About Blu

[Sethari]

When the ban on clove cigarettes went into effect I started looking for alternatives. I had never heard of electronic cigarettes until a random banner ad led me to Blu. Thanks to the guarantee and the free shipping, I decided to give them a try. I ordered my Blu on May 10th and it arrived on May 16th. I smoked a Djarum while my unit charged for the first time and I haven’t touched a traditional cigarette since. I discovered this forum two days ago, and I have to say that I’m glad it happened in that order. The negativity towards the Blu might have turned me off to a product that I am very much enjoying. My experience with Blue has been great, including my interactions with their help desk personal. While I will doubtless experiment with other makes and models, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Blu to novice vapers like myself.

For what it’s worth, here are some of my observations:
The advice about removing the foil from the atomizer after loading a new cartridge is spot on. Now and then, the atomizer cleanly pierces the foil, but it’s the exception and not the rule.

When experimenting with the various flavors, try the Menthol last! The flavor is very potent and it lingered through most of the next cartridge. I’m not a real fan of their menthol flavor. It kind of made everything taste like toothpaste. The Vanilla is excellent, especially if you are a fan of Djarum golds.

The instruction manual that comes with the product is chock full of inaccuracies. For example, the USB charger flashes when the battery is fully charged. The booklet says it should turn solid blue. The website also boasts that the battery will last long enough to completely smoke two cartridges. That feels a little misleading. I get about an hour and a half of life out of them.

Thanks to all of the awesome advice I’ve found here, I’m going to try refilling a spent cartridge with Clove flavored juice. I even found a local juice retailer (also thanks to this site). I’m not sure I’m ready for experimenting with Lipton yet, but I’ll probably get there eventually just because I like to tinker with things. Naturally, this leads me to a question. Is there a reliable way to reseal (or cap) refilled cartridges? The Blu Case is awesome and I would rather carry several prefilled carts than refill on the go.

 

[Jonmo1]

Hello Seth, and welcome to ECF and the SS Vaper.

I couldn't agree more. That pretty much wraps up my experience as well.
But a TV commercial tipped me off about Ecigs (a different brand), but after a little digging on the internet, I chose Blu. The BluPack is what tipped the scales.

I saw the complaints of shipping time, but also saw some reviews that it had been resolved. And it had been. Ordered mine on a Thursday, got it Monday.

It works just fine, and has kept me off cigarettes for about 24 days now.


My only negative thoughs are Battery Life and Cartridge Life.
But that's to be expected with something so small.
I like the compactness and similarity with a real cigarette.
And the BluPack makes up for the short battery life.


Now, I've been through 3 different mods for Cartridge Filler material.
Blue Foam, Fluval, and PTB (pyramid tea bags).
To me, the PTB is the best. Been using it for about 2 1/2 weeks, works great.

One other tip I have, is Volcano is completely interchangeable with Blu.
And the Volcano Atomizer works a bit better than Blu's. Give it a try.

 

[Doomfinger]

my only problem with the blu/volcano is the battery life. ive had to exchange a couple of batteries from volcano that just pooped out completely. the atomizers too.... they dont stay vaping strong for long but hey theyre only 5 bucks from volcano so thats not too bad. ive been refilling my carts with pineapple flavored juice from rocky mountain vapor and i love it. im using the blue foam method right now and injecting juice into the cart with a syringe. as far as storage of filled carts, my smoke 51 kit came with little plugs that i cut down to cover the open cart. i really dont use them anymore though. i just fill as i need them.

 

[Xanax]

Hey. I would like to say a few things about blu. Blu was one of my first e cigs, second actually. While it is not as good as my screwdriver mkii or my 510, the blu was definitely a good first e cig and a definite step up from the first e cig I had which was the NJOY NPRO. Blu is a very good introduction to the e-cig world as far as the flavors and price and the PCC go. As far as reliability goes though- you may get lucky you may not get lucky. I'm not going to post a bunch of negative stuff here but I will leave it at this: it's always good to have another backup I'm glad you are enjoying it! And their customer service is not as bad as everyone says, you are right. Cheers

 

[esibby]

To each his own, I tried the blu first as well and liked it at first. The short battery life and small carts were the turn off for me. But if it works for you then all the more awesome, I also noticed the chargers acting weird and so on. I think most of the bad press comes from the claims they make that are in no way true. A) each cart is the same as 7-10 cigs and B) each battery lasts long enough for two carts. I found in my personal usage that neither of these are even remotely true. But again, if it works for you than all the more awesome!

