Should You Buy a Vape Mod With a Built-in or Removable Battery?

Do you ever get the feeling that a good percentage of the vaping devices on the market look more or less the same as one another? The similarity between devices can make the buying decision quite difficult when you’re in the market for an upgrade. Unable to identify any significant differences between the various products, many people just end up picking their favourite brand and buying whatever that company puts out.

If you’ve identified a vaping brand that consistently makes you happy, that’s a great thing. If you’re not a fan of any brand in particular, though, you need a different way of figuring out what makes the various devices different from one another and identifying the one with the right combination of features for you.

One of the best ways of identifying the right vaping device for your needs is by examining just one feature and deciding whether your ideal vaping device should or shouldn’t have that feature. In this article, we’re going to help you do that by discussing the feature of removable batteries. Once you’ve decided where you stand on that issue, you can eliminate at least half of the vaping devices on the market, thus making your decision twice as easy.

So, is it better to buy a vaping device with a built-in or removable battery? Let’s explore the pros and cons of both approaches.

A Mod With a Built-in Battery Is Cheaper in the Short Term
One of the major benefits of buying a mod with a built-in battery is that the up-front cost is almost always lower compared to that of buying a mod with a removable battery. That’s partially because the prices of the mods themselves are lower. An additional factor affecting the price is that a removable-battery mod generally doesn’t include the battery.

If you’re buying a removable-battery mod and don’t have a battery available, you’ll need to buy one. If you’re buying a dual-battery mod, you’ll need to buy two batteries. If you want to charge one pair of batteries while using another, you’ll need to buy four batteries and a standalone battery charger. Batteries and chargers aren’t cheap, and you could end up spending more on those things than on the mod itself.

If you don’t already have a battery and want to buy a new mod while spending the least amount of money possible, you definitely want to buy a mod with a built-in battery.

A Mod With a Removable Battery May Be Cheaper in the Long Term
Although the up-front cost of a mod with a built-in battery is definitely lower, the situation changes a bit in long-term ownership because no battery lasts forever. Eventually, every battery stops holding a charge, and if the battery is a permanent part of your vaping device, it renders the entire device inoperable unless you happen to have a matching battery pack and a soldering iron.

A mod with a removable battery, on the other hand, can theoretically last forever as long as you take care of it. When a removable battery dies, you don’t throw the device away; you dispose of the battery and get another one. Buying a new battery or two is usually cheaper than buying an entirely new mod, which means that over the long term, the total cost of ownership can actually be less with a removable-battery mod.

Mods With Built-in Batteries Are Smaller and Sleeker
The battery itself isn’t the only thing that’s different about a fixed-battery mod as compared to a mod with a removable battery. The two types of devices also differ in terms of the equipment that’s necessary for keeping the battery in its place and sending power from the battery to the device’s main circuit board.

In a fixed-battery mod, very little hardware is needed to transport power within the device; there’s usually just a couple of soldered wires carrying power from the battery to the circuit board.

A removable-battery mod, on the other hand, needs a door to provide access to the battery. The door needs to be heavy and strong because it’ll be used repeatedly. Under the door, you’ll see heavy gold-plated connections for transporting power from the battery. All of that extra hardware adds to the cost of the mod, and it also adds to the size and weight. A mod with a removable battery will almost always be larger and heavier than one with a permanent battery.

Mods With Removable Batteries Are Often More Powerful
One important thing to know about mods with fixed batteries is that they usually have power limitations. A vaping device with a single battery can usually operate at a maximum power level of about 100 watts. That’s plenty of power for most vape tanks, but there are some tanks that do require more than 100 watts to deliver their best performance. To vape at over 100 watts, you need a vaping device with two battery cells – and for that, you’ll need to buy a device with removable batteries. A fixed-battery mod provides enough power for most vaping applications, but it doesn’t quite provide enough power for the most demanding tanks.

A Mod With a Removable Battery Eliminates Downtime During Charging
If you buy a mod with a removable battery, it is a highly worthwhile investment to also buy a standalone battery charger. Most mods do not allow you to vape while charging, and even when they do have that feature, the constant charging and discharging really isn’t good for the battery. Battery chargers aren’t cheap, but if you buy a good charger today, you’ll probably still be using it ten years from now. Also, a battery charger isn’t just good for charging vaping batteries; a good one can charge all types of household rechargeable batteries.

The best thing about owning a standalone battery charger, though, is that you can charge a battery or pair of batteries while vaping with another. There’s no need to put your device down and wait for it to recharge when the battery dies; you can just swap out the battery and keep vaping.