt glass than by all means try some of their flavors. I can’t vouch for anything other than the coconut and mango, but if they are any indication of the quality of the other flavors, and then they will probably taste pretty good.
The problem with the Hybrid itself isn’t so much the battery, except I prefer a manual activator button; it’s their diffuser clearomizer gizmo. It just doesn’t work anywhere near as well as it should. It doesn’t produce much vapor, there is absolutely no throat hit (and the same e-Liquid provided a good throat hit in the Triton clearomizer and battery), and I’m confused as to why you need to “prime” the diffuser with a 2ML bottle of liquid and then refill after using a mere 10 drops. I don’t get it.
Clearly then, Choice 7’s is not a complete shutout, they do have one saving grace, the e-Liquids. Their cig-a-like kits are priced too high, their batteries are expensive and the micro cartomizers are just way overpriced. Still, they are a quality product.
The Hybrid on the other hand, needs to rework the diffuser clearomizer issue before they have a chance at making any inroads in the larger battery market. A manual option on the battery would also help matters.
If you’re looking to move up from a cig-a-like size e-cigarette I would not recommend the Hybrid, there are several other choices that make a lot more sense, including the Halo Triton or the 777 eCigs bullet (if you’re looking for something a bit smaller), and several more. The Hybrid may sound advanced, and it may actually consist of advanced technologies, but if it does work, it doesn’t work. It’s a nice idea, but it just failed to launch.
