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Welcome to the big end of the year finale. Every year, we like to look back and see the products that really stand out, and with an industry growing so fast, there were a LOT of new devices and products released from different manufacturers, catered to different vape styles, and different designs. So the way we’re going to do it this year is I’m going to announce my personal top pick for each category, and also follow it up with 2 runner-ups that I think deserve the spotlight as well. All the products that we’re going to be showing today have been released this year and there’s a ton to choose from, so lets get started.

First up, we’re going to start with probably the biggest trend of 2018, and it’s going to be pod systems. Pod systems hit the market as a great way to keep things compact while maintaining a smooth and satisfying hit. And I’m personally a huge fan of pod systems. I find they’re much easier to keep in a pocket when you’re walking around and when i’m out and about, I will always have a pod system on me. And the winner for best of pod system of 2018 is going to be… the Vladdin RE Ultra Portable Pod System⁠!

So this one kind of hit us out of left field because we got these in a little later in the year. It was at a time where we would get pod system after pod system and it almost felt like every new pod system was just a cookie cutter device from another. Most of the pod systems pretty much performed the same, but the Vladdin RE Ultra Portable Pod System⁠ really stuck out to me for 2 reasons. 

1. The flavour I’d get off the Vladdin RE was miles ahead of about 90% of other pod systems on the market.
2. The draw activator. A lot of the pod systems on the market have draw-activated firing switches meaning there’s no button on the device. You simply you start inhaling and the device will fire up the coil. However, a lot of the draw activated switches tend to misfire and they have a hard time figuring out when you're really inhaling. The Vladdin RE would always activate every time.

Now, runner-ups for the best pod system of 2018 goes to… Innokin EQ Ultra Portable Kit⁠ and the Smok Nord Portable Starter Kit⁠

These two are probably one of the hardest hitting pod systems and I feel like these also stuck out from the crowd and I’ll explain why. We did post a full review on the Innokin eq, which you can watch here, but in short, the mesh coils in the EQ are outstanding and I’m not kidding when I say hard hitting. I usually vape anywhere from a 40-45 mg salt nicotine ejuice in all my pod systems. However, with the Innokin EQ, I actually had to drop to about 30 mg because the mesh coils provided that much more vapour. The only downside I can think of for the EQ is the pod life. I find these are a bit on the shorter side, coming in around 3-4 refills before it really starts tasting burnt. 

Now, onto the Smok Nord Portable Starter Kit⁠. The Nord is another pod system that really stood out from the crowd. I would say that the Nord is the most versatile pod system and I’ll explain why. The Nord has a 1.4 and 1.5-ohm coil that's meant for mouth-to-lung vaping. The hit gives you great flavour and vapour production. However, there’s also a 0.6-ohm mesh coil. Using the mesh coils, you are actually able to get a really nice direct to lung hit. And, the best part is that instead of having to buy pods everytime your coil burns out, you can just replace the coil which ends up being a bit more cost-effective. Now the reason why these 2 didn’t get first place is solely for the size and design. Now, these aren’t huge devices by any means, but they are noticeably bigger than the Vladdin. The Vladdin is very sleek and compact and for someone looking to quit smoking, the design will be fairly familiar to them thanks to the draw activator. So, yeah. My pick for the best pod system of 2018, goes to the Vladdin RE Ultra Portable Pod System⁠.

Next up on this list is Best tank of 2018. Sub-ohm tanks are still widely used due to the easy coil changes and great vapour production. The technology inside tanks has grown exponentially thanks to new coil materials like mesh and ceramic. We saw quite a few tanks this year, but The Best tank of 2018 would have to go to.. HorizonTech Falcon Resin-Artisan Sub Ohm Tank⁠.

The Horizsontech Falcon really stuck out to me not only due to flavour and vapour production which is amazing, but also coil life. Horizontech introduced a wood pulp and cotton hybrid to wick these coils and the coil life is outstanding. I’ve gotten up to 3 and a half weeks on one coil which is crazy. Aside from coil life, again, the flavour and vapour you get from the coil heads are probably the best on the market. You also have a ton of coil options to choose from with mesh being 3 of the options. With the bubble glass, you also get an astounding 7ml of juice. So, overall, my favourite tank of 2018 is the HorizonTech Falcon Resin-Artisan Sub Ohm Tank⁠.

Runner-ups for best tank of 2018 goes to the Fireluke Mesh Pro Sub-Ohm Tank⁠ and the Zenith MTL Tank by PBusardo and Vapingreek⁠.

Freemax are one of the pioneers that led sub-ohm tanks into the whole Mesh game. At one point in time, the competition for sub ohm tanks was literally between the fireluke mesh and the falcon. The Fireluke mesh provides flavour and vapour that I would put on par with the Falcon, however, coil life on the falcon does outperform the fireluke coils, which is why I’m giving the fireluke the runner-up.

The Zenith. This is one of the best mouth-to-lung tanks on the market that has pre-made coil heads. The airflow can get super tight giving you a nice, restricted mouth to lung hit. The flavour on the zenith is great for a mouth to lung hit and this would be my top recommendation for anyone looking for a mouth to lung tank.

But, what’s a tank without a device? Our next category is best advanced device of 2018. Now, this is also going to include kits as some devices are only sold as a kit, but here it is. The best advanced device of 2018 goes to… Dovpo Topside Squonk Mod⁠.

