Table of Contents
Vapor4Life The Enigma And The Disposable E Cigarette
Introduction
V4L Mail – If you’ve ever purchased anything from Vapor4Life, you know that unless you ‘opt out’ that every day you’re going to get an email or two from them. These emails usually announce ‘Beat the Clock’ sales. If you’re running low on supplies, or if you’ve decided you want to buy something, it’s a good chance you can save some money if you wait for the daily V4L email. I know I certainly do.
So anyway, over the past couple of weeks I’ve seen my daily V4L email continually announce a new Disposable electronic cigarette, The WOW Vapor King. I remember thinking, after seeing it three or four times, that ‘they are really pushing these things’ and I wondered why. I mean we have reviewed several disposables before and while some of been okay, most were not, and none of them were ever worth the price. So why risk it? If I’m going to spend the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes ($6-$10) for a single ‘disposable e cigarette’ the damn thing best last at least as long, and taste at least as good, and finally, satisfy me as much as a regular cigarette. If not, then why bother?
Electronic Cigarette Disposables?
The way I see it, and I could be wrong, is there are two major segments of the electronic cigarette consumer market where a disposable e cigarette matters. Smokers curious about electronic cigarettes and one might pick one up on an impulse buy, or as a replacement for a vaper’s usual e cigarette. When a vaper is away from home or at least away from his or her usual vape gear, it’s a good idea to have access to one. But, let me ask you; ‘Do you know anyone that uses a disposable electronic cigarette as his or her only vaping device? I know I sure don’t.’
The Market For Disposable e Cigarettes
Just because no one in their right mind would use a disposable e cigarette as their only vaping device doesn’t mean there isn’t a huge market for them. Believe me, there is. And that number is growing rapidly every month. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t say ‘no one in their right mind’ because if you have enough money to spend $6-$10 a day for a disposable e cigarette and you don’t mind spending that much then maybe its not that bad of an bad idea.
The Ease of Disposables
John Manzione wrote a column the other day about the “hassle” of vaping. In it he talked about how many steps that are involved in the vaping process. Like, how often you have to refill cartomizers and clearomizers, and all sorts of other things. You have to admit that if you could afford it, using a disposable everyday instead of buying e liquid and vaping supplies sure would be a lot less hassle. If you could find one that worked well and tasted good. So maybe there are many people out there in the Vapeland willing to go through the expense in order to have an easy-to-use, consistent-tasting product.
Disposable Electronic Cigarettes By Vapor4Life
Getting back for a moment about seeing the daily V4L emails and the WOW Vapor King Disposable for a moment… I can’t ignore something forever, not when I see it every day, so several days ago I decided to look further into these new disposables. Here’s why I thought they would make a good review:
Nearly every brand of electronic cigarette on the market, in the legit market anyway, offers a disposable e cigarette. My guess is that Disposables play the role of ‘soft drinks in a restaurant chain’.
In other words, the real profit, or at least the highest profit margins are on soft drinks. They cost pennies per glass, but are sold for a couple of bucks a glass. Supposedly, there is very little profit in the actual food in these fast-food chains, so they make that up by selling soft drinks. Perhaps then, the cost of a Disposable e cigarette is also where a lot of profit can be had.
Not that there isn’t a lot of profit already in other products e cigarette brands sell. There is plenty of profit to be had in e cigarette starter kits, batteries, e liquid, and accessories. This is why you see so many Scam Alerts in Spinfuel. Perhaps the Disposable plays a big part in a company’s bottom line.
In any case, I decided a review of the Wow Vapor Kings were in order.
The WOW Vapor King – Tobacco and Menthol
The WOW Vapor King Disposable is no bigger, or smaller, than a King cigarette. It’s the same thickness of real cigarettes, and it is light, small, and unremarkable in appearance. Just like a real cigarette.
The WOW Vapor King Disposables are offered in two nicotine strengths, 2.6%, and 3.6%. To those of you that use the ‘mg’ method, that’s 26mg and 36mg, or what I refer to as ‘strong’ and ‘wicked strong’.
They come in ‘regular tobacco’ flavor and ‘menthol’. The price is $7.49. I think its kind of amusing that V4L displays a “List” price with a font strike-through, and then a “Sale” price. As far as I’ve seen, many of their products are always on “Sale.” But, for the sake of being totally transparent here, the “List” price of the Wow Vapor Kings are $8.99 so if you ever go to V4L’s website and see them for $8.99 at least you’ll know.
The following paragraph is offered by V4L to explain how they created the WOW Vapor King:
“Four years in development and over 200 hours of taste testing, WOW Vapor King disposables are unlike any product currently on the market. WOW Vapor King disposables deliver a consistent flavor in every puff. By substantially modifying the cartomizer coil resistance, WOW Vapor King disposables deliver a better throat hit. With one of the highest puff counts on the market, WOW Vapor King disposables provide the true smoking experience with a genuine tobacco taste.”
