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Back in December 2012 BAT acquired CN Creative who are a ‘Bioscience’ company that produce Intellicig e cigs and Ecopure e-liquid with the aim to enter into the e cigarette market. The Vype electronic cigarette is the product they have released to the market.
Now it’s a bit of a strange one for me reviewing this e cig. As many smokers turned vapers will probably agree, one of the Big Tobacco companies producing e cigarettes just seems kind of wrong.
The fact that there are also proposals that will restrict the sale of e cigs and ‘possibly’ play into the hands of the big corporate tobacco manufacturers is without doubt a massive concern not only for vapers but for the small businesses that have been the driving force behind this growing industry.
Having said that this is an e cig review site and I was interested to see what the product was actually like.
I purchased all 3 of the e cigs they have on offer, all disposable, and I’m going to review the product as I would any other e cig product. So how does this stack up to the best e cigarettes on offer?
In the box / Presentation
The Vype e cigs come in individual plastic flip top lid carry cases that are small enough to carry in the pocket without getting in the way. Each colour coded to identify each flavour.
In the case you will find:
- 1 Disposable electronic cigarette
- 1 instruction sheet
Battery/Responsiveness
The actual e cigarette itself as a whole is exactly the same size as a tobacco cigarette and feels very lightweight in the hand compared to other disposables I have tried. They have even gone so far as to wrap the battery in paper and use a ‘soft filter’. Their efforts of replicating a tobacco cigarette have paid off as this is by far the most realistic I have tried to date, red glowing tip included.
Whether the complete replica cigarette is a good thing though I’m not so sure, but if you were to look at the Vype e cig as a ‘Quit Smoking’ aid (which is what they will most likely be aiming for by 2016) then I guess it fits the bill to make everything as seamless as possible for smokers.
Onto the actual performance of the battery itself, as would be expected from such a small device, this doesn’t last long at all. It lasted me around 110-120 puffs before the light started blinking and no more vapour was produced.
The Vype website states that the battery will last for around 130 puffs, so not far off the mark depending on your personal vaping habits and as we have seen from other e cig vendors no wild claims of 200+ puffs per e cig.
Having said that if you are a heavy smoker switching to e cigarettes and Vype was your first e cig then you are going to be disappointed. This could last you just half a day or even just hours depending on how much you are puffing away. 
It isn’t the best value out there. Again though, I doubt they are going down the cost saving route as being the main benefit when marketing the product.
Overall – The lightest e cig I have felt and the closest representation of a cigarette I have come across yet but the battery life as expected is very poor. It does however almost match up to Vype’s quoted amount of puffs (130) so it does do as it says ‘on the tin’ so to speak. Heavy smokers/vapers will go through these very quickly.
Vapour / Flavour
Vype comes with just three options (i purchased all three) designed to keep everything as simple as possible.
The Red is the Classic tobacco flavour, Blue is the Classic tobacco Regular flavour and Green is the Menthol.
Each e cig, as mentioned before, comes in colour coded flip top boxes which are a quality design but does come across as overkill on the packaging especially as the e cigs cannot be bought separately to refill on their website meaning you could end up with a pile of fliptop boxes.
The e-liquid is made by Ecopure, a UK based company, and is made in their ‘Biosciecnce’ labs in Manchester in a ISO Class 8 Clean Room. Sounds impressive for sure although I’m not too sure what that is!
Onto the flavour itself
I have used Ecopure e-liquid in the past when reviewing the Intellicig XL and I found it to be one of the better tobacco flavours I have tried. I have to say that Vype didn’t disappoint in this department, the flavours are realistic with each one offering something that little bit different.
The Red Bold Tobacco flavour gives a realistic tobacco flavour that gives more throat hit than the Blue Regular.
The Blue Regular gives a nice smooth vape with just the right amount of throat hit for me.
The Green Menthol flavour I found very easy to vape giving the familiar ‘ice’ hit in the mouth and a subtle throat hit. Again a nice smooth vape. All of the above also gave a very good vapour volume as well.
My personal favourites were the Blue Regular and Menthol.
Overall – Full marks for the flavours on offer, with the Blue and Menthol standing out for me, but this wasn’t so much of a surprise as I have always been a fan of the Ecopure juice.
Final Verdict
The Vype e cig is without a doubt targeted towards the new e cig user and with the money the company have behind them it is inevitable they will reach that market in one form or another, whether it be online or in a bricks and mortar retail outlet, most likely both.
Basing my view solely on the product itself I would say that it is without doubt the most realistic looking ‘cig a like’ I have tried to date. Its lightweight, exactly the same size as a conventional cigarette and has a decent build quality.
The fact that it is ‘realistic’ will be a big draw to new e cig users making the switch but there is one big (and important) downfall. The battery life is VERY short, lasting me just 110-120 puffs.
A moderate to heavy smoker making the switch will feel they are going through these disposables at a pretty fast pace and unwrapping a new e cig every few hours will not only get pretty expensive but very tiresome.
If you happen to be a light/occasional smoker that just needs that hit of nicotine every so often then these will be best suited to you.
