Best Vape Battery Chargers 2020 - vape chargers for 18650 & 21700 cells

Because we don't generally recommend charging your batteries inside the mod, these are our top picks for Best Vape Battery Charger. This is particularly important in the case of box mods powered by dual 18650, 26650, 20700 or 21700 cells.

Most chipsets don't offer balanced charging, which means that one of the cells is likely to receive more volts than the other. This has a dramatic effect on the lifespan of the battery and can induce preventable, premature wear.

Using an external vape charger will ensure your batteries always receive the correct voltage. This prevents overcharging and helps keep the cells' health to 100% for even more cycles.

With more advanced vape battery chargers you can even read the status of the cell, adjust the amps automatically and show detailed info about various parameters.

Disclosure: The battery chargers featured on this page were tested by our trained team of reviewers. We use affiliate links to these products as part of the review. This means that we receive a small commission whenever you make a purchase using one of our links. However, this will never influence our opinions and ratings we give to these devices. It also doesn't affect the price you pay for any particular vape. The commissions we earn are used to keep the site up and running. This way we will always be unbiased and honest when it comes to our recommendations.

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From cloud chasing box mods to unregulated squonkers, most high wattage vaping devices are powered by one or two replaceable batteries. In order to get the most out of your experience we always recommend using a good vape battery charger.

This will automatically recharge the cells with the current and only at the rate they were intended for.

Most of these chargers come with built-in protections and offer additional safety features. They will automatically cut off power when the battery has reached 100% after carefully monitoring the whole process.

You can also use them for recharging different types of cells, even simultaneously. They are usually made from non flammable materials and come with either indicator LED lights or LCD displays.

Budget battery chargers for vaping are affordable, easy to use and reliable. These are our best recommendations for this category and their main pros and cons. You can rest assured that any of these external vape chargers will do a far better job than any high end box mod with balanced charging.

Efest Lush Q2

The Efest Lush Q2 is a very popular choice when it comes to budget chargers for vaping. It's compatible with 18650, 20700, and 26650 batteries and it can charge two cells at the same time. Each bay is fitted with a piano wire spring, which can withstand up to 15,000+ compression cycles.

The device comes with two LED indicator lights and multiple safety features. With its low resistance steel cathodes it ensures minimum voltage drop and maximum efficiency. It's the ideal vaping charger for beginners.

Verdict: The Efest Lush Q2 is a pretty basic two bay battery charger but very reliable. It's easy to use, and it's compatible with the wide majority of vape batteries, apart from some 21700 models.

BUY the Efest Lush Q2

Nitecore New i2

The Nitecore New i2 intellicharger is very affordable and easy to use. It offers twice the charging speeds of its predecessor and it's compatible with 18650 and 26650 cells. It's made from hard plastic and comes with an AC power adapter.

The device features LED notification lights for 30%, 80% and 100% and it's able to recover low voltage batteries.

Verdict: The Nitecore New i2 offers simplicity, safety and reliability at a very affordable price. This model is ideal for charging two vape batteries at the same time and does the job flawlessly.

BUY the Nitecore New i2

Most vapers have at least two sets of batteries, and having a charger that can take four cells simultaneously is a real blessing. They are easy to use, very reliable and versatile. These are our top two picks for best four bay battery charger ranked according to performance and quality to price ratio.

Efest LUC V4

The Efest LUC V4 is an absolute beast of a charger. It can recharge four batteries at the same time, and all the bays have independent meters. It features a nice LCD display and is connected to a mains socket via the included AC power cord.

It's packed with sensors that carefully monitor the status of the charge and will turn off power automatically when the cell reaches 100%. You can also use this charger as a power bank to recharge your cellphone, tablet or iPod.

Verdict: The Efest LUC V4 is an intelligent vape charger that works with four batteries at the same time. It has an incredible quality to price ratio and the performance is outstanding.

BUY the Efest LUC V4

Nitecore D4

The Nitecore D4 is an advanced 18650 charger that's also compatible with other types of batteries like 26650 and 18350. It is capable of charging four cells at the same times and each bay is monitored individually. The device comes with a cool LCD display that shows charging parameters.

The D4 can also charge batteries at lower current, which makes it extremely versatile. This is particularly useful when dealing with small cells like 18350s.

Verdict: The Nitecore D4 is a capable 4-bay charger for vapig batteries. It features a nice LCD display and it shows plenty of details regarding the status of the charge.

