Chinese knock offs?

[ray1264]

What a great forum! Well, I'm to to the world of vaping and I'm getting ready to place my first order for a ego-c. I've noticed there are some out there for $54.99 as opposed to $79.99 but from what I can see (along with feedback from the companies) they are knock offs and don't have the Joye logo on them. In the Steals and Deals there's a company offering it today for $54.99 and in the pictures on his website the ego-c has no logos (so I'm assuming fake?). Is there a way to tell the fakes from the originals?

 

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

What a great forum! Well, I'm to to the world of vaping and I'm getting ready to place my first order for a ego-c. I've noticed there are some out there for $54.99 as opposed to $79.99 but from what I can see (along with feedback from the companies) they are knock offs and don't have the Joye logo on them. In the Steals and Deals there's a company offering it today for $54.99 and in the pictures on his website the ego-c has no logos (so I'm assuming fake?). Is there a way to tell the fakes from the originals?

(As I see it, not necessarily the way it is!)

eGo is not a brand name, it is a generic category of battery.

Joye makes higher quality merchandise, however, I believe their batteries are regulated to 3.4 (approx) volts to extend battery life and the 'knock-offs' charge to 4.2 volts and give approx 3.7 volts during use.

A kit is not required if all you want to do is get vaping. Unless you specifically want the 'C' or 'T', don't bother getting them. All you need is the battery and cartomizers or clearomizers (and juice, of course).

My solution was to get 2 of the 1100mah eGo type pass-through batteries. They do not require a special charger. They use the USB cable, included, (like the old BlackBerry cable, mine is a neat little retractable) and I can still vape while they are charging. The USB can be used from a computer (USB2), wall adapter or car adapter (which I had). 1100mah lasts me all day. YMMV.

I got some Low Resistance (LR) Star Dusts to try and some ce2 Clearomizers (so I would know what everyone was swearing about when filling them,lol).

The pass-throughs were about $20 each and the Star Dusts about $5 each. I bought what I wanted rather than what they wanted to sell me. Of course, if you found a kit that has what you want, Enjoy!

Edit : Forgot to add, Greetings from Canada! and Welcome to ECF.
BTW : I believe Joye will brand any company name on an order of 5000 or more eGo type units.

 

[ray1264]

Appreciate the reply!

 

[JungleAgent007]

Have used both Joy-E and generic eGo products. Never noticed a difference. IMO save your money, buy the knock off then use the saved money to buy a couple of 306 LR atties and matching drip tips. These work great on ego batteries. eGos do not switch flavors well so use the 306 when testing new flavors.

 

[Foxfur]

Some companies are authorized by Joye to manufacture and market the eGo line, Ovale for instance. These authorized manufacturers prices are usually similar to the OEM. In the case of Joye, ~$80 is about right. I've seen the cheaper ones but have no idea of the quality. I saw a C-type kit at good prophets for the price you mentioned. I almost ordered it to evaluate it. I just might have to do that...

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Welcome on board!

About all that is made in the US and EU are high end mods and atty's.

Everything else is made in China.

 

[tj99959]

Most really aren't knock offs, they are just rebranded, or produced under license. There are two major manufacturers of this style of battery JoyeTech and SmokTech. Both are well established companies.
Also most of the variance you see in pricing is controlled by how many units a supplier orders.
There are however a few really cheap knock offs out there, so I do like to see vendors list who makes them.
If you are looking for an ego class tank system, you will find this deal hard to beat (made by SmokTech)
Ego Dual Coil Cartomizer 3.5 mL Tank Kit
Get some single coil cartos to go with it tho'

 

[theWayISshut]

Knock offs don't necessarily mean it's way cheaper. Funny part is the kit I bought way cost me more, as I came to find out. Look at this. It's even on sale:

EGO TANK E-Cigarette Starter Kit - E-Cigarettes Canada

If this was something like a tablet pc or cordless drill I'd make a big deal out of it. Man these are just flashlights. Any manufacturing company can come up with a flashlight.

