CUE Vapor Closed Pod Kit
Supplied by CUE for review (Ooo that rhymes!)
Price: Current Offer Price £19.99 including 2 Pack (4 pods) of prefilled flavoured pods.
https://www.cue-vapor.com/products/cue-vape-device
CUE Vapor have just released a new closed pod kit, simply titled ‘CUE’. It’s a true starter kit with flavoured plug-n-vape closed pods (pre-filled), there is absolutely no vape experience required as the device does all that for you, simply draw the vapour as you would a cigarette, no buttons, no settings, all you need to do is plug the pod in and recharge now and then.
- 750mAh battery
- Height: 90mm (102mm with pod), Width: 35mm, Thickness: 16mm
- Pod capacity: 2ml
- Charging: USB-C
- Weight: 104g
- Ceramic Coil
- Side airflow (fixed)
- Fully automatic
- Compact pocket size
Unboxing
Who doesn’t like a nice box? I know I do, and unboxing the CUE is quite pleasing. It has an outer sleeve with the usual warning ‘Nicotine gives you covid and explodes you face off blah blah blah’, but CUE have another box underneath that.
It unfolds out with the word ‘FINALLY’ which is gloss embossed, I have no idea what they mean by ‘finally’? I will dig into that as we go along, but I liked the presentation. The device itself is held in a firm foam inlay.
Underneath that is the diddy charging cable held in another foam layer, the yellow really pops out. You might notice that there isn’t a pod included; you need to purchase those separately.
First Impressions and Overview
Ignore the pod for now, we will just cover the battery part to start with as this is the main part of the vape system. It is rechargeable and has a 750mAh battery, the charging port is on the base and accepts standard USB-C cables but there’s one included.
There are three LEDs on the rear edge which displays the battery status, both during vaping and during charging: 1 LED = LOW, 2 LEDs = Medium and 3 LEDs = High (or full). During vaping, the LEDs animate in a breathing light fading motion, then settle down to show the battery level.
The device is made of zinc alloy and is very solid, as a result it weighs 108g with a full pod attached, so it feels quite heavy for its size, I’ve tested pods a third of its weight with a similar battery size so I was surprised CUE went for this heavy metal instead of aluminium alloy, but if you like solid heavy bits of kit, then you will like how this feels.
The size is quite compact; height: 90mm (102mm with pod), width: 35mm, thickness: 16mm. It fits comfortably in your grip and it makes no difference which hand you hold it in. The overall size makes it very pocket friendly but the weight is too heavy for a shirt/blouse pocket.
The finish is quite masculine with a metallic gun-metal body and satin black panels with glossy ‘CUE’ logos on the front and rear. The overall shape is a rectangle with two corners rounded off, there’s probably a geometric name for this shape but I haven’t a C’L’UE what it is, it’s not a CU’B’E that’s for sure.
There’s nothing else you need to know about the device itself until you plop a pod into it, and right on CUE it becomes a full vaping device.
The pods are what’s known as a ‘Closed Pod’ which basically means a prefilled pod which cannot be refilled. The coil (heating element) is enclosed inside the pod along with the e-liquid, once it runs out you need to dispose of it and replace it with a fresh one.
The pods come in packs of two, they are foil packed for freshness and hygiene. They are easy to pop open, but you will need to remove the base cover and the mouthpiece plug (also the side airflow plug as I found out later – ooops).
With the plugs removed, the pod is good to go, simply pop it into the device and start vaping. It doesn’t come much easier than that.
There’s a slight knack to fitting the pod but it is pretty intuitive, ensure the airflow (bung edge) is on the outside and place it in on a slight angle, then simply lever it over and it snaps into place, you can’t go wrong as it will only go in one way. It all takes seconds and is very easy to do, and it stays in place really well. To remove it, you just reverse the process.
There is one thing I missed (due to being too cocky or lazy to read the manual), there’s a small silicone bung on the side which needs removing to allow air into the pod, just pull this out and lob it in the bin. Once all that is done, then you are hot to trot.
Performance
I need to point out that the coil is ceramic, this provides a different vape to regular or mesh coils. It is very efficient and instant but it clearly tastes less saturated than regular vapes. Ceramic coils are evolving and CUE are quite proud of this latest version, personally I prefer mesh coils as I find ceramic gives me a dry mouth and I get thirsty, but I have found with previous ceramic coils that they are superb while having a pint or two.
As for the individual flavours, I found that the CUE excelled on what I would call ‘smokers favourites’ such as the tobacco and menthol, the fruity flavours are similar to flavoured tobaccos but with more emphasis on the fruit than tobacco if that makes sense? You can clearly pick up the fruity notes and they are easy to tell which flavour you have installed.
Here’s the thing though, if you are a current smoker and looking for a good way to quit with something as close to smoking as you can get then the CUE is an ideal starter kit, I would suggest you begin with the ‘tobacco’ flavours as they really taste and feel like a ciggie, I haven’t actually smoked for years but the CUE with the BOLD TOBACCO really brought back the memories.
Back in the day when I first ‘tried’ to quit smoking and began vaping, I would have been in my element with this setup. I used to struggle finding a faithful smoking experience with the kit back then, they either tasting like chemical crap or just too weak to satisfy my nicotine cravings. The CUE pods are either 17mg or 18mg (I have no idea why they are different) and they are nicotine salts which give you a stronger and much faster nicotine hit making the vape as close to smoking without those nasty chemical/tar etc.
Smokers aside, if you aren’t familiar with ceramic coils or you are moving from disposables then you might find the CUE a bit too alien, ceramics really are an acquired taste and experienced vapers will immediately know the difference. New vapers won’t know the difference and the CUE will either satisfy your needs or it won’t. Personally I prefer my vaping to be very different to smoking as I opt for sweet flavoured e-liquids, and 20mg nic salts give me my nic-fix.
There’s one element which tips the scales on whether I would recommend the CUE to anyone looking to quit the cigs, and that’s the billy-bargain price, £19.99 for the rechargeable device and four pods is a money saver right off the bat, and the saving only get better as you only need to buy replacement pods after that.
Conclusion
Though ceramic coils aren’t my personal tastes, I did find the CUE pods the best I had experienced so far, previous ceramic closed pods I reviewed but quickly gave away as soon as I had finished. I quite happily consumed one pod out of each pack, but I did need to make sure I kept hydrated along the way.
I always try to pass along starter kits to anyone I or my friends know that want to quit smoking, I deliberately saved one of each pod so I could pass the CUE along to someone and I feel happy that I have given a great CUE to get started.
CUE, DO YOU? Ooo coocha coo now watya gonna do?
