Table of Contents
Vaporin Electronic Cigarettes
Vaporin is a new company and a new brand, who has since dove head first into the eCigarette Scam Business.. Their product diversity is pretty wide, featuring an NJOY lookalike, a “jumbo” disposable, a cig-a-like rechargeable, and several more, larger and more expensive products, none of which are worth a damn.
I can’t write about the other, more expensive products because we didn’t receive those products for review. Instead, we were privy to the NJOY lookalike, the rechargeable, and a single ‘jumbo’ disposable. It is from those products that we draw this review, and that might be a little unfair to you based on the other products available at vaporin.com. Having said that, we rely on one of our earliest rules for reviews, and that is to only write about products we’ve actually used, and not draw conclusions on other products in the lineup, though it is tempting.
The NJOY Lookalike
As I write this I am looking at the latest information on the Vaporin website and I see that this product has been reduced to just $6.99, $2.00 less than an NJOY K and virtually identical. If you’ve tried an NJOY you know everything you need to know about the Vaporin “Gold”, in menthol and regular tobacco.
Having discussed this technology with the entire team at Spinfuel I’m convinced that until such time as the battery technology for disposables improves to at least 3x as long as they are now, and the capacity of the tiny cartomizers increases to at least 1ML, these disposables are extremely overpriced. Even at $6.99 apiece they cost much more than they are worth, no matter how well they perform in for the first 60 minutes.
These little disposables can produce an ample amount of vapor for a short while. What is aggravating is Vaporin’s claim that these disposables last the equivalent of one pack of traditional cigarettes. That is nowhere near accurate.
Vaporin plays even more word games; after stating that the “Gold” is equal to “approximately” one pack of cigarettes they state that it will output between 150-250 puffs. This kind of marketing, which is so prevalent in the e-cigarette industry, drives me crazy. The truth for both the NJOY King and the Vaporin Gold is more than 35-40 puffs, or about 3 traditional cigarettes, and no more. This has been the case time after time with both products.
Ingredients: Distilled Water, Nicotine, Natural & Artificial Flavors, USP Glycerin, Citric Acid Nicotine Amount (Approximately): Tobacco: 18mg | Tobacco Light: 12mg Menthol: 18mg | Menthol Light: 12mg
Bottom Line: Vaporin should discontinue this product and blow out the remaining inventory for $1.99 a piece. Grade: F
On-The-Go Starter Kit
The 2nd product we received for review was a Menthol rechargeable pack that included 1 battery, 2 prefilled cartomizers and a USB charger. Packaged in a box that mimics a pack of traditional cigarettes (hard pack), the starter kit sells for $19.99 (on sale from $24.99).
I’m not sure if these kits are marketed as something you might want to pick up if you’re out and about, on a trip, or wherever and you forgot your full time vaping device at home or the office, or if they are indeed marketed as a full-blown kit. I am choosing to review the product as the name indicates (to me), that as an “on the go” kit. I mean, single battery starter kits are a ‘non-starter’, ya know?
This ‘kit’ features the standard cig-a-like battery and prefilled cartomizers. The eLiquid is PG-Free, and as such you would think that the vapor production would be pretty good, but you’d be disappointed. The truth of the matter is that the on-the-go kit is a below average single-battery e-cigarette starter kit that tastes like a million other lower tier e-cigarettes. There is nothing special going here with these kits. Grade: D-
Disposable Jumbo
After alerting the Vaporin PR contact that the NJOY lookalike performed as well as an NJOY, in other words, “not good”, we received a reply that they wished to send additional products. About a week later we received a Jumbo-Sized disposable. I had hoped that they were sending other “Gold” e-cigs in the hopes that they would last much longer. It was evident to me that they knew the performance sucked. Which made me think about why they would send one in the first place.
We acknowledged the disposable, but we were interested in hearing from Vaporin with respect to the flawed technology of the NJOY lookalike, so I emailed my contact again and a couple of days later I got a response.
“The small disposable cannot last as long the large one because the size of the battery and the amount of e-liquid that fits into the small cartridge. However, most people like the small disposable because it is very similar to the size of a traditional cigarette; it usually lasts about 150+ puffs and our company policy offers to replace any Vaporin e-cigarette that doesn’t perform to the customer exceptions of satisfaction guarantee.” – 9/17/13
Well, okay then. Like NJOY they will replace them, if you take the time to call or email them, send in your receipt (and maybe the e-cigarette?) and they’ll send you another one, and another, and another.
With that behind us it was time to take on the jumbo sized deposable. Now, when they say “jumbo” they mean JUMBO. It’s 7 inches tall outside the box it came in, which is slightly taller than Blu Cigs disposables and nearly twice the thickness. Vaporin claims the disposable will last about 500 puffs. Maybe. If your puffs are shallow little puffs, then maybe. For an average Vaper or smoker though, it will last about 150-200 puffs. The price for the jumbo is $8.99, on sale from $9.99.
Ingredients: Distilled Water, Nicotine, Natural & Artificial Flavors, USP Glycerin, Citric Acid Nicotine Amount (Approximately): Tobacco: 18mg | Tobacco Light: 12mg Menthol: 18mg | Menthol Light: 12mg
All the products from Vaporin tasted pretty consistent. They all have that lower tier e-cigarette taste to them. I know this sounds harsh, but the tobacco and menthol flavors taste “cheap”. Jumbo Grade: C-
Bottom Line
I understand marketing, and I understand the need to put lipstick on a pig if your livelihood depends on selling pigs. But there comes a time when enough is enough.
Vaporin isn’t as bad as many of the lower tier e-cig brands, but they do make various claims that are most certainly not true. But you know? At least they aren’t boosting about being the “Premiere Electronic Cigarette”, or the “Voted #1 e-Cigarette” and all the other nonsense that you everywhere these small brands pop up. In fact, Vaporin’s rush to get into better hardware (extremely high priced though) tells me they know their cig-a-likes are lousy products.
Look, for all I know the people behind Vaporin are very decent people, maybe they give to charities, are great parents, and all the other things that make us proud to be human. Though after looking at their “Ultimate Vaporizer Starter Kit” that sells for $149.99 I’m beginning to have my doubts. I’m very familiar with the batteries they are selling for $149.99 and you can find them for less than half that price on many other sites.
The truth is that the products I received from Vaporin present themselves as cheap Chinese made e-cigarettes sold by a company that was watching from the sidelines as the e-cigarette industry exploded and decided they wanted to grab a piece of that market. Again, I have no idea what their motivation is or was, but that’s the feeling I get.
I cannot sense an ounce of pride in the products, and I can easily imagine the owners sitting around a table going over various catalogs putting together their options, and sending a wire transfer to a Chinese manufacturer and then wait a couple of months later to unload a truck full of the stuff into a self-storage unit and start selling. That’s the image the products project.
I’m all for free enterprise but it would be nice if we all believed in “truth in advertising”.
Look, I don’t like writing reviews like this. I would much rather write about great products at great prices and how it’s just what you’re looking for. But the truth is that after almost 2 years of writing about e-Cigarettes I had some hope that along with technological improvements we would begin to see a shakeout by now, and that just doesn’t seem to what’s happening. Maybe I expect too much, but I don’t think so. I see companies like Halo Cigs and 777 eCigs that show immense pride in their products and their company, who sell their wares at fair value, that really due offer excellent hardware and eLiquid, and stand behind everything they do and everything they sell. So, it’s not impossible, but I guess it’s still improbable.
