OK-Ecig.com Cig-a-like – Good E Cig Option For New Vapers?
The OK-ecig range of e cigarettes is very much targeted towards the beginner end of the vape market.
You may have seen them on the high street as they are stocked in Asda up and down the country.
Compared to the best vape pen type e cigarettes their are very few brands around at this point that produce a ‘cig-a-like’ e cig. Vapour2 e cigs and Magnum Snaps are the other companies that produce quality devices of this type.
If you have landed on this page then you are likely considering this kind of device for your first e cigarette experience and want to know a little more about it.
What I’ve been trying out for review this time around is the OK E Cigarette starter kit. I also received a spare, slightly bigger, battery to use with the kit.
Lets learn a little more…
As always my thoughts and opinions are my own.
Inside the Box
The OK E Cigarette starter kit comes in a cigarette carton style packaging, inside this is we have:
- Plastic, flip top carry case
- 1 X 180Mah rechargeable Battery (known as a K1)
- 2 X Refill Cartridge (Tobacco Flavour)
- 1 X USB Charger
Design and Build Quality
The OK Ecig kit is a very simple affair. The e cigarette itself has been designed to resemble a cigarette as much as can be and they have done a good job of it.
The main reason for designing the e cig this way is to help with the familiarity when switching from cigarettes. When I first made the switch it was something that I initially looked for in the e cig I was choosing.
Battery
The battery itself has slightly raised rings from top to bottom, with the small 180mAh battery having a glowing red tip that is activated when in use. The longer 280mAh glows blue.
It feels quality to touch, very solid, yet still lightweight.
The battery has the actual domain name (ok-ecig.com) printed on the side and the required WEEE & CE Labels that indicate the device is in compliance with necessary EU Legislation.
While I can see why the domain name would be printed on the battery I can’t help but think the ‘OK’ logo would have been better used here as the branding is good.
Refill Cartridges/Cartomisers
The refill cartridges/cartomisers come in two colours. Tan and white. The tan has been designed to match a tobacco filter and the white represents menthol. Again in keeping with a traditional cigarette.
Depending on the strength of refill cartridge you choose they are marked either M, H or E.
These stand for the following:
- M = medium strength nicotine – 12mg
- H = High strength nicotine – 18mg
- E = Extra High strength nicotine – 20mg
The identifiers, while it may only seem like a small thing, is actually a very important one.
The number of cig-a-likes I have reviewed over the years that had zero information on the refills themselves wasn’t even funny!
This way you know what you are using if you have different nicotine strengths.
Putting the cartomiser and battery together doesn’t get any easier. Simply remove the refill cartomiser from the packaging, remove the ‘bugs’ on either end of the cartridge and screw onto the battery.
You are then ready to go (as long as your battery is charged and has power).
So..Not much else that can be said on the design and quality. The e-cigarette feels quality in the hand and has a resemblance of a tobacco cigarette.
How Does the OK E Cig Kit Perform?
As touched on earlier the e cig is the most easy type of e cigarette to use, bar none.
While most vape pen type e cigarettes are ‘manual’ (you have to press a button before you inhale) this cig-a-like is ‘automatic’, meaning all you have to do is simply take a drag/draw to activate.
I said it was easy right?!
The cartomisers I got in my kit were the Meduim/12mg and High/18mg.
This is a good move by OK E Cigs.
As a new vaper you need a nicotine strength that is going to satisfy you enough so you don’t feel the need to move back onto tobacco.
12mg and 18mg are two of the most popular strengths. Rather than including just the one you get to test both out to see what’s the best fit for you.
Once you have your preferred strength simply pop back on their website and order your replacement refills.
If you are a very heavy smoker and you don’t feel the 18mg is enough, you can opt for 20mg strength. Currently the highest available.
I also received two extra packs that included the Menthol flavour.
How to vape
Before I get into how it performs I want to explain how to vape. I know… It sounds daft but the action of vaping is different to smoking a cigarette.
If you have vaped before please feel free to skip this bit 🙂
When you smoke a cigarette you would normally take quicker, sharper draws. Not so with an e cigarette. When taking a draw on an e cig it needs to be a longer, softer draw.
If you try both styles with your new e cig you should immediately see what I mean!
Performance
When taking a drag the e cig was very responsive (which is a good thing). By this I mean as soon as you take a draw you can hear the coils inside the cartomiser heating up which in turn, turns the e-liquid into the vapour you inhale/exhale.
The vapour that is produced is very good considering the size of the e cig. Yeah… it’s not going to be the same as an e cig that uses a refillable tank but good all the same.
The throat hit was OK with the 12mg (Medium) strength refill but suited me perfectly. For a stronger throat hit you can use a higher nicotine strength.
Battery Life
OK.. It’s safe to say the battery life on these types of e cigs aren’t going to win any awards. That’s just the nature of the beast when it comes to using cig-a-likes unfortunately. They don’t last very long at all.
In the standard starter kit you will get 1 standard 180 mAh battery (The Higher the mAh the longer the battery life). As a moderate vaper I was getting around 1.5-2 hours.
OK-Ecig do also have a larger 280 mAh (can be bought separately) that will extend life a touch but what I would highly recommend you do is buy a spare battery.
