What Are Disposable Hookahs? A Simple Guide

As the marketplace for disposable vapes matures and becomes more competitive, it gets more difficult for new brands to differentiate themselves – and if a vape doesn’t stand out on the shelf, it doesn’t have a chance to attract attention. What’s the solution if you can’t come up with a flashy new feature that makes people want to open their wallets? You can invent an entirely new product category, and that’s what disposable hookahs are.

A disposable hookah might sound like the type of vape that you should buy if you’re trying to find a smoke-free alternative to hookah use, but that isn’t necessarily the case because a disposable hookah is essentially the same as a standard disposable vape at the most basic level. The differences between disposable hookahs and traditional disposable vapes, however, can be quite significant in many cases.

Should you grab a disposable hookah the next time you visit your favorite vape shop? Here’s what you need to know.

What Is a Disposable Hookah?

A disposable hookah is a disposable vape that’s intended to resemble a real hookah in some way. The resemblance might be in the device’s appearance, its flavor or the way you use it. Disposable hookahs come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but it’s very common for them to have hookah-style mouthpieces instead of the whistle-tip mouthpieces that many disposable vapes use.

Is a Disposable Hookah the Same as an E-Hookah?

A disposable hookah isn’t the same as an e-hookah. If you search for e-hookahs online, you’re going to find a completely different set of products.

A disposable hookah is a self-contained device in the same way that a disposable vape is. It’s a complete vape with e-liquid, a battery and a heating coil. When it runs out of vape juice, you dispose of it in the same way as any other disposable vape.

E-hookahs, on the other hand, are full-sized replacements for actual hookahs. An e-hookah will have a removable heating head, a water reservoir and at least one hose. The heating heads for e-hookahs come in two types. Some heads are designed to vaporize e-liquid, while others vaporize actual shisha tobacco without combustion.

How Are Disposable Hookahs Different from Disposable Vapes?

Disposable hookahs are disposable vapes, but they differ from traditional disposables in some very significant ways. That means a disposable hookah is most likely to appeal to you if you’re looking for a specific type of experience.

These are the main characteristics that make disposable hookahs different from disposable vapes.

Designed for Direct-to-Lung Inhaling

The most common feature of disposable hookahs is that they’re typically designed for the direct-to-lung (DTL) vaping style. That’s because many people inhale directly into their lungs when they smoke hookahs. Many disposable hookahs do have adjustable airflow, but it might be difficult to get a tight mouth-to-lung draw if that’s what you’re looking for.

Lower Nicotine Strength

A traditional disposable vape typically has a nicotine strength of 50 mg/ml, which is fine for a mouth-to-lung vape. A strength that high doesn’t work for direct-to-lung inhaling, though, because you’re inhaling significantly more vapor per puff in that situation. Disposable hookahs usually have nicotine strengths more in the range of 3-6 mg/ml.

Huge E-Liquid Supply

Since a disposable hookah produces big clouds, it needs to have a large e-liquid supply so it can last a sufficiently long time. It’s common for disposable hookahs to have up to 50 ml of vape juice, which enables them to deliver many thousands of puffs. A traditional disposable vape, on the other hand, usually has around 15-20 ml of e-liquid.

Bigger and Less Pocketable

A vape with 50 ml of e-liquid is definitely going to be larger than one with 20 ml. That suits disposable hookahs just fine since they’re often designed to stand up on a table when they’re not in use. The larger size, though, means that many disposable hookahs aren’t suited for pocket carrying at all. If you want a vape that can go everywhere with you, a traditional disposable vape is probably a better fit.

Shisha-Style Flavors

Although disposable vapes and disposable hookahs use the same type of e-liquid, the flavor selections are often a bit different. It’s very common for disposable hookahs to feature flavors specifically selected because they taste like popular shisha flavors such as Double Apple and Gum Mint. You’ll probably appreciate that if you’re a hookah smoker who wants to try a smoke-free alternative that tastes similar.

Luxury Additions

Hookahs are designed to be luxurious products that are suitable for displaying and showing off, and disposable hookahs often capture some of that feel as well. It’s common for a disposable hookah to have luxury touches like a soft outer wrap and metallic accents. The overall look of a disposable hookah is often very different from that of a traditional plastic-shelled disposable vape.

Party Features

Are you looking for a vape that’s ready to be the centerpiece of the party? Many disposable hookahs have attention-grabbing features that can help to enhance a social vaping experience. It’s common for disposable hookahs to have dynamic RGB light shows, and a few even have sound effects that mimic the bubbling of a real hookah. If you don’t want those features, you can usually disable them with a button or switch.

How to Buy a Disposable Hookah

Interested in trying a disposable hookah for the first time? You’ll find many of them at a good vape shop like Pink Smoke Shop. Here’s a quick two-step buyer’s guide to help you select the right device.

• Start by looking at the available e-liquid capacities because that’s going to determine the type of device you’ll get. Most disposable hookahs are larger than traditional vapes, but a device with 30 ml of vape juice is still fairly portable. A disposable hookah with 50 ml of e-liquid, on the other hand, is really intended to spend most of its time on a table.
• Next, look at the flavors and choose one that sounds good to you. If you’re coming from the hookah culture, you’ll probably like the fact that almost every disposable hookah has a Double Apple flavor available. If you’re already a vaper, look for a flavor like Miami Mint or Blue Razz Ice.