All the smok hate..

[tym64]

I dont get the hate for this product. Sure your gonna see complaints about them, because the are prob the most popular model out there. Take into account new vapers doing things that is a big NO NO. Or treating them like there bullet proof. Oh sure people may complain out it, but will never bother to mention that they screwed up and didn't take care of it, or tried to charge it usb, or dropped it outside on the concrete.

I have friends that use SMOK, and they have all been rock solid. Anything were to happen to mine AL85, I would buy another one in a heart beat. Its simple to use, and with the tank I have, I can slip it into a flip phone cell case, clip it to my pocket, and I never loose track of it.

I think its the old Ford vs Chevy. Yes your gonna have issues with either of you dont take care of it properly. You gotta use google and youtube. I dont care what Mod you use, NEVER charge your battery usb. Use a split charger, and swap out batteries as needed.

But to flatt out tell someone NOT to buy this or that, IMHO, its bad advice. Tell them to buy whatever seems to fit there needs, learn to take care of it. Its the same thing as telling people your a mouth to lung, you HAVE to buy the Nautulius 2. Yea, look how many leak issues that tank has. Local vape shop wont even sell them. You dont need a mouth to lung tank if you mouth to lung. A direct to lung tank can just as, if not even more effective.

Ok, rant over.

 

[Asbestos4004]

People tend to pass on their experiences with certain products around here. Sometimes it get a bit ' passionate' considering the subject matter....but nevertheless, it's generally first hand experience. I tend to agree with 90% of the complaints regarding Smok products based on what I've read and who posted it.

That being said, you've posted your first hand experience as well. It's every bit as valid. I'm glad your stuff is working out for you.

 

[Eskie]

I have two Smok mods, an Alien and an AL85. Both have been fine in regular use. That said, I've also read enough posts by folks here with a reliable track record and don't seem to abuse their stuff and have had multiple failures.

Yes, Smok in popular so the total number of absolute complaints will higher, but other popular mods such as the Pico which have sold in large numbers rarely get complaints of early failures or other assorted issues. I have two of those and happily recommend them. Smok not so much.

 

[dom qp]

I smoked cigarettes, my family smokes cigarettes. My mom, grandfather, grandmother, two aunts, and uncle on my maternal side all smoke cigarettes. It works for them. Only one member in my family has died of lung cancer, but when you have that many smoking it's bound to happen.

Just because it works for them doesn't mean it's the right decision. I can't suggest or recommend a Smok product without being dishonest with myself.

We often hear people say their Smok products work fine, and we also disproportionately hear that they don't. By buying a Smok product at the same price as something like a Smoant or Vaporesso you're taking unneeded risks. A similar priced product in the same type of model (i.e. 2x regulated 18650 mod) will deliver a functionally similar experience. The difference is you don't take on an extra 15%, 20%, 25%, or whatever % increased failure rate that comes along with Smok.

You're complaining about people who are doing the same exact thing as you: using personal experience to come up with a biased opinion.

Bottom line: Let's pretend Smok has a 5% failure rate over and above Smoant.

When recommending two similarly priced mods, with the same performance and experience; why would I recommend the Smok over the Smoant?

The only thing Smok has going for it is its aesthetic and marketing. These mass produced items are made to appeal to the clouds bro clouds group of people. The flashy LEDs, colours, and edgy designs. That's why they sell so well and continue to be carried. Not because they're bullet proof or functionally better.

I promote vaping as a smoking cessation option, not a fashion statement. I have no reason to recommend Smok over most other products.

If yours works for you that's cool. I just don't see the reason why a new user should pick up your dice and gamble their odds; even if it's only a marginal increase in risk.

Edit: I use Smoant in this example and I know they had a product run, lately, with a huge failure rate. Guess what they did. They put out a PSA, worked with retailers to warranty them, and rolled out a fix to the public. Smok doesn't even offer a manufacturer's warranty is the vast majority of countries.

 

[Asbestos4004]

I smoked cigarettes, my family smokes cigarettes. My mom, grandfather, grandmother, two aunts, and uncle on my maternal side all smoke cigarettes. It works for them. Only one member in my family has died of lung cancer, but when you have that many smoking it's bound to happen.

Just because it works for them doesn't mean it's the right decision. I can't suggest or recommend a Smok product without being dishonest with myself.

We often hear people say their Smok products work fine, and we also disproportionately hear that they don't. By buying a Smok product at the same price as something like a Smoant or Vaporesso you're taking unneeded risks. A similar priced product in the same type of model (i.e. 2x regulated 18650 mod) will deliver a functionally similar experience. The difference is you don't take on an extra 15%, 20%, 25%, or whatever % increased failure rate that comes along with Smok.

You're complaining about people who are doing the same exact thing as you: using personal experience to come up with a biased opinion.