If there was one trend in vaping to end off 2017, it was squonking. The original Vandy Vape Pulse made squonking easily accessible to everyone and ever since then, companies have been taking the ideology of squonking and improving on it. The Dovpo topside is, in my opinion, one of the most revolutionary devices of 2018. My main gripe with squonking was refilling your squonk bottle. It was usually a cumbersome and messy process, but the Topside fixes that with a top fill squonk bottle. Instead of having to unscrew your bottle of juice from inside the device, you just unscrew a cap on the top of the mod and you’re greeted by 2 fill-ports. You can then fill up your 10ml squonk bottle like you would any to fill tank. Another thing I love about the Topside is the support for 18650, 20700 and 21700 batteries. The build quality of the topside is great and it definitely has a premium feel to it. 

Now, for runner-ups for this category are going to… The VooPoo Drag 2 Starter Kit⁠ and the Geekvape Aegis Mini 80W Mod⁠

These 2 devices are following some pretty big releases. The VooPoo Drag 157W TC Box Mod⁠ was one of, if not the mod of 2017. The build quality and chipset of the Drag was incredible, especially for the price point. The Drag 2 slims down dimensions and rounds off some edges to give you a better feel in the hand when you’re using it. The chipset is updated to 177 watts and I feel like this is still, one of the best dual battery devices out there for the price. 

Next, if we had a durability award, it would be going to the Geekvape Aegis Mini 80W Mod⁠ Geekvape introduced the Aegis line early last year with the original Aegis. The Aegis line was made to withstand daily use and abuse and it really does live up to the name. The Aegis Mini is the latest release in the lineup and features a 2200 mAh built-in battery with an 80W output. Along with being shockproof, you also get IP67 water resistance and dustproof. If you work in construction or you tend to drop your device a lot, I’d definitely give the Aegis lineup a look.

Let's move onto our next category. Which is best rebuildable atomizer of 2018, and boy there was a lot to choose from. I feel like rebuildable atomizers are never going to die out as people are constantly bringing new innovation to the table. It went from 3-post to 4post to post less, mesh, squonk, a bunch of new things to keep it interesting. This one was tough, but the best rebuildable of 2018 goes to.. Wotofo Profile RDA⁠ 

The Wotofo Profile has been one of the best selling RDA’s to date and it’s easy to see why. With the popularity of mesh growing at an astronomical rate, the profile’s clamp style build deck accommodates both regular and mesh coils. The best part, however, is the spring-loaded centre platform. This makes wicking mesh coils extremely easy to do, and you can get a ton of cotton under there. Another really nice feature is that the squonk pin feeds right into the spring loaded platform. So when you do squonk your device, the juice is directly hitting the centre of the cotton. Also, just as a heads up, if you’re looking at building with mesh, check out the OFRF nexMESH Prebuilt Wire⁠ - I didn’t think another brand of mesh would be any different, but there’s a noticeable difference in flavour with these mesh coils.

Runner-up for this category goes to… the Wotofo Serpent Elevate 24MM RTA⁠ and the Vandy Vape Berserker V1.5 MTL RTA ⁠

We got the Wotofo Serpent Elevate 24MM RTA⁠ not too long ago, and it instantly turned into my go-to RTA. I love the top-airflow design as it prevents leaking from improperly wicked coils. The airflow feels extremely smooth and the build deck is very easy to build on. I also really like the design aesthetics of the tank from the etched logos to the knurled airflow control ring. Me personally, I’m a single coil RTA kinda guy, I personally feel like single coils provide the best performance to battery consumption ratio, so that is why I’m giving this my #2 pick on best rebuildable of 2018.

Second runner-up, the Vandy Vape Berserker V1.5 MTL RTA ⁠ - The Vandy Vape Berserker MTL RDA⁠  is, I’d say, one of the best rebuildable MTL tanks on the market, however, there were some design flaws with the V1. The top cap was hard to remove, the design was a little weird, but they addressed everything with the V1.5. I love the heat fins around the drip tip. I feel like it gives the tank a nice flair. The build deck is incredibly easy to build on. Now, is this the best MTL tank on the market? Personally, I’d still give that to the Kayfun Prime Special Edition⁠ crowd, however, this is extremely close. So, that’s why I’m also picking this as a runner-up, you’re getting performance similar to a $200 tank at a fraction of the price. Using the Clapton coil that comes in the box, you're going to get a phenomenal mouth-to-lung experience.

The last category on this list is going a be a bit different. The last category is the Best E-juice of 2018. Now, the reason why I’m saying it’s a little different is it's a very subjective topic. So, instead of going based on my personal opinion, I’m going to base this on best selling, essentially the top 3 juices that sold the most this year. And the award for best selling e-juice goes to… Grappleberry Ice⁠ by Cabana Punch.

Now, this juice is incredibly refreshing and I can see why this is such a great seller. Flavour of this juice is a grape and strawberry freezie with a refreshing apple exhale. When I say refreshing, I don’t mean menthol, because I find that menthol throws a lot of people off. This is more of a cool inhale, so it’s not extremely minty, more of just an undertone.

And runner-up for the best e-juice goes to, Lycheeberry Ice⁠ and Frosty Peach⁠ both also by Cabana Punch. Wow, I guess cabana punch is a fan favourite. So Lycheeberry ice is one of the newer cabana punch flavours. This is going to taste like a lychee strawberry freezie with a refreshing apple and blueberry exhale. And frosty peach is… you guessed it, a very nice peach with hints of apricot and a refreshing exhale of berries. Remember, this isn’t menthol, just a minty inhale. Now, I’d say a huge plus to Cabana punch is especially its price point. For a 60ml of cabana punch, you’re looking at $19.99 CAD, which is really good. If you’re looking for a really nice fruit flavour, I’d highly recommend checking out the Cabana punch line.

And, that about wraps up our best of 2018 show. If you know someone looking for a vape around this hectic holiday time, you should probably send them this video so they can get a general idea of what they're looking for!