Vype Pebble Review

Our Vype Pebble review takes an in-depth look at a very unique e-cig. Looking like a vape-able rock and with the financial backing of Big Tobacco: is the Vype Pebble a hollow gimmick, or the ideal device for for new vapers?

Bottom Line
The Pebble is a lot like the Juul by Pax. It’s a small, beginner-friendly powerhouse, perfect for new vapers and with a unique look. It has a better, more aesthetically-appealing design, but loses out a bit when it comes to satisfying smokers’ urges. It’s still a great device, though.
Design
Flavor
Vapor
Battery
User Review0 Votes
Pros
Very easy to use
Six cartridge flavors to choose from
0, 6, 12 or 18 mg/ml of nicotine
Great palm-sized, minimalist design
Good battery life for a small device
Recharges in around an hour
Excellent vapor production
Good price: £17.99/$22.25
Cons
Not very satisfying
The Golden Tobacco flavor is a bit lacking
3.8
Vype Pebble

Is it worth picking up?

The Vype Pebble isn’t perfect. I didn’t find it as satisfying as other beginner-level devices, the battery life is a bit lacking, and the flavor I tried didn’t blow me away. That said, the design is excellent, the vapor production is astounding, it charges really quickly, it’s incredibly easy to use and the £17.99 ($22.25) price-tag is pretty reasonable.

If you want something that’s as easy to use as possible but still very capable, it’s a solid option. I’d personally rank the Juul Vapor a little ahead of it, but on its own merits it’s still well worth considering.


Full review

Review of Vype Pebble Electronic Cigarette

Vype is the brainchild of British American Tobacco. The idea of buying an e-cigarette from a tobacco company might not sit well with all smokers or vapers, but it does have advantages. Firstly, they have plenty of money to put into research and development, and secondly, they have a good idea of what smokers want. So while you might not want to continue giving tobacco companies money, the truth is, if they make a solid vaping device, you should definitely consider it. Enter the Vype Pebble. It may look weird, but it’s undeniably beginner-friendly and also has a pretty unique, appealing design. So is it worth giving British American Tobacco just that little bit more of your money to make your nicotine use much safer? Our Vype Pebble review takes a look at what the device has to offer to find out.

What You Get

Vype Pebble Unboxing

The Vype Pebble comes in a pretty basic package. There’s an outer sleeve with a picture of the Pebble on the front, and an inner section that opens up like a book to reveal your device, the included cartridge and a section for the USB cable and manual. It’s all fairly bare, but provides everything you need. I picked up a couple of cartridges separately too, and if you’re really interested in switching I’d definitely suggest doing the same.

The real shock for me was the big warning label: “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance,” but that’s regulations for you.

The Design

Pebble E-Cig by Vype - Appearance

 

Appearance

The look of the Pebble is really one of it’s biggest selling-points. It looks nothing like a cigarette, but it doesn’t really look like any other vaping device we’re aware of either. It actually looks like a smooth, sand-brushed pebble, and fits neatly in the palm of your hand. The device comes in a selection of five colors (black, yellow, red, green and blue), with the tops of the mouthpieces adding a translucent black to one edge.

The Pebble doesn’t have much branding, but since the device is so small, the “Vype” logo printed on the front does take up quite a bit of space. Aside from that, though, it’s basically bare, aside from “Vype Pebble” printed faintly on the back. Finally, there is a small oval power button on the front of the device, which lights up when the device is on.

On the whole, the Vype Pebble e-cig has a great look. It’s simple, but the well-produced, rounded, soft pebble-like shape really sets it apart from the other devices on the market.

The Cartridges and Slot

Vype Pebble Review - Cartridge Slot

The cartridges for the Vype Pebble have a straightforward design too. The top section follows oval shape of the rest of the Pebble device, and the bottom edge has a much gentler curve to meet the main body of the device. The lower section of the cartridge has a characteristic color for the flavor – for example, Golden Tobacco is golden brown and Wild Berries is a deep purple – with the nicotine strength shown on the front.

There are two contact points on the underside of the cartridges, with matching sections on the interior cavity of the Pebble itself. This is simple enough that you don’t need instructions to use it, which is excellent for new vapers.

USB Slot

There’s a micro-USB slot tucked away on the bottom edge of the Pebble. This is used for recharging, and its position ensures it doesn’t interfere with the overall look of the device.

Overall

The Pebble by Vype is a simple vaping device, but it’s excellently designed. The appearance is endearing and sleek, and the device is incredibly easy to use.

