Are Nicotine Pouches Better Than Vaping?

For anyone looking for a way to consume nicotine while steering away from traditional products like cigarettes, nicotine pouches and vapes are common options.

Recent figures suggest that around 4.5% of adults are e-cigarette users. Meanwhile, nicotine pouches and ZYN have arrived on the scene more recently, with estimations suggesting only around 0.4% of America’s adult population uses them regularly.

But the choice should come down to more than what everyone else is doing. We’ll get down to business in this article!

Nicotine Pouches vs Vaping

Nicotine pouches are portioned bags that are placed in the mouth to release nicotine and flavor, while vapes are filled with liquid, and then inhaled.

These superficial differences lead to plenty of more meaningful distinctions.

Flavors

Flavor can make or break an experience.

Fortunately, there is plenty of choice from both vapes and nicotine pouches. Although mint nicotine pouches are a staple, there are plenty more options — such as coffee, cinnamon, and berries.

Common vape flavors are often fruity or dessert-flavored, but there are also minty and tobacco options (alongside others).

It’s tough to say that one offers decisively better flavors. However, some view nicotine pouch flavors as being higher quality due to the potential for “vaper’s tongue” from e-cigarettes (the temporary loss of taste and sensation that vaping sometimes causes). There is no such phenomenon from nicotine pouches.

Strength

The nicotine contained in a vape or a nicotine pouch can vary significantly. In both cases, users buy liquid or pouches with the strength they desire, which typically ranges from 1mg to 20mg of nicotine.

However, even when a vape and pouch contain the same amount of nicotine, users are likely to feel a different intensity.

Pouches release nicotine more slowly, and the experience generally lasts between 30 minutes to an hour.

Since nicotine is absorbed by the bloodstream when vaping, the release is much faster (and also finishes much faster, after around 10 minutes). This increases the intensity, and may lead to more nicotine consumption overall.

Overall Experience

When using a vape in public, everyone is going to know about it. Even if the act of putting the e-cigarette in the mouth and blowing smoke wasn’t obvious enough, vapes can often be smelled within a one-mile radius. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration — but you get the point.

There are even some public places that ban vapes altogether.

It’s much easier to use nicotine pouches while passing under the radar. Most pouches, such as ZYNs, have mini or slim sizes. This means they don’t bulge out in the mouth, and they’re easy enough to detect.

Ease of Use

Using vapes requires a few steps, such as:

• Charging the batteries
• Refilling liquid
• Replacing parts

It’s not quite rocket science, but taking some time to understand how these devices work is a must.

On the other hand, nicotine pouches are pretty much a case of “pop it in the mouth and ready, set, go.” It’s pretty hard to get using nicotine pouches wrong, as long as they’re used responsibly (aka, not too much).

Costs

Those sitting on a few million dollars might be able to choose whatever nicotine delivery vehicle they desire without a second thought — including launching hundreds of ZYNs from a helicopter and trying to catch them from a field below.

But for most of us, cost is a serious consideration.

The average cost of vaping is between $50 and $75 a month, with factors like the brand chosen and the amount consumed making a huge difference.

Some reports of the nicotine pouch market suggest that users consume 3.2 cans per week. At a cost of $5 per can, this would work at a spend of around $64 per month.

Therefore, the costs are fairly comparable. But the cost of nicotine pouches is lower in the short term (due to the upfront cost of a vape device versus a single can of nicotine pouches), while vaping can work out more cost-effective in the long run. 

It’s also cheaper to buy a nicotine pouch can than a bottle of vape juice, which makes it easier to experiment with different flavors.

Concluding: Are Nicotine Pouches Better than Vaping?

Nicotine pouches are easier to use, more convenient for public spaces, offer a longer-lasting nicotine release, and lend themselves to lots of flavor experimentation.

However, vapes offer just as much choice when it comes to nicotine strengths and flavors, and may be more cost-effective in certain situations.

What about ZYN vs Vapes?

A comparison of ZYN vs vaping can be made by examining the same aspects:

• ZYNs aren’t the cheapest nicotine pouch brand, so they may be more expensive than vaping for heavy nicotine users. However, they’re more affordable than vaping when it comes to short-term use.
• ZYNs have one of the widest varieties of flavors on the nicotine pouch market, from cinnamon to coffee to wintergreen to citrus.
• ZYNs come in strengths of 3mg and 6mg, which may be too limiting for some.
• Like other nicotine pouches, the release from ZYNs lasts longer than that from vaping.
• Like other nicotine pouches, ZYNs are easier to use and maintain than vapes.

Is ZYN Better than Vaping?

Overall, ZYN nicotine pouches may be a better choice than vaping. As well as the aspects outlined above, the pouches are made by the renowned manufacturer Swedish Match.

This gives them a stamp of quality that the average vape just can’t live up to!

However, some may prefer the short, intense release vaping provides, or want a different strength level to ZYN products.

Is ZYN Safer than Vaping?

Both nicotine pouches and ZYNs are fairly new products on the market compared to the likes of cigarettes, meaning that long-term research is still needed. It’s tough to say that one is definitively “safer.”

The FDA has authorized the marketing of ZYN and a limited number of vaping products and devices, but the landscape is moving fast.