Before I go on, the modified cartomizer coil resistance is proprietary in nature, so I have no information on it. I suppose I could try to take one apart, or put it on a voltage meter, but really, why?
Let’s Take A Break – after I had written my review I decided that there needed to be some context to what I had laid out. So, bear with me here while I provide that context.
Steve Milin
Steve Milin is the CEO and Founder of Vapor4Life. Milin is, in my opinion, an enigma. Milin is a very hand’s on CEO; he doesn’t delegate everything to other people at V4L, or so I’m told. I would bet you it was Milin who spent most of those 200 hours of test tasting the Vapor Kings himself, not some focus group somewhere.
Milin is, I believe, the reason why so many of V4L’s products are first-class, high quality products. I have yet to experience a bad one from V4L. That doesn’t mean I like everything they make, the cigar e Liquid I received, for example, when I did the Vapor Zeus review was something I couldn’t stand to vape (though they do have a new one that looks to be much better, I’ll keep you posted), but pound-for-pound V4L products are very good.
On the other hand, and this is where the enigma thing first comes in, Milin publicizes his company in the tradition of a car dealership. What I mean by that is there is a lot of hype on the V4L website, and they take advantage of every single reason on earth to have a sale. I can imagine that if it were possible to have real “waving in the air people balloons” on V4L’s homepage they would.
These sales are always “big deals”; they are announced constantly, in big letters and colorful fonts. You get email from them every day announcing these sales, and the sales are always somehow a little different each time. Some days you can save 25% and on other you can save 35%, some products are exempt from the full discount, but are still on sale for 10% less. I could go on, it can get complicated, but the idea I want to get across is everything that happens at V4L is BIG. I think it’s being over-sold.
If you’re a customer, like I am, and you actually pay attention to the daily emails you can maximize your savings by waiting for the right sale, say that 35% EVERYTHING sale they have once a week or so, and you can rush in and save on Smileomizers, batteries, e liquid, and anything else you might need or want to try. It can be fun, especially why you time it right, so it’s not that I take issue with.
Here is another bit of the enigma puzzle. For all the pizzazz at V4L, for all the bright colors, and the List price versus the Sale price, and for all the emails we get, there is one thing that continues to impresses me… Milin and his crew do not lie.
For all the thousands of words of ‘copy’ on the V4L website, you cannot spot a single lie, or misworded claim. In fact, if you ever see something like “Voted the Best…” Milin makes sure to include WHO voted it the best. On the V4L site right now there is a box that says “Voted Best E-Cig by Gizmodo.” Now try to count the times you’ve seen “Voted the Best…” on dozens of other sites where you would kill to know just who the hell voted these clowns #1 in anything?
How many times do we all see outrageous claims being made on cig-a-like websites where, somehow, their product is “#1 Best Selling” “Voted Best”, “Voted Best Tasting” and all the rest of the BS, conveniently leaving out any source of who voted them on anything. You never see claims like this at V4L unless it is backed up by the original source. In word, that is amazing.
The V4L website looks like a hyper-sensationalized website, even naming an entire line of products “WOW” can be a turn off to people like me who absolutely hate that type of marketing. But I’ll be damned in V4L doesn’t back up everything they say with the truth. Believe me, if there were a single sentence on which I could hang V4L for lying, I would do so… in a New York Minute. (I am excessively sensitive about truth in advertising, especially in this market) So, saying that Milin is an enigma I’m saying that the products that V4L sells are good enough to become hits without the over hyping marketing methods. I like V4L for the products, not the hype. It makes me wonder why Milin does it this way.
So, What About These Wow Vapor King Disposables Anyway?
After reviewing more than my share of disposables I came in to this review expecting the same performance, taste, and longevity that I see in all the other disposables I’ve reviewed. I mean, think about it; a company like NJOY, with all the money in the world, can’t put out a disposable that gives you more than 40 puffs, so how is anyone else supposed to?
To be fair, there are some disposables on the market that I don’t actually despise. Some have decent vapor production; some have massive throat hits, and some taste pretty good (like the VUSE). If they taste good they lack throat hit or vapor, if they have throat hit they taste like crap, and so on. And none of them last long enough to make them worth more than 99 cents a pop.
Blu Cigs Disposable use to be my favorite, for flavor and throat hit, but spending $10 for a Disposable that won’t last more than 3 or 4 hours, tops, is a crime. Same thing with the VUSE. The VUSE tastes great, and if they were a buck a piece I’d buy them by the crate because I would have to use 3 or 4 a day.
No brand has every gotten all three of these important areas down…until now.
The WOW Vapor Kings are, without a doubt, the best disposable electronic cigarette on the market today.
Why? Because they deliver the closest thing yet to a real, honest to goodness, deadly cigarette. If it wasn’t for the fact that these disposables did not burn down to the filter I would be hard pressed to vape one blind-folded and know I was vaping rather than smoking.
There. I said it. It is the truth. And it’s not just me. I had 4 of them to use, 2 tobacco flavored in 2.6% and 3.6% nicotine, and two menthol disposables, at 2.6% and 3.6%. I handed 3 of them out to a couple of friends of mine, one was a smoker, and one was a vaper. We were all in complete agreement in our assessment of the WOW Vapor Kings.
