The King of the E-Cigs?
FHM tests four e-cigarettes – SmokeFree, Sagas, SteamLite and winner LiteJoy – and asks NJOY’s Bo Ekberg and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Neal Patel whether they are deadly.
Is the revised price hike in cigarettes, thanks to the new presented budget giving you a hard time? Time to switch over to a healthier and (arguably) affordable option: e-cigarettes
01 SmokeFree
Price: ₹500 for a disposable e-cig
The basics
This one stands out as it is the only disposable e-cig, ensuring better hygiene for the users. Also, one e-cig provides around 400 puffs.
The tobacconist
This one takes strong cues from Marlboro and Dunhill, replicating their raw smokey feel.
FHM’s verdict
You’ll feel a bit of a prat sucking through what is basically a massive plastic straw. Plus the vapour feels really dry and raspy on the back of the throat.
02 Sagas E-Cig
Price: ₹251 per kit (225 puffs)
The basics
It resonates of a Marlboro Red and probably that’s why we aren’t too fond of it The starter kit looks like a cheap makeshift kit from China.
The tobacconist
Looks and feels like real cigarette in hand. But frequent charging and changing of cartridge/ cartomizer is a minus for heavy smokers.
FHM’s verdict
It feels much more like a real cigarette, but we don’t like the artificial vanilla flavour at all.
03 SteamLite
Price: ₹1775 per e-cig starter kit (180-200 puffs)
The basics
This company supplies a self charging kit and a cartomizer (cartridge and atomizer).
The tobacconist
Single charge delivers the best usage time amongst its peers, hence our thumbs up to this one.
FHM’s verdict
They’ve tried to capture the classic Dunhill aesthetic, but it doesn’t taste or feel enough like a cigarette to make this a good alternative.
04 LiteJoy (Winner!)
Price: ₹499 per disposable e-cig (500 puffs)
The basics
Sold as an e-shisha pen, this one is the swankiest of them all. This disposable unit requires no assembly, is supplied ready charged and is ready to use.
The tobacconist
Another one with a slight aniseed flavour. This is by far the nicest of the lot.
FHM’s verdict
The attention to detail makes it look and feel like the real deal – important psychologically for smokers like us – and it draws really well.
How it works
- Atomiser: The heating element vapourises the liquid solution, which is then inhaled by the user
- Battery: Provides power to the heating element and the light-up tip
- E-liquid: ‘Smoke juice’ is a solution of propylene glycol (used in smoke machines), liquid nicotine and flavourings
- LED: Lights up when e-cig is puffed on, simulating a cigarette
The truth: are they deadly?
Bo Ekberg, senior vice president international at e-cig company NJOY, tells us his view…
How do e-cigs work?
Each e-cigarette can be broken down into five parts: faux filter, e-liquid, atomising device, battery, and light-up tip. Every time you take a puff, an electric current shoots to a wick, which heats up the e-liquid and turns it into vapor.
How are they better for you than tobacco?
We don’t make any health claims about our products. E-cigarettes involve zero combustion, resulting in no tobacco smoke, no carbon monoxide, and no detectable levels of multiple harmful and potentially harmful constituents found in tobacco smoke.
Are e-cigs a way to stop smoking, or a new form of smoking?
We don’t make any claims that e-cigarettes help you stop smoking. NJOY’s mission is to make tobacco cigarettes obsolete. We believe that e-cigarettes have the potential to help people cut down or quit smoking. Research, including our own, continues in this area.
Neal Patel, spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, shares his view…
What’s the big deal?
These products aren’t licensed. A licence guarantees safety and proves quality. With a specific product, we can do analysis and work out what’s in there, but as a sector, we just don’t know what’s inside them.
It’s got to be better than smoking, right?
Smoking is definitely much worse than using a nicotine replacement device, but the question is whether these products actually encourage people to continue smoking because they’re able to use the devices in places where they can’t smoke at the moment.
What do you want to do about e-cigarettes?
We’d like to see massive regulation of advertising. We know that celebrity endorsement and sponsoring football teams works, and the main concern is that young people will start using e-cigarettes as a first step on the ladder and then progress to cigarettes.
From the August 2014 issue of FHM India.
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