I am going to review the DSE-601 e-pipe which I purchased from Heaven Gifts.
First a bit of background which is important for the reader of this review to be aware of. I am a non-smoker. Saying I am a non-smoker doesn’t mean I have never had anything to smoke, so let me explain. I have never had cigarettes so the times I have smoked it has been either with a cigar or a pipe. I smoked a pipe for a pretty brief time back in the early 90’s, but not since. I have smoked cigars over the past decade, but in very limited quantities. I’d say in no given year have I had more than 6 cigars with most years averaging 2-3. I actually haven’t had any cigars in about 1.5 years. So by any objective measure I’d say this makes me pretty much a non-smoker. Based on this, why I am e-smoking? The fact is that at the time I enjoyed the pipe and I also enjoyed the cigars. However, they just weren’t very practical especially with kids. I am not going to go into the backyard to smoke a cigar for 30 minutes by myself. So it just isn’t convenient and therefore I don’t bother. With e-smoking though I saw a chance to enjoy these things again in a safe way that I can do around the house while on the computer, reading, etc.
So with that bit of background out of the way lets get back to the DSE-601. It is incredible that I received this pipe less than a week from ordering it given it ships out of China. When it entered the US (I am in California) it was transferred to the USPS and customs. Interestingly I ordered some juice from Johnson Creek at about the same time (they are in Wisconsin) and I received both packages on the same day! So this is no slow boat from China. The wrapping on the package was extraordinary. The box itself was in a very padded envelope and once inside that, the box was wrapped numerous times over with bubble wrap. Had I of ordered an original vase from the Ming Dynasty, it would not have come any more secure.
The packaging of the pipe is done very well and one might even call it classy. It comes in something that looks like a cigar box with padded inserts for the components. You get the pipe itself, an extra mouth piece, two batteries, charger in stock European format with a North American adaptor, and 3 TAB flavored cartridges in low, medium, and high nicotine strength. You also get an instruction booklet and an inspection certificate. Of note here is that you do NOT get a spare atomizer as you might expect from other products. The atomizer is part of the pipe bowl and therefore you need to buy the whole bowl again to replace the atomizer (at nearly the cost of the whole kit). Ordering through Heaven Gifts I know you have a 1 year warranty which you may or may not get from other sources (so check!)
The instruction manual tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the pipe and how it works including information on the batteries and cartridges. While it is obviously written by someone not 100% fluent in English, it is nonetheless very readable with issues being easily understood. Mostly it came down to some misspellings and weird word choices, but nothing that would have you confused. Having seen other reviews of this product, I was already pretty well aware of how it worked. This is, however, my first e-smoking device.
The pipe itself is very well made with a wonderful rosewood bowl, gold ring, and black plastic mouth piece. With the exception of the cap (under which the battery goes) no one would be able to tell whether this was for e-smoking or tobacco smoking. The pipe is very sturdy including the connection between the removable mouth piece and the pipe’s body. The mouth piece is so hard in fact I am not sure why an extra was required. It would take teeth the strength of Jaws from the old James Bond movies in order to put a dent in this thing! The gold colored cap unscrews from the body where you will find the compartment for the battery. I found unscrewing the cap to be very easy although I know some reviews have made complaints. It does not have a grippy surface, but it is still easy to twirl off with your fingers. Perhaps someone with hand/joint problems could find an issue, but otherwise this was not a problem. Inserting the battery was also easy, but I did find removing the battery to be a bit more of a pain (you must remove the battery to charge it). There is also a contact by the battery that if you short with a paperclip serves to run the atomizer in order to clean it of any excess build up. This isn’t something one should need to do often as the manual describes.
Once you insert the battery and cartridge, you are ready to go. The manual states that you should charge the batteries for 12 hours the first 3 times of us. I put a multimeter on each battery and found them to be full out of the box. Not sure why you need to charge it initially with that result and I did send this question to Heaven Gifts. As of this writing I have not seen a response. That said and I went ahead and charged one of the batteries. The led on the charger is red during charging and turns green when it is done. The new battery turned the light green inside the hour. I am continuing to let it charge the 12 hours though. I did decide, however, to go ahead and use the second battery for testing purposes. I don’t plan to use it heavily, but I wanted to use it enough to write a review. After using the pipe on and off for 30 minutes or so, I see that the battery voltage has not dropped (tested via my multimeter). There is a green light on the pipe (normally red while you are smoking) that will light when the battery drops below a certain level.
My first inhalation was a tentative one, but still produced copious amounts of vapor. My second inhalation went until cut off and again the vapor was plentiful. In fact you could call the fire department there was so much! Very very impressive. Now as I said above, I am not a smoker so there are attributes of the experience that for me will be different than the majority of people reading this who are likely smokers. One thing is that I don’t inhale into my lungs. In fact most analog pipe/cigar smokers bring the smoke into their mouth and release it as well and this is just what I did. So with the low nicotine TAB flavored cart I can tell you that the experience was very smooth. Given my style of smoking I am not sure something like a “throat hit” would exist or not, but I can tell you that I had no sensation within my mouth or throat while smoking this pipe with the TAB low nicotine. What I can comment on though is the flavor. I noticed a lot of reviews cannot seem to pick out the flavor which surprised me since I found it very obvious. Perhaps smokers have had their taste buds dulled over time or maybe it is just a personal experience. The taste though is very obviously maple. It is the predominate and only flavor but it is in fact mild. I find it very pleasing, but I could see how one could get sick of it after a while. I have not had the chance to try my JC sampler pack yet to see what other flavors may work with this pipe. I am looking forward to finding several and getting the no-nic versions.
So my overall impression is a very favorable one. It will take some time and use to gauge the quality of the battery and atomizer. From other reviews both seem to be excellent. As it stands now I can highly recommend this product based on build quality, general use, and vapor output.
