GotVapes SmartCart 2.0 Review

[Zal42]

I love my eGo, but I hate the constant refilling of the carts. When I'm out and about, it's a real hassle. Yes, I know about cartomizers and have some coming, but don't have them quite yet.

I read a couple of positive reviews here about GotVape'ss SmartCarts and ordered a couple of boxes to give them a try. I hoped that the increased capacity would let me go longer between refills. and the little view window that lets me see the juice level was really cool!

I've been using them for a few days now, and find them disappointing. Once I drain the SmartCart I'm vaping from right now, I'll be going back to the standard cartridge, at least until my cartomizers arrive.

I tried them with the filler they came with first, but after so long of being spoiled by blue foam filler, the standard stuff just didn't do it for me. Poor wicking, and worst of all, I could taste it with every puff. GotVapes mentioned that you can use any of the filler mods, so I replaced it with blue foam. Much better! All of the things that the BFM fixes in normal carts, it fixes in SmartCarts as well.

The actual performance of the carts is quite good: good wicking, no leaking, nice taste and perfect wetting of the atty. Why don't I like them?

• They are a real pain to refill. GotVapes recommends using a syringe w/needle to do this, and that works well. However, the last thing I want to do is carry a needle, blunt or not, with me in my case. It's just too fiddly and looks sketchy if people see it. I found that I can refill them as easily by removing the foam and dripping into the cart directly (you can't do this without removing the foam). However, that makes a mess and there's no way I can avoid getting juice all over my fingers.
  
• Lack of capacity. I can fit 8-10 drops of juice into a standard cart w/blue foam. I can fit 10-15 drops into a SmartCart. It's more juice, yes, but not enough more to be worth the refilling hassles. I can vape off of a SmartCart about 30% longer than a standard one, which means I'm refilling them almost as much as the standard, but the refilling process is messier, requires paper napkins, and takes at least twice as long to accomplish.
  
• Fit issues. SmartCarts snap into a standard 510 atty, and are designed to be very snug. Unfortunately, they can vary a bit in size from cart to cart. Attys vary a bit in size as well. The end result is that some atty/SmartCart combos fit far too tightly. A number of combos I've tried required the use of pliers to get them to come apart once they've been snapped together. I had to spend a bit of time trying out different SmartCarts with different attys to find the ones that I could unsnap with my bare hands. Completely unacceptable.

So all in all, SmartCarts aren't my thing. They're a near miss, though. If they held more juice, had an easier way to refill them, and fit better, they'd be wonderful!

 

[pbusardo]

Try a Boge 510 carto. LR for your eGo, NR for a 5V device.

iVape.net - iVape Personal Vaporizers, Electronic Cigarettes, E-liquid, and Accessories - Entrance. has them at $7.95 for a pack of 5.

I really dig these. Cheap, good flavor, vapor, and throat hit (juice depending of course). They use up all the juice you put in and last me a lot longer than a cart before a top off.

If you stick a 510 drip tip of your choice on it, they are super easy to top off, just pull the drip tip and drip down the inner side of the carto. I get around 12-14 drops in on a refill, and use the condom method for the initial fill.

I've tried:

Clearomizers
Giantomizer
Tank
Smart Cart
Cart - original filling
Cart - tea bag mod
Cart - blue foam mod

These are my favorite by far. Now if they can only make one big enough to last me all day!

Good luck!

 

[Zal42]

Try a Boge 510 carto.

As it happens, mine arrived yesterday and I've been trying them. I have mixed feelings. They're certainly better than the SmartCarts, and much more convenient than standard carts, but a bit lacking in general performance. th, vapor, and flavor intensity are a bit worse with them than with my standard bfm'd carts.

They're not a lot worse. They'll work, and I suppose that I'll use them when I'm out and about since they are MUCH more convenient, but I do find myself missing the performance.

I guess it's all about tradeoffs, like everything else in life!

 

[Goldenkobold]

did you get the standard or the LR carto's Zal?

 

[Zal42]

Standard, as that's what I've been using (and happy with) before.

 

[Dirgon]

Your thoughts are spot on to mine, Zal.

The smart carts were great, but I've broken all 5 of my first pack pulling them off the atties with pliers. Of those 5, one is still usable. The vapor and flavor production were spot on with dripping, with no leaking or dry hits with the blue foam mod. 3 of the 5 have also had their bridges come off, and I've had to replace them with toothpicks cut to size to keep the filler from getting stuffed in.

But they're ridiculously difficult to get off the attie and an absolute pain to refill, plus they just don't hold nearly enough liquid.

If they could be refilled in the same manner as a carto (just dripping in from the top) they'd be great; I'd deal with the flimsy bridges and difficulty in removal then.

I got my 2ohm Boge cartos in today, been vaping on one for ~ 2 hours now. I was using a drip tip on them at first, but I cut down an old cart to the first taper because I wanted the whistle tip. They produce less vapor and less flavor than dripping/smart carts, the latter to be expected, but I expected more vapor due to them being LR. They also just barely fit over the eGo cone, which I'd expect to make them wear off the black coating sooner than wanted.

Also, the standard boges are 3.0 ohm, which is a bit higher than a standard 510 attie (I think? Aren't they around 2.2-2.4?)

Edit: I forgot to mention I'm getting a bit of an odd taste off my boge cartos. I can't really place it; it's not a dryhit, and I've never tasted it in this juice before, either dripping SR, LR, or in the eGo-Ts. /shrug

 

[pAth77]

Standard, as that's what I've been using (and happy with) before.

I've been curious about these smartcarts, and have held off because of the mixed reviews. Your review only confirms what I already thought.

Try the Boge 2.0Ω cartos. They're the best carto I've tried....perfect for the 3.2-3.4V of your eGo and awesome when used at 3.7V.

 

[Zal42]

Try the Boge 2.0Ω cartos. They're the best carto I've tried....perfect for the 3.2-3.4V of your eGo and awesome when used at 3.7V.

Since you've seconded the LR boge, I'll try those next. Do they significantly impact the time between battery charges?

 

[pbusardo]

As it happens, mine arrived yesterday and I've been trying them. I have mixed feelings. They're certainly better than the SmartCarts, and much more convenient than standard carts, but a bit lacking in general performance. th, vapor, and flavor intensity are a bit worse with them than with my standard bfm'd carts.

They're not a lot worse. They'll work, and I suppose that I'll use them when I'm out and about since they are MUCH more convenient, but I do find myself missing the performance.

I guess it's all about tradeoffs, like everything else in life!

Try LR when you get a chance. I only use the normal on my 5V passthrough.

Also, use the condom method for the initial fill. Go slower then you may see in some of the videos. You really want to soak the filler from the bottom up.

 

[pAth77]

Since you've seconded the LR boge, I'll try those next. Do they significantly impact the time between battery charges?

I'm using them mainly on my Precises now, but I think I was getting around 5 hours of moderate vaping on the Inferno and PigCig (both were 650mah)

 

[Dj Xy]

My favorite so far has been 2.0ohm boge cartos, i tried smartcarts, but they seem to be a bit fragile, I have cracks on the black parts of several that I cant explain ( my theory is some juices deteriorate the plastic quickly)