NJOY King – Is this disposable a viable option?
NJOY is a huge player in the US e cig market with 70,000 retail locations and if you have heard the TV blaring out “Friends don’t let friends smoke” then you would have seen their latest TV ad campaign and with their product in Sainsbury’s/Tesco Express as well they are certainly a force in the UK as well.
Unlike their closest competitor (in terms of product) in the UK, Vype, NJOY aren’t owned by a Big Tobacco corp, instead they have raised funds through a number of different investors. So from the off the fact this isn’t a Big Tobacco owned company is a definite plus point.
For this Njoy review we purchased the Njoy King Gold e cigarette from their website. Lets see what it’s like!
In the box / Presentation
The Njoy King Gold comes in a plastic flip top box and contains the following:
- 1 Disposable e cigarette
- Flip top carry case
- Information leaflet
Battery/Responsiveness
NJOY have gone for a design that is pretty much the same size as a cigarette, just a touch longer. This does help make an easy transition from cigarettes to cigs but it does come with it’s problems which we will get to shortly.
The first thing I notice is the weight, this really is a lightweight e cig. I have however been vaping on the EVOD, Vamo V5 and Cool Fire 2 recently though so any mini e cig is going to be lighter than these big fellas.
The Njoy also has the soft filter tip and paper on the body of the battery complete with ‘rings’ which finishes off the e cig nicely. If an e cig that looks the same as a cigarette is your thing then this is as close you are going to get.
Something to keep in mind
Now if you are considering an e cig like this or indeed Vype there is one important thing you will need to realise. That one thing is the battery life, it’s very short, this is no surprise though due to the size of the e cig.
Once that battery dies then you have to buy another, if you are a moderate to heavy smoker it’s possible you will go through 2+ of these per day. At that rate it is going to get expensive very quickly.
If however you are a light smoker, maybe around 5 cigarettes a day then this could definitely be a viable option.
Overall – NJOY is certainly a realistic looking cig-a-like, the downside to this however is the life of the e cig, light/occasional smokers will be fine but moderate/heavy smokers will likely be left frustrated. just keep that in mind if you are thinking about trying these out.
Vapour / Flavour
There are three e cigarette options in the NJOY range, the Traditional Bold (4.5% nicotine), the Traditional Gold (3% nicotine) and the Menthol (3% nicotine strength). I opted for the Gold which I have to say had a good flavour. I’m not the biggest fan of strong, robust tobacco flavoured e-liquid so this hit the spot pretty well for me.
One thing that Njoy don’t do is promote these e cigs as ‘being the equivalent to xx amount of cigarettes’ or that you will get xx amount of puffs. This is a good thing for me as this kind of information can be misleading at the best of times.
The throat hit was just OK, enough to know you are taking a drag on something and the vapour volume to start was also decent. After around 80-90 drags though the vapour volume started to diminish to a point where nothing was being produced.
I actually thing this is the first time I have used a disposable where the e-liquid runs out before the battery so very disappointing on that from for me. The life of this was pretty dreadful and this of.
When it comes to replacements there are strangely no discounts for buying more than one.
All of these come with the flip top packaging as well which for me is complete overkill.
Overall – No problem with the flavour, I actually liked it a lot, this is where the positives end though. After 80-90 drags the flavour and vapour all but disappeared, even before the battery had run it’s course.
Returns/Warranty
NJOY do offer a satisfaction guarantee which of course is a real positive. Simply return if you are not happy within 30 days for a refund. As always check out their website for the latest T&C’s.
Customer Service
NJOY are available by phone, email and are active on Facebook and Twitter.
Discount Codes
There are no Njoy discount codes at the moment but as soon as we come across any we will post them here. They are (at the time of writing) offering ‘sample’ e cigs where all you pay for is the postage so a great way of trying for yourself. don’t have any Vype discount codes at the moment.
Overall NJOY King Gold Review Verdict – If you skipped through everything!
The NJOY King, like Vype, is targeting those that are new to e cigs and either don’t know much about what else is available or are adamant they want a cig-a-like e cigarette. If you fall into the latter category then I would urge you to take a look around this site for other options that are available (the best cig-a-like e cigarettes can be found here).
The NJOY had a good flavour but the life of the e cig was pretty terrible, a very light/light smoker may be OK with them but any heavier than that be prepared to spend ££ on replacements. I personally found my flavour and vapour had disappeared after 80/90 drags, even before the battery had run out of charge.
So to sum up…. moderate and heavy smokers will struggle with this. If you still want a cig-a-like then I would suggest looking at either Vapour2 Cigs (review here) or Jacvapour (discount code here) for some great products. If you are not too bothered about buying an e cig that looks like a cigarette and performance is more important to you then take a look at our best vape pens and best vape box mods.
Not recommended By Ecigclick.co.uk
I would like to know how you get it to :start:! I’ve taken short drags, long drags, tapped it. Nothing. It will not work! Is there a trick?
Hey Barbara,
No tricks! Do you have the disposable Njoy e cig? The disposables are for one use only.
If you do and nothing is happening at all it’s likely that the battery is dead.
If that’s the case there isn’t anything you can do unfortunately apart from replace.
MY SECOND REVIEW
Having quite enjoyed my first Njoy Menthol disposable from Asda, at £3.75, I found what looked like identical replacements at Sainsbury for £2.99. No brainer –instant purchase!
However, the first one of these was dead as a door nail.
