Riva 1100 Review
After my disappointing let down with the SkyCig cigarette sized e-cig, I decided to do a little bit more research and see what the best starter kit really was. I wanted affordability, something that lasted for hours, and something that wouldn't break after a couple of days of use.
After a few hours spent reading various electronic cigarette reviews and forum posts, I came to decide upon the Riva 1100 starter kit. It contained 2 batteries, a USB, cartomizers and clearomizers (used for filling up with e-juice and smoking).
Now, my main concern was that the thing seemed quite large - after all, I had spent much of the last 5 years smoking roll-ups and normal cigarettes. However, after the research I found out that the smaller the e-cig battery, the shorter the battery life and lesser the power (and vice-versa).
It was worth a try, especially for £40.
As you can see in the picture above, I have two batteries, a case, and the USB charge laid out. You can see the size comparative to my laptop and mouse - big, but not ridiculously huge. Smoking it in public - e.g. at a coffee shop - is a bit weird, but you'll soon get over it when you realise that you're smoking something much better than a real cigarette.
Now, the main positive of the Riva 1100 is its fantastic battery life. Compared to small e-cigs like e-lites, which last for barely 10 minutes, this literally lasts a whole day of heavy vaping on a full charge. It's fantastic, really. I often put it on charge for just 10-20 minutes to get another hour out of it, and it hasn't seemed to damage the battery at all. I really wish I'd bought this first and saved myself wasted money.
Although one of the batteries seemed to stop working after a couple of weeks (perhaps it was a dud?) the other is absolutely fine. It's tough, lasts for hours, and looks nice in the black colour.
In addition, for those of you a bit more into the world of e-cigarettes, it works with a number of different things. Cartomizers and Clearomizers (which I will explain in a future blog post) both work, as it has an 'Ego-T' connection, which is the most popular connection used in the world of e-cigs at the moment.
I won't turn this into an electronic cigarette juice review post, but I've tried 50+ juices with it, gone through about 15 cartomizers and about 5 clearomizers. The price remains to be less than it would cost to smoke normal cigarettes, which is a huge benefit in my book. You can't try many juices with these standard little prepackaged cigarettes, so if you want to smoke banana chocolate, mint choc chip, toffee popcorn or absinthe, in addition to all sorts of tobacco flavours, then definitely get yourself one of these (or something like it).
Lastly, the flavour, amount of smoke and throat hit I get from these is far better than anything I've experienced. I'll be honest, I have tried a few real cigarettes once I got these, but they tasted absolutely disgusting. I simply though, "Why am I smoking these overpriced, horrible things when I could be savouring raspberry shortcake?" Indeed, I am now a true convert.
Overall it's a fantastic beginners/intermediate kit, and I thoroughly recommend it. If you have any questions about how it works or are worried that it looks a little complicated, send me a message/leave a comment and I'll be more than happy to answer any queries you may have.
Battery life: 10/10
Fantastic. Lasts me for at least a whole day on a full charge, even smoking it constantly.
Reliability: 9/10
Although one of the batteries has played up - e.g. not turning on or even working - the other has been absolutely perfect, even though I've dropped it hundreds of times.
Charge time: 7/10 Ok, so it does take a while to charge. The best thing to do is put it on charge when you know you won't be smoking for a while, in order to get a full charge. However, this said, I regularly put it on charge for less than 20 minutes, and it lasts a good hour.
Size: 7/10 It's quite big, and difficult to conceal in public. Looks suspicious without a doubt!
Value for money: 9/10 Great value. Had it for 3 months and still going strong.
Overall: 9/10 A fantastic kit for those fairly new to the world of electronic cigarettes, and I would only upgrade if something really took my interest, as this is more than adequate for my needs (I'm a fairly heavy smoker).
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