Heated Tobacco vs Vaping: Which Should You Choose?

If you’re trying to quit smoking, choosing between vaping and heated tobacco can feel confusing. Both are often described as “safer alternatives”, but they aren’t the same, and one may suit you better than the other.

Vape devices heat e-liquids to produce vapour, while heated tobacco products warm real tobacco sticks without burning them. These differences affect safety, cost, flavour options, and how easy each option is to use long term.

Below, we break down heated tobacco vs vaping to help you make an informed decision based on your preferences and goals.

What are vape devices?

Vape devices - also known as e-cigarettes - became popular as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. Proven to be 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes, these devices don't produce smoke. Instead, they heat up to produce a vapour, which you inhale.

According to a recent Cochrane Review, e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional NRT products, helping people quit smoking.

You'll find a range of vape kits available, including starter pens and pod devices.

How do e-cigarettes work?

Vape devices heat vape juice, which comes in a range of nicotine strengths and flavours. For example, traditional 50/50 VG & PG e-liquids are ideal for former smokers, as they produce plenty of vapour and offer a substantial throat hit.

You'll also find high PG e-liquids for a stronger throat hit. Depending on your chosen device, you'll either change the coils as and when needed or replace the pods.

What are heated tobacco products?

Heated tobacco products are relatively new to the market. They're designed to replicate the smoking experience, without burning tobacco. Instead, they heat a tobacco stick, which produces a vapour that you inhale.

Because heat-not-burn products don't require combustion to work, many people believe they're much safer than conventional cigarettes.

How do heated tobacco devices work?

Instead of using traditional tobacco, these devices use tobacco sticks, which you insert into the device. A heating element pierces the stick and heats it to a lower temperature than traditional cigarettes. So, instead of burning tobacco to produce smoke, the lower heat creates a vapour which you'll inhale.

Most sticks last for a set number of puffs or minutes. Once you're finished, you remove the old stick and insert a new one.

Heated tobacco vs vaping comparison

Safety

Both heated tobacco products and vaping are less harmful than cigarette smoking, because they produce a vapour.

Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide and harmful chemicals, which can increase the chances of respiratory conditions and cancer. In fact, 72% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking (Cancer Research).

Vaping safety

Research from Public Health England revealed that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking, with many specialists recommending it as a stop smoking aid (BMJ).

Heated tobacco safety

There's limited research into the safety of heated tobacco, but the CDC confirms that it releases fewer harmful chemicals than smoking.

However, an European Respiratory Society (ERS) study also revealed that heated tobacco releases irritants and potentially toxic compounds.

Costs

Again, both smokeless tobacco products and vaping are more affordable than cigarettes - but which is cheaper? Well, when we broke down the costs, one thing was clear: vaping is the more affordable long-term option.

Let's look at the average costs of each.

Vaping

A vape device costs between £5.00 and over £50.00, depending on the kit you choose. However, once you purchase the kit, it will last for 6 months to over 2 years. When you factor in e-liquids, prefilled pods, and accessories, the annual cost of vaping is typically between £320 and £840.

Smokeless tobacco

The average cost of a heated tobacco device is £20-£50. However, the biggest investment comes from tobacco sticks, with a pack of 20 costing up to £7.00. Depending on how often you use the device, the average annual costs of heated tobacco products are £1,440 to £2,400.

Versatility

It will probably come as no surprise to learn that vaping is more versatile than heated tobacco products. As heated tobacco devices are relatively new, the options are more limited.

Vaping

You'll find a range of vape devices available, including starter pens, pod kits, and mod devices:

• Starter Pens: A vape starter pen like the 88Vape Deluxe Pen is compact, easy to use, and perfect for beginners. With a solid glass and metal tank for robustness and an easy to change coil, all you need to really worry about is choosing a vape juice flavour to use.

• Pod Kits: Most pod kits don't require any coil changes. You just pop a new pod in place when you need to. Refillable pod devices are versatile because you can choose which e-liquids you use, while pre-filled pods are the most convenient 'plug and play' option.

Heated tobacco

As heated tobacco kits are relatively new, there are limited options available on the market. The main brands at the moment include IQOS, glo, and lil SOLID.

Flavours and nicotine strengths

Other considerations when choosing between vaping and heated tobacco are flavour and nicotine strengths. Traditional cigarettes come in one flavour: tobacco. However, both vaping and heated tobacco sticks offer more diversity.

E-liquid flavours

There are so many e-liquid flavours available that it would be impossible to mention them all. You'll find traditional tobacco flavours, menthol e-liquids, fruity creations, and vape juices themed on popular sweet desserts.

If you want to gradually reduce your nicotine intake, vape juices are ideal. Available strengths include:

• 20mg

• 18mg

• 16mg

• 10mg

• 6mg

• 3mg

• 1mg

• Nicotine-free e-liquids

Heated tobacco sticks

All heated sticks use tobacco as the base flavour, but some brands combine it with other flavours. For example, you'll find menthol sticks, amber tobacco, and citrus combinations.

As heated tobacco sticks are single-use products, they contain 0.5mg of nicotine per stick. Traditional cigarettes have 1 to 1.5 mg of nicotine.

Should I choose vaping or heat-not-burn products?

When it comes to heated tobacco products vs vape devices, your choice ultimately depends on which suits your immediate and long-term needs.

The important thing to remember is that tobacco harm reduction initiatives confirm that vape juice and heated tobacco vapour are less-harmful alternatives to traditional cigarette smoke.

If you're looking for a combination of savings, flavour diversity, and the opportunity to customise your nicotine strengths, we recommend vaping as the better solution.

However, heated tobacco users might find that the sticks taste more like normal cigarettes.

If you require advice on vape devices, e-liquids, or have any questions about making a lasting transition from smoking, 88Vape is here to help. Please contact us today for more information.