Bottom line: Let's pretend Smok has a 5% failure rate over and above Smoant.

When recommending two similarly priced mods, with the same performance and experience; why would I recommend the Smok over the Smoant?

The only thing Smok has going for it is its aesthetic and marketing. These mass produced items are made to appeal to the clouds bro clouds group of people. The flashy LEDs, colours, and edgy designs. That's why they sell so well and continue to be carried. Not because they're bullet proof or functionally better.

I promote vaping as a smoking cessation option, not a fashion statement. I have no reason to recommend Smok over most other products.

If yours works for you that's cool. I just don't see the reason why a new user should pick up your dice and gamble their odds; even if it's only a marginal increase in risk.

Very well said.

 

[untar]

I wholeheartedly agree with dom qp. Of the 5 people I personally know that bought an alien, including me, 3 of them had to be exchanged after a few weeks because they wouldn't turn on any more and none of them worked shortly after 6 months, and not due to rough handling. In my mind smok are overpriced and as such often the worst device in a price segment.

They may work for a large amount of people but so did the galaxy note 8 (taking a sneaky jab at the X8 Stick here ).
Yes, smok are popular, but so is McDonalds.

 

[stols001]

I neither recommend or don't recommend Smok products, due to the fact that I don't own one and I think it might be unreasonable for me to do so under that circumstance. I will say when I joined there were a LOT of what seemed to be QC complaints, but it was right before the "deeming" date that was postponed and it seemed like Smok was releasing a lot of new products before then, in hopes of getting them all in after deeming.

I will also say that many manufacturers have had QC issues out of the gate with some of their stuff, look at the early Ares tank complaints, and recalls (which I actually thought was a great way of handling it, as they acknowledged the problem.) It does happen with some products, regardless of the manufacturer.

I don't usually recommend smok products to a brand new vaper, unless they have a very, very strong preference for sub0hm generally, and Smok in general, in which case persons shouldn't (IMO) be "warned" against the product, merely told that there is a certain amount of failure/new vaper problems that may crop up, but that is true (to a greater or lesser degree) for all vaping products.

I will say, I've never had an aspire tank that leaked. That's true of many other tanks as well. I try to recommend something simple for a new vaper that I hope they will have success with. That can be a bit harder to do (for me) with sub0hm as I really can't speak much to my own experience there, although I will mention tanks/mods that seem to be "stars" in that arena, like the Uwell Crown series of tanks.

I will also note that the number of "I can't get my Smok mod to work," posts have slowed down a fair amount and that much of their newer releases have been pretty incident free. I do have to consider deeming and the effect that it may have had on QC, but I don't see Smok's current products like the Smok mag or TF8prince with any kind of volume of complaints that were about during SmokAlien times. I'd like to think they were just going through a rough patch.

I think smok does what it does well. They're well-styled, pretty mods that can provide a good sub0hm vape at reasonable prices. They're flashy and they sell well. They're also Chinese products, and I will say that there is variation of quality among these products, probably also reflected in the price. If I got a smok product I wouldn't expect it to perform as well as say, a provari product, but the design and client base is vastly different, as is the price.

Anna

 

[dom qp]

I wouldn't expect it to perform as well as say, a provari product

For people filing into this thread as the result of a google search or just browsing.

There exists modern Provari equivalents.

HexOhm V3 has a lifetime warranty, it's American made.

Raffmods Ranger has a lifetime warranty, it's American made.

Squid Industries Double Barrel was founded and is owned by an American vet. As far as I can tell, they're still American made.

If you want to be able to have confidence in your mod you're able to get it. Expect to pay $30-150 more for that, but considering the warranty and reliability; it's well worth it in my opinion.

 

[Letitia]

Glad your gear is working for you. Until Smok spends real money on qc, I will not recommended their products.

 

[stols001]

I don't disagree and as I said, won't be buying any Smok products. I also agree that (sometimes, not always) well, you will get the quality you pay for. I've purchased all sorts of MTL stuff, at varying degrees of price, and including some inexpensive Chinese manufacturers.

I don't think it's as simple as higher price = better quality, though. Like I said, I am fond of Aspire and have never had a failure with any of their products. I also like some higher end stuff, and I try to buy things that have good reviews and a good reputation.

With that said, were I a sub0hm vaper, I might try a Smok product if it fit what I was looking for at the time. Since they don't do TC that well, however, I'd probably not be looking for a large box mod with which to blow my puny temps and wattage tanks on, simply because if I have a box mod, I'd like it to do decent TC even if non-DNA. With that said, also, many persons are not looking for temperature control either.

I just won a smok stick so when it arrives, I may have more to say about it. I find my input not that helpful anyway, since I'm not really a sub0hm vaper.

