What is the difference between vapes and vape kits?

If you decide to switch from smoking to vaping, you have made a very important choice. Years later, when you look back at that event, you’ll think that moment dramatically changed the rest of your life. But for vaping to have that life-changing impact, you need to actually make the switch—you need to fully switch to vaping and quit smoking. To ensure that you can successfully switch from smoking to vaping, you need to choose the right vaping device for your needs.

Many people buy their first vaping devices from traditional tobacco retailers such as supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations. They do it because they see a display of vaping products when they go to those stores to buy cigarettes. However, maybe you haven’t chosen your first vaping device yet. Maybe you took the time to do some research first and realized that the vapes in your favorite convenience store look very different from the vaping kits available on sites like maxecig.com.

What is the difference between e-cigarettes and vape kits, and why do vape shops never seem to sell the same types of e-cigarettes that you see at traditional tobacco retailers? These are the questions we will explore when we compare e-cigarettes vs vaping kits. Let us help you shop for the perfect vaping device for your needs.

What are e-cigarettes?
An e-cigarette is an e-cigarette device that is prefilled with e-liquid. You’ll find two common types of e-cigarettes at traditional tobacco retailers: disposable e-cigarettes and pre-filled cartridge systems. The entire supply of e-liquid for a single-use vape is in a single package. You’ll use the device until it runs out of e-juice, then you’ll dispose of it.

On the other hand, with pre-filled cartridge-based e-cigarettes, the e-liquid is contained in a removable cartridge. When a pod becomes empty, you discard it and replace it with a new one. The device itself is rechargeable.

Traditional e-cigarettes have two main features that make them attractive to first-time vapers. The first feature is that they are available at traditional tobacco retailers, and if you are a smoker, you already shop at these stores. The second feature is convenience. Disposable e-cigarettes are ready to use right out of the box, and the pre-loaded pod system is equally easy to use.

However, the convenience of traditional e-cigarettes comes at a price.
The high cost of convenience vaping
If conventional e-cigarettes are the easiest vaping devices to use — and they’re available in the same stores where you usually buy tobacco products — why don’t all vapers use them? It turns out that traditional vaping has two very big disadvantages that can seriously affect the quality of your vaping experience. These disadvantages are significant enough that they may lower your chances of successfully switching from smoking to vaping.

Traditional e-cigarettes cost more than vape kits
The first and biggest downside of traditional e-cigarettes is that they are the most expensive vaping devices to use. In some cases, using prefilled e-cigarettes may actually cost almost as much as smoking them. That’s completely unnecessary. Switching from smoking to vaping should help you save money, among many other benefits.

Every time you buy a disposable e-cigarette, you’re buying batteries, circuit boards, and integrated circuits. The cost of these components can add up quickly.
E-cigarettes with prefilled cartridges or cartridges are proprietary devices and may only be used with the cartridge or cartridges for which they were designed. Manufacturers of proprietary e-cigarettes often charge premium prices for refill cartridges because you cannot buy cartridges from third-party manufacturers.

Traditional vaping offers fewer flavors than vaping kits
When you vape traditionally, you’re not only paying more for vaping than you need to – you’re paying an inflated cost for a lower-quality experience. That’s because prefilled vaping devices can never offer the same level of flavor variety as refillable vaping kits. There is no single prefilled vaping device that only offers a handful of different flavors of e-liquid. In some countries, vaping regulations only allow manufacturers to offer pre-filled vaping devices in tobacco and mint flavors. In most cases, however, these flavor restrictions don’t apply to the bottled e-liquid you’ll be using with your refillable vape kit.

As it turns out, the “best e-cigarettes” aren’t actually e-cigarettes at all.

What is a Vape Kit?
Now that we’ve explained what an e-cigarette is, what is a vape kit? As you may have surmised while reading the rest of this article, the main difference between e-cigarettes and vape kits is that vape kits are designed to be both rechargeable and refillable. This difference will have a profound impact on your vaping experience.

Another difference between e-cigarettes and vape kits is that you may not be able to find vape kits at most traditional tobacco retailers. This is because retailers such as supermarkets, petrol stations and convenience stores have existing relationships with manufacturers of tobacco products. As a result, they often carry vaping devices made by these companies, rather than offering the types of vaping kits that enthusiasts typically prefer. To purchase a complete vape kit, you will have the best shopping experience if you buy from an online vape store or visit a vape store near you.

Purchasing a fully functional vape kit can be a bit more effort, as refillable vaping devices and bottles of e-liquid are often not available in the places where you would normally buy tobacco cigarettes. Still, as you’re about to learn, using a real vape kit can pay big dividends.
Vape kits are the best vaping equipment for beginners
As you’ve already surmised while reading this, we believe you’ll almost always have a better experience as a beginner if you use a fully functional vape kit rather than a traditional e-cigarette. Next, we discuss the reasons for this.

Using a Vape Kit Gives You a Greater Choice of Flavors
We’ve discussed e-cigarettes vs. vape kits in detail from a flavor perspective in this article, but we wanted to revisit the topic by giving you some hard numbers. For any type of prefilled vaping device—whether it’s a disposable or a device with prefilled pods or pods—you can choose up to about 8-12 flavors. If you don’t like one of the flavors, you’re out of luck and need to buy another e-cigarette.

On the other hand, when you visit a vape store, you see hundreds of different flavors of bottled e-liquid on the shelves. If you have a refillable vape kit, you can use any of these flavors on your device. Would you rather choose from a dozen flavors or hundreds? Flavor variety is what makes vaping fun, so there’s really no competition here.

Vape kits tend to have higher quality components
Another major benefit of using a proven vape kit is that refillable vaping devices tend to have higher quality components and last longer. Traditional e-cigarettes are cheap commodities, sold mostly in refill cartridges — often costing more than the device itself. True vape kits, on the other hand, are designed to last for months or years.

Having higher-quality components doesn’t just mean that vape kits generally last longer than mass-market e-cigarettes; it also means that mature vape kits provide a better experience in every way. For example, at mckesse we equip our pod systems with the same quality atomizer coils found in audiophile vape tanks. This means you’ll enjoy a purer flavor and a larger vapor cloud. These qualities are important to anyone who vapes, but are especially important if your nicotine cravings are higher than those of a regular smoker.

Vape kits need some maintenance for the best experience
While vape kits are objectively superior to e-cigarettes in every measurable way, it’s important to note that vape kits do require a certain amount of maintenance that traditional e-cigarettes do not.

For example, say you own a prefilled pod-based e-cigarette. In this case, the only thing you need to do to maintain your device is to recharge the battery regularly. The rest of the work has been done for you. When the pod runs out of e-liquid, you can discard the pod and put in a new pod. While traditional vaping has many drawbacks, simplicity is a benefit that many users do appreciate.

On the other hand, when you use a vape kit, you don’t just need to charge the device. You’ll also want to keep your water tank or atomizer full – when the flavor quality of your unit starts to drop, you’ll need to replace your atomizer or atomizer coil. While all of these tasks are simple in themselves, they do mean that owning a vape kit requires more effort than owning an e-cigarette. However, we believe the effort is well worth it.