Pods, Mods & Other Vaping Devices: What’s The Difference?

There are lots of different vape kits out there for you to choose from when tooling-up for a vaping journey. Which one you go for depends on who you are and what you want from your journey.

If you are reading this as someone who has never vaped before but is looking for an alternative to tobacco, welcome! Before you get going it’s important to understand if vaping is the right choice for your cessation journey. You can do this by speaking to your GP, or getting in touch with a stop smoking service, but we also have a dedicated area for those looking to make the switch filled with impartial information and advice.

If you’ve decided already that vaping is for you, then you can also check out our vaping guide which will guide you through the basics so you can start that journey well-armed with knowledge about how to tailor the experience to your needs.

In this blog however we will be introducing you to the main types of vaping device out there, exploring their pros and cons so you can make a more informed choice about which is right for you!

Open System Vapes Vs Closed System Vapes

While there are many styles of vape kit out there, these can be most broadly broken down into two clear camps – open and closed system vapes.

Open system vapes are among the most common. Like the EDGE Pro, they have refillable tanks or pods that can be opened, allowing you to fill them with whatever e-liquid you choose. They often use replaceable coils, although this is not true of every open system, some use refillable pods with built-in coils like the Vaporeso Xros 3 which are intended to be used a handful of times until that coil is spent then replaced.

Closed system vapes like the EDGE GO are quite the opposite. They utilise pods, or cartridges in the case of cartomiser/cig-a-like devices that come pre-filled with e-liquid and cannot be refilled or even opened by the end user.

The most common and easily recognised example of a closed system vape in the market today are disposable vapes – they are one single sealed unit that is designed to be used up and discarded, however these are more wasteful than products like the GO which allow you to retain the battery and just replace the pods – disposable vapes do not offer this luxury.

All-In-One (AIO) Vape Kits

AIO vape kits are among the oldest and most common device types out there, and their design has proven popular for years. They come in a range of sizes, but all follow the same basic principles; a pen-style design with a simple battery and a tank arranged vertically. Some use large batteries and offer higher power outputs, others are more compact; the one you choose will be decided by your lifestyle.

They often utilise removable coils, and you will be able to find an AIO vape that will cater to your e-liquid preference, be it 50-50, high-VG, or nic salts. Features like variable airflow and customisable wattage are not universal to AIOs, with models available both with and without advanced features, meaning you can find a pen-style vape to suit your needs as either a beginner or veteran.

Pod Vape Kits

Pod vaping kits have become incredibly popular in recent years, being more frequently used now than any other type of vaping device. One of the biggest reasons for this is simplicity and convenience. Vape technology has advanced a lot since the early days, and even basic looking kits like the Aspire Flexus Q deliver incredibly satisfying flavour and vapour, catering to both mouth-to-lung (MTL) and direct-to-lung (DTL) vaping techniques (learn more here) thanks to a range of available coils.

These kits have decent batteries despite their size, and even those which are a little smaller are now including technology like USB-C 3A charging, which can recover 80% of a device’s battery in circa 10 minutes.

They are compact, lightweight, and require minimal maintenance/mess, often needing only a pod to be swapped out in its entirety such as with GO pods, or like the Flexus, reusable pods with swappable coils. Even in the latter example this is a complex as these kits get, yet they offer premium performance for vapers of all levels – further reinforcing why they are so popular.

These kits tend to perform best when using 50-50 or nic salt vape liquid, even though some have sub-ohm coil options that can handle thicker high-VG juice.

When it comes to advanced features, much like AIO devices you can find stripped back beginner-friendly options as well as more advanced models with screens and buttons for variable wattage, depending on what you are looking for.

There are those like the Argus P1 from VooPoo, which offers a unique benefit to beginners by incorporating advanced passive tech to optimise the vaping experience without adding extra buttons or screens. The Gene chip inside the P1 regulates the power output according to how hard you actually inhale, meaning you get the fine-tuned feeling of variable wattage without needing to understand how it all works.

Mod Vape Kits

Mods are, like AIOs, a well-historied device type, being arguably the most popular format until the rise of pod kits. They are typically the largest devices you can find, making them less desirable for on-the-go lifestyles, but they do generally offer long-lasting batteries and higher wattage outputs, making them ideal for high-VG vapers.

The reasons they are called mod, is because they are modular; the batteries cand tanks are not mutually exclusive and you can combine different tanks and batteries to achieve a desired build that performs in a way that best suits your vaping journey. This is of course a process better suited to experienced vapers with a little more practice, although this does not mean that a beginner cannot learn how to use a mod if they are willing.

While ideal for High-VG use, mods and the many tanks that can attach to them offer a huge range of coil types allowing you to make good use of 50-50s too.

In fact, if you are sick of constantly recharging your device, you can turn a mod into your ultimate long-haul 50-50 vaping companion.

Take the Aspire Zelos 3 for example, it has a massive 3200mAh battery capacity to help it power up its sub-ohm coils to vaporise thicker High-VG juice. It is however compatible with a 1.6ohm coil, which requires much less power to function and is ideal for 50-50 juice. By turning down the watts to around 15-18, the device could effectively last for over two days of regular use until that big battery is finally drained thanks to it needing less power overall to fire up.

Again, choosing a mod will depend on your lifestyle factors, and while not the most typical starting point for a vaping journey they can offer benefits like those above.

Pod-Mod Vape Kits

Pod mods are, as their name suggests, a combination of the advanced tech and larger battery sizes typical of mods, and the convenience of a pod kit – no tanks and faffing with building things.

They cater to all kinds of e-liquid and offer arguably the broadest range of features of any vape kit available. There are more compact versions available, but most pod mods are medium sized to accommodate the larger capacity batteries they feature.

Understanding the benefits of pods and mods individually gives you the knowledge you need to understand the benefits of a pod-mod – they are simply a hybrid of the two.

They are not typically best suited to beginners, but they can be a one-stop solution for an entire vaping journey if you are willing to learn, thanks to their versatility and typically large range of coils.

Cartomiser Vape Kits

Cartomisers are quite possibly the oldest form of vape tech on the market. The very first mass-manufactured e-cigarette invented by Hon Lik in China looked very much like the modern cartomisers in the EDGE range.

These devices are very small, look like a cigarette often having a glowing tip, and instead of e-liquid and tanks they utilise pre-filled, single-use cartridges that screw onto a small battery and are inhaled through.

These are a potential starting point for a new vaper, however they are becoming outdated and modern devices like pods offer far more long-term satisfaction for those committed to their vaping journey – but of course this is still dictated by your lifestyle and personal needs.