Halo Cigs G6 – A Cig-A-Like That Performs

With the Halo Cigs Triton Kit becoming one of the biggest selling ego-style eCigarette start kits in the shortest amount of time we can remember, we thought it would be a good idea to go over some of the other new products Halo Cigs recently released or upgraded. We thought this would also be a great time to do a Halo Triton Kit Giveaway (see below).

The Upgrade: Halo’s G6 eCigarette

The last time we reviewed Halo Cigs G6 was way back in the middle of 2012. We were impressed beyond measure back then with the G6 being the first truly serious mini-battery eCigarette we had the opportunity to review. It was so far ahead of then-popular South Beach, Green Smoke, et al, that we were reviewing at the time that to even write about them in the same article seemed to be a disservice to Halo. Happily, things have only gotten better for the G6, as well as Spinfuel. Coincidence?

Packaging – The impressive starter kit packaging of the Halo Triton has migrated over to the G6. No longer sold in the round tin with the every day USB adapter and wall adapter, the G6 now ships with the same sleek padded box of the Triton, the modern (in every way) wall adapter plug, the dedicated USB adapter, a 5-pack of cartomizers (prefilled or blank) and your choice of two batteries.

Batteries – The G6 is a 3.7v rubberized painted mini-battery in 65mm and 78mm length. Since the kits are assembled here in the US you can customize your starter kit is a number of ways. First you choose the color of the battery; Midnight Blue, Demon Red, Jet Black, Deep Purple, Classic White, Titanium, Princess Pink (Julia’s favorite), Electric Lime and Emerald Green. All colors are rubberized paint.

Once you choose the battery color you choose the size. Since you get two batteries in the standard starter kit (and there is only one starter kit, Halo doesn’t like to play games) you can choose between Manual and Automatic, one of each or both the same, and 65mm or 78mm, or one of each. My list G6 Starter Kit included a 78mm manual and a 65mm automatic, in Emerald Green.

Not every Halo Cigs eLiquid is available in the pre-filled cartomizers, but you won’t suffer from lack of choice if you do choose the prefilled carts. Among the selections available in prefilled are Turkish Tobacco, Belgium Cocoa, Prime 15, Malibu, Menthol Ice, Torque 56, Tribeca, and HX3. In addition to the multiple choices of prefilled cartomizer packs you can choose blank cartomizers in all the colors of the batteries, and then some, as well as a 5-pack of Black Low Resistance blanks (2.1-2.3ohm), which I highly recommend. Halo also offers an XL size cartomizer, in black.

Something new: With the release of the Triton Clearomizers Halo Cigs is now offering their own mini-tanks, which have the capacity of .9ml of eLiquid, and are available in several transparent colors. I prefer the crystal clear clearomizers for both the G6 and Triton, I want to see how much eLiquid is left and while the colored clearomizers are transparent, I can still see them better without the added color.

Real World

Nothing much as changed with respect to the appearance of the G6 batteries, though they charge a bit faster. I’m not sure if that’s due to a higher quality wall adapter and USB adapter or the newer battery technology, but they seem to charge about 15-20% faster than last years, according to my notes from last year.

Battery Life: The G6 batteries last about 3 hours with moderate to heavy vaping, the 78mm lasts about 10% longer in my tests. Also in my own tests when attaching a mini-tank to the battery the vapor production is a little better than the cartomizer, but not by much, and the clearomizer seems to eat the battery life a tad faster, about the same amount of time that Halo’s Low Resistance cartomizers take from the battery. Note* Low Resistance cartomizers allow more power into the atomizer, thus producing a warmer and heavier vapor than a normal cartomizer. The clearomizers perform about the same as the normal cartomizers but less than the LR cartomizers, and although the ohm rating of the clearomizers aren’t available I would venture to say that they are rated was low resistance themselves, probably 2.1-2.3ohm. Note* A normal cartomizer, or SR for Standard Resistance is 3.0-ohm.

More on Tanks: I don’t particularly care for the mini-tanks. I’ve used other mini-clearomizers that have held more eLiquid (1.3ml) and that have screw-in drip tip, and produce more vapor. The Halo G6 mini-tanks are not screw-in tips but rather push-in type. The mini-tanks feel…well, to be honest, they feel cheap. While I love the Triton Clearomizers, and the fact that the coil heads extend above the rim of the tank making it really easy to fill without worrying about getting eLiquid into the center post, the mini-tanks do not enjoy that same feature. It takes a steady hand to fill the mini-tank with an eye-dropper and if you decide to go that way you would be better off using a blunt needle instead. Vapor production isn’t nearly as good as the Triton clearomizers, even when used on a Triton battery. The vapor production isn’t bad, however, they are equal to the normal cartomizers by Halo.