The positive to be taken is that the flavours available are excellent as is the vapour volume produced and do give a very realistic vaping experience due to the Ecopure juice used so no issues on that front.
One of the other things I think that needs to be addressed is regarding by replacement e cigs. It would be nice to see an option where the e cigs can be bought separately without a plastic case included.
I already purchased the case, I wouldn’t see myself needing more than 2 cases if I were using these e cigs all the time. At the moment all the Vype bundle offers include a plastic carry case.
BAT entering the electronic cigarette market, a market that is an alternative to the very product they sell to this day that hooked billions around the world, leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many.
I know from readers here at ecigclick.co.uk that many e cig users won’t entertain a product from a big tobacco company and I can see why. But the fact that they are producing this product is very real and if looking at the positives BAT can and will introduce e cigarettes to a wider smoking audience.
To me Vype seems to be a product to help smokers quit as it isn’t suitable as a medium/long term alternative due to the short life of the e cigarette.
But the fact that they are producing this product is very real and if looking at the positives BAT can and will introduce e cigarettes to a wider smoking audience.
This is what brings me to the conclusion that for those that are just looking for that ‘healthier alternative’ to deliver their nicotine rather than quitting altogether Vype will be just a short term solution, in effect acting as a gateway/introduction into the e cig world.
Vype have also released the following products:
Recommended For:
Very Light/Occasional Smokers
Not Recommended For:
Medium/Heavy Smokers
I work on the rigs and they are funny about oil and vapeing
So bought these e cigs thinking they offered a reasonable compromise and going by the official reviews thought that 10 x cigs would last me the 2 weeks offshore
I kid you not!
They lasted 1 day
So I had no ulternative but to go back on the fags
Really really not happy
Do not waste a single penny on these
Hmm I have ten smart boxes left what can I use them for?
The ecig only gave me 4 puffs before it expired
The product was only purchased as I buy my regular tips online, although i thought It would last longer than an hour. The package is the only lasting item!
what I love about this is my hair smells nice and my breath does not pong
These were actually reduced by my local pharmacy as they had just passed their sell by date and I paid £2 a box so got 5 boxes thinking I stumbled upon a great bargain. I don’t think the sell by date has had any effect on the fact that the first one ran out after 30 moderate drags! I’m trying a second just to see if it was a dud but judging by the above reviews, this one will last about the same.
I’ll be getting a refund on ALL of them as I was advised by the sales assistant that one Hype cigarette is equivalent of 25 cigarettes! Fat chance! Since reading up on it 110 puffs is the more realistic view and I’m still not achieving anywhere near that!
The box is good quality but completely wasteful considering the cigarette is disposable and the double slot where only one cigarette is supplied would make me feel even more ripped off (if I had paid the full price that is) the company have basically charged the same price for half the number of product? Not impressed at all.
Pros are heavily outweighed in light of the above but they are very realistic (I like ash effect on the red lit tip) and the flavour was good (blue box -classic flavour – 12.5mg).
I’m two weeks off real cigs and was hoping to reduce the 16mg nicolites I was using with a lighter/cheaper version. I’ll just buy the lighter nicolite instead of this rubbish and I strongly suggest you don’t waste your money on this either.
incredibly expensive, died within an hour, bought 2. Both lasted same amount of time. total utter garbage.
Flavour non-existant.
Poor quality, had to drag incredibly hard for it to even register that I was inhaling on both the ones I had bought.
Do NOT buy!
Unbelievably poor value. Packaging completely over-engineered – surely you shouldn’t have to buy a full case each time when the product only lasts for an hour. Flavour very weak compared to nicolites. Also, they should be rechargeable to offer value for money and to be eco-friendly.
When purchased asked if lasted same length as what I was used to eg 1-2 packets worth, said yes so purchased, normally disposables last me several days. This one didn’t see me through an evening
Also menthol flavour is weak
Feel ripped off with this one
As at no.2 and no. 4
Having recently given up smoking (again) I’ve tried out a couple of ecigs to help. Last time I gave up I bought the skycig starter pack but they didn’t really do it for me. This time, not wanting to shell out £50 for something that I might not use I’ve gone down the disposable route. First puritane which was long lasting but weak and slightly unpleasant, then nicolites which were a bit better, but not much.
This is by far the best of the three, it’s easily the nearest thing to smoking a traditional cigarette that I’ve tried. You get a proper kick at the back of the throat (I’ve tried the bold and the menthol and both are satisfying). The packaging is way over the top and looks designed for kids to me and I can see the place being littered with ridiculous plastic flip top boxes before long. As I’m really just using this as an aid to giving up I’m not a heavy user and one is lasting me 2-3 days but the battery life is extremely poor and could prove expensive to those heavier users. That said, they’re buy one get one free in one stop at the moment get them while they’re cheap!
Had one of these when they first came out as a free sample, it was pretty good, nice vapour, flavour and I got it for free so can’t complain.
