Vaporcade Europa Review
Europa
$59.99
Pros
- Good looking
- Slim design
- Flavorful ejuice
Cons
- 12 watts max output
- Closed system limits ejuice selection
- Replacement Shuttle costs a little steep
When Vaporcade introduced the Jupiter it was pretty innovative. There were several mods that also served as a cell phone case on the market, but Jupiter is a cell phone and a mod in one that employs Vaporcade’s proprietary Shuttle ejuice cartridge system.
Recently Vaporcade introduced a new product that borrowed much of the technology and design of the Jupiter while removing the cell phone functionality (and the cell phone price), the Europa.
Vaporcade describes the Europa as, “the next generation of mod. Lightweight and maintenance free, Europa is sleek, simple and won’t weigh you down.” After using Europa for a month or so, I think they got most of that right.
Europa is sleek, thin and good looking. It’s powered by an internal, rechargeable 2200 mAh battery with a micro USB charging port on the bottom of the unit. The wattage range is 5 – 12 watts.
There are four buttons on the side of Europa, a sliding on/off button, the “+” and “-” buttons for adjusting wattage and the fire button. The display shows the logo, name and nicotine level of the attached Shuttle cartridge, a battery meter, selected wattage, resistance of the Shuttle and voltage.
Vaporcade includes one Shuttle with the Europa in your choice of the five available flavors, Defiant (peach), Black Pearl (coffee), Red Dragon (apple), Serenity (raspberry), and The Q (menthol). To attach a Shuttle to Europa, line up the connectors and snap it into place. Each Shuttle contains 6 ml of ejuice with a nicotine level of 14 MG and comes with a new mouthpiece.
What’s In The Box
- 1 X Europa
- 1 X Shuttle
- 1 X Micro USB charging cable
- 1 X Wall charger adapter
- 1 X Protective cap (for when you don’t have a Shuttle attached)
- 1 X Lightning box with multi-color lighting display
Performance: Remember earlier when I said Vaporcade got most of the description of Europa right? The one part of the description that may be somewhat questionable is the use of the phrase, “next generation of mod.” There is nothing revolutionary about a top power output of 12 watts.
Having said that, Europa does produce a healthy amount of vapor for a 12 watt mod. All of the buttons function easily and it fires when you hit that fire button.
Features: The Vaporcade Europa does have one feature that I really like, the display of the flavor of the attached Shuttle. Other features in the “plus” column are the inclusion of the charging cable and wall adapter and that rechargeable Lightning box. Vaporcade also gave Europa all of the standard safety features, including short circuit and timeout protection.
Two features that may be deal killers for some vapers are the maximum wattage of 12 watts and the fact that Europa is a closed system that will only function with Vaporcade’s proprietary Shuttle cartridges. That means you have, as of right now, only five flavors of ejuice to choose from, and only one nicotine level, 14 MG.
Quality: From the high end packaging of both Europa and the Shuttle cartridges to the light but solid feel of the mod, Vaporcade has produced a pretty high quality device. The Shuttle cartridges fit snugly and the buttons are responsive.
For a pre-filled cartridge, the ejuice in the Shuttle is quite tasty. I’ve enjoyed each of the five flavors, especially the coffee flavored Black Pearl. And for a 14 MG nicotine level, the throat hit is on the mild side.
There are two minor quality issues I’ve experienced with the beta version of Europa. First, some of the mouthpieces don’t fit quite flush on the Shuttles, not all of them, but enough to make it a concern. Second, that display could be a little brighter, it’s difficult to read it in some light settings.
Looks: Where Europa really nails it is in its looks. This is a sleek, slim, subdued good looking device. It’s lightweight and compact enough to carry in a shirt pocket, if that pocket is wide enough. When you press the fire button the Shuttle lights up. The overall vibe is on the distinguished side.
Price/Value: Vaporcade lists the price of Europa at $59.99. While that doesn’t sound exorbitant, there’s more to consider before purchasing any device than the initial cost of purchase. Replacement Shuttle cartridges go for $14.99 for an individual or $74.95 for a carton of five.
The price of a single Shuttle is 25% of your initial purchase price. And with 6 ml of ejuice in each Shuttle, that works out to $2.50 per ml of ejuice. Yes, the Shuttle does also include a coil and the circuitry that communicates with the Europa, but you get the point, vaping on Europa is not a cheap proposition.
I’ve told the folks at Vaporcade of my concerns about the Europa, that 12 watt maximum power, cost of Shuttles and limited flavor and nicotine choices available. I have yet to hear back from them on that. Since they did ship a beta version for a Seven Report review I’m hoping that they’ll address at least some of those issues in future updates to Europa.
I have enjoyed using Europa, and I will most likely continue to vape it, at least until I’ve emptied all of the Shuttle cartridges Vaporcade was generous enough to provide. In its present configuration and price point, well, there are a lot of other products on the market with a similar price point that offer more power, features and don’t lock you into only five flavors of ejuice.
I used the Vaporcade Europa for about a month and sampled each of the five flavors of ejuice available. Vaporcade provided the Europa and Shuttle cartridges for the purpose of this review.
Order Europa from Vaporcade.
(For details on Seven Report review methodology click here.)
