I prefer clones, primarily for economic reasons. Yes, authentic generally brings higher quality, but not in a proportinate ratio. A $20 clone of a $160 original is never going to be 8 times better quality. This only becomes more true as time goes on. Originals are the same high quality they aleways have been, but clones are getting exponetially better. Every week, new and better clones come out. For the money, I would rather have 5 clones than one authentic. Variety is the spice of life, brother.
I would love to do a blind test at
vape shops around the country of clones vs originals. I wouls be willing to bet that performance-wise, few if any people would be able to tell the difference. And as far as longevity of the item goes, even if a clone isn't going to survive as long as an authentic, for the price, it's still a better value for the dollar to replace it periodically. I recently bought an 18650/18500/18350 brass and aluminum Sentinel clone for $11.42 delivered. The threads were a little crunchy at first, but they cleaned right up. I think the top cap threading won't last six months, but I can get a replacement for under $5. Visually, is indiscerable from the original.
Another thing, most of the clones are being produced practically next door to, if not in the same factory as the original. I would be willing to bet that some clones on the market are simply originals that didn't meet the quality control standard to be sold as an original, and are just put aside and sold wholesale, often in plain packaging, to be resold on the market as clones.