New Adapters – The Wall Adapter is a sleek, modern, wall adapter that fits the wall socket much better than last years model. The USB adapter enjoys a better fit in the adapter and in the USB adapter plug on my MacBook Pro. Charging a G6 battery with the Wall Adapter takes about 40-45% less time then charging through my computer.

Buying Advice – G6 Starter Kit – I highly recommend the G6 starter kit if you’re looking for a mini-battery eCigarette. I never stopped using my G6 batteries that I’ve had for about a year; they are still running strong. The rubberized paint has not chipped or discolored after being used for many months, and the battery life has only dropped about 10-15%. I’ve recharged the batteries at least 250 times.

There are only two or three min-battery kits that I would consider using, and Halo Cigs G6 is certainly one of them. Together with the Triton Kit they cover all my vaping needs, and they will yours as well.

Halo eLiquids

There has been several new eLiquids from Halo since the last time we reviewed their eLiquid line. We received several 30ml bottles of the newer flavors, and because we allow all eLiquids to steep here at the office before vaping, we allowed the Halo eLiquids the same courtesy.

My favorite Halo eLiquids are: Captain Jack, Tiki Juice, Tribeca, Torque 56, and Belgium Cocoa. The only flavor of these that we have not reviewed before is the Belgium Cocoa.

Tom McBride likes to tell people that Halo eLiquids are “eLiquids for Adults”. When you ask him what he means he tells you that every flavor offered by Halo has a more mature approach. They are inherently stronger flavored, with stronger throat hits, and simply cannot compare to the more “family flavored” eLiquids. I tend to agree with him.

Belgium Chocolate for instance has a wicked throat hit and a semi-dark chocolate flavor. You could never complain about Halo eLiquids being weak in any way. Halo describes it as having “dry cocoa undertones and a sweet chocolate top note” and that fits perfectly. It’s the ‘dry cocoa undertones’ that speak to the adult theme in this eLiquid.

My personal favorite these past couple of weeks has been the Café Mocha. This one is a very full-flavored cappuccino blend, with a strong gourmet coffee flavor. Halo has some of the best descriptions in the business and when they talk about hints of hazelnut and a gentle sweetness they are exactly right. However, they also say that it is an overall dry blend, and that is important.

If you think that a Halo eLiquid called Café Mocha is going to be the same as a Ginger’s eJuice Café Mocha you would be very wrong. Whereas Ginger’s eJuice would offer a fully sweetened café mocha that would satisfy a sweet tooth, the Halo is much more “adult oriented”. Look at it this way, when a teenager (or someone like me actually) walks into Starbucks for a Café Mocha coffee they want extra sugar and extra chocolate and hazelnut to kill the strong coffee “notes”. That is how I would describe most Café Mocha eLiquids, except for Halo’s. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a Café Mocha coffee and don’t add the sugar and don’t talk the Baristas and ask for extra sweetness then you’re going to love Halo’s Café Mocha.

Two other Halo eLiquids that I have grown to really like is Shamrock and Kringle’s Curse. Both have cool characteristics but in very different ways.

Shamrock is a chocolate mint blend that puts to shame just about every other chocolate mint eLiquid I’ve tried before. Here’s Halo’s description of Shamrock, I couldn’t even try to explain it this well:

“Shamrock e-liquid offers a delicious blend of rich dark chocolate, delicately layered with the enchanting taste of Corsican Mint. Offering deep chocolaty top notes in perfect harmony with Minty undertones, Shamrock e-juice has a flavor similar to many popular Mint Chocolate ice creams and cookies. This unique smoke juice blend is perfect for those seeking a premium dessert flavor with great vaping performance.”

Definitely a dark chocolate, a rich mint, perhaps something like Ben & Jerry’s Mint Chocolate Ice Cream. This is an eLiquid I use sparingly, because it is such a special flavor. Let this steep a week before vaping.

Kringle’s Curse is a peppermint flavor I’ve been vaping for months now. I’ve turned so many people onto this one that I can’t count them all. I cannot recall a single person telling me they did not love this flavor. Well, that’s not true. There is one. A girl I went to high school with a few decades ago smoked Salem for years. I sent her some Kringle’s Curse around Christmas time and she didn’t care for it. She didn’t hate it, but she didn’t like it much.  Here are Halo’s words about Kringle’s Curse.

