10 Best Vape Brands for 2025
With so many vape brands available, it can be hard to know where to start. In fact, I still get emails almost daily from new brands I’ve never heard of before.
But after 17 years in the industry, testing hundreds of devices and listening to feedback from thousands of customers, we’ve found that a handful of brands consistently deliver when it comes to quality and reliability. And when you’re inhaling something into your lungs, quality matters.
That doesn’t mean quality has to be expensive. While high-end devices from brands like Innokin can cost over £100, you can still find dependable options from the brands below for under £10.
So whether you're just starting out or looking to upgrade, here are our top ten vape hardware brands, based on hands-on testing, long-term experience, and real-world performance.
(All the brands below manufacture hardware - for pure e-liquid recommendations, see our list of the Best Vape Juice Brands.)
Contents
- Top vape brands
- Vaporesso
- Elf Bar
- IVG
- Innokin
- Oxva
- Smok
- Aspire
- SKE
- Lost Mary
- Uwell
- The future
- Related guides
Top vape brands (available in the UK)
Vaporesso: Best overall
Vaporesso brings luxury to the vape market with well-crafted devices with a fine finish. They certainly have some might behind them, being a subsidiary of Smoore - the largest vape manufacturer in the world.
With pod kits, pod mods and mod devices to choose from, Vaporesso has produced many stand-out devices over the years. Their award-winning Xros Series has also proved popular with staff and customers alike for fantastic flavour and options for a wide range of vapers - from the beginner-friendly Xros 3 Nano to the more versatile Xros 4 kit (review).
Much of Vaporesso’s enduring popularity lies in the fact they really listen to their users. They do extensive research including having a team of employees who spend weeks at a time in the UK visiting shops and talking to vapers, and they are willing to change how their products work based on feedback.
Elf Bar: Disposable style flavour
Launching in 2018, Elf Bar saw a meteoric rise to fame during the disposable boom of the early 2020's. Producing the world’s most popular range of single-use vapes, they quickly became a household name - with ‘Elf Bars’ becoming shorthand for disposable vapes.
This popularity is due to a number of factors - including their strong, sweet flavours (with over 50 options), great MTL inhale and innovative flavour-enhancing QUAQ coil technology. They have also expanded their market domination with their popular Lost Mary sub-brand.
Fortunately, Elf Bar isn’t just about disposables! Their prefilled kits, including the Elfa 600 Pro and Elf Bar 1200, offer great reusable alternatives to now-banned single-use vapes - allowing vapers to experience their iconic flavours with reduced cost, while the refillable Elfa pod opens up a huge choice of flavour options and reduced environmental waste.
For reusable device users still wanting that strong, disposable-style taste, the Elfliq nic salt range features some of the most popular Elf Bar flavours in vape juice form.
IVG: Most popular big puff kits
Although IVG is now a global brand, the company originally made its name in the UK with bold e-liquid flavours that quickly won the hearts of vapers across the country.
While their early disposable attempts struggled to gain traction, IVG found success with the IVG 2400 – one of the first legal high-capacity disposables on the UK market. By combining four separate 2ml pods in a single device, the IVG 2400 allowed users to enjoy up to 2400 puffs without breaking UK regulations.
Capacity wasn’t the only innovation – users could also rotate between pods to switch flavours on the go, adding extra convenience and variety.
Now, with a new rechargeable, reusable IVG 2400 available, the brand looks set to maintain its lead in the Big Puff category. IVG also continues to supply its iconic e-liquids for vapers looking for a more cost-effective way to vape.
Innokin: Innovative & reliable
When I hear the name Innokin, the word reliability comes to mind. Over the years, Innokin has consistently produced high-quality vapes - and some devices, such as the Adept Zlide, can last for years before needing replacing.
Innokin has also been a great innovator, often introducing new technologies that have gone on to take the whole vaping scene forward. This has included market-leading coils (such as the Plexus), simple innovations that make vaping more similar to smoking (filter tips), mechanisms to refresh and extend coil life, the first device to combine a fixed coil with serious cloud production (the Innokin Go Max) and much more.
Finally, I think it’s worth noting that Innokin has put some serious investment into making vaping more eco-friendly. This includes introducing recyclable packaging, biodegradable filters and investing in recycling schemes in France and the UK.