My Real World Experience– Holding one in my hand, I immediately assumed the position of holding a real cigarette; between my index and middle fingers, giving my thumb just enough room to flick the ashes off when the time comes.
The filters are soft, softer than any other soft e cigarette I’ve tried before, and they are so incredibly light you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a Vapor King and a cigarette if I put one in each of your hands.
Taste: Tobacco – My smoker friend tells me they taste exactly like a real cigarette. There is that slightly dry, non-sweet, tobacco smoke taste, and it even left a cigarette aftertaste, and throat hits that feels like the first cigarette of the day. While I don’t exactly remember the actual taste of real cigarette, (and I refuse to smoke one) I will agree that the experience is extremely close to an actual ‘smoke break’. I also got light-headed for a few minutes as though I had actually smoked a real cigarette after a couple of years without one.
Taste: Menthol – There are only a few ways an electronic cigarette can fake a menthol cigarette. Some menthol e liquids taste like cough syrup, some taste like minty ice, and some taste like, well … crap. But the menthol WOW Vapor King tastes, to my menthol vaper friend, and me, like a ‘light menthol‘ cigarette.
The ‘cool’ factor is way less than menthol e liquids I’ve had, its more like a menthol cigarette that I’ve experienced in years past. If you are a menthol ‘smoker’ you would love them, if you are a ‘menthol’ vaper however, than you probably won’t because the menthol has a low profile, organic flavor, not an artificial one. I could actually vape these all day long.
WOW Vapor King Versus A Real Cigarette
I don’t like to use the word ‘organic’ often because it’s a kind of word you can use to describe anything. But here, the flavor of all four of the WOW Vapor Kings does have an organic profile. They don’t taste artificial, they don’t taste anything like a normal e Liquid, they taste like a burning tobacco leaf.
There is no doubt in my mind that the V4L WOW Vapor King Disposable is made for people that want the closest thing they can get to a real, tobacco cigarette. For new vapers I think they could be vital to a successful transition because when they feel the urge to backslide they can grab one of these and get the taste, the smoke, the tactile feel of the real deal, and when they are satisfied they can easily move back into the realm of vaping cookie dough, watermelon, or vanilla coke.
The vapor coming from these small Disposables are just as thick and voluminous as a real cigarette. There is no need to take a 5 second drag. The ‘pull’ is about the same as a real cigarette, maybe just a tad stronger, but they produce vapor like a cigarette produces smoke, and plenty of it.
The Bottom Line
The minute these WOW Vapor Kings arrived the hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up. I was looking for a fight, the opportunity to once again take on an overpriced, under performing, lousy tasting disposable electronic cigarette. I didn’t care what company made it.
But, the fact is, these disposables are damn good. And they last a good long while too. While I only enjoyed one of them as my own, I did take a few drags from all of them, in order to feel the difference between 2.6% and 3.6% nicotine, (the difference is substantial in the area of a throat hit) and to check the taste consistency across the four. The one I called my own, the 2.6% regular tobacco disposable lasted me more than an entire day (Sunday), using it exclusively. In fact, as I write this I’m still vaping it and there is no sign it’s going to die anytime soon.
Does this all sound too good to be true? It really does, doesn’t it? I can’t lie, if you’re looking for something that is as close to a real cigarette as you can get, this is it. I don’t know how they did it, but vaping is believing, and I’m a believer.
Buying Advice
My buying advice is simple. If you’re currently a smoker and you want to know how close an electronic cigarette can get to that same smoking experience then try the WOW Vapor King, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what a 2014 disposable electronic cigarette is like.
If you already vape, and are quite happy with what you’re using, then my suggestion for you would be to keep a couple around for times when you think you might backslide, it will save your ass.
If you’re a vaper who doesn’t worry about backsliding, who is quite happy with what you’re using now, then getting a couple to keep around for emergencies is a good idea.
I know I plan to keep a dozen of them in my “Bug Out” bag, in case of a disaster, or a long-lasting power outage, or an unexpected trip to Florida, or for any occasion when using my iTaste 134 or even my Vapor Zeus would be inappropriate.
I do have one slightly negative thing to say, but I would say it about every disposable e cigarette on the market. The price. It is so easy to say that I plan on picking up a dozen of them for my Bug Out Bag, but the truth is it won’t be easy to save up about $100 to do that. $7.49 isn’t a bad price considering the price of all the others out there, but it’s still not cheap. I don’t know what it is with me; maybe it’s the comparison of seeing one small disposable against the entire pack of cigarettes and realizing they are the same price. Or maybe because it IS a disposable. Once that battery dies, or the e liquid runs out, there is nothing left to do then to throw it away. It’s not easy for me to throw away $7.49. It was the main reason I stopped smoking in the first place.
Taste: A Vapor: A Throat Hit: A Value: C Puffs: 200 and countingTom McBride
