JAC Vapour’s 510 Manual Starter Kit offers a straightforward e-cig aimed at the just-switching smoker, boasting fill-up-and-vape simplicity and a sleek design, but can you get something better for your money?
The 510 Manual from JAC Vapour is a great device for beginners and just-switching smokers, and while it misses some useful features of more capable devices and isn’t easily compatible with non-eGo-threaded tanks, there is little to complain about overall. The biggest problem is the price; more powerful batteries with equal (or even greater) capabilities are available for substantially cheaper elsewhere, and the miniscule price differences between batteries with vastly different capacities is testament to the illogical pricing structure JAC Vapour operates. If the kit was available for 25 percent cheaper (or even less) then it would get a glowing recommendation for any new vapers, but at the current cost it’s definitely worth shopping around before you make the purchase.
Higher-end e-cigarettes can seem complicated – not to mention being pretty big – and when you’re just looking for something to help you quit smoking, you may prefer something a little simpler and to-the-point. These days, eGo-style devices fill this niche, being button-operated and requiring periodic filling with e-liquid, but offering huge improvements in performance in comparison to cigalikes. JAC Vapour is a UK-based manufacturer that got started in 2010, and they’ve built a loyal following thanks to their range of beginner-friendly and more advanced devices, and they have a range of eGo-style e-cigs on offer. But do the e-cigs have enough to offer just-switching smokers? We’ve put the 400 mAh kit to the test in our JAC Vapour 510 Manual starter kit review.
What You Get
The 510 Manual Starter Kit from JAC Vapour comes with two eGo-style batteries (in a range of sizes), an Evod 2 clearomizer, a spare atomizer head, a USB charger and a black zip-up carry case. This is a nice selection of equipment, offering everything you need to get started with vaping aside from a supply of e-liquid (which you can also pick up from JAC, if you like). The carry case in particular is a nice extra, having a sleek, black design with a “JAC” branded metallic plate, and offering spots for your two batteries, as well as space for your spare coil and USB charger.
The 400 mAh capacity version (the lowest in terms of battery life) of the kit costs £37.99 (around $58.30), the 650 mAh version costs £38.99 (around $59.80) and the 900 mAh version costs £39.99 (around $61.40), with a larger (1,300 mAh) version available but including only one battery.
Design and Compatibility
The battery comes in three colors – black, white and stainless steel – and is fairly plain aside from a small “JAC 510” logo underneath the fire button, which sits in a stainless steel band with a “CE” logo and the capacity of the battery printed on it. The Evod works brilliantly with the battery from an aesthetic perspective, with stainless steel bands bordering a matching-colored tank section, with two cylindrical windows so you can see how much juice you have left. The drip tip is a straight-sided metallic cylinder, fairly plain but fitting in well with the overall look of the device.
The battery is compatible with any eGo-threaded clearomizers, and if you’ve got a beauty ring it can also be used with 510-threaded atomizers and tanks, although it will look a little top-heavy (and the battery can only be safely used with fairly-high resistance coils). This is all you’d expect from an eGo-style battery, so there are no real complaints here, although if you want a more capable device, the Series-E from JAC has a greater compatibility and an improved battery life.
Battery Life and Vapor Production
The battery life of your JAC Vapour Manual is dependent on the capacity you choose. Mine was the 400 mAh option, which is the minimum capacity and therefore the shortest battery life you can get. It’s good for about half a day of vaping; JAC Vapour themselves only claim it’s four hours for all but the heaviest users, and – unusually enough – this seems reasonably accurate. It recharges very quickly indeed, not much over an hour. With two batteries, the 400 mAh option isn’t too bad (since you have something else to vape when your other battery is charging), but the larger capacity batteries (the 650 or 900 mAh) are undoubtedly the better options. This is especially true considering the price: for an extra £2 (about $3) you can get more than double the battery life, so choosing the 400 mAh option would be pretty pointless.
The vapor production, despite the pretty small battery, is pretty good. Of course, more powerful batteries – particularly variable voltage (VV) or variable wattage (VW) options – provide much better vapor production, but even the small 400 mAh option in combination with the Evod puts out plenty of vapor to satisfy a smoker. There are three airflow holes in the bottom portion of the clearomizer, offering a fairly airy draw but one that’s still tight enough to support the mouth-to-lung inhales smokers are accustomed to. Don’t expect anything amazing (especially if you’ve used a more powerful setup before), but it definitely gets the job done well enough for a beginner.
In Use
For day-to-day vaping, the 510 Manual from JAC Vapour is a good option: easy to use, dependable and performing relatively well. With the carry case, it’s easy to keep everything you’ll need with you when you’re out of the house – including your spare battery, a coil and a bottle of juice – and the battery itself locks (with five quick clicks of the fire button) so you can even keep it loose in a pocket without worrying about it getting activated accidentally. There is no real indication you’ve successfully locked the battery, though, so you’ll need to do a quick test-push to ensure it won’t activate in your pocket.
Refilling, charging, changing atomizer heads and maintaining the device are all very simple procedures. To charge, you simply unscrew the clearomizer and screw the battery into the included USB charger, with a red LED showing that the device is charging and switching to green when it’s completed.
Refilling the clearomizer requires inverting it, unscrewing the bottom and pouring e-liquid into the tank, taking care not to get any down the central tube. To change the coil, you unscrew the bottom as if you’re going to refill, but then unscrew the stem poking up from the bottom section to remove the atomizer head – the new one screws in its place in the same way. You can rinse the components of the clearomizer while you’re doing this, although the top section can’t be removed.
The biggest problem you’ll encounter in use is with the battery life – which can seem pretty short when you’re used to larger devices – but this won’t be such an issue if you opt for one of the bigger batteries (which, again, you should definitely do). There is another minor annoyance when you’re trying to remove the clearomizer: unless you’re careful to grab the bottom section of the clearomizer (which holds the coil) you can unscrew the tank portion and end up with juice leaking all over your battery.
Overall, the 510 Manual doesn’t do anything particularly impressive, but there are no major complaints with it in use: it’s straightforward and definitely gets the job done.
Manufacturing Quality
The manufacturing quality on the JAC Vapour 510 Manual seems solid, with no major problems during testing at all. The threading on the clearomizer connection feels a little loose, and you may experience the occasional snag as it doesn’t line up properly, but this is only a very minor issue. Everything is well put-together, and the button has a satisfying amount of resistance with no rattling to speak of.
If you want to find products that are comparable to JAC Vapour, see our updated list of the top electronic cigarette brands for this year. And if you're looking for new e-liquid flavors to try, the new list of the best vape juice flavors is a good place to start.