 

[FishingBuffalo]

I have had contact issues with non labeled ego style batteries. I now prefer to at least see the Joytech stamp on the bottom. I have noticed more labeling on devices, which I think is good. It can let folks make a conscious choice in what they buy.

 

[bruiser]

I have also had contact problems with non Joye batteries. A shorty 510 extension solves that problem.

 

[sailorman]

I have had contact issues with non labeled ego style batteries. I now prefer to at least see the Joytech stamp on the bottom. I have noticed more labeling on devices, which I think is good. It can let folks make a conscious choice in what they buy.

I have also had contact problems with non Joye batteries. A shorty 510 extension solves that problem.

That's nothing to do with the battery mfg. Take a bent paperclip or a toothpick and lift around the edges of that little round post right in the middle of your connector. That's the positive pole of your battery and it gets' pushed down sometimes. You just have to pull it back up a tiny bit. It's not a fixed in place piece. It floats in an O-ring.

I have to do it occasionally with all of my PVs, including the US built mods. If you use a carto with a center post that's a bit too long, it'll push it down. Just pull it back up again and problem solved.

BTW, if you pull the battery out of a Riva, it's stamped "Joyetech" and the electronic board is identical to a Joyetech eGo, right down to the component numbers. Most of the "clones" are every bit as good as Joytetech. Notice I said MOST. Smoketech is definitely as good, as are the units sold under the names of reputable vendors.

 

[goober]

What ^^^ they all said up there^^^^^^^

but to put in my 2 cents

Most of these ecigs come from the same 10 or so factories in China. The reason why you pay more for one with a logo is the same reason why you pay more for an Armani undershirt over a HAnes. Same stuff, different branding.

 

[Retriever]

Sure wish we had more American made PV's. That being said , I guess it's six of one/half dozen of the other.

 

[sailorman]

Sure wish we had more American made PV's. That being said , I guess it's six of one/half dozen of the other.

Actually, we do, once you get into the "mods" category. The Silver Bullet, Precise, Reo and a whole lot more are all US made. Now the Chinese are starting to make knock-off's of them too but, unlike the Chinese knockoffs of Chinese PVs, the difference in quality is obvious. Look at a Silver Bullet next to a Bolt and it's not even close. I guess they're getting tired of knocking off each other.

 

[Seraphina]

Dont get the knock off. The light will not change colors to let you lnow its running low like the real deal!

 

[hairball]

Unfortunately, China doesn't have copyright laws or anything along those lines. If a company makes a certain product that does well in the market, there is nothing stopping another manufacturer for reproducing it. I've used knock-off's and never had any problems with them. It's up to you whether or not you want to spend the extra money for a name.

 

[bruiser]

Sailorman, I understand about pulling down center pins and pulling the battery contact up. I did it so much, especially with the Smok batt, that I decided to use the extender. It's faster and it always works.

 

[zonezilla]

i suggest you be very careful buying cheap Chinese ecigs because even tho a lot of popular vendors ecigs are made in china their tested to make sure their going to work fine but most of the cheap Chinese things are well cheap so battery life could be worse and other things could happen like the battery overcharging or overheating

 

[sailorman]

Fact is, most all of them come out of the same handful of factories in China. Vendors here have no way to test the ecig on their shelf in any meaningful way. They rely on the supplier to have a reasonable defect rate, and some of them have a relationship with the manufacturer or wholesaler. But it's the same cheap Chinese stuff you could get yourself if you knew where to go. It's risky to buy on Ali-baba or direct from some random Chinese middleman unless you know for sure where your stuff is coming from. But major Chinese vendors, like Healthcabin for example, get their stuff from the exact same places the U.S. vendors do. The biggest advantage from buying from a US vendor is delivery time and warranty coverage. You could spend 3 months trying to get a replacement unit from a Chinese vendor, and if you try to go straight to a distributor or wholesaler, you might be on your own.