 

[Sethari]

That pretty much wraps up my experience as well.
But a TV commercial tipped me off about Ecigs (a different brand), but after a little digging on the internet, I chose Blu. The BluPack is what tipped the scales.

Same here! The banner ad was for some obscure brand. It made me curious enough to see what Wikipedia had to say about e-cigs. From there I shopped around for a couple of hours and, to my novice perspective, Blu seemed like the obvious choice. The pack offers a mobility that the competing models just don’t have. Having a variety of flavors in the starter kit didn’t hurt either.

Now, I've been through 3 different mods for Cartridge Filler material.Blue Foam, Fluval, and PTB (pyramid tea bags).
To me, the PTB is the best. Been using it for about 2 1/2 weeks, works great.

I’ve seen the blue foam mentioned frequently but I’m not quite sure what it is.

 

[mundaemon]

I used to smoke djarum blacks, and pretty much the same thing happened to me. A friend gave me her blu pack, and I haven't gone back.

 

[Sethari]

I think most of the bad press comes from the claims they make that are in no way true. A) each cart is the same as 7-10 cigs and B) each battery lasts long enough for two carts.

Blu’s marketing claims are quite dubious. For example, the battery can technically outlast two carts if you take absurdly inhuman drags. Likewise, a cart can also give you a number of pulls equivalent to 10-15 analogs, if you take tiny, mouse-like puffs. Both of these cases rely on circumstances outside of the realistic operating parameters of the device, but the claims are legally accurate. I was disappointed when reality cured me of Blu’s myths, but had I known the accurate numbers, I still would have purchased it.

I have been shopping around for another model to try, but I’m being a real prima donna about it. I want something with the same ease of use and overall look (ie: looks like a cigarette and not a machine/ink pen/sci-fi prop).

 

[Sethari]

I used to smoke djarum blacks, and pretty much the same thing happened to me. A friend gave me her blu pack, and I haven't gone back.

I was a Sampoerna devotee until Phillip Morris bought the company and ended their US sales. Djarams were my first cloves and I went back to them out of desperation. So much for that. I tried the cigars they released to circumvent the ban on clove cigarettes but they just weren't very good.

Have you tried refilling your cartridges? I am thinking about buying some of the juice from truesmoker.com. They have “Clove” and Djarum Tobacco” flavors. At $9.99 per bottle, the cost of experimentation isn’t so much... But I'd still appreciate any feedback from people who've tried them already.

 

[ChuckDragon]

Hi Sethari,
Welcome to the group. The Blu was my first e-cig back in October of last year. It was a wonderful first product for me. I still have it hanging around but I don't use it anymore. The batteries didn't last as long as they claim, the cartridges emptied pretty quick and they are expensive at $1.00 each. I spent many hours reading this forum and I learned a lot. In November I ordered a 510 Chuck from thagbuilt.com and I never looked back. Depending on which model you choose, the battery life is about 9 hours with the little chuck and 2 days with the bigger model.
I stopped using cartridges and only drip. I also mix my own e-juice which saves me money. When I was smoking analogs, I wanted and alternative that was less expensive and gave me the same sensation as smoking. The Chuck gave me this alternative and by mixing my own e-juice I spend less than I did smoking cigarettes.

There are many product on the market and you need to do your due diligence and read as much as you can stand.
Good Luck and congratulations.

p.s. check out the winners of last years vapy awards, that might give you a good place to start. I recommend DIY Flavorshack for my e-juice & supplies.

 

[leannebug]

I went the backwards route than most people.
808>510>801>blu I'm loving the ease of the blu, and the durability of the attys! Battery life sucksthebigone, but I'm looking around for a good mod. I've heard that these attys will work w/6volts!
Also noteworthy: a 510 battery works with the blu/volcano/306.

(they sell cart caps at volcano!)

Vape on!

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

306 atty is a beast on the blu.

 

[Calicomarie]

If you are still looking for caps volcanoecigs.com sells cart caps on their Volcano accessories page. Their blank carts also come with the caps. These will fit on the Blu carts as well.

 

[Sethari]

306 atty is a beast on the blu.

Where can I find 306 attys?