I'm just pointing out it's a continuum of grey when it comes to buying mods, not a black and white thing. One of my favorite RTAs is a clone, cost less than a pack of cigarettes, and works well. My most expensive tank was over $100 and yes, I love that one too.

I like to do my research, and buy from a continuum of places and price ranges. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised... Or not. My point is, I don't expect every vape product I own to be custom made, extraordinarily expensive and etc., to have a good time vaping. I had a good time vaping my Zelos kit, and still would probably be vaping it if I hadn't given it to my husband. I plain thought it was good gear, although cheap, internal battery, and not necessarily built to last me a lifetime. If that was all I bought, I would be limiting my choices and enjoyment of vaping quite a bit.

Anna

 

[Asbestos4004]

Side note: I, for one, hope this thread get legs and takes off. The worst thing about provape going out of business (other than no more ProVari') is no more awesome Battle Royale threads. Man, I really miss those. Suspensions, bannings, blood , snot and tears.... those threads had it all.

 

[Vapemesilly]

I don't own any Smok products but I've hit off a couple of them and thought they were really nice, satisfying vapes.

They have definitely saturated the market. Not sure that's a good thing or a bad thing. There is so much vape gear on the market from so many brands that it is really hard to recommend anything. I mean...out of the thousands of setups out there how many do I actually have experience with?

 

[CMD-Ky]

Side note: I, for one, hope this thread get legs and takes off. The worst thing about provape going out of business (other than no more ProVari') is no more awesome Battle Royale threads. Man, I really miss those. Suspensions, bannings, blood , snot and tears.... those threads had it all.

Yes, I liked the folks who, almost regardless of the question, responded with "Get a Provari" or "Get a REO and forget it".
[I got both, use neither.]

 

[Asbestos4004]

Yes, I liked the folks who, almost regardless of the question, responded with "Get a Provari" or "Get a REO and forget it".
[I got both, use neither.]

Well, I used both....but I'd be lying if I said some folks didn't make me ashamed to admit it.

 

[JCinFLA]

I dont care what Mod you use, NEVER charge your battery usb. Use a split charger, and swap out batteries as needed.

While I understand and agree with some of your statements, the above just isn't possible with every mod.

 

[dom qp]

Side note: I, for one, hope this thread get legs and takes off. The worst thing about provape going out of business (other than no more ProVari') is no more awesome Battle Royale threads. Man, I really miss those. Suspensions, bannings, blood , snot and tears.... those threads had it all.

While I understand and agree with some of your statements, the above just isn't possible with every mod.

You mean like the Smok one that blew up and was posted Friday?

SMOK Stick 8 Blows Up While Charging (Video)

 

[Asbestos4004]

You mean like the Smok one that blew up and was posted Friday?

SMOK Stick 8 Blows Up While Charging (Video)

I saw it.... Baditude expertly introduced the information but on the whole, the thread lacks passion and threats. 3 out of 5 stars. I think we can do better!

 

[Topwater Elvis]

IMO, it isn't hate, over the last at least 6 years smok earned the reputation they have with a lengthy history of poor QC & pushing devices out the door with known issues.

If you have smok products that work fine for you why worry about what other people think.

 

[CMD-Ky]

IMO, it isn't hate, over the last at least 6 years smok earned the reputation they have with a lengthy history of poor QC & pushing devices out the door with known issues.

If you have smok products that work fine for you why worry about what other people think.

Ohh, do I agree with that second sentence, almost anything could be inserted for "smok", thumbs up to you TE.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I've only owned one Smok mod--an Al85. I bought it last spring just as I was returning to vaping after a hiatus/relapse to tobacco combustion.

That thing was nothing but trouble. It started with issues recognizing atomizers and/or throwing atomizer short messages and eventually quit doing anything. Thankfully, the dealer took it back.

I bought a Pico 75 based on the recommendations of ECF members @Skold, @sofarsogood and a handful of others I can't recall at the moment. I think that instigator/enabler @Eskie may have been involved. Anyway... I never looked back.

@gofishtx related her experience with Smok devices last fall. She disassembled at least one of her dead Smoks and went on convincingly about the shoddy materials and workmanship she found.

There is rarely a day when there isn't an active or new thread about a problem with a Smok device here or in the new members forum. Most of those have nothing to do with newbie error. Conversely, you rarely see an active or new thread on Eleaf, Voopoo, Tesla, JAC, Aspire or Geekvape devices. Smoant had and quickly addressed a logic problem with one run of one of their chips. Vaporesso has one cosmetic issue with the display in one of their devices.

When you see long term members of ECF sharing their personal experience and suggesting that you avoid certain products, it's usually a good idea to pay attention. It's not hate. There is no nefarious conspiracy to trash any company.