In fact, I would say it’s a must to have at least 2 batteries, if possible try and have 3 or 4 spares.
Trust me on this… You don’t want to be out and about and be caught out with your battery running out of power.
Not only that but when you’re charging your battery you will have nothing to use, so at least 2 batteries used in rotation just makes sense.
If you are not sure you will like the kit then buy the spare batteries after you have had a chance to test. But buy them as soon as you’ve made up your mind!
I would also recommend the larger 280 mAh K2 batteries as one of your spares as you will get more vape time.
You can buy spare K1 batteries (68mm in length) for just £3 and the K2 (81mm length) for just £5. Very good value all round.
It would be nice to see a portable charger (PCC) introduced to the OK-Ecig range as other cig-a-like brands have but at the time of writing OK Cigs don’t have one.
They do supply a case but this is simply for carrying around and keeping your e cig gear in one place.
Flavour
As touched on previously, OK-Ecig have just two flavours available. Tobacco and Menthol.
Tobacco
Now, it has to be said, apart from Black Note e liquid, I haven’t yet found a tobacco e-liquid flavour that I actually like.
It also has to be said, that when I started vaping 7 years ago I quickly moved from tobacco to other flavours so have been vaping fruit and dessert based eliquids the majority of that time.
It’s not dissimilar to other cig-a-like style e cig tobacco flavours that I have tried in the past. I don’t personally like it but I can see that for those of you that still smoke and are coming to vaping for the first time it will do the trick nicely.
It does taste like a cigarette and to be honest that’s why I personally don’t like it! But that’s a good thing for you! I hope that makes sense 🙂
Menthol
Now this was much more palatable for me! I used to like a menthol smoke every now and then (in my smoking days) and this is a very good version.
Not too strong and it leaves a very nice, refreshing feeling lingering in the mouth afterwards. If you like your menthol vapes I’m sure you would get on well with this.
Menthol is also available in zero nicotine.
You will know when the cartomiser needs replacing as the flavour will drop off and you may even get a slightly burnt flavour coming through.
Pricing
Refill cartomisers come in packs of 5. At the time of writing they are priced at a very reasonable £6 per pack. If you don’t mind buying in bulk to save a few quid then OK E Cig offer various bulk discounts with spare batteries thrown in.
- 1 Pack = £6
- 4 packs (also includes a spare K1 battery) = £24
- 6 packs (also includes a spare K2 battery) = £36
- 13 packs = £72 (Bulk discount makes the price £5.54 per pack)
- 30 packs (Plus your choice of spare K1 or K2 battery) = £166 (Bulk discount makes the price £5.37 per pack)
- 50 packs (Plus your choice of 2 K1 or K2 batteries) = £266 (Bulk discount makes the price £5.12 per pack)
Charging the OK E Cigarette
Charging is super simple…. can you see a pattern here?
- Simply remove the cartomiser/refill.
- Screw the battery into the USB charger
- Place the charger into a USB source, in my case my laptop
- You can also buy a mains adapter if you don’t have a USB source to charge from. If you want to use another adaptor just be sure it is 1Amp/5V output.
- The light will be on when charging
- When fully charged (around 2-3 hours on a depleted battery) the light will go off
Final Review Verdict
The OK E-Cig cig-a-like isn’t something I would personally use but I’m not the target market.
The e cig performs well, the refill flavours are good for those making the switch and at £6 delivered for the kit it’s very good value indeed.
Would I recommend this for new vapers? If you are specifically looking for a small e cigarette that resembles a cigarette then yes.
But, if you aren’t so bothered about having an e cig that looks like a cigarette then I would say start with a vape pen style e cig.
Did you buy the OK E Cig? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Pros
- Very beginner friendly – This is as easy as it gets
- Good value all round
- Free Shipping on all items
- Flavours are good although I personally liked the Menthol a lot more than the tobacco
Cons
- Battery life is poor (to be expected with this type of e cig)
- Tobacco flavour not to my taste (subjective)
- Lack of flavour options in the refill cartomisers
Just ordered a kit.
I’ve got my main unit (mech mod, 1ohm, 18mg spearmint) but it doesn’t like being laid down when it’s in my pocket at work.
So I figured give this a go.
PRO:
Adsa do ’em so I don’t have to depend on deliveries.
CON:
Forced to take tobacco flavour which will probably be ignored, choice for both favours would be better.
No spearmint flavour (or as my supplier calls it doublemint).
As far as battery life and flavour, we’ll see.
Hi Ian, Just a quick note to let you know that we now sell our starter kit with menthol refills (available online and in Asda stores) and also now have a wider range of nicotine strengths in both our menthol and tobacco refill ranges : )
Thanks for giving our products a try!
Best wishes – Alice @ OK Vape
Daj ciga
I will do that, many thanks.
Lee
I’ve just tried the ok ecig today, it has a very strange smell and taste, hard to describe but it’s a bit sort of plastic like, it spoils the experience.
Anyone else had this problem?
P.S. I normally smoke Marlboro Reds.
Not tried these for a long time Lee.
Have you tried another cartridge/refill in case the one you were using was at fault in some way? Worth a try.
Hi Lee, this is Alice from OK Vape – that doesn’t sound right at all so please send us a message to info@okvape.co.uk and we’ll get that sorted for you.