 

[BoneIdle]

Blu was my first, I still have my kit, and occasionally, I still use it. It's not something I'd recommend for a heavy smoker trying vaping for the first time: battery life is, predictably, short, and I'm of the opinion ( based on my experience and the anecdotal evidence of others) that the atomizer is inconsistent and thus doesn't produce cloud walls of vapor with every drag.

Still, Blu is convenient with its PCC and pre-filled cartridges and I think it's stylish, so it's probably a better fit at cocktail parties ( do they still have cocktail parties?) than high capacity devices such as the Binky Megalodon ( with the two week capacity external battery backpack, of course).

I have not tried the Johnson Creek - Blu collaboration cartridges yet, but of the original Blu cartridges, I found that Cherry Crush, Classic Tobacco, and the Magnificent Menthol flavors were quite tasty, the Vivid Vanilla was, well vanilla, and the Java Jolt was vague.

I did refill my cartridges with liquid from Johnson Creek . This worked well, although it required cleaning of the atomizers.

I use a 510 now and the Blu generally stays on the shelf, but occasionally, I'll still use it. The batteries will work with a 510 atomizer, which is great for a battery crisis.

All in all, I think Blu is "okay" for an occasional user. It certainly doesn't deserve the "Blu sucks - but that's just my visceral reaction to it because I've never seen one much less used one but the black tube reminds me of the pen my first grade teacher used to give me an Unsatisfactory in art and ... OMG!!! Spiders! Get them off!" posts I've seen.

If people want to argue that a product "sucks", it's a lot more convincing to present some sort of evidence than it is to snarl and howl about the thing.

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

Where can I find 306 attys?

i got mine from litecigusa, you have to type 306 in the search field.

I have seen them elsewhere, but I don't remember where.

 

[Sethari]

So much for that.

In the days following my initial post, the entire unit essentially failed. Battery life was reduced to roughly fifteen to twenty minutes regardless of the charging method. Vapor production declined as well. One of the atomizers gets hot but produces virtually no vapor. The other atomizer’s performance was inconsistent at best, never providing more than a drag or two. I tried all of the usual tips; removing cart foil, allowing time between uses, “primer” draws, holding it at a downwards angle… nothing helped and I am left frustrated. It worked so well for the first week that I ordered 4 cartons before I was halfway through the samplers that come with the kit. Thankfully, my wife smoked 100s and wanted something a little larger than Blu. Her Sidesho should be here any day and, if it performs well, I’ll probably use the refund from Blu to buy another one (or a Magma from Volcano).

TLDR version: Another fan of Blu has been cured.

 

[UntamedRose]

So much for that.

In the days following my initial post, the entire unit essentially failed. Battery life was reduced to roughly fifteen to twenty minutes regardless of the charging method. Vapor production declined as well. One of the atomizers gets hot but produces virtually no vapor. The other atomizer’s performance was inconsistent at best, never providing more than a drag or two. I tried all of the usual tips; removing cart foil, allowing time between uses, “primer” draws, holding it at a downwards angle… nothing helped and I am left frustrated. It worked so well for the first week that I ordered 4 cartons before I was halfway through the samplers that come with the kit. Thankfully, my wife smoked 100s and wanted something a little larger than Blu. Her Sidesho should be here any day and, if it performs well, I’ll probably use the refund from Blu to buy another one (or a Magma from Volcano).

TLDR version: Another fan of Blu has been cured.

ROTF......I'm sorry darlin, that sucks but is kinda funny was reading through the thread and was about to post something about giving it a little while as both my blu batteries went ;ppp before my 30 day trail was up.
look at getting yourself an eGo if you want decent battery life.

Pretty sure the Sidesho is and I know the Volcano is...all the exact same thing different packaging/brand.

 

[Sethari]

look at getting yourself an eGo if you want decent battery life. Pretty sure the Sidesho is and I know the Volcano is...all the exact same thing different packaging/brand.

The standard Volcano is identical to Blu. The Magma is a larger 510 model that I've only heard good things about. The Sidesho has a larger battery and some of the parts are compatible, so we'll see. I've heard a lot of good reviews about the Ego, but I really want something that has a PCC and closely resembles analog.

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

Why not just go with one of the most popular e-cigs the 510?

And if you need a pretty rebranded 510 then maybe you need the revolver gemini.