Product intro and specs
The Zaero is a disposable vape that comes in four nicotine strength options, 0%, 1.8%, 3% and 5%. They contain 1.8 mL of nicotine salt e-liquid in seven flavor options, and are good for roundabout 300 puffs, which translates to around a day of vaping per piece.
Disposables are beginner vapes that aim to directly substitute your pack of cigarettes, and are a popular option amongst transitioning smokers due to their ease of use and practical form factor. Keep reading to find out if the Zaero disposables are the ones that are going to help you go smoke free.
V4L sent us the Zaero vapes for the purpose of this review.
Price: $6.99 (one piece), $34.99 (five pack), $39.99 (sampler pack)
- Weight: 14.6 grams
- Nicotine strengths: 0%
- 1.8%
- 3%
- 5%
Size, weight, and feel
If you’ve ever used the POSH pods, the Zaeros are going to feel very familiar. They look and feel very similar, and even the packaging is almost identical.
The Zaeros have a long rectangular shape with rounded edges, and they are very small and lightweight. We measured them at 100 mm x 16 mm x 7 mm, and they weigh 14.6 grams. You can easily throw a couple (or more) in your pocket, and you’ll barely feel them there.
Their build quality is pretty good, but there’s not much to discuss here—they’re just a couple of plastic parts put together. But they do look slick in full-black, and branding is discreet. There’s just a “Zaero” logo at the bottom on the one side, and a small drawing of the flavor right above it. The Zaero pods are not going to raise many eyebrows, and that’s a good thing for most beginner vapers.
Getting started
There’s not much to say here. The hardest part is taking the device out of its packaging. There is a plastic wrap that’s kinda hard to remove, a paper ring, a hard-plastic cover, and two silicon plugs. Make sure you recycle all that! Then, what’s left to do is inhale on the mouthpiece. But take care that you don’t cover the bottom of the device because that’s where the air enters from. That’s it! No buttons, settings or LED battery indicators. When the device stops producing vapor, just dispose of it.
How does it hit?
The hit on the 5% Zaero disposables is satisfying. The draw is only a touch looser than a tight, cigarette-like draw. And while the 5% nicotine may sound like a lot, the hit is not that hard due to the low power output of the device and the smoother hit of nicotine salts when compared to regular nicotine. If you are a heavy smoker, you may need to inhale a little bit longer to get the best results. But it will satisfy most transitioning smokers one way or another.
The 3% are obviously weaker, but a bit better than we expected. In fact, if your favorite flavor is out of stock in 5%, you could use some 3% for a day or two—although you’ll probably go through twice as many pods. As for the 1.8% pods, the hit is almost non-existent. We would not recommend these to transitioning smokers and the only use they could potentially have is for tapering down nicotine consumption. We didn’t receive any 0% pods, but the same applies to them.
The pods may flood a bit if left unused for a while. If that happens, try a couple of stronger puffs. That will solve the issue most of the times, but if it doesn’t, try blowing some air from the bottom of the device—that’s where the air enters from.
Are the flavors any good?
The Zaero disposables are currently available in seven flavor options.
Tobacco: This one is a dry Virginia tobacco flavor, with some type of a flavor in the background that we couldn’t pick clearly—maybe chocolate? This is not a sweet tobacco flavor but it’s not that complex either. It’s certainly not for everyone, but it may do the trick for those who find themselves craving some Virginia tobacco.
Menthol: A refreshing menthol with a slightly minty flavor, this was the one that most of us picked as a favorite. Not everybody enjoys menthol vapes, but if you have been smoking menthol cigarettes that’s the one flavor you should try. It’s not perfect, but it will do the trick—and the extra kick from the menthol is always welcome.
Chocolate: Straight chocolate is a very rare flavor in vaping and this one, although a rather realistic milk chocolate flavor, felt a bit off-putting. Simply put, vaping the whole pod was a chore. It may be fine for a couple of puffs here and there, but we doubt that it can be someone’s all day vape.
Blueberry Lemonade: We had high hopes for this one, as some of us are fans of lemonade vapes. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. The lemonade in the inhale quickly turns into a heavy blueberry fragrance, which makes it rather unpleasant. Just take our word for it, you can live without this flavor.
Blue Razz: A very familiar berry flavor. Blue Razz is not very sweet, but it does feel a bit fragrancy—although nothing even close to the Blueberry Lemonade in that regard. Still, it’s not a bad flavor, and possibly the best choice from the fruity options.
Banana: Banana vapes have a tendency to taste a bit like chemicals, and this one is not different. Maybe a bit of cream would have rounded up the edges, but as it is right now, it is too rough to be an all-day vape. Or even an all-evening vape, frankly.
Sweet Orange: This one is more tangerine than orange, which is not a bad thing as straight orange vapes rarely work. It didn’t blow our minds, but we found it refreshing—in fact, it could work as a soda substitute. Again, not all day vape material, but not a bad flavor either.
Chocolate, Banana and Sweet Orange are not single flavors that we see that often in disposables (or vaping in general). V4L went with some unusual choices for the Zaero flavors, and it didn’t exactly pay off. Some of the flavors were alright, and flavor is certainly subjective, but the only one we can easily recommend is Menthol.
Pros / Cons
Gallery
Verdict
The Zaero pods are good performers, and come at a very practical size and weight. The draw is satisfying, and the hit is good on the 5% and even the 3% strength options. But the flavors were a bit of a disappointment, and it is hard to recommend any flavor option other than the Menthol. If you want to quit menthol cigarettes, or if you don’t care that much about flavor and want something that you can vape on the go, then you can give them a try. But other than that, we can’t recommend the Zaero pods for anything other than an emergency purchase.
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