BUY the Nitecore D4

Multiple bay chargers are ideal for people who use a lot of batteries on a daily/weekly basis. These devices can charge up to eight different cells at the same time and they are extremely versatile. Much bigger than their 2-bay or 4-bay counterparts, these are not exactly travel material.

Nitecore i8

The Nitecore i8 is one of the most impressive chargers for vape batteries. It is compatible with almost all types of cells, including 20700 and 21700. It features active current distribution technology, which automatically reads the type of battery and adjust the charge parameters accordingly.

It can go as high as 1.5A when using just one of the bays and also features 2.1A USB output. This means you can use the charger as a portable power bank for your phone or tablet.

Verdict: The Nitecore i8 is one of the most powerful chargers on the market right now. It can take up to 8 batteries at the same time and it's compatible with most cells used for vaping.

BUY the Nitecore i8

Efest Lush Q8

The Efest Lush Q8 is one of the newest chargers to hit the market and it's also one of the most powerful. This bad boy can charge up to eight cells at the same time and it's ultra fast. When used in two-bay mode it can deliver up to 2A of current to the cells.

The device features individual LED lights for each slot, and it can work as an USB power bank that delivers 12V/2A. It has piano wire springs, which are more durable than traditional ones. This ensures durability over time and precision.

Verdict: The Efest Lush Q8 is a powerful and well-built charger for vaping batteries. It takes all types of cells from 18350 and 18650 to 20700 and 21700 and features auto detect charge function.

BUY the Efest Lush Q8

When it comes to 20700 & 21700 batteries, your vape charger options are limited. You can either go with an expensive multiple-bay charger or choose the best quality to price ratio. This is our most suitable option for vapers who don't have to deal with a large number of cells.

Nitecore i4

The Nitecore i4 is your best best when it comes to charging 20700 or 21700 on a budget. This four bay charger has four individual LEDs for each battery and can deliver up to 1.5A. It is able to recover over-discharged cells and it's packed with safety features.

Using Active Current Distribution it automatically detects the type of battery inserted and adjust the charging rate accordingly.

Verdict: The Nitecore i4 is perfect for charging those bigger 20700 and 21700 batteries. With its 1.5A output the process is much faster than on other chargers. It's also very safe due to the multiple built-in protections.

BUY the Nitecore i4

This is the most technologically advanced charger money can buy. It can be used for battery testing purposes and it shows detailed information about each cell. Packed with features, it is compatible with multiple type of formats and it's incredibly powerful.

Xtar Dragon VP4 Plus

The Xtar Dragon VP4 Plus is one of the most feature rich chargers on the market right now. It's compatible with most type of vaping batteries like 18350, 18650, 20700, and 21700 and has a nice, bright LCD display.

The button on top lets you adjust charging rate between 0.5A, 1A and 2A. However 2A is only available only when the first or/and last bays have a cell inside.

With the supplied probes you can test the charge and internal resistance of your batteries. This is connected via USB1 slot and it's very useful for vapers who handle a lot of cells.

Verdict: The Xtar Dragon VP4 Plus is our recommendation for best smart vape charger. It has some of the most advanced features and comes with its own probes for testing. The device is compatible with most types of batteries and also works as a power bank.

BUY the Xtar Dragon VP4 Plus

If you don't want to replace your vape batteries once every few months, we recommend using an external charger. These units are not as expensive as you might think and they can save a lot of money on the long term.

Whether we're talking about 18650 battery chargers, or units that are compatible with more than one type of cell, these devices are very important. As opposed to charging your batteries inside the vape via USB cable, external chargers offer three key advantages. They allow for much safer charging, the process is faster and most importantly: it's more accurate.

In order to extend the lifespan of your vape, the batteries must not be charged over 4.2V. Most box mods try to prevent this from happening, however they are not very accurate.

Some devices will charge the batteries to 4.22V, others to 4.25V and the list can go on. This may not seem like much, but unfortunately it has a negative impact on the number of charging cycles a cell can withstand and its overall performance.

It doesn't really matter if you use recommended mod batteries or generic brands, the chemistry behind the charging process is the same. And this process is always more reliable with an external charger. Even a cheap vape battery charger that sells of $16 is a big step up from charging the batteries inside the device.

These units have built-in algorithms that adjust charging speeds according to the current voltage of the battery and can even bring "dead" cells back to life. A cell is considered "dead" when its internal voltage has dropped below 2.8V.

External vape chargers can deliver from 0.5A up to 2.0A to each cell, greatly improving charge speeds while at the same time preventing the batteries from overheating.