How to Choose the Best Vape Pen for Pre-Filled Cartridges

These days, the most popular products in the herbal vaping world are undoubtedly pre-filled cartridges. They’re infinitely more convenient than dry herbs. They’re also more potent and dramatically easier to store. With all of those benefits, the fact that pre-filled vape cartridges now crowd the shelves at every dispensary should come as no surprise. For many people, there’s simply no reason to bother with the inconvenience, smell and mess of dry herbs anymore.

A vape cartridge, however, isn’t exactly a self-contained product that comes out of the package ready to use. Before you can do anything with a vape cart, you need a vape pen – and that means you’re going to need to choose which device to buy. In this article, we’re going to help you through that process.

How do you choose the best vape pen for pre-filled cartridges? It all comes down to deciding where you stand on five key points. Once you’ve done that, you should have no trouble picking the right vape pen for your needs.

Understand the Relationship Between Size and Battery Capacity

One of the first things you need to understand about vape pens is that the size of the device and its battery capacity are typically related because the battery is the biggest internal component of any vape pen. Many people find the idea of owning a tiny vape pen very appealing because small devices are extremely portable and discreet. Small vape pens, however, don’t last as long as larger ones before their batteries die. That could potentially be problematic for you if you’re a frequent vaper and expect to be out of the house for a long time with no access to a power source. You should choose a device that meets your requirements for portability and battery life.

Consider the Benefits of the Two Most Common Vape Pen Shapes

Most vape pens have one of two shapes. They can be cylindrical, like a pen – which is the origin of the “vape pen” term – or they can be squat and boxy in shape. Both shapes have benefits.

• A cylindrical vape pen has threading at the top of the device. Because the threading is completely exposed, a device with this design will work with virtually any vape cartridge on the market. Cylindrical devices tend to be longer than box-shaped devices, though, which can sometimes make them a bit less easy to carry in your pocket.
• A box-shaped vape pen will often have a slightly higher-capacity battery compared to a cylindrical device and may also be a bit larger. However, it’s common for this type of vape pen to have recessed threading that allows most of the connected cartridge to be stored inside the body of device. You may find that a vape pen with recessed threading feels smaller in your pocket than a cylindrical device – and you’ll find that most pre-filled cartridges will be narrow enough to fit into the device’s compartment. A few cartridges, however, may be too wide.

Buy a 510 Thread Vape Pen for the Best Compatibility with Pre-Filled Vape Carts

The next thing to consider about a vape pen is the attachment system that it uses for cartridges. Most vape pens use threading for attachments. This type of threading is called the 510 thread. The “510” term exists because there were once many different threading types for vaping devices. Today, only the 510 thread remains.

Along with threaded vape cartridges, you can also find pre-filled plastic pods that drop into proprietary pod-based vape pens. Pod-based vape pens are sleek and very portable; they’re often smaller and lighter than threaded vape pens. However, pod-based devices have a serious drawback in that they don’t work with threaded vape cartridges at all. Instead, they only work with the pods specifically designed for them. A pod system can be a fun novelty – but if you want your device to work with any vape cartridge on the market, you should choose a vape pen with 510 threading.

Choose the Firing Style That’s Appropriate for Your Needs

A vape pen can have two different activation systems: automatic or manual. A device with automatic firing produces vapor when you puff on it, and a device with manual firing produces vapor when you push a button. As with all other vape pen features, both firing styles have benefits and drawbacks. Because most vape pens don’t offer dual firing modes and only work with one style or the other, you’ll need to pick the firing style that works best for you.

• Since automatic firing only requires you to puff on the device, you may find that the device is easier to hold and that using it feels much like smoking. With automatic firing, though, the device doesn’t produce vapor until after you inhale – so there’s a slight delay. The vapor clouds will be slightly smaller than they would be with a manual firing vape pen.
• With a manual firing vape pen, you need to hold a button to vape. That means you can’t hold the device as if it were a cigarette or cigar, and some people find it a bit awkward to vape while holding a fire button. With manual firing, though, you can press the button before you inhale. Since there’s no delay as there is with automatic firing, the vapor clouds will be larger.

Understand the Three Different Types of Power Delivery

The final thing that you’ll need to do when you buy a vape pen for pre-filled cartridges is select the power delivery method that meets your needs. There are three types of power delivery for vape pens, and it’s important to understand the differences between them because one of those types does not work well for pre-filled vape carts.

• Regulated Power Delivery: Most vape pens for pre-filled cartridges use regulated power delivery, which means that they operate at a consistent voltage regardless of the battery’s current charge status. Regulated vape pens usually operate at 3.6-3.7 volts, which is an appropriate power level for most of the vape cartridges on the market.
• Variable Power Delivery: Variable power delivery means that your device allows you to select an operational voltage. The device may allow you to choose an exact voltage, or it may have a few pre-set ranges like “Low,” “Medium” and “High.” Having the ability to vary the power level of your vape pen allows you to get the most out of cartridges that require a little extra power for the best possible flavor and vapor production, although it also makes for a bit of added complexity compared to a device that only operates at one power level.
• Direct Voltage Power Delivery: This is the power delivery type that you want to avoid if you’re planning to use your vape pen with pre-filled cartridges. Also known as “bypass mode,” direct-voltage power delivery means that the device operates at the battery’s full available voltage at all times. When the battery is fully charged, the device will operate at 4.2 volts. That’s usually too high for pre-filled cartridges, and it’ll cause you to experience a harsh burnt flavor when you vape.