When they first appeared on the market, electronic cigarettes were modes three piece devices that consisted of a cartridge containing the e-liquid, an atomizer to vaporize it and a rechargeable battery. They looked very similar to traditional tobacco cigarettes and they were intended to mimic the whole smoking experience but without the chemicals and carcinogens. Then the three piece devices gradually became two-piece cig-a-likes with the cartridge and atomizer becoming a single part called a cartomizer. Probably by the same time, there was another type of e-cigarette gaining in popularity. This resembled more to a pen than to a tobacco analog and boasted a more powerful battery and a firing button the user needed to keep pressed while puffing on the device.
They were called eGo style vaporizers and featured something unique – the ability to refill your own tank with e-liquid bought separately. While the traditional cig-a-like were light-weight devices, easy to recharge and with easily replaceable cartomizers, the eGo style cigarettes required more attention and maintenance. This is why for many years, cig-a-likes witnessed an explosion in sales and many key players on the ecig market decided to bet on their popularity and ignore the eGos. But the refillable e-cigarettes also presented some promising features and manufacturers of these devices started to improve them with the addition of some interesting features. One of the features was the variable voltage capabilities of some eGo batteries that could improve both flavor and vapor production of virtually any e-juice.
Seeing as they were more customizable, vapers slowly started shifting their attention towards the bulkier e-cigarettes and began customizing them. Manufacturers struggled to keep pace and slowly came up with different improvements. Vaporizers began using big and powerful batteries and their shape gradually changed. From their usual pen-like appearance, some models started to look like light sabers from sci-fi movies and the majority featured LCD displays.
But the real game changer came with the introduction of variable wattage. While greatly debated at first, variable wattage became increasingly popular and eventually the majority of vapers agreed that this is the future in terms of flavor, throat hit and of course vapor production. This is why manufacturers started releasing increasingly more powerful devices on the market and the vapers kept coming and coming. The majority of models featured displays and (+) / (-) buttons to adjust the settings, but some companies like Innokin used mechanical dials for the adjustment of wattage.
Slowly vaporizers started featuring both variable voltage and variable wattage, with the user choosing according to personal preference the mode in which he wants to enjoy vaping. The number of models coming out with each month was impressive and this is when traditional cig-a-likes started to lose ground.
