With the rapid growth in the popularity of disposable vapes, companies are introducing more disposables with heftier batteries and larger e-liquid compartments.
Most companies choose to market their disposables by publishing the “puff count” – in other words, how many puffs you’re supposed to get out of one disposable e-cig to help customers understand what they’re getting.
But is puff count accurate? Is it a reliable way for customers to decide which vape is best? Or is it something akin to false advertising, perhaps providing wrong information and expectation to the consumer? To answer that question, let’s dig deep into the world of disposable vaporizers!
Is There a Better Measure than Puff Count?
Vaping has come a long way in recent years, and disposables come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from small vape pens to hefty single-use devices. Some smaller devices claim to offer 200 hits, while some of the largest claims to give you 5000 puffs before you have to dispose of them!
But have you ever counted the actual number of hits you get from a device? Chances are, you have other things going on in your life, and you don’t have the time or patience to count every puff you get out of your disposables. And even though it might be fun to find out whether they stand up to the claims, it would be a very time-consuming project!
Here’s something that requires far less time and patience: looking at the cold, hard facts about these devices. Most disposable vapes should have specifications listed on the packaging and/or thru the website you ordered them. You’ll want to look for two critical pieces of information:
- Battery Capacity
- Liquid Capacity
There’s usually other information listed as well, such as nicotine strength, but for now, we’ll pay attention to the battery and the amount of liquid each device holds.
Taking a Look at Some Real-World Puff Count Estimates
While all puff count estimates are just that, estimates, you could do some basic math to determine how the numbers add up (or don’t). Take a manufacturer’s specifications for one lower-end model’s battery and E-Liquid capacities and use that as a baseline compared with the higher-end models. Do the numbers add up when scaled to the higher end device? If an entry-level device claims to give 400 puffs with a 350mAh battery and 1.8ml e-liquid tank, then on paper, a high-end device that claims to offer 1800 puffs needs to have four times the battery capacity and e-liquid capacity theoretically. It can fall short by a little and still achieve the estimated puff counts, but if the discrepancy is too large, then caution is advised.