Vype Pebble – Nicotine Strengths and PG/VG Ratio

Vype Pebble PG/VG Ratio

The cartridges for the Vype Pebble come in four different nicotine strengths: 0, 6, 12 and 18 mg/ml. The only exceptions to this are the two tobacco options, which are only available in 12 or 18 mg/ml. This is a good range of options, with the 12 and 18 mg/ml options being particularly useful for just-switching smokers, and the 0 and 6 mg/ml options for other flavors being great for longer-term vapers.

For the PG/VG ratio, the Vype Pebble makes an unusual choice for a beginner’s vaping device and opts for high-VG juices, with between 60 and 90 % VG. This contributes to vapor production, but does detract from throat hit slightly.

Vype Pebble Review – Flavors and Vapor

Vype Pebble E-Liquid Flavors

The most important thing about the Vype Pebble is whether it delivers substantial vapor and vibrant, realistic flavors. When it comes to vapor production, the Pebble absolutely floored me. From such a tiny device, I was expecting fairly pitiful vapor production, but thankfully I was wrong. Particularly on a full charge, the Pebble puts out impressive clouds of vapor. It’s easily comparable with higher-quality beginner level devices (such as the eGo AIO). Even for a mod-using, long-term vaper like me, I didn’t have any issue with the vapor production whatsoever. It’s not quite as good as you drain the battery, but it’s still satisfying.

There are six cartridge flavors available for the Pebble: Fresh Apple, Golden Tobacco, Master Blend, Smooth Vanilla, Tingling Mint and Wild Berries. I’ve only tested out the Golden Tobacco, but overall the flavor is good. Like most tobacco e-liquid flavors, it kind of misses the mark, but there is an element of the true flavor of tobacco in there. It might not be the most authentic tobacco I’ve tried, but the hint of accuracy and the overall flavor still makes it enjoyable.

Overall, the Vype Pebble e-cigarette does a great job with vapor production, and the flavor of the Golden Tobacco is good, if not great.

The Battery – Lifespan and Charging

Vype Pebble Review - Battery Life

For a small device like the Pebble, battery life is always going to be an issue. The bigger a battery is, the longer it’ll last you, and vice-versa. For the small Vype Pebble e-cig, this means that you’ll struggle to get a whole day’s worth of use out of it. British American Tobacco claims the charge lasts all day, but during testing I always ran out just before the end of my workday. It’s still pretty good – this is really all you’d expect from a vape pen – but it certainly isn’t an “all-day charge” based on my tests.

The light on the power button goes from green to red over the course of your charge. This means you can easily see when you’ll have to recharge. Charging is just as quick as advertised, too. The battery goes from dead to fully-charged in an hour or less. This is the saving grace for the Pebble’s battery: you’ll have to go without nicotine for an hour if you don’t have a spare device (we’d recommend getting one, by the way), but that’s really not so bad.

Is the Vype Pebble Satisfying to Vape?

Although there are plenty of nicotine options from the Pebble and the vapor production is great, the device is still pretty small, so does it really pack a punch? I’d tentatively answer “yes,” but it could be better. I ordinarily vape low nicotine juices (3 mg/ml), so the 18 and 12 mg/ml options I was vaping for this review did get me enough nicotine. However, like when you’re vaping a cigalike, I still got a little bit of a feeling of being unsatisfied, and I always found myself vaping quite a lot throughout the day. The upshot is that – like with cigalikes – you can vape a lot but still might not completely alleviate your cravings.

This is partially down to the size of the device. However, the Juul from Pax is similarly small (looking like a USB stick), but manages to be much, much more satisfying to use. This is because the Juul uses nicotine salts and has much higher-nicotine liquid than the Pebble. On top of this, the vapor production from the Juul is excellent, it's really easy to use and you can pick up the pre-filled “JUULpods” in any of five flavors. It's the ideal choice for heavier smokers for whom the Pebble might not quite cut it.

Ease of Use

Vype Pebble E-Cigarette - Changing Cartridges

The Vype Pebble is a mixed bag, but one area where it really blows much of the competition out of the water is with simplicity. To use it, you simply insert a cartridge into the end – which could scarcely be any easier – switch on the power and start vaping. Even if you’ve never vaped before, you’ll barely need the instruction manual. Holding down the power button for a couple of seconds is the most challenging part of the process.

Like cigalikes, the Pebble is an “automatic” device. This means that you just inhale from the end to vape, in the same way you would with a cigarette. It does help to take a couple of quick, short “priming” puffs before your main one, though, and you should inhale for longer than you would from a cigarette.

Build Quality

British American Tobacco has a lot of money, so it shouldn’t really surprise that the Vype Pebble is very nicely put together. The cartridges fit in place snugly, stay where they are unless you really want to remove them and don’t leak at all. The device itself might be small, but it seems pretty resistant to the sort of drops and knocks all devices have every so often. Overall, the build quality is great.

If you're looking for a different type of vape experience, check out other popular vape pens we've reviewed.