Oxva: Award-winning pod systems
If you’re searching for a high-quality, compact but easy-to-use vape device that produces great flavour, there’s a good chance you’ll come across a Xlim series pod kit.
These easy-to-use pod kits cater to vapers of all experience levels and have proven a hit with both staff and customers at E-Cigarette Direct thanks to their great taste and high-quality design. The original Xlim device has received multiple industry awards including Best Open Pod and Best Pod 2022, but it’s the Xlim Pro 2 that has quickly become one of our most popular vape kits.
Smok: Clouds & flavour
In the early days, Smok were known for their huge mods, often characterised by a firing button that stretched the length of their devices, which very much appealed to cloud chasers and advanced vapers.
In recent years, though, Smok have expanded their focus to include more beginner and intermediate-friendly devices. Perhaps their most popular device was the easy-to-use Smok Nord (now replaced by the Smok Nord 2 and the Nord 5 as part of the Nord Series).
Smok are also the most prolific of all the vape brands, producing a huge quantity of vape devices every year, although in recent years the proliferation of devices has slowed down.
Also see: Best Smok Devices
Aspire: Enduringly popular vape devices
While most vape devices are transitory, Aspire has produced some real winners over the years that remain enduringly popular. Their best-known is undoubtedly the PockeX which, even after several years, is still one of the UK’s most popular devices. We think that’s down to its unique throat hit which can satisfy even the heaviest of smokers.
Aspire’s device range caters to vapers of all experience levels - from beginner-friendly pod kits to advanced mods and high-quality vape tanks. More recently, their stylish Gotek Series devices have gained popularity thanks to their beginner-friendly operation and futuristic design.
SKE: Minimalist style, maximum flavour
SKE originally made waves during the UK’s disposable boom. Drawing inspiration from their brand name, (it stands for Speed Skier Extreme, if you’re wondering) the company produced a unique, crystal-like design that cleverly reflects the light from every angle.
Style counts for nothing without performance - and SKE devices hit the mark here too. The draw hits just the right note for a satisfying inhale, while the sweet, concentrated taste is mouth wateringly delicious.
With disposables now banned, SKE provides a choice of reusable, prefilled vapes, varying from the classic SKE Crystal Plus and SKE 600 Pro to big puff devices such as the Crystal 4-in-1.
Once you're ready to switch to a refillable device, we also recommend SKE’s disposable-inspired Crystal Original nic salts range for the same great taste with less cost and less waste.
Lost Mary: Something for everyone
One of the youngest brands on this list, Lost Mary has rapidly risen to become one of the world’s biggest vape brands since their launch in early 2022 - even becoming a serious competitor for its parent company Elf Bar.
Known for their combination of stylish design, high-quality products and standout flavour thanks to innovative QUAQ coil tech, Lost Mary gained prominence for their pod-shaped BM600 disposables.
Lost Mary now provide a range of reusable vapes. Their BM600 Prefilled Pod Kit is identical in looks and performance to the disposable that made their name, but now works with prefilled pods. Meanwhile, the BM6000 and 4in1 big puff devices offer options for vapers who prefer larger capacity vapes.
For refillable device users, the Maryliq nic salt e-liquid range offers a choice of delicious disposable-inspired flavours. Double concentrated for maximum flavour, they make a great choice for those who want strong flavour and the most economical way to vape.
Also see: Best Lost Mary Flavours
Uwell: Best pod systems for flavour
Uwell doesn’t produce the same quantity and variety of vape devices as the other brands mentioned here. But it’s impossible to talk about the best vape brands without mentioning the manufacturer of the Caliburn series.
The original Uwell Caliburn won mass popularity because of the superb flavour it produced. Uwell didn’t rest on their laurels, and have worked to improve the original with improved filling, battery life and more with the Caliburn A3 and Caliburn X.
Also see: Best Uwell Vape Kits
The future
There remain dozens of brands in the vape market. It’s quite possible that we will see more great brands popping up, but for the most part, there’s likely to be rationalisation in the market. Each brand is only as good as its latest devices, so expect to see intense innovation and competition as each one tries to out-compete the next.
Looking to narrow down the choice of vape kit further? Check out our round-up of the best vape kits.