Then I started seeing them everywhere, in basically every shop and on tv. Also tried the njoy disposable before but preferred this so bought one randomly on a night out as I knew I was going to be stuck inside but I really need a smoke whilst drinking and these are just amazing for that!
Have bought a couple since then and just received an email the other day from them offering me another free one so they’ve been great to their customers.
Anyway I thought I’d try the menthol one but not going to lie it just tasted like the regular one, still a nice hit and amount of vapour but I couldn’t taste menthol at all.
Overall I’d recommend these to any beginner who still smokes cigarettes but are trying to cut back but mostly I’d recommend these for anyone wanting to smoke indoors on a night out and not yet ready to buy a proper vaping device!
I usually vape totally wicked tornado V3 but forgot to take it out with me one day. Brought a vype from garage as an alternative. Now considering a bottle of e -liquid from totally wicked costs £9.99 and lasts me over a month. This vype that cost me £5.99 only lasted me 1 hour 40mins, I was not only very disappointed but also shocked as using this would end up costing more than smoking normal cigarettes. Will make sure I never forget me tornado ever again.
Although this is a reasonably good product the price and life span of this product is inhibitive. A moderate smoker such as myself would need 2 of these e-cigs to get me through one day which at a cost of £6.99 each is more expensive than smoking cigarettes. There are two slots in the case the e-cig comes in, the e-cig fits in both, did they or do they plan to include two in the pack? If so then this product would be drastically more appealing.
Given that there are other “cigalike” products available which, although bigger and heavier, are around half the price of this product and last a lot longer why would anyone buy this? Personally after paying £6.99 for this device and having it run out after little use I felt completely ripped off!
Overall I do not recommend this product to anyone who smokes more than 5 cigarettes per day.
On another note I now use an ego style device which costs around £20.00 for the battery, charger and clearomizer. The refill liquid can be bought in 10ml bottles for around £3-5 which lasts at least 5 days!
Daily cost smoking cigarettes (15 average) = £5.40
Daily cost of vaping with Vype (1.5 devices) = £10.49
Daily cost of vaping with ego device (inc all consumables) = £1.08
I’m new to vapour smoking/e-cig and so far I like it, this is the first brand I am trying and I am happy with the product. What I like most about it is the realistic look and feel, plus you get a good vape on the inhale so again you get a realistic smoking sensation. This has to be a better option than cigarettes as you are not getting all the chemicals and poisions which they have like Arsenic etc etc etc
I recommend the starter kit.
This will not save you money. You will either quit smoking or go back to tobacco, and I think the latter will apply to the majority.
This is a poor effort to enter the market by big tobacco who are obviously hoping their users will pay the extortionate cartridge prices to keep their revenue high.
Nice menthol flavour.
got thisv cig today battrery flat afterb 3 hours and not in ful used’ £6.00 wasted never again stars 1
I tried this one without many expectations, to see what e-smoking is like. I was really surprised by the taste and vapor production. Also the looks are very good about this one! My boyfriend actually freaked out when he thought I was smoking inside the house 🙂
I should buy them again if they didn’t cost so much. Since the battery lasts for only 1 hour (I like taking big drags), this costs way too much 🙁
I don’t smoke regular cigarettes any more, but switched to another (cheaper) e-cig…
Love the size the feel and the taste, the case is great but in fairness once you have one you should be able to buy the ecig without the case too. Instruction leaflet is pointless so they should maybe keep the price point but put three of them in a case and then maybe I would switch.
For many smokers the price is a driving factor to switch and with each ecig being the epiv of less than 10 fags this rules it out for me although I may buy one if in a tight spot.
Easy to order, good trial offer for P&P only, quick delivery. Unnecessary to have such fancy black packaging envelope.
Felt comfortable puffing on this and liked the “taste” as opposed to 2 others I have now tried.
Not cheap but then neither are the Dunhill International that I smoke!
They should definitely bring out a refill pack without the plastic case.
Overall an experience that I enjoyed far more than I dared hope…….
Pretty much as above, if the product battery life was reasonable i would consider buying more often but i still wouldn’t swop rechargeable vapes. However, if they bring out the same design as a rechargeable and add a few varieties of flavor/nicotine strength i would seriously consider making a permanent swap as i liked the design. I would be happy to have a couple of rechargeable batteries if it meant keeping same size feel of cig. Overall though and unfortunately i think they need to do an awful lot more work if they are going to be a serious competitor for existing manufacturers and unless you really are a very occasional smoker or vaper i wouldn’t recommend
I was really happy with this e-cig. the free sample offered on the website arrived just the next day. It looked and felt just like the real thing ( i dont like the oversized nature of many brands), tasted ‘ok’ (I ordered the red) – not quite as smooth as I was used to, but this may be different with the blue – produced great vapour & had a great throat hit.
However, I was horribly disappointed that it only lasted as long as approx 10 cigarettes. I didn’t mind the inconvenience of this, it’s the price I have a problem with!
It’s a great product but it would cost me a fortune to swap to these & they don’t make a re-chargeable option.
I’ll continue my search & hope that other companies will see the benefit to developing an e-cig with the same diameter as a real one.