This comes down to a form factor and usage issue. If you use it nonstop, you are going to either need a massive battery, or you will need to change/charge the battery more often. If you don't want to use a larger mod that can hold multiple batteries in it, you are going to be limiting the capacity, thereby limiting the amount of time you can use it. If I chain vape my Sig 150 at the pond at 30w, I can go through about 2 sets of batteries over the course of the entire day. The only things that can be done about it are find a way to pet better storage capacity out of batteries, tone down the power or usage, or make a bigger mod that can hold more batteries in it. I would love to never have to swap out batteries, but the current tech just isn't there for the form factor based on my usage. I am sure they could make a rather gigantic mod with a built in lipo battery that could last even the heaviest vapers all day, but it would be large and unweildy.
A lot of the newer tanks are VERY easy to fill up. My subtank mini is almost a joke. I mean, you turn it upside down, unscrew the base from the tank, and then fill it up as much as you want, so long as you aren't filling it past the metal chimney in the center, and then you screw the base back on. About the only thing I have seen that is easier than that is a squonker that you just squeeze the bottle to put more juice in the well, or a uwell crown tank that lets you fill from the top. If not that, use a plain old RDA. It takes a little time to get set up right, but my current RDA has had the coils in there for over two months and they still work just fine. Drip juice in through the top and don't fill it past the air holes. Pretty simple.
I honestly feel that the subtank mini I use meets this requirement.
I can go about 10 days on my subtank mini coils. I vape anywhere from 15-20ml a day. I feel that it meets this requirement. Even if I have to replace a coil earlier than that, it is a 3 dollar coil that takes maybe all of a whole minute to change out.
With kanger made subtank coils, I run them at 22 watts and get a nice vape. When I rebuild the heads with 24g wire, I go up to 30 watts and get a great vape. The only modification I make to new coils is I make sure I run a needle through the wick and basically twist it until I have a hole that I can see going through to the other side. This helps it wick a little better. At 22 watts on the factory coils, I don't need to do this, but I do it just to be sure I won't get a dry hit when I chain vape. When I say chain vaping, I mean taking 5 to 10 draws in a one minute period.
I don't really wash my coils. I wash the tanks every now and then, but I just take the base off, take the coil head out, and then wash the tank out with hot water. The only o-ring I have to worry about is the one in the base, and I just hold my thumb over it when I wash it. At the end of the day, if you are running water through the cotton, you risk changing the way the cotton fibers are aligned in there. This can cause dry hits. If you want to avoid the cotton fibers getting misaligned, you can use silica wicks. They won't deliver the flavor cotton will or wick as well, but they are almost impossible to burn and you won't have to worry about the fibers getting out of alignment.
Personally, I feel the cotton does fine. I don't worry about washing it. If I want a new flavor, I just let it go through the same cotton that had the previous flavor in it. It will probably have a funky taste for the first 5 or 10 draws, but then it will taste like it should(with the exception of some flavors that just linger around like a nagging mother in law.
As things are right now, i honestly feel that things are pretty darn usable as they stand. Sure, some of them may have issues from time to time, but even our cars that can cost upwards of $50,000 dollars and should last at least a decade have problems, too. It is a simple fact of manufacturing. Sometimes, you just get a lemon. Sometimes, you get the perfect thing that doesn't run into any problems. I feel fortunate that both of my subtank minis have been trouble free since the day I got them, and the Sig 150 has been the same way. I can't complain at all about them, even though I know some other users have had issues with gurgling or leaking. The majority of them work as intended, and that is what any company that mass produces items strives for.
I agree, this is a clever idea, but I see it as more of a novelty. It isn't really that hard to screw something into something else.
There are already companies that do the apple thing. They build the same thing as someone else, call it something fancy, and charge anywhere form 1.5 to 4 times the normal price. Gpen hookah device comes to mind. It is a basic ego style starter kit that kanger sells for around 35 bucks shipped. They brand it as a fancy "hookah vape device" and sell it for 60 bucks shipped. But, for that extra 25 bucks, they will throw in 3 juice bottles, an extra tank, and 2 less coils. They may also change the threading on the tank/battery so you have to use proprietary items, which would fall right in with the hardware ID lists, proprietary charging cables, and all those other things that apple products use.
If that is the "future of vaping", I want nothing to do with it. I will stick with the "other" way that works better for me.
