[TEST] my Blu, the pod system by Big Tobacco

Jeremie
10 novembre 2018
0

The my Blu kit is a mod pod marketed by Fontem Ventures, a subsidiary of the infamous Imperial Tobacco. If you are not familiar with this brand, you probably know their products: Gitanes, Gauloises, or Davidoff. Far from trying to steal market shares from their other branches, Imperial Tobacco is looking to the future with my Blu.

While Philip Morris chose to focus on Heat-not-burn tobacco with its IQOS, Imperial clearly chose to invest in vapour as it’s next growth opportunity. Thus, Blu devices can be found in cigarette shops or online. Offered at an affordable price, at least for the starter kit, it strives to rival most modern pod systems. Indeed the design is a crowd-pleaser and brings to mind Lynq or Juul devices in a more rounded package. In fact, it is essentially a re-branded My Von Erl. In terms of functions, you will find the classic characterstics of a pod: low powered battery with quick charging, no buttons, and a user-friendly mechanism. Slide the pod into the battery and you’re good to go.

Good flavour

While the Blu is not the most high-performance device in its category, it provides original flavours, for example the surprising ginger-ginseng. Or Caramel Burbon. Most definitely “grown-up” flavours, a far cry from the dessert and candy flavours we are most used to.

Unfortunately, the pods are not re-fillable. This is where it hurts most, given it will not only be the least eco-friendly option out there, it is also expensive to use: 7€ for 2 x 1.5ml pods. That is to say 105€ for 30ml. Of course a new pod means a new coil and brand new flavour, but what a waste!

Currently, the kit is on sale for for 10€ with 3 pods on the official website, so trying out the Blu won’t bankrupt anyone, but it does mean every penny of that money is going to Big Tobacco. Regarding the lack of a re-filling method to save on e-liquid, a number of YouTubers posted “hacks” to refill them despite the design making this difficult. Of course, this is technically not the way it was designed to be used, but given you’ll be throwing away the pod anyway, it doesn’t hurt to try.