# How to choose a vape: the questions I ask first > How to choose a vape without getting it wrong: the six questions I run through before every purchase, including the one about spares nobody checks. I bought four devices over a few years and kept exactly one of them past twelve months. The other three were not bad. They simply did not match the way I actually vape once the enthusiasm of the first fortnight had worn off. Working out how to choose a vape turns out to depend far less on the spec sheet than on a handful of questions people forget to ask at the counter. ## How to choose a vape: start with how often you will use it The short answer sits in one variable. To decide how to choose a vape, work out first how many times a day you expect to use it, then work back towards the device, never the other way round. Occasional use, a few puffs across a day, calls for a compact format and a modest battery you will end up charging often regardless. Continuous use demands a comfortable cell and a replaceable coil, or you will spend your life on maintenance. That question of frequency then settles everything else: the nicotine strength that makes sense, the type of draw, the consumables budget. Starting from the other end, with a model spotted in a display case, almost always produces an unsuitable purchase. ## The six questions in my buying notebook I wrote these down after my third abandoned device, and I reread them before every purchase since. They take under ten minutes and they eliminate three quarters of any catalogue. How many times a day will I honestly use it? Do I prefer a tight draw or an airy one? Am I willing to change a coil myself every week? Will the device fit the pocket I will genuinely keep it in? Will the matching coils still be sold in a year? What monthly consumables budget am I prepared to accept? The fifth is the one nobody asks and the one that has cost me most. A device whose coil reference drops out of the catalogue becomes unusable overnight, in perfect working order, and there is no fix for it once the last packet has gone. ## The purchase price is the smallest of the costs Here is the reasoning that changed how I buy more than anything else, and it holds for every format. What you hand over at the till is visible, but it is not the main part of the spending across a year of regular use. Coils get replaced constantly, and faster still on sweet liquids. Bottles get consumed at a rate tied directly to the power of the device, so an airy setup drinks several times what a restricted one does. A cheap but thirsty model therefore works out dearer than a better placed and more frugal one. Doing that sum before buying, even roughly, makes the decision far simpler. Two traps sit inside that calculation. The first is the disposable cartridge: complete-cartridge systems seduce with their simplicity, nothing to clean and nothing to prime, and on occasional use that is perfectly defensible. On daily use the annual gap against a replaceable-coil system becomes frankly uncomfortable, and it is the first thing to settle. The second is overpowered hardware. A device capable of very high wattage brings nothing at all to someone vaping a tight draw. It adds weight, adds bulk, and adds liquid consumption you were not asking for. ## What British rules impose, and how that simplifies things A useful point that cuts several sales arguments short. On devices sold with nicotine in the United Kingdom, tank capacity is capped at 2 ml and nicotine-containing e-liquid at 20 mg/ml, in bottles no larger than 10 ml. Nothing on sale legally here can be bought by anyone under 18. Put plainly, no model sold legally will offer you a bigger reservoir than its neighbour. Comparing devices on that criterion is pointless, and attention is better spent on the battery. That constraint has an interesting side effect. It makes the gap between models far smaller than it looks, and it pushes the real difference towards ergonomics and the availability of spares. It is also why the liquid matters as much as it does, as I set out in my notebook on [reading an e-liquid label](/uk/best-e-liquid/). ## How to choose a vape by testing it before you commit A purchase is not validated on the day. I give myself an observation period with a few precise checkpoints, and I write the result down so I can compare one device against another later. The first week runs on a single liquid, one I already know, so the hardware stays the only variable. If the result disappoints me on a bottle that suited me before, the problem is the device or the setting, not the recipe. The second week runs on real constraints. That is where ergonomic faults surface: filling on the move, battery life across a long day, how it sits in a jacket pocket. A device that clears that stage without irritation has a good chance of staying. Then comes the first coil change, the decisive moment and the one most often skipped. A coil that is hard to extract, a fragile seal or a temperamental priming routine all announce a year of small weekly frustrations. It is also the moment to check spares availability concretely, by buying a pack rather than a single piece. ## My three buying mistakes, in order Worth naming them, since they are ordinary and easy to avoid. The first was buying the best-selling model without checking it matched my draw: a very open device, a tight draw wanted, immediate failure. The second was choosing on looks. A device that is pleasant to look at but slippery, and awkward to fill one-handed, becomes annoying inside a fortnight whatever it looks like on a shelf. The third, the costliest, was taking an end-of-life model at a knockdown rate. The coils vanished from the shelves a few months later and the device became a paperweight. All three share a cause. Each time I decided from the product rather than from my use, which is exactly the reverse of the approach above, and it is why I ended up writing six questions down instead of trusting my memory at the till. Since then I always sleep on a purchase, and that delay alone has eliminated every impulsive decision I used to make. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is it better to buy in a shop or online? A physical shop lets you hold the device and check the ergonomics, which settles most of the nasty surprises. Buying online stays sensible for consumables once the model is validated. ### Is a complete kit a good starting point? Yes, provided you check what is actually inside. Some kits include a single coil, which forces a repeat purchase almost immediately. ### Should you be wary of very new models? A model a few months old gives better visibility on reliability and on parts availability. The very newest releases often carry a premium for a marginal gain. ### Can you use any charger? Better to follow the manufacturer's guidance on charging current. A charger delivering too much can shorten the life of an integrated battery. ### What do you do with an old device? Electronics and batteries belong in dedicated collection schemes. Most specialist shops in Britain will take them back. ## Buying once instead of three times Working out how to choose a vape comes down, in the end, to describing yourself honestly before describing a product. Frequency, draw, patience for upkeep and consumables budget are enough to reduce any catalogue to two or three serious candidates. From there, my [format comparison by profile](/uk/best-vape/) narrows it further, and understanding [the two draws](/uk/how-to-inhale-a-vape/) settles the rest. Everything else is discovered in use, which is exactly why I keep a notebook on how to choose a vape rather than publishing a definitive ranking. Editorial content for adult readers only. Vaping products contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive substance. Not for sale to under-18s in the United Kingdom. This article is not a buying recommendation.