Happily, Sainsbury replaced it immediately and the next one worked but . . . compared with my first trial from Asda, this one seemed slightly weaker tasting and with slightly less vapour volume. It also lasted about a day less – two days, rather than nearly three. I had kept my depleted Asda unit and started to carefully compare the two. I was a little surprised to find that the cheaper Sainsbury unit was 3mm shorter – not initially obvious to the eye, but a ruler doesn’t lie. It also weighed 1 gm less. The enclosed ‘instruction’ leaflets were quite different from each other. The Asda leaflet was in eight languages, all of which stated virtually nothing other than the need to keep the toxic E-liquid off your skin. The Sainsbury unit’s leaflet was solely in English and more lyrically descriptive of the product’s usage and benefits.
I had an online chat with an Njoy representative about these differences and she too was puzzled. After she had consulted with someone else, she said that it seemed the product had been changed in August 2014, that the slightly longer, Asda purchased unit was the latest model and the shorter Sainsbury unit was the previous variant. Or was it the other way around? It was then, and remains now, a little confusing. But I have ceased caring, because I am now using Njoy rechargeables, which don’t look as good but are completely satisfying, much more economical and I can confidently state that these have totally cured my need for a real cigarette!
In summary, at £2.99, this disposable initially seemed better value than my first at £3.75 but, given its lower smoking satisfaction and life span, it was actually worse value. I have re-scored this second review on that basis.
PRESENTATION/ APPEARANCE
Excellent- every bit as good as my previous review.
SMOKING EXPERIENCE
Slightly inferior to my previous review in almost all respects.
Not recommended.
HOWEVER
IF this was old stock and IF my first review genuinely was the latest version, then I would still recommend that as a great introduction to E-Cigs. Njoy and their resellers badly need to co-operate in clarifying this situation before their reputation is ruined.The older model needs to be withdrawn, and quickly.
I should clarify that my experience was with the Menthol Njoy, rather than the Gold which Johnny reviewed, though they are both rated at the same 3% nicotine rather than the 4.5% quoted for the Bold variant.
Overall, I tend to agree with Johnny’s original, well written review,. A slight divergence is that my overall opinion is “Recommended”, but with the heavy reservation of being uneconomical compared with rechargeables and refillables. I suspect that this will always be the case for the economy of disposables. I also discovered that there are, or have been, some variations in the Njoy disposables with regard to price, dimensions and overall experience – I hope to write a second review to cover this point.
I should explain that that my purchases were not from any web site, but from Asda and Sainsbury bricks and mortar supermarkets. Because of this, a couple of my Star Ratings need further explanation.
CUSTOMER SERVICE.
I rated this as 3 stars, based on the following.
1. Counter staff at both Asda and Sainsbury knew virtually nothing about E-cigs. That’s not a hard criticism, I don’t expect supermarket staff to be experts but it would have been good if they had known something about them.
2. One disposable, bought from Sainsbury, simply did not work – at all. They exchanged it immediately with their usual ‘No problem sir’ attitude. Very good!
3. I had a couple of online keyboard chats with an Njoy representative about variations in price and also variations in certain dimensions of what I had originally assumed to be identical Njoy disposables. After quite a bit of chat, the conclusions were that the two really were not quite the same, but the reasons for this were inconclusive and left me a little confused. I’ll try to explain further in a second review.
SHIPPING SPEED
I gave 5 stars because I can pick these up, off the shelf, at both Asda and Sainsbury. Complete elimination of shipping is unbeatable!
PRESENTATION
BOX: as per Johnny’s description – first rate.
CIGARETTE: as per Johnny’s description and excellent photos. I thought it looked superbly realistic, right down to the subtle orange/red glow from the ashy ‘burn’ end and even a slight seam down the full length of both cig and filter tip, just like the real things that I have now abandoned.
DIAMETER: A nice slim 8mm, identical to my real cigs, not like those big fat inhalator type monsters.
The overall appearance was so convincing that, at one point, I actually started to light one with my cigarette lighter, which still lives in my pocket! Luckily no damage was done.
Yes, quote Johnny – “If an e cig that looks the same as a cigarette is your thing then this is as close you are going to get.” Absolutely 100% correct! I honestly don’t see how the appearance could be bettered. Psychologically, the appearance was hugely important to me and it passed with flying colours.
The only obvious give-away is the weight of 5 to 6 gms, which is considerably more than a real cig’s weight of less than 1gm. But it‘s quite a lot less than those refillable beasts and I can live with it.
SMOKING EXPERIENCE
DRAW EFFORT Just a little less than a real cigarette, quite satisfactory.
VAPOUR VOLUME: Again just a little less than a real one – quite satisfactory.
‘SIZZLE’ on drawing: This I did not expect. There is a definite slight ‘sizzle’ when sucking and this does add even more to the illusion of smoking a real cigarette – excellent!
THROAT HIT: Very good, not quite perfect.
TASTE (menthol): very good, almost perfect.
DURATION: Difficult, probably impossible, to assess objectively. I got my first one to last almost three days with what I consider to be ‘light use’, roughly equivalent to 5 cigarettes per day. The vapour chamber gave out first and the battery followed within a few draws on the now empty vapour chamber. So, battery and vapour were well matched in my experience.
PRICE: Asda £3.75 – too expensive for the life of the cig. Poor value.
OTHER: A slightly sweet taste develops on the ‘filter tip’. This can be wiped off.
OVERALL: Excellent in every way, other than both the battery and vapour chamber life, which makes it expensive to use on a regular basis. So, recommended, in every way EXCEPT price vs effective smoking time. A good introduction to E-Cigs, but not a viable long term proposition.
I had a slightly less satisfactory experience with the performance of my second Njoy disposable, but I aim to deal with that in a separate review.
Great, detailed review John. Thanks for sharing!