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Smoke Fifty-One Duo Review
(ONE STAR)
Review
While we certainly applaud the idea of an "Express Starter Kit" — containing the minimum number of essentials to allow you to try an electronic cigarette before investing in extra batteries, portable chargers, additional cartridge/atomizers, etc. — we assumed that such a kit would also include a minimal price tag. Unfortunately, the Smoke Fifty-One Duo Express Starter Kit does not.
The price tag before discounts is a whopping $79.95 plus shipping (we paid $6.50) and you don't get a whole lot for it. The Smoke Fifty-One Express Starter Kit includes a handy metal carrying case in your choice of five available colors (silver, red, pink, blue, black), not nine colors as shown in the photo below left. The carrying case accommodates the remainder of your purchase: one cigarette-style, rechargeable, Lithium Ion battery; two 6mg Tobacco cartridge/atomizers (no choice of Nicotine strength or flavor); and one USB charger. That's not a very good value for $79.95. It is the opinion of Top 5 Electronic Cigarettes that such a bare-bones kit should cost no more than $50 before discounts, and shipping should be free. Smoke Fifty-One would be well advised to remember that if they are trying to induce potential long-term customers to purchase their product for the first time, they need to incentivize that purchase.
In all fairness, we should also point out that Smoke Fifty-One Duo replacement cartridge/atomizers are reasonably priced at $14.95 for five in your choice of Tobacco or Menthol flavors and your choice of 0mg, 4mg, 6mg, 8mg, 12mg and 16mg of Nicotine, with additional discounts are available for bulk purchases. Further, should one be inclined to make Smoke Fifty-One their e-cigarette brand of choice, the starter kit has a minimal effect on the price when one considers the annual cost. If forced to choose between reasonably-priced starter kits and reasonably-priced replacement cartridge/atomizers, we would of course opt for the latter — and that is exactly what Smoke Fifty-One provides. Further still, if you purchase the Club 51 Refill Filter Program monthly subscription, you will receive your cartridge/atomizers at greatly discounted pricing and free shipping.
As the Express Starter Kit was very simple to use (open the case and screw the cigarette-style battery into one of the two cartridge/atomizers), we immediately gave our Smoke Fifty-One Duo a few puffs and voila, we were "smoking." We exhaled a most-excellent cloud of Nicotine-infused water vapor, but unfortunately, the taste left us wishing for a real cigarette.
While we understand that taste is subjective, there are certain tastes that are almost universally abhorred — think brussel sprouts. In our opinion, you can add the Smoke Fifty-One Duo to that list. There are of course people who enjoy both of the aforementioned foods, and undoubtedly there must be people who enjoy the taste of the Smoke Fifty-One Duo. We however, were unable to find one of them. In addition to the five judges, we asked 4 cigarette smokers to try it, and not one of them had anything good to say about the experience. In fact, a fair amount of what they said cannot be repeated in polite company. Worst still, it takes some time to get the taste out of your mouth and the smell out of your nostrils.
Had we received a "bad" or somehow defective batch of cartridge/atomizers? It is certainly possible, but after our Smoke Fifty-One Duo experience, we are not in a hurry to find out.
Smoke Fifty-One Duo flavor cartridge/atomizers are reasonably priced at $14.95 for 5 cartridge/atomizers which are available in Tobacco and Menthol flavors and Nicotine levels of 0mg, 4mg, 8mg, 12mg, and 16mg — the level we tested.
All in all, we found the $79.95 Smoke Fifty-One Duo Express Starter Kit (before discounts), to be a below-average value. Shipping is additional, and while it lacks a money-back guarantee, Smoke Fifty-One includes a Limited Lifetime Warranty with all of its products. We cannot help but applaud such a commitment to the quality and durability of their products.
We estimated that including the Express Starter Kit purchase, the cost to maintain a one-pack-per-day cigarette habit using Smoke Fifty-One Duo was $646.45 annually or $53.87 per month or $12.43 per week or only $1.77 per day! These calculations are based on bulk quantity pricing available if you order 50 packs of Smoke Fifty-One Duo cartridge/atomizers at once (5 cartridge/atomizers per pack or 250 cartridge/atomizers in all) the price drops to only $11.50 per pack of five. This makes the Smoke Fifty-One Duo one of least expensive electronic cigarettes to smoke over the course of a year. Note that 250 cartridges is about a one-year supply for someone who smokes one pack per day of tobacco cigarettes.
Evaluated strictly in terms of long-term cost, we found the Smoke Fifty-One Duo to be an excellent value owing to the availability of favorable bulk pricing for replacement cartridge/atomizers; and especially when compared to the cost of tobacco cigarettes and the same one-pack-per-day habit at $6.00 per pack or $2190.00 per year or $182.50 per month or $42.12 per week or $6.00 per day, the annual savings for a Smoke Fifty-One Duo "smoker" is $1270.55! This is of course before one considers the comparative health benefits provided by electronic cigarettes.
In summary, and despite its relatively low long-term cost, we found Smoke Fifty-One Duo to be a poor value due to its disagreeable flavor.
FINAL JUDGMENT: ONE STAR and NOT RECOMMENDED.
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The Smoke Fifty-One Duo Express Starter Kit retails for $79.95 before discounts. Click to enlarge.
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Visit the Official Smoke Fifty-One Duo Website
