When it comes to choosing the perfect starter kit, pod systems are always a popular decision! The easiest way to describe a vape pod is as a system somewhere between an electronic cigarette and a mod. Most vapers begin with a vape pen, which is inexpensive, discreet, and portable. Unfortunately, vape pens are not powerful and don’t last long on a full battery. You can upgrade to a fancy box mod, but the array of coils, flashing lights, and buttons is off-putting when all you want is a quick vape.

What Are Open & Closed Pods?

Open System Vape Pod

These devices enable you to refill your e-juice manually. Choose between hundreds of flavors, sizes, and nicotine strengths online. Users say that an open system pod offers a smoother draw along with heightened vapor production. The low-profile design means you won’t attract unwanted attention, and the device usually has only one button to operate. It is possible to purchase an open system vape mod for under $20.

There are a few downsides, though. For instance, refilling the e-liquid manually is a pain, as is changing coils and replacing cartridges after a few uses. It isn’t easy to change flavors either. Also, the small battery size means you don’t get much use from a single charge.

Closed System Vape Pod

This device works similarly to a cartomizer for a cigalike device. As it consists of prefilled cartridges, you don’t have to worry about refills. Once your cartridge is empty, throw it away and add in a new one. Most sellers offer their refills in several nicotine strengths, and these cartridges should come in a multi-pack form. A closed system vape pod is also inexpensive, user-friendly, and requires little maintenance, mainly because you don’t have to clean the tank or change coils.

Downsides include a limited selection of nicotine strength and flavors in comparison to its open system counterpart. This device is also known for offering weak draws, and users occasionally report ‘spitbacks.’ A spitback happens when the e-liquid bounces off the coil rather than vaporizing.

What Are the Benefits of Open Vaping Systems?

Widest Possible Flavor Selection

The biggest benefit of an open vaping system is that it allows you to use any e-liquid flavor you like. All closed vaping systems suffer from the same shortcoming in that no closed system offers more than about 8-10 different flavors. That’s a pretty small selection when you consider that there are many hundreds of different bottled e-liquid flavors on the market today. Having the ability to use any flavor you want means it’s guaranteed that you’ll be able to find something perfect for your personal taste.

Least Expensive Way to Vape

The next major benefit of using an open vaping system is that it’s a much cheaper way to vape compared to using a closed system. That’s because bottled e-liquids are significantly less expensive than pre-filled pods or cartridges on a per-day basis. A pack of four pods for an e-cigarette like JUUL, for example, costs about the same as a bottle of nicotine salt e-liquid – and the difference in the amount of e-liquid that you get for the money is massive. Four JUUL pods contain a total of 2.8 ml of e-liquid. Nicotine salt e-liquid, meanwhile, usually comes in 30 ml bottles in nations that don’t limit e-liquid bottle sizes.

Better Overall Vaping Experience

An open vaping system will almost always give you the best overall vaping experience because an open device usually has higher-quality hardware than a closed device. Open vaping devices usually have tanks made from glass rather than plastic and use wicks made from organic cotton rather than silica. Since they’re a bit larger than closed devices, they have bigger atomizer coils and higher-capacity battery cells. Compared to a closed vaping device, an open device gives you better flavor and bigger vapor clouds while lasting longer on a battery charge.

Greater Variety of Nicotine Strengths

When you first start vaping, it’s likely that you’re going to want to use an e-liquid with a very high nicotine strength. The higher the nicotine strength is, the closer your nicotine intake per puff will be to what you’d get when smoking a cigarette. Once you’ve switched fully to vaping and no longer crave cigarettes at all, though, you might want to start dialing your nicotine intake back a bit. When you use an open vaping device and buy your e-liquid by the bottle, you have access to every nicotine strength on the market and can reduce your nicotine intake as slowly as you like. With a closed system, on the other hand, you’re lucky if your device has more than one nicotine strength available.

What Are the Benefits of Closed Vaping Systems?

Easiest Vaping Devices to Use

The biggest benefit of closed vaping systems is that they’re the simplest vaping devices on the market. If you want a vaping device that just works – something that doesn’t require any maintenance or tweaking – a closed vaping device is probably what you want. When you use a closed system, all that you need to do is charge the battery when it’s dead and replace the pod or cartridge when it’s empty.  No need to make a mess while refilling since the pre-filled pods are easily replaceable.

Low Investment

Closed systems on average go anywhere from 12 to 50 dollars. Plus, you don’t have to spend your time figuring out how to use your device

Closest Vaping Experience to a Cigarette

Although no vaping device feels precisely the same as smoking a cigarette, you’re going to get closest to the experience of smoking with a closed vaping system. Some closed vaping devices are small enough to hold between two fingers like a cigarette, and a closed vaping system will have the tight airflow characteristics necessary to provide a great mouth-to-lung inhaling experience. Combine those features with a high-nicotine e-liquid, and you’re going to find a closed vaping system surprisingly similar to smoking.

So all in all, what is better?

This is a very personal question to answer, the best product is what will work for your needs! The debate about open vs. closed systems will continue forever within the vaping community, and that’s because there is no single type of vaping device that’s best for everyone; there is only what’s best for you. It’s hard to know what the best type of vaping device for you is.