First a bit of background which is important for the reader of this review to be aware of. I am a non-smoker. Saying I am a non-smoker doesn’t mean I have never had anything to smoke, so let me explain. I have never had cigarettes so the times I have smoked it has been either with a cigar or a pipe. I smoked a pipe for a pretty brief time back in the early 90’s, but not since. I have smoked cigars over the past decade, but in very limited quantities. I’d say in no given year have I had more than 6 cigars with most years averaging 2-3. I actually haven’t had any cigars in about 1.5 years. So by any objective measure I’d say this makes me pretty much a non-smoker. Based on this, why I am e-smoking? The fact is that at the time I enjoyed the pipe and I also enjoyed the cigars. However, they just weren’t very practical especially with kids. I am not going to go into the backyard to smoke a cigar for 30 minutes by myself. So it just isn’t convenient and therefore I don’t bother. With e-smoking though I saw a chance to enjoy these things again in a safe way that I can do around the house while on the computer, reading, etc.
So with that bit of background out of the way lets get back to the DSE-601. It is incredible that I received this pipe less than a week from ordering it given it ships out of China. When it entered the US (I am in California) it was transferred to the USPS and customs. Interestingly I ordered some juice from Johnson Creek at about the same time (they are in Wisconsin) and I received both packages on the same day! So this is no slow boat from China. The wrapping on the package was extraordinary. The box itself was in a very padded envelope and once inside that, the box was wrapped numerous times over with bubble wrap. Had I of ordered an original vase from the Ming Dynasty, it would not have come any more secure.
The packaging of the pipe is done very well and one might even call it classy. It comes in something that looks like a cigar box with padded inserts for the components. You get the pipe itself, an extra mouth piece, two batteries, charger in stock European format with a North American adaptor, and 3 TAB flavored cartridges in low, medium, and high nicotine strength. You also get an instruction booklet and an inspection certificate. Of note here is that you do NOT get a spare atomizer as you might expect from other products. The atomizer is part of the pipe bowl and therefore you need to buy the whole bowl again to replace the atomizer (at nearly the cost of the whole kit). Ordering through Heaven Gifts I know you have a 1 year warranty which you may or may not get from other sources (so check!)
The instruction manual tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the pipe and how it works including information on the batteries and cartridges. While it is obviously written by someone not 100% fluent in English, it is nonetheless very readable with issues being easily understood. Mostly it came down to some misspellings and weird word choices, but nothing that would have you confused. Having seen other reviews of this product, I was already pretty well aware of how it worked. This is, however, my first e-smoking device.
The pipe itself is very well made with a wonderful rosewood bowl, gold ring, and black plastic mouth piece. With the exception of the cap (under which the battery goes) no one would be able to tell whether this was for e-smoking or tobacco smoking. The pipe is very sturdy including the connection between the removable mouth piece and the pipe’s body. The mouth piece is so hard in fact I am not sure why an extra was required. It would take teeth the strength of Jaws from the old James Bond movies in order to put a dent in this thing! The gold colored cap unscrews from the body where you will find the compartment for the battery. I found unscrewing the cap to be very easy although I know some reviews have made complaints. It does not have a grippy surface, but it is still easy to twirl off with your fingers. Perhaps someone with hand/joint problems could find an issue, but otherwise this was not a problem. Inserting the battery was also easy, but I did find removing the battery to be a bit more of a pain (you must remove the battery to charge it). There is also a contact by the battery that if you short with a paperclip serves to run the atomizer in order to clean it of any excess build up. This isn’t something one should need to do often as the manual describes.
Once you insert the battery and cartridge, you are ready to go. The manual states that you should charge the batteries for 12 hours the first 3 times of us. I put a multimeter on each battery and found them to be full out of the box. Not sure why you need to charge it initially with that result and I did send this question to Heaven Gifts. As of this writing I have not seen a response. That said and I went ahead and charged one of the batteries. The led on the charger is red during charging and turns green when it is done. The new battery turned the light green inside the hour. I am continuing to let it charge the 12 hours though. I did decide, however, to go ahead and use the second battery for testing purposes. I don’t plan to use it heavily, but I wanted to use it enough to write a review. After using the pipe on and off for 30 minutes or so, I see that the battery voltage has not dropped (tested via my multimeter). There is a green light on the pipe (normally red while you are smoking) that will light when the battery drops below a certain level.
My first inhalation was a tentative one, but still produced copious amounts of vapor. My second inhalation went until cut off and again the vapor was plentiful. In fact you could call the fire department there was so much! Very very impressive. Now as I said above, I am not a smoker so there are attributes of the experience that for me will be different than the majority of people reading this who are likely smokers. One thing is that I don’t inhale into my lungs. In fact most analog pipe/cigar smokers bring the smoke into their mouth and release it as well and this is just what I did. So with the low nicotine TAB flavored cart I can tell you that the experience was very smooth. Given my style of smoking I am not sure something like a “throat hit” would exist or not, but I can tell you that I had no sensation within my mouth or throat while smoking this pipe with the TAB low nicotine. What I can comment on though is the flavor. I noticed a lot of reviews cannot seem to pick out the flavor which surprised me since I found it very obvious. Perhaps smokers have had their taste buds dulled over time or maybe it is just a personal experience. The taste though is very obviously maple. It is the predominate and only flavor but it is in fact mild. I find it very pleasing, but I could see how one could get sick of it after a while. I have not had the chance to try my JC sampler pack yet to see what other flavors may work with this pipe. I am looking forward to finding several and getting the no-nic versions.
So my overall impression is a very favorable one. It will take some time and use to gauge the quality of the battery and atomizer. From other reviews both seem to be excellent. As it stands now I can highly recommend this product based on build quality, general use, and vapor output.
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