“Kringle’s Curse eLiquid offers a delightful Peppermint flavor with immense vapor production and a solid throat hit. The refreshing taste of this exquisite e-juice blend has no underlying tobacco taste, and will leave your mouth tingling for more. Kringle’s Curse is a great choice for those seeking a more intense flavor ejuice than our traditional menthol blends, and for those with a sweet tooth as well.”

To me, Kringle’s Curse is far from menthol. This is a wicked peppermint blend with a scary amount of vapor production. If you’ve ever vaped eLiquids with mild throat hits for an extended amount of time and you’re dying to feel a strong throat hit again, load up a clearomizer with this stuff and you’ll get your fix. Warning, it is intense… Adult intense at that.

As a smoker in old days I didn’t care for Menthol cigarettes and as a Vaper I don’t like menthol, unless it is prepared in a certain way.  Halo offers four menthol blends; Mystic, Menthol Ice, Coolmist, and SubZero. I’ve tried them all and there are two that I can tolerate, and one of those I actually like… that’s Mystic. The other one I can tolerate is Menthol Ice. The other two are just too much.

People who have come to electronic cigarettes from smoking menthols like Kools or Salem will find their best menthols will come from Halo. Halo takes their menthol blends as serious as any vendor I’ve seen. None of the four blends are “cough syrup” blends, so right there they appeal to the real menthol ex-smoker. I like the Mystic blend because it has a nice mint sweetness along with a bit of tobacco flavor, to me it’s the least “icy cool” of the four. Those of you that like menthol will like all of these, those that are looking for menthol experience I urge you to try a sampler pack first because they are all very different.

The last one I want to talk about is a newer flavor from Halo, called Twisted Java. I tried vaping this one the minute I got it and I couldn’t handle it. So strong, it was like vaping a triple shot of espresso. Then I let it steep for a couple of weeks and it had become much more mellow, full flavored and very rich. I loved it.

“Twisted Java offers an intense gourmet eLiquid coffee blend that is full of flavor. Built on a premium Espresso base and layered with ample amounts of Peppermint, this complex blend is topped off with Caramel and Macadamia Nut nuances. This e-juice flavor is perfect for those seeking a delicious harmony of gourmet flavored coffee with a Minty twist.”

Even the description is twisted. Espresso with peppermint, macadamia nuts, and caramel? Yes, it’s pretty twisted, but man when it matures it is something you’ll never forget. Twisted Java is a must-try for every serious Vaper.

Nicotine levels for Halo eLiquids are 6, 12, 18, and 24mg, and of course, a non-nicotine as well. The 7ML size is $7.99 and the 30ML size is $19.99. Premium prices for premium eLiquids.

Buying Advice – eLiquids – Halo eLiquids are different than 99% or more of the eLiquids you’ve tried before. I’m not saying they are better, or worse, then what you’ve had before. One thing is for sure; these are serious blends that are made in a meticulous manner, in a lab setting. The quality is unsurpassed and once you try them you’ll judge every eLiquid in the future against Halo eLiquids. I’ve met some Vapers than cannot vape any eLiquid from Halo, but I have met many, many more that will vape ONLY Halo eLiquids. As a Vaper all I can say is that if you haven’t had the opportunity to try a Halo eLiquid flavor then you simply must try some of them.

Note* Last week when we published our Nicopure eVo eLiquid review there was talk of Nicopure and Halo being one in the same. I have no idea is that’s true. One of the things that someone bought up was the bottles were similar, but then the cobalt blue bottles are used by many vendors, so I don’t think that has anything to do with it. What I can say with certainty though is that after vaping some of every eVo flavor none of them were the least bit like a Halo flavor. Not a one. If they are somehow intertwined it isn’t because the eLiquids.

The flavors that seem to have the widest appeal to the people I know are Tribeca and Shamrock. On my rotation I always include Tribeca, Torque 56 (very strong tobacco flavor with a wicked throat hit), Tiki Juice (very peppery, spicy, delicious), and Captain Jack, which has a wicked throat hit and tastes a lot like a rich pipe tobacco. All of these get better with age.

Sampler Packs – Halo now offers a sampler pack for the three categories of eLiquids; Tobacco, Menthol, Gourmet, and a Variety pack. Each contain 6x 7ml bottles and are $24.99 (total of 42ml of eLiquid). If you’re new to Halo eLiquids these are your best bets. If you want to try some from each of the categories go for the variety pack, or wait for a sale and buy all four sampler packs.

John Manzione