I tried to quit smoking with this iPhone vape case but it only made me smoke more

Wandering down the far corners of the SXSW convention floor we stumbled across what might actually be the best product of the entire conference. Tucked away against the back wall was this tiny booth that was there selling vape cases for your iPhone. A plastic gizmo that you click on the back of your 6(s), outfitting it with a vape pen. Amazing.

I didn’t hesitate for a second and told our editor-in-chief that there was no way I wasn’t reviewing this fascinating device. My obvious enthusiasm prevented the bossman from answering in any other way than the affirmative and seconds later I was at the Vaportronix booth trying to convince them to hook us up with a review model.

Obviously I couldn’t wait to start vaping and quit smoking so I scored myself some vape liquid and started vaping away. Or, at least, I tried.

Half of the time this thing didn’t do jack shit. The button you have to press to get this thing working barely registers, causing more frustration than vapor.

It seems like the little pen you actually smoke from only holds a tiny electric charge, good for one or two puffs. After that it refuses to work until you slide it back into its clumsy case for a quick recharge.

The case has to be charged separately from your iPhone and doesn’t use a lightning connector so you’ll have to pack a separate cable to keep both your phone and the vape case charged. In a perfect world this bulky piece of plastic would’ve doubled as a charging case, but alas.

The $99.99 price tag is steep but it would’ve been totally worth it if this thing helped me quit smoking. Unfortunately it only made me more frustrated and thus smoke more actual cancer sticks.

The poor build quality and the pen’s 50/50 chance of even producing smoke are a total bummer. If I was forced to mention one redeeming factor, it would be the fact that vaping from your phone is a great conversation starter, but other than that I’d be hard pressed to find a reason to justify spending a hundred bucks on this thing. Get a normal vape pen instead.