ROK Mini PCC Kit - Long-term Review
I started vaping E-cigs a couple of years ago, but it never really 'happened' for me. The problem was batteries. I was using the mini-ciggy, and whilst they did the job well enough, the batteries kept running out when I was away from the house. Then I discovered ROKS in March last year. The great thing here is that ROK supply a 'starter kit' that includes a PCC or Personal Charging Case. This case is charged up from the mains or your PC/laptop/games console. Once it's charged, you can put a battery in there that charges whilst you are vaping with a second battery - so there is always a battery charging. When you run out of charge on your battery, you simply get a charged battery out of your PCC and screw it into the cartomiser you are using. You then put the 'dead' battery in your PCC to charge. Cool! This makes vaping practical.
ROK have impressed me, both in terms of their product and their company. That is not to say that they are perfect – nobody is. I will start with the imperfections. When I was smoking, I used about 30 (lite) cigarettes a day. A 'lite' cigarette for these purposes contains about 0.7 Mg of nicotine, so I was taking in about 21Mg of nicotine a day, about 630 Mg a month. I tried all of the ROK flavours, from normal tobacco, through vanilla, coffee, apple and cherry. They were all good, but my favourite is vanilla – it's delicious! The problem is that ROK do vanilla flavour only in 16Mg strength. I found that I was still 'vapiing' about as much as I was smoking (a lot), but that now I was taking in more nicotine. Now, this is not really ROK's fault! They can hardly be blamed for making a delicious-tasting vanilla flavour, but I would have liked the option of a lower strength, so now I have switched to the 6Mg tobacco flavour, which is also excellent, but gives me less nicotine. Hopefully, at some point, ROK will offer lower-strength options in all of their flavours.
In addition, they have got my orders wrong on a few occasions. Finally, their batteries do not last long – with me, and my vaping habits, a battery lasts a month, maybe two if I am lucky.
updatum: ROK now have new, much improved batteries...
Now, the positives. Whenever they did get something wrong, they corrected it without any fuss at all, and lightening-quick. Whenever a battery didn't last as long as it should have, it was replaced immediately, without charge, fuss, or cross-examination.
Indeed, it was my experience with this company that encouraged me to want to sell their product. It is important to understand that this came first. I did not sit here wondering what to do with my life and decide to sell/review e-cigs. First, I experienced ROKs. I experienced the flavours, the vaping sensation, the cost and health benefits and, as a result of that, decided to go into the business. I was loving ROKs a lot and recommending them to friends who are now established ROKers too – I thought I might as well get paid for it!
Much is made, in the industry, of 'throat hit' and 'vapour production'. The throat hit is the feeling you get in the back of your throat when you inhale – it is important that this emulate, as closely as possible, the throat hit you get with normal cigarettes. This has never been a problem with ROK. Also, they produce good amounts of vapour. In terms of the overall 'vaping experience' ROKs are excellent, and I have not yet found anything better. So, as far as the product itself is concerned, there is not much to complain about. I would like them to be cheaper (why not?!) and to offer a bit more range in terms of flavours and strengths, but this is really a minor niggle. This is why I give them a Product Rating of 9/10.
In terms of the company itself, my experience has been excellent. They sort out problems quickly and courteously, and there aren't that many problems anyway. They are good at little touches, like when your kit arrives, the batteries are already charged, so you can vape immediately. Their philosophy turns on the 'KISS' principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid!), and that is what they have done. They offer very good products at sensible prices. The only downside to this is that one can keep things a little too simple and miss the odd trick like offering more variety in flavours and strengths, offering e-liquid, perhaps (Update: they now do this, for the ROKStar), and maybe a MAXI battery that survives on its own for decent periods of time (say a day or more). Maybe ROK are addressing some of these issues. I have found them to be extremely open-minded, dynamic and fun to work with. It's always worth coming back to ROK to see what innovations they come up with – they're good!
I give ROK a Company Rating of 9/10.
How much have I saved? Click here to find out
In addition, there are the health benefits. I feel better, presumably because I am not taking in Carbon Monoxide and a host of carcinogens. I have a non-smoking partner – she is delighted that I do not stink of smoke any more, and nor does my house. My 8 year old son is pleased too. The problem of second-hand smoke, and first-hand stink, has evaporated (pun intended).
Now, ROK cannot claim that their product is a stop-smoking aid. Nor can any other e-cig company, because then a health claim is being made, and you can't do that unless you are willing to go through the whole MHRA process, costing time and money... What nobody can stop me doing is telling you the facts. The facts are that I used to smoke 30 a day, spending a fortune for the privilege of killing myself slowly. Since March last year I have smoked about 100 cigarettes and only then when I had left ordering my ROKS too late. I have now ordered a ton of them, so I don't have to worry about that problem for some time. Indeed, when I have bought a pack of twenty to tide me over, it only serves to remind me how disgusting cigarettes are! This is where ROKs REALLY score. No smoker is going to switch to vaping if it doesn't satisfy them as much as smoking, but
Vaping is actually a BETTER EXPERIENCE THAN SMOKING!!!
I am off to try some other e-cigs, and have just started experimenting with e-liquid. Watch this space! I will continue to vape Roks, because they are just brilliant. At the moment, I cannot see another